nd

2 International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering and its Interdisciplinary Areas (ICAMEI-2015)

Design and Analysis of Low Speed Water Tunnel for

Flow Visualization of Bluff Body

Harshad Kalyankar, Rishabh Melwanki, Dinesh Choudhary, Siddharth Jethwa and Dipak Chaudhari
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vidyavardhini’s College of Engg. & Tech., University of Mumbai

Abstract
Water tunnel is an indispensible experimental facility used for testing the hydrodynamic behavior of
submerged bodies in flowing water. It has its application in visualizing the flow behavior over different
structures, studying the boundary layer phenomenon i.e. flow separation, vortex shedding etc. The design
philosophy to be employed for designing a low speed water tunnelis discussed in this paper. Different
components, their significance and the key decisions that need to be taken while designing them are
explained. A water tunnel with test section dimensions WHL: 0.10 × 0.15 × 0.70 m capable of generating
flow speed in the range of 0–0.21 m/s is designed, analyzed & fabricated for flow visualization purpose using
External Dye Injection technique. A Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. KDS-225++,with flowrate 19.08m3/hr, and
maximum pressure head of 26m is used as the pump. Suitable fabrication of dye injection technique for
visualization purpose is also additionally discussed. The design is computationally analyzed in Autodesk
Simulation CFD 2013 package, for determining the flow characteristics throughout setup and thus optimizing
the setup to have a laminar flow throughout with satisfactory flow velocities (velocity achieved was 0.08m/s
for a particular set of input parameters which is desirable).

INTRODUCTION
The requirement for the water tunnel is to visualize a wide range of flows. The flow ranges differ
according to the fluid, flow speed, problem size, and solid boundaries, special flow features such asflow
with heat addition or flow of electrically charged fluids. For a water tunnel, the fluid is restricted to
water. Any water tunnel or wind tunnel system imposes restrictions on the flow speed and problem size
due to tunnel power capabilities, structural design and size. As for the flow speed and problem size, they
do not comprise a difficult problem since the similarity parameters and problem scaling provide a
solution. Thus, by the proper combination of similarity parameters and problem sizing, a wide range of
problems may be modeled in the tunnel. Water tunnel is of paramount importance for flow
visualization. Flow visualization is the process of making different phenomena of the fluid flow visible.
As for the research purposes, flow visualization plays a key role in understanding the flow behavior in
order to assist the researcher in formulating more consistent theories regarding the particular flow.
Since, the fluid mechanical problem exhibits a high degree of complexity, the brute force approach of
solving the problem is inefficient, specialized theories for different flows must be formulated in order to
simplify the flow problem and focus on the problem in hand.

WATER TUNNEL SURVEY

In order to have a better idea about the common sizes and capabilities of water tunnels, a survey was
made. The survey data are mainly concerned with the test section flow speed and tunnel size,
represented by the test section dimensions and tunnel contraction ratio.
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50 ‹ 2 International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering and its Interdisciplinary Areas (ICAMEI-2015)

Water Tunnel Tunnel Description/ Tunnel Data Tunnel Image

Applications

The Garfield
World’s Largest Water 100 feet long and about 32
Thomas Water
Tunnel. Used by US Navy for feet high, 100,000 gallons
tunnel:
the testing of Torpedoes capacity.
State College
amongst other uses.
Pennsylvania

Parameter Closed-jet Open-jet

Test-section size (diameter) 381 mm 460 mm
Contraction ratio 16:1 11:1
Closed loop circuit with
High Speed Water Maximum velocity 30.3 m/s 20.8 m/s
interchangeable closed-jet and
Tunnel Facility: Turbulence level 0.2-0.3% NA
open-jet test sections and is
IISC, Bangalore, Maximum test-section pressure
equipped with a horizontal 2.5 bar (2-5 x 10 s Pa)
India (absolute)
resorber.
Minimum test-section pressure
0.33 bar
(absolute)
Capacity of the drive motor 447.4 kW

Rolling Hills
Ideal for in-classroom Test Section dimensions
Research
demonstrations and student WHL :0.1778 x 0.254 x
Corporation:
research projects. So we will 0.4572 meters
University Desktop
be using this tunnel as our TestSectionVelocity:0.050
Water
reference. 8to 0.127 m/s
Tunnel Model 0710

Based on the above tunnel survey, the test section of Rolling Hills Model 0710 Water Tunnel seems
to be adequate for our visualization purposes. Considering the available pump in the institute, hardware
(plumbing, and supports) and the space available in the laboratory, a tunnel similar in overall
dimensions to the mentioned tunnel will be adequate& hence selected. The length of the test section
can be altered without significant altering of the flow characteristics in the flow in upstream of the test
section. The pump of choice is a Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. KDS-225++, Serial no. A7D2101363, having
a maximum volume flow rate of 19.08m3/hr and a maximum pressure head of 26mof water. Depending
on volume flow rate & the required Reynold’s number (Re) range, the selected test section velocity is up
to 0 to 0.2m/s & test section dimensions are WHL: 0.10 x 0.15 x 0.70 meters.

