Spanwise Velocity Research Articles

Microjet Flow Control on an Airfoil Flap: Particle Image Velocimetry Characterization

Normal-blowing microjets near the trailing edge of a flap can improve the aerodynamic performance of high-lift systems, potentially without some of the system-integration drawbacks of traditional systems. Previous two-dimensional simulations and a preliminary wind-tunnel test demonstrated the effectiveness of the microjet concept on a deployed flap. To further validate microjet effectiveness, this study uses a specially developed particle image velocimetry technique to estimate the momentum injected by a microjet on a deployed Fowler flap of a two-element NLR7301 airfoil while simultaneously measuring the lift enhancement provided by the microjet via surface pressure taps. The test results are broadly consistent with numerical simulations that predict lift increases proportionally to the square root of momentum injection. Within the experimental uncertainties, the test results show slightly less lift benefit for a given level of estimated momentum injection compared to the simulations, possibly due to three-dimensional effects such as spanwise variability and spanwise velocity components of the injected air, which could not be measured with the current instrumentation.

Modulating local winds and turbulence around a single building obstacle with the obstruction of tall vegetation

Strategic vegetation placement can significantly alter airflow patterns and turbulence, fostering desired wind environments. By comparing scenarios where vegetation is placed upstream, downstream or absent (treeless) relative to a single building using large-eddy simulation, this study provides detailed insights into the sensitivity of flow dynamics to the positioning of the vegetation. Upstream vegetation more significantly disrupts the flow patterns around the building obstacle, altering vertical wind profiles and modifying wake circulations, compared to downstream vegetation. A small shear layer developed at the plant top for upstream vegetation markedly influences turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) on both the leeward and windward sides of the building, shifting the inflection point in vertical TKE profiles by up to 0.13H. By contrast, smaller tree-building separations lead to an effective merging of their aerodynamic profiles, whereas larger separations confine the streamwise breadth of turbulent fluxes, amplifying flux exchanges in the spanwise direction. Spectral analyses reveal that upstream vegetation consistently results in higher power spectral densities of the streamwise turbulence in the residential area than downstream vegetation. While small-scale spanwise velocity fluctuations are found to be comparably energetic at the building's windward side for upstream vegetation, the power becomes substantially concentrated on large-scale eddies in the building wake region, providing specific insights into modulating turbulent eddy motions within the residential zone.

Inductive plasma excitation forcing configuration on reduction of tip distorted inflow effect on the aerodynamic stability of axial compressor rotor

This research delves into the mitigating impacts of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma excitation induced forcing orientation against the detrimental consequences of distinct radial tip distortions which in turn affect the axial compressor rotor performance and alters the flow structure at the tip region. Full annulus transient CFD simulation was utilized to evaluate the consequences of plasma actuation at distorted conditions with different blockage percentages. Beyond flow field and frequency analysis, the study further characterized rotor performance under different conditions by evaluating key performance metrics, including total pressure rise coefficient, stall margin variation, and span-wise rotor inlet velocity distribution. The injection of momentum caused by plasma actuators to the low-energy region behind the distortion screens proved to be effective on rotor aerodynamic stability facing radial tip distortion. In the case where 15 % of the inlet area was blocked, the stall margin varied from -8 % to -3.5 % with axial plasma actuators in action. However, the best configuration of plasma actuators for the enhancement of the stall margin and flow characteristics was identified to have opposite forcing direction with respect to the rotor rotational velocity. Additionally, these actuators suppressed frequencies caused by fluctuations in the rotor blade row tip leakage vortex, suggesting an improvement in the flow pattern within the rotor tip area.

