Study of flow characteristics of supersonic flow through pipe bends

Bends are essential components of fluid flow systems, facilitating compact, light weight designs. But they can also be the cause of complex secondary flows, losses and variable heat transfer rates in the fluid flow lines. Nature of flow within pipe bends for unsteady, incompressible viscous fluids are well known. The secondary flow and separation in incompressible flows are dependent of the flow Reynolds number and the radius of curvature of the bend. However the flow characteristics for compressible flow through pipe bends are of considerable interest since the flow may choke at the bend with the possibility for strong oscillations due to secondary flows or separation. This will cause a change in the mass flow rate through the pipe bends for compressible flows. These factors emphasize the need for a detailed understanding of the flow behavior of compressible flow within pipe bends.