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Heat transfer within and across nearly circular cavities - variable wall temperature and mass bleed effects on cavity flow
Analysis aimed at determining the scaling laws for the buoyancy effect on fuel containment in an open-cycle gas-core nuclear rocket engine, so conducted that experimental conditions can be related to engine conditions. The fuel volume fraction in a short coaxial flow cavity is calculated with a programmed numerical solution of the steady Navier-Stokes equations for isothermal, variable density fluid mixing. A dimensionless parameter B, called the Buoyancy number, was found to correlate the fuel volume fraction for large accelerations and various density ratios. This parameter has the value B = 0 for zero acceleration, and B = 350 for typical engine conditions.
An analytical study of noise transmission into semi-cylindrical and rectangular acoustic enclosures due to turbulent boundary layer pressure and propeller noise (prop-fan) is presented. The structural noise transmission models include a single panel, discretely stiffened elastic panel and stiffened viscoelastic sandwich panel. Response characteristics of the stiffened panels are evaluated using a transfer matrix procedure. The interior noise field is determined by a Galerkin-like method. The effect on interior noise due to aerodynamic surface flow, cavity back-up pressure, pressurization, mass, stiffness, and damping addition to the structure is investigated. It is shown that stiffened viscoelastic sandwich panels, while providing the same stiffening benefits as an equivalent elastic panel, could significantly reduce vibration levels and subsequently give similar benefits for interior noise control.
The reduction-to-periodicity method using the pseudo-spectral Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique is applied to the solution of nonperiodic problems including the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. The accuracy of the method is demonstrated by calculating derivatives of given functions, one- and two-dimensional convective-diffusive problems, and by comparing the relative errors due to the FFT method with seocnd order Finite Difference Methods (FDM). Finally, the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are solved by a fractional step procedure using both the FFT and the FDM methods for the driven cavity flow and the backward facing step problems. Comparisons of these solutions provide a realistic assessment of the FFT method indicating its range of applicability.
A least-squares finite element method, based on the velocity-pressure-vorticity formulation, is developed for solving steady incompressible Navier-Stokes problems. This method leads to a minimization problem rather than to a saddle-point problem by the classic mixed method, and can thus accommodate equal-order interpolations. This method has no parameter to tune. The associated algebraic system is symmetric, and positive definite. Numerical results for the cavity flow at Reynolds number up to 10,000 and the backward-facing step flow at Reynolds number up to 900 are presented.
A multigrid relaxation method is applied to a pressure-based implicit procedure to solve unseady, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The present multigrid method is a Correction Scheme according to Brandt. This method is used to solve the scalar matrices resulting from the finite-volume formulation and uses flux averaging as the restriction operator. The accuracy and computational efficiency are demonstrated with a steady state driven cavity flow and an unsteady flow over a circular cylinder case. The results are compared with single grid results using the OrthoMin conjugate gradient method and experimental data.
Two new algorithms for solving coupled Navier-Stokes and energy equations are presented. The algorithms are compared with available Navier-Stokes solutions for the model problem of a driven-cavity-flow over a range of Reynolds numbers. It is noted that the algorithms represent two different implementations of the fractional step approach to the solution of the coupled Navier-Stokes and energy equations using the Boussinesq approximation.
An efficient image processing system is described for the automatic analysis of particle image velocimetry (PIV) fringe patterns. Each interrogation point takes 1 second to analyze; a complete specklegram can be interrogated at 1000 points in approximately 15 minutes. Incorporated in the analysis is a means for automatic replacement of spurious velocity vectors without either re-interrogation of the specklegram or interpolation between neighboring data points. The sucess of the above system is demonstrated by application of the PIV technique to the study of the sink-driven cavity flow. This flow is studied as part of a larger program to investigate trapped vortex flows as a means of lift enhancement on swept wings.
The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations have been applied to Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) configurations. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results are made in two-dimensions for free shear layers and a rectangular cavity, and in three-dimensions for simplified SOFIA geometries. Dominant acoustic behaviour of the cavity flows compare well with experiment. The sensitivity of the solutions to changes in grid cell size and artificial dissipation levels are shown. Furthermore, optical path distortion due to the flow field is modelled using geometrical constructs. The results demonstrate the viability and usefulness of the present computational methods for this class unsteady applications.
