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Incompressible flow in contracting ducts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

J. C. Gibbings
J. C. Gibbings*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Liverpool
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Extract

This paper describes the incompressible flow through contracting ducts as used in windtunnel circuits. The value of the velocity gradients that are critically adverse to the boundary layer development are specified and the contraction profile is derived for two-dimensional flow. Solutions to the flow through three-dimensional contractions of circular, square, and square to rectangle shape are obtained. These lead to simple rules for scaling the profile of two-dimensional flow to provide three-dimensional shapes having short lengths with the required velocity distributions. The development of both laminar and turbulent boundary layers is calculated to provide criteria for the avoidance of separation.

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Type
Research Article
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The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 97 , Issue 967 , September 1993 , pp. 230 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1993 

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