scholarly journals On the Evaluation of Mesh Resolution for Large-Eddy Simulation of Internal Flows Using Openfoam

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Zahra Seifollahi Moghadam ◽  
François Guibault ◽  
André Garon
Keyword(s):  
Draft Tube ◽  
Hydraulic Turbine ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Sudden Expansion ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Mesh Resolution ◽  
Hydraulic Turbines ◽  
Academic Test

The central aim of this paper is to use OpenFOAM for the assessment of mesh resolution requirements for large-eddy simulation (LES) of flows similar to the ones which occur inside the draft-tube of hydraulic turbines at off-design operating conditions. The importance of this study is related to the fact that hydraulic turbines often need to be operated over an extended range of operating conditions, which makes the investigation of fluctuating stresses crucial. Scale-resolving simulation (SRS) approaches, such as LES and detached-eddy simulation (DES), have received more interests in the recent decade for understanding and mitigating unsteady operational behavior of hydro turbines. This interest is due to their ability to resolve a larger part of turbulent flows. However, verification studies in LES are very challenging, since errors in numerical discretization, but also subgrid-scale (SGS) models, are both influenced by grid resolution. A comprehensive examination of the literature shows that SRS for different operating conditions of hydraulic turbines is still quite limited and that there is no consensus on mesh resolution requirement for SRS studies. Therefore, the goal of this research is to develop a reliable framework for the validation and verification of SRS, especially LES, so that it can be applied for the investigation of flow phenomena inside hydraulic turbine draft-tube and runner at their off-design operating conditions. Two academic test cases are considered in this research, a turbulent channel flow and a case of sudden expansion. The sudden expansion test case resembles the flow inside the draft-tube of hydraulic turbines at part load. In this study, we concentrate on these academic test cases, but it is expected that hydraulic turbine flow simulations will eventually benefit from the results of the current research. The results show that two-point autocorrelation is more sensitive to mesh resolution than energy spectra. In addition, for the case of sudden expansion, the mesh resolution has a tremendous effect on the results, and, so far, we have not capture an asymptotic converging behavior in the results of Root Mean Square (RMS) of velocity fluctuations and two-point autocorrelation. This case, which represents complex flow behavior, needs further mesh resolution studies.

Experimental Investigation of Draft Tube Inlet Velocity Field of a Propeller Turbine

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Mathieu Gagnon ◽  
Vincent Aeschlimann ◽  
Sébastien Houde ◽  
Felix Flemming ◽  
Stuart Coulson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Draft Tube ◽  
Secondary Flows ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Flow Structures ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Yield Information ◽  
Hydraulic Turbines ◽  
Dominant Frequencies ◽  
Flow Nonuniformity

The draft tube of reaction hydraulic turbines is subject to numerous investigations since it accounts for a significant portion of the energy recovery. But even with up-to-date computational fluid dynamics methodologies, simulating the draft tube flow remains highly challenging since it is a diverging swirling flow that may undergo flow separations and become dominated by unsteady secondary flows. Within the framework of a collaborative research project on the flow dynamics of a propeller turbine model, the flow at the inlet region of the draft tube was studied using 2D-laser Doppler velocimetry (2D-LDV). Measurements were used to detect and characterize the flow structures at three operating conditions: partial discharge, near best efficiency, and full-load conditions. The paper presents analysis based on phased-averaged velocity fields to yield information on fluctuations and dominant frequencies according to runner positions. The main features detected are the flow nonuniformity at the runner exit and the secondary flow structures associated with the runner hub wake. Those results are part of a larger database aimed at providing test cases for the validation of numerical simulation strategies.

Towards Improved Prediction of Aero-Engine Combustor Performance Using Large Eddy Simulations

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. James ◽  
M. S. Anand ◽  
B. Sekar
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Radial Profile ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Outlet Temperature ◽  
Gas Turbine Combustor ◽  
Systematic Assessment ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Aero Engine

The paper presents an assessment of large eddy simulation (LES) and conventional Reynolds averaged methods (RANS) for predicting aero-engine gas turbine combustor performance. The performance characteristic that is examined in detail is the radial burner outlet temperature (BOT) or fuel-air ratio profile. Several different combustor configurations, with variations in airflows, geometries, hole patterns and operating conditions are analyzed with both LES and RANS methods. It is seen that LES consistently produces a better match to radial profile as compared to RANS. To assess the predictive capability of LES as a design tool, pretest predictions of radial profile for a combustor configuration are also presented. Overall, the work presented indicates that LES is a more accurate tool and can be used with confidence to guide combustor design. This work is the first systematic assessment of LES versus RANS on industry-relevant aero-engine gas turbine combustors.

