Investigation of the specific mass flow rate distribution in pipes supplied with a pulsating flow

A pulsating flow is typical of inlet and exhaust pipes of internal combustion engines and piston compressors. Unsteady flow phenomena are especially important in the case of turbocharged engines, because dynamic effects occurring in the exhaust pipe can affect turbine operation conditions and performance. One of the basic parameters describing the unsteady flow is a transient mass flow rate related to the instantaneous flow velocity, which is usually measured by means of hot-wire anemometers. For the flowing gas, it is more appropriate to analyze the specific mass flow rate φm = ρv, which takes into account also variations in the gas density. In order to minimize the volume occupied by measuring devices in the control section, special double-wire sensors for the specific mass flow rate (CTA) and temperature (CCT) measurement were applied. The article describes procedures of their calibration and measurement. Different forms of calibration curves are analyzed as well in order to match the approximation function to calibration points. Special attention is paid to dynamic phenomena related to the resonance occurring in a pipe for characteristic frequencies depending on the pipe length. One of these phenomena is a reverse flow, which makes it difficult to interpret properly the recorded CTA signal. Procedures of signal correction are described in detail. To verify the measurements, a flow field investigation was carried out by displacing probes radially and determining the profiles of the specific mass flow rate under the conditions of a steady and pulsating flow. The presence and general features of a reverse flow, which was identified experimentally, were confirmed by 1-D unsteady flow calculations.