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At least 1,315 records · Page 73

Calculations of two and three-dimensional transonic cascade flow fields using the Navier-Stokes equations

The multidimensional, ensemble-averaged, compressible, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations have been used to study the turbulent flow field in two and three-dimensional turbine cascades. The viscous regions of the flow were resolved and non-slip boundary conditions were utilized on solid surfaces. The calculations were performed in a constructive 'O'-type grid which allows representation of the blade rounded trailing edge. Converged solutions were obtained in relatively few time steps (about 80-150) and comparisons for both surface pressure and heat transfer showed good agreement with data. The three-dimensional turbine cascade calculation showed many of the expected flow-field features.

Weinberg, B. C.↗

An attempt to extend the ATI technique to estimate convective rain volumes using satellite data

Digital satellite and radar data of a thunderstorm event that occurred on June 12, 1981 are examined. The processing of both data sets is described. Cumulative area versus count values, and threshold count values for IR and visible satellite data for 13 consecutive time steps are analyzed. The IR and visible satellite images are compared. The relation between radar reflectivity, temperature, and echo height is studied.

Doneaud, A. A.↗

A new approach to the free wake problem for hovering rotors

In the present approach to the hovering rotor free wake problem, an influence coefficient solution method is used to find that rotor wake solution which is steady in a reference frame that rotates with the blades; this scheme solves directly for the conditions of free wake equilibrium by a procedure that does not involve time-stepping and the associated use of numerical damping or special convergence methods. The solution method has been implemented in a hover wake computer program having a three-part wake model for the tip vortex. All three wake regions are represented by the new Basic Curved Vortex Elements. Sample hover calculations are presented for single blade and multiblade rotors.

Bliss, D. B.↗

An implicit flux-difference splitting scheme for three-dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes solutions to leading edge vortex flows

A new, implicit finite-difference scheme designed to solve the conservative, flux-difference split Navier-Stokes equations is used to compute incompressible vortex flows around delta wings. The completely vectorizable hybrid algorithm is constructed in delta form for steady state solutions independent of the time-step sizes. The scheme combines approximate factorization in crossflow planes with a symmetric planar Gauss-Seidel relaxation in the remaining spatial direction. The governing equations are solved in curvilinear, body-fitted coordinates for treating complex geometries. The computed flow field results are compared with other theoretical and experimental data.

Hartwich, P.-M.↗

Accurate solutions for transonic viscous flow over finite wings

An explicit multistage Runge-Kutta type time-stepping scheme is used for solving the three-dimensional, compressible, thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations. A finite-volume formulation is employed to facilitate treatment of complex grid topologies encountered in three-dimensional calculations. Convergence to steady state is expedited through usage of acceleration techniques. Further numerical efficiency is achieved through vectorization of the computer code. The accuracy of the overall scheme is evaluated by comparing the computed solutions with the experimental data for a finite wing under different test conditions in the transonic regime. A grid refinement study ir conducted to estimate the grid requirements for adequate resolution of salient features of such flows.

Vatsa, V. N.↗

Parametric effects of CFL number and artificial smoothing on numerical solutions using implicit approximate factorization algorithm

An implicit approximate factorization algorithm is employed to quantify the parametric effects of Courant number and artificial smoothing on numerical solutions of the unsteady 3-D Euler equations for a windmilling propeller (low speed) flow field. The results show that propeller global or performance chracteristics vary strongly with Courant number and artificial dissipation parameters, though the variation is such less severe at high Courant numbers. Candidate sets of Courant number and dissipation parameters could result in parameter-dependent solutions. Parameter-independent numerical solutions can be obtained if low values of the dissipation parameter-time step ratio are used in the computations. Furthermore, it is realized that too much artificial damping can degrade numerical stability. Finally, it is demonstrated that highly resolved meshes may, in some cases, delay convergence, thereby suggesting some optimum cell size for a given flow solution. It is suspected that improper boundary treatment may account for the cell size constraint.

Daso, E. O.↗

High-speed compressible flow and other advection-dominated problems of fluid dynamics

Finite element methods are described for modeling high speed compressible flows with strong advection, problems important to aerodynamics. The situations are characterized by high pressure and temperature gradients, transients and the appearance of discontinuities, factors which require mesh refinement during computations. Techniques are developed for temporal and spatial discretization of a model problem. Several observations are made regarding the explicit and implicit features of the calculations, the use of the Lax-Wendroff scheme to produce a mass-matrix for obtaining accurate results for transients, methods of performing stability analyses, and simplification techniques. Examples are provided of solving the nonlinear shallow-water equations and describing compressible flows, particularly transonic flows. Domain splitting is defined for improving the calculations at each time step and in different parts of the flow regime while simultaneously advancing the calculations towards a solution.

