Reducing Flow Separation in T-Junction Pipe using Vortex Generator: CFD Study

A Hamad; Syed Mohammed Aminuddin Aftab; Kamarul Arifin Ahmad

Authors

A Hamad Department of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia
Syed Mohammed Aminuddin Aftab Aero Mechanical Department, Abu Dhabi Polytechnic, Al Ain, P.O. Box 66844, UAE
Kamarul Arifin Ahmad Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia

Keywords:

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) , Pipe flow, Vortex Generators (VG’s), Water Distribution Networks (WDN)

Abstract

Water Distribution Networks (WDN’s) are used for providing water to residential areas. These networks have various junctions and interconnections spanning hundreds of kilometers. In the current work CFD simulation is carried out initially to determine the location of flow separation and recirculation inside a T-junction. Furthermore a parametric study is carried out to reduce this separation by implementing Vortex Generators (VG’s). VG’s are most commonly used in aircrafts to reduce the flow separation. A parametric analysis is carried out considering three VG configurations and later an upgrade is carried out. Simulations are carried out using ANSYS Fluent. The results show that, implementation of VG’s effectively reduces the reverse flow and thus provides a solution to existing problem in Water Distribution Networks (WDN).