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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2014

Oluyinka O. Bamiro and William W. Liou

The purpose of the current paper is to develop a numerical methodology, based on the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann computational framework, for the Neumann and Dirichlet…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the current paper is to develop a numerical methodology, based on the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann computational framework, for the Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions in problems involving natural and forced convection heat transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

The direct forcing immersed boundary method is extended to study the heat transfer by incompressible flow within the thermal lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) computational framework. The direct forcing and heating immersed boundary-LBM introduces a heat source term to the thermal LBM to account for the heat transfer occurring at the immersed boundary. New numerical treatments for the Neumann type of boundary condition and for the calculation of the local Nusselt number are developed. The developed methodologies have been applied to flows around immersed bodies with natural and forced convection, including steady as well as unsteady flows.

Findings

Numerical experiments involving immersed bodies in natural and forced convection have been performed in order to assess the validity of the direct heating IB-LBM. The flow cases studied also include steady and transient flow phenomena. Flow velocity field and isotherms have been used for qualitative comparisons with existing, published results. The surface averaged Nusselt number, Strouhal number, and lift coefficient (for the unsteady flow cases) have been used for quantitative comparison with published results. The results show that there are satisfactory agreements, qualitatively and quantitatively, between the results obtained by using the present method and those previously published.

Originality/value

Limited application of immersed boundary to thermal flows within the LBM has been studied by researchers; the few past studies were limited to Dirichlet boundary conditions and/or using of feedback forcing and heating approaches. In the current paper, the direct forcing and heating approach was used which helps to eliminate the arbitrary constants used in the feedback approaches. The developed new numerical treatments for the Neumann type of boundary condition and for the calculation of the local Nusselt number eliminate the need to determine surface normal and temperature gradient in the normal direction for heat transfer calculation, which is particularly beneficial in cases with deforming or changing boundaries.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 August 2019

Mohammad Haji Mohammadi and Joshua R. Brinkerhoff

Turbomachinery, including pumps, are mainly designed to extract/produce energy from/to the flow. A major challenge in the numerical simulation of turbomachinery is the inlet flow…

Abstract

Purpose

Turbomachinery, including pumps, are mainly designed to extract/produce energy from/to the flow. A major challenge in the numerical simulation of turbomachinery is the inlet flow rate, which is routinely treated as a known boundary condition for simulation purposes but is properly a dependent output of the solution. As a consequence, the results from numerical simulations may be erroneous due to the incorrect specification of the discharge flow rate. Moreover, the transient behavior of the pumps in their initial states of startup and final states of shutoff phases has not been studied numerically. This paper aims to develop a coupled procedure for calculating the transient inlet flow rate as a part of the solution via application of the control volume method for linear momentum. Large eddy simulation of a four-blade axial hydraulic pump is carried out to calculate the forces at every time step. The sharp interface immersed boundary method is used to resolve the flow around the complex geometry of the propeller, stator and the pipe casing. The effect of the spurious pressure fluctuations, inherent in the sharp interface immersed boundary method, is damped by local time-averaging of the forces. The developed code is validated by comparing the steady-state volumetric flow rate with the experimental data provided by the pump manufacturer. The instantaneous and time-averaged flow fields are also studied to reveal the flow pattern and turbulence characteristics in the pump flow field.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use control volume analysis for linear momentum to simulate the discharge rate as part of the solution in a large eddy simulation of an axial hydraulic pump. The linear momentum balance equation is used to update the inlet flow rate. The sharp interface immersed boundary method with dynamic Smagorinsky sub-grid stress model and a proper wall model is used.

Findings

The steady-state volumetric flow rate has been computed and validated by comparing to the flow rate specified by the manufacturer at the simulation conditions, which shows a promising result. The instantaneous and time averaged flow fields are also studied to reveal the flow pattern and turbulence characteristics in the pump flow field.

