Christophe Sarraf

Experimental Study of the Instationary Flow Between Two Ducted Counter-Rotating Rotors

The purpose of this work is to study experimentally the aerodynamic characteristics of a subsonic counter-rotating axial-flow fans system operating in a ducted configuration. The fans of diameter D = 375 mm were designed to match the specification point using an original iterative method: the front rotor blade cascade is designed with a conventional inverse method, setting the radial distribution of the Euler work. The through-flow is then computed using an axisymmetric and radial equilibrium asumption, with empirical models of losses. The rear rotor is not conventional but is designed to straighten the radial profile of the tangential velocity. The design of the front rotor is then modified until the stage meets the requirements. The experimental setup is arranged such that the rotation rate of each fan is independently controlled and that the axial distance between the rotors can be varied from 17% to 310% of the mid-span chord length. Systematic measurements of the global performances and local measurements of the velocity field and of the wall pressure fluctuations are performed, in order to first validate the design method, and to explore the effects of the two specific free parameters of the system: the axial spacing and the ratio of rotation rates. The results show that the efficiency is strongly increased compared to a conventional rotor or to a rotor-stator stage. The developed design method slightly over-predicts the pressure rise and slightly under-predicts the best ratio of rotation rates. Flow angle measurements downstream of the stage show that the outflow is not completely straightened at the design point. Finally, the system is highly efficient on a wide range of flow-rates and pressure rises: this system has thus a very flexible use, with a large patch of high efficient operating points in the parameter space.

Design and Experimental Validation of a Ducted Counter-rotating Axial-flow Fans System

An experimental study on the design of counter-rotating axial-flowfans was carried out. The fans were designed using an inversemethod. In particular, the system is designed to have a pure axialdischarge flow. The counter-rotating fans operate in a ducted-flowconfiguration and the overall performances are measured in a nor-malized test bench. The rotation rate of each fan is independentlycontrolled. The relative axial spacing between fans can vary from17% to 310%. The results show that the efficiency is stronglyincreased compared to a conventional rotor or to a rotor-statorstage. The effects of varying the rotation rates ratio on the overallperformances are studied and show that the system has a very flexi-ble use, with a large patch of high efficient operating points in theparameter space. The increase of axial spacing causes only a smalldecrease of the efficiency. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4007591]

POD study of aerated cavitation in a venturi nozzle

The fact of injecting bubbles into a cavitating flow influences typical cavitating behavior. Cavitation and aerated cavitation experiments has been carried out on a symmetrical venturi nozzle with convergent/divergent angles of 18° and 8°, respectively. A snapshot Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) technique is used to identify different modes in terms of discharge flow velocity, pressure and injected quantity of air. The energy spectrum per given mode is also presented. The first four modes are outlined in the present paper for an aerated and non-aerated cavitating flows.

A New Hemodynamic Ex Vivo Model for Medical Devices Assessment

BACKGROUND In-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a major public health concern associated with an increased morbidity, mortality, and health-related costs. Drug-eluting stents (DES) have reduced ISR, but generate healing-related issues or hypersensitivity reactions, leading to an increased risk of late acute stent thrombosis. Assessments of new DES are based on animal models or in vitro release systems, which have several limitations. The role of flow and shear stress on endothelial cell and ISR has also been emphasized. The aim of this work was to design and first evaluate an original bioreactor, replicating ex vivo hemodynamic and biological conditions similar to human conditions, to further evaluate new DES. METHODS This bioreactor was designed to study up to 6 stented arteries connected in bypass, immersed in a culture box, in which circulated a physiological systolo-diastolic resistive flow. Two centrifugal pumps drove the flow. The main pump generated pulsating flows by modulation of rotation velocity, and the second pump worked at constant rotation velocity, ensuring the counter pressure levels and backflows. The flow rate, the velocity profile, the arterial pressure, and the resistance of the flow were adjustable. The bioreactor was placed in an incubator to reproduce a biological environment. RESULTS A first feasibility experience was performed over a 24-day period. Three rat aortic thoracic arteries were placed into the bioreactor, immersed in cell culture medium changed every 3 days, and with a circulating systolic and diastolic flux during the entire experimentation. There was no infection and no leak. At the end of the experimentation, a morphometric analysis was performed confirming the viability of the arteries. CONCLUSIONS We designed and patented an original hemodynamic ex vivo model to further study new DES, as well as a wide range of vascular diseases and medical devices. This bioreactor will allow characterization of the velocity field and drug transfers within a stented artery with new functionalized DES, with experimental means not available in vivo. Another major benefit will be the reduction of animal experimentation and the opportunity to test new DES or other vascular therapeutics in human tissues (human infrapopliteal or coronary arteries collected during human donation).

Numerical Modeling of Aerated Cavitation Using a Penalization Approach for Air Bubble Modeling Coupled to Homogeneous Equilibrium Model

Cavitation is a well-known physical phenomena occurring in various technical applications. It appears when the pressure of the liquid drops below the saturation pressure. Coupling aeration in a cavitating flow is a recent technique to control the overall effect of the cavitation. It is achieved by introducing air bubbles into the flow. In order to reveal and explore the behaviour of air gas in the vicinity of the cavitation region, the paper is oriented towards the physics of the colliding vapor phase bubbles and cavitating regions. The re-entrant jet may influence the dynamics of the bubbles as well as the frequency of cavitation separation. Therefore, a two-way coupling between the fluid flow and the introduced vapor is of capital importance. By penalizing the strain rate tensor in the Homogeneous Mixture Model, the two-way coupling has been achieved. The contact-handling algorithm is based on the projections of the velocity fields of the injected particles over the velocity field of the fluid flow. At each time step the gradient of the distance between the bubbles, is kept non-negative as a guarantee of the physical non overlapping. The bubbles’ collisions are considered as inelastic. The

Experimental Investigation on Ducted Counter-Rotating Axial Flow Fans

An experimental study on counter-rotating axial-flow fans was carried out. The fans of diameter D = 375 mm were designed using an inverse method. The counter-rotating fans operate in a ducted-flow configuration and the overall performances are measured in a normalized test bench. The rotation rate of each fan is independently controlled. The axial spacing between the fans can vary from 10 to 50 mm by steps of 10 mm. The results show that the efficiency is strongly increased compared to a conventional rotor or to a rotor-stator stage. The effects of varying the rotation rates ratio on the overall performances are studied and show that the system is highly efficient on a wide range of flow-rates and pressure rises. However, the change of the axial distance between rotors from 10 to 50 mm does not seem to change the overall performances. This system has thus a very flexible use, with a large patch of high efficient operating points in the parameter space. Further local studies including velocity measurements and wall-pressure fluctuations in the space between the rotors are needed to better understand the interactions between the rotors and to optimize the system.Copyright