Modelling Strategies for Large-Eddy Simulation of Lean Burn Spray Flames

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Puggelli ◽  
D. Bertini ◽  
L. Mazzei ◽  
A. Andreini
Keyword(s):  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Ambient Pressure ◽  
Nox Reduction ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Lean Burn ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Flamelet Generated Manifold ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Modelling Strategies

During the last years aero-engines are progressively evolving toward design concepts that permit improvements in terms of engine safety, fuel economy and pollutant emissions. With the aim of satisfying the strict NOx reduction targets imposed by ICAO-CAEP, lean burn technology is one of the most promising solutions even if it must face safety concerns and technical issues. Hence a depth insight on lean burn combustion is required and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be a useful tool for this purpose. In this work a comparison in Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) framework of two widely employed combustion approaches like the Artificially Thickened Flame (ATF) and the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) is performed using ANSYS® Fluent v16.2. Two literature test cases with increasing complexity in terms of geometry, flow field and operating conditions are considered. Firstly, capabilities of FGM are evaluated on a single swirler burner operating at ambient pressure with a standard pressure atomizer for spray injection. Then a second test case, operated at 4 bar, is simulated. Here kerosene fuel is burned after an injection through a prefilming airblast atomizer within a co-rotating double swirler. Obtained comparisons with experimental results show the different capabilities of ATF and FGM in modelling the partially-premixed behaviour of the flame and provides an overview of the main strengths and limitations of the modelling strategies under investigation.

Detailed Investigation of Detached-Eddy Simulation for the Flow Past a Circular Cylinder at Re=3900

2012 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
pp. 471-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Zhao ◽  
Chao Yan
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Circular Cylinder ◽  
Flow Structures ◽  
Detached Eddy Simulation ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Flow Past ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Mesh Resolution ◽  
Physical Phenomena

The flow past a circular cylinder at a subcritical Reynolds number 3900 was simulated by the method of detached-eddy simulation (DES). The objective of this present work is not to investigate the physical phenomena of the flow but to study modeling as well as numerical aspects which influence the quality of DES solutions in detail. Firstly, four typical spanwise lengths are chosen and the results are systematically compared. The trend of DES results along the span increment is different from previous large-eddy simulation (LES) investigation. A wider spanwise length does not necessary improve the results. Then, the influence of mesh resolution is studied and found that both too coarse and over refined grids will deteriorate the performance of DES. Finally, different orders of numerical schemes are applied in the inviscid fluxes and the viscous terms. The discrepancies among different schemes are found tiny. However, the instantaneous flow structures produced by 5th order WENO with 4th order central differencing scheme are more abundant than the others. That is, for the time-averaged quantities, the second-order accurate schemes are effective enough, whereas the higher-order accurate methods are needed to resolve the transient characteristics of the flow.

Investigations Of Pressure Pulsations In A Model Of Draft Tube Of Hydraulic Turbine Caused By Vortex Rings

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
Sergey Skripkin ◽  
Mikhail Tsoy ◽  
Sergey Shtork ◽  
Pavel Kuibin
Keyword(s):  
Vortex Ring ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Draft Tube ◽  
Hydraulic Turbine ◽  
Vortex Rings ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Visualization Technique ◽  
Vortex Rope ◽  
Hydro Turbine ◽  
Hydraulic Turbines

Current work is devoted to experimental investigations of behavior of precessing vortex rope in a draft tube model of hydraulic turbine. We used combination of stationary and freely rotating swirlers as a hydro turbine model. Such construction provides velocity distribution on the draft tube inlet close to distribution in natural hydraulic turbines operated at non-optimal conditions. The phenomenon of precessing vortex rope reconnection with further formation of vortex ring was founded in this experimental research using high-speed visualization technique. Synchronization of highspeed visualization and pressure measurements allowed us to relate pressure shock on the draft tube wall with vortex ring moving along wall.

scholarly journals Manipulation of the swirling flow instability in hydraulic turbine diffuser by different methods of water injection

2018 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 02090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Rudolf ◽  
Jiří Litera ◽  
Germán Alejandro Ibarra Bolanos ◽  
David Štefan
Keyword(s):  
Swirling Flow ◽  
Flow Instability ◽  
Draft Tube ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Hydraulic Turbine ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Francis Turbine ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Vortex Rope ◽  
Wide Range

Vortex rope, which induces substantial pressure pulsations, arises in the draft tube (diffuser) of Francis turbine for off-design operating conditions. Present paper focuses on mitigation of those pulsations using active water jet injection control. Several modifications of the original Susan-Resiga’s idea were proposed. All modifications are driven by manipulation of the shear layer region, which is believed to play important role in swirling flow instability. While some of the methods provide results close to the original one, none of them works in such a wide range. Series of numerical experiments support the idea that the necessary condition for vortex rope pulsation mitigation is increasing the fluid momentum along the draft tube axis.

