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Article
Publication date: 27 March 2023

Huanjun Li and Yimin Zhang

There are three purposes in this paper: to verify the importance of bi-directional fluid-structure interaction algorithm for centrifugal impeller designs; to study the…

Abstract

Purpose

There are three purposes in this paper: to verify the importance of bi-directional fluid-structure interaction algorithm for centrifugal impeller designs; to study the relationship between the flow inside the impeller and the vibration of the blade; study the influence of material properties on flow field and vibration of centrifugal blades.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a bi-directional fluid-structure coupling finite element numerical model of the supersonic semi-open centrifugal impeller is established based on the Workbench platform. Then, the calculation results of impeller polytropic efficiency and stage total pressure ratio are compared with the experimental results from the available literature. Finally, the flow field and vibrational characteristics of 17-4PH (PHB), aluminum alloy (AAL) and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFP) blades are compared under different operating conditions.

Findings

The results show that the flow fields performance and blade vibration influence each other. The flow fields performance and vibration resistance of CFP blades are higher than those of 17-4PH (PHB) and aluminum alloy (AAL) blades. At the design speed, compared with the PHB blades and AAL blades, the CFP blades deformation is reduced by 34.5% and 9%, the stress is reduced by 69.6% and 20% and the impeller pressure ratio is increased by 0.8% and 0.14%, respectively.

Originality/value

The importance of fluid-structure interaction to the aerodynamic and structural design of centrifugal impeller is revealed, and the superiority over composite materials in the application of centrifugal impeller is verified.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2023

Arun G. Nair, Tide P.S. and Bhasi A.B.

The mixing of fuel and air plays a pivotal role in enhancing combustion in supersonic regime. Proper mixing stabilizes the flame and prevents blow-off. Blow-off is due to the…

Abstract

Purpose

The mixing of fuel and air plays a pivotal role in enhancing combustion in supersonic regime. Proper mixing stabilizes the flame and prevents blow-off. Blow-off is due to the shorter residence time of fuel and air in the combustor, as the flow is in supersonic regime. The flame is initiated in the local subsonic region created using a flameholder within the supersonic combustor. This study aims to design an effective flameholder which increases the residence time of fuel in the combustor allowing proper combustion preventing blow-off and other instabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

The geometry of the strut-based flameholder is altered in the present study to induce a streamwise motion of the fluid downstream of the strut. The streamwise motion of the fluid is initiated by the ramps and grooves of the strut geometry. The numerical simulations were carried out using ANSYS Fluent and are validated against the available experimental and numerical results of cold flow with hydrogen injection using plain strut as the flameholder. In the present study, numerical investigations are performed to analyse the effect on hydrogen injection in strut-based flameholders with ramps and converging grooves using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation coupled with Menter’s shear stress transport k-ω turbulence model. The analysis is done to determine the effect of geometrical parameters and flow parameter on the flow structures near the base of the strut where thorough mixing takes place. The geometrical parameters under consideration include the ramp length, groove convergence angle, depth of the groove, groove compression angle and the Mach number. Two different strut configurations, namely, symmetric and asymmetric struts were also studied.

Findings

Higher turbulence and complex flow structures are visible in asymmetric strut configuration which develops better mixing of hydrogen and air compared to symmetric strut configuration. The variation in the geometric parameters develop changes in the fluid motion downstream of the strut. The fluid passing through the converging grooves gets decelerated thereby reducing the Mach number by 20% near the base of the strut compared to the straight grooved strut. The shorter ramps are found to be more effective, as the pressure variation in lateral direction is carried along the strut walls downstream of the strut increasing the streamwise motion of the fluid. The decrease in the depth of the groove increases the recirculation zone downstream of the strut. Moreover, the increase in the groove compression angle also increases the turbulence near the base of the strut where the fuel is injected. Variation in the injection port location increases the mixing performance of the combustor by 25%. The turbulence of the fuel jet stream is considerably changed by the increase in the injection velocity. However, the change in the flow field properties within the flow domain is marginal. The increase in fuel mass flow rate brings about considerable change in the flow field inducing stronger shock structures.

