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Three-dimensional (3D) direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the viscous incompressible fluid flow through a helical pipe with circular cross section were performed. The flow is governed by three parameters: the Dean number (or the Reynolds number), curvature, and torsion. First, we obtained steady solutions by steady 3D calculations, where dual solutions were found, one was uniform in the pipe axial direction and the other varied very slowly, if torsion exceeded a critical value. Then, the instability of the steady solutions obtained was studied by unsteady 3D calculations. We obtained critical Reynolds numbers of steady to unsteady transition by observing the behaviors of the unsteady solutions. The present results of the critical Reynolds number nearly agreed with those by the 2D linear stability analysis (Yamamoto et al. [9] ) except for the lowest critical Reynolds number region, where the present study gave the critical Reynolds number much less than that obtained by the 2D linear stability analysis. We found the vortical structures in the form of a standing wave slightly above the marginal instability state, which is a trigger of explosive 3D instability.

This paper deals with the characteristics of a straight pipe inner flow of the nanosuspension that has non-Newtonian viscosity. The parameters are set in the mass composition of 10–20 mass% of dispersoid and in the temperature range of 20–70 ℃ that includes the melting point of tetracosane. The experimental study is carried out by using the flow pressure loss measurement apparatus. The test section that made of a stainless straight pipe has an inner diameter 8 mm, and it has the length 1000 mm. The inner flow of a straight pipe is occurred by using a pump that is controlled by an inverter. The pressure drop is measured by a differential pressure gauge. The measured pressure loss is used for the calculation of the flow friction loss coefficient and the pump power. The experimental data are evaluated by the variation of the pressure loss coefficient with Reynolds number that defined by the non-Newtonian behavior. Viscosity data by previous study data that correlated by the power law method are used for Reynolds number calculation. The viscosity including non-Newtonian characteristics had been estimated by using a rotary viscosity meter. The measuring ranges are shear rate

The sorting devices of microfluidic systems operate by both passive and active mechanisms. The microchannels of these systems are often curved to cope with secondary flows, which allow sorting or mixing. Therefore, it is essential to characterize the secondary flows in microfluidic systems. In this study, we investigate the particle behavior in a spiral rectangular microchannel and clarify the effects of the aspect ratio and Dean number De on particle sorting by comparing experimental and numerical results. We fabricated Archimedean spiral microchannel models with the rectangular cross-section of millimeter-scale dimensions. Particle sorting in the microchannels was observed by the particle-tracking velocimetry (PTV) method. In addition, the particle-sorting mechanism was analyzed by the particle-tracking method in three-dimensional numerical simulations. When particle density exceeded water density, good sorting was observed when 20 < De < 40. The numerical particle-sorting behaviors agreed well with the experimental results.

This paper deals with the output improvement of heating and cooling cycle by using the work-fluid including phase change material. The experimental study is carried out by heat exchange between work-fluid and heat transfer surface. The work-fluid is flown to a high temperature or a low temperature heat transfer surface from the narrow path. In order to increase the amount of the heat transmission, a trace of Diethylether (boiling point 34.8 °C), as a phase change material (PCM), is added to the work-fluid. The parameters of the experiment are additive amount of PCM, the rotational speed of the displacer piston and the temperature of heat transfer surface. It is clarified that the increasing of engine cycle output is brought by the PCM addition. The effect of PCM addition is evaluated by output ratio which is defined from the experimental cycle output data. The requirements for acquiring the increasing effect of output by adding PCM are clarified.

Chaotic mixing in three different types of curved-rectangular channels flow has been studied experimentally and numerically. Two walls of the channel (inner and top walls) rotate around the center of curvature and a pressure gradient are imposed in the direction toward the exit of the channel. This flow is a kind of Taylor-Dean flow. There are two parameters dominating the flow, the Dean number De (∝ the pressure gradient or the Reynolds number) and the Taylor number Tr (∝ the angular velocity of the wall rotation). In this paper, we analyze the physical mechanism of chaotic mixing in the Taylor-Dean flow by comparing experimental results and numerical ones. We produced three micromixer models of the curved channel, several centimeters long, with rectangular cross-section of a few millimeters side. The secondary flow is measured using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) method to examine secondary flow characteristics. Also we performed three-dimensional numerical simulations with the open source CFD solver, OpenFOAM, for the same configuration as the experimental system to study the mechanism of chaotic mixing. It is found that good mixing performance is obtained in the case of De ≤ 0.1 Tr, and it becomes more remarkable when the aspect ratio tends to large. And it is found that the mixing efficiency changes according to the aspect ratio and inflow condition.

Turbulent flow through helical pipes with circular cross section is numerically investigated comparing with the experimental results obtained by our team. Numerical calculations are carried out for two helical circular pipes having different pitches and the same nondimensional curvature δ (=0.1) over a wide range of the Reynolds number from 3000 to 21,000 for torsion parameter β (=torsion /2δ = 0.02 and 0.45). We numerically obtained the secondary flow, the axial flow and the intensity of the turbulent kinetic energy by use of three turbulence models incorporated in OpenFOAM. We found that the change to fully developed turbulence is identified by comparing experimental data with the results of numerical simulations using turbulence models. We also found that renormalization group (RNG) k−ε turbulence model can predict excellently the fully developed turbulent flow with comparison to the experimental data. It is found that the momentum transfer due to turbulence dominates the secondary flow pattern of the turbulent helical pipe flow. It is interesting that torsion effect is more remarkable for turbulent flows than laminar flows.