Flow dynamics and heat transfer characteristics of flows past a zigzag cylinder in a bounded domain

A comprehensive numerical and experimental study is conducted to investigate the flow dynamics and heat transfer characteristics of flows past a novel wavy-axis circular cylinder placed symmetrically between two parallel walls. For comparison, the flow past a corresponding straight-axis cylinder within the same bounded domain is also studied. The investigations were primarily conducted at Reynolds numbers of 626 and 680, based on the average velocity and diameter of the cylinder, with a blockage ratio of 0.42, based on the widest area of the channel. At these flow conditions, the straight cylinder expectedly showed a “reverse” von Kármán type wake. However, the special zigzag cylinder showed fundamentally distinct flow patterns at the wake leading to a significant drag reduction and a heat transfer enhancement, compared to the performance of the straight cylinder. The pressure drop of the zigzag cylinder is 14 % and 19.4 % lower than that of the straight cylinder, with a higher convective heat transfer coefficient of 24 % and 9 %, respectively, for Reynolds numbers of 626 and 680. The substantial drag reduction is attributed to the formation of steady flow pattern in the wake indicating the suppression of unsteady vortex shedding. The heat transfer enhancement was mainly caused by the formation of elongated vortical structures principally aligned in the streamwise direction. The creation of these streamwise vortex tubes tends to more efficiently mix the fluid between the near-wall area and the core region of the channel than the near-planar vortex shedding associated to the straight cylinder. It was shown that the 3D shape of the zigzag cylinder generates a spanwise velocity component, which results in the creation of a dominant streamwise vorticity component that eventually develops into sustained vortex tubes.

Wall Shear Stress Characteristics Of A Turbulent Boundary Layer Obtained With Multi-Aperture Defocusing Micro-PTV And High-Speed Stereo Profile-PIV

A multi-aperture 3d 3c micro PTV system is presented which relies on single window optical access for both high-speed tracer illumination and image recording. Similar to the “defocusing” concept described by C. Willert & Gharib (1992), the wall distance of individual particles is obtained from the size of projected particle image triplets formed by a triplet of apertures on the entrance pupil of the microscope lens. The present article extends upon previously published material Klinner & Willert (2022) by applying multi-aperture micro particle tracking velocimetry (MA-micro PTV) on a canonical turbulent boundary layer (TBL) to track the near-wall motion of tracer particles with the aim of estimating the unsteady wall-shear stress from particle tracks. The technique is validated with measurements of a TBL inside the closed test section of the 1 m wind tunnel of DLR in Göttingen (1mWK) at free- stream velocities of 5.2 to 20 m/s with corresponding shear Reynolds numbers between 560 and 1630. In the viscous sublayer, the probability density distributions of stream- and span-wise wall shear stress (WSS) components could be reliably captured down to probability densities of 10E−3. As far as we know, this has not been achieved in the past, particularly not for the span-wise component. For the stream-wise component the measured Reynolds-number dependency of the root mean squared fluctuations agrees to correlations by Örlü & Schlatter (2011). Furthermore, the skewness of the stream-wise WSS agrees well to values from DNS. On the other hand, the span-wise WSS fluctuations consistently underestimate the predicted DNS values, for which it is assumed that the deviation can be explained by the rapid decrease of the span-wise velocity fluctuations with increasing wall distance. Wall-normal profiles of 3c velocity statistics were obtained by bin averaging of particle velocities. Up into the buffer layer, these profiles agree well with profiles from stereo PIV as well as from DNS and LES, indicating an accurate determination of both near-wall velocities and inner scaling.

Fluid Dynamics Effects of a Porous Blockage on Laminar Flow in the Interior Subchannels of a 61-Pin Wire-Wrapped Rod Bundle

