3D tangentially injected swirling recirculating flow in a nozzle with a slotted-tube-Effects of groove parameters

A numerical prediction for 3D swirling recirculating flow in an air-jet spinning nozzle with a slotted-tube is carried out with the realizable k-epsilon turbulence model. The effects of the groove parameters on the flow and yarn properties are investigated. The simulation results show that some factors, such as reverse flow upstream of the injector, vortex breakdown downstream of the injector, corner recirculation zone (CRZ) behind the step and vortex ring in the groove caused by the groove geometric variation, are significantly related to fluid flow, and consequently to yarn properties. With increasing groove height, the length of the CRZ increases, while the initial vortex ring in the groove decreases and a same direction rotating vortex forms in the bottom of the groove. Similarly, as the groove width increases, the extent of both vortex breakdown in downstream of the injectors and the vortex ring in the groove increases slightly, whereas the CRZ lengths in stream-wise direction decrease. Some factors, such as the negative tangential velocities, the size of the vortex rings in the grooves and the CRZ, are constant for nozzles with different groove lengths. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.