Interactions between the aerodynamics and dynamics of bluff bodies are important in many engineering applications, including suspension bridges, tall buildings, oil platforms, wind turbine towers, air drops, and construction with cranes. In the rotorcraft field, bluff bodies are commonly suspended underneath the vehicle by tethers. This approach is often the only practical way to deliver a payload in a reasonable amount of time in disaster relief efforts, search-and-rescue operations, and military operations. However, currently a fundamental understanding of the aerodynamics of these bluff bodies is lacking, and accurate dynamic simulation models for predicting the safe flying speed are not available. In order to address these shortcomings, two main advancements are presented in this thesis. The aerodynamics of several three-dimensional canonical bluff bodies are examined over a range of Reynolds numbers representative of wind-tunnel-scale to full-scale models. Numerical experiments are utilized, with a focus on uncertainty analysis and validation of the computations. Mean and unsteady forces and moments for these bluff bodies have been evaluated, and empirical models of the shear layer characteristics have been extracted to quantify the behaviors and provide predictive capability. In addition, a physics-based reduced-order simulation model has been developed for bluff bodies. The physics-based approach is necessary to ensure that the predicted behavior of new configurations is accurate, and it is made possible by the breakthroughs in three-dimensional bluff body aerodynamics presented in this thesis. The integrated aerodynamic forces and moments and dynamic behavior predicted by model are extensively validated with data from wind tunnels, flight tests, and high-fidelity computations. Furthermore, successful stability predictions for tethered loads are demonstrated. The model is applicable to the simulation of any generic bluff body configuration, is readily extensible, and has low computational cost.

abstract: The focus of this investigation is on the renewed assessment of nonlinear reduced order models (ROM) for the accurate prediction of the geometrically nonlinear response of a curved beam. In light of difficulties encountered in an earlier modeling effort, the various steps involved in the construction of the reduced order model are carefully reassessed. The selection of the basis functions is first addressed by comparison with the results of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis. The normal basis functions suggested earlier, i.e. the transverse linear modes of the corresponding flat beam, are shown in fact to be very close to the POD eigenvectors of the normal displacements and thus retained in the present effort. A strong connection is similarly established between the POD eigenvectors of the tangential displacements and the dual modes which are accordingly selected to complement the normal basis functions. The identification of the parameters of the reduced order model is revisited next and it is observed that the standard approach for their identification does not capture well the occurrence of snap-throughs. On this basis, a revised approach is proposed which is assessed first on the static, symmetric response of the beam to a uniform load. A very good to excellent matching between full finite element and ROM predicted responses validates the new identification procedure and motivates its application to the dynamic response of the beam which exhibits both symmetric and antisymmetric motions. While not quite as accurate as in the static case, the reduced order model predictions match well their full Nastran counterparts and support the reduced order model development strategy. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2011

abstract: Recent studies of the occurrence of post-flutter limit cycle oscillations (LCO) of the F-16 have provided good support to the long-standing hypothesis that this phenomenon involves a nonlinear structural damping. A potential mechanism for the appearance of nonlinearity in the damping are the nonlinear geometric effects that arise when the deformations become large enough to exceed the linear regime. In this light, the focus of this investigation is first on extending nonlinear reduced order modeling (ROM) methods to include viscoelasticity which is introduced here through a linear Kelvin-Voigt model in the undeformed configuration. Proceeding with a Galerkin approach, the ROM governing equations of motion are obtained and are found to be of a generalized van der Pol-Duffing form with parameters depending on the structure and the chosen basis functions. An identification approach of the nonlinear damping parameters is next proposed which is applicable to structures modeled within commercial finite element software. The effects of this nonlinear damping mechanism on the post-flutter response is next analyzed on the Goland wing through time-marching of the aeroelastic equations comprising a rational fraction approximation of the linear aerodynamic forces. It is indeed found that the nonlinearity in the damping can stabilize the unstable aerodynamics and lead to finite amplitude limit cycle oscillations even when the stiffness related nonlinear geometric effects are neglected. The incorporation of these latter effects in the model is found to further decrease the amplitude of LCO even though the dominant bending motions do not seem to stiffen as the level of displacements is increased in static analyses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2015

