In this study, numerical simulations of a low emission lab-scale non-premixed combustor are conducted and analyzed. The objectives are to provide new insight into the physical phenomena in the SPRF (Stagnation Point Reverse Flow) combustor built in the Georgia Tech Combustion Lab, and to compare three Large Eddy Simulation (LES) combustion models (Eddy Break-Up [EBU], Steady Flamelet [SF] and Linear Eddy Model [LEM]) for non-premixed combustion. The nominal operating condition of the SPRF combustor achieves very low NOx and CO emissions by combining turbulent mixing of exhaust gases with preheated reactants and chemical kinetics. The SPRF numerical simulation focuses on capturing the complex interaction between turbulent mixing and heat release. LES simulations have been carried out for a non-reactive case in order to analyze the turbulent mixing inside the combustor. The LES results have been compared to PIV experimental data and the code has been validated. The dominating features of the operational mode of the SPRF combustor (dilution of hot products into reactants, pre-heating and pre-mixing) have been analyzed, and results from the EBU-LES, SF-LES and LEM-LES simulations have been compared. Analysis shows that the LEM-LES simulation achieves the best agreement with the observed flame structure and is the only model that captures the stabilization processes observed in the experiments. EBU-LES and SF-LES do not predict the correct flow pattern because of the inaccurate modeling of sub-grid scale mixing and turbulence-combustion interaction. Limitations of these two models for this type of combustor are discussed.

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of bluff body stabilized premixed and partially premixed combustion close to the flammability limit is carried out in this thesis. The LES algorithm has no ad-hoc adjustable model parameters and is able to respond automatically to variations in the inflow conditions. Algorithm validation is achieved by comparison with reactive and non-reactive experimental data. In the reactive flow, two scalar closure models, Eddy Break-Up (EBULES) and Linear Eddy Mixing (LEMLES), are used and compared. Over important regions, the flame lies in the Broken Reaction Zone regime. Here, the EBU model assumptions fail. The flame thickness predicted by LEMLES is smaller and the flame is faster to respond to turbulent fluctuations, resulting in a more significant wrinkling of the flame surface. As a result, LEMLES captures better the subtle effects of the flame-turbulence interaction. Three premixed (equivalence ratio = 0.6, 0.65, and 0.75) cases are simulated. For the leaner case, the flame temperature is lower, the heat release is reduced and vorticity is stronger. As a result, the flame in this case is found to be unstable. In the rich case, the flame temperature is higher, and the spreading rate of the wake is increased due to the higher amount of heat release Partially premixed combustion is simulated for cases where the transverse profile of the inflow equivalence ratio is variable. The simulations show that for mixtures leaner in the core the vortical pattern tends towards anti-symmetry and the heat release decreases, resulting also in instability of the flame. For mixtures richer in the core, the flame displays sinusoidal flapping resulting in larger wake spreading. More accurate predictions of flame stability will require the use of detailed chemistry, raising the computational cost of the simulation. To address this issue, a novel algorithm for training Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for prediction of the chemical source terms has been implemented and tested. Compared to earlier methods, the main advantages of the ANN method are in CPU time and disk space and memory reduction.

A numerical method (SIMPLE DIRK Method) for unsteady incompressible viscous flow simulation is presented. The proposed method can be used to achieve arbitrarily high order of accuracy in time-discretization which is otherwise limited to second order in majority of the currently used simulation techniques. A special class of implicit Runge-Kutta methods is used for time discretization in conjunction with finite volume based SIMPLE algorithm. The algorithm was tested by solving for velocity field in a lid-driven square cavity. In the test case calculations, power law scheme was used in spatial discretization and time discretization was performed using a second-order implicit Runge-Kutta method. Time evolution of velocity profile along the cavity centerline was obtained from the proposed method and compared with that obtained from a commercial computational fluid dynamics software program, FLUENT 6.2.16. Also, steady state solution from the present method was compared with the numerical solution of Ghia, Ghia, and Shin and that of Erturk, Corke, and Goökçöl. Good agreement of the solution of the proposed method with the solutions of FLUENT; Ghia, Ghia, and Shin; and Erturk, Corke, and Goökçöl establishes the feasibility of the proposed method.

No description available.

