Simulation of shock wave propagation in a duct with a side branch

Experimental studies conducted during the 70s and 80s of the previous century are numerically simulated. We examine a horizontal duct with a vertical branch having a circular cross section whose diameter is 5 cm. These experiments were conducted by the late Dr Heilig in the Ernst-Mach-Institute (private communication). In both segments of the branched duct pressure transducers were installed. They were used for recording the pressure histories and for deducing the traveling shock wave speed. These results were compared with the present numerical simulation. The numerical simulations were conducted using the commercial code Fluent with the density-based AUSM solver. The solver is second order in both space and time. It is apparent from the results obtained that good agreement exists between the recorded pressure histories and their simulations. Based on the good agreement between recorded and simulated pressures a numerical study was conducted by comparison between two similar branched ducts, one having a circular cross section while the other has a rectangular cross section. Also, the effect that changes in the branched segment orientation have on the resulting flow field were investigated.