Author(s): Branislav Basara; Herwig A. Grogger; Roman Klasinc; Dominik Mayr
Linked Author(s): Roman Klasinc
Keywords: Trifurcation; Experiment; Numerical simulation; Reynolds stress model
Abstract: A study of the flow through a trifurcation has been performed experimentally and numerically. For the experiments a plexiglas trifurcation was used. The pressure head were measured for several discharges in the three branches. The computations were carried out on a quarter of the real domain since the boundary conditions as well as the geometry were symmetric. It is demonstrated that the mean-flow parameters are predicted well by the k-εturbulence model. More advanced turbulence model, namely Reynolds stress model has been used as a complementary model to describe the flow more accurately. The calculations were assessed for available measurements and later extended to higher discharges, for which experiments could not be done because of incipient cavitation in the model. The agreement of the calculated and measured pressure drop is relatively good and helps to transfer test results from the model to the prototype.
Year: 1999