Originality/value

An approach is proposed for computing the volumetric flow rate as a coupled part of the flow solution, enabling the simulation of turbomachinery at all phases, including the startup/shutdown phase. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large eddy simulation of a hydraulic pump to calculate the transient inlet flow rate as a part of the solution rather than specifying it as a fixed boundary condition. The method serves as a numerical framework for simulating problems incorporating complex shapes with moving/stationary parts at all regimes including the transient start-up and shut-down phases.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2013

C. Shu, W.W. Ren and W.M. Yang

The purpose of this paper is to present two efficient immersed boundary methods (IBM) for simulation of thermal flow problems. One method is for given temperature condition…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present two efficient immersed boundary methods (IBM) for simulation of thermal flow problems. One method is for given temperature condition (Dirichlet type), while the other is for given heat flux condition (Neumann type). The methods are applied to simulate natural and mixed convection problems to check their performance. The comparison of present results with available data in the literature shows that the present methods can obtain accurate numerical results efficiently.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents two efficient IBM solvers, in which the effect of thermal boundary to its surrounding fluid is considered through the introduction of a heat source/sink term into the energy equation. One is the temperature correction‐based IBM developed for problems with given temperature on the wall. The other is heat flux correction‐based IBM for problems with given heat flux on the wall. Note that in this solver, the offset of derivative condition is directly used to correct the temperature field.

Findings

As compared with existing solvers, the temperature correction‐based IBM determines the heat source/sink implicitly instead of pre‐calculated explicitly, so that the boundary condition for temperature is accurately satisfied. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the work of heat flux correction‐based IBM is the first endeavour for application of IBM to solve thermal flow problems with Neumann (heat flux) boundary condition. It was found that both methods presented in this work can efficiently obtain accurate numerical results for thermal flow problems.

Originality/value

The two methods presented in this paper are novel. They can effectively solve thermal flow problems with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2018

Farhoud Kalateh and Ali Koosheh

This paper aims to propose a new smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH)-finite element (FE) algorithm to study fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a new smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH)-finite element (FE) algorithm to study fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems.

Design/methodology/approach

The fluid domain is discretized based on the theory of SPH), and solid part is solved through FE method, similar to other SPH-FE methods in the previous studies. Instead of master-slave technique, the interpolating (kernel) functions of immersed boundary method are implemented to couple fluid and solid domains. The procedure of modeling completely follows the classic IB framework where forces and velocities are transferred between interacting parts. Three benchmark FSI problems are simulated and the results are compared with those of similar numerical and experimental works.

Findings

The proposed SPH-FE algorithm with promising and acceptable results can be utilized as a reliable method to simulate FSI problems.

Originality/value

Contrary to most SPH-FE algorithms, the calculation of contact force is not required at interacting boundaries and no iterative process is proposed to calculate forces, velocities and positions at new time step.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 35 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2020

Ahamed Saleel C., Asif Afzal, Irfan Anjum Badruddin, T.M. Yunus Khan, Sarfaraz Kamangar, Mostafa Abdelmohimen, Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar and H. Fayaz

The characteristics of fluid motions in micro-channel are strong fluid-wall surface interactions, high surface to volume ratio, extremely low Reynolds number laminar flow, surface…

Abstract

Purpose

The characteristics of fluid motions in micro-channel are strong fluid-wall surface interactions, high surface to volume ratio, extremely low Reynolds number laminar flow, surface roughness and wall surface or zeta potential. Due to zeta potential, an electrical double layer (EDL) is formed in the vicinity of the wall surface, namely, the stern layer (layer of immobile ions) and diffuse layer (layer of mobile ions). Hence, its competent designs demand more efficient micro-scale mixing mechanisms. This paper aims to therefore carry out numerical investigations of electro osmotic flow and mixing in a constricted microchannel by modifying the existing immersed boundary method.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical solution of electro-osmotic flow is obtained by linking Navier–Stokes equation with Poisson and Nernst–Planck equation for electric field and transportation of ion, respectively. Fluids with different concentrations enter the microchannel and its mixing along its way is simulated by solving the governing equation specified for the concentration field. Both the electro-osmotic effects and channel constriction constitute a hybrid mixing technique, a combination of passive and active methods. In microchannels, the chief factors affecting the mixing efficiency were studied efficiently from results obtained numerically.

Findings

The results indicate that the mixing efficiency is influenced with a change in zeta potential (ζ), number of triangular obstacles, EDL thickness (λ). Mixing efficiency decreases with an increment in external electric field strength (Ex), Peclet number (Pe) and Reynolds number (Re). Mixing efficiency is increased from 28.2 to 50.2% with an increase in the number of triangular obstacles from 1 to 5. As the value of Re and Pe is decreased, the overall percentage increase in the mixing efficiency is 56.4% for the case of a mixing micro-channel constricted with five triangular obstacles. It is also vivid that as the EDL overlaps in the micro-channel, the mixing efficiency is 52.7% for the given zeta potential, Re and Pe values. The findings of this study may be useful in biomedical, biotechnological, drug delivery applications, cooling of microchips and deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization.

