Turbocharger flow computations with the Space–Time Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA)

Abstract

Abstract We focus on turbocharger computational flow analysis with a method that possesses higher accuracy in spatial and temporal representations. In the method we have developed for this purpose, we use a combination of (i) the Space–Time Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, which is a stabilized formulation that also serves as a turbulence model, (ii) the ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) method, which maintains high-resolution representation of the boundary layers near spinning solid surfaces by allowing in a consistent fashion slip at the interface between the mesh covering a spinning surface and the mesh covering the rest of the domain, and (iii) the Isogeometric Analysis (IGA), where we use NURBS basis functions in space and time. The basis functions are spatially higher-order in all representations, and temporally higher-order in representation of the solid-surface and mesh motions. The ST nature of the method gives us higher-order accuracy in the flow solver, and when combined with temporally higher-order basis functions, a more accurate representation of the surface motion, and a mesh motion consistent with that. The spatially higher-order basis functions give us again higher-order accuracy in the flow solver, a more accurate, in some parts exact, representation of the surface geometry, and better representation in evaluating the second-order spatial derivatives. Using NURBS basis functions with a complex geometry is not trivial, however, once we generate the mesh, the computational efficiency is substantially increased. We focus on the turbine part of a turbocharger, but our method can also be applied to the compressor part and thus can be extended to the full turbocharger.