Analysis of Potential Fluctuation in Flow

Abstract

Understanding the physics of flow instabilities is important for processes in a wide range of engineering applications. Flow instabilities occur at the interfaces between moving fluids. Potential fluctuations are generated at the interfaces between two moving fluids based on the relationship of continuity. Theoretical analysis demonstrated that, in flow instabilities, potential fluctuation exhibits a potential oscillatory wave surface concurrently in the temporal and spatial dimensions. Potential fluctuations already internally exist in flow before flow instabilities begin to develop; these potential fluctuations greatly affect the formation of interpenetrating structures after forces act on the interfaces. Experimental studies supported the theoretical study: Experiments visualizing condensation flows using refrigerant in one smooth tube and one three-dimensional enhanced tube were conducted to show the development of potential fluctuation in spatial dimensions, and an experiment with cooling tower fouling in seven helically ridged tubes and one smooth tube were conducted to show the development of potential fluctuation in the temporal dimension. Both experimental studies confirmed that potential fluctuation was determined by the densities and velocities of the two fluids in the instability as indicated by the relationship of continuity. In addition, the results of numerical simulation in the literature qualitatively confirm the theoretical study. This paper is a first attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential fluctuation in flow.