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EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF CURVATURE ON TRANSITION TO TURBULENCE IN A PIPE

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Transition to turbulence in curved pipes is different from transition in straight pipes, as the onset of turbulence is delayed to higher Reynolds numbers. Moreover, the transition scenario is considerably modified by curvature: a sequence of bifurcations instead of a sudden, direct transition to turbulence is found.
We investigate the transition to turbulence in curved pipe flow experimentally with particular attention to the detection of travelling waves and coherent structures. To that end a novel experiment was set up that realizes a constant flow rate in a toroidal pipe.

Author(s):

Jakob Kühnen    
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self Organization, Göttingen
Germany

Michael Schwegel    
Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Vienna University of Technology
Austria

Björn Hof    
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self Organization, Göttingen
Germany

Hendrik C. Kuhlmann    
Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, Vienna University
Austria