Computational investigations have been performed into the behavior of an incompressible fluid flow in the vicinity of a plane symmetric channel contraction. Our aim is to determine the critical Reynolds number, above which the flow becomes asymmetric with respect to the channel geometry using the bifurcation diagram. Three channels, which are characterized by the contraction ratio, are studied and the critical Reynolds numbers are determined as 3075, 1355, and 1100 for channels with contraction ratios of 2, 4, and 8, respectively. The cause and mechanism explaining the transition from symmetric to asymmetric states in the symmetric contraction channel are also provided.

Issue Section:
Additional Technical Papers
Keywords:
channel flow, bifurcation, flow separation, finite volume methods, flow simulation, computational fluid dynamics
Topics:
Bifurcation, Flow (Dynamics), Reynolds number, Computation, Corners (Structural elements)
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