abstract: This investigation develops small-size reduced order models (ROMs) that provide an accurate prediction of the response of only part of a structure, referred to as component-centric ROMs. Four strategies to construct such ROMs are presented, the first two of which are based on the Craig-Bampton Method and start with a set of modes for the component of interest (the β component). The response in the rest of the structure (the α component) induced by these modes is then determined and optimally represented by applying a Proper Orthogonal Decomposition strategy using Singular Value Decomposition. These first two methods are effectively basis reductions techniques of the CB basis. An approach based on the “Global - Local” Method generates the “global” modes by “averaging” the mass property over α and β comp., respectively (to extract a “coarse” model of α and β) and the “local” modes orthogonal to the “global” modes to add back necessary “information” for β. The last approach adopts as basis for the entire structure its linear modes which are dominant in the β component response. Then, the contributions of other modes in this part of the structure are approximated in terms of those of the dominant modes with close natural frequencies and similar mode shapes in the β component. In this manner, the non-dominant modal contributions are “lumped” onto the dominant ones, to reduce the number of modes for a prescribed accuracy. The four approaches are critically assessed on the structural finite element model of a 9-bay panel with the modal lumping-based method leading to the smallest sized ROMs. Therefore, it is extended to the nonlinear geometric situation and first recast as a rotation of the modal basis to achieve unobservable modes. In the linear case, these modes completely disappear from the formulation owing to orthogonality. In the nonlinear case, however, the generalized coordinates of these modes are still present in the nonlinear terms of the observable modes. A closure-type algorithm is then proposed to eliminate the unobserved generalized coordinates. This approach, its accuracy and computational savings, was demonstrated on a simple beam model and the 9-bay panel model. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Mechanical Engineering 2017

abstract: This investigation is focused on the consideration of structural uncertainties in nearly-straight pipes conveying fluid and on the effects of these uncertainties on the dynamic response and stability of those pipes. Of interest more specifically are the structural uncertainties which affect directly the fluid flow and its feedback on the structural response, e.g., uncertainties on/variations of the inner cross-section and curvature of the pipe. Owing to the complexity of introducing such uncertainties directly in finite element models, it is desired to proceed directly at the level of modal models by randomizing simultaneously the appropriate mass, stiffness, and damping matrices. The maximum entropy framework is adopted to carry out the stochastic modeling of these matrices with appropriate symmetry constraints guaranteeing that the nature, e.g., divergence or flutter, of the bifurcation is preserved when introducing uncertainty. To support the formulation of this stochastic ROM, a series of finite element computations are first carried out for pipes with straight centerline but inner radius varying randomly along the pipe. The results of this numerical discovery effort demonstrate that the dominant effects originate from the variations of the exit flow speed, induced by the change in inner cross-section at the pipe end, with the uncertainty on the cross-section at other locations playing a secondary role. Relying on these observations, the stochastic reduced order model is constructed to model separately the uncertainty in inner cross-section at the pipe end and at other locations. Then, the fluid related mass, damping, and stiffness matrices of this stochastic reduced order model (ROM) are all determined from a single random matrix and a random variable. The predictions from this stochastic ROM are found to closely match the corresponding results obtained with the randomized finite element model. It is finally demonstrated that this stochastic ROM can easily be extended to account for the small effects due to uncertainty in pipe curvature. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2017

