Simulation analysis about the influence of fluid viscosity on the motion status of flow-driven pipeline spherical detector

The micro-leakage internal spherical detector is a new type of pipeline leakage detection method whose movement in the pipeline is essential for its design. This paper uses the numerical simulation method to analyze the detector’s dynamics. The motion of the spherical detector in the horizontal liquid transport pipeline is simulated for the liquid with different viscosity. The result shows that the detector is mainly in a rolling state during the movement, and its angular velocity has periodic fluctuations. Through this simulation, the movement mode of the spherical detector is obtained, which provides help for the subsequent design of the micro-leakage internal spherical detector.