• Title/Summary/Keyword: CFD simulations

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Wind flow simulations in idealized and real built environments with models of various level of complexity

  • Abdi, Daniel S.;Bitsuamlak, Girma T.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.503-524
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    • 2016
  • The suitability of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations on the built environment for the purpose of estimating average roughness characteristics and for studying wind flow patterns within the environment is assessed. Urban models of various levels of complexity are considered including an empty domain, array of obstacles arranged in regular and staggered manners, in-homogeneous roughness with multiple patches, a semi-idealized built environment, and finally a real built environment. For each of the test cases, we conducted CFD simulations using RANS turbulence closure and validated the results against appropriate methods: existing empirical formulas for the homogeneous roughness case, empirical wind speed models for the in-homogeneous roughness case, and wind tunnel tests for the semi-idealized built environment case. In general, results obtained from the CFD simulations show good agreement with the corresponding validation methods, thereby, giving further evidence to the suitability of CFD simulations for built environment studies consisting of wide-ranging roughness. This work also provides a comprehensive overview of roughness modeling in CFD-from the simplest approach of modeling roughness implicitly through wall functions to the most elaborate approach of modeling roughness explicitly for the sake of accurate wind flow simulations within the built environment.

Including Thermal Effects in CFD Wind Flow Simulations

  • Meissner, Catherine;Gravdahl, Arne Reidar;Steensen, Birthe
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.18 no.8
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    • pp.833-839
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    • 2009
  • The calculation of the wind field for resource assessment is done by using CFD Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations performed with the commercial software WindSim. A new interface has been created to use mesoscale simulation data from a meteorological model as driving data for the simulations. This method makes it necessary to take into account thermal effects on the wind field to exploit the full potential of this method. The procedure for considering thermal effects in CFD wind field simulations as well as the impact of thermal effects on the wind field simulations is presented. Simulations for non-neutral atmospheric conditions with the developed method are consistent with expected behavior and show an improvement of simulation results compared with observations.

CFD simulations of a performance-scaled wind turbine

  • Ye, Maokun;Chen, Hamn-Ching;Koop, Arjen
    • Ocean Systems Engineering
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.247-265
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    • 2022
  • In the present study, we focus on the CFD simulations for the performance and the rotor-generated wake of a model-scale wind turbine which was designed for wave tank experiments. The CFD simulations with fully resolved rotor geometry are performed using MARIN's community-based open-source CFD code ReFRESCO. The absolute formulation method (AFM) is leveraged to model the rotating wind turbine. The k - ω SST turbulence model is adopted in the incompressible Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations. First, the thrust and torque coefficients, CT and CP, are calculated at different Tip Speed Ratios (TSR), and the results are compared against the experimental data and previous numerical results. The pressure distribution of the turbine blades at the 70% span is obtained and compared to the results obtained by other tools. Then, a verification study aiming at quantifying the discretization uncertainty of the turbine performance with respect to the grid resolution in the wake region is performed. Last, the rotor-generated wake at the TSR of 7 is presented and discussed.

Modeling unmanned aerial vehicle jet ignition wankel engines with CAE/CFD

  • Boretti, Albert
    • Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.445-467
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    • 2015
  • The paper presents some details of the CFD modeling of a novel design where jet ignition devices replace the traditional spark plugs for a faster and more complete combustion. The numerical simulations show how the pre-chamber jet ignition in a Wankel engine differs from reciprocating piston engine applications. The jets issuing from the jet ignition pre-chamber have many different speeds in the different directions as the pressure build-up at the trailing edge of the rotating chamber makes extremely fast the ignition of the chamber mixture in the direction of rotation. Conversely it prevents the jet ignition in the opposite direction. Careful positioning along the periphery and design of the connecting pipes and the prechamber volume with the help of CFD simulations permits to achieve extremely fast and complete combustion as impossible with spark plugs. The paper proposes results of CFD simulations of the combustion evolution within a jet ignited Wankel engine rotor, detailing challenges and opportunities of the application, as well as a first assessment of the impact the faster and more complete combustion permitted by jet ignition may have on the performances of Wankel engines for unmanned aerial vehicles applications.