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Mingjun Wei / In this study, a global Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD)-Galerkin based Reduced Order model (ROM) is proposed. It is extended from usual fixed-domain problems to more general fluid-solid systems with moving boundaries/interfaces. The idea of the extension is similar to the immersed boundary method in numerical simulations which uses embedded forcing terms to represent boundary motions and domain changes. This immersed boundary method allows a globally defined fixed domain including both fluid and solid, where POD-Galerkin projection can be directly applied. However, such a modified approach cannot get away with the unsteadiness of boundary terms which appear as time-dependent coefficients in the new Galerkin model. These coefficients need to be pre-computed for prescribed periodic motion, or worse, to be computed at each time step for non-prescribed (e.g. with fluid-structure interaction) or non-periodic situations. Though computational time for each unsteady coefficient is smaller than the coefficients in a typical Galerkin model, because the associated integration is only in the close neighborhood of moving boundaries. The time cost is still much higher than a typical Galerkin model with constant coefficients. This extra expense for moving-boundary treatment eventually undermines the value of using ROMs. An aggressive approach is to decompose the moving boundary/domain to orthogonal modes and derive another low-order model with fixed coefficients for boundary motion. With this domain decomposition, an approach including two coupled low-order models both with fixed coefficients is proposed. Therefore, the new global ROM with decomposed approach is more efficient. Though the model with the domain decomposition is less accurate at the boundary, it is a fair trade-off for the benefit on saving computational cost. The study further shows, however, that the most time-consuming integration in both approaches, which come from the unsteady motion, has almost negligible impact on the overall dynamics. Dropping these time-consuming terms reduces the computation cost by at least one order while having no obvious effect on model accuracy. Based on this global POD-Galerkin based ROM with forcing term, an improved ROM which can handle the parametric variation of body motions in a certain range is also presented. This study shows that these forcing terms not only represent the moving of the boundary, but also decouple the moving parameters from the computation of model coefficients. The decoupling of control parameters provides the convenience to adapt the model for the prediction on states under variation of control parameters. An improved ROM including a shit mode seems promising in model adaptation for typical problems in a fixed domain. However, the benefit from adding a shit mode to model diminishes when the method is applied to moving-boundary problems. Instead, a combined model, which integrates data from a different set of parameters to generate the POD modes, provides a stable and accurate ROM in a certain range of parametric space for moving-boundary problems. By introducing more data from a different set of parameters, the error of the new model can be further reduced. This shows that the combined model can be trained by introducing more and more information. With the idea of the combined model, the improved global ROM with forcing terms shows impressive capability to predict problems with different unknown moving parameters, and can be used in future parametric control and optimization problems.

abstract: The focus of this investigation includes three aspects. First, the development of nonlinear reduced order modeling techniques for the prediction of the response of complex structures exhibiting "large" deformations, i.e. a geometrically nonlinear behavior, and modeled within a commercial finite element code. The present investigation builds on a general methodology, successfully validated in recent years on simpler panel structures, by developing a novel identification strategy of the reduced order model parameters, that enables the consideration of the large number of modes needed for complex structures, and by extending an automatic strategy for the selection of the basis functions used to represent accurately the displacement field. These novel developments are successfully validated on the nonlinear static and dynamic responses of a 9-bay panel structure modeled within Nastran. In addition, a multi-scale approach based on Component Mode Synthesis methods is explored. Second, an assessment of the predictive capabilities of nonlinear reduced order models for the prediction of the large displacement and stress fields of panels that have a geometric discontinuity; a flat panel with a notch was used for this assessment. It is demonstrated that the reduced order models of both virgin and notched panels provide a close match of the displacement field obtained from full finite element analyses of the notched panel for moderately large static and dynamic responses. In regards to stresses, it is found that the notched panel reduced order model leads to a close prediction of the stress distribution obtained on the notched panel as computed by the finite element model. Two enrichment techniques, based on superposition of the notch effects on the virgin panel stress field, are proposed to permit a close prediction of the stress distribution of the notched panel from the reduced order model of the virgin one. A very good prediction of the full finite element results is achieved with both enrichments for static and dynamic responses. Finally, computational challenges associated with the solution of the reduced order model equations are discussed. Two alternatives to reduce the computational time for the solution of these problems are explored. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering 2012

