Dynamics Solver Research Articles

Cfd Analysis to Investigate the Effect of Leaned Rotor On the Performance of Transonic Axial Flow Compressor Stage

This paper describes the numerical study carried out to understand the impact of combination of forward and backward leaned rotor on the overall performance of a transonic axial flow research compressor of CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore. The analyses were carried out using commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver Ansys-CFX. Initially CFD analysis was carried out for the baseline rotor configuration and validated the results with the experimental data. Then, three new configurations of combined Leaned rotors were modeled from the radially stacked baseline rotor by changing the circumferential curvature of original stacking line using three control points located at 0%, 50% and 100% of the blade span. Analyses were carried out for all the three configurations of modified geometries and the results were compared with the baseline configuration. The results revealed many interesting aspects which will be very useful for better understanding of the blade curvature effects on the shock and secondary losses within the transonic rotor. The discussions on the effect of combination of forward and backward leaned rotor and the consequent developments on the overall performance of the compressor are presented in detail in this paper.

A reacting multiphase computational flow model for 2,3-butanediol synthesis in industrial-scale bioreactors

The microbe, Zymomonas mobilis, can efficiently convert sugars to 2,3 butanediol (BDO), an important intermediate for downstream chemical products, only in a well-controlled microaerated environment. However, controlling oxygen distribution in industrial-scale bioreactors is challenging, and at-scale BDO production is hard to optimize using traditional engineering methods. This study takes a step towards addressing this problem through a computational model for reacting multiphase flows in large-scale bioreactors. A phenomenological metabolic model was first developed and validated against experiments, and then it was coupled to a multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver using a subcycling algorithm for simulating long conversion times ( ∼ 30 h). Large-scale ( ∼ 500 m3) bubble column simulations using this coupled approach demonstrated a 25% improvement in BDO yield with low sparging rates (0.002 m/s) and low height-to-diameter ratio (0.875) compared to a baseline bubble column (35 m height, 5 m diameter) with a superficial gas velocity of 0.06 m/s.

A Numerical Prediction of the Resistance of Bulk Carriers in Brash Ice Channels

Ship resistance increases significantly when navigating a brash ice channel. In this study, the numerical method is applied to predict the full-scale ship resistance of bulk carriers in brash ice channels. The viscous flow computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver was coupled with the discrete element method (DEM) to establish the brash ice model. The Euler multiphase flow’s volume of fluid (VOF) model was applied to simulate the interaction between the ship and water. The ship–brash ice interaction was simulated. Predictions of ships’ total resistance based on the numerical method and the Finnish Swedish ice class rules (FSICR) method were compared with the experimental results carried out in Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) ice tank. The numerical resistance shows a good agreement with the HSVA experiment reports and a better performance than the FSICR method. The present study shows that the numerical method could provide reasonable and practical ice resistance predictions for engineering applications.

An application of data-driven modeling for hydroelasticity of an elastically supported semi-circular pipe conveying fluid

PurposeThe paper aims to develop an efficient data-driven modeling approach for the hydroelastic analysis of a semi-circular pipe conveying fluid with elastic end supports. Besides the structural displacement-dependent unsteady fluid force, the steady one related to structural initial configuration and the variable structural parameters (i.e. the variable support stiffness) are considered in the modeling.Design/methodology/approachThe steady fluid force is treated as a pipe preload, and the elastically supported pipe-fluid model is dealt with as a prestressed hydroelastic system with variable parameters. To avoid repeated numerical simulations caused by parameter variation, structural and hydrodynamic reduced-order models (ROMs) instead of conventional computational structural dynamics (CSD) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers are utilized to produce data for the update of the structural, hydrodynamic and hydroelastic state-space equations. Radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), autoregressive with exogenous input (ARX) model as well as proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) algorithm are applied to modeling these two ROMs, and a hybrid framework is proposed to incorporate them.FindingsThe proposed approach is validated by comparing its predictions with theoretical solutions. When the steady fluid force is absent, the predictions agree well with the “inextensible theory”. The pipe always loses its stability via out-of-plane divergence first, regardless of the support stiffness. However, when steady fluid force is considered, the pipe remains stable throughout as flow speed increases, consistent with the “extensible theory”. These results not only verify the accuracy of the present modeling method but also indicate that the steady fluid force, rather than the extensibility of the pipe, is the leading factor for the differences between the in- and extensible theories.Originality/valueThe steady fluid force and the variable structural parameters are considered in the data-driven modeling of a hydroelastic system. Since there are no special restrictions on structural configuration, steady flow pattern and variable structural parameters, the proposed approach has strong portability and great potential application for other hydroelastic problems.

