International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 19

Modeling and Applications of 3D Flow in Orifice

Plate At Low Turbulent Reynolds Numbers
Mohamed A. Siba1, Wan Mohd Faizal Wan Mahmood2, a, Mohd Z. Nuawi2, b, Rasidi Rasani2, c, and Mohamed H.
Nassir3, d*
1
Institute of Technology-Baghdad, Foundation of Technical Education, Baghdad, Iraq. moh_siba@yahoo.com
2
Department Mechanical and Material, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, National University of Malaysia,
Selangor, 43600 Bangi, Malaysia; awmfaizal@eng.ukm.my; bzakinuawi@eng.ukm.my; crasidi@eng.ukm.my;
d*
mohamedh.nassir@Taylors.edu.my

Abstract-- Numerical study of turbulent flow in orifice plate theoretically, analytically, and experimentally despite the fact
within a pipe is carried out by utilizing the Navier-Stokes (N-S) that it has pressure and pumping losses greater than similar
equations. These equations are numerically solved using devices [2]. The basic principle of the orifice depends on the
primitive variables with a finite volume method, and simulated differential pressure due to area reduction which is normally
using the based commercial CFD code ANSYS. The N-S
expressed by the aspect ratio, [3-5]. The
equations are solved for flow patterns that are presented for
unsteady flow of an orifice plate at different values of Reynolds orifice as a device, which is designed to be used in industry,
number and aspect ratios. The study is performed at Reynolds has to follow the international standard such as ISO 5167-1
numbers of 5000, 10000, and 15000 and at aspect ratios of 0.2, [1].
0.3, and 0.5. The results demonstrate the following parameters: Previous studies have focused on the behavioral of
velocity profile, differential the flow passed the orifice plate. The pattern of this flow could
Pressure, and vorticity of the flowing fluid inside the pipe and be classified as sudden contraction followed by sudden
around the orifice. The study also demonstrates the mechanical expansion. For sudden expansion, a study conducted by
effects caused by the flow passed the orifice such as stress, strain,
and total deformation. It is found that as Reynolds number
Cascaras et al. [6] explained the three dimensional turbulent
increases the flow velocity increases, while the differential flow. The study, which is experimental in its nature, was
pressure shows very steep jump across the orifice. Concerning performed by means of a 2-D particle image velocimetry
the vorticity, the images show that both Reynolds number and technique and found that there is a critical value of Reynolds
the aspect ratio influence the structure of the flow that passes the number at which the shear layers are reattached. This
orifice. The mechanical properties are found to be strongly condition extensively relies on the aspect ratios of 1.5 or
affected by both Reynolds number and aspect ratios. higher. Other researchers in this field have provided valuable
Index Term-- Orifice, CFD-ANSYS, Mechanical Properties, information about relevant topics such as solution of 2-D
Navier-Stocks Equations Navier-Stokes equations and symmetry-breaking bifurcation
[7-10]. Experimentally, several studies were conducted at
1. INTRODUCTION different conditions of aspect ratios and Reynolds numbers
The solution of Navier-Stokes equations (N-V) for where laminar and turbulent flows were considered.
the flow in a pipe becomes complex as more conditions are Analytically, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) [2, 4, 5,
implemented to better represent a solution such as viscosity, and 11], finite element method (FEM) [12], and finite volume
incompressibility, orifice type, and any other fittings added. method (FVM) [13] are among several techniques to predict
Navier-Stokes equations (N-V) have been utilized to solve for the characteristics behavioral of the flow. The experimental
the characteristics of the flow. The orifice plate has advantage results and analytical simulated results are mostly in very
over all other fittings as it is used not only to control the flow good agreement [1]. However, there are limited studies in
but also as a measuring device [1]. In the Unites States alone which the analytical analysis is not within the realm of the
there are more than one million orifice device which are experimental work as in De Zilwa et al. [10] when 80%
primarily used for flow measurements in industrial discrepancy was found. The high disagreement was attributed
applications such as food industry, petrochemical, and oil/gas to poorly chosen boundary conditions and not considering the
refineries. In some applications, such as pharmaceutical
limitation of k turbulence model.
plants, a high accuracy of flow metering is unrelentingly
The transition from 2D to 3D turbulent flow through
required in order to control the precise chemical reactions and
an orifice plate depends on the boundary conditions set by
drugs formation processes. On the other hand, errors in flow
either the theoretical analysis or the experimental settings. The
measurement can result in significant cost losses and
first boundary condition is the flow velocity, ( ) which is
inefficiency repercussions. For instance, slight flow metering
assumed constant according to Dirichlet boundary condition,
inaccuracies can cause enormous monetary losses in the
namely, ( ) constant; however it is considered variable
transfer of oil and natural gas due to greater volumes involved
according to Neumann boundary condition namely,
in these transfers. The orifice is one of the most important
( ) constant. In a complementary process, Dirichlet and
devices that have been under continuous investigations
Neumann boundary conditions are taken together, i. e.,

