Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet

Vortex drop shafts are special structures through which a nearly horizontal free-surface flow is forced to rotate and turn into a swirling flow across the vertical shaft. The existing design criteria do not allow to estimate specific design parameters, such as the maximum pressure force acting on th...

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Main Authors: Gaetano Crispino, Filomena Maietta, Michele Iervolino, Corrado Gisonni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-03-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302500283X
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author Gaetano Crispino
Filomena Maietta
Michele Iervolino
Corrado Gisonni
author_facet Gaetano Crispino
Filomena Maietta
Michele Iervolino
Corrado Gisonni
author_sort Gaetano Crispino
collection DOAJ
description Vortex drop shafts are special structures through which a nearly horizontal free-surface flow is forced to rotate and turn into a swirling flow across the vertical shaft. The existing design criteria do not allow to estimate specific design parameters, such as the maximum pressure force acting on the shaft wall, and some advance in modelling the swirling flow velocity field is still needed for supercritical approaching flows. The present research provides new experimental data related to the flow field establishing across the vertical shaft. The study describes a CFD modelling, based on 3D Volume-Of-Fluid numerical simulations, of supercritical vortex drop shafts. The geometrical configuration of the physical model of a vortex drop shaft, previously investigated in the literature, was replicated. Numerical modelling phases, from the validation to the description of the experimental activity, are described in the paper. The experimental program was designed to observe the hydraulic features of the swirling flow by changing the flow discharge in two structures of different vertical shaft diameter. It was shown that the flow behaviour inside the shaft varied significantly depending on the capacity Froude number, and it was far from being respectful of the axis-symmetry condition. The vertical distributions of the axial and tangential velocity components helped to define the shaft region along which the flow rotation almost disappeared. New insights on the pressure forces acted by the swirling flow across the vertical shaft were also provided. The numerical modelling served, therefore, as a valid complement to the standard physical model investigations.
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Elsevier
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series Results in Engineering
spelling doaj-art-74546349fbbb4b64a05c0952a1d9b1dd2025-02-02T05:29:16ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302025-03-0125104197Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inletGaetano Crispino0Filomena Maietta1Michele Iervolino2Corrado Gisonni3Corresponding author.; Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, ItalyDepartment of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, ItalyDepartment of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, ItalyDepartment of Engineering, Università degli Studi della Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, ItalyVortex drop shafts are special structures through which a nearly horizontal free-surface flow is forced to rotate and turn into a swirling flow across the vertical shaft. The existing design criteria do not allow to estimate specific design parameters, such as the maximum pressure force acting on the shaft wall, and some advance in modelling the swirling flow velocity field is still needed for supercritical approaching flows. The present research provides new experimental data related to the flow field establishing across the vertical shaft. The study describes a CFD modelling, based on 3D Volume-Of-Fluid numerical simulations, of supercritical vortex drop shafts. The geometrical configuration of the physical model of a vortex drop shaft, previously investigated in the literature, was replicated. Numerical modelling phases, from the validation to the description of the experimental activity, are described in the paper. The experimental program was designed to observe the hydraulic features of the swirling flow by changing the flow discharge in two structures of different vertical shaft diameter. It was shown that the flow behaviour inside the shaft varied significantly depending on the capacity Froude number, and it was far from being respectful of the axis-symmetry condition. The vertical distributions of the axial and tangential velocity components helped to define the shaft region along which the flow rotation almost disappeared. New insights on the pressure forces acted by the swirling flow across the vertical shaft were also provided. The numerical modelling served, therefore, as a valid complement to the standard physical model investigations.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302500283XHydraulic structureVOF methodSupercritical flowVortex drop shaftAir core
spellingShingle Gaetano Crispino
Filomena Maietta
Michele Iervolino
Corrado Gisonni
Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
Results in Engineering
Hydraulic structure
VOF method
Supercritical flow
Vortex drop shaft
Air core
title Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
title_full Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
title_fullStr Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
title_full_unstemmed Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
title_short Numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
title_sort numerical study on a supercritical vortex drop shaft with a spiral inlet
topic Hydraulic structure
VOF method
Supercritical flow
Vortex drop shaft
Air core
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302500283X
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AT filomenamaietta numericalstudyonasupercriticalvortexdropshaftwithaspiralinlet
AT micheleiervolino numericalstudyonasupercriticalvortexdropshaftwithaspiralinlet
AT corradogisonni numericalstudyonasupercriticalvortexdropshaftwithaspiralinlet