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Numerical simulation of the effects of manufacturing deviations on the hydraulic performance of labyrinth-channel drippers
Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering 2026, 42(9): 108-117
Published: 15 May 2026
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tructural deviations are inevitably observed in the key components after mass production, such as mold manufacturing and injection molding. The internal flow field can be different than before in the labyrinth-channel drippers. It is often required to balance hydraulic stability and overall production costs. In this study, the precision grading control scheme was established to guide better hydraulic performance of the drippers. A systematic investigation was made to quantify the sensitivity of the hydraulic performance of labyrinth path irrigation emitters to manufacturing deviations of the key geometric parameters. Furthermore, the simulation and experiment were conducted to validate the numerical model using Computational Fluid Dynamics technology. Single-factor optimizations were then conducted on five structural parameters of the labyrinth path: path depth, tooth height, tooth bottom distance, tooth angle, and tooth tip fillet radius. Each geometric parameter was independently evaluated to accurately reflect manufacturing deviations at seven levels. Local sensitivity evaluation was integrated with a microscopic examination of the flow field, specifically tracking the evolution patterns of vortex structures, velocity distributions, and turbulent kinetic energy. The results demonstrated that the manufacturing deviations significantly altered the internal flow dynamics and overall hydraulic characteristics. Microscopic flow field analysis revealed that tooth height and tooth tip fillet radius were the key parameters to regulate vortex structures and energy dissipation. Specifically, a negative deviation of 0.05 mm in tooth height expanded the near-wall vortex zones, resulting in an 8.91% variation in the vortex area ratio, whereas the impact of the tooth angle was negligible at less than 1%. Furthermore, the deviations in tooth height, tooth bottom distance, and fillet radius notably modified the velocity distribution and local throttling. For example, the tooth height was reduced by 0.05 mm, while the average velocity decreased by 4.03%, but the high-speed area expanded by 21.94 %, due to enhanced separation and turbulence. Similarly, the fillet radius was reduced by 0.03 mm in the mainstream area, thus decreasing the average velocity by 4.68 %. In energy dissipation, the maximum deviations in tooth height and fillet radius were reduced by the average turbulent kinetic energy by 9.16%and 7.85%, respectively. Interestingly, the decreasing tooth height and bottom distance drastically expanded the high turbulent kinetic energy areas by 378.75% and 467.28%, respectively, directly indicating flow uniformity. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the flow coefficient was most sensitive to path depth, with a coefficient of 1.17, followed by tooth bottom distance at 0.66. Conversely, the flow regime index was most sensitive to tooth height. Overall, the sensitivity of the flow rate to the geometric parameters was ranked from highest to lowest: path depth, tooth height, tooth bottom distance, tooth tip fillet radius, and tooth angle. According to the sensitivity ranking and internal flow characteristics, a precision grading control strategy was proposed to maintain the target flow rate variation within ±5%. Extremely sensitive path depth required strict tolerance control within ±0.02 mm. Tooth height was recommended to be controlled within ±0.03 mm to prevent the severe deterioration of turbulent kinetic energy. The recommended tolerances for tooth bottom distance and fillet radius were ±0.07 mm and ±0.01 mm, respectively. In view of the minimal impact on the flow field, the tolerance of the tooth angle is required to consider anti-clogging and structural assembly.

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