This experimental study reveals a spectacular and important phenomenon—double vortex breakdown—in a swirling flow of two immiscible fluids where vortex breakdown bubbles evolve simultaneously in both fluids. The rotating lid drives the steady axisymmetric motion in a sealed vertical cylindrical container whose other walls are stationary. As the rotation intensifies, topological metamorphoses occur, resulting in a multicellular flow. Two new circulation cells (vortex breakdown bubbles) simultaneously develop near the centers of both fluids while the flow remains steady and axisymmetric. Such a pattern can help provide fine, gentle, and nonintrusive mixing in chemical and biological reactors.
In the current experiments, two identical wind turbine models were placed in uniform flow conditions in a water flume. The initial flow in the flume was subject to a very low turbulence level, limiting the influence of external disturbances on the development of the inherent wake instability. Both rotors are three-bladed and designed using blade element/lifting line (BE/LL) optimum theory at a tip-speed ratio, λ, of 5 with a constant design lift coefficient along the span, CL = 0.8. Measurements of the rotor characteristics were conducted by strain sensors installed in the rotor mounting. The resulting power capacity has been studied and analyzed at different rotor positions and a range of tip-speed ratios from 2 to 8, and a simple algebraic relationship between the velocity deficit in the wake of the front turbine and the power of the second turbine was found, when both rotors have the coaxial position.
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