Numerical Calculation of Unsteady Flow Fields: Feasibility of Applying the Weis-Fogh Mechanism to Water Turbines

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kideok Ro ◽  
Baoshan Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Velocity Ratio ◽  
Vortex Method ◽  
Flow Fields ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Opening Angle ◽  
Stroke Length ◽  
Water Turbine ◽  
Type Water ◽  
Water Turbines

In this study, a reciprocating-type water turbine model that applies the principle of the Weis-Fogh mechanism was proposed, and the model's unsteady flow field was calculated by an advanced vortex method. The primary conditions were as follows: wing chord C=1, wing shaft stroke length hs=2.5C, and the maximum opening angle of the wing α=36 deg. The dynamic characteristics and unsteady flow fields of a Weis-Fogh type water turbine were investigated with velocity ratios U/V = 1.0 ∼ 3.0. Force coefficients Cu and Cv acting on the wing in the U and V directions, respectively, were found to have a strong correlation each other. The size of a separated region on the back face of the wing increased as the velocity ratio increased and as the wing approached the opposite wall. The rapid drop in Cv during a stroke increased as the velocity ratio increased, and the average Cu and Cv increased as the velocity ratio increased. The maximum efficiency of this water turbine was 14.1% at U/V = 2.0 for one wing.

HYDRODYNAMIC CALCULATION OF ROTATING WEIS-FOGH-TYPE WATER TURBINE WITH THE ADVANCED VORTEX METHOD

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-355
Author(s):  
Ki-Deok Ro
Keyword(s):  
Velocity Ratio ◽  
Vortex Method ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Hydrodynamic Characteristics ◽  
Opening Angle ◽  
Pressure Fields ◽  
Hydrodynamic Calculation ◽  
Water Turbine ◽  
Type Water ◽  
Maximum Opening

In this study, a rotating-type water turbine model applying the principle of the Weis-Fogh mechanism is proposed, and its hydrodynamic characteristics calculated by an advanced vortex method. The unsteady flow and pressure fields around the wing for two revolutions were calculated by changing the uniform flow and maximum opening angle of the wing. The maximum efficiency for one wing of the water turbine was 45.3% at the maximum opening angle of the wing 36° and velocity ratio 2.0. The flow field of the water turbine is very complex because the wing rotates and moves unsteadily in the channel. However, using the advanced vortex method, accurate calculations were possible.

Simulation of the Piston Driven Flow Inside a Cylinder With an Eccentric Port

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrin Gharakhani ◽  
Ahmed F. Ghoniem
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vortex Method ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Solid Boundary ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Stroke Length

A grid-free Lagrangian approach is applied to simulate the high Reynolds number unsteady flow inside a three-dimensional domain with moving boundaries. For this purpose, the Navier-Stokes equations are expressed in terms of the vorticity transport formulation. The convection and stretch of vorticity are obtained using the Lagrangian vortex method, while diffusion is approximated by the random walk method. The boundary-element method is used to solve a potential flow problem formulated to impose the normal flux condition on the boundary of the domain. The no-slip condition is satisfied by a vortex tile generation mechanism at the solid boundary, which takes into account the time-varying boundary surfaces due to, e.g., a moving piston. The approach is entirely grid-free within the fluid domain, requiring only meshing of the surface boundary, and virtually free of numerical diffusion. The method is applied to study the evolution of the complex vortical structure forming inside the time-varying semi-confined geometry of a cylinder equipped with an eccentric inlet port and a harmonically driven piston. Results show that vortical structures resembling those observed experimentally in similar configurations dominate this unsteady flow. The roll-up of the incoming jet is responsible for the formation of eddies whose axes are nearly parallel to the cylinder axis. These eddies retain their coherence for most of the stroke length. Instabilities resembling conventional vortex ring azimuthal modes are found to be responsible for the breakup of these toroidal eddies near the end of the piston motion. The nondiffusive nature of the numerical approach allows the prediction of these essentially inviscid phenomena without resorting to a turbulence model or the need for extremely fine, adaptive volumetric meshes.