Flow blockages in Liquid Metal Fast Reactor (LMFR) fuel assemblies that can cause fuel pin cladding failures require further investigation for the development and optimization of these Generation IV reactor designs. The objective of this study was to experimentally evaluate the effects of a porous blockage accident scenario on laminar flow behavior in the interior subchannels of a prototypical 61-pin wire-wrapped rod bundle. The laminar flow condition is considered because of its importance to natural circulation and loss-of-coolant-accident operating scenarios as well as the limited availability of experimental data. The matched-index-of-refraction method was utilized to obtain two-dimension two-component time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) measurements at three planes centered on blocked and neighboring subchannel regions. Time-averaged first-order and second-order statistics, computed by Reynolds decomposition, were visualized including the mean and fluctuating streamwise and spanwise velocity components. Line profiles described the evolution of flow from upstream regions, to separated flow, and recombination downstream, while a modified Galilean decomposition distinguished differences between flow in the blocked measurement plane and flow in its neighboring counterpart region. Spatial-temporal cross-correlations were performed for the streamwise velocity fluctuations to characterize the convection velocity and decay of traveling vortices in the wake of the porous blockage. The isothermal TR-PIV measurements from this study provide high-fidelity experimental data sets for the validation of computational models and numerical studies to characterize complex fluid phenomena in wire-wrapped rod bundles during the potential accident scenario of a porous, interior flow blockage.

Preliminary Analysis of Hydrodynamic Drag Reduction and Fouling Resistance of Surfaces Inspired by the Mollusk Shell, Dosinia juvenilis.

Many species of plants and animals show an ability to resist fouling with surface topographies tailored to their environments. The mollusk species Dosinia juvenilis has demonstrated the ability to resist the accumulation of fouling on its outer surface. Understanding the functional mechanism employed by nature represents a significant opportunity for the persistent challenges of many industrial and consumer applications. Using a biomimetic approach, this study investigates the underlying hydrodynamic mechanisms of fouling resistance through Large Eddy simulations of a turbulent boundary layer above a novel ribletted surface topography bio-inspired by the Dosinia juvenilis. The results indicate a maximum drag reduction of 6.8% relative to a flat surface. The flow statistics near the surface are analogous to those observed for other ribletted surfaces in that the appropriately sized riblets effectively reduce the spanwise and wall-normal velocity fluctuations near the surface. This study supports the understanding that nature employs ribletted surfaces toward multiple functionalities including the considered drag reduction and fouling resistance.

Assessment of Multi-Physical Fields Reconstruction Approaches in Three-Dimensional Supersonic Flow with Shocks

The paper evaluates the application of several multi-physical fields reconstruction approaches based on the Tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) in three-dimensional supersonic flows with shock waves, including the pressure, temperature, and density. The MacCormack method and the Flux Vector Splitting method with outstanding performance in two-dimensional supersonic flow are extended into three-dimensional forms. The conventional Poisson method is also considered because of its widespread application and high accuracy in subsonic and transonic flow. All of these approaches are established by the conservative Navier-Stokes equations and solved by the time-marching iteration process, combined with the perfect gas law and adiabatic flow assumption. The performances are evaluated by numerical velocimetry data. To simulate the typical three-dimensional features, the cases of uniform freestream at Mach 0.78 and 3 past a cone with a 20° half-angle are selected to obtain a sufficient spanwise velocity component. The results confirm the feasibility of the PIV-based reconstruction methods in the conical flow field. The conventional Poisson method performs well only in the subsonic case while the Flux Vector Splitting method has a better performance in supersonic flow, including higher accuracy, stability, and efficiency, with a low-level root-mean-square error of 0.449% and local maximum relative error of 1%.

On the natural transition of the natural convection boundary layer under a constant heat flux condition

This study investigates the thermo-fluidic characteristics of a natural convection boundary layer over a vertical plate heated under a constant heat flux condition. We used particle image velocimetry to observe the surface convection velocity at the proximity of the plate, which is submerged in a water chamber with Rayleigh number, Ra=7×109 and Prandtl number, Pr = 8.1. The velocity distributions indicated the presence of distinct stripe-like flow structures in the early transition (upstream) region and that of distinct negative–positive Λ-shaped flow structures in the downstream region. In addition, the temporal variation of spanwise and streamwise velocity components was presented. Furthermore, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis was used to reduce the complexity of the flow structure and retain the most salient characteristics of the flow field. Our results confirmed the existence of a very weak inceptive oscillation in the behaviour of POD time coefficients in the upstream region.