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS
 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 20

( ) ( ) constant. The other boundary conditions of At the outlet, the static pressure depends on the environment
pressure (inlet and outlet), wall, fluid, orifice, and orifice surrounding the outlet and it is normally assumed to be
shadow are illustrated in Figure 1. For the purpose of constant. For 2D cases, the pressure could be considered as
computational analysis, fluid, solid regions, and materials are axial and radial while for cases of strong swirling cases, the
assigned to cell zones while boundaries, boundaries data, and flow could be considered as 3D flow. In all cases the
internal surfaces are assigned to face zones. backflow should be taken into account of the solution
assuming that the backflow is normal to the boundary and for
any convergent difficulties, the backflow may minimize to
avoid divergence.
The parameters that characterized the 2D or 3D flow
were investigated experimentally and analytically using
software known as CFD. The modeling are based on the
Boussinesq hypothesis which was proposed in 1877 in which
Reynolds stresses could be linked to the mean rate of
deformation. The classical models are based on Reynolds
Average Navier-Stokes equations (RANS). Within the
concept of this model, CFD characterizes the flow motion in
terms of one or two equations. For the one-equation solution,
Fig. 1. The initial boundary conditions mild separation and recirculation are taken into account while
For incompressible fluids the case in this study- the pressure for two-equation solution, the kinetic energy ( ) and
at the inlet should be identified in terms of static pressure, dissipation ( ) are related to each other together with the eddy-
, and dynamic pressure, , according the following viscosity stress-strain relationship which, finally, constitutes
equation: the - turbulence model. In Table 1 a brief description of
some mathematical models with their strength and
weaknesses.
Table I
Brief description for some mathematical models.
Model Strengths Weaknesses
Zero Equation (
Economical, good for mildly complex So far tested moderately, lack of sub-models
model) [14-18]
Deals with severe pressure gradient, strong
Robust, economical, reasonably accurate,
STD k- streamline curvature, swirl and rotation.
long time data collection
Predictions within
Good for moderately complex, separating Subjected to limitations due to isotropic eddy
RNG k-
flows, swirling flows, and secondary flows viscosity, predictions within
Subjected to limitation due to isotropic eddy
Serves as RNG k- with addition of solving
Realizable k- viscosity. Predictions are slightly less than
round-jet anomaly.
Mist complete model for turbulent flow Requires high computer memory due to tightly
Reynolds Stress
regarding history, transport, coupled couple momentum and turbulence. Predictions
Model (RSN)
anisotropy are within
(Reynolds Stress) model. As another approach for seeking
2. MODELING AND THEORETICAL APPROACH solutions for flow behavior is based on models using the
The numerical solution sought in this study relies on the mean Boussinesq hypothesis where the turbulence decays unless
approach since most engineering applications for turbulent there is shear in isothermal incompressible flow. One of
flow do not take all details into consideration but, instead, findings of Boussinesq hypothesis is that turbulence increases
consider solutions that depend on models without considering as the mean rate of deformation increases. In this study,
full time-dependent flow. In principles, investigating how numerical solution of the time dependent three-dimensional
turbulence affects the mean flow is the primary goal. The Navier-Stokes equations will be presented in order to show the
classical models are based on Reynolds Average Navier- structure of the flow and the numerical observation of
Stokes (RANS) equations. The following models could be unsteady three-dimensional flows throughout a rigid wall pipe
classified according to the number of equations taken into conveying fluid. Three-dimensional calculations are
consideration investigation the behavior of the flow. The performed using equation determined by the following
assumptions that the flow is turbulent and the fluid is
following are the models that are being currently used (Table Newtonian and incompressible.
1): zero equation model, one equation model, two equation The commercial CFD code ANSYS, version 14.0 is
models (k ) and (k ) model, and seven equation model customized by building in some relatively Low Reynolds

