Experimental study of the parietal zone in a curved flow

The study of flows in curved pipes presents a great interest both from a fundamental point of view for the knowledge of the movement in this geometry, as for its numerous and diverse industrial applications. The curvature introduces a disruption of the unidirectional flow: the movement parallel to the axis (main movement) is superimposed on a movement in the cross section plane (secondary movement) which is an order of magnitude lower. This secondary movement has important effects on stability, mass and heat transfer. In the hydraulic circuits, generally in turbulent regime, the elbows introduce a singular loss of load and a mechanical degradation (phenomenon of erosion-corrosion). Heat exchangers are often constituted by helicoidal pipes. The first chapter of this memoir is devoted to the bibliographical study. Dean first proposed a solution to the Navier-Stokes equations and attached his name to the similarity parameter of curved flows. For higher regimes, this solution was supplemented by that resulting from a boundary layer model. The theoretical and experimental results mainly concern the main and secondary speeds as well as the coefficient of pressure loss