Analytical Wake Modeling in Atmospheric Boundary Layers: Accounting for Wind Veer and Thermal Stratification

Reliable characterization of wind turbine wakes in the presence of Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) flows is crucial to accurately predict wind farm performance. Wind veering in the ABL shears the wake in the lateral direction, and wind veer strength depends on the thermal stability of the ABL. Analytical wake modeling approaches must capture these ABL effects to ensure correct prediction of the wake structure under varied atmospheric conditions. To this end, a new physics-based analytical wake model is developed in this study that is capable of predicting the shape of wakes influenced by wind veer and thermal stratification effects. This model combines a novel ABL wind field model with the Gaussian wake model. The new ABL wind model is capable of predicting both the streamwise and spanwise velocity components in conventionally neutral (CNBL) and stable (SBL) ABL flows. The analytical expressions for both of these horizontal velocity components adhere to Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST) in the surface layer, while capturing wind veering in the outer layer of the ABL. Incorporating this ABL model with the Gaussian wake model predicts laterally deflected wake shapes in a fully predictive and self-consistent fashion for a wide range of atmospheric conditions. The results also demonstrate that the enhanced wake model gives improved predictions relative to Large Eddy Simulations of power losses due to wake interactions under strongly stably stratified atmospheric conditions, where wind veer effects are dominant.

Effect of the yaw angle on the riblet performance

Direct numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effect of the yaw angle (α) on the drag-reduction performance by riblets in a turbulent channel flow. The yaw angles of α=0° and 90° correspond to the riblets parallel and perpendicular to the free-stream direction, respectively. It is well known that maximum drag reduction occurs at α=0°, and the drag-reduction performance by riblets is degraded with increasing α. We obtain the critical yaw angle below which drag reduction can be achieved and investigate the corresponding mechanism. From a parametric study, drag reductions are achieved for α<20°. As α increases, the form drag increases more rapidly than the skin-friction drag decreases, resulting in the increase in the total drag. At drag reducing and increasing yaw angles, the mean velocity profiles in wall units shift upward and downward, respectively, and the latter profile suggests that the drag-increasing riblet is similar to a rough surface. With increasing α, the wall-normal and spanwise velocity fluctuations and Reynolds shear stress increase, and stronger near-wall vortices are generated. By applying a scaling analysis to the momentum equation in the riblet-perpendicular direction and the FIK (Fukagata–Iwamoto–Kasagi) identity [Fukagata et al., “Contribution of Reynolds stress distribution to the skin friction in wall-bounded flows,” Phys. Fluids 14, L73–L76 (2002); Peet and Sagaut, “Theoretical prediction of turbulent skin friction on geometrically complex surfaces,” Phys. Fluids 21, 105105 (2009); Bannier et al., “Riblet flow model based on an extended FIK identity,” Flow Turbul. Combust. 95, 351–376 (2015)] to the riblet-parallel direction, the total drag is expressed as a linear function of sin2α.

Land-based wind plant wake characterization using dual-Doppler radar measurements at AWAKEN

Wind plant wakes have been shown to persist for tens of kilometers downstream in offshore environments, reducing the power output of neighboring plants, but their behavior on land remains relatively unexplored through observation. This study capitalizes on the unique and extensive field data collected for the American WAKE ExperimeNt (AWAKEN) project underway in northern Oklahoma. X-band dual-Doppler radars deployed at this site measure wind speed and direction at 25-m and 2-min resolution within a 30-km range, capturing the interactions between three neighboring wind plants. These measurements show that the wake of one wind plant extends at least 15 km downstream under easterly wind and stable atmospheric conditions. Though the wake wind speed increases within the first 10 km, it plateaus at 90% of the freestream wind speed. The spanwise velocity distribution within the wake initially shows the clear signature of the wind plant layout, which is smoothed as it propagates downstream, indicating spanwise momentum transfer is a key mechanism in wind plant wake development and recovery. These findings have important implications for wind plant siting decisions and resource assessments, and provide insights into atmospheric interactions at the wind plant scale.