CFD Analysis of Biofouling Effect on Submarine Resistance and Wake

It is well known that biofouling increases a ship’s resistance and nominal wake. For submarines, any change to the circumferential variation of the nominal wake in the propeller plane will affect the variation of the flow over the propeller blade, and hence the fluctuating forces, and noise, generated by the propeller. The ANSYS FLUENT commercial Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes Computational Fluid Dynamics solver was used to investigate the influence of both the longitudinal and vertical distribution of biofouling on the resistance and wake, including the circumferential variation of the nominal wake, on a submarine, using the well-known Suboff standard submarine. For the present work, the k-ε turbulence model was selected, as this is commonly used in this field and is generally considered acceptable. To handle different boundary layer thicknesses in the flow fields, the whole y+ formulation was employed, enabling automatic switching between low and high Reynolds boundary wall models. The numerical solver used for the simulations is based on the finite volume method, which discretizes the RANS equations. In this approach, a segregated model was utilized in the solver, and the convection terms were discretized using the second-order upwind scheme to enhance solution accuracy. The criteria for the near wall are between 30 and 100, and the value of y+ for the present case is 84. It is shown that fouling over only the forward third of the submarine results in a greater increase in resistance than fouling over only the aft third. Fouling over only the lower half of the submarine results in greater resistance than fouling over only the forward third, but less than fouling over the whole of the hull. Fouling over only the forward third of the hull has less influence on the circumferential variation of the wake than fouling over the aft third only of the hull. The results show the importance of keeping the forward area of the hull clean when considering resistance only, whereas keeping the aft area of the hull clean is important when considering the uniformity of the nominal wake into the propeller.

A computational strategy for nonlinear coupled constitutive relations of rarefied nonequilibrium flows on unstructured grids

The Navier-Stokes-Fourier (NSF) equations are no longer valid in high-Knudsen and high-Mach flows, where the local thermodynamically equilibrium assumption fails, while the nonlinear coupled constitutive relations (NCCR) have been proven to be an efficient approach for rarefied non-equilibrium flows under the structured finite-volume-method computational fluid dynamic (FVM-CFD) solver. In this paper, by adding the time derivatives of non-conserved variables to the NCCR model, a computational strategy for NCCR model under the unstructured FVM-CFD framework is first proposed for further engineering applications. An upwind flux-splitting scheme with the Lower-Upper Symmetric Gauss-Seidel (LU-SGS) implicit time-marching scheme is employed. The linear stability of one-dimensional modified NCCR model in time and space is analyzed subsequently, which indicates the modified NCCR model is unconditionally stable. The accuracy and computational performance of the proposed NCCR solution are assessed by a feat of the numerical tests for hypersonic flow over a blunt cylinder without a wake, supersonic flow past a circular cylinder with a wake, and hypersonic flow around a planetary probe. Computational results show that the newly-developed NCCR solution can get solutions in better agreement with the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) than NSF results. Moreover, the newly-developed NCCR solution has a better property of convergence than the undecomposed NCCR algorithm under the unstructured FVM-CFD framework. These superior advantages of the present computational strategy are expected to make the NCCR method a promising engineering tool for modeling rarefied non-equilibrium flows.