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS
 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 21

Number (LRN) ( ) turbulence models. Solutions are sought The parameters under investigation in this study are: velocity,
for unsteady flow through an orifice plate with a diameter differential pressure, vorticity, strain, stress, and total
ratio of one half of the pipe diameter. The flow field is deformation. Simulation was taken for three Reynolds
represented by mesh of 2,350,000 elements and global numbers Re= 5000, 10000, and 15000 at aspect ratio (
iteration required in the presented work is 1000; however, if ) of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5.
solution is not converged, extra 1000 iteration is to be taken
into account. It was shown that solutions converged after There are two fundamental equations governing the flow
(1220) iterations and all residuals fell below error of 10 -4. inside and beyond the orifice: the continuity equation and
force-momentum equation:

Continuity equation

( ) (1)

Momentum equation

( ) ( ) [ ( )] ( ) (2)

The Reynolds stress term, in Eq.2 represents the non- needs to be modeled to close the system of equations. A
linear convective term in the un-averaged equation and common method employs the Boussinesq hypothesis to relate
reflects the fact that theconvective transport due to turbulent the Reynolds stresses to the mean velocity as shown in the
velocity fluctuations will act to enhance mixing over and following stress equation (3):
above that caused by fluctuations at the molecular level. It
( ) ( ) (3)
where is the turbulent viscosity. This approach has the this study, three Bossinesq hypotheses and one Reynolds
advantage of the relatively low computational cost associated stress approaches are employed.
with the computation of though it assumes as an isotropic The standard k- model is a two equation eddy viscosity
scalar quantity, which is not strictly true. turbulence model. In this model, the eddy viscosity is
The alternative approach, embodied in the Reynolds computed based on the turbulence kinetic energy k, and the
Stress Models through which transport equations are to be turbulence dissipation rate using:
solved for each of the terms in the Reynolds stress tensor. In
( )
( ) *( ) + (4)
( )
( ) *( ) + ( ) (5)
3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. The Orifice
where areempirical constants. For details,
the k- model turbulence has five empirical constants , , The orifice plate is described in Figure 2. The pipe is 1.00 m
, and with values of 0.09, 1.0, 1.3, 1.44 and 1.92, in length, 0.01 m internal diameter, 0.02 m outer diameter, and
respectively. 0.05 m thickness.

(a) (b)
Fig. 2. The Orifice (a) Mesh construction, and (b) Cross-sectional

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS
 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 22

