NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF LAMINAR-FLOW THROUGH A STAGGERED BUNDLE OF CYLINDERS

The laminar flow through a staggered bundle of cylinders is examined. The objective of this project is the calculation of the fluid velociti es and the pressure distribution throughout the flow field. The Reynol ds numbers considered, based on the mean velocity and the distance bet ween the cylinders, ranged between 6 and 300. Since the flow is restri cted to the laminar regime, the mathematical model of the problem is c omposed by the Navier-Stokes equations. The finite difference method w as used for the numerical solution of these equations, in the form whe re the velocities and pressure are the field variables. Streamlines, v elocities and pressure distributions are presented for various Reynold s numbers. The reliability of the computation is checked by performing laboratory experiments at similar conditions. The velocities in the f low direction were measured at selected mesh points in the flow field using Laser-Doppler anemometry. The applicability of the results to th e derivation of relations between microscopic and macroscopic properti es of the flow through porous media are also discussed.