Nonlinear dynamics of turbine bladed disk with friction dampers: Experiment and simulation

Accurately predicting the nonlinear dynamic response of aero-engine components is critical, as excessive vibration amplitudes can considerably reduce the operational lifespan. This paper compares experimental and numerical nonlinear dynamic responses of an industrial aero-engine, specifically focusing on the first stage turbine bladed disk with under-platform dampers (UPDs). The friction forces between UPDs and blades result in a strongly nonlinear dynamic response, influenced by stick, slip and separation contact states at the interfaces. These contact states, and the resulting global dynamic responses, are predicted with an advanced industrial modelling approach for nonlinear dynamics. The predictions are compared, updated and validated against measurement data from an operational engine test. Results highlight the importance to validate models against industrial data and show that realistic contact pressure distributions are required for increased prediction reliability. The novelty of this work includes (1) the use of unique industrial experimental data from a fully operational aero-engine, (2) the observation, at the end of engine testing, of real contact conditions in blade/UPD interfaces, (3) detailed modelling of these contact conditions with high-fidelity finite element representations in nonlinear dynamic solvers. Based on this unique industrial validation work, guidelines are proposed to improve the state-of-the-art modelling of nonlinear dynamics in structures with friction contacts.

Strongly coupled fluid–structure interaction analysis of aquatic flapping wings based on flexible multibody dynamics and the modified unsteady vortex lattice method

Because of their superior efficiency and low detectability compared to conventional submarine-shaped vehicles, bionic underwater vehicles such as Mantabot are playing increasingly important roles in ocean exploration. However, current research on manta-inspired robots is limited to structural design and pure hydrodynamics analysis of pectoral fin performance, with other aspects such as hydroelasticity and optimal design of flapping wings rarely addressed. This work presents a novel method for analyzing aquatic flapping wings by coupling flexible multibody dynamics with a modified unsteady vortex lattice method. The flexible multibody system is solved by using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, and the conventional unsteady vortex lattice method is modified to accommodate dynamic stall. Compactly supported radial basis functions are used to transfer the hydroelastic forces and structural displacements across the interface meshes while satisfying global energy conservation, and a predictor–corrector method is used to stabilize the iteration procedure. Three different experiments are used to validate the flexible multibody dynamics solver, the modified unsteady vortex lattice solver, and the proposed fluid–structure interaction framework, respectively. Finally, the hydroelastic framework is demonstrated for a fin-like wing, and how flexibility and movement affect the flapping wing dynamics is examined. Numerical examples show that reducing the structural stiffness of the aquatic flapping wing within a certain range improves the propulsive efficiency but also reduces the thrust coefficient, and how the stiffness distribution affects the thrust and propulsive efficiency remains consistent over a range of the Strouhal number.

A numerical study on the effect of pressure on sustainable aviation fuel and jet fuel blends thermally induced secondary atomization

Thermally induced secondary atomization (TISA) is a complex phenomenon that accelerates phase change in the combustion chamber. It occurs if multi-component fuels, having a wide boiling range, are exposed to high temperatures. Several airlines are recently experimenting with bio- and fossil fuels blends. However, the characteristics of droplet TISA are primarily unknown because of the challenges associated with experimental activities like suspended or falling droplets. In this scenario, numerical models become essential to study TISA. That is why a new multi-component, multi-phase volume of fluid computational fluid dynamics solver was developed to simulate droplets TISA. The solver takes advantage of the OpenFOAM framework and uses the isoAdvector methodology. The bio- and fossil fuels were represented by n-heptane and n-hexadecane, respectively, to simplify the problem. Evaporation was implemented by assuming that the mixture could only boil at that temperature. Surface tension and other relevant mixture properties were considered as a function of species concentration and temperature to replicate all phenomena comprehensively. An analysis of bubble expansion based on the Rayleigh–Plesset equation preceded the breakup tests. The test cases consisted of a droplet suspended in microgravity having a bubble initialized at the interface. The bubble eventually expanded, and the bubble cap collapsed, leading to the micro-explosion. A parametric study of breakup cases under different pressures and at a fixed temperature of 1200 K was performed. The atomization mechanism was tested at 1, 3, 10, and 20 bar and compared. It was observed that while high pressure slows down the process, it finally leads to a higher surface area. This behavior was confirmed by testing two different bubble sizes. Together with the atomization intensity, also the morphology of the particles changed. At atmospheric pressure, the maximum surface area was reached when the droplet had a disk-like shape, while at higher pressures, it evolved in an elongated shape.