EXPERIMENTS ON HYDRODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF WEIS–FOGH-TYPE WATER TURBINE

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-415
Author(s):  
Ki-Deok Ro
Keyword(s):  
Water Channel ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Hydrodynamic Performance ◽  
Power Coefficient ◽  
Hydrodynamic Characteristics ◽  
Opening Angle ◽  
Water Turbine ◽  
Type Water ◽  
Design Factors ◽  
Maximum Opening

This study examines the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Weis–Fogh-type water turbine by measuring the forces in the U and V directions on the wing (NACA0010 airfoil). The distance from the trailing edge of the wing to the wing shaft (rp), water channel width (h), and maximum opening angle (α) are important design factors that were selected as the experimental parameters. The maximum average efficiency and average power coefficient of this water turbine for a single wing were 40% and 0.6, respectively, at α = 40°, h = 1.5C, and U/V =2.0.

Pressure sensitive paint for unsteady flow fields

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirotaka Sakaue ◽  
James Gregory ◽  
John Sullivan ◽  
Surya Raghu
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Flow Fields ◽  
Pressure Sensitive Paint ◽  
Pressure Sensitive

scholarly journals Performance Characteristics in Runner of an Impulse Water Turbine with Splitter Blade

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Lingdi Tang ◽  
Shouqi Yuan ◽  
Yue Tang ◽  
Zhijun Gao
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Negative Energy ◽  
Water Turbine ◽  
Conversion Performance ◽  
Water Turbines ◽  
Current Energy

The impulse water turbine is a promising energy conversion device that can be used as mechanical power or a micro hydro generator, and its application can effectively ease the current energy crisis. This paper aims to clarify the mechanism of liquid acting on runner blades, the hydraulic performance, and energy conversion characteristics in the runner domain of an impulse water turbine with a splitter blade by using experimental tests and numerical simulations. The runner was divided into seven areas along the flow direction, and the power variation in the runner domain was analyzed to reflect its energy conversion characteristics. The obtained results indicate that the critical area of the runner for doing the work is in the front half of the blades, while the rear area of the blades does relatively little work and even consumes the mechanical energy of the runner to produce negative work. The high energy area is concentrated in the flow passage facing the nozzle. The energy is gradually evenly distributed from the runner inlet to the runner outlet, and the negative energy caused by flow separation with high probability is gradually reduced. The clarification of the energy conversion performance is of great significance to improve the design of impulse water turbines.

Helical Flow Disturbances in a Multi-Nozzle Combustor

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Aguilar ◽  
Michael Malanoski ◽  
Gautham Adhitya ◽  
Benjamin Emerson ◽  
Vishal Acharya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Flow Fields ◽  
Helical Flow ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Flow Structures ◽  
Response Dynamics ◽  
Flow Disturbances ◽  
Nozzle Configuration ◽  
Jet Interactions

This paper describes an experimental investigation of a transversely forced, swirl stabilized combustor. Its objective is to compare the unsteady flow structures in single and triple nozzle combustors and determine how well a single nozzle configuration emulates the characteristics of a multi-nozzle one. The experiment consists of a series of velocity field measurements captured on planes normal to the jet axis. As expected, there are differences between the single and triple-nozzle flow fields, but the differences are not large in the regions upstream of the jet merging zone. Direct comparisons of the time averaged flow fields reveal a higher degree of non-axisymmetry for the flowfields of nozzles in a multi-nozzle configuration. Azimuthal decompositions of the velocity fields show that the transverse acoustic forcing has an important influence on the dynamics, but that the single and multi-nozzle configurations have similar forced response dynamics near the dump plane. Specifically, the axial dependence of the amplitude in the highest energy axisymmetric and helical flow structures is quite similar in the two configurations. This result suggests that the hydrodynamic influence of one swirling jet on the other is minimal and, as such, that jet-jet interactions in this configuration do not have a significant influence on the unsteady flow structures.

Application of an Angular Momentum Balance Method for Investigating Numerical Accuracy in Swirling Flow

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-730
Author(s):  
H. Nilsson ◽  
L. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Computational Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Linear Momentum ◽  
Correct Solution ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Numerical Accuracy ◽  
Water Turbine ◽  
Water Turbines

This work derives and applies a method for the investigation of numerical accuracy in computational fluid dynamics. The method is used to investigate discretization errors in computations of swirling flow in water turbines. The work focuses on the conservation of a subset of the angular momentum equations that is particularly important to swirling flow in water turbines. The method is based on the fact that the discretized angular momentum equations are not necessarily conserved when the discretized linear momentum equations are solved. However, the method can be used to investigate the effect of discretization on any equation that should be conserved in the correct solution, and the application is not limited to water turbines. Computations made for two Kaplan water turbine runners and a simplified geometry of one of the Kaplan runner ducts are investigated to highlight the general and simple applicability of the method.

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