Rising global energy demands have led to an increase in demand for clean, sustainable energy. A leading technology for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission for existing coal-power infrastructure is gasification, which has sparked an interest in reactor modelling for design and performance analysis. Reduced order models (ROMs) have seen an increase in popularity for entrained flow gasifiers, as they offer a low-computational alternative to conventional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling while maintaining the integrity of important operational parameters, such as carbon conversion and syngas yield. However, ROMs require more physical parameter inputs than are normally required for CFD modelling, such as the geometry of the gas-solid jet (specifically the jet half-angle). Experiments were conducted to understand the relation between the required input parameters for ROMs, such as fuel flow rate, transport gas flow rate, and jet half-angle, and develop useful correlations for ROM systems. A new configuration for pneumatic conveying was developed and tested at the pilot-scale system at NRCan CanmetENERGY. It was used to study the pneumatic conveying of pulverized fuels, specifically the influence of operating parameters such as pressure drop and gas flow rates on the fuel flow rate, and the geometry of the gas-solid fuel jet (notably the jet half-angle) injected into the gasifier. The mean fuel flow rate of pulverized fuels was shown to increase with increasing pressure drop and with decreasing gas flow rates in the fuel transfer line. The jet half-angle was shown to increase as the solid loading ratio in the jet core was decreased. Finally, the relative fuel flow variability was observed to be significantly influenced by the design of the pneumatic conveying system, with the fluctuations increasing with increasing pressure drop and with decreasing gas flow rate, similar to the mean flow rate.

Thermal diffusivity in an important thermophysical property that quantifies the ratio of the rate at which heat is conducted through a material to the amount of energy stored in a material. The pulsed laser diffusion (PLD) method is a widely used technique for measuring thermal diffusivities of materials. This technique is based on the fact that the diffusivity of a sample may be inferred from measurement of the time-dependent temperature profile at a point on the surface of a sample that has been exposed to a pulse of radiant energy from a laser or flash lamp. An accepted standard approach for the PLD method is based on a simple model of a PLD measurement system. However, the standard approach is based on idealizations that are difficult to achieve in practice. Therefore, models that treat a PLD measurement system with greater fidelity are desired. The objective of this research is to develop and test a higher fidelity model that more accurately represents the spatial and temporal variations in the input power. This higher fidelity model is referred to as Distributed Source Finite Absorption (DSFA) model. The cost of the increased fidelity associated with the DSFA model is an increase in the complexity of inferring values of the thermal diffusivity. A new method of extracting values from time dependent temperature measurements based on a genetic algorithm and on reduced order modeling was developed. The primary contribution of this thesis is a detailed discussion of the development and numerical verification of this proposed new method for measuring the thermal diffusivity of various materials. Verification of the proposed new method was conducted using numerical experiments. A detailed model of a PLD system was created using advanced engineering software, and detailed simulations, including conjugate heat transfer and solution of the full Navier-Stokes equations, were used to generate multiple numerical data sets. These numerical data sets were then used to infer the thermal diffusivity and other properties of the sample using the proposed new method. These numerical data sets were also used as inputs to the standard approach. The results of this verification study show that the proposed new method is able to infer the thermal diffusivity of samples to within 4.93%, the absorption coefficient to within 10.57 % and the heat capacity of the samples to within 5.37 %. Application of the standard approach to these same data sets gave much poorer estimates of the thermal diffusivity, particularly when the absorption coefficient of the material was relatively low.

This thesis deals with the formulation and application of reduced order models based on extraction of dominant structures from a system utilizing the method of proper orthogonal decomposition. Time evolution of computed modes is described by a system of ordinary differential equations, which is gained by means of Galerkin projection of these modes onto the Navier-Stokes equations. This methodology was applied on two test cases Kármán vortex street and vortex rope. In both cases, a CFD simulation of one refference point was carried out and by utilizing gained modes, the corresponding reduced order models were formulated. Their results were assessed by comparing to the refference simulation.