Numerical investigation of Dean vortices in a curved pipe

S. I. Bernad, A. Totorean, A. Bosioc, R. Stanciu, and E. S. Bernad

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1558, 172 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4825448

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 Numerical Investigation of Dean Vortices in a Curved Pipe
S. I. Bernada, A. Totoreanb, A. Bosioca, R. Stanciub and E. S. Bernadc
a
Romanian Academy – Timisoara Branch, Mihai Viteazul Str. 24, RO-300223, Timisoara, Romania
b
University Politehnica of Timisoara, Department of Hydraulic Machinery, Mihai Viteazul Str. 1, RO-300222,
Timisoara, Romania
c
University of Medicine and Pharmacy Victor Babes Timisoara, P-ta Eftimie Murgu, 2, Timisoara, Romania

Abstract. This study is devoted to the three-dimensional numerical simulation of developing secondary flows of
Newtonian fluid through a curved circular duct. The numerical simulations produced for different Dean numbers show
clearly the presence of two steady Dean vortices. Therefore, results confirm that helical flow constitutes an important
flow signature in vessels, and its strength as a fluid dynamic index.
Keywords: Dean vortices, secondary motion, helicity, curved pipe
PACS: 47.11.-j, 47.11.Df

INTRODUCTION
Dean vortices are present in a variety of practical applications including technological and physical problems:
internal turbine blades, cooling passages, biological systems and heat exchangers.
The first mathematical analysis made by Dean [1] shows the onset of a pair of counter-rotating vortex cells in a
Newtonian fluid flow in a curved channel resulting from the interaction between centrifugal and viscous forces.
Several works, both theoretical and experimental, have been performed on Dean instabilities, treating the
hydrodynamic aspect, thermo-hydrodynamic interactions, and impact on mixture phenomena. For Newtonian fluids,
a theoretical analysis performed by Ito [2] shows the existence of secondary flows in a curved channel of rectangular
cross section. Cheng and Akiyama [3] used a finite-difference formulation to calculate the secondary flows in
curved rectangular ducts.
Many researchers extended the study to non-Newtonian fluids, as the analytical study of second order fluids flow
in curved pipes made by Jitchote and Robertson [4]. Also detailed investigations regarded to the helical type flow
are presented in work of Pazanin [5, 6].
The present work is focused on exploring Dean vortices in Newtonian flow in a curved duct of circular section,
with an average curvature ratio D/Rc = 0.53, where Rc is the medium radius of curvature of the channel.

NUMERICAL APPROACH
The both investigated sections, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is divided in three parts: (i) a circular straight pipe
of width D = 8 mm and length L = 10D (for case 1 and experimental visualization) and L = 1D (for case 2) at the
entrance; (ii) a connected 900 curved pipe with internal radius R1 = 1.5D and external radius R2 = 2.5D; and (iii)
another circular straight channel at the exit having the same dimensions for all cases (experimental and numerical
investigations). The origin of the Cartesian coordinates is taken at the center O of the curved channel.
The flow motion has been described by the Navier–Stokes equations (principle of momentum conservation and
continuity equation, representing the principle of mass conservation).
The fluid domain is divided into about 700,000 hexahedral elements, as shown in Figure 1. Four different
meshes with boundary layer mesh were investigated. The number of cells varied between 200,000 and 700,000
(mesh 1 = 200,000 cells, mesh 2 = 400,000, mesh 3 = 580,000 and mesh 4 = 700,000 cells). A high mesh resolution
near the walls was needed for accurate values of pressure drop. Thus the mesh was refined in the near-wall region. A
boundary layer consisting of ten rows with a growth factor of 1.15 (ratio between two consecutive layers near the
wall) was generated.A non-slip boundary condition are employed for the wall boundary in the present study. For the
inlet boundary conditions, we have assumed steady inlet velocity without any temporal fluctuation superimposed.
The fluid is assumed incompressible having dynamic viscosity () of 0.00408 Pa and a density () of 1050 kg/m3.
Wall are considered rigid and impermeable. The numerical simulations are performed under steady flow conditions

11th International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics 2013

AIP Conf. Proc. 1558, 172-175 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4825448
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 using commercial software Fluent 6.3 [7]. The k– model is used to solve the time dependent Navier-Stokes
equations for an incompressible blood flow. The governing equations are solved iteratively until convergence of all
flow variables is achieved. The convergence criterion was set to 1x10-6 for the residuals of the continuity equation
and of X, Y and Z momentum equations. TECPLOT (Tecplot, Inc, Bellevue, WA) software (Version 10.0) was used
for the visualization of flow patterns, and for quantification of velocity field, in different sites of the curved pipe.

