Rotating Disk - Vol - 6 - Iss - 3
Rotating Disk - Vol - 6 - Iss - 3
Rotating Disk - Vol - 6 - Iss - 3
*Corresponding author
*,1“Gheorghe Mihoc – Caius Iacob” Institute of Mathematical Statistics and Applied
Mathematics of the Romanian Academy
Calea 13 Septembrie no. 13, 050711 Bucharest, Romania
horiadumitrescu@yahoo.com, v_cardos@yahoo.ca*
2
“POLITEHNICA” University of Bucharest, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering,
Polizu no.1-6, RO-011061, Bucharest, Romania
ffrunzi@yahoo.com
DOI: 10.13111/2066-8201.2014.6.3.5
Abstract: This paper focuses on the behavior of the boundary-layer laminar flow produced by a large
radius no-thickness disc which rotates inside an axial stream. Some early solutions are only known
for the upstream flow field, but the details of the flow behind the disc are still obscure. A better
understanding of the mechanisms and the properties of the shear layer close to disc is sought through
the development of an analytic theory and then is completed by CFD computations. This article also
shows that the basic flow on the leeward side of disc is mostly rotational-inviscid and only on in the
neighborhood of the disc surface there is a viscous layer which rotates drawn by disc. The viscous
layer containing a thin Ekman sublayer and a thicker essentially inviscid superlayer, governed by
Taylor-Proudman theorem, can carry three possible actions: centrifugal (pumping) mode, neutral
mode and centripetal (suction) mode. The action type depends on the relative importance of effects
given by translation of the fluid (W) and rotation of the disc (ΩR), defined by a rotating parameter
(W/ΩR). The existence of such modes is connected to the amount of angular momentum transferred
outside the Ekman sublayer. A CFD analysis was used to identify the vortex structure which is
responsible for the angular momentum transfer from the rotating disc to an axial stream.
Key Words: Boundary layer, Rotating disc, Similarity solutions, inviscid superlayer
1. INTRODUCTION
One simple case of boundary layer on rotating body is the rotating disc in an initially
stationary fluid, known also as the free disc [1], [2]. The solution is also a rare three-
dimensional exact similarity solution of the Navier-Stokes equations [3]. The viscous
stresses on the disc surface drag fluid elements near disc around in almost circular paths, and
then centrifugal forces cause these elements to spiral outwards. The disc thus acts as a
centrifugal fan with a radial flow component that has a wall-jet character directed away from
the axis of rotation, whence the name of pumping effect. The fluid outwards thrown in this
way is replaced by an axial flow directed towards the disc surface. The azimuthally flow
component has a typical boundary-layer profile, monotonically increasing from zero at
infinity to a constant value at the disc. The importance of this cross-flow structure is due to
the inflexional cross-flow instability [4], which generates stationary vortices in many three-
dimensional boundary layers of engineering interest.
Another simple case of typical three-dimensional boundary layer is the flow near a
stationary disc, when the fluid at a large distance above it rotates at the constant angular
INCAS BULLETIN, Volume 6, Issue 3/ 2014, pp. 43 – 55 ISSN 2066 – 8201
Horia DUMITRESCU, Vladimir CARDOS, Florin FRUNZULICA 44
velocity [5]. When the fluid rotates over the wall, there is a similar effect with the first case
but its sign is reversed: at large distance from the wall the outer rotational flow is governed
by a balance between the centrifugal force and radial pressure directed towards the axis,
while close to the wall the radial pressure unbalanced by the frictional retardation proceeds
to drive the radial inward boundary-layer flow. For reasons of continuity, the motion then
must be compensated by an axial flow upwards that has a wall-suction character, whence the
name sucking effect.
The next problem is a disc of radius R rotating with an angular velocity Ω in an axial
stream of velocity W∞. Although this flow was before considered a simple extension of the
previous cases [6], [7] it has been shown in reality to be more difficult [8].
Thus, the determination of the flow due to a rotating body of revolution (here a disc)
immersed into a steady flow parallel to the axis of rotation of body is not a simple problem,
and a clear picture of all aspects of the flow field is not yet available. This flow is governed
R 2 W
by two parameters: Reynolds number Re , and the rotation parameter , given
R
by the ratio of free stream to tip velocity. The rotation parameter is a measure of the relative
importance of the effects of uniform axial flow and the disc rotation. In the limit and
at infinity we may expect the velocity distribution to reduce to a uniform stream. At the other
extreme, 0 , it is plausible to meet again the flow around the free disc [1]. When µ is non-
zero, the flow field in upstream of the disc appears to be broadly correct predicted in the past
[6], [7]. But the details of the flow in the axially symmetric shear layer and the way the fluid
moves behind the disc are obscure.
