Volume 21: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part IV

Temperature-driven Switching and Deflection of Bistable Flow Crossing Side- by-side Tubes Shaobo Han,Tingting Du

Abstract

In this work, we conducted 2-D numerical simulation to explore the characteristics and mechanism of temperature-driven switching and deflection of bistable flow crossing side-by-side tubes. The results
show that the temperature gradient has a notable effect on the deflection of flow through the gap between two tubes with the side-by-side arrangement when the ratio of pitch to dimeter is 1.5. The gap flow deflects to the tube side with a higher temperature. With the increase of temperature gradient between the two tubes, the deflection angle is larger and the deflection state can be kept stably for a longer time. The analysis on drag and lift demonstrates that the switching and deflection of bistable flow driven by temperature results from the effect of temperature gradient on the separation of flow boundary layer. This research provides another control mechanism of bistable flow, and enriches the theory research and the application on thermal control techniques.

Keywords Bistable flow, Temperature-driven, Switch, Side-by-side tubes, Numerical simulation