scholarly journals WAVE PRESSURE DISTRIBUTIONS ON A U-OWC BREAKWATER: EXPERIMENTAL DATA VS CFD MODEL

Author(s):  
Pasquale G. Fabio Filianoti ◽  
Luana Gurnari

U-OWCs are Wave Energy Converters belong in to the family of Oscillating Water Column. The interaction between waves and a U-OWC breakwater produces an unknown pressure distribution on the breakwater wall, due to the motion inside the plant. In order to evaluate the force acting on a U-OWC breakwater produced by regular waves, we carried out an experiment in a 2D numerical flume. The computational domain is equipped by a piston-type wavemaker, in the left extremity side and a U-OWC breakwater on the opposite side. The water-air interaction is taken into account by means of the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) model implemented in the commercial CFD code Ansys Fluent. Both air and water flow fields are assumed to be unsteady and are computed by solving the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. In the numerical model, air is considered as an ideal gas, in order to take into account the compressibility inside the plenum chamber. Results were compared with a theoretical model on a traditional vertical breakwater and experimental results obtained through an experiment directly at sea, off the beach of Reggio Calabria, in the eastern coast of the Straits of Messina (Southern Italy). As observed in the physical experiment at sea, the pressure distribution are strongly influenced by the absorption of the plant. Indeed, in case of high performance of the U-OWC, we found a deformation of the pressure distribution in respect to the theoretical one, especially near the outer opening of the plant. This deformation produces a lower in line force on the structure.

Author(s):  
Andrew P. S. Wheeler ◽  
Richard D. Sandberg

In this paper we use direct numerical simulation to investigate the unsteady flow over a model turbine blade-tip at engine scale Reynolds and Mach numbers. The DNS is performed with a new in-house multi-block structured compressible Navier-Stokes solver purposely developed for exploiting high-performance computing systems. The particular case of a transonic tip flow is studied since previous work has suggested compressibility has an important influence on the turbulent nature of the separation bubble at the inlet to the gap and subsequent flow reattachment. The effects of free-stream turbulence, cross-flow and pressure-side boundary-layer on the tip flow aerodynamics and heat transfer are investigated. For ‘clean’ in-flow cases we find that even at engine scale Reynolds numbers the tip flow is intermittent in nature (neither laminar nor fully turbulent). The breakdown to turbulence occurs through the development of spanwise modes with wavelengths around 25% of the gap height. Cross-flows of 25% of the streamwise gap exit velocity are found to increase the stability of the tip flow, and to significantly reduce the turbulence production in the separation bubble. This is predicted through in-house linear stability analysis, and confirmed by the DNS. For the case when the inlet flow has free-stream turbulence, viscous dissipation and the rapid acceleration of the flow at the inlet to the tip-gap causes significant distortion of the vorticity field and reductions of turbulence intensity as the flow enters the tip gap. This means that only very high turbulence levels at the inlet to the computational domain significantly affect the tip heat transfer. The DNS results are compared with RANS predictions using the Spalart-Allmaras and k–ω SST turbulence models. The RANS and DNS predictions give similar qualitative features for the tip flow, but the size and shape of the inlet separation bubble and shock positions differ noticeably. The RANS predictions are particularly insensitive to free-stream turbulence.


Author(s):  
Jiang Wei ◽  
Li Guojun ◽  
Liu Pengfei ◽  
Zhang Lisheng ◽  
Qing Hongyang

In this paper, a single-stage pump with diffuser vanes of different outlet diameters has been investigated both numerically and experimentally. The influence of the diffuser vane outlet diameter on pump hydraulic performance and on the radial force of the impeller is explored. Pumps equipped with three different diffusers but with impellers and volutes of the same parameters were simulated by 3D Navier-Stokes solver ANSYS-FLUENT in order to study the effect of the outlet diameter of vaned diffuser on performance of the centrifugal pump. Structured grids of high quality were applied on the whole computational domain. Experimental results were acquired by prototype experiments and were then compared with the numerical results. Both experimental and numerical results show that the performance of a pump with a diffuser of smaller outlet diameter is better than of bigger outlet diameter under all operating conditions. The radial force imposed on the impeller obtained by unsteady numerical simulation was analyzed. The results also indicated that an appropriate decrease in the outlet diameter of the diffuser vane could increase the radial force.


