High Performance Computing of Turbulent Flow in Complex Pipe Geometries

The numerical study of turbulent flow in pipes is important for fundamental research and allows to solve engineering problems, too. By the use of modern supercomputers the flow through complex pipe geometries can be predicted by the Direct Numerical Simulation method, where the Navier Stokes equations are solved directly and no modelling of turbulence is required. The flow in straight, toroidal and helically coiled pipes has been investigated for the same Reynolds number Re _τ = u _τ R/v = 230. The curvature k ranges from 0 to 0.1 and the torsion τ ranges from 0 to 0.165. The influence of curvature and torsion on turbulent pipe flow is shown by surface profiles of the axial velocity, the pressure and the intensity of the velocity components perpendicular to the axial velocity.