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The mechanical pitching characteristic of the NPS flapping-wing Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) developed by Professor Kevin D. Jones are studied experimentally through the use of constant temperature anemometry and force balance techniques. The MAV without the main fixed-wing is placed in a laminar flow field within a low speed wind tunnel with the wake after the flapping wings characterized with a constant temperature anemometer and thrust generation measured by a load cell at various neutral angles, flapping frequencies and free stream velocities. The experiments seek to determine the effects on the MAV propulsion when the neutral angle of attack of the flapping wings is varied. Flow visualization is also performed to better enhance understanding of the flow field across the pitched flapping wings.

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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / Flapping-wing propulsion was studied experimentally through Laser Doppler Velocimetry. Measurements were both time-averaged and unsteady, and were conducted on a Micro-Air Vehicle (MAV) model developed at NPS by Professors Max Platzer and Kevin Jones. The objective of this work was to further understanding of the aerodynamics of flapping-wing propulsion. In specific, this study examined separation control on the leading fixed wing due to entrainment by the trailing flapping wings. Further, a study of wake topology examined differences between the optimal and off-optimal cases. Experimental studies took place in the NPS 5' x 5' low speed wind tunnel. The model was supported on a test stand and LDV measurements of the flow field were taken. Studies were made at varying freestream velocities, angles of attack, and flapping frequencies. The test stand was instrumented with force balances to show forces in both the streamwise and vertical directions. / Ensign, United States Naval Reserve

<div>A strongly implicit, nonlinear Crank-Nicolson-based finite-difference scheme was constructed for the numerical study of the self-similar behavior of viscous gravity currents. Viscous gravity currents are low Reynolds number flow phenomena in which a dense, viscous fluid displaces a lighter (usually immiscible) fluid. Under the lubrication approximation, the mathematical description of the spreading of these fluids is reduced to solving a nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation for the shape of the fluid interface. This thesis focuses on the finite-speed propagation of a power-law non-Newtonian current in a variable width channel-like geometry (a "Hele-Shaw cell'') subject to a given mass conservation/balance constraint. The proposed numerical scheme was implemented on a uniform but staggered grid. It is shown to be strongly stable, while possessing formal truncation error that is of second-order in space and it time. The accuracy of the scheme was verified by benchmarking it against established analytical solutions, which were obtained via a first-kind self-similarity transformation. A series of numerical simulations confirmed that the proposed scheme accurately respects the mass conservation/balance constraint. Next, the numerical scheme was used to study the second-kind self-similar behaviour of Newtonian viscous gravity currents flowing towards the end of a converging channel. Second-kind self-similar transformations are not fully specified without further information from simulation or experiment. Thus, using the proposed numerical scheme, the self-similar spreading and leveling leveling of the current was definitively addressed. The numerical results showed favorable comparison with experimental data.</div>

The flow field behavior of axial flow turbines is of great importance, especially in modern designs that may operate at a low Reynolds number. At these low Reynolds numbers, the efficiency loss is significantly augmented compared to higher Reynolds number flows. A detailed incompressible numerical study of a single stage axial-flow turbine at a low Reynolds number is investigated with the use of multiple eddy-viscosity turbulence models. The study includes epistemic uncertainty quantification as a form of numerical error estimation. The numerical results show good qualitative and quantitative agreement with experimental data. It was found that the shear stress transport (SST) k - ω turbulence model with rotation/curvature correction and inclusion of transition modeling is most capable at predicting the mean velocity distribution, which is further enhanced when the URANS formulation is employed. However, all the cases indicate a large variation in the prediction of the root-mean-squared of the turbulent velocity fluctuations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Assim como um peixe pode aproveitar a energia dos vórtices formados por uma rocha em uma corredeira para economizar energia e produzir impulso, este trabalho tem por objetivo mostrar que os vórtices de von Kármán ou esteira de vórtices, desprendidos de um corpo cilíndrico colocado em um escoamento contínuo, com uma placa de um determinado comprimento, posicionada atrás desse corpo cilíndrico e com movimentos livres na horizontal, pode vibrar e produzir movimentos rotacionais, e por fim, uma frequência, com o objetivo de se aproveitar esse movimento para geração de energia. Para tanto, utilizou-se software CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic), para observar e quantificar os movimentos produzidos pela placa. Observou-se também, entre três comprimentos de placa, com três velocidades diferentes, três números de Reynolds diferentes e com escoamentos laminar e turbulento, como as placas se comportam e qual delas produz movimento com maior frequência. Buscou-se também verificar a eficiência do movimento para números de Strouhal menores e iguais a 0,21. / Just as a fish can harness the energy of the vortices formed by a rock in the rapids to save energy and produce impulse this paper aims to show that the von Kármán vortex or wake vortex, detached from a cylindrical body placed in a flow continuous with a plate of a certain length, positioned behind this cylindrical body and freely moving horizontally, may vibrate and produce rotational movements, and finally, a frequency, in order to take advantage of this movement to generate power. Therefore, we used CFD software (Computational Fluid Dynamic), to observe and quantify the movements produced by the board. It was also observed between three plate lengths with three different velocities, three different Reynolds numbers and laminar and turbulent flow as the plates behave and which one produces motion with higher frequency. It sought to verify the efficiency of movement to lower Strouhal numbers and equal to 0.21.

