A study of isothermal flow past a confined bluff body

Abstract

The paper describes a preliminary assessment of a TEACH-based mathematical model, known as TURCOM, for isothermal flow past a confined bluff-body. The assessment is based on comparisons of numerical predictions with the experimental data. Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) and gas analysis were used to measure radial profiles of axial velocity and CO2 concentration. Laser sheet illumination was employed to study the gross features of the flow. Depending on the jet velocity ratio, two or three recirculation zones and two well-defined stagnation points along the centerline were predicted. Agreement between the predictions and experimental data were reasonably good, but the axial location of the fuel stagnation point was under-estimated when compared with the LDV data. Flow visualization indicated vortex shedding off the edges of the bluff body, an unsteady flow phenomenon that neither TURCOM prediction nor LDV measurements could identify.