Originality/value

The present study identifies the optimum geometry of the strut-based flameholder with ramps and converging grooves. The reaction flow modelling may be performed on the strut geometry incorporating the design features obtained in the present study.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2023

Esmail Lakzian, Mostafa Ramezani, Sima Shabani, Fahime Salmani, Miroslaw Majkut and Heuy Dong Kim

The purpose of this study is to model steam condensing flows through steam turbine blades and find the most suitable condensation model to predict the condensation phenomenon.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to model steam condensing flows through steam turbine blades and find the most suitable condensation model to predict the condensation phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach

To find the most suitable condensation model, five nucleation equations and four droplet growth equations are combined, and 20 cases are considered for modelling the wet steam flow through steam turbine blades. Finally, by the comparison between the numerical results and experiments, the most suitable case is proposed. To find out whether the proposed case is also valid for other boundary conditions and geometries, it is used to simulate wet steam flows in de Laval nozzles.

Findings

The results indicate that among all the cases, combining the Hale nucleation equation with the Gyarmathy droplet growth equation results in the smallest error in the simulation of wet steam flows through steam turbine blades. Compared with experimental data, the proposed model’s relative error for the static pressure distribution on the blade suction and pressure sides is 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively, and for the liquid droplet radius distribution it totals to 1%. This case is also reliable for simulating condensing steam flows in de Laval nozzles.

Originality/value

The selection of an appropriate condensation model plays a vital role in the simulation of wet steam flows. Considering that the results of numerical studies on condensation models in recent years have not been completely consistent with the experiments and that there are still uncertainties in this field, further studies aiming to improve condensation models are of particular importance. As condensation models play an important role in simulating the condensation phenomenon, this research can help other researchers to better understand the purpose and importance of choosing a suitable condensation model in improving the results. This study is a significant step to improve the existing condensation models and it can help other researchers to gain a revealing insight into choosing an appropriate condensation model for their simulations.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Kathiravan Balusamy, Vinothraj A. and Suresh V.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of aerospike and hemispherical aerodisks on flow characteristics and drag reduction in supersonic flow over a blunt body…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of aerospike and hemispherical aerodisks on flow characteristics and drag reduction in supersonic flow over a blunt body. Specifically, the study aims to analyze the impact of varying the length of the cylindrical rod in the aerospike (ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 times the diameter of the blunt body) and the diameter of the hemispherical disk (ranging from 0.25 to 0.75 times the blunt body diameter). CFD simulations were conducted at a supersonic Mach number of 2 and a Reynolds number of 2.79 × 106.

Design/methodology/approach

ICEM CFD and ANSYS CFX solver were used to generate the three-dimensional flow along with its structures. The flow structure and drag coefficient were computed using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation model. The drag reduction mechanism was also explained using the idea of dividing streamline and density contour. The performance of the aero spike length and the effect of aero disk size on the drag are investigated.

Findings

The separating shock is located in front of the blunt body, forming an effective conical shape that reduces the pressure drag acting on the blunt body. It was observed that extending the length of the spike beyond a specific critical point did not impact the flow field characteristics and had no further influence on the enhanced performance. The optimal combination of disk and spike length was determined, resulting in a substantial reduction in drag through the introduction of the aerospike and disk.

Research limitations/implications

To predict the accurate results of drag and to reduce the simulation time, a hexa grid with finer mesh structure was adopted in the simulation.

Practical implications

The blunt nose structures are primarily employed in the design of rockets, missiles, and re-entry capsules to withstand higher aerodynamic loads and aerodynamic heating.

Originality/value

For the optimized size of the aero spike, aero disk is also optimized to use the benefits of both.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 May 2023

Ezhilmaran G., Sekar S., Sathish Kumar K. and Thanigaiarasu S.

This study aims to investigate the effect of slanted perforation diameter in tabs for the control of Mach 1.4 underexpanded supersonic jet flow characteristics.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effect of slanted perforation diameter in tabs for the control of Mach 1.4 underexpanded supersonic jet flow characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

Numerical investigation was carried out for NPR 5 to analyze the effect of slanted perforation diameter in tabs to control the Mach 1.4 jet. Four sets of tabs with slanted circular perforation geometries (Φp = 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 mm) were considered in this study. The inclination angle of 20° (αP) with reference to the jet axis was maintained constant for all the four tabs considered.