Zienkiewicz, O. C.↗

Finite-volume and integral-equation techniques for transonic and supersonic vortex-dominated flows

Two computational techniques are developed to calculate the compressible vortex-dominated flows. The first technique is a finite-volume Euler Solver which uses four-Stage Runge-Kutta time stepping with second- and fourth-order dissipation terms. The technique is applied to supersonic conical and three-dimensional flows about sharp- and round-edged delta wings. Attached and separated-flow solutions have been obtained depending on the values of damping coefficients. The second technique is an integral-equation solver of the full potential equation which uses a volume-integral term in addition to the classical surface-integral terms. The technique is applied to transonic three-dimensional flows about sharp-edged delta wings. A hybrid technique which combines the finite-volume and the integral-equation solvers is also presented.

Kandil, O. A.↗

Analyzing Wakes From Hovering-Helicopter Rotor Blades

New method for analyzing free wake of hovering-helicopter rotor produces more reliable results and requires less computer time. Copes with wake instabilities, both physical and numerical, that afflict usual time-stepping analysis methods. Tip-vortex position, in coordinates moving with rotor blade, updated in relaxation procedure. Wake-airflow solution reached when updates converge to steady wake shape.

Bliss, D. B.↗

Mathematical model for the Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growing system

In a major technical breakthrough, a computer model for Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growth was developed. The model includes melt convection, solute effects, thermal conduction in the ampule, melt, and crystal, and the determination of the curved moving crystal-melt interface. The key to the numerical method is the use of a nonuniform computational mesh which moves with the interface, so that the interface is a mesh surface. In addition, implicit methods are used for advection and diffusion of heat, concentration, and vorticity, for interface movement, and for internal gracity waves. This allows large time-steps without loss of stability or accuracy. Numerical results are presented for the interface shape, temperature distribution, and concentration distribution, in steady-state crystl growth. Solutions are presented for two test cases using water, with two different salts in solution. The two diffusivities differ by a factor of ten, and the concentrations differ by a factor of twenty.

Roberts, G. O.↗

Parallel processors and nonlinear structural dynamics algorithms and software

A nonlinear structural dynamics program with an element library that exploits parallel processing is under development. The aim is to exploit scheduling-allocation so that parallel processing and vectorization can effectively be treated in a general purpose program. As a byproduct an automatic scheme for assigning time steps was devised. A rudimentary form of the program is complete and has been tested; it shows substantial advantage can be taken of parallelism. In addition, a stability proof for the subcycling algorithm has been developed.

Belytschko, T.↗

A verification of unsteady Navier-Stokes solutions around oscillating airfoils

A finite difference solution code for the two dimensional Navier-Stokes equations was combined with a moving-grid system. The thin layer Navier-Stokes equations with a turbulence model are solved in a time-accurate manner in order to study the unsteady aerodynamics around airfoils undergoing small amplitude pitching or heaving motions in the transonic regime. The accuracy of the solutions obtained by the use of the present moving-grid technqiue is investigated. The effects of the minimum grid size and the integrating time-step size on the solutions are also checked. Some of the solutions obtained by the present method are compared with experimental results. It is demonstrated that the unsteady aerodynamics around oscillating airfoils can be predicted fairly well by the present code for cases in which the dynamic angle of attack or displacement is small.

Nakamichi, J.↗

Unsteady transonic flow calculations for realistic aircraft configurations

A transonic unsteady aerodynamic and aeroelasticity code has been developed for application to realistic aircraft configurations. The new code is called CAP-TSD which is an acronym for Computational Aeroelasticity Program - Transonic Small Disturbance. The CAP-TSD code uses a time-accurate approximate factorization (AF) algorithm for solution of the unsteady transonic small-disturbance equation. The AF algorithm is very efficient for solution of steady and unsteady transonic flow problems. It can provide accurate solutions in only several hundred time steps yielding a significant computational cost savings when compared to alternative methods. The new code can treat complete aircraft geometries with multiple lifting surfaces and bodies including canard, wing, tail, control surfaces, launchers, pylons, fuselage, stores, and nacelles. Applications are presented for a series of five configurations of increasing complexity to demonstrate the wide range of geometrical applicability of CAP-TSD. These results are in good agreement with available experimental steady and unsteady pressure data. Calculations for the General Dynamics one-ninth scale F-16C aircraft model are presented to demonstrate application to a realistic configuration. Unsteady results for the entire F-16C aircraft undergoing a rigid pitching motion illustrated the capability required to perform transonic unsteady aerodynamic and aeroelastic analyses for such configurations.

