Global POD-Galerkin ROMs for Fluid Flows with Moving Solid Structures

Abstract

Traditional proper orthogonal decomposition (POD)-Galerkin projection for reduced-order models (ROMs) of fluid flows is based on a fixed domain. The current method removes this limitation by considering a single combined domain of fluid and solid, whereas the original solid boundary conditions are reinforced by additional ROM terms. The combined domain requires a new inner product defined in the same combined domain to compute POD modes and the projection of equations. Solid motion is considered first as a continuous motion, then a decomposed motion, represented by a few solid modes to further reduce the computational cost. This new global approach was applied first on a two-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) database of the flow past an oscillatory cylinder, and then on a three-dimensional DNS database of the flow past an oscillatory sphere. Last, the approach was applied on a high-resolution particle image velocimetry database from an experiment at higher Reynolds number of the flow past a pitching-up NACA0012 airfoil. The ROMs derived by the global POD-Galerkin projection approach, for all three moving-boundary cases, have shown adequate accuracy in the reconstruction of flow fields and the prediction of key aerodynamic features while keeping very low computational costs.