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Article
Publication date: 21 November 2018

Tao Xue, Xiaobing Zhang and K.K. Tamma

A consistent implementation of the general computational framework of unified second-order time accurate integrators via the well-known GSSSS framework in conjunction with the…

Abstract

Purpose

A consistent implementation of the general computational framework of unified second-order time accurate integrators via the well-known GSSSS framework in conjunction with the traditional Finite Difference Method is presented to improve the numerical simulations of reactive two-phase flows.

Design/methodology/approach

In the present paper, the phase interaction evaluation in the present implementation of the reactive two-phase flows has been derived and implemented to preserve the consistency of the correct time level evaluation during the time integration process for solving the two phase flow dynamics with reactions.

Findings

Numerical examples, including the classical Sod shock tube problem and a reactive two-phase flow problem, are exploited to validate the proposed time integration framework and families of algorithms consistently to second order in time accuracy; this is in contrast to the traditional practices which only seem to obtain first-order time accuracy because of the inconsistent time level implementation with respect to the interaction of two phases. The comparisons with the traditional implementation and the advantages of the proposed implementation are given in terms of the improved numerical accuracy in time. The proposed approaches provide a correct numerical simulation implementation to the reactive two-phase flows and can obtain better numerical stability and computational features.

Originality/value

The new algorithmic framework and the consistent time level evaluation extended with the GS4 family encompasses a multitude of past and new schemes and offers a general purpose and unified implementation for fluid dynamics.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2013

Cheng Cheng and Xiaobing Zhang

In computational fluid dynamics for two-phase reactive flow of interior ballistic, the conventional schemes (MacCormack method, etc.) are known to introduce unphysical…

Abstract

Purpose

In computational fluid dynamics for two-phase reactive flow of interior ballistic, the conventional schemes (MacCormack method, etc.) are known to introduce unphysical oscillations in the region where the gradient is high. This paper aims to improve the ability to capture the complex shock wave during the interior ballistic cycle.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-phase flow model is established to describe the complex physical process based on a modified two-fluid theory. The solution of model is obtained including the following key methods: an approximate Riemann solver to construct upwind fluxes, the MUSCL extension to achieve high-order accuracy, a splitting approach to solve source terms, a self-adapting method to expand the computational domain for projectile motion and a control volume conservation method for the moving boundary.

Findings

The paper is devoted to applying a high-resolution numerical method to simulate a transient two-phase reactive flow with moving boundary in guns. Several verification tests demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of this approach. Simulation of two-phase reaction flow with a projectile motion in a large-caliber gun shows an excellent agreement between numerical simulation and experimental measurements.

Practical implications

This paper has implications for improving the ability to capture the complex physics phenomena of two-phase flow during interior ballistic cycle and predict the combustion details, such as the flame spreading, the formation of pressure waves and so on.

Originality/value

This approach is reliable as a prediction tool for the understanding of the physical phenomenon and can therefore be used as an assessment tool for future interior ballistics studies.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 23 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2018

Chaobin Hu and Xiaobing Zhang

Various simplifications are introduced into the establishment of numerical models for problems with strong nonlinear interactions. The combustion of energetic materials in a…

Abstract

Purpose

Various simplifications are introduced into the establishment of numerical models for problems with strong nonlinear interactions. The combustion of energetic materials in a chamber with moving boundaries is a typical example. This paper aims to establish a coupled numerical model for predicting the internal combustion in a launch process.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-fluid model is used to predict the fluid field induced by the propellant combustion. The moving boundary is located by using a finite element method. Based on a user subroutine interface in the commercial software ABAQUS, the development of the fluid field and the mechanical interactions is coupled with each other.

Findings

The paper is devoted to provide a coupled computational framework for predicting the propellant combustion in an expanding chamber. The coupling strategy is validated through predicting a pressure-driven piston system. Based on the validated computational framework, the two-phase reactive flows in a launch process is studied. The predicted parameters agree well with experimental measurements.

Originality/value

This paper provide a method to address the difficulties in realizing the dynamic interactions between multi-phase reactive flows and mechanical behaviors. The computational framework can be used as a research tool for investigating fluid field in a combustion chamber with moving boundaries.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 28 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 August 2019

Chaobin Hu and Xiaobing Zhang

This paper aims to improve the reliability of numerical methods for predicting the transient heat transfers in combustion chambers heated internally by moving heat sources.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to improve the reliability of numerical methods for predicting the transient heat transfers in combustion chambers heated internally by moving heat sources.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-phase fluid dynamic model was used to govern the non-uniformly distributed moving heat sources. A Riemann-problem-based numerical scheme was provided to update the fluid field and provide convective boundary conditions for the heat transfer. The heat conduction in the solids was investigated by using a thermo-mechanical coupled model to obtain a reliable expanding velocity of the heat sources. The coupling between the combustion and the heat transfer is realized based on user subroutines VDFLUX and VUAMP in the commercial software ABAQUS.