Turbulent drag reduction with streamwise-travelling waves in the compressible regime

The ability of streamwise-travelling waves of spanwise velocity to reduce the turbulent skin-friction drag is assessed in the compressible regime. Direct numerical simulations are carried out to compare drag reduction in subsonic, transonic and supersonic channel flows. Compressibility improves the benefits of the travelling waves, in a way that depends on the control parameters: drag reduction becomes larger than the incompressible one for small frequencies and wavenumbers. However, the improvement depends on the specific procedure employed for comparison. When the Mach number is varied and, at the same time, wall friction is changed by the control, the bulk temperature in the flow can either evolve freely in time until the aerodynamic heating balances the heat flux at the walls, or be constrained such that a fixed percentage of kinetic energy is transformed into thermal energy. Physical arguments suggest that, in the present context, the latter approach should be preferred. This provides a test condition in which the wall-normal temperature profile more realistically mimics that in an external flow, and also leads to a much better scaling of the results, over both the Mach number and the control parameters. Under this comparison, drag reduction is only marginally improved by compressibility.

Interaction of barn owl leading edge serrations with freestream turbulence

The silent flight of barn owls is associated with wing and feather specialisations. Three special features are known: a serrated leading edge that is formed by free-standing barb tips which appears as a comb-like structure, a soft dorsal surface, and a fringed trailing edge. We used a model of the leading edge comb with 3D-curved serrations that was designed based on 3D micro-scans of rows of barbs from selected barn-owl feathers. The interaction of the flow with the serrations was measured with Particle-Image-Velocimetry in a flow channel at uniform steady inflow and was compared to the situation of inflow with freestream turbulence, generated from the turbulent wake of a cylinder placed upstream. In steady uniform flow, the serrations caused regular velocity streaks and a flow turning effect. When vortices of different size impacted the serrations, the serrations reduced the flow fluctuations downstream in each case, exemplified by a decreased root-mean-square value of the fluctuations in the wake of the serrations. This attenuation effect was stronger for the spanwise velocity component, leading to an overall flow homogenization. Our findings suggest that the serrations of the barn owl provide a passive flow control leading to reduced leading-edge noise when flying in turbulent environments.

Experimental assessment of square-wave spatial spanwise forcing of a turbulent boundary layer

We present an experimental realisation of spatial spanwise forcing in a turbulent boundary layer flow, aimed at reducing the frictional drag. The forcing is achieved by a series of spanwise running belts, running in alternating spanwise direction, thereby generating a steady spatial square-wave forcing. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry in the streamwise–wall-normal plane is used to investigate the impact of actuation on the flow in terms of turbulence statistics, drag performance characteristics, and spanwise velocity profiles, for a non-dimensional wavelength of λx+=397\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\lambda _x^+ = 397$$\\end{document}. In line with reported numerical studies, we confirm that a significant flow control effect can be realised with this type of forcing. The scalar fields of the higher-order turbulence statistics show a strong attenuation of stresses and production of turbulence kinetic energy over the first belt already, followed by a more gradual decrease to a steady-state energy response over the second belt. The streamwise velocity in the near-wall region is reduced, indicative of a drag-reduced flow state. The profiles of the higher-order turbulence statistics are attenuated up to a wall-normal height of y+≈100\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$y^+ \\approx 100$$\\end{document}, with a maximum streamwise stress reduction of 45% and a reduction of integral turbulence kinetic energy production of 39%, for a non-dimensional actuation amplitude of A+=12.7\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$A^+ = 12.7$$\\end{document}. An extension of the classical laminar Stokes layer theory is introduced, based on the linear superposition of Fourier modes, to describe the non-sinusoidal boundary condition that corresponds to the current case. The experimentally obtained spanwise velocity profiles show good agreement with this extended theoretical model. The drag reduction was estimated from a linear fit in the viscous sublayer in the range 2≤y+≤5\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$2 \\le y^+\\le 5$$\\end{document}. The results are found to be in good qualitative agreement with the numerical implementations of Viotti et al. (Phys Fluids 21, 2009), matching the drag reduction trend with A+\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$A^+$$\\end{document}, and reaching a maximum of 20%.Graphical abstract

