Numerical study on hydrodynamic behaviors of and flow field around UHMWPE plane nets

The hydrodynamic behaviors of and flow field around the net made by ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) were seldom investigated previously. Therefore, a three-dimensional numerical model for the UHMWPE plane net is established herein based on the porous media model, and the unknown Darcy-Forchheimer coefficients are attained by fitting the experimental data of physical model with the minimum error function method. Then, the flow field characteristics around the UHMWPE plane net are investigated and it is noted that the flow velocity reduction along the horizontal centerline of net decreases with the increase in velocity, while larger attack angle and solidity both result in a larger flow velocity reduction. And, the effects of nets spacing and number on the velocity distribution and flow field properties in and around multi-layer nets are revealed. Finally, the empirical formulas for calculating the drag and lift coefficients of the UHMWPE plane net are proposed by considering as the function of solidity, Reynolds number and attack angle.