An alternative approach to quantifying fluid flow uniformity based on area-weighted average velocity and mass-weighted average velocity

Fluid flow uniformity is an important index in many research fields including artificial environment in the room. In order to facilitate quantifying the multi-section flow uniformity directly by simulation results and to simplify the computation process, a correlation based on area-weighted average velocities and mass-weighted average velocities is proposed in this paper. To test the proposed approach to quantifying flow uniformity, the correlation is applied in two studies - one based on assumed velocity distribution, another based on the simulated velocity distribution - in comparison with two existing formulae from prior studies. The results show that the evaluation results of the proposed correlation are in complete agreement with that of the two formulae from prior studies in the overall trend. The correlation may be used in a wide range of contexts without strict requirement for uniformity to quantify the fluid uniformity in a relatively simple manner. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.