Author(s):  
Paht Juangphanich ◽  
Guillermo Paniagua

Recent progress in additive manufacturing has enabled opportunities to explore novel stator rim geometries which can be implemented to improve cooling strategies in turbomachinery. This paper presents a simplified stationary geometry optimization strategy to produce enhanced stator-rotor cavity sealing and highlights main driving mechanisms. The stator and rotor rims were designed using a design strategy based on inspiration from the meandering of rivers. A minimum thickness of 2mm was maintained throughout the cavity to ensure a practical implementation. The computational domain comprised of the stator outlet, hub disk leakage cavity, and rotor platform was meshed using NUMECA Int. package, Hexpress. The numerical analysis required 3D Unsteady Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes to replicate vorticial structures using Ansys Fluent. The operating conditions were representative of engine-like conditions, exploring a wide range of massflow ratios from 1 to 3%. The optimization yielded designs that provide 30% reduction in rear platform temperature while minimizing coolant massflow. The applicability of the design was compared against 3D sector in both stationary and in rotation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxia Zhang ◽  
Qiang Zeng ◽  
Zhen Liu

Recently, the integrated development of wave energy converters and breakwaters has become popular, moving from traditional passive wave absorption to active energy capture. In this study, rectangular heaving buoys are considered as floating breakwater modules to absorb wave energy. A numerical wave tank is established based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equation and User-Define-Function in ANSYS-Fluent commercial software. The numerical results show that incident wave conditions and submerged depth have significant effects on the heaving performance and wave energy absorption of a rectangular buoy. Flow structures around the buoy are shown to exhibit flow separations and vortex shedding, which can provide more information on buoy optimization. Power take-off (PTO) reaction forces are assumed to be a linear function of the translation velocities of the buoy. Numerical results demonstrate that a suitable PTO module can improve the wave power absorption by up to 34.2% for certain buoy and wave conditions, which is valuable for further investigations.


Author(s):  
M. A. Abd Halim ◽  
N. A. R. Nik Mohd ◽  
M. N. Mohd Nasir ◽  
M. N. Dahalan

Induction system or also known as the breathing system is a sub-component of the internal combustion system that supplies clean air for the combustion process. A good design of the induction system would be able to supply the air with adequate pressure, temperature and density for the combustion process to optimizing the engine performance. The induction system has an internal flow problem with a geometry that has rapid expansion or diverging and converging sections that may lead to sudden acceleration and deceleration of flow, flow separation and cause excessive turbulent fluctuation in the system. The aerodynamic performance of these induction systems influences the pressure drop effect and thus the engine performance. Therefore, in this work, the aerodynamics of motorcycle induction systems is to be investigated for a range of Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). A three-dimensional simulation of the flow inside a generic 4-stroke motorcycle airbox were done using Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver in ANSYS Fluent version 11. The simulation results are validated by an experimental study performed using a flow bench. The study shows that the difference of the validation is 1.54% in average at the total pressure outlet. A potential improvement to the system have been observed and can be done to suit motorsports applications.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 902
Author(s):  
Zhi Li ◽  
Ben R. Hodges

A new high-performance numerical model (Frehg) is developed to simulate water flow in shallow coastal wetlands. Frehg solves the 2D depth-integrated, hydrostatic, Navier–Stokes equations (i.e., shallow-water equations) in the surface domain and the 3D variably-saturated Richards equation in the subsurface domain. The two domains are asynchronously coupled to model surface-subsurface exchange. The Frehg model is applied to evaluate model sensitivity to a variety of simplifications that are commonly adopted for shallow wetland models, especially the use of the diffusive wave approximation in place of the traditional Saint-Venant equations for surface flow. The results suggest that a dynamic model for momentum is preferred over diffusive wave model for shallow coastal wetlands and marshes because the latter fails to capture flow unsteadiness. Under the combined effects of evaporation and wetting/drying, using diffusive wave model leads to discrepancies in modeled surface-subsurface exchange flux in the intertidal zone where strong exchange processes occur. It indicates shallow wetland models should be built with (i) dynamic surface flow equations that capture the timing of inundation, (ii) complex topographic features that render accurate spatial extent of inundation, and (iii) variably-saturated subsurface flow solver that is capable of modeling moisture change in the subsurface due to evaporation and infiltration.


Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Emanuel A. R. Camacho ◽  
Fernando M. S. P. Neves ◽  
André R. R. Silva ◽  
Jorge M. M. Barata

Natural flight has consistently been the wellspring of many creative minds, yet recreating the propulsive systems of natural flyers is quite hard and challenging. Regarding propulsive systems design, biomimetics offers a wide variety of solutions that can be applied at low Reynolds numbers, achieving high performance and maneuverability systems. The main goal of the current work is to computationally investigate the thrust-power intricacies while operating at different Reynolds numbers, reduced frequencies, nondimensional amplitudes, and mean angles of attack of the oscillatory motion of a NACA0012 airfoil. Simulations are performed utilizing a RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) approach for a Reynolds number between 8.5×103 and 3.4×104, reduced frequencies within 1 and 5, and Strouhal numbers from 0.1 to 0.4. The influence of the mean angle-of-attack is also studied in the range of 0∘ to 10∘. The outcomes show ideal operational conditions for the diverse Reynolds numbers, and results regarding thrust-power correlations and the influence of the mean angle-of-attack on the aerodynamic coefficients and the propulsive efficiency are widely explored.


Author(s):  
Cheng-Hsien Chen ◽  
Yuan Kang ◽  
Yeon-Pun Chang ◽  
De-Xing Peng ◽  
Ding-Wen Yang

This paper studies the influences of recess geometry and restrictor dimensions on the flow patterns and pressure distribution of lubricant film, which are coupled effects of hybrid characteristics of a hydrostatic bearing. The lubricant flow is described by using the Navier-Stokes equations. The Galerkin weighted residual finite element method is applied to determine the lubricant velocities and pressure in the bearing clearance. The numerical simulations will evaluate the effects of the land-width ratio and restriction parameter as well as the influence of modified Reynolds number and the jet-strength coefficient on the flow patterns in the recess and pressure distribution in lubricant film. On the basis of the simulation drawn from this study, the simulated results are expected to help engineers make better use of the design of hydrostatic bearing and its restrictors.


Author(s):  
Eiman B Saheby ◽  
Xing Shen ◽  
Anthony P Hays ◽  
Zhang Jun

This study describes the aerodynamic efficiency of a forebody–inlet configuration and computational investigation of a drone system, capable of sustainable supersonic cruising at Mach 1.60. Because the whole drone configuration is formed around the induction system and the design is highly interrelated to the flow structure of forebody and inlet efficiency, analysis of this section and understanding its flow pattern is necessary before any progress in design phases. The compression surface is designed analytically using oblique shock patterns, which results in a low drag forebody. To study the concept, two inlet–forebody geometries are considered for Computational Fluid Dynamic simulation using ANSYS Fluent code. The supersonic and subsonic performance, effects of angle of attack, sideslip, and duct geometries on the propulsive efficiency of the concept are studied by solving the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations in structured cell domains. Comparing the results with the available data from other sources indicates that the aerodynamic efficiency of the concept is acceptable at supersonic and transonic regimes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sirine Chtourou ◽  
Hassene Djemel ◽  
Mohamed Kaffel ◽  
Mounir Baccar

AbstractThis study presents a numerical analysis of a laminar counter flow inside small channels plate heat exchanger fitted with Y and C shape obstacles. Using the Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD, an advanced and modern simulation technique, the influence of the geometrical parameters (such as geometry, rib pitch) on the flow characteristics, the thermal and the hydrodynamics performance of the PHE (plate heat exchanger) is investigated numerically. The main goal of this work is to increase the flow turbulence, enhance the heat transfer and the thermal efficiency by inserting new obstacles forms. The computational domain is a conjugate model which is developed by the Computer Aided Design CAD software Solidworks. The results, obtained with Ansys Fluent, show that the presence of the shaped ribs provides enhancement in heat transfer and fluid turbulence. The CFD analysis is validated with the previous study. The non-dimensional factors such as the Nusselt number Nu, the skin friction factor Cf and the thermo-hydraulic performance parameter THPP are predicted with a Reynolds number Re range of 200–800. The temperature and the velocity distribution are presented and analyzed. The Y ribs and the C ribs offer as maximum THPP values respectively about 1.44 and 2.6 times of a smooth duct.


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