A numerical method (SIMPLE DIRK Method) for unsteady incompressible viscous flow simulation is presented. The proposed method can be used to achieve arbitrarily high order of accuracy in time-discretization which is otherwise limited to second order in majority of the currently used simulation techniques. A special class of implicit Runge-Kutta methods is used for time discretization in conjunction with finite volume based SIMPLE algorithm. The algorithm was tested by solving for velocity field in a lid-driven square cavity. In the test case calculations, power law scheme was used in spatial discretization and time discretization was performed using a second-order implicit Runge-Kutta method. Time evolution of velocity profile along the cavity centerline was obtained from the proposed method and compared with that obtained from a commercial computational fluid dynamics software program, FLUENT 6.2.16. Also, steady state solution from the present method was compared with the numerical solution of Ghia, Ghia, and Shin and that of Erturk, Corke, and Goökçöl. Good agreement of the solution of the proposed method with the solutions of FLUENT; Ghia, Ghia, and Shin; and Erturk, Corke, and Goökçöl establishes the feasibility of the proposed method.

Under certain circumstances pulse combustors have been shown to improve both heat transfer and drying rate when compared to steady flow impingement. Despite this potential, there have been few investigations into the use of pulse combustor driven impingement jets for industrial drying applications. The research presented here utilized experimental and numerical techniques to study the heat transfer characteristics of these types of oscillating jets when impinging on solid surfaces and the heat and mass transfer when drying porous media. The numerical methods were extensively validated using laboratory heat flux and drying data, as well as correlations from literature. As a result, the numerical techniques and methods that were developed and employed in this work were found to be well suited for the current application. It was found that the pulsating flows yielded elevated heat and mass transfer compared to similar steady flow jets. However, the numerical simulations were used to analyze not just the heat flux or drying, but also the details of the fluid flow in the impingement zone that resulted in said heat and mass transport. It was found that the key mechanisms of the enhanced transfer were the vortices produced by the oscillating flow. The characteristics of these vortices such as the size, strength, location, duration, and temperature, determined the extent of the improvement. The effects of five parameters were studied: the velocity amplitude ratio, oscillation frequency, the time-averaged bulk fluid velocity at the tailpipe exit, the hydraulic diameter of the tailpipe, and the impingement surface velocity. Analysis of the resulting fluid flow revealed three distinct flow types as characterized by the vortices in the impingement zone, each with unique heat transfer characteristics. These flow types were: a single strong vortex that dissipated before the start of the next oscillation cycle, a single persistent vortex that remained relatively strong at the end of the cycle, and a strong primary vortex coupled with a short-lived, weaker secondary vortex. It was found that the range over which each flow type was observed could be classified into distinct flow regimes. The secondary vortex and persistent vortex regimes were found to enhance heat transfer. Subsequently, transition criteria dividing these regimes were formed based on dimensionless parameters. The critical dimensionless parameters appeared to be the Strouhal number, a modified Strouhal number, the Reynolds number, the velocity amplitude ratio, and the H/Dh ratio. Further study would be required to determine if these parameters offer similar significance for other configurations.

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) are battery operated, remote controlled miniature flying vehicles. MAVs are required in military missions, traffic management, hostage situation surveillance, sensing, spying, scientific, rescue, police and mapping applications. The essential characteristics required for MAVs are: light weight, maneuverability, ease of launch in variety of conditions, ability to operate in very hostile environments, stealth capabilities and small size. There are three main classes of MAVs : fixed, rotary and flapping wing MAV’s. There are some MAVs which are combinations of these main classes. Each class has its own advantage and disadvantage. Different scenarios may call for different types of MAV. Amongst the various classes, flapping wing class of MAVs offer the required potential for miniaturisation and maneuverability, necessitating the need to understand flapping wing flight. In the case of flapping winged flight, the thrust required for the vehicle flight is obtained due to the flapping of the wing. Hence for efficient flapping flight, optimising the flap motion is necessary. In this thesis work, an algorithm for motion optimisation of plunging airfoils is developed in a parallel framework. An evolutionary optimisation algorithm, PSO (Particle Swarm Optimisation), is coupled with an unsteady flow solver to develop a generic motion optimisation tool for plunging airfoils. All the unsteady flow computations in this work are done with the HIFUN1 code, developed in–house in the Computational Aerodynamics Laboratory, IISc. This code is a cell centered finite volume compressible flow solver. The motion optimisation algorithm involves starting with a population of motion curves from which an optimal curve is evolved. Parametric representation of curves using NURBS is used for efficient handling of the motion paths. In the present case, the motion paths of a plunging NACA 0012 airfoil is optimised to give maximum flight efficiency for both inviscid and laminar cases. Also, the present analysis considers all practically achievable plunge paths, si- nusoidal and non–sinusoidal, with varying plunge amplitudes and slopes. The results show promise, and indicate that the algorithm can be extended to more realistic three dimension motion optimisation studies.