FLOW VISUALIZATION SURVEY

Wolgang Merzkirch’s “Flow Visualization” 2nd Ed. classifies the flow visualization techniques into
three broad categories which will be discussed here:
Visualization Technique Application Medium Flow Regime
Dye Injection Water (water tunnels, Hele-Shawcells) Low speeds (water tunnels) & very low
speeds (Hele-Shawcells)
Smoke Visualization Air (wind tunnels) Low subsonic speeds (M<0.3)
Particle Image Velocimetry Water Low speeds
Pressure Sensitive Paint Air High speeds
Wake Imaging Air-Water Low to moderate speeds
Shadow Graphs Air Compressible flow
Schlieren Imaging Air Supersonic speeds

We will be focusing on “Dye Injection” flow visualization in this paper due to its simplicity, ease of
setup, low cost high quality of pictorial representation.
 Design and Analysis of Low Speed Water Tunnel for Flow Visualization of Bluff Body ‹ 51

WATER TUNNEL DESIGN

The most widely used configuration for the tunnel body is in the form of three modulesconnected in
sequence the inlet module, the test section and the outlet module.

Fig. 1: Water Tunnel Design

TEST SECTION DESIGN

The length must not be very long for the boundary layer thickness to become very large, thus, altering
the main flow stream behavior. Meanwhile, the test section must be of sufficient length for extended
flow effects such as wakes and vortices to be amenable to visualization. Another important point to be
considered is the model should not be mounted at the extreme upstream of the test section, but should
be given sufficient distance to damp any turbulence effects that may occur due to irregularities
experienced in the interface between the inlet module and the test section. The settling distance and the
distance for wake or vortices visualization must be about 5 times the characteristic length of the model.
It is also important to estimate the boundary layer thickness at the most critical part of the test section,
which is the visualization zone. The boundary layer thickness will be at its maximum at the
downstream of the test section. For a laminar boundary layer, the thickness may be estimated from
equation 1 is found to be of 0.009 meters on the side walls at the cylinder position, thus reducing the
cross-section from 0.10 × 0.15 to an effective 0.08 × 0.15 meters, which is acceptable. Thus considering
these points we have already finalized the dimensions in section 1.1. Which is WHL: 0.10 × 0.15 ×
0.70 meters.
ହ୐
μ= equation 1.
ξୖୣ ୐

To sum up, the test section design variables are the following:
x Rectangular operational cross section.
x Operational dimensions are 0.10 × 0.15 meter.
x Manufacturing dimensions are 0.10 × 0.20 meter.
x Test section length is 0.70 meter.
x Test section material is acrylic.

Fig. 2: Test Section

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52 ‹ 2 International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering and its Interdisciplinary Areas (ICAMEI-2015)

INLET MODULE DESIGN

Convergent Section Design
The main form of the inlet module is primarily dictated by the convergence form as shown in Fig. 3. In
the case of two dimensional convergence, it is significantly larger in the starting dimensions; however,
it is simpler in manufacturing with less probability of errors & does not require a closed top design
although a top may be used if required. The contraction ratio must be between 6 and 10; it is worthy to
note that increasing the contraction ratio increases the maximum width of the contraction only since
there is no contraction in the other dimension (2D convergence), while a higher contraction ratio will
damp flow perturbations as given by C. Weiselsberger. A typical value of 7 was chosen for the
contraction ratio, considering the size & fabrication cost. For the test section of 0.10 m width, the
maximum width of the convergence is to be 7 x 0.10 = 0.70 m. To sum up, the convergence is of
rectangular cross section of height of 0.20 m and its width calculated to be 0.70 m.

Fig. 3: Convergent Section

The design of the contour of the convergence for optimum contraction geometry design is based on
୶ ହ ୶ ୶
the 5th degree polynomial curve of the formY = Hi െ (Hi െ He) × [6 ቀ ୪ ቁ െ 15( ୪ )ସ + 10( ୪ )ଷ ] where Hi is
the inlet width, He is the exit width and l is the contraction length as mentioned by J.H. Bell. The
study also mentions that the width to length ratio must be somewhere between 0.667 and 1.79, too short
length will reduce turbulence damping performance and too long length will cause boundary layer
growth, and probably, separation, hence, a width to length ratio of 1 was chosen (l = 1.3 m). The
୶ ହ ୶ ୶
contour relation becomesY = 0.7 െ (0.7.0.1) × [6 ቀ଴.଻ቁ െ 15(଴.଻)ସ + 10(଴.଻)ଷ ] where 0 ൑ x ൑ 0.7.