A least-squares finite element method, based on the velocity-pressure-vorticity formulation, is developed for solving steady incompressible Navier-Stokes problems. This method leads to a minimization problem rather than to a saddle-point problem by the classic mixed method and can thus accommodate equal-order interpolations. This method has no parameter to tune. The associated algebraic system is symmetric, and positive definite. Numerical results for the cavity flow at Reynolds number up to 10,000 and the backward-facing step flow at Reynolds number up to 900 are presented.
Information is given in viewgraph form on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for aircraft design. Topics covered include CFD validation for advanced systems, cavity flow, transonic flow, separated flow, boundary layer interaction, hypersonic flow, heat transfer, zonal modeling, the mathematical foundation for Navier-Stokes simulation, hypersonic inlets, and the role of wind tunnel tests.
We present scattered light images for models of young stellar objects surrounded by dusty envelopes. The envelopes are assumed to have finite angular momentum and are falling in steady flow onto a disk. The model envelopes include holes, such as might be created by energetic bipolar flows. We calculate images using the Monte Carlo method to follow the light scattered in the dusty envelope and circumstellar disk, assuming that the photons originate from the central source. Adopting typical interstellar medium dust opacities and expected mass infall rates for protostars of about 10 exp -6 solar mass/yr, we find that detectable amounts of optical radiation can escape from envelopes falling into a disk as small as about 10-100 AU, depending upon the viewing angle and the size of the bipolar flow cavity. We suggest that the extended optical and near-IR light observed around several young stars is scattered by dusty infalling envelopes rather than disks.
Seals Workshop of 1995 industrial code (INDSEAL) release include ICYL, GCYLT, IFACE, GFACE, SPIRALG, SPIRALI, DYSEAL, and KTK. The scientific code (SCISEAL) release includes conjugate heat transfer and multidomain with rotordynamic capability. Several seals and bearings codes (e.g., HYDROFLEX, HYDROTRAN, HYDROB3D, FLOWCONl, FLOWCON2) are presented and results compared. Current computational and experimental emphasis includes multiple connected cavity flows with goals of reducing parasitic losses and gas ingestion. Labyrinth seals continue to play a significant role in sealing with face, honeycomb, and new sealing concepts under investigation for advanced engine concepts in view of smct environmental constraints. The clean sheet approach to engine design is advocated with program directions and anticipated percentage SFC reductions cited. Future activities center on engine applications with coupled seal/power/secondary flow streams.
Our program of research aims at developing a stochastic description of the residual acceleration field onboard spacecraft (g-jitter) to describe in quantitative detail its effect on fluid motion. Our main premise is that such a statistical description is necessary in those cases in which the characteristic time scales of the process under investigation are long compared with the correlation time of g-jitter. Although a clear separation between time scales makes this approach feasible, there remain several difficulties of practical nature: (i), g-jitter time series are not statistically stationary but rather show definite dependences on factors such as active or rest crew periods; (ii), it is very difficult to extract reliably the low frequency range of the power spectrum of the acceleration field. This range controls the magnitude of diffusive processes; and (iii), models used to date are Gaussian, but there is evidence that large amplitude disturbances occur much more frequently than a Gaussian distribution would predict. The lack of stationarity does not constitute a severe limitation in practice, since the intensity of the stochastic components changes very slowly during space missions (perhaps over times of the order of hours). A separate analysis of large amplitude disturbances has not been undertaken yet, but it does not seem difficult a priori to devise models that may describe this range better than a Gaussian distribution. The effect of low frequency components, on the other hand, is more difficult to ascertain, partly due to the difficulty associated with measuring them, and partly because they may be indistinguishable from slowly changing averages. This latter effect is further complicated by the lack of statistical stationarity of the time series. Recent work has focused on the effect of stochastic modulation on the onset of oscillatory instabilities as an example of resonant interaction between the driving acceleration and normal modes of the system, and on cavity flow as an example of how an oscillatory response under periodic driving becomes diffusive if the forcing is random instead. This paper describes three different topics that illustrate behavior that is peculiar to a stochastic acceleration field. In the first case, we show that g-jitter can induce effective attractive or repulsive forces between a pair of spherical particles that are suspended in an incompressible fluid of different density provided that the momentum diffusion length is larger than the interparticle separation (as in the case in most colloidal suspensions). Second, a stochastic modulation of the control parameter in the vicinity of a pitchfork or supercritical bifurcation is known not to affect the location of the threshold. We show, however, that resonance between the modulation and linearly stable modes close to onset can lead to a shift in threshold. Finally, we discuss the classical problem of vorticity diffusion away from a plane boundary that is being vibrated along its own plane. Periodic motion with zero average vorticity production results in an exponential decay of the vorticity away from the boundary. Random vibration, on the other hand, results in power law decay away from the boundary even if vorticity production averages to zero.