Batina, John T.↗

The quasi-linear relaxation of thick-target electron beams in solar flares

The effects of quasi-linear interactions on thick-target electron beams in the solar corona are investigated. Coulomb collisions produce regions of positive gradient in electron distributions which are initially monotonic decreasing functions of energy. In the resulting two-stream instability, energy and momentum are transferred from electrons to Langmuir waves and the region of positive slope in the electron distribution is replaced by a plateau. In the corona, the timescale for this quasi-linear relaxation is very short compared to the collision time. It is therefore possible to model the effects of quasi-linear relaxation by replacing any region of positive slop in the distribution by a plateau at each time step, in such a way as to conserve particle number. The X-ray bremsstrahlung and collisional heating rate produced by a relaxed beam are evaluated. Although the analysis is strictly steady state, it is relevant to the theoretical interpretation of hard X-ray bursts with durations of the order of a few seconds (i.e., the majority of such bursts).

Mcclements, K. G.↗

Artificial dissipation and central difference schemes for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

An artificial dissipation model, including boundary treatment, that is employed in many central difference schemes for solving the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations is discussed. Modifications of this model such as the eigenvalue scaling suggested by upwind differencing are examined. Multistage time stepping schemes with and without a multigrid method are used to investigate the effects of changes in the dissipation model on accuracy and convergence. Improved accuracy for inviscid and viscous airfoil flow is obtained with the modified eigenvalue scaling. Slower convergence rates are experienced with the multigrid method using such scaling. The rate of convergence is improved by applying a dissipation scaling function that depends on mesh cell aspect ratio.

Swanson, R. C.↗

An explicit finite-volume time-marching procedure for turbulent flow calculations

A method was developed which calculates two-dimensional, transonic, viscous flow in ducts. The finite-volume, time-marching formulation is used to obtain steady flow solutions of the Reynolds-averaged form of the Navier-Stokes equations. The entire calculation is performed in the physical domain. Control volumes are chosen so that smoothing of flow properties, typically required for stability, is not required. Different time steps are used in the different governing equations. A new pressure interpolation scheme is introduced which improves the shock capturing ability of the method. A multi-volume method for pressure changes in the boundary layer allows calculations which use very long and thin control volumes (length/height - 1000). The method is compared with two test cases. Essentially incompressible turbulent boundary layer flow in an adverse pressure gradient is calculated and the computed distributions of mean velocity and shear are in good agreement with the measurements. Transonic viscous flow in a converging diverging nozzle is calculated; the Mach number upstream of the shock is approximately 1.25. The agreement between the calculated and measured shock strength and total pressure losses is good.

Nicholson, Stephen↗

Discontinuous solutions to hyperbolic systems under operator splitting

Two-dimensional systems of linear hyperbolic equations are studied with regard to their behavior under a solution strategy that in alternate time-steps solves exactly the component one-dimensional operators. The initial data is a step function across an oblique discontinuity. The manner in which this discontinuity breaks up under repeated applications of the split operator is analyzed, and it is shown that the split solution will fail to match the true solution in any case where the two operators do not share all their eigenvectors. The special case of the fluid flow equations is analyzed in more detail, and it is shown that arbitrary initial data gives rise to pseudo acoustic waves and a non-physical stationary wave. The implications of these findings for the design of high-resolution computing schemes are discussed.

Roe, P. L.↗

Application of radiative boundary conditions to nonhydrostatic primitive equation models

A procedure is presented for applying a radiative boundary condition to the lateral boundary of a limited domain model. The model considered, the Terminal Area Simulation System (TASS), has nonhydrostatic compressible and unsteady governing equations. The primary applications to date have been studies of downbursts, wind shear, thunderstorms and mass fires. A time-splitting integration is used with TASS, with the acoustic terms being integrated separately with a smaller time step. A first-order closure approximation is employed to ensure subgrid turbulence closure. TASS applications for two-dimensional axisymmetric and three-dimensional simulations are described. The radiative boundary conditions were applied in the two-dimensional case to the temperature, pressure and non-normal velocity components. Solutions in both cases avoided runaway circulations and experienced minimal domain-wide mass loss. Also, distorsion was minimized at the boundaries.

Proctor, F. H.↗