Turbulent flow in wavy pipes

Abstract

A primarily experimental investigation was undertaken to determine the internal structure of steady, quasi-uniform, non-separated, axisymmetric flows in circular pipes with sinusoidal wall profiles. The quantities measured include radial and longitudinal distributions of mean velocity, pressure, and total head; the Reynolds shear stress and all three components of turbulence velocity; and boundary shear stress and pressure. Two different wall-wave steepnesses were investigated, and a constant Reynolds number of 1·13 × 105 (based on the average pipe diameter) was maintained in most experiments. The boundary shear stress was found to be shifted upstream relative to the boundary wave, whereas the wall pressure is shifted slightly downstream. The turbulence measurements revealed that there is a central core extending over some 60% of the pipe radius in which the turbulence quantities are constant along the pipe. Near the boundary, however, the turbulence velocities and stress vary periodically along the boundary waves. The longitudinal component of mean velocity was found to be distributed radially according to the power law, but with an exponent that varies along each wave; a simple analytical model is constructed to predict the variation of the exponent. It was not found possible to relate the local boundary shear stress to just the local flow characteristics, since the convective or ‘history’ effects play a significant role in its determination. An empirical formula is derived relating the local boundary shear stress to the local velocity distribution and the first two derivatives of the boundary profile.