Generally, the physical origin of this flow is that the fluid in the boundary layer
experiences centrifugal and wall shear stress forces, and these additionally act on the leeward
side of the disc in an adverse pressure gradient, which can undergo separation. Thus the
spiralling flow near the disc for 0 is presumably modified from the one for 0 ,
although there is an all-or-nothing quality about the moving vortex structure which makes
the nature of the modification difficult to imagine.
The new insights into the nature of the 3D boundary layer on the leeward side of the
rotating disc and the vortex structures carrying angular momentum into fluid are derived and
discussed.
2. PROBLEM FORMULATION
The basic flow for the disc rotating at constant angular velocity Ω * in an otherwise still
viscous incompressible fluid at kinematic viscosity v* (the asterisk subscript indicates a
dimensional quantities) is obtained from the von Karman similarity solution [1]. Batchelor
[9] showed that this flow is a limiting case of a family of flows with similarity solutions, in
which both the disc and the fluid far from the disc rotate with different angular velocities: the
Bödewadt layer [5], where the disc is stationary and the fluid rotate, and the Ekman layer
[10], where the fluid and disc co-rotate at almost the same angular velocity. The similarity
structure also persists for the present case when there is an axial flow towards the disc of
velocity W* [6].
Governing equations. We choose to work with cylindrical coordinates in a non-rotating
frame of reference (Fig. 1). The axial and radial coordinates are z* and r* , respectively, the
azimuthally angle is θ, time is t* , and * is the density of the fluid. The velocities in the
radial, azimuthal and axial directions are u* , v* and w* , respectively, and the pressure is p* .
The governing equations in an inertial frame are therefore
Figure 1 – Uniform superimposed flow of air impinging on the surface of rotating disc
v*2 1 p* u 2 2 v
D*u* * L*u* *2 2 * , (2)
r* * r* r* r*
u*v* 1 p* v 2 u
D*v* * L*v* *2 2 * , (3)
r* *r* r* r*
1 p*
D* w* * L* w* , (4)
* z*
where the differential operators are
v*
D* u* w* , (5a)
t* r* r* z*
1 1 2 2
L* *
r , (5b)
r* r* r* r*2 2 z*2
Equations 1-4 can be made dimensionless by dividing through by approximate
parameters using the following transformations:
1
* 2
r* r, (6a)
1 2
*
1
* 2
z* z, (6b)
1 2
*
t
t* , (6c)
* 1 2
Flow variables are separated into an axisymmetric steady basic flow, which respects von
Karman’s similarity structure and a more general unsteady part from [11], whose amplitude
is characterized, by a small parameter 1 ,
uˆ r, , z, t ,
1 1
u* r* , , z* , t* r** 1 2 2 U z ** 1 2 2 (7)
V z vˆ r, , z, t ,
1 1
v* r* , , z* , t* r** 1 2 2
* * 1 2 2 (8)
W z
1 1
w* r* , , z* , t* ** 1 2 2
* * 1 2 2
wˆ r , , z, t , (9)
P z P r
1
p* r* , , z* , t* *** 1 2 2
z r * * * 1 2 pˆ r , , z, t . (10)
Substituting (6a)-(10) into (1)-(4) and equating terms of 0 gives the basic flow
similarity equations
U 2 WU ' V 2 P 'r U " , (11)
U z , V z 0, W z z C , (15b)
1 2
1 2
where C is some constant to be determined, Pr is the radial pressure distribution on the disc
given from the potential flow moving perpendicularly to a disc, and z is the dimensionless
boundary layer thickness.
These substitutions and the resulting equations reduce (with slight modifications) to the
ones used by von Karman [1] for 0 and the ones used by Hannah [6] only for favourable
pressure gradients (windward side of disc when 0 ).
But the problems of flow separation on the leeward side of disc still remain unclear even
for steady incompressible flow, and conceptual confusion and controversy often appear in
the literature [9].
