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The effects of curvature on the flow field in rapidly rotating gas centrifuges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

Houston G. Wood ,
Jo Ann Jordan  and
Max D. Gunzburger
Houston G. Wood
Affiliation:
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Jo Ann Jordan
Affiliation:
Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Max D. Gunzburger
Affiliation:
Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Abstract

The effects of curvature on the fluid dynamics of rapidly rotating gas centrifuges are studied. A governing system of a linear partial differential equation and boundary conditions is derived based on a linearization of the equations for viscous compressible flow. This system reduces to the Onsager pancake model if the effects of curvature are neglected. Approximations to the solutions of the governing equations with and without curvature terms are obtained via a finite-element method. Two examples are considered: first where the flow is driven by a thermal gradient at the wall of the centrifuge, and then for the flow being driven by the introduction and removal of mass through the ends of the centrifuge. Comparisons of the results obtained show that, especially for the second example, the inclusion of the terms due to curvature in the model can have an appreciable effect on the solution.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 140 , March 1984 , pp. 373 - 395
Copyright
© 1984 Cambridge University Press

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