Findings

The capability of the numerical scheme in capturing discontinuities in initial conditions and source terms was validated by comparing the predicted results of commonly used verification cases with the corresponding analytical solutions. The coupled model and the numerical methods are capable of investigating heat transfer problems accompanied by extreme conditions such as transient effects, high-temperature and high-pressure working conditions.

Originality/value

The work provides a reliable numerical method to obtain boundary conditions for predicting the heat transfers in solids heated by expanding multiphase reactive flows.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Alain Fossi, Alain DeChamplain and Benjamin Akih-Kumgeh

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the three-dimensional (3D) reacting turbulent two-phase flow field of a scaled swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor using…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the three-dimensional (3D) reacting turbulent two-phase flow field of a scaled swirl-stabilized gas turbine combustor using the commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software ANSYS FLUENT. The first scope of the study aims to explicitly compare the predictive capabilities of two turbulence models namely Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes and Scale Adaptive Simulation for a reasonable trade-off between accuracy of results and global computational cost when applied to simulate swirl-stabilized spray combustion. The second scope of the study is to couple chemical reactions to the turbulent flow using a realistic chemistry model and also to model the local chemical non-equilibrium(NEQ) effects caused by turbulent strain such as flame stretching.

Design/methodology/approach

Standard Eulerian and Lagrangian formulations are used to describe both gaseous and liquid phases, respectively. The computing method includes a two-way coupling in which phase properties and spray source terms are interchanging between the two phases within each coupling time step. The fuel used is liquid jet-A1 which is injected in the form of a polydisperse spray and the droplet evaporation rate is calculated using the infinite conductivity model. One-component (n-decane) and two-component fuels (n-decane+toluene) are used as jet-A1 surrogates. The combustion model is based on the mean mixture fraction and its variance, and a presumed-probability density function is used to model turbulent-chemistry interactions. The instantaneous thermochemical state necessary for the chemistry tabulation is determined by using initially the equilibrium (EQ) assumption and thereafter, detailed NEQ calculations through the steady flamelets concept. The combustion chemistry of these surrogates is represented through a reduced chemical kinetic mechanism (CKM) comprising 1,045 reactions among 139 species, derived from the detailed jet-A1 surrogate model, JetSurf 2.0 using a sensitivity based method, Alternate Species Elimination.

Findings

Numerical results of the gas velocity, the gas temperature and the species molar fractions are compared with their experimental counterparts obtained from a steady state flame available in the literature. It is observed that, SAS coupled to the tabulated flamelet-based chemistry, predicts reasonably the main flame trends, while URANS even provided with the same combustion model and computing resources, leads to a poor prediction of the global flame trends, emphasizing the asset of a proper resolution when simulating spray flames.

Research limitations/implications

The steady flamelet model even coupled with a robust turbulence model does not reproduce accurately the trend of species with slow oxidation kinetics such as CO and H2, because of the restrictiveness of the solutions space of flamelet equations and the assumption of unity Lewis for all species.

Practical implications

This work is adding a contribution for spray flame modeling and can be seen as an extension to the significant efforts for the modeling of gaseous flames using robust turbulence models coupled with the tabulated flamelet-based chemistry approach to considerably reduce computing cost. The exclusive use of a commercial CFD code widely used in the industry allows a direct application of this simulation approach to industrial configurations while keeping computing cost reasonable.

Originality/value

This study is useful to engineers interested in designing combustors of gas turbines and others combustion systems fed with liquid fuels.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2015

Qiao Luo and Xiaobing Zhang

In engineering applications, gas-solid two-phase reaction flow with multi-moving boundaries is a common phenomenon. The launch process of multiple projectiles is a typical…

Abstract

Purpose

In engineering applications, gas-solid two-phase reaction flow with multi-moving boundaries is a common phenomenon. The launch process of multiple projectiles is a typical example. The flow of adjacent powder chambers is coupled by projectile’s motion. The purpose of this paper is to study this flow by numerical simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

A one-dimensional two-phase reaction flow model and MacCormack difference scheme are implemented in a computational code, and the code is used to simulate the launch process of a system of multiple projectiles. For different launching rates and loading conditions, the simulated results of the launch process of three projectiles are obtained and discussed.