Parametric study of large-eddy simulation to capture scaling laws of velocity fluctuations in neutral atmospheric boundary layers

The development of digital twins for wind farms often involves the use of large-eddy simulation (LES) to model atmospheric boundary layers. Existing LES solvers primarily focus on accurately capturing streamwise fluctuations. They, however, overlook the less energetic cross-stream fluctuations, which play a crucial role in wind turbine wake evolution. In this study, we conduct a systematic parametric study and incorporate changes in an open-source LES solver. The improved solver is able to predict all three components of velocity fluctuations in alignment with the scaling laws derived from the attached-eddy hypothesis. In particular, we examine the impact of (i) the subgrid-scale model, (ii) the wall model, (iii) the von Kármán constant, and (iv) the grid-cell aspect ratio. We find that although all these factors influence the prediction of velocity fluctuations, the grid-cell aspect ratio has the greatest effect on the spanwise and vertical velocity components. Notably, utilizing nearly isotropic grid cells leads to the best alignment of all three velocity component fluctuations with the scaling laws. Spectral analysis further demonstrates that the present LES solver accurately predicts the characteristic length scales for all velocity fluctuation components, making it a reliable tool for obtaining turbulent inflow conditions for wind farm modeling.

Inter-scale Causality Relations in Wall Turbulence

We investigate the inter-scale energy transfer in the buffer layer between different streamwise and spanwise lengthscales. In a periodic channel, inter-scale transfer of momentum in the periodic directions is only possible through wavenumber interactions in the non-linear advection term. The aim of this study is to map the inter-scale interactions which transfer energy through advection to different lengthscales of interest. The non-linear advection term has nine contributions, which correspond to three different advecting and advected velocity components. Because the flow is anisotropic, each of these contributions can be viewed as portraying a different physical mechanism. Maps of inter-scale transfer are therefore constructed for each of the nine contributions to the advection term in order to understand the relative importance of advecting and advected velocity components in wall turbulence. As a preliminary exploration, two maps of the inter-scale energy transfer in the buffer layer are presented for Reτ = 180, one for transfer to a ‘target’ lengthscale dynamically relevant in the near-wall cycle, λx+=188 , λz+=94 and one for transfer to a ‘target’ lengthscale in the dissipative range, λx+=42 , λz+=21 . In the first case, we observe that the transfer of energy is dominated by transfer into streamwise-velocity (u) by spanwise-elongated structures of spanwise-velocity (w) that advect streamwise-elongated structures of streamwise-velocity (u). This is nothing but the process of streak meandering induced by spanwise-elongated (w) structures. In the second case, the inter-scale transfer can be split into three dominant mechanisms. The first and second mechanisms are observed across many of the nine contributions to the advection term. Velocity structures with size similar or larger than streamwise streaks either advect (mechanism 1) or are advected by (mechanism 2) velocity structures with lengthscales close to the target one. The third mechanism is only significant for streamwise (u) velocity structures advecting streamwise (u) and spanwise (w) velocity, and involves structures with an intermediate scale which is in-between the dissipation scale and the near-wall cycle dynamic lengthscale, but still in the dissipation range. In this mechanism, intermediate-scale streamwise-velocity structures advect intermediate-scale streamwise- and spanwise-velocity structures.

Experiments investigation on atomization characteristics of a liquid jet in a supersonic combustor

