Numerical investigation of turbulent swirling flows in axisymmetric internal flow configurations

Several types of axisymmetric internal configurations were numerically simulated in order to investigate the development of turbulent swirling and non-swirling flows along the axial direction. The governing equations were the Navier–Stokes equations with swirl velocity, requiring the computation of all three velocity components. The turbulence model used in the present work was the quadratic k-ωω formulation. Applying the above methods, both swirling and non-swirling flows in a pipe, in a typical Venturi tube and in an orifice were simulated and the results were analyzed in detail.

► A numerical algorithm including a novel turbulence model has been developed.
► Both swirling and non-swirling axially symmetric flows were simulated.
► Good agreement of the computational and theoretical results was obtained.
► The swirl in a Venturi tube resulted in deviation of the discharge coefficient.
► The decay of the swirl was comparable to results obtained by other authors.