Flow visualization and LDV measurements of laminar flow in a helical square duct with finite pitch

Flow visualization and LDV measurements are performed on laminar flow in a helical square duct with finite pitch. The experimental observations are compared to results of numerical calculations employing the finite-volume method and assuming a fully developed flow. Good agreement is found between measured and computed velocity profiles. This suggests that the physical velocity components used in the numerical calculations are suitable to describe the flow. It is further demonstrated that the contravariant velocity components employed by some authors may lead to results that are difficult to interpret. Two stable solution branches are detected in the numerical calculations. For Reynolds numbers between the stable branches, unsteady and fully developed computations predict an oscillating flow between a two-vortex and a four-vortex structure. In the experiments, the flow normally retained a stable two-vortex structure in the numerically predicted unstable regime. However, by disturbing the flow at the duct inlet, a four-vortex flow that showed similarities to the computed flow could occasionally be obtained. For Reynolds numbers above 600, unsteady flow behavior was observed both experimentally and numerically, which might be an early sign of transition. In the experiments, Gdrtler-like extra vortices emerged spontaneously from the outer wall without disturbing the flow at the inlet. The same phenomenon was observed in the numerical calculations, assuming an unsteady and fully developed flow, but the extra vortices appeared with a lower frequency than in the experiments.