Findings

At low launching rates, projectiles fired earlier in the series have little effect on the launch processes of projectiles fired later. However, at higher launching rates, the projectiles fired first have a great influence on the launch processes of projectiles fired later. As the launching rate increases, the maximum breech pressure for the later projectiles increases. Although the muzzle velocities increase initially, they reach a maximum at some launching rate, and then decrease rapidly. The muzzle velocities and maximum breech pressures of the three projectiles have an approximate linear relationship with the charge weight, propellant web size and chamber volume.

Originality/value

This paper presents a prediction tool to understand the physical phenomenon of the gas-solid two-phase reaction flow with multi-moving boundaries, and can be used as a research tool for future interior ballistics studies of launch system of multiple projectiles.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2020

Alain Fossi, Alain DeChamplain, Benjamin Akih-Kumgeh and Jeffrey Bergthorson

This study aims to deal with the large eddy simulation (LES) of an ignition sequence and the resulting steady combustion in a swirl-stabilized liquid-fueled combustor. Particular…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to deal with the large eddy simulation (LES) of an ignition sequence and the resulting steady combustion in a swirl-stabilized liquid-fueled combustor. Particular attention is paid to the ease of handling the numerical tool, the accuracy of the results and the reasonable computational cost involved. The primary aim of the study is to appraise the ability of the newly developed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology to retrieve the spark-based flame kernel initiation, its propagation until the full ignition of the combustion chamber, the flame stabilization and the combustion processes governing the steady combustion regime.

Design/methodology/approach

The CFD model consists of an LES-based spray module coupled to a subgrid-scale ignition model to capture the flame kernel initiation and the early stage of the flame kernel growth, and a combustion model based on the mixture fraction-progress variable formulation in the line of the flamelet generated manifold (FGM) method to retrieve the subsequent flame propagation and combustion properties. The LES-spray module is based on an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach and includes a fully two-way coupling at each time step to account for the interactions between the liquid and the gaseous phases. The Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity (WALE) model is used for the flow field while the eddy diffusivity model is used for the scalar fluxes. The fuel is liquid kerosene, injected in the form of a polydisperse spray of droplets. The spray dynamics are tracked using the Lagrangian procedure, and the phase transition of droplets is calculated using a non-equilibrium evaporation model. The oxidation mechanism of the Jet A-1 surrogate is described through a reduced reaction mechanism derived from a detailed mechanism using a species sensitivity method.

Findings

By comparing the numerical results with a set of published data for a swirl-stabilized spray flame, the proposed CFD methodology is found capable of capturing the whole spark-based ignition sequence in a liquid-fueled combustion chamber and the main flame characteristics in the steady combustion regime with reasonable computing costs.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed CFD methodology simulates the whole ignition sequence, namely, the flame kernel initiation, its propagation to fully ignite the combustion chamber, and the global flame stabilization. Due to the lack of experimental ignition data on this liquid-fueled configuration, the ability of the proposed CFD methodology to accurately predict ignition timing was not quantitatively assessed. It would, therefore, be interesting to apply this CFD methodology to other configurations that have experimental ignition data, to quantitatively assess its ability to predict the ignition timing and the flame characteristics during the ignition sequence. Such further investigations will not only provide further validation of the proposed methodology but also will potentially identify its shortfalls for better improvement.

Practical implications

This CFD methodology is developed by customizing a commercial CFD code widely used in the industry. It is, therefore, directly applicable to practical configurations, and provides not only a relatively straightforward approach to predict an ignition sequence in liquid-fueled combustion chambers but also a robust way to predict the flame characteristics in the steady combustion regime as significant improvements are noticed on the prediction of slow species.

Originality/value

The incorporation of the subgrid ignition model paired with a combustion model based on tabulated chemistry allows reducing computational costs involved in the simulation of the ignition phase. The incorporation of the FGM-based tabulated chemistry provides a drastic reduction of computing resources with reasonable accuracy. The CFD methodology is developed using the platform of a commercial CFD code widely used in the industry for relatively straightforward applicability.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Qiao Luo and Xiaobing Zhang

The numerical simulation of the serial launch process of multiple projectiles is an important engineering problem. However, the projectiles’ motion law is hard to obtain…

Abstract

Purpose

The numerical simulation of the serial launch process of multiple projectiles is an important engineering problem. However, the projectiles’ motion law is hard to obtain completely only by interior ballistic model. The muzzle flow field affects the projectiles’ velocities when the projectiles pass through it. Also, the propellant gas from previous projectiles may decelerate the later projectiles. Therefore, the aftereffect period should be simulated together with the interior ballistic process of multiple projectiles when researching the serial launch process for accurate motion law of the projectiles.