The numerical solution of (11)-(14) subjected to (15a) and (15b) is relatively straight-
forward, e.g. by a shooting method where (15a) provides three initial conditions, with two
more initial conditions U ' 0 and V ' 0 chosen iteratively until (15b) has been satisfied at a
suitable large finite value of z ( z ) to within some prescribed accuracy. The equation (14)
integrates immediately to give
1
Pz W ' W 2 , (16)
2
since Pz 0 when W, W’ vanish.
Flow of non-viscous fluid. When viscosity is ignored, the solution will be the same for
a rotating as for a stationary disc since the rotation of the disc only affects the fluid velocity
through the viscous drag which it exerts.
The solution of the inviscid irrotational flow can be found by the conformal mapping
technique from the streaming motion past a planetary ellipsoid [12]. This stream function for
the impinging flow in a circular disc is
W* R*2
sinh cosh 2 cot 1 sinh sin 2 , (17)
where Ψ is the stream function solution, z* / R* sinh cos and r* / R* cosh sin . Using
the solution (17), the velocity are obtained as
1
v*r iv* z i iW* , (18)
r* R* cosh( i)
and after a few calculation we obtain
2W* R* cos sin 2
v*r ,
r* cos 2 sinh 2
, (19)
2W sinh
v* z * cot 1 sinh 2
W* ,
cos sinh
2
Figure 2 – Potential flow field: a) streamline pattern; b) pressure distribution on stationary and rotating disc
As shown in Fig 2b the radial pressure gradients are favourable on the leading side of
disc and flow is attached up to the edge, while on the leeward side of disc the adverse
pressure gradient can produce less and more flow separation depending on the value of µ.
Using the method of Stratford [14], the laminar separation location does not require the
solution of the laminar boundary-layer equations. For a given pressure distribution C p r ,
p0 p
the expression C1/p 2 rdC p / dr is easy to calculate on the disc. C p is the
/ 2 R*
0 2
pressure coefficient on a rotating disc and p0 is the pressure at the stagnation point, i.e. at
the origin. Laminar separation is predicted when it reaches a value of 0.102. Figure 3 shows
the location of the separation point depending on the rotation parameter µ which increases
approximately linear up ½, rs 1 , after that follows a sudden rise, rs
1
. As we will
2 2
further show, the nature of the separation is related to the generation of vortices into the
viscous layer adjacent to the disc. The vortex structure differs if the disc is stationary or in
rotation.
Figure 3 – Laminar separation on the leeward side of disc after Stratford’s criterion
Figure 4 – Boundary layer on a rotating disk in axial flow (on leeward side)
a)
b)
Figure 5 – Velocity distributions in boundary layer: a) on the windward side of the disc b) on the leeward side of
the disc
When the boundary layer separates, rotating vortex structures as vortex ring bubbles
arise close to the disc, Fig. 4. When µ is small but non-zero, the angular velocity of the
vortex ring bubble is smaller than the one of the disc (V < 1), the radial flow component U is
directed away from the axis of rotation, and the axial flow (W < 0) is towards the disc
surface, Fig. 5b. The tangential velocity profiles, V(z), point out that the viscous layer in the
vicinity of the disc surface contains a thinner sublayer of thickness zE 2 where fluid and
disc co-rotate at almost the same angular velocity like the Ekman layer, followed above by a
superlayer of rotational flow essentially inviscid subjected to the Taylor-Proudman theorem.
The fluid present in the bottom of separating Ekman layer is thrown outwards and is
transported to a vortex ring bubble or Taylor-Proudman flow. This way, an amount of
angular momentum is transferred in the Taylor-Proudman flow and the disc acts as a
centrifugal fan, a pumping effect occurring. The augmentation of angular momentum
continues up to 1 , when reaches maximum value at about 0.3 , after that the angular
momentum begins to decrease and in the limit we may expect to cancel. When µ is
of unity order, the surface shear forces vanish, U ',V ' z 0 0 , the angular velocity of the
fluid is comparable with the one of the disc, and the fluid and disc co-rotate at almost the
same angular velocity with no axial flow (W = 0) Fig. 5b ( 1 ).
When µ exceeds the value of unity, the angular velocity of the vortex ring bubble is
faster than the one of the disc (V > 1) similarity to a rotating fluid above a stationary disc [5],
the peripheral fluid flows radially inward through the thin Ekman layer toward the axis, Fig.