Analytical differentiation of the articulated-body algorithm: a geometric multilinear approach

This paper presents a new geometric algorithm to efficiently compute the analytical differentiation of the Articulated-body Algorithm (ABA) with respect to the state variables. Despite the fact that ABA solves the forward-dynamics problem in linear time for branched-multibody systems, its explicit differentiation is not straightforward, and computationally demanding tensor products and contractions appear. The proposed algorithm makes use of Lie algebraic and multilinear operations to recursively exploit the underlying sparsity of the linearization problem. As a result, the arithmetic complexity is dramatically reduced without affecting the analytical solution. Since the linealization of forward dynamics is of great importance in robot-trajectory optimization, a differential dynamic programming solver is employed to demonstrate the performance of our algorithm with humanoid robot models such as NAO and HRP-2. In addition, we provide the computational cost with different robots using an optimized C++ implementation that can be found at https://github.com/garechav/geombd_crtp.git .

Convective heat transfer coefficient for the side‐wall in a fixed bed

AbstractFixed beds are widely used in the chemical and process industry due to their relatively simple yet effective performance. Determining the radial heat transfer at the wall in a fixed bed is crucial to predict the performance of columns. Heat transfer parameters often need to be obtained experimentally. Various Nusselt versus Reynolds correlations in literature show considerable scatter and discrepancies. The tube‐to‐particle diameter ratio and boundary conditions on the particle surface have been understood to affect heat transfer near the wall by virtue of influence on the near‐wall porosity and mixing. In this work, a fixed bed consisting of mono‐disperse particles is generated via gravity‐forced sedimentation modelling utilizing the discrete element method for a ratio of 3.3. The system is meshed and imported in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. Fluid inlet velocity is varied to get corresponding to the laminar and turbulent flow regimes. The particles are treated as boundaries with Dirichlet, Neumann, and Robin boundary conditions applied for the closure of energy balance. Another set of simulations is run with particles modelled as solids with varying thermal conductivities (). The heat flux and volume‐averaged fluid temperature calculated during post‐processing are used to determine the wall heat transfer coefficient and, subsequently, the wall Nu number. Fifteen versus correlations are compiled and analyzed. A new semi‐empirical correlation for the wall Nusselt number has been developed for a fixed bed packed with monodisperse spheres for and results compared with data published in literature. Additionally, the impact of buoyancy effect on the wall Nusselt number has been studied.

A study on the performance of distributed training of data-driven CFD simulations

Data-driven methods for computer simulations are blooming in many scientific areas. The traditional approach to simulating physical behaviors relies on solving partial differential equations (PDEs). Since calculating these iterative equations is highly both computationally demanding and time-consuming, data-driven methods leverage artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to alleviate that workload. Data-driven methods have to be trained in advance to provide their subsequent fast predictions; however, the cost of the training stage is non-negligible. This article presents a predictive model for inferencing future states of a specific fluid simulation that serves as a use case for evaluating different training alternatives. Particularly, this study compares the performance of only CPU, multi-GPU, and distributed approaches for training a time series forecasting deep learning model. With some slight code adaptations, results show and compare, in different implementations, the benefits of distributed GPU-enabled training for predicting high-accuracy states in a fraction of the time needed by the computational fluid dynamics solver.

