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Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Fulvio Sartor and Sebastian Timme

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a numerical study of the flow over a wing representative of a large civil aircraft at cruise condition. For each Mach number considered…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a numerical study of the flow over a wing representative of a large civil aircraft at cruise condition. For each Mach number considered, the numerical simulations indicate that critical angle of attack exists where the separated region increases in size and begins to oscillate. This phenomenon, known as transonic shock buffet, is reproduced by the unsteady simulation and much information can be extracted analysing location, amplitude and frequency content of the unsteadiness.

Design/methodology/approach

Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations are conducted on a half wing-body configuration, at different Mach numbers and angles of attack. Different turbulence models are considered, and both steady-state results and time-accurate simulations are discussed.

Findings

The high number of cases presented in this study allows the creation of a database which, to the authors’ knowledge, has not been documented in literature before. The results indicate that, while high-fidelity approaches can improve the quality of the results, the URANS approach is capable of describing the main features of the buffet phenomenon.

Research limitations/implications

The presence of a turbulence model, despite allowing the description of the main unsteady phenomenon, might be insufficient to fully characterise the unsteadiness present in a transonic flow over a half wing-body configuration. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to verify by means of experimental investigation or high-fidelity approach the results issued from a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations.

Practical implications

The results presented clearly indicate that, despite what proposed in recent research papers, transonic buffet can be described by means of time-accurate Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Such an approach is popular in the aeronautical industry because of its reduced costs, and could be used for wing design.

Originality/value

In this paper, the authors used a classical approach to tackle the known problem of transonic buffet in three-dimensional configurations. The large number of results presented can be used as a database for future numerical simulations and experiments, and allow to describe the flow-physics of the buffet unsteadiness on a half wing-body configuration.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Daniel Klatt, Alina Mielke and Christian Mundt

Spinning slender bodies are affected by lateral Magnus forces and moments when exposed to cross-flow. The effects occurring for spinning bodies of revolution in combination with…

Abstract

Purpose

Spinning slender bodies are affected by lateral Magnus forces and moments when exposed to cross-flow. The effects occurring for spinning bodies of revolution in combination with stabilising or control surfaces such as canards are not yet fully explained. Therefore the present work aims to investigate the phenomena arising from the interactions of a roll-decoupled guidance unit with a spinning rear body are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

A generic tangential-ogive-cylinder projectile equipped with deflectable canards on a roll-decoupled nose is investigated by means of 3D Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes simulations at Mach number 2 for angles of attack up to 22 degrees. Different canard deflection angles up to 9 degrees are considered. Global aerodynamic coefficients as well as local flow fields are analysed to explain the interactions occurring between the roll-decoupled guidance unit and the spinning rear body.

Findings

The deflected canards lead to flow interactions resulting in lateral forces and moments even without a spinning motion of the rear part. Depending on the canard deflection angles, these forces act in or against the direction of the classical Magnus effect. For angles of attack smaller than 10 degrees it is possible for the current body geometry to directly superpose the lateral effects resulting from the fins for the non-spinning model with those occurring for the non-finned but spinning model to obtain the total forces and moments acting on a spinning model with canted canards. However, the lateral effects generated on the guidance unit itself are insignificant compared to the canard-induced effects on the rear body.

Originality/value

A detailed analysis of the interaction effects arising from a decoupled guidance unit containing canards with a non-spinning/spinning rear body is performed and the underlying phenomena are revealed.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2023

Samir Ouchene, Arezki Smaili and Hachimi Fellouah

This paper aims to investigate the problem of estimating the angle of attack (AoA) and relative velocity for vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) blades from computational fluid…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the problem of estimating the angle of attack (AoA) and relative velocity for vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) blades from computational fluid dynamics data.

Design/methodology/approach

Two methods are implemented as function objects within the OpenFOAM framework for estimating the blade’s AoA and relative velocity. For the numerical analysis of the flow around and through the VAWT, 2 D unsteady Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes (URANS) simulations are carried out and validated against experimental data.

Findings

To gain a better understanding of the complex flow features encountered by VAWT blades, the determination of the AoA is crucial. Relying on the geometrically-derived AoA may lead to wrong conclusions about blade aerodynamics.

Practical implications

This study can lead to the development of more robust optimization techniques for enhancing the variable-pitch control mechanism of VAWT blades and improving low-order models based on the blade element momentum theory.