Originality/value

The process of mixing in microchannels is widely studied due to its application in various microfluidic devices like micro electromechanical systems and lab-on-a-chip devices. Hence, its competent designs demand more efficient micro-scale mixing mechanisms. The present study carries out numerical investigations by modifying the existing immersed boundary method, on pressure-driven electro osmotic flow and mixing in a constricted microchannel using the varied number of triangular obstacles by using a modified immersed boundary method. In microchannels, the theory of EDL combined with pressure-driven flow elucidates the electro-osmotic flow.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2014

D.C. Lo, Chih-Min Hsieh and D.L. Young

The main advantage of the proposed method is that the computations can be performed on a Cartesian grid with complex immersed boundaries (IBs). The purpose of this paper is to…

Abstract

Purpose

The main advantage of the proposed method is that the computations can be performed on a Cartesian grid with complex immersed boundaries (IBs). The purpose of this paper is to device a numerical scheme based on an embedding finite element method for the solution of two-dimensional (2D) Navier-Stokes equations.

Design/methodology/approach

Geometries featuring the stationary solid obstacles in the flow are embedded in the Cartesian grid with special discretizations near the embedded boundary to ensure the accuracy of the solution in the cut cells. To comprehend the complexities of the viscous flows with IBs, the paper adopts a compact interpolation scheme near the IBs that allows to satisfy the second-order accuracy and the conservation property of the solver. The interpolation scheme is designed by virtue of the shape function in the finite element scheme.

Findings

Three numerical examples are selected to demonstrate the accuracy and flexibility of the proposed methodology. Simulation of flow past a circular cylinder for a range of Re=20-200 shows excellent agreements with other results using different numerical schemes. Flows around a pair of tandem cylinders and several bodies are particularly investigated. The paper simulates the time-based variation of the flow phenomena for uniform flow past a pair of cylinders with various streamwise gaps between two cylinders. The results in terms of drag coefficient and Strouhal number show excellent agreements with the results available in the literature.

Originality/value

Details of the flow characteristics, such as velocity distribution, pressure and vorticity fields are presented. It is concluded the combined embedding boundary method and FE discretizations are robust and accurate for solving 2D fluid flows with complex IBs.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2020

Jacobus D. Brandsen, Axelle Viré, Sergio R. Turteltaub and Gerard J.W. Van Bussel

When simulating fluid-structure interaction (FSI), it is often essential that the no-slip condition is accurately enforced at the wetted boundary of the structure. This paper aims…

Abstract

Purpose

When simulating fluid-structure interaction (FSI), it is often essential that the no-slip condition is accurately enforced at the wetted boundary of the structure. This paper aims to evaluate the relative strengths and limitations of the penalty and Lagrange multiplier methods, within the context of modelling FSI, through a comparative analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

In the immersed boundary method, the no-slip condition is typically imposed by augmenting the governing equations of the fluid with an artificial body force. The relative accuracy and computational time of the penalty and Lagrange multiplier formulations of this body force are evaluated by using each to solve three test problems, namely, flow through a channel, the harmonic motion of a cylinder through a stationary fluid and the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a cylinder.

Findings

The Lagrange multiplier formulation provided an accurate solution, especially when enforcing the no-slip condition, and was robust as it did not require “tuning” of problem specific parameters. However, these benefits came at a higher computational cost relative to the penalty formulation. The penalty formulation achieved similar levels of accuracy to the Lagrange multiplier formulation, but only if the appropriate penalty factor was selected, which was difficult to determine a priori.

Originality/value

Both the Lagrange multiplier and penalty formulations of the immersed boundary method are prominent in the literature. A systematic quantitative comparison of these two methods is presented within the same computational environment. A novel application of the Lagrange multiplier method to the modelling of VIV is also provided.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Amirmahdi Ghasemi, R. Nikbakhti, Amirreza Ghasemi, Faraz Hedayati and Amir Malvandi

A numerical method is developed to capture the interaction of solid object with two-phase flow with high density ratios. The current computational tool would be the first step of…

Abstract

Purpose

A numerical method is developed to capture the interaction of solid object with two-phase flow with high density ratios. The current computational tool would be the first step of accurate modeling of wave energy converters in which the immense energy of the ocean can be extracted at low cost.

