A numerical investigation of the effect of curvature and Reynolds number to radial velocity in a curved porous pipe
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Date
2017Author
Mwangi, Daniel Mathaia
Karanja, Stephen
Kimathi, Mark
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Different irrigation methods are being used in agriculture. However, due to scarcity of water, irrigation methods that
use water efficiently are needed. The motivation of this study is the increasing use of porous pipes to meet this requirement. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of curvature and Reynolds number on radial velocity
profile of water across a porous wall of a curved pipe with circular cross-section, constant permeability k and porosity
ϕ. The momentum equations of the two dimensional flow are written in toroidal coordinates. The main flow in the
pipe is only characterized by δ and Re as the only non-dimensional groups of numbers. We also considered the flow to
be fully developed, unsteady, laminar and irrotational. Darcy law is used to analyse the flow across the porous membrane. The main flow was coupled with the flow through the porous wall of the pipe. The equations were solved using
finite difference method. It was observed that effect of curvature on the velocity across the pipe wall is negligible while
an increase in Reynolds number leads to an increase in the radial velocity. The findings of this study are important in
the design of porous pipes and also in their use during irrigation.
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http://www.ijaamm.com/uploads/2/1/4/8/21481830/v5n1p12_99-110.pdfhttp://repository.must.ac.ke/handle/123456789/624