Prediction of Elbow Flow Dynamics Using Correlated Wall Pressure Data

The present study focuses on the analysis of the flow-induced vibration phenomenon typically encountered on piping systems containing an elbow. The correlation between the turbulent flow through the elbow and the dynamic forcing it yields on the piping walls was assessed experimentally. A closed water loop containing a transparent elbow was designed in order to develop fully turbulent duct flow condition. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was applied in the transparent zone in order to provide unsteady data on the flow dynamics through the elbow; simultaneously, wall pressure fluctuations were measured on and around the elbow. Several flow configurations were tested in order to obtain a large coupled database linking the flow features to the resulting dynamic excitation on the walls. Finally, Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR) was applied in order to harvest the correlated information contained in multiple pressure signals at multiple time-delays and build a relationship capable of estimating the temporal evolution of the velocity field using a set of measured wall pressure signals.