Sensor probe stabilized blowing system for telecommunication conduit using spiral airflow

A streamlined sensor probe for inspecting telecommunication conduit interiors has been blown with a highly stable rotating motion using spiral airflow. The stability achieved with this spiral system increases both the accuracy and ease of the inspection process in the telecommunication industry. To elucidate this stabilized blowing, a fluid dynamics model of the probe motion in both turbulent and spiral flows has been investigated. In a turbulent pipe flow, the airflow is disturbed by the irregularly fluctuating wake in front of the probe. The instability of probe and airflow increases and inspection can not be completed. However, the steep velocity distribution of the ordered spiral airflow holds a pair of stream wise line vortices ahead of the probe in the pipe axial position. Thus the flow downstream increases its radial pressure gradient and the probe is stabilized. This stabilization is achieved by the synergistic relationship between the spiral airflow and the streamlined probe. To clarify the physical background of stable probe motion in a spiral flow, a preliminary analysis of turbulent flow around the probes has been carried out based on the conservation equations.