Chaotic mixing in a curved-square channel flow is studied experimentally and numerically. Two walls of the channel (inner and top walls) rotate around the center of curvature and a pressure gradient is imposed in the direction toward the exit of the channel. This flow is a kind of Taylor-Dean flows. There are two parameters dominating the flow, the Dean number De (∝ the pressure gradient or the Reynolds number) and the Taylor number Tr (∝ the angular velocity of the wall rotation). In the present paper, we analyze the physical mechanism of chaotic mixing in the Taylor-Dean flow by comparing experimental and numerical results. We produced a micromixer model of the curved channel several centimeters long with square cross section of a few millimeters side. The secondary flow was measured using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) method to examine secondary flow characteristics. We also performed three-dimensional numerical simulations for the exactly same configuration as the experimental system to study the mechanism of chaotic mixing. It is found that good mixing performance is achieved for the case of De ≤ 0.1Tr, and that mixing efficiency changes according to the difference in inflow conditions. The flow is studied both experimentally and numerically, and both results agree with each other very well.

Use of the low temperature (less than 100˚C) energy contributes to effective use of heat resources. The cost recovery by power generation is difficult by using an existing system (the binary cycle or the thermoelectric conversion element), because the initial investment is large. The final purpose of this research is development of the low temperature difference drive engine supposing use in a hot-springs resort as a power source for electric power generation. In order that a traveler may look at and delight a motion of an engine, it is made to drive at low-speed number of rotations. An engine cycle of this study is aimed at the development of Stirling cycle engine which can maintain high efficiency in small size. This kind of engine has simple structure; it brings low cost, and it is easy to perform maintenance. However, it is difficult to obtain enough output by this type of engine, because of its low temperature difference. This paper deals with the heat transfer characteristic that the working fluid including a phase change material flows into the heating surface from the narrow path. In order to increase the amount of the heat transmission, Diethylether is added to the working fluid. Diethylether is selected as a phase change material (PCM) that has the boiling point which exists between the heat source of high temperature and low temperature. The parameters of the experiment are additive amount of PCM, rotational speed of the displacer piston and temperature of heat transfer surface. It is shown that it is possible to make exchange of heat amount increase by adding phase change material. The result of this research shows the optimal condition of the difference in temperature in heat processing, number of revolutions, and addition concentration of PCM.

A straight-bladed vertical axis turbine for wave energy conversion has been proposed in order to develop a novel air turbine suitable for an oscillating water column based on a wave energy plant. This study aims at investigating the effect of guide vane position on the performance of a straight-bladed vertical axis turbine. The experimental study was performed using a wind tunnel. The rotor comprises four straight blades with a profile of NACA0018, chord length of 80.5 mm, pitch radius of R = 230 mm, and a blade width of 490 mm. The guide vane has a profile of a circular arc and a chord length of l = 87 mm. The distance between these two guide vanes w and the gap between the rotor blade and guide vane G were altered to investigate the effects of the guide vane solidity l/w and position G/R. In addition, we performed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) on exactly the same configuration as the experimental system to study the effect of the guide vane position. The experimental results indicated that the guide vane solidity l/w and position G/R suitable for the proposed turbine are obtained in the case of l/w = 1.09 and G/R = 0.11. The flow visualization was determined using CFD. Moreover, we confirmed the control of the flow separation by the setting of the guide vane.

Infertility is often cited as one of the causes of a declining birthrate, which has become a serious social problem in recent years. Processes by which motile sperm can be safely and easily sorted are therefore important for infertility treatment. Therefore, as a new sorting method, microfluidic sperm sorter using the microfluidic system has been developed. To improve more separation efficiency of this device, it is necessary to know the behaviors of motile sperm in the microchannel where the sperm undergo shear flow. The previous study implied the necessity of the modeling of motile sperm in the shear flow. In the present study, therefore, we experimentally investigated the behavior of the motile sperm in the Taylor-Couette flow using PTV (Particle Tracking Velocimetry) method. The experimental results showed that the ascent of the shear stress led to the increase in the sperm velocity, and the direction of the sperm velocity was opposite to that of the flow.

The purpose of this study is to understand the factor that influence the heating efficiency of the outward and inward multi-hole gas burner. The flame-hole angle and the distance from flame hole to heating object are chosen as the experimental parameters. The measurement of the flame temperature distribution is carried out on each experimental condition. The observation of combustion flame, by the Schlieren method, is done from the purpose to understand the combustion phenomenon on the heating efficiency. LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) is used for the test fuel gas. The compositions of LPG are propane 97.5vol%, butane 0.2vol% and methane + ethylene 2.3vol%. The optimum ranges of the flame-hole angle and the distance from flame hole to heating object are clarified. The experimental correlation equations for the outward and inward multi-flame-hole gas burner are proposed.