3.2 Setting Theoretical Parameters unchanged and thus Reynolds number will be a function of the
A numerical solution for Navier-Stocks equations using velocity only. The velocity profile of flowing streamline at a
commercial CFD code ANSYS, version 14.0 is performed for given shows that the contour lines become more condensed
unsteady, low turbulent flow and (k) turbulence models. and the swirling angle reduces as Reynolds number increases
The mesh was taken at 2,350,000 elements and convergent and more importantly the flow starts creating a boundary layer
solutions were sought such that the residuals fell below error which becomes very distinctive as Reynolds number
of 10- 4. The velocity, differential pressure, vorticity, strain, increases. Keep in mind that, at a certain aspect ratio and for
stress, and total deformation were measured (estimated) or an incompressible fluid, when Reynolds number changes, the
identified by ANSYS at three Reynolds numbers Re = 5000, velocity is the only parameter plays the role as other flow
10000, and 15000 (all turbulent) and at aspect ratio ( )of 0.2, dynamic parameters were kept constant. Thus, as Reynolds
0.3, and 0.5. number increases from 5000 to 10000 and 15000, the velocity
contour lines become more condensed, which is indicative to
3. THE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION higher shedding frequency of the swirling flow lines and,
Three Reynolds numbers (5000, 10000, and 15000) are chosen consequently, results in more back stream against the flow.
for this study. It is well-known that Re , where is The results of vorticity taken at same sequence of Reynolds
the density, is the flow average velocity, , is the number and aspect ratio shown in Figure 3 are demonstrated
characteristic length (diameter of the pipe in this case), and in Figure 4 a, b, and c for Re number of 5000, 10000,and
is the fluid viscosity. Figure 3 shows the two-dimensional 15000, respectively. These findings agree with other results
velocity profile of the flow for a typical aspect ratio of 0.2 and of [11]. For other aspect ratios, and 0.5, the images of
Re number of 5000 (Figure 3a), 10000 (Figure 3b), and 15000 velocity and vorticity show same behavior.
(Figure 3c). It is important to note that within the frame of the
conditions set for these experiments, parameters of the
density, the characteristic length, and the viscosity are kept

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 3. Velocity at and (a) Re = 5000, (b) 10000, and (c) 15000

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 4. Vorticity at and (a) Re = 5000, (b) 10000, and (c) 15000
pressure impacting the wall. Figure 5a shows the axial
As mentioned earlier, the velocity of recorded by ANSYS is velocity while the Figure 5b shows the differential pressure.
two-dimensional velocity which can be demonstrated by The velocity and the differential pressure were tested along
Navier-Stokes equation. The axial component is the measure the testing pipe of length 1.0 meter and the orifice is mounted
of the forward velocity while the radial velocity is the measure at the center of this pipe. The results presented in Figure 5 (a,
of the impact on the wall surface which turns to create the b) were taken at same previous sequence of Reynolds number

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS
 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 23

and aspect ratio of 0.2. The first observation is that the pressure increases at the location of the orifice depends on
maximum axial velocity appears at the position of the orifice Reynold number through the relation of pressure gradient,
which is expected as the orifice behaves as contraction device.
The date in Figure 5b suggests that the pressure gradient
The second observation is that the peak velocity reduces as
increase as Reynolds number increases, or simply saying that
Reynolds number decreases confirming that Reynolds number
the gradient becomes deeper with increasing Reynolds
is a function of the velocity only in throughout this study. The
number. This result suggests again deep consideration to the
static pressure for same parameters setting is shown in Figure
mechanical properties of the pipe around the orifice location.
5b. The static pressure experiences sudden increase at the
It is also noticed that when Re increases, the location of the
orifice plate location at 0.50 m along the testing tube. The
maximum velocity slightly shifts backwards. One possible
static pressure is the highest at Reynolds number of 15000
reason for this shifting is that the strong vorticity in the flow
which is the highest turbulent value in this study. At this
which causes stronger reverse swirling which results in
position, the static pressure is about 30 bars while at the
pushing the velocity in back direction. This is clearly shown
lowest Reynolds number of 5000, this pressure decreases to
in Figure 5b when the differential pressure across the orifice is
about half bar. Since most industrial establishments carries
significantly increased as Reynolds number increases.
flow at much higher value of Reynolds number, the static
pressure becomes problematic to the pipes and the need for
perfect design becomes a must. The way that the static

(a) (b)
Fig. 5. The maximum axial velocity (a) and the static pressure (b) at and Reynolds number of 5000, 10000, and15000.

