Numerical Validation on The Performance of A Two Dimensional Curved Diffuser

Abstract

This paper deals with the investigation of the characteristic of subsonic viscous flow through a curved diffuser numerically with commercial code for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) Fluent Inc. version 6.3. The diffuser flow is a two-dimensional, turbulent, incompressible and fully developed. The investigations are based on the Spalart-Allmaras turbulent model. A 2-D quadrilateral grid is generated by the grid generator GAMBIT. Obtained results are compared with the available experimental data and found to give good agreement. The effects of curvature angle, area ratio and adding tail channel with constant area on the diffuser performance and flow pattern are studied and revealed by the pressure contour, velocity vector, and variation of the pressure recovery factor for all above mentioned parameters.

Keywords

• Diffuser performance
• CFD
• Turbulent flow