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Twin-Inlet Swirl Mixing Collector & Header Manifold (CFD)
3D turbulent water mixing (RANS k-ω SST) in a dual-inlet collector with an axial Ø54 mm feed (2.5 m/s), an eccentric tangential Ø48 mm side branch (3.5 m/s), and an internal inclined baffle generating a helical swirl core.
Process headers, heat-recovery manifolds, and chemical mixers frequently combine multiple inlet streams at different velocities and angles into a common mixing drum. This 3D CFD model features an Ø90 mm cylindrical mixing chamber fed simultaneously by an axial upstream pipe (Ø54 mm, U_1 = 2.5 m/s along +X) and an eccentric tangential bottom branch (Ø48 mm offset by Y = +18 mm, U_2 = 3.5 m/s along +Z), followed by an internal inclined mixing baffle and a reducer nozzle to Ø64 mm at the outlet. Solved in SU2_CFD (k-ω SST, water), the off-center side jet injects angular momentum into the main stream, creating a persistent helical vortex core across the baffle and accelerating through the outlet reducer to 5.07 m/s with 0.06% mass conservation accuracy.
1. Geometry & FEA Mesh
- •Single B-Rep internal fluid domain (D_fluid): Ø90 mm mixing chamber, Ø54 mm axial inlet branch, Ø48 mm eccentric side branch (offset Y = +18 mm), internal 25° inclined baffle slot, and Ø64 mm outlet reducer.
- •Unstructured tetrahedral mesh: 9,147 tetrahedra and 2,456 nodes (volume error 0.86%).
- •Working fluid: water (ρ = 998.2 kg/m³, μ = 1.002×10⁻³ Pa·s) with Menter k-ω SST turbulence model.
2. Loads & Boundary Conditions
- •Axial inlet face at X = −160 mm (surface number 1): water velocity U_1 = 2.5 m/s along +X ([1, 0, 0]).
- •Tangential side inlet face at Z = −130 mm (surface number 3): water velocity U_2 = 3.5 m/s along +Z ([0, 0, 1]).
- •Downstream reducer outlet face at X = +260 mm (surface number 12): static pressure p_out = 0 Pa.
- •All manifold chamber, branch, and internal baffle surfaces (9 faces): viscous no-slip wall (u = 0).
3. Simulation Results & Findings
- ✓Combined two-inlet mass flow accelerates around the internal baffle and outlet reducer up to |U|_max = 5.07 m/s (2.03× axial inlet speed).
- ✓Total manifold pressure drop is Δp = 100.5 kPa, with hydrodynamic reaction forces on the chamber and baffle of F_X = 98.64 N and F_Z = −99.51 N.
- ✓Strong helical swirl streamlines and vortex cores (|ω|_max = 464.7 s⁻¹, Q_max = 6.67×10⁴ s⁻²) confirm rapid cross-stream mixing with only 0.06% mass imbalance between the two inlets and single outlet.
WebCAE supports arbitrary multi-inlet velocity vectors and internal baffles on 3D CAD manifolds, enabling process engineers to balance header pressure drops and eliminate stagnant dead-zones.
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