Flow Conditioning System Design

The flow conditioning system is typically a honeycomb like structure of pipes where the turbulent flow
enters from one side and exits from the other, almost laminar. In a flow, there are two types of
turbulences, i.e. longitudinal & lateral turbulence. Screens reduce the longitudinal component of
turbulence or mean-velocity variation to a greater extent than the lateral component whereas
honeycomb reduces the lateral turbulence & straighten the flow. The important requirement of the
honeycomb is to obtain a fully developed flow at the honeycomb exit. This is obtained after a length
equal to approximately 5–10 times the entrance diameter of the honeycomb pipe. The higher the ratio,
more effective is the honeycomb in straightening out the flow. For safety considerations, the length to
diameter ratio is taken at a value higher than 5–10. The selected ratio is 33.87, according to
experimental trials performed at University of Minnesota. Moreover, the material thickness must be as
minimum as possible. From the available pipes in the market, an appropriate pipe (drinking straws)
with very low thickness (less than 1 mm) is used. The selected pipe is of diameter 6 mm and the
honeycomb length is 8 inch (203.2 mm). A metal screen with opening dimensions less than 2 mm x 2
mm & nylon screen with opening dimension 2mm x 1mm is used to break down the turbulence that
may exist in the inlet plenum. The screen is located upstream and downstream of the honeycomb which
eases the flow straightening process.
 Design and Analysis of Low Speed Water Tunnel for Flow Visualization of Bluff Body ‹ 53

Inlet Plenum Design

The inlet plenum is located before the convergent section. It receives the water from the piping system
and it delivers it to the convergent section. The design requirements of the inlet plenum are:
x Relatively large water containing volume to provide a tank like effect, this helps damping all the
turbulence from the piping and delivery systems.
x A place to accommodate the flow conditioning system.
x A suitable delivery point from the piping subsystem.
The delivery point of water to inlet plenum is connected to a 50.80 mm diameter PVC pipe from the
piping subsystem. In order to evade the corner flow effects, the part surrounding the delivery hole is
made circular with a relatively large radius, compared to the delivery pipe radius. In order to provide
the large volume for the water accommodation, 0.38m of length is left free of any curvatures or
intrusions. This volume acts like a tank to damp most of the delivery problems.

Fig. 4: Inlet Plenum

Baffle Design
A baffle is used to cover the inlet delivery point for safety purpose, to mitigate the possibility of spillage
or overflow of water when it is gushing upwards in the inlet piping system & entering the inlet plenum
of the setup. In addition, it also reduces the turbulence energy of the incoming water. A 0.56m x 0.385m
(WH) stainless steel plate with 6mm hole diameter punched, is bend into a hollow cylinder of diameter
0.16m with 0.385m height, having its top end closed with another stainless steel circular plate, both
welded together. A cotton cloth of dimension 0.3m x 0.385m (WH) is wrapped six times around the
assembly. Over this nylon net of dimension 0.25m x 0.385m (WH) is wrapped five times around the
assembly, which acts as a flow conditioner.

Fig. 5: Baffle
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54 ‹ 2 International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering and its Interdisciplinary Areas (ICAMEI-2015)

OUTLET MODULE DESIGN

Outlet module connects the whole setup with the piping system. The important design decision is the
geometry of this part since any irregularities here will exert a back pressure or flow reversal back into
the test section thus giving us aberrant results. There are two delivery configurations, either a single
delivery point or multiple delivery points to be considered. To make a decision out of the two,
computational analysis was carried out with Autodesk Simulation CFD 2013 (Students version), which
shows us that there were some flow perturbation with the use of single outlet hole, while with use of 2
outlets, a laminar flow behavior was observed & is thus preferred. The 2 outlets have a diameter of
38mm & are placed 200mm from the plane of symmetry.

Fig. 6: Outlet Module

Fig. 7: Analysis of Outlet Module with One Outlet Fig. 8: Analysis of Outlet Module with Two Outlets

DYE INJECTION SYSTEM

Food coloring dye, readily available in market, of color red, blue, green is chosen for better visualization
purpose. 25 grams approx (1.5 teaspoons) of dye powder is added in 500 ml of water & properly mixed,
this mixture is used as visualization medium. The dye mixture is filled in inverted bottles with holes at
bottom top & bottom surface of the bottle, infusion IV set is used to ensure controlled flow of dye to the
syringe. The syringe chosen is 18G 1.5 TW (1.2mm diameter of orifice x 38mm length of syringe). This
particular syringe is chosen after trial & error & observing the vortex shedding pattern with syringes of
different gauges (orifice diameters). These syringes are then tied with plastic locks to L-bend steel rods,
fabricated in the workshop. The location of syringes is chosen appropriately according to the cylinder-
test piece diameter.
 Design and Analysis of Low Speed Water Tunnel for Flow Visualization of Bluff Body ‹ 55