The micromixer, which has a rotor with a curved channel, is studied experimentally. The secondary flow in a curved channel of rectangular cross-section is investigated using PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) and LIF (Laser Induced Fluorescence) methods. Two walls of the channel (the inner and top walls) rotate around the center of curvature and a pressure gradient is imposed in the direction of the exit of the channel. The non-dimensional channel curvature δ=a/R is taken to be about 0.1, where 2a is the width of the channel, R the curvature radius of the channel. Other non-dimensional parameters concerned are the Dean number De=Reδ1/2, the Reynolds number Re=qdh/v, where q is the mean flow velocity in the channel axis direction, ν the kinematic viscosity, dh the hydraulic diameter of the channel, and the Taylor number Tr=2(2δ)1/2Ωa2/(δv), where Ω is the angular velocity of the rotor. Photographs of the flow in a cross-section at 180° downstream from the curved channel entrance are taken by changing the flux (De) at a constant rotational speed (Tr) of the channel walls. It is found that good mixing performance is obtained in the case of De≤0.1|Tr| and for that case secondary flows show chaotic behaviors. And then we have confirmed the occurrence of reversal of the mean axial flow.

The viscous pump, which has a rotor with a helical square channel, is studied experimentally. The non-dimensional channel curvature is taken to be about 0.1. Three types of torsion of the channel are made to investigate the torsion effect on the flow characteristics. We measure the flux through the channel at a constant rotor speed by changing the pressures at the entrance and exit of the pump. We also observe the secondary flow at a crosssection of the channel. Some of the results obtained are shown as follows: The friction factor along the channel to get the same flux is large for large channel torsion at a constant rotation, and becomes small when the favorable rotation of the rotor to the flow is applied. As for the secondary flow in a cross-section, there appear several types of vortex. When there is no rotation, the secondary flow is almost a symmetric two-vortex type for small flux as is the ordinary Dean vortex, but it changes to a four-vortex type when the flux is large. The secondary flow becomes asymmetric as the rotation is applied. We have unsteady flow patterns at large flux and rotation.

An objective of the present paper is to experimentally clarify the torsion effect on the flow in helical circular pipes. We have made six helical circular pipes having different pitches and common non-dimensional curvature δ of about 0.1. The torsion parameter β 0, which is defined by β 0 = τ/(2δ)1/2 with non-dimensional torsion τ, are taken to be 0.02, 0.45, 0.69, 1.01, 1.38 and 1.89 covering from small to very large pitch. The velocity distributions and the turbulence of the flow are measured using an X-type hot-wire anemometer in the range of the Reynolds number from 200 to 20000. The results obtained are summarized as follows: The mean secondary flow pattern in a cross section of the pipe changes from an ordinary twin-vortex type as is seen in a curved pipe without torsion (toroidal pipe) to a single vortex type after one of the twin-vortex gradually disappears as β 0 increases. The circulation direction of the single vortex is the same as the direction of torsion of the pipe. The mean velocity distribution of the axial flow is similar to that of the toroidal pipe at small β 0, but changes its shape as β 0 increases, and attains the shape similar to that in a straight circular pipe when β 0 = 1.89. It is also found that the critical Reynolds number, at which the flow shows a marginal behavior to turbulence, decreases as β 0 increases for small β 0, and then increases after taking a minimum at β 0 ≈ 1.4 as β 0 increases. The minimum of the critical Reynolds number experimentally obtained is about 400 at β 0 ≈ 1.4.

The experimental study on the flow through helically curved pipes of a circular cross-section is carried out to measure the average velocity distributions, the stability characteristics of the flow, the state of turbulence in the transition and fully developed regions, and the Reynolds stress using a X-type hot-wire anemometer for the range of the Reynolds number from 440 to 20 850. Three types of helical pipes with different pitches are used, that is, the non-dimensional pitch are taken to be 0.009, 0.203 and 0.503, while the non-dimensional curvatures are about the same value of 0.1 for three pipes. It is found that the torsion strongly affects the average axial velocity and unsteady characteristics of the flow.

Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of a viscous incompressible fluid flow through a helical pipe with a circular cross section were conducted for three Reynolds numbers, Re (= 80, 300, and 1000), and two nondimensional curvatures, δ (= 0.1 and 0.05), over a wide range of torsion parameters, β (= nondimensional torsion/\(\sqrt{2\delta } \)), from 0.02 to 2.8. Well-developed axially invariant regions were obtained where the friction factors were calculated, in good agreement with the experimental data obtained by Yamamoto et al. [Fluid Dyn. Res. 16, 237 (1995)]. It was found that the friction factor sharply increases as β increases from zero, then decreases after taking a maximum, and finally slowly approaches that of a straight pipe when β tends to infinity. It is interesting that a peak of the friction factor exists in the region 0.2 ≤ β ≤ 0.3 for all the Reynolds numbers and curvatures studied in the present paper, which manifests the importance of the torsion parameter in helical pipe flow.