Findings

Determined value indicates there is a 68%, 71%, 73% and 75% drop in supersonic core for the Φp = 1, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mm, respectively. The results show that the tabs with 2.5 mm perforation diameter were found to be efficient in reducing the supersonic jet core in comparison with other tab cases. The reduction in supersonic core length is due to the extent of miniscule vortices exuviating from slanted small and large diameter perforation in the tabs.

Practical implications

The concept of slanted perforation can be applied in scramjet combustion, which finds its best application in hypersonic vehicles and in noise suppression in fighter aircraft.

Originality/value

Slanted perforation and circular shapes with different diameters have not been studied in the supersonic regime. Examining the effect of circular diameter in slanted perforation is an innovation in this research paper.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 95 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2023

Jordi Vila-Pérez, Matteo Giacomini and Antonio Huerta

This study aims to assess the robustness and accuracy of the face-centred finite volume (FCFV) method for the simulation of compressible laminar flows in different regimes, using…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the robustness and accuracy of the face-centred finite volume (FCFV) method for the simulation of compressible laminar flows in different regimes, using numerical benchmarks.

Design/methodology/approach

The work presents a detailed comparison with reference solutions published in the literature –when available– and numerical results computed using a commercial cell-centred finite volume software.

Findings

The FCFV scheme provides first-order accurate approximations of the viscous stress tensor and the heat flux, insensitively to cell distortion or stretching. The strategy demonstrates its efficiency in inviscid and viscous flows, for a wide range of Mach numbers, also in the incompressible limit. In purely inviscid flows, non-oscillatory approximations are obtained in the presence of shock waves. In the incompressible limit, accurate solutions are computed without pressure correction algorithms. The method shows its superior performance for viscous high Mach number flows, achieving physically admissible solutions without carbuncle effect and predictions of quantities of interest with errors below 5%.

Originality/value

The FCFV method accurately evaluates, for a wide range of compressible laminar flows, quantities of engineering interest, such as drag, lift and heat transfer coefficients, on unstructured meshes featuring distorted and highly stretched cells, with an aspect ratio up to ten thousand. The method is suitable to simulate industrial flows on complex geometries, relaxing the requirements on mesh quality introduced by existing finite volume solvers and alleviating the need for time-consuming manual procedures for mesh generation to be performed by specialised technicians.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2023

Mehdi Mohamadi and AmirMahdi Tahsini

The purpose of this study is to investigate the combustion of the n-Heptane droplets in the supersonic combustor with a cavity-based fuel injection configuration. The focus is on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the combustion of the n-Heptane droplets in the supersonic combustor with a cavity-based fuel injection configuration. The focus is on the impacts of the droplet size on combustion efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

The finite volume solver is developed to simulate the two-phase reacting turbulent compressible flow using a single step reaction mechanism as finite rate chemistry. Three different fuel injection settings are studied for the considered physical geometry and flow conditions: the gas fuel injection, small droplet liquid fuel injection and big droplet fuel. The fuel is injected as a slot wall jet from the bottom of the cavity.

Findings

The results show that using the small droplet size, the complete fuel consumption and combustion efficiency can be achieved but using the big droplet sizes, most fuel exit the combustor in the liquid phase and gasified unburned fuel. It is also demonstrated that the cavity's temperature distribution of the liquid fuel case is different from the gas fuel, and two flame branches are observed there due to the droplet evaporation and combustion in the cavity.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is performed for the first time on the combustion of the n-Heptane fuel droplets in scramjet configuration, which is promising propulsion system for the future economic flights.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 95 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2024

Kajal Vinayak and Shripad P. Mahulikar

In recent years, increased use of all-aspect infrared (IR)-guided missiles based on the long-wave infrared (LWIR; 8–12 µm) band has lowered the probability of aircraft survival in…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, increased use of all-aspect infrared (IR)-guided missiles based on the long-wave infrared (LWIR; 8–12 µm) band has lowered the probability of aircraft survival in warfare. The lock-on of these highly sensitive missiles is difficult to break, especially from the front. Aerodynamically heated swept-back leading edges (SBLE), because of their high temperature and large area, serve as a prominent LWIR source for aircraft detection from the front. This study aims to report the influence of sweep-back angle (Λ, based on the Mach number [M]) on aerodynamic heating and the LWIR signature of SBLE.

