EVALUATION OF CONVERGENT FLOW OF WATER IN A T-JUNCTION FOR DIFFERENT FLOW RATES IN THE SECONDARY BRANCH: NUMERICAL SIMULATION
Helton Gomes Alves1; Morgana de Vasconcellos Araújo1; Wanessa Raphaella Gomes dos Santos1; Antônio Gilson Barbosa de Lima1; Severino Rodrigues de Farias Neto1
1 Federal University of Campina Grande
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-1529
Resumo
The t-junction is an industrially common variation, with a simple construction and a low cost. Between of some many applications, stands out for its use as a fluidic mixer, with or without chemical reaction, in a isothermal way or with changes in temperature. The fluctuations in temperature, pressure and in speed in the vicinity of the junction walls, if high, can result in vibrations that reach frequencies that cause damage to the structure of the material composing the product, such as cracks, for example, tracks resulting in financial loss for the industry. Aiming to give a contribution in the fluid dynamic parameters on the conditions that lead to fatigue, a numerical study of the convergent flow of water using Ansys CFX software was performed by fixing a value of velocity of flow of water in the main branch and varying values in the secondary branch. The conservation equations of mass and momentum are solved together with the turbulence model k-ε standard. The results of the pressure field and velocity are analyzed, emphasizing the regions most affected by the fluctuations of the mentioned variables.
Palavras-chave: t-junction; water flow; pipe