Study Of Transient Flow In Hydraulic Pipes With Different Geometries

Hydraulic systems are comprised of multiple components and pipes with different geometries ranging from valves and nozzles to orifices.When the fluid passes through the different components of the hydraulic system,it faces a variety of hindrances and conditions like sudden contraction,expansion or friction.This situation gives rise to unsteady and turbulent flow conditions which render a considerable effect on the flow properties and also on the solid body of the hydraulic pipes.In order to avoid any unpleasant scenario due to this turbulence,the primary focus should be on understanding what impact it has on the parameters of the flow at that point.The goal of this research is to study the laminar and turbulent flow cases of the different hydraulic fluids flowing in a variety of geometries under the influence of different flow conditions.A wide range of geometries are designed and the analysis of fluid flow is done through these geometries at different boundary conditions.Starting from a simple straight pipe,the contours of velocity in the inlet and outlet are studied.A bend is also added into the straight pipe to analyze the effect of sudden obstacle in the path of fluid motion.Later on,multiple bends are added in the pipe geometry and the nat ure of pressure gradients at all bends is studied,one after the other.Baffles are added within the pipe geometry that offer a very less space for the fluid to flow through them and the situation is made even more complicated by adding the openings on the alternative sides at each consecutive baffle.Adding an orifice at the outlet and later an orifice plate in the middle section of the pipe provided quite meaningful insights about turbulent response and pressure pulses.A narrow tube is added with a big i nlet section to simulate the vena contracta phenomenon.The position of the center of vena contracta is also approximately measured using the advanced scale options of the fluent solver.The user defined function is used to introduce variable inlet velocity to study the effect of ripples in the inlet velocity.At the end,the simulation technique is further verified by comparing the results with the experimental data.The pressure wave simulated by the software was found to be very similar to the one measured by the actual pressure sensor.