Originality/value

Assessment of the reliability of AoA and relative velocity estimation methods for VAWT’ blades at low-Reynolds numbers using URANS turbulence models in the context of dynamic stall and blade–vortex interactions.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 October 2021

Abderrahim Serrar, Mohamed El Khlifi and Azeddine Kourta

The purpose of this study is to compare two unsteady actuators: an oscillator and a sweeping jet. Both actuators can produce an oscillating jet of different amplitudes and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to compare two unsteady actuators: an oscillator and a sweeping jet. Both actuators can produce an oscillating jet of different amplitudes and frequencies without any moving parts, making them an attractive actuator concept. The Coanda effect phenomenon can explain the operating principles of these two unsteady actuators.

Design/methodology/approach

A numerical study was conducted to compare the amplitudes and frequencies of fluidic and sweeping jet (SJ) oscillators to obtain an efficient actuator to control separated flows at high Reynolds numbers. For this goal, two-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations were carried out using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) fluent code to evaluate the actuator performances. The discrete fast Fourier transform method determined the oscillation frequencies.

Findings

The oscillation frequencies gradually increase as the inlet pressure increases. The characteristics and dimensions of the vortices produced in the mixing chamber and feedback loops vary overtime when the injected fluid is swept sideways. The frequencies supplied by the SJ are stronger than those obtained by the fluidic oscillator, which may contribute to improving the aerodynamic performance at a lower power supply cost.

Originality/value

The existence of the splitter in the fluidic oscillator led to the production of separate pulses, which would be useful in various industrial applications, including active control of combustion and mixing processes while other applications such as flow separation control require SJs. With the latter actuator higher and interesting frequencies can be obtained, leading to efficient flow control.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Antonio Memmolo, Matteo Bernardini and Sergio Pirozzoli

This paper aims to show results of numerical simulations of transonic flow around a supercritical airfoil at chord Reynolds number Rec = 3 × 106, with the aim of elucidating the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to show results of numerical simulations of transonic flow around a supercritical airfoil at chord Reynolds number Rec = 3 × 106, with the aim of elucidating the mechanisms responsible for large-scale shock oscillations, namely, transonic buffet.

Design/methodology/approach

Unsteady Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes simulations and detached-eddy simulations provide a preliminary buffet map, while a high fidelity implicit large-eddy simulation with an upstream laminar boundary layer is used to ascertain the physical feasibility of the various buffet mechanisms. Numerical experiments with unsteady RANS highlight the role of waves travelling on pressure side in the buffet mechanism. Estimates of the propagation velocities of coherent disturbances and of acoustic waves are obtained, to check the validity of popular mechanisms based on acoustic feedback from the trailing edge.

Findings

Unsteady RANS numerical experiments demonstrate that the pressure side of the airfoil plays a marginal role in the buffet mechanism. Implicit LES data show that the only plausible self-sustaining mechanism involves waves scattered from the trailing edge and penetrating the sonic region from above the suction side shock. An interesting side result of this study is that buffet appears to be more intense in the case that the boundary layer state upstream of the shock is turbulent, rather than laminar.

Originality/value

The results of the study will be of interest to any researcher involved with transonic buffet.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2021

Jeyakumar Suppandipillai, Jayaraman Kandasamy, R. Sivakumar, Mehmet Karaca and Karthik K.

This paper aims to study the influences of hydrogen jet pressure on flow features of a strut-based injector in a scramjet combustor under-reacting cases are numerically…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the influences of hydrogen jet pressure on flow features of a strut-based injector in a scramjet combustor under-reacting cases are numerically investigated in this study.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical analysis is carried out using Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations with the Shear Stress Transport k-ω turbulence model in contention to comprehend the flow physics during scramjet combustion. The three major parameters such as the shock wave pattern, wall pressures and static temperature across the combustor are validated with the reported experiments. The results comply with the range, indicating the adopted simulation method can be extended for other investigations as well. The supersonic flow characteristics are determined based on the flow properties, combustion efficiency and total pressure loss.

Findings

The results revealed that the augmentation of hydrogen jet pressure via variation in flame features increases the static pressure in the vicinity of the strut and destabilize the normal shock wave position. Indeed, the pressure of the mainstream flow drives the shock wave toward the upstream direction. The study perceived that once the hydrogen jet pressure is reached 4 bar, the incoming flow attains a subsonic state due to the movement of normal shock wave ahead of the strut. It is noticed that the increase in hydrogen jet pressure in the supersonic flow field improves the jet penetration rate in the lateral direction of the flow and also increases the total pressure loss as compared with the baseline injection pressure condition.

