skip to content

Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of OFM

A high precision numerical method for solving three-dimensional flows has been developed by Dr Jie Li at the Cambridge University Engineering Department and BP Institute. The flow pattern is that pairs of toroidal eddies shed from the left-hand baffle will hit pairs of toroidal eddies generated from the right-hand at the flow reversal. The energy of the collision of these opposite eddies results in a breakdown in the flow symmetry at a small Reynolds number. Numerical observations show the development of asymmetric flow patterns at Reo=300 within an axial section and a transverse section.

Numerical simulation within an axial section
Figure 1. Numerical flow pattern at Reo=300, St=1.0 within an axial section

 

Numerical simulation, transverse
Figure 2. Numerical flow pattern at Reo=300, St=1.0 within a transverse section.

Return to OFM Numerical Simulations Introduction