<p>The design parameters axial gap and stator count of highpressure turbine stages are evaluated numerically towards theirinfluence on the unsteady aerodynamic excitation of rotorblades. Of particular interest is if and how unsteadyaerodynamic considerations in the design could reduce the riskofhigh cycle fatigue (HCF) failures of the turbine rotor.</p><p>A well-documented 2D/Q3D non-linear unsteady code (UNSFLO)is chosen to perform the stage flow analyses. The evaluatedresults are interpreted as aerodynamic excitation mechanisms onstream sheets neglecting 3D effects. Mesh studies andvalidations against measurements and 3D computations provideconfidence in the unsteady results. Three test cases areanalysed. First, a typical aero-engine high pressure turbinestage is studied at subsonic and transonic flow conditions,with four axial gaps (37% - 52% of cax,rotor) and two statorconfigurations (43 and 70 NGV). Operating conditions areaccording to the resonant conditions of the blades used inaccompanied experiments. Second, a subsonic high pressureturbine intended to drive the turbopump of a rocket engine isinvestigated. Four axial gap variations (10% - 29% ofcax,rotor) and three stator geometry variations are analysed toextend and generalise the findings made on the first study.Third, a transonic low pressure turbine rotor, known as theInternational Standard Configuration 11, has been modelled tocompute the unsteady flow due to blade vibration and comparedto available experimental data.</p><p>Excitation mechanisms due to shock, potential waves andwakes are described and related to the work found in the openliterature. The strength of shock excitation leads to increasedpressure excitation levels by a factor 2 to 3 compared tosubsonic cases. Potential excitations are of a typical wavetype in all cases, differences in the propagation direction ofthe waves and the wave reflection pattern in the rotor passagelead to modifications in the time and space resolved unsteadypressures on the blade surface. The significant influence ofoperating conditions, axial gap and stator size on the wavepropagation is discussed on chosen cases. The wake influence onthe rotorblade unsteady pressure is small in the presentevaluations, which is explicitly demonstrated on the turbopumpturbine by a parametric study of wake and potentialexcitations. A reduction in stator size (towards R≈1)reduces the potential excitation part so that wake andpotential excitation approach in their magnitude.</p><p>Potentials to reduce the risk of HCF excitation in transonicflow are the decrease of stator exit Mach number and themodification of temporal relations between shock and potentialexcitation events. A similar temporal tuning of wake excitationto shock excitation appears not efficient because of the smallwake excitation contribution. The increase of axial gap doesnot necessarily decrease the shock excitation strength neitherdoes the decrease of vane size because the shock excitation mayremain strong even behind a smaller stator. The evaluation ofthe aerodynamic excitation towards a HCF risk reduction shouldonly be done with regard to the excited mode shape, asdemonstrated with parametric studies of the mode shapeinfluence on excitability.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Aeroelasticity, Aerodynamics, Stator-RotorInteraction, Excitation Mechanism, Unsteady Flow Computation,Forced Response, High Cycle Fatigue, Turbomachinery,Gas-Turbine, High-Pressure Turbine, Turbopump, CFD, Design</p>