The atomization characteristics of a liquid jet in a supersonic combustor were studied experimentally for the first time. A phase doppler anemometry (PDA) system was utilized for the measurement of droplets properties along the cross-sectional area of spray plumes inside the cavity. The results were obtained under the inflow conditions of Ma = 2.0 supersonic crossflow with a stagnation pressure of 0.55 MPa and a stagnation temperature of 300 K. The size and velocity distribution of droplet inside the cavity are obtained based on the PDA measurements. It was found that the Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) distribution of droplets inside the cavity ranged from 30 to 55 μm. The average streamwise velocity ranged from −20 to 150 m/s and the average vertical velocity ranged from −20 to 30 m/s. Large droplets distribute in the central area of the cavity. Small droplets spread around the central area of the bottom and sidewall areas of the cavity. The area near the sidewall may be an ideal ignition location due to the lower SMD and velocity of droplets. The time-averaged motion trend of droplets in the cavity is proposed experimentally based on the streamwise and spanwise velocity distribution profiles of droplets. The presence of a recirculation zone within the cavity is confirmed. The recirculation area inside the cavity is mainly distributed in the front half of the cavity. The droplets in the cavity show a good tracking performance. With the effect of the airflow, the droplets in the top area of the cavity move toward the bottom and rear wall of the cavity. In addition, the droplets in the middle and bottom area of the cavity move toward the front wall of the cavity especially for droplets near the sidewall. These universal curves can potentially be used for the modeling of a liquid jet in a supersonic combustor.

Numerical evaluation of the bubble dynamic influence on the characteristics of multiscale cavitating flow in the bluff body wake

Unsteady cavitating flow around the bluff body widely existed in practical engineering fields. This paper aims to investigate the physics involved in the multi-scale cavitating flow in the wake of a wedge-shaped bluff body, with special emphasis on the bubble effects. Numerical simulation is conducted using the traditional Eulerian-Eulerian (E-E) and newly developed Eulerian-Lagrangian (E-L) methods in OpenFOAM. It is found that, compared with the experimental results, the E-L method can predict more accurate cavitation characteristics than the E-E method due to the contribution of discrete bubbles. Bubbles can significantly influence the behaviors of the multi-scale cavitating flow. Specially, analysis of pressure fluctuations indicates that the bubbles induce a stronger power spectral density in the middle- and high-frequency regions. With the bubble effects considered, the vortex structure is stretched and more extensive in the near wake regions. The strength of time-averaged vorticity distribution decreases in the far wake region. Further analysis of the vortex transport equation shows that bubble dynamics significantly increase the intensity of the stretching term by enhancing the spanwise velocity fluctuations. The intensity of the baroclinic torque term predicted by the E-L method is higher than that by the E-E method near the center line due to the influence of bubbles. On the other hand, the analysis of turbulent kinetic energy distribution indicates that bubbles can induce turbulence by increasing cross-stream velocity fluctuations. The increment of the shear Reynold stress, u′xu′y‾, suggests that the bubbles intensify the coupling between the streamwise and cross-stream velocity fluctuations.

Assessment of Machine Learning Wall Modeling Approaches for Large Eddy Simulation of Gas Turbine Film Cooling Flows: An a Priori Study

Abstract In this work, a priori analysis of machine learning (ML) strategies is carried out with the goal of data-driven wall modeling for large eddy simulation (LES) of gas turbine film cooling flows. High-fidelity flow datasets are extracted from wall-resolved LES (WRLES) of flow over a flat plate interacting with the coolant flow supplied by a single row of 7-7-7 shaped cooling holes inclined at 30 degrees with the flat plate at different blowing ratios (BR). The WRLES are performed using the high-order Nek5000 spectral element computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. Light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) is employed as the ML algorithm for the data-driven wall model. Parametric tests are conducted to systematically assess the influence of a wide range of input flow features (velocity components, velocity gradients, pressure gradients, and fluid properties) on the accuracy of ML wall model with respect to prediction of wall shear stress. In addition, the use of spatial stencil and time delay is also explored within the ML wall modeling framework. It is shown that features associated with gradients of the streamwise and spanwise velocity components have a major impact on the prediction fidelity of wall model, while the effect of gradients of wall-normal velocity component is found to be negligible. Moreover, adding flow feature information from an x-y-z spatial stencil significantly improves the ML model accuracy and generalizability compared to just using local flow features from the matching location. Overall, highest prediction accuracy is achieved when both spatial stencil and time delay features are incorporated within the data-driven wall modeling paradigm.