Computational Unsteady Aerodynamics computer codes are being increasingly used. In order to validate their results they must be tested against valid experimental data. The present report aims at collecting reliable experimental data on unsteady aerodynamics and presenting them in a form which permits use for verification of codes. For ease of handling, the data are also presented in machine readable form (CD-ROM). Data on increasingly complex generic forms were selected and the following categories are covered: flutter, buffet, stability and control, dynamic stall, cavity flows, store separation. Computational solutions are included in order to permit evaluation of codes and analysis of solutions which differ from experimental data.
This article provides a concise exposition of the multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann equation, with examples of fifteen-velocity and nineteen-velocity models in three dimensions. Simulation of a diagonally lid-driven cavity flow in three dimensions at Re=500 and 2000 is performed. The results clearly demonstrate the superior numerical stability of the multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann equation over the popular lattice Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook equation.
A new reduced-order model of multidimensional synthetic jet actuators that combines the accuracy and conservation properties of full numerical simulation methods with the efficiency of simplified zero-order models is proposed. The multidimensional actuator is simulated by solving the time-dependent compressible quasi-1-D Euler equations, while the diaphragm is modeled as a moving boundary. The governing equations are approximated with a fourth-order finite difference scheme on a moving mesh such that one of the mesh boundaries coincides with the diaphragm. The reduced-order model of the actuator has several advantages. In contrast to the 3-D models, this approach provides conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. Furthermore, the new method is computationally much more efficient than the multidimensional Navier-Stokes simulation of the actuator cavity flow, while providing practically the same accuracy in the exterior flowfield. The most distinctive feature of the present model is its ability to predict the resonance characteristics of synthetic jet actuators; this is not practical when using the 3-D models because of the computational cost involved. Numerical results demonstrating the accuracy of the new reduced-order model and its limitations are presented.
The utility of multidisciplinary analysis tools for aeropropulsion applications is being investigated at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The goal of this project is to apply Spectrum, a multiphysics code developed by Centric Engineering Systems, Inc., to simulate multidisciplinary effects in turbomachinery components. Many engineering problems today involve detailed computer analyses to predict the thermal, aerodynamic, and structural response of a mechanical system as it undergoes service loading. Analysis of aerospace structures generally requires attention in all three disciplinary areas to adequately predict component service behavior, and in many cases, the results from one discipline substantially affect the outcome of the other two. There are numerous computer codes currently available in the engineering community to perform such analyses in each of these disciplines. Many of these codes are developed and used in-house by a given organization, and many are commercially available. However, few, if any, of these codes are designed specifically for multidisciplinary analyses. The Spectrum code has been developed for performing fully coupled fluid, thermal, and structural analyses on a mechanical system with a single simulation that accounts for all simultaneous interactions, thus eliminating the requirement for running a large number of sequential, separate, disciplinary analyses. The Spectrum code has a true multiphysics analysis capability, which improves analysis efficiency as well as accuracy. Centric Engineering, Inc., working with a team of Lewis and AlliedSignal Engines engineers, has been evaluating Spectrum for a variety of propulsion applications including disk quenching, drum cavity flow, aeromechanical simulations, and a centrifugal compressor flow simulation.