Thesis (MEng) -- Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The use of air-cooled steam condensers (ACSCs) is the preferred cooling method in the chemical and power industry due to stringent environmental and water use regulations. The performance of ACSCs is however highly dependent on the influence of windy conditions. Research has shown that the presence of wind reduces the performance of ACSCs. It has been found that cross-winds (wind perpendicular to the longest side of the ACSC) cause distorted inlet flow conditions, particularly at the upstream peripheral fans near the symmetry plane of the ACSC. These fans are subjected to what is referred to as '2-D' wind conditions, which are characterised by flow separation on the upstream edge of the fan inlets. Experimental investigations into inlet flow distortion have simulated these conditions by varying the fan platform height. Low platform heights resulted in higher levels of inlet flow distortion, as also found to exist with high cross-wind speeds. This investigation determines the performance of various fan configurations (representative of configurations used in the South- African power industry) subjected to distorted inlet flow conditions through experimental and numerical investigations. The similarity between platform height and cross-wind effects is also investigated and a correlation between system volumetric effectiveness, platform height and cross-wind velocity is found. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die gebruik van lugverkoelde stoom kondensors (LVSK's) word verkies as 'n verkoelingsmetode in die chemiese- en kragvoorsieningsindustrie as gevolg van streng omgewings- en waterverbruiksregulasies. Die werkverrigting van LVSK's word egter grootliks beïnvloed deur die teenwoordigheid van wind. Navorsing het gewys dat die teenwoordigheid van wind die werkverrigting van LVSK's verminder. Daar was gevind dat kruiswinde (wind loodreg tot die langste sy van die LVSK) versteurde inlaat vloeitoestande veroorsaak, veral by waaiers wat aan die stroomop kant van die LVSK naby die simmetrievlak geleë is. Hierdie waaiers word blootgestel aan na wat verwys word as '2-D' windtoestande wat gekenmerk word deur vloeiwegbreking wat plaasvind by die stroomop rand van die waaierinlate. Eksperimentele ondersoeke van inlaat vloeiversteurings het hierdie toestande gesimuleer deur die waaier platformhoogte te verstel. Lae platform hoogtes het gelei tot hoër vlakke van inlaat vloeiversteuring, soortgelyk aan wat gevind word met hoë kruiswindsnelhede. Hierdie ondersoek gebruik numeriese en eksperimentele metodes om die werkverrigting van verskeie waaierkon gurasies (verteenwoordigend van kon- gurasies wat gebruik word in die Suid-Afrikaanse kragvoorsieningsindustrie) wat blootgestel word aan versteurde inlaat vloeitoestande te bepaal. Die ooreenkoms tussen platformhoogte en kruiswind e ekte word ook ondersoek en 'n korrelasie tussen die sisteem volumetriese e ektiwiteit, platformhoogte en kruiswindsnelheid word bepaal.

Le crawl est actuellement la nage utilisée lors des épreuves de nage libre durant les compétitions de natation aux différentes allures de nage (sprint, demi-fond et fond). Les bras sont les segments corporels qui participent le plus à la propulsion. Les accélérations de ces segments, dans le milieu fluide au repos, génèrent un écoulement complexe qui est à l'origine des forces hydrodynamiques propulsives. L'analyse de cet écoulement est nécessaire pour en comprendre les principaux mécanismes. Dans ce cadre, des « paramètres cinématiques d'écoulement » (vitesse, accélération et orientation de la main, angles d'attaque et de sweepback) ont été définis afin d'analyser et comparer les différentes organisations gestuelles des nageurs et de leurs effets sur la propulsion. Deux des principaux axes d'investigation étaient de vérifier si ces paramètres variaient en fonction de l'allure, et aussi de déterminer quels paramètres cinématiques étaient les plus prépondérants dans la génération des mécanismes propulsifs. Pour cela, un système opto-électronique d'analyse cinématique, a permis de mesurer ces paramètres sur 17 nageurs experts. Par ailleurs, l'écoulement généré par le trajet des bras aux différentes allures a été simulé par résolution numérique instationnaire des équations de Navier-Stokes. Enfin, des mesures expérimentales d'effort ont été faites en nage attachée afin de connaître les forces propulsives.Il apparaît que l'augmentation de l'allure de nage peut davantage s'expliquer par la diminution des durées des phases non propulsives (entrée et allongement) plutôt que par l'augmentation des forces durant les phases les plus propulsives (balayages interne et externe). / Front crawl is a swimming stroke used at swimming competitions at freestyle different paces (sprint, middle distance and long distance). Propulsion in this stroke is achieved primarily by the forearm and hand. Accelerations of these segments, in a fluid at rest, generate complex flow that causes propulsive hydrodynamic forces. Analysis of this flow is necessary to understand the main mechanisms of propulsion. In this context, the "kinematic flow parameters" (velocity, acceleration and orientation of the hand, angles of attack and sweepback) have been defined to analyze and compare the different arm motions and their effects on propulsion. Two of the main axes of this investigation were to determine whether these parameters vary depending on the pace, and also to determine what kinematic parameters were most prominent in the generation of propulsive mechanisms. To this end, an optoelectronic system of motion capture was used to measure these parameters on 17 expert swimmers in free swimming. Furthermore, the flow generated by the experimentally acquired arm trajectory, at different swimming paces, was simulated by an unsteady numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. Finally, tethered swimming experiments were carried out to measure the propulsive forces.The increase in forward velocity by increasing swimming pace can be explained by lower durations of non propulsive phases (entry and stretch) rather than by the generation of higher forces during the most propulsive phases (insweep and upsweep).