Numerical simulation of thermal striping phenomena in a T-junction piping system for fundamental validation and uncertainty quantification by GCI estimation

Tanaka, Masaaki  ; Miyake, Yasuhiro*

In this study, numerical simulation for the water experiment of a T-junction piping system (T-pipe) was carried out to validate the MUGTHES and to investigate the relation between the mechanism of temperature fluctuation generation and the unsteady motion of large eddy structures. In the numerical simulation, the large eddy simulation (LES) approach with standard Smagorinsky model was employed as eddy viscosity model to simulate large scale eddy motion in the T-pipe. As for uncertainty quantification in the validation process, the modified method of the Grid Convergence Index (GCI) estimation based on the least squire version could successfully quantify uncertainty. Through the numerical simulations, it could be found that the thermal mixing phenomena in the T-pipe were caused by the mutual interaction of the necklace-shaped vortex around the wake from the front of the branch jet, the horseshoe-shaped vortex and the Karman's vortex motions in the wake.