Experimental and Numerical Research on Swirl Flow in Straight Conical Diffuser

The main objective of the current study is a detailed (both numerical and experimental) investigation of the highly unsteady and complex swirl flow in a straight conical diffuser (with a total divergence angle of 8.6°) generated by an axial fan impeller. Pressure, and axial and tangential velocity profiles along several cross-sections were measured by original classical probes in two different flow regimes at the inlet: the modified solid body type of moderate swirl and the solid body type of strong swirl and reverse flow; they were additionally confirmed/validated by laser Doppler anemometry measurements. Computational studies of spatial, unsteady, viscous, compressible flows were performed in ANSYS Fluent by large eddy simulation. The fan was neglected, and its effect was replaced by the pressure and velocity profiles assigned along the inlet and outlet boundaries. The two sets of data obtained were compared, and several conclusions were drawn. In general, the relative errors of the pressure profiles (2–5%) were lower than the observed discrepancies in the axial velocity profiles (5–40% for the first and 15–50% for the second flow regime, respectively). The employed reduced numerical model can be considered acceptable since it provides insights into the complexity of the investigated swirl flow.