Assim como um peixe pode aproveitar a energia dos vórtices formados por uma rocha em uma corredeira para economizar energia e produzir impulso, este trabalho tem por objetivo mostrar que os vórtices de von Kármán ou esteira de vórtices, desprendidos de um corpo cilíndrico colocado em um escoamento contínuo, com uma placa de um determinado comprimento, posicionada atrás desse corpo cilíndrico e com movimentos livres na horizontal, pode vibrar e produzir movimentos rotacionais, e por fim, uma frequência, com o objetivo de se aproveitar esse movimento para geração de energia. Para tanto, utilizou-se software CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic), para observar e quantificar os movimentos produzidos pela placa. Observou-se também, entre três comprimentos de placa, com três velocidades diferentes, três números de Reynolds diferentes e com escoamentos laminar e turbulento, como as placas se comportam e qual delas produz movimento com maior frequência. Buscou-se também verificar a eficiência do movimento para números de Strouhal menores e iguais a 0,21. / Just as a fish can harness the energy of the vortices formed by a rock in the rapids to save energy and produce impulse this paper aims to show that the von Kármán vortex or wake vortex, detached from a cylindrical body placed in a flow continuous with a plate of a certain length, positioned behind this cylindrical body and freely moving horizontally, may vibrate and produce rotational movements, and finally, a frequency, in order to take advantage of this movement to generate power. Therefore, we used CFD software (Computational Fluid Dynamic), to observe and quantify the movements produced by the board. It was also observed between three plate lengths with three different velocities, three different Reynolds numbers and laminar and turbulent flow as the plates behave and which one produces motion with higher frequency. It sought to verify the efficiency of movement to lower Strouhal numbers and equal to 0.21.

Three-dimensional scour propagation along offshore pipelines is a major reason to pipeline failures in an offshore environment. Although the research on scour in both numerical and experimental aspect has been extensive over the last three decades, the focus of the investigation has been limited to the two-dimensional aspect. The knowledge on three-dimensional scour is still limited. This dissertation presents the results of an experimental investigation on threedimensional scour along offshore pipelines in (1) steady currents (2) waves only and (3) combined waves and current. The major emphasis of the investigation is to investigate the propagation of the scour hole along the pipeline after the initiation of scour. Physical experiments conducted were used to quantify the effects of various parameters on scour propagation velocities along the pipeline. The problem of monitoring real time scour below a pipeline was solved by using specifically developed conductivity scour probes. Effects of various parameters such as pipeline embedment depth, incoming flow Shields parameter, Keuglegan- Carpenter (KC) number and flow incident angle to the pipeline on scour propagation velocities along the pipeline were investigated. The investigations clearly reveal that scour propagation velocities generally increase with the increase of flow but decrease with the increase of the pipeline embedment depth. A general predictive formula for scour propagation velocities is proposed and validated against the experimental results. There are still some common issues related to pipeline scour that is lacking in the literature to date. One of these issues is the effects of Reynolds number on two-dimensional scour beneath pipelines. A numerical approach was adopted to investigate the Reynolds-number dependence of two-dimensional scour beneath offshore pipelines in steady currents. A novel wall function is proposed in calculating the suspended sediment transport rate in the model. The effects of Reynolds number were investigated by simulating the same undisturbed Shields parameters in both model and prototype but with different values of Reynolds number in two separate calculations. The results revealed that scour depths for prototype pipelines are about 10~15% smaller than those for model pipelines. The normalized time scales was found to be approximately the same, and the simulated scour profiles for the model pipelines agree well with the experimental results from an independent study. The backfilling of pipeline trenches is also an important issue to the design and management of offshore pipelines. A numerical model is developed to simulate the self-burial of a pipeline trench. Morphological evolutions of a pipeline trench under steady-current or oscillatory-flow conditions are simulated with/without a pipeline inside the trench. The two-dimensional Reynolds-averaged continuity and Navier-Stokes equations with the standard k-e turbulence closure, as well as the sediment transport equations, are solved using finite difference method in a curvilinear coordinate system. Different time-marching schemes are employed for the morphological computation under unidirectional and oscillatory conditions. It is found that vortex motions within the trench play an important role in the trench development.

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