Impact Of Geometric Variability Research Articles

Topology optimization of coronary artery stent considering structural and hemodynamic parameters

In the present study, the impact of geometric variables and structural features of stents on hemodynamic parameters is investigated. Intravascular stent implantation is a treatment method whose success largely depends on the geometric structure of the stent and its effect on hemodynamic parameters. Medical devices called stents are inserted into arteries to restore blood flow when an artery is blocked. In this research, an optimal stent was designed and its effect compared to the common commercial stent used for coronary arteries was investigated and compared. It has been found that the geometry of the stent has an effective impact on the wall shear stress in the stented artery. Therefore, in this article, the importance of stent structures in the treatment of the coronary artery disease is discussed. For this purpose, first, an optimal stent is created with the topology optimization technique to find the best structure in the stent design. Finally, the optimized stent is numerically verified with ANSYS software and compared with existing commercial stents, and then the prototype is fabricated using additive manufacturing techniques. Commercial software ABAQUS, SolidWorks, and ANSYS are used in this research. The results showed that in optimizing a square plate, a sample with a minimum residual volume limit equal to 10 and 7 % can be selected as the optimal state. The results indicate that the new design can improve the distribution of wall shear stresses to reduce the adverse hemodynamic changes. Therefore, the proposed stent geometric structure can help improve the treatment. Finally, the optimized stent along with a commercial stent was made with the 3D printing method.

Impact of geometric variables on the functionality of downdraft biomass gasifiers across diverse dimensions

This study offers an extensive examination of the fundamental design parameters that influence the performance of biomass downdraft gasifiers. The impact of design parameters such as reactor dimensions, throat diameter, length of converging and diverging section and ratio of maximum to minimum diameter (dmax/dmin) were analysed using FORTRAN code, which was initially developed for 4 kW Imbert gasifier. Simulation results highlight that the optimal range of hearth loads for gasifier operation is influenced by both the gasifier’s size and the particle size of the feedstock. Increasing gasifier size from 20 mm to 100 mm throat diameter, while maintaining the same superficial air velocity (SAV), escalates hearth load and superficial velocity due to heightened biomass consumption, leading to higher hearth temperature and improved gas calorific value. Similar trends are observed across varying SAV values (0.35 m/s to 1.8 m/s), suggesting a need for lower SAV values in larger gasifiers, possibly with larger particle sizes. Additionally, altering the length of the converging and diverging sections impacts gas quality, with deviations from recommended values affecting ignition and overall performance, while dmax/dmin variations show no significant impact.

On the Impact of Geometric Variability on Fan Aerodynamic Performance, Unsteady Blade Row Interaction, and Its Mechanical Characteristics

The focus of the present study is to assess and quantify the uncertainty in predicting the steady and unsteady aerodynamic performance as well as the major mechanical characteristics of a contrarotating turbofan, primarily due to geometric variations stemming from the manufacturing process. The basis of this study is the optically scanned blisk of the first rotor, for which geometric variations from blade to blade are considered. In a first step, selected profile sections of the first rotor were evaluated aerodynamically by applying the 2D coupled Euler/boundary-layer solver mises. Statistical properties of the relevant flow quantities were calculated firstly based on the results of the nine manufactured blades. In a second step, the geometric variations were decomposed into their corresponding eigenforms by means of principal component analysis (PCA). These modes were the basis for carrying out Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in order to analyze in detail the blade's aerodynamic response to the prescribed geometric variations. By means of 3D-computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the entire fan stage for all the nine scanned rotor 1 blade geometries, the variation of the overall stage performance parameters will be quantified. The impact of the instrumentation will be discussed, here partly doubling the standard deviation of the major performance indicators for the instrumented blades and also triggering a premature laminar/turbulent transition of the boundary layer. In terms of the unsteady blade row interaction, the standard deviation of the resulting blade pressure amplitude shall be discussed based on unsteady simulations, taking advantage of a novel harmonic balance approach. It will be shown that the major uncertainty in terms of the predicted blade pressure amplitude is in the aft part of the front rotor and results from upstream shock/blade interaction. Apart from the aerodynamic performance, an analysis of the mechanical properties in terms of Campbell characteristics and eigenfrequencies was carried out for each of the scanned blades of rotor 1, reflecting the frequency scattering of each eigenmode due to geometric variability.