The mechanical properties such as stress and strain were one has been reported such a similar behavior. Seemingly, at
studied under the concept of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) Re of 5000 and 15000, there are two factors play important
model. The interaction between the fluid and the structure is role in determining the stress and the strain; namely the radial
caused by the vibration in addition to the direct interaction pressure due to its direct impact on the wall and vorticity and
between the flow and the pipe. Figure 6 shows the maximum swirling eddies which plays its role with the viscosity which
stress, stress, and total deformation taken at and results in shear stress ( ) which exhibits maximum force at
Reynolds number of 5000, 10000, and 15000. When the wall. It might happen that at this specific Reynolds
Reynolds number increases and so does the velocity, the number, there is imbalance between these two factors that may
mechanical factors show significant increase by approximately result in this unpredicted result. As the aspect ratio is taken at
three time for Re = 10000 and about six times for Re = 15000. , the trend of the mechanical properties back to their
This dramatic increase is expected as the differential pressure normal values as the maximum values appear at Reynolds
increases across the orifice plate. The norm of this result number of 15000. The effect of the aspect ratio is shown in
agrees with other results predicted by El Drainy [11]. For Figure 6. The bigger the orifice has the less velocity and,
, the velocity of the flow decreases by about 20% consequently, the less pressure and eventually the less
compare to , the mechanical properties significantly mechanical properties. Figure 6 concludes that the minimum
decreased. Only at Reynolds number of 10000, stress, strain, stress, strain, or total deformation takes place at .
or total deformation shows a small amount. Unfortunately, no

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS
 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 24

3.5e+7

3.0e+7 Max 5000

Max 10000
Max 15000
2.5e+7
Stress (N/m2)

2.0e+7

1.5e+7

1.0e+7

5.0e+6

0.0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 6. Maximum Stress (a), Maximum Strain, (b).and Maximum Deformation (c) at Aspect Ratios of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5 for Reynolds Number of 5000, 10000, and
15000.

CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES
In this study, computational solutions of unsteady and [1] N.R. Sarker, M. M. Razzaque, and Md. KhayrulEnam, Numerical
investigation on effects of deformation on accuracy of orifice
incompressible fluid flow around and beyond a circular plate
meters, International Conference on Mechanical Engineering,
orifice placed in the mid of a pipe were performed using a ICME 2011, pp 1-6, Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 2011.
commercial CFD code ANSYS, version 14.0. Grid resolution [2] S. Manish, J. Shah, B. Joshi, K. Avtar S., C.S.R. Prasad, Shukla, S.
test was conducted to insure that the numerical results Daya,Analysis of Flow Through an orifice mete: CFD
Simulation, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol71, pp 300-309,
obtained are independent of the spatial computational mesh
2012.
resolution. The results show that the numerical solutions with [3] G.H. Nail, A study of 3-Dimensionalflow through orifice meters,
a mesh of 2,350.000 elements are converged with a relative Ph.D. Dissertation, Texas A&M University, USA, 1991.
error of less that 10-4. Thereby, all the results shown in this [4] E. Smith, A. Ridluan, P. Somravysin, P. Promvongee, Numerical
investigationof turbulent flow through a circular orifice, KMITL
paper have been run with this above mentioned mesh
Sci. Vol 8, pp43-50, 2008.
elements. The effects of Reynolds number (Re = 5000, 10000 [5] A. Naveenji, A., S. Kaushik, M.H. Srianananth, CFD analysis on
and 15000) and aspect ratio (=0.2, 0.3 and 0.5) on the flow discharge coefficient duringnonNewtonian flows through
characteristics are investigated in detail. This includes orificemeter, Int. J. Eng. Sci. Technology, Vol 2, pp3151-3164,
2010.
investigating the impacts of these parameters on the flow
[6] L. Casrasa and P. Giannattasio, Three Dimensional features of
velocity profile, the differential pressure, and the mechanical the turbulentflow through a planar sudden expansion, Physics of
properties such as the stress, the strain, and the total Fluids, Vol 20, pp 1-15, 2008.
deformation. It was found that the velocity and the pressure [7] I.J. Sobey and P.G. Drazin, Bifurcations of two-dimensional
channel flow, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol 171, pp 263-287,
increase as Reynolds number increases and with increasing
1986.
aspect ratio; all these results are in agreement with other [8] M. Shapiro, D. Degani, and D. Weihs, Stability and existence of
published studies in the literature. The maximum axial multiple solutions for viscous flow in sudden enlarged channel,
velocity experiences severe reduction as the flow passes the Computers and Fluids, Vol 18, pp 239-258, 1990.
[9] F. Durst, L.C.F. Pereira, and C. Tropea, The plane symmetric
orifice region. The vorticity images show the flow swirling
sudden-expansion flow at low Reynolds number, Journal of Fluid
behavior before and after the orifice suggest that the flow is Mechanics, Vol 248, pp 567-581, 1993.
turbulent. The pressure across the orifice shows very steep [10] S.R.N. De Zilwa, L. Khezzar, and J.H. Whitelaw, Flow through
gradient as Reynolds number increases. The maximum stress, plane sudden-expansion, International journal for Numerical
Methods in Fluids, Vol 32, pp 313-329, 2000.
strain, and total deformation are shown to have almost the
[11] Y.A. El Drainy, K.M. Saqr, H.S. Aly, and M.N.Mohd.Jaafar,
same trend for aspect ratio of 0.2 and 0.5 for all Reynolds CFD analysis of Incompressible turbulent swirling flow through
numbers. However, at aspect ratio of 0.3, the trend of the Zanker plate, Engineering Applications of computational Fluid
mechanical properties appears to be significantly different. Mechanics, Vol 3(4), pp 562-572, 2009.
[12] C.E. Baumann and J.S. Oden, A discontinuous hp finite element
The results show that somewhere between aspect ratio of 0.2
for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations, International Journal
and 0.5, the mechanical properties, i.e. the stress and the for Numerical in Fluids, Vol 31(1), pp 79-95, 1999.
strain, have minimum values. The authors believe that more [13] Y. Fu-Cheng, S. Sheau-Wen, H. Tzeng-Yuan, J. Chan-Yung, and
investigations are needed to explain this abnormal behavior. W. Chang, A study of numerical simulation applying to the
design of an orifice with high-velocity water jet, Tamkang
Journal of Science and Engineering, Vol 11(2), pp 145-154, 2008.

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS
 International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:15 No:04 25

[14] Evaluation of Various Turbulence Models in Predicting Airflow

and Turbulence in Enclosed Environments by CFD: Part 1
Summary of Prevalent Turbulence Models HVAC&R
[15] ResearchVolume 13, Issue 6, 2007, Special Issue: Topical Issue.
[16] Zhiqiang John Zhaia, Zhao Zhang, Wei Zhang &Qingyan Yan
Chenb pages 853-870.
[17] Zhang, Z., Zhang, W., Zhai, Z., and Chen, Q. 2007. Evaluation
of various turbulence models in predicting airflow and turbulence
in enclosed environments by CFD: Part-2: comparison with
experimental data from literature, HVAC&R Research, 13(6).
[18] http://web.stanford.edu/class/me469b/handouts/turbulence.pdf
[19] http://www.ansys.com/staticassets/ANSYS/Conference/Confidence
/Sn%20Jose/Dow nloads/turbulence-summary-4.pdf
[20] https://www.google.com.my/webhp?sourceid=chromeinstant&ion
=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=zero%equation%20turbulent%20
model%20fluent.

154104-6767-IJMME-IJENS August 2015 IJENS

IJENS