5b ( 1 ) (U < 0), and the centripetal fluid is replaced by an axial flow outwards the disc
surface occurring a suction effect (W > 0).
In the limit , the vortex ring bubble squeezes around the axis of rotation and in
this way, the angular momentum of rotating fluid cancels.
Understanding the transport process of angular momentum from a rotating body (there
disc) to an uniform superimposed flow of fluid perpendicular to body is important for many
engineering applications, one of which could be the vortex rings used for elementary
excitations in turbulence. The angular momentum transport measured by the circulation of
the boundary layer can be described as a two-step process: generation of vortex ring from
separating Ekman shear sublayer when µ increases up to 1 , followed by dissipation of
angular momentum in the Taylor-Proudman superlayer which is squeezed around the
rotation axe according to the law r const.; r is the local circulation of the vortex ring
bubble which is fixed by the azimuthal velocity component V0 inside the boundary layer at z
for U = 0: r 2πrVs 0.
Figure 6 illustrates the angular momentum transfer for a rotating disc in axial flow,
where the production of circulation occurs on the outer half of that of the disc, with max , for
=0.3 , while on the inner half-disc is its dissipation as exceeds unity. The result is in
agreement with the well-known Taylor’s sphere experiment.
a.
b.
Figure 8 – Streamlines on the leeward side of the disc in the FLUENT calculations for Re 104 (a) and
Re 105 (b)
It refers to the volume of fluid being instantaneously transported with the ring. This
concept is precise only for a steadily rotating ring, i.e. it is the volume enclosed by the
dividing streamline in a reference frame moving with the ring.
From Fig. 7, it is observed that as µ increases, the circulation of bubble continually
increases due to angular momentum transfer from separating Ekman sublayer and its size
decreases because its angular momentum has to be shared with a greater angular velocity of
fluid. When 1 , the angular momentum transfer is maximum, and the fluid and disc co-
rotate at almost the same angular velocity.
For 1 , both circulation and size of bubble decrease according to the rule
r const. and rb 1/ 2 .
For 0.3 the streamlines indicate clearly the Ekman sublayer and Taylor-Proudman
superlayer.
But, for the greater values of μ, the simulation model accuracy is limited and it is not
able to capture the Ekman layer-flow structure.
3.4. Moment coefficients on the rotating disc
Tifford and Chu [7] obtained solutions to the laminar flow equations for the moment
coefficient for impinging flow on a rotating disc at various values of µ, but only for the
leading side of disc.
To our knowledge, a solution for the leeward side of disc is lacking. Figure 8 shows a
comparison of various solutions for the moment coefficient Cm on both leading side and
leeward side of disc.
The present similarity solution for upstream flow has been corrected with edge effect,
1
which implies this solution for the whole disc: R*' 1 2 8 R* when 1 and R*' 0.9R* if
1.
The corrected similarity solution is in a good agreement with CFD solution. The
similarity solution on the leeward side of disc is not in the agreement with the CFD
calculations.
M*
The discrepancy between predicted and numerical Cm is due largely to the
1/ 2**2 R*3
2D URANS approach used in the FLUENT code, which cannot model, with sufficient
fidelity, the flow structures with large scale separations behind the rotating disc. From Fig. 9
we can also observe the influence of the inertia forces associated with the span motion of the
1
bubble: when 1 the force Coriolis ( C f , Cm ) is greater than the centrifugal force in r
direction, and is acting in the span direction, stabilizing the motion, while when 1 , the
force Coriolis changes its direction, causing a strong instability effect.
Figure 9 – Moment (Cm) and radial wall shear stress (Cf,r) coefficients
4. CONCLUSIONS
A physical description has been applied for the laminar uniform superimposed flow of air
perpendicular to a rotating disc impinging on the surface. The investigation has been
particularly focused on the flow events behind the disc, which has a more general interest by
the angular momentum transfer from a rotating rigid body to a steady translation of air
parallel to the axis of rotation.
It is shown that the angular momentum of flow behind the disc increases along with µ,
reaches a maximum value for µ about 0.3 and tends to zero when . The maximum
transferred value to fluid is of order half of the angular momentum produced by the disc,
ACKNOVLEDGMENTS
This work was realized through the Partnership programme in priority domains – PN II,
developed through support provided from ANCS CNDI – UEFISCDI, project no. PN-II-PT-
PCCA-2011-32-1670.
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