Effect of aspect ratio on the similarity between developing laminar flows in orthogonally rotating ducts and stationary curved ducts

Purpose – To investigate the effect of aspect ratio on the quantitative analogy between developing laminar flows in orthogonally rotating straight ducts and stationary curved ductsDesign/methodology/approach – A fractional step method is used to obtain the numerical solution of the governing equations by decoupling the solution of the momentum equations from the solution of the continuity equation. In order to clarify the similarity of the two flows, dimensionless parameters KLR and Rossby number, Ro, in a rotating straight duct were used as a set corresponding to Dean number, KLC, and curvature ratio, λ, in a stationary curved duct.Findings – Under the condition that the aspect ratio was larger than one and that the magnitude of Ro or λ was large enough to satisfy the “asymptotic invariance property” the quantitative analogy between the two flows was established clearly.Research limitations/implications – As the aspect ratio decreased below one, the difference between the secondary flow intensities of th...