The effect of the tower’s modeling on the aero-elastic response of the NREL 5 MW wind turbine

In this work, we aim at evaluating the aeroelastic response of the blades of a standalone NREL 5MW wind turbine by means of a high-fidelity fluid-structure interaction solver based on large-eddy simulation, and compare the results with those of engineering-fidelity methods based on the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory. For the latter, we use the software OpenFAST [1], which couples an aerodynamic solver based on the BEM theory with a solver of the blades’ structural dynamics. Concerning the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver, the tower and nacelle are modeled by means of an immersed boundary method, whereas the aeroelastic rotor is modeled by an actuator line model coupled with a Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) solver representing the blades as rotating cantilever beams. A comparison of the CFD-CSD results with the corresponding ones obtained by OpenFAST shows that the predicted displacements at the blade tip remarkably differ between the two approaches in correspondence of the passages of the blades in front of the tower. Indeed, the interaction between the blades and the tower introduces a significant perturbation in the local aerodynamics that leads to a drop of the displacement at the tip of the blade and of the root reaction magnitude, which appear to be not accurately described by OpenFAST.

Assessment of low‐frequency aeroacoustic emissions of a wind turbine under rapidly changing wind conditions based on an aero‐servo‐elastic CFD simulation

AbstractA meteorologically challenging situation that represents a demanding control task (rotational speed, pitch and yaw) for a wind turbine is presented and its implementation in a simulation is described. A high‐fidelity numerical process chain, consisting of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver FLOWer, the multi‐body system (MBS) software SIMPACK and the Ffowcs Williams‐Hawkings code ACCO, is used. With it, the aerodynamic, servoelastic and aeroacoustic (<20 Hz) behaviour of a generic wind turbine during a meteorological event with strong and rapid changes in wind speed and direction is investigated. A precursor simulation with the meteorological model system PALM is deployed to generate realistic inflow data. The simulated strong controller response of the wind turbine and the resulting aeroelastic behaviour are analysed. Finally, the low‐frequency sound emissions are evaluated and the influence of the different operating and flow parameters during the variable inflow is assessed. It is observed that the wind speed and, linked to it, the rotational speed as well as the turbulence intensity are the main influencing factors for the emitted low‐frequency sound power of the wind turbine. Yawed inflow, on the other hand, has little effect unless it changes the operational mode to load reduction, resulting in a swap of the main emitter from the blades to the tower.

A Simplified GPU Implementation of the Hybrid Lattice Boltzmann Model for Three-Dimensional High Rayleigh Number Flows

This paper provides an analysis of the numerical performance of a hybrid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver for 3D natural convection. We propose to use the lattice Boltzmann equations with the two-relaxation time approximation for the fluid flow, whereas thermodynamics is described by the macroscopic energy equation with the finite difference solution. An in-house parallel graphics processing unit (GPU) code is written in MATLAB. The execution time of every single step of the algorithm is studied. It is found that the explicit finite difference scheme is not as stable as the implicit one for high Rayleigh numbers. The most time-consuming steps are energy and collide, while stream, boundary conditions, and macroscopic parameters recovery are executed in no time, despite the grid size under consideration. GPU code is more than 30 times faster than a typical low-end central processing unit-based code. The proposed hybrid model can be used for real-time simulation of physical systems under laminar flow behavior and on mid-range segment GPUs.

A numerical study on the added resistance and motion of a ship in bow quartering waves using a soft spring system

The prediction of resistance performance in oblique waves have been a key issue for the accurate estimation of added resistance of ships in the actual operating state. Therefore, in this paper, the added resistance of a large tanker in the bow quartering waves (180⁰, 150⁰, 120⁰) was studied by applying a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver based on the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. In addition, the forces and motion responses in bow quartering waves according to the captive test (heave, roll, and pitch free) and soft spring test (6 DOF) were investigated. To validate the CFD results, it was compared with the model test results showing good agreement. The maximum value of the added resistance was observed between 180⁰ and 150⁰, and it decreased sharply at 120⁰. The peak of the added resistance moved to a shorter wave region. The differences in added resistance, heave, and pitch motions in oblique wave according to the degree of freedom were insignificant. However, the discrepancy in roll motion occurred due to the forces and moments differences caused by the degree of freedom. The tendency of added resistance in the bow quartering waves and the forces and motion responses according to the degree of freedom were also investigated.