Practical implications

The outcome of this research provides the influence of fuel injection pressure variations in the supersonic combustion phenomenon of hypersonic vehicles.

Originality/value

This paper substantiates the effect of increasing hydrogen jet pressure in the reacting supersonic airstream on the performance of a scramjet combustor.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 93 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2018

Ignazio Maria Viola, Vincent Chapin, Nicola Speranza and Marco Evangelos Biancolini

There is an increasing interest in airfoils that modify their shape to adapt at the flow conditions. As an example of application, the authors search the optimal 4-digit NACA…

Abstract

Purpose

There is an increasing interest in airfoils that modify their shape to adapt at the flow conditions. As an example of application, the authors search the optimal 4-digit NACA airfoil that maximizes the lift-over-drag ratio for a constant lift coefficient of 0.6, from Re = 104 to 3 × 106.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors consider a γ−Reθt transition model and a κω SST turbulence model with a covariance matrix adaptation evolutionary optimization algorithm. The shape is adapted by radial basis functions mesh morphing using four parameters (angle of attack, thickness, camber and maximum camber position). The objective of the optimization is to find the airfoil that enables a maximum lift-over-drag ratio for a target lift coefficient of 0.6.

Findings

The computation of the optimal airfoils confirmed the expected increase with Re of the lift-over-drag ratio. However, although the observation of efficient biological fliers suggests that the thickness increases monotonically with Re, the authors find that it is constant but for a 1.5 per cent step increase at Re = 3 × 105.

Practical implications

The authors propose and validate an efficient high-fidelity method for the shape optimization of airfoils that can be adopted to define robust and reliable industrial design procedures.

Originality/value

The authors show that the difference in the numerical error between two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations is negligible, and that the numerical uncertainty of the two-dimensional simulations is sufficiently small to confidently predict the aerodynamic forces across the investigated range of Re.

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Seyi F. Olatoyinbo, Sarma L. Rani and Abdelkader Frendi

The purpose of this study is to investigate the accuracy and applicability of the Flowfield Dependent Variation (FDV) method for large-eddy simulations (LES) of decaying isotropic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the accuracy and applicability of the Flowfield Dependent Variation (FDV) method for large-eddy simulations (LES) of decaying isotropic turbulence.

Design/methodology/approach

In an earlier paper, the FDV method was successfully demonstrated for simulations of laminar flows with speeds varying from low subsonic to high supersonic Mach numbers. In the current study, the FDV method, implemented in a finite element framework, is used to perform LESs of decaying isotropic turbulence. The FDV method is fundamentally derived from the Lax–Wendroff Scheme (LWS) by replacing the explicit time derivatives in LWS with a weighted combination of explicit and implicit time derivatives. The increased implicitness and the inherent numerical dissipation of FDV contribute to the scheme’s numerical stability and monotonicity. Understanding the role of numerical dissipation that is inherent to the FDV method is essential for the maturation of FDV into a robust scheme for LES of turbulent flows. Accordingly, three types of LES of decaying isotropic turbulence were performed. The first two types of LES utilized explicit subgrid scale (SGS) models, namely, the constant-coefficient Smagorinsky and dynamic Smagorinsky models. In the third, no explicit SGS model was employed; instead, the numerical dissipation inherent to FDV was used to emulate the role played by explicit SGS models. Such an approach is commonly known as Implicit LES (ILES). A new formulation was also developed for quantifying the FDV numerical viscosity that principally arises from the convective terms of the filtered NavierStokes equations.

Findings

The temporal variation of the turbulent kinetic energy and enstrophy and the energy spectra are presented and analyzed. At all grid resolutions, the temporal profiles of kinetic energy showed good agreement with t(−1.43) theoretical scaling in the fully developed turbulent flow regime, where t represents time. The energy spectra also showed reasonable agreement with the Kolmogorov’s k(−5/3) power law in the inertial subrange, with the spectra moving closer to the Kolmogorov scaling at higher-grid resolutions. The intrinsic numerical viscosity and the dissipation rate of the FDV scheme are quantified, both in physical and spectral spaces, and compared with those of the two SGS LES runs. Furthermore, at a finite number of flow realizations, the numerical viscosities of FDV and of the Streamline Upwind/Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) finite element method are compared. In the initial stages of turbulence development, all three LES cases have similar viscosities. But, once the turbulence is fully developed, implicit LES is less dissipative compared to the two SGS LES runs. It was also observed that the SUPG method is significantly more dissipative than the three LES approaches.

