Numerical study on flow separation in 90° pipe bend under high Reynolds number by k-ε modelling

Abstract

The present paper makes an effort to find the flow separation characteristics under high Reynolds number in pipe bends. Single phase turbulent flow through pipe bends is investigated using k-ε turbulence model. After the validation of present model against existing experimental results, a detailed study has been performed to study the influence of Reynolds number on flow separation and reattachment. The separation region and the velocity field of the primary and the secondary flows in different sections have been illustrated. Numerical results show that flow separation can be clearly visualized for bend with low curvature ratio. Distributions of the velocity vector show the secondary motion clearly induced by the movement of fluid from inner to outer wall of the bend leading to flow separation. This paper provides numerical results to understand the flow characteristics of fluid flow in 90° bend pipe.