Design/methodology/approach

The temperature along SBLE is obtained numerically as radiation equilibrium temperature (Tw) by discretizing the SBLE length into “n” number of segments, and for each segment, emission based on Tw is evaluated. IR radiance due to reflected external sources (sky-shine and Earthshine) and radiance due to Tw are collectively used to determine the IR contrast between SBLE and its replaced background in the LWIR band (icont-SBLE,LWIR).

Findings

The results are obtained for low subsonic turboprop aircraft (Λ = 3°, M = 0.44); high subsonic strategic bombers (Λ = 35°, M = 0.8); fifth-generation stealth aircraft (Λ = 40°, M = 1.6); and aircraft with supercruise/supersonic capability (Λ = 50°, M = 2.5). The aircraft with supersonic capability (Λ = 50°, M = 2.5) reports the maximum LWIR signatures and hence the highest visibility from the front. The results obtained are compared with values at Λ = 0° for all cases, which shows that increasing Λ significantly reduces aerodynamic heating and LWIR signatures.

Originality/value

The novelty of this study comes from its report on the influence of Λ on the LWIR signatures of aircraft SBLE in the frontal aspect for the first time.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 January 2023

Roshith Mittakolu, Sarma L. Rani and Dilip Srinivas Sundaram

A higher-order implicit shock-capturing scheme is presented for the Euler equations based on time linearization of the implicit flux vector rather than the residual vector.

Abstract

Purpose

A higher-order implicit shock-capturing scheme is presented for the Euler equations based on time linearization of the implicit flux vector rather than the residual vector.

Design/methodology/approach

The flux vector is linearized through a truncated Taylor-series expansion whose leading-order implicit term is an inner product of the flux Jacobian and the vector of differences between the current and previous time step values of conserved variables. The implicit conserved-variable difference vector is evaluated at cell faces by using the reconstructed states at the left and right sides of a cell face and projecting the difference between the left and right states onto the right eigenvectors. Flux linearization also facilitates the construction of implicit schemes with higher-order spatial accuracy (up to third order in the present study). To enhance the diagonal dominance of the coefficient matrix and thereby increase the implicitness of the scheme, wave strengths at cell faces are expressed as the inner product of the inverse of the right eigenvector matrix and the difference in the right and left reconstructed states at a cell face.

Findings

The accuracy of the implicit algorithm at Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) numbers greater than unity is demonstrated for a number of test cases comprising one-dimensional (1-D) Sod’s shock tube, quasi 1-D steady flow through a converging-diverging nozzle, and two-dimensional (2-D) supersonic flow over a compression corner and an expansion corner.

Practical implications

The algorithm has the advantage that it does not entail spatial derivatives of flux Jacobian so that the implicit flux can be readily evaluated using Roe’s approximate Jacobian. As a result, this approach readily facilitates the construction of implicit schemes with high-order spatial accuracy such as Roe-MUSCL.

Originality/value

A novel finite-volume-based higher-order implicit shock-capturing scheme was developed that uses time linearization of fluxes at cell interfaces.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2023

V.M. Jyothy and G. Jims John Wessley

In this study, 2D density-based SST K-turbulence model with compressibility effect is used to observe the flow separation and shock wave interactions of the flow. The wall static…

Abstract

Purpose

In this study, 2D density-based SST K-turbulence model with compressibility effect is used to observe the flow separation and shock wave interactions of the flow. The wall static pressure and Mach number differences are also evaluated. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives

Design/methodology/approach

This study outlines the evaluation of the performance of a 2D convergent–divergent nozzle with various triangular jet tab configurations that can be used for effective thrust vectoring of aerial vehicles.

Findings

From the study, it is seen that the shadow effect induced by the tab with a height of 30% produces higher oblique wave deflection and higher thrust deflection at the exit nozzle. The numerical calculation concluded that thrust vector efficiency of 30% jet tab is, 0.46%. In the case of 10% jet tab height the thrust vector efficiency is higher, i.e. 1.647%.

Research limitations/implications

2D study.

Practical implications

The optimization will open up a new focus in TVC that can be implemented for effective attitude control in aircrafts.

Social implications

Used in future aircrafts.

Originality/value

The influence of shadowing ratio with different tab heights at different Mach numbers has not been reported in the previous studies. Few of the studies on jet tab are focused on the acoustic studies and not pertaining to the aerodynamic aspects. The multi jet configuration, the combination of location, shapes and other parametric analysis have not been covered in the previous studied.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-6427

Keywords

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