Design/methodology/approach

The full two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations are discretized on a regular structured grid, and the two-step projection method along with multi-processing (OpenMP) is used to efficiently solve the flow equations. The level set and the immersed boundary methods are used to capture the free surface of a fluid and a solid object, respectively. The full two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations are solved on a regular structured grid to resolve the flow field. Level set and immersed boundary methods are used to capture the free surface of liquid and solid object, respectively. A proper contact angle between the solid object and the fluid is used to enhance the accuracy of the advection of the mass and momentum of the fluids in three-phase cells.

Findings

The computational tool is verified based on numerical and experimental data with two scenarios: a cylinder falling into a rectangular domain due to gravity and a dam breaking in the presence of a fixed obstacle. In the former validation simulation, the accuracy of the immersed boundary method is verified. However, the accuracy of the level set method while the computational tool can model the high-density ratio is confirmed in the dam-breaking simulation. The results obtained from the current method are in good agreement with experimental data and other numerical studies.

Practical/implications

The computational tool is capable of being parallelized to reduce the computational cost; therefore, an OpenMP is used to solve the flow equations. Its application is seen in the following: wind energy conversion, interaction of solid object such as wind turbine with water waves, etc.

Originality/value

A high efficient CFD approach method is introduced to capture the interaction of solid object with a two-phase flow where they have high-density ratio. The current method has the ability to efficiently be parallelized.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 34 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Dario De Marinis, Marco Donato de Tullio, Michele Napolitano and Giuseppe Pascazio

The purpose of this paper is to provide the current state of the art in the development of a computer code combining an immersed boundary method with a conjugate heat transfer…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide the current state of the art in the development of a computer code combining an immersed boundary method with a conjugate heat transfer (CHT) approach, including some new findings. In particular, various treatments of the fluid-solid-interface conditions are compared in order to determine the most accurate one. Most importantly, the method is capable of computing a challenging three dimensional compressible turbulent flow past an air cooled turbine vane.

Design/methodology/approach

The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) equations are solved within the fluid domain, whereas the heat conduction equation is solved within the solid one, using the same spatial discretization and time-marching scheme. At the interface boundary, the temperatures and heat fluxes within the fluid and the solid are set to be equal using three different approximations.

Findings

This work provides an accurate and efficient code for solving three dimensional CHT problems, such as the flow through an air cooled gas turbine cascade, using a coupled immersed boundary (IB) CHT methodology. A one-to-one comparison of three different interface-condition approximations has shown that the two multidimensional ones are slightly superior to the early treatment based on a single direction and that the one based on a least square reconstruction of the solution near the IB minimizes the oscillations caused by the Cartesian grid. This last reconstruction is then used to compute a compressible turbulent flow of industrial interest, namely, that through an air cooled gas turbine cascade. Another interesting finding is that the very promising approach based on wall functions does not combine favourably with the interface conditions for the temperature and the heat flux. Therefore, current and future work aims at developing and testing appropriate temperature wall functions, in order to further improve the accuracy – for a given grid – or the efficiency – for a given accuracy – of the proposed methodology.

Originality/value

An accurate and efficient IB CHT method, using a state of the art URANS parallel solver, has been developed and tested. In particular, a detailed study has elucidated the influence of different interface treatments of the fluid-solid boundary upon the accuracy of the computations. Last but not least, the method has been applied with success to solve the well-known CHT problem of compressible turbulent flow past the C3X turbine guide vane.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 26 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Claudio Santarelli, Tobias Kempe and Jochen Fröhlich

The purpose of this paper is to present two different methods for the imposition of thermal boundary conditions (BCs) in the framework of two-phase flows: an immersed boundary

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present two different methods for the imposition of thermal boundary conditions (BCs) in the framework of two-phase flows: an immersed boundary method (IBM) and a Ghost cell method. Both methods are able to handle Dirichlet as well as Neumann BCs.

Design/methodology/approach

Direct numerical simulations of two-phase flows are performed where the thermal BCs at the phase boundary is accounted for with two different approaches.

Findings

Both methods are validated with the results obtained on a body-fitted mesh. Simulations of the three-dimensional flow and temperature field around a sphere demonstrate versatility and accuracy of both methods.

Originality/value

This is the first time Neumann BCs are imposed by means of an IBM with a direct heating approach employing regularized delta functions. The test cases considered may also serve as benchmarks for other studies.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

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