Dynamic response of high-speed craft bottom panels subjected to slamming loadings

Abstract The inelastic deformation of a 30 m high-speed craft (HSC) subjected to slamming pressure is the main topic of this research. In this work, the commercial software package ABAQUS FEA is used to predict the structural behavior, especially in the hull area under the chine. Dynamic explicit solver simulations are done to predict plastic deformation. Before the principal analysis of the actual size of the ship hull structure model, the numerical studies were validated against relevant experimental data from the previous open literature. A reassessment of the design guidelines was also done to forecast the slamming load on the HSC structure. Then, with the slamming load pressure increased to the design limit, a parametric analysis was also conducted with two different idealizations of the pressure type: rectangular and triangular. Finally, this study identifies the variables that must be considered when calculating the degree of structural deformation brought on by slamming loads.

Mechanical model and characteristics of deep-water drilling riser-wellhead system under internal solitary waves

Internal solitary waves with a huge amount of energy easily trigger the large dynamic responses of riser-wellhead system and threaten its structural safety. However, previous studies have only focused on the dynamic response of the riser under internal solitary waves. The riser may experience excessive traction from the platform, especially from the mooring platform, in response to the arrival of internal solitary waves. The bottom of the riser connects to the wellhead system, which in turn exerts a reaction force on the riser. To address this problem, a coupled dynamic model of deep-water drilling mooring platform-riser-wellhead system under internal solitary waves is developed in this paper. A dynamic response analysis method based on the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and finite element method is also proposed for the mooring platform-riser-wellhead system. A dynamical solver for the coupled system is then developed using MATLAB. The dynamic response characteristics of the riser-wellhead system under internal solitary waves are calculated. Results show that the displacement and bending moment of the system initially increases and then decreases along with the propagation of internal solitary waves, and finally reach equilibrium position. The displacement and bending moment reach their peak before the trough of internal solitary waves passes through the riser-wellhead system. The dynamic responses of the riser-wellhead system under the influence of internal solitary wave loads are much larger than those without the effect of internal solitary wave loads. The riser system experiences shearing loads at the interface of internal solitary waves, which trigger a step-like bending moment variation. The bending moment of the conductor under the mudline is greatly increased by the internal solitary waves.

Unilateral frictional contact between a rigid wheel traversing on a flexible beam: An analytical investigation

This paper proposes a non-linear dynamic solver to simulate the dynamics of a rigid wheel traversing over a flexible beam involving a unilateral contact at the interface. Euler’s discretization scheme is extended incorporating Linear Complementary approach to perform explicit integration over time domain. The proposed solver is analytically designed to incorporate frictional force acting at the wheel-beam interface along with the possibility of generation of normal gap between the two bodies. Moreover, rotation of the wheel is also appended in the proposed algorithm and change in contact point between the wheel and beam is evaluated at every time step. After validation with existing literature, the solver is applied to study various dynamic responses of wheel and beam. Further, the technique is applied to moving oscillator model traversing over a flexible beam. The effect of initial wheel velocity, coefficient of friction, frequency of the oscillator on overall dynamic response of beam and wheel have been thoroughly investigated. The proposed algorithm delivers an exact solution based on the system’s fundamental mechanics, thus reducing the mesh reliance which amounts to high computational cost in finite element solver. The suggested method provides a broad future potential for solving rigid-flexible contact multibody dynamic problems.

Hydrodynamic coefficients in heave of a moonpool-type floater using theoretical, numerical and CFD methodologies

The present paper deals with the solution of the hydrodynamic radiation problem in the heave direction for a moonpool-type floater, which is exposed to the action of regular surface waves, in finite depth waters. For the solution of the problem three different computation methods were implemented and compared: a theoretical approach solving analytically the problem around the moonpool floater; a numerical panel methodology which uses pulsating singularities distributed over the floater's wetted surface to describe the fluid flow around it; and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver considering the viscous effects near the body's sharp edges as non-negligible. Numerical results are given from the comparison of the three formulations, and some interesting phenomena created by the confined fluid resonance were discussed.