Research limitations/implications

Just as any computational method, the limitations are based on the available computational resources.

Practical implications

Solving problems involving turbulent flows is by far the biggest challenge facing engineers and scientists in the twenty-first century, this is the road that the authors have embarked upon in this paper and the road ahead of is very long.

Social implications

Understanding turbulence is a very lofty goal and a challenging one as well; however, if the authors succeed, the rewards are limitless.

Originality/value

The derivation of an explicit expression for the numerical viscosity tensor of FDV is an important contribution of this study, and is a crucial step forward in elucidating the fundamental properties of the FDV method. The comparison of viscosities for the three LES cases and the SUPG method has important implications for the application of ILES approach for turbulent flow simulations.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 August 2023

Mingqiu Zheng, Chenxing Hu and Ce Yang

The purpose of this study is to propose a fast method for predicting flow fields with periodic behavior with verification in the context of a radial turbine to meet the urgent…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose a fast method for predicting flow fields with periodic behavior with verification in the context of a radial turbine to meet the urgent requirement to effectively capture the unsteady flow characteristics in turbomachinery. Aiming at meeting the urgent requirement to effectively capture the unsteady flow characteristics in turbomachinery, a fast method for predicting flow fields with periodic behavior is proposed here, with verification in the context of a radial turbine (RT).

Design/methodology/approach

Sparsity-promoting dynamic mode decomposition is used to determine the dominant coherent structures of the unsteady flow for mode selection, and for flow-field prediction, the characteristic parameters including amplitude and frequency are predicted using one-dimensional Gaussian fitting with flow rate and two-dimensional triangulation-based cubic interpolation with both flow rate and rotation speed. The flow field can be rebuilt using the predicted characteristic parameters and the chosen model.

Findings

Under single flow-rate variation conditions, the turbine flow field can be recovered using the first seven modes and fitted amplitude modulus and frequency with less than 5% error in the pressure field and less than 9.7% error in the velocity field. For the operating conditions with concurrent flow-rate and rotation-speed fluctuations, the relative error in the anticipated pressure field is likewise within an acceptable range. Compared to traditional numerical simulations, the method requires a lot less time while maintaining the accuracy of the prediction.

Research limitations/implications

It would be challenging and interesting work to extend the current method to nonlinear problems.

Practical implications

The method presented herein provides an effective solution for the fast prediction of unsteady flow fields in the design of turbomachinery.

Originality/value

A flow prediction method based on sparsity-promoting dynamic mode decomposition was proposed and applied into a RT to predict the flow field under various operating conditions (both rotation speed and flow rate change) with reasonable prediction accuracy. Compared with numerical calculations or experiments, the proposed method can greatly reduce time and resource consumption for flow field visualization at design stage. Most of the physics information of the unsteady flow was maintained by reconstructing the flow modes in the prediction method, which may contribute to a deeper understanding of physical mechanisms.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2020

Zhi-Jie Fu, Yu-Wei Chu, Yi-Sheng Cai, He-Yong Xu and Yue Xu

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the equivalent control authority of the conventional and circulation control (CC) wing of the aircraft and assess the energy…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the equivalent control authority of the conventional and circulation control (CC) wing of the aircraft and assess the energy expenditure and aerodynamic efficiency of the CC wing.

Design/methodology/approach

Four target cases with different flap deflection angles θ are set in advance for the conventional wing, and then a series of cases with different jet momentum coefficients are set for the CC wing. The lift, drag and momentum coefficient curves of the CC wing are compared to those of the four conventional wing cases. The curves with the best agreement are selected to establish the corresponding relation between θ and Cμ. The energy expenditure of the CC system is analyzed. The concept of equivalent lift-to-drag ratio for the CC wing is introduced to compare the aerodynamic efficiency with the conventional wing

Findings

The control authority of the conventional wing at θ = 0º, 10º, 20º, 30º are equivalent to the control authority of the CC wing with = 0.0, 0.005, 0.009 and 0.012. The CC system is more efficient at small than large .

Practical implications

This study could contribute to the application of the CC system on flapless aircrafts.

Originality/value

The corresponding relation between θ and is established by matching the equivalent control authority between the conventional wing and CC wing.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 92 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

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