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In order to prevent entrainment, an air curtain should provide a jet with low turbulence level, and enough momentum to counteract pressure differences across the opening. Consequently, the analysis of the discharge plenum should be taken into consideration. Hence, the main object of this paper is to study the discharge chamber geometry and the presence of blades for ?ow orientation. This analysis is carried out in order to understand their in?uence on the jet produced. Studies presented are based on detailed numerical simulations and on experimental measurements. The in?uence of the turbulence model, boundary conditions and computational domain is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct numerical simulation of the flow over a sphere is performed. The computations are carried out in the sub-critical regime at Re = 3700 (based on the free-stream velocity and the sphere diameter). A parallel unstructured symmetry-preserving formulation is used for simulating the flow. At this Reynolds number, flow separates laminarly near the equator of the sphere and transition to turbulence occurs in the separated shear layer. The vortices formed are shed at a large-scale frequency, St = 0.215, and at random azimuthal locations in the shear layer, giving a helical-like appearance to the wake. The main features of the flow including the power spectra of a set of selected monitoring probes at different positions in the wake of the sphere are described and discussed in detail. In addition, a large number of turbulence statistics are computed and compared with previous experimental and numerical data at comparable Reynolds numbers. Particular attention is devoted to assessing the prediction of the mean flow parameters, such as wall-pressure distribution, skin friction, drag coefficient, among others, in order to provide reliable data for testing and developing statistical turbulence models. In addition to the presented results, the capability of the methodology used on unstructured grids for accurately solving flows in complex geometries is also pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rotor wake aerodynamic characterization is a fundamental aspect for the development and optimization of future rotary-wing aircraft. The paper is aimed at experimentally and numerically characterizing the blade tip vortices of a small-scale four-bladed isolated rotor in hover conditions. The investigation of the vortex decay process during the downstream convection of the wake is addressed. Two-component PIV measurements were carried out below the rotor disk down to a distance of one rotor radius. The numerical simulations were aimed at assessing the modelling capabilities and the accuracy of a free-wake Boundary Element Methodology (BEM). The experimental and numerical results were investigated by the Γ2 criterion to detect the vortex location. The rotor wake mean velocity field and the instantaneous vortex characteristics were investigated. The experimental/numerical comparisons show a reasonable agreement in the estimation of the mean velocity inside the rotor wake, whereas the BEM predictions underestimate the diffusion effects. The numerical simulations provide a clear picture of the filament vortex trajectory interested in complex interactions starting at about a distance of z/R = −0.5. The time evolution of the tip vortices was investigated in terms of net circulation and swirl velocity. The PIV tip vortex characteristics show a linear mild decay up to the region interested by vortex pairing and coalescence, where a sudden decrease, characterised by a large data scattering, occurs. The numerical modelling predicts a hyperbolic decay of the swirl velocity down to z/R = −0.4 followed by an almost constant decay. Instead, the calculated net circulation shows a gradual decrease throughout the whole wake development. The comparisons show discrepancies in the region immediately downstream the rotor disk but significant similarities beyond z/R = −0.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]