Optimization of fluid characteristics in the main nozzle of an air-jet loom

Abstract

As part of the propulsion system, the fluid dynamic features of the main nozzle can immediately affect the stability and efficiency of an air-jet loom. This study aims to optimize the fluid characteristics in the main nozzle of an air-jet loom. To investigate ways of weakening the effect of airflow congestion and backflow phenomenon occurring in the sudden expansion region, the computational fluid dynamics method is employed. Three-dimensional turbulence flow models for a regular main nozzle and 12 prototypes with different nozzle core tip geometry are built, simulated, and analyzed to get the optimum performance. Furthermore, a set of modified equations that consider the direction of airflow are proposed for better estimation of the friction force applied by the nozzle. The result shows that the nozzle core tip's geometry has a significant influence on the internal airflow, affecting the acceleration tube airflow velocity, turbulence intensity, and backflow strength of the sudden expansion region, and other critical fluid characteristics as well. Several proposed models have succeeded in reducing the backflow and outperforming the original design in many different aspects. Models A-60 and C-P, in particular, manage to increase the propulsion force by 37.6% and 20.2% in the acceleration tube while reducing the maximum backflow by 57.1% and 52.2%, respectively. These simulation results can provide invaluable information for the future optimization of the main nozzle.

Keywords

Air-jet loom main nozzle computational fluid dynamics characteristic analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Mohamed

Salama

Mechanics of a single nozzle air-jet filling insertion system Part I: nozzle design and performance. Text Res J 1986; 56: 683–690.

Salama

Mohamed

Mechanics of a single nozzle air-jet filling insertion system: Part II: velocity distribution and design of the air guide system. Text Res J 1986; 56: 721–726.

Adanur

Mohamed

Analysis of air flow in air-jet filling insertion. Text Res J 1991; 61: 253–258.

Ishida

Okajima

Flow characteristics of the main nozzle in an air-jet loom: Part I: measuring flow in the main nozzle. Text Res J 1994; 64: 10–20.

Ishida

Okajima

Flow characteristics of the main nozzle in an air-jet loom: Part II: measuring high speed jet flows from the main nozzle and weft drag forces. Text Res J 1994; 64: 88–100.

Celik

Babaarslan

Bandara

MP.

A mathematical model for numerical simulation of weft insertion on an air-jet weaving machine. Text Res J 2004; 74: 236–240.

De Meulemeester

Puissant

Van Langenhove

Three-dimensional simulation of the dynamic yarn behavior on air-jet looms. Text Res J 2009; 79: 1706–1714.

Kim

Song

A numerical analysis of transonic/supersonic flows in the axisymmetric main nozzle of an air-jet loom. Text Res J 2001; 71: 783–790.

Liu

Wang

Yao

, et al . Analysis of the external flow field of the main nozzle based on ANSYS/Fluent (in Chinese). Text Acce China 2016; 43: 203–208.

10.

Xue

W-L

Wei

M-Y

Chen

, et al . Numerical simulation of flow field in main nozzle of air-jet loom (in Chinese). J Text Res China 2010; 31: 124–127.

11.

Chen

Feng

Dong

, et al. Numerical simulation of the internal flow field of a new main nozzle in an air-jet loom based on Fluent. Text Res J 2015; 85: 1590–1601.

12.

Guo

3-D simulation and analysis of weft insertion flow of main nozzle in an air-jet loom. Master’s Thesis, Soochow University, China, 2009 (in Chinese).

13.

Zhang

Based on CFD analysis of weft insertion flow of the main nozzle in an air jet loom and optimization of local structure parameter. Master’s Thesis, Soochow University, China, 2010 (in Chinese).

14.

Belforte

Mattiazzo

Viktorov

, et al. Numerical model of an air-jet loom main nozzle for drag forces evaluation. Text Res J 2009; 79: 1664–1669.

15.

Osman

Malengier

De Meulemeester

, et al. Simulation of air flow–yarn interaction inside the main nozzle of an air jet loom. Text Res J 2018; 88: 1173–1183.

16.

Osman

Delcour

Hertens

, et al. Toward three-dimensional modeling of the interaction between the air flow and a clamped–free yarn inside the main nozzle of an air jet loom. Text Res J 2019; 89: 914–925.

17.

Delcour

Peeters

Degroote

Three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction simulations of a yarn subjected to the main nozzle flow of an air-jet weaving loom using a Chimera technique. Text Res J 2020; 90: 194–212.

18.

Jin

Cui

Zhu

, et al. An investigation of some parameter effects on the internal flow characteristics in the main nozzle. Text Res J 2017; 87: 91–101.

19.

Batchelor

GK.

An introduction to fluid dynamics. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967, pp.143–149.

20.

Wilcox

DC.

Turbulence modeling for CFD. 2nd ed. CA: DCW Industries, La Cañada Flintridge, California, 1998.

21.

Sarkar

Balakrishnan

Application of a Reynolds stress turbulence model to the compressible shear layer. ICASE Report. Report no.90-18NASA CR 182002, 1990.

22.

Launder

Spalding

DB.

The numerical computation of turbulent flows. Comp Meth Appl Mech Eng 1974; 3: 269–289.

23.

Yeoh

Liu

Computational fluid dynamics: a practical approach. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008, pp.102–106.

24.

Stephen

BP.

Turbulent flows. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp.373–376.

25.

Ansys. Fluent Users Guide, ANSYS Fluent 2020R1, January 2020.

26.

Ansys. Fluent Theory Guide, ANSYS Fluent 2020R1, January 2020.

27.

Roache

PJ.

Perspective: a method for uniform reporting of grid refinement studies. J Fluids Eng 1994; 116: 405–413.

28.

Roache

PJ.

Quantification of uncertainty in computational fluid dynamics. Annu Rev Fluid Mech 1997; 29: 123–160.

29.

Guo

X-F

Chen

Q-H.

The calculation and analysis for main nozzle’s drafting force on air jet loom (in Chinese). J Text Res China 2001; 24: 156–158.