Fig. 9: Syringe Needles Fig. 10: Dyeinjection System Fig. 11: Inlet Piping System Fig. 12: Outlet Piping System

ASSEMBLY
The bypass ball valve of the existing experimental setup of the department is used as an inlet to our
setup. To this valve, rotameter of 100 lpm capacity is connected to measure the flowrate of water going
to the project setup as shown in figure 11& thus the velocity of the flow at the test section. To fix the
baffle 4 nos. of 5mm diameter bolts are welded to the inlet plenum, & are bolted with the baffle. The
inlet plenum & convergent section were appropriately bolted with each other keeping an industrial
rubber gasket in between the assembly to prevent any leakages. The same procedure is repeated for
remaining parts. Thin layer of silicone gel is applied at appropriate places for safety purpose to prevent
any further leakages. Honeycomb is properly placed 0.73 m from the extreme left. The entire dye
injection system is placed properly upstream of cylinder.

Fig. 13: Solid Works Model of Assembly Fig. 14: Actual Assembly

COMPUTATIONAL VALIDATION OF THE SETUP

For computational validation of the setup, Autodesk Simulation CFD 2013 (Students Version) was
utilized due to its simple GUI as compared to other CFD packages.
The following steps are incorporated for analysis:
1. The parasolid part file (.x_t) of the solid works assembly is imported in the solver.
2. Now, the preprocessing parameters are needed to be set.
3. Through the geometry conditions, tab void fill option is selected by which the open surface of
the setup will be filled with the default material which can be edited to the required fluid i.e.
water.
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56 ‹ 2 International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering and its Interdisciplinary Areas (ICAMEI-2015)

4. Boundary conditions need to be now given to the setup. At the inlet, volume flow rate of 2332.8
m3/s is given to obtain a flow velocity of 0.02m/s at the test section and at the outlet we consider
zero gauge pressure.
5. Auto sizing for mesh sizing is selected and with area latter to the cylinder is focused. Now we
may proceed to solving and post processing steps with the model as shown in Fig. 15.
6. In the solving step, surface and volume meshes are automatically generated and further
optimized. Now iterations along the setup begin. We have selected 100 iterations in order to
limit the computational calculations according to our resources.
7. After the solving step, we may proceed to the post processing step, wherein we receive a
summary file with data recorded at all iterations step as well as an overview of the whole
analysis. Here, we may choose any plane along the setup to view parameters of our choice. We
may also make use of tracer points, which gives us an idea of the flow. These trace set can be
animated into a.vcf extension file.
8. The obtained results are as shown in Fig. 17 and trace set result in Fig. 16.

Fig. 15: Mesh Auto Sizing Fig. 16: Trace Set

Fig. 17: Velocity Contour

OBSERVATION
From Fig. 16, we observe that the streamlines coming from the inlet pipe, settles in the inlet plenum &
are converging with maintaining streamline flow in the convergent section and reaching to the desired
flow velocity of 0.08m/s (chosen for this particular analysis) at the test section.

CONCLUSION
This work provides us with a concise design methodology for low speed water tunnel designing, which
is generally not available at a single location. Here we have discussed the design procedure employed
for designing each component & the extremities conditions that needs to be followed & hence
fabricated & successfully test run the whole setup to satisfy the aforementioned parameters. The current
design can be safely employed for flow speeds of 0–0.21m/s for flow visualization process especially
vortex shedding of bluff bodies, flow over different surfaces. Requirements for satisfactory flow
visualization are also made available.
 Design and Analysis of Low Speed Water Tunnel for Flow Visualization of Bluff Body ‹ 57

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful to the professors of Vidyavardhini’s College of Engineering & Technology,
particularly Assistant Prof. Dr. Ravidra Jilte and our project guide, Assistant Prof. Dipak Chaudhari. In
addition, we appreciate the support of Mr. Ahmed M. Hussin for sharing their work on “Flow
Visualization Water Tunnel: Design, Building & Testing” by authors Ahmed M. Hussin, Aly A.
Sorour, Sally I. Ragab.

REFERENCES
[1] C. Weiselsberger, June 1925, “On Improvement of Air Flow in Wind Tunnels”, NACA Technical Memorandum No. 470
also published in the Journal of Society of Mechanical Engineers of Japan Vol. XXVIII, No. 98.
[2] John F. Ripken, August, 1951, “Experiments on turbulence management using screens & honeycomb”, University of
Minnesota, St. Anthony falls hydraulic lab.
[3] J.H. Bell and R.D. Mehta, August 1988, “Contraction Design for Low Speed Wind Tunnels”, NASA 177488.Contract
NAS2-NCC-2-294.