Application of High-Resolution Large Eddy Simulation to Simplified Turbomachinery Flows

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Teramoto ◽  
Takuya Ouchi ◽  
Hiroki Sanada ◽  
Koji Okamoto
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Eddy Simulation ◽  
Reynolds Stress ◽  
Sudden Expansion ◽  
Compressor Cascade ◽  
Rans Model ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy

Fully resolved large eddy simulation (LES) is applied to two simple geometry flowfields with well-defined boundary conditions. The LES results are compared with simulations based on a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model with turbulence, and pros and cons of using high-resolution LES for turbomachinery flows are discussed. One flow is a linear compressor cascade flow composed of the tip section of GE rotor B at Rec = 4 × 105 with a clearance, and the other is a Mach 1.76 supersonic turbulent boundary layer at Reδ = 5000 that laminerizes through a 12-degree expansion corner. The grids are prepared fine enough to resolve the turbulent boundary layer through a grid sensitivity study. The liner cascade result shows that all the turbulent shear layers and boundary layers including those in the small tip clearance are well resolved with 800 million grid points. The Reynolds stress derived from the LES results are compared directly with those predicted from the Spalart-Allmaras one-equation RANS turbulence model. The two results agreed qualitatively well except for the shear layer surrounding the tip leakage vortex, demonstrating that the RANS model performs well at least for flowfields near the design condition. From the simulation of the turbulent boundary layer experiencing sudden expansion, noticeable decreases of both Reynolds stress and local friction coefficient were observed, showing that the turbulent boundary layer has relaminarized through the sudden expansion. The boundary layer downstream of the expansion exhibits a nonequilibrium condition and was different from the laminar boundary layer.

scholarly journals LES and RANS Investigations Into Buoyancy-Affected Convection in a Rotating Cavity With a Central Axial Throughflow

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zixiang Sun ◽  
Klas Lindblad ◽  
John W. Chew ◽  
Colin Young
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
Rotating Disc ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Rotating Cavity ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Les Model

The buoyancy-affected flow in rotating disc cavities, such as occurs in compressor disc stacks, is known to be complex and difficult to predict. In the present work large eddy simulation (LES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions are compared with other workers’ measurements from an engine representative test rig. The Smagorinsky-Lilly model was employed in the LES simulations, and the RNG k-ε turbulence model was used in the RANS modelling. Three test cases were investigated in a range of Grashof number Gr = 1.87 to 7.41×108 and buoyancy number Bo = 1.65 to 11.5. Consistent with experimental observation, strong unsteadiness was clearly observed in the results of both models, however the LES results exhibited a finer flow structure than the RANS solution. The LES model also achieved significantly better agreement with velocity and heat transfer measurements than the RANS model. Also, temperature contours obtained from the LES results have a finer structure than the tangential velocity contours. Based on the results obtained in this work, further application of LES to flows of industrial complexity is recommended.

scholarly journals Turbulent Winds and Temperature Fronts in Large-Eddy Simulations of the Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1815-1840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter P. Sullivan ◽  
Jeffrey C. Weil ◽  
Edward G. Patton ◽  
Harmen J. J. Jonker ◽  
Dmitrii V. Mironov
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Cool Temperature ◽  
Stratified Turbulence ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
Eddy Simulation ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
Mesh Resolution ◽  
High Reynolds

Abstract The nighttime high-latitude stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer (SBL) is computationally simulated using high–Reynolds number large-eddy simulation on meshes varying from 2003 to 10243 over 9 physical hours for surface cooling rates Cr = [0.25, 1] K h−1. Continuous weakly stratified turbulence is maintained for this range of cooling, and the SBL splits into two regions depending on the location of the low-level jet (LLJ) and . Above the LLJ, turbulence is very weak and the gradient Richardson number is nearly constant: . Below the LLJ, small scales are dynamically important as the shear and buoyancy frequencies vary with mesh resolution. The heights of the SBL and Ri noticeably decrease as the mesh is varied from 2003 to 10243. Vertical profiles of the Ozmidov scale show its rapid decrease with increasing , with over a large fraction of the SBL for high cooling. Flow visualization identifies ubiquitous warm–cool temperature fronts populating the SBL. The fronts span a large vertical extent, tilt forward more so as the surface cooling increases, and propagate coherently. In a height–time reference frame, an instantaneous vertical profile of temperature appears intermittent, exhibiting a staircase pattern with increasing distance from the surface. Observations from CASES-99 also display these features. Conditional sampling based on linear stochastic estimation is used to identify coherent structures. Vortical structures are found upstream and downstream of a temperature front, similar to those in neutrally stratified boundary layers, and their dynamics are central to the front formation.

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