FIGURE 1. Long elbow geometry corresponding to the case FIGURE 2. Short-elbow geometry (corresponding to the
1 investigated. Fluid domain discretization. investigated case 2).

RESULTS
At Dean number Dn = 116, the flow keeps a two-vortex structure until the exit of the curved part of the duct. In
Figure 3b we represent vortex structures at positions  = 00, 450 and 900. For this Dean number, the centrifugal
forces are not large enough to cause the formation of the additional vortices so the two-vortex flow structure remains
intact.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 3. Flow visualization in a long-elbow pipe for entrance length L = 10D. a) Experimental visualization of the
flow in the distal part of the elbow. b) Numerical results of the velocity field in the logitudinal section.

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 Figure 2 present the axial velocity profile to become increasingly asymmetric, and the peak velocity to move
closer to the pipe wall on the inside of the bend. Experimental visualization and results of the numerical simulation
of the velocity field are shown in figure 2. This figure present an good agreement between experimental
visualization and numerical results.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 4. Dean vortices development distal the elbow exit for case 1 (L = 10D entrance length). a) Experimental
visualization of the helical type flow. b) Velocity vector in different sections in the elbow showing the Dean type vortices
development and evolution.

Figure 3b showed that the in-plane velocity field can be a double vortex structure with varying sizes/strengths of
vortex. For comparison purposes, the corresponding experimental visualization are shown in Figure 3a.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 5. Three-dimensional view of the helical flow patterns and helicity iso-surface (iso-surface value -2). a) Case 1
entrance length L = 10D. b) Case 2 entrance length L = 1D. In case 2 we have more intense secondary motion compared to the
case 1.

Helical Flow Quantification

In three-dimensional incompressible flows described by a velocity vector field, there are two known ideal
invariants, kinetic energy and kinetic helicity, defined by Belian [8]. In flows with a rotational velocity field, helicity
is maximal when velocity V and vorticity x vectors lie in the same direction.

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 Figure 5 shows a three-dimensional visualization (for both investigated cases) of the traces of particles emitted
from the inlet surface. The rendered trajectories depict the important features of the flow and give the observer an
overview of the general flow topology of the field.
Complex flow fields are visible in the distal part of the elbow. As the flow moves distally through the elbow
segment, the momentum of the fluid causes it to follow the vessel wall curvature, thus creating helical flow patterns.
A comparison of particle traces reveals considerable change in flow patterns among the elbow pipe models: there is
reduced strength of the helical flow patterns (for case 1, L = 10D) associated with the entrance length.

CONCLUSIONS
We investigated the existence of a relationship between helical flow structures and Dean vortex development
with different geometric features. The study is based on the numerical evaluation of two elbow geometries.
The preliminary results show that, a two counter-rottating vortical structure exists throughout the geometries and its
strength varies significantly with axial distance.

REFERENCES
1. W. R. Dean, Fluid Motion in a Curved Channel, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 121, 402-420 (1928).
2. H. Ito, Theory on Laminar Flow Through Curved Pipes of Elliptic and Rectangular Cross Sections, Rep. Inst. High Speed
Mech., Tohoku Univ., Sendai, Japan, vol. 1, 1-18 (1951).
3. K. C. Cheng and M. Akiyama, Laminar Forced Convection Heat Transfer in Curved Rectangular Channels, Int. J. Heat Mass
Transfer 13, 471-490 (1970).
4. W. Jitchote and A. M. Robertson, Flow of Second Order Fluids in Curved Pipes, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 90, 91–116
(2000).
5. E. Marusic-Paloka and I. Pazanin, Fluid flow Through a Helical Pipe, Z. angew. Math. Phys. 58, 81-99 (2007).
6. I. Pazanin, Asymptotic Behavior of Micropolar Fluid Flow through a Curved Pipe, Acta Appl. Math. 116, 1-25 (2011).
7. FLUENT 6.3 User’s Guide, ANSYS-Fluent Incorporated, (2006).
8. A. Belian, O. Chkhetiani, E. Golbraikh and S. Moiseev, Helical Turbulence: Turbulent Viscosity and Instability of the
Second Moments, Physica A 258 (1-2), 55–68 (1998).

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