Design/methodology/approach

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is used to simulate the muzzle flow field. A one-dimensional two-phase reaction flow model is implemented in a computational code for the numerical simulation of gas-solid two-phase reaction flow, during the serial launch process. The computational code is coupled with CFD software by a user-defined function.

Findings

Compared with the first projectile, the formation process of the shock bottle of the second projectile is different. After the projectile head flies out of the muzzle, the projectile head pressure decreases rapidly, but then, it is not always equal to 0.1 MPa. After the projectiles leave the muzzle, the velocity increments of each projectile are mainly determined by muzzle pressure.

Originality/value

This paper presents a prediction tool to understand the projectiles’ motion law during the serial launch process of the multiple projectiles considering aftereffect period, and can be used as a research tool for future ballistic studies of a serial launch system of multiple projectiles.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 27 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2019

P. Utkin

This paper aims to clarify some aspects of the application of the Godunov method for the Baer–Nunziato equations solution on the example of the problem of shock wave – dense…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to clarify some aspects of the application of the Godunov method for the Baer–Nunziato equations solution on the example of the problem of shock wave – dense particles cloud interaction.

Design/methodology/approach

The statement of the problem corresponds to the natural experiment. Mathematical model is based on the Baer–Nunziato system of equations with algebraic right-hand side source terms that takes into account the interphase friction force. Two numerical approaches are used: Harten-Lax-van Leer method and Godunov method.

Findings

For the robust simulation using Godunov method, the application of the pressure relaxation procedure is proposed. The comparative analysis of the simulation results using two methods is carried out. The Godunov method provides significantly smaller numerical diffusion of the solid phase volume fraction in the cloud that leads to the much better agreement of the pressure curves on transducers and the dynamics of the cloud motion with the experimental data.

Originality/value

Godunov method for the Baer–Nunziato equations is applied for the simulation of the natural experiment on the shock wave particles cloud interaction. Up to now, the examples of the application of the Godunov method for the Baer–Nunziato equations to the investigation of the practical problems have been limited by the works of the authors of the method and the field of detonation in the heterogeneous explosives. For the robust simulations in the presence of interphase boundaries, it is proposed to use the Godunov method together with the pressure relaxation procedure.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2023

Yazhou Wang, Dehong Luo, Xuelin Zhang, Zhitao Wang, Hui Chen, Xiaobo Zhang, Ningning Xie, Shengwei Mei, Xiaodai Xue, Tong Zhang and Kumar K. Tamma

The purpose of this paper is to design a simple and accurate a-posteriori Lagrangian-based error estimator is developed for the class of backward differentiation formula (BDF…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a simple and accurate a-posteriori Lagrangian-based error estimator is developed for the class of backward differentiation formula (BDF) algorithms with variable time step size, and the adaptive time-stepping in BDF algorithms is demonstrated for efficient time-dependent simulations in fluid flow and heat transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

The Lagrange interpolation polynomial is used to predict the time derivative, and then the accurate primary result is obtained by the Gauss integral, which is applied to evaluate the local error. Not only the generalized formula of the proposed error estimator is presented but also the specific expression for the widely applied BDF1/2/3 is illustrated. Two essential executable MATLAB functions to implement the proposed error estimator are appended for practical applications. Then, the adaptive time-stepping is demonstrated based on the newly proposed error estimator for BDF algorithms.

Findings

The validation tests show that the newly proposed error estimator is accurate such that the effectivity index is always close to unity for both linear and nonlinear problems, and it avoids under/overestimation of the exact local error. The applications for fluid dynamics and coupled fluid flow and heat transfer problems depict the advantage of adaptive time-stepping based on the proposed error estimator for time-dependent simulations.

Originality/value

In contrast to existing error estimators for BDF algorithms, the present work is more accurate for the local error estimation, and it can be readily extended to practical applications in engineering with a few changes to existing codes, contributing to efficient time-dependent simulations in fluid flow and heat transfer.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

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