High-Resolution Flow Simulations Around a Steep Mountainous Island in Korea Using a CFD Model with One-way Nested Grid System

  • Mun, Da-Som;Kim, Jae-Jin
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.557-571
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    • 2020
  • High-resolution flows around a steep mountainous island (Ulleungdo) in Korea were simulated by a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. To cover entire Ulleungdo and to resolve the topography around the Ulleungdo automatic synoptic observing system (ASOS) with high resolution, one-way nested grid system with large (60 m), and small (20 m) grid sizes was applied in the CFD model simulations. We conducted the numerical simulations for 16 inflow directions, and, for each inflow direction, we considered six different wind velocities(5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 m s-1) at the reference height (1,000 m). The effects of topography on surface wind observations were well reflected in the observed wind roses for the period of January 01, 2012 ~ December 31, 2016 at the Ulleungdo ASOS and marine buoy. Wind roses at the Ulleungdo ASOS was reproduced based on the CFD simulations. The changes in surface winds at the Ulleungdo ASOS caused by surrounding topography were relatively well simulated by the CFD model. The simulated wind-rose indicated that south-southwesterly and northeasterly were the dominant wind directions, which were also observed at the Ulleungdo ASOS. We investigated the flow characteristics around the Ulleungdo ASOS for northwesterly, south-southwesterly, and northeasterly winds in detail.

Automated CFD analysis for multiple directions of wind flow over terrain

  • Morvan, Herve P.;Stangroom, Paul;Wright, Nigel G.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.99-119
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    • 2007
  • Estimations of wind flow over terrain are often needed for applications such as pollutant dispersion, transport safety or wind farm location. Whilst field studies offer very detailed information regarding the wind potential over a small region, the cost of instrumenting a natural fetch alone is prohibitive. Wind tunnels offer one alternative although wind tunnel simulations can suffer from scale effects and high costs as well. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) offers a second alternative which is increasingly seen as a viable one by wind engineers. There are two issues associated with CFD however, that of accuracy of the predictions and set-up and simulation times. This paper aims to address the two issues by demonstrating, by way of an investigation of wind potential for the Askervein Hill, that a good level of accuracy can be obtained with CFD (10% for the speed up ratio) and that it is possible to automate the simulations in order to compute a full wind rose efficiently. The paper shows how a combination of script and session files can be written to drive and automate CFD simulations based on commercial software. It proposes a general methodology for the automation of CFD applied to the computation of wind flow over a region of interest.

Simulations of Axisymmetric Transition Flow Regimes Using a CFD/DSMC Hybrid Method (CFD/DSMC 혼합해석기법을 이용한 축대칭 천이영역 유동 해석)

  • Choi, Young-Jae;Kwon, Oh-Joon
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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    • v.47 no.3
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    • pp.169-176
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    • 2019
  • In the present study, a CFD/DSMC hybrid method performed by a coupled analysis between the CFD method and the DSMC method was developed to obtain the flow information on the rarefied gas flows effectively. Flow simulations around the high speed vehicles on the transition flow regimes were conducted by using the developed method. The FRESH-FX vehicle made of cone and cylinder shapes was considered for the simulations. The results of the hybrid method were compared with the results of the pure CFD and the pure DSMC method to confirm the reliability and efficiency of the hybrid method. It was found that the gradient and the intensity of the shock waves were weakened due to the relatively low density on the transition flow regime. It was confirmed that the results of the hybrid analysis were different to those of the pure CFD analysis and almost identical to those of the pure DSMC analysis. In addition, the computational time of the hybrid method was reduced than that of the pure DSMC method. As a result, it was obtained that the validity and the efficiency of the CFD/DSMC hybrid method.

Simulation-Based Prediction of Steady Turning Ability of a Symmetrical Underwater Vehicle Considering Interactions Between Yaw Rate and Drift/Rudder Angle

  • Park, Jeong-Hoon;Shin, Myung-Sub;Jeon, Yun-Ho;Kim, Yeon-Gyu
    • Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.99-112
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    • 2021
  • The prediction of maneuverability is very important in the design process of an underwater vehicle. In this study, we predicted the steady turning ability of a symmetrical underwater vehicle while considering interactions between the yaw rate and drift/rudder angle through a simulation-based methodology. First, the hydrodynamic force and moment, including coupled derivatives, were obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The feasibility of CFD results were verified by comparing static drift/rudder simulations to vertical planar motion mechanism (VPMM) tests. Turning motion simulations were then performed by solving 2-degree-of-freedom (DOF) equations with CFD data. The turning radius, drift angle, advance, and tactical diameter were calculated. The results show good agreement with sea trial data and the effects on the turning characteristics of coupled interaction terms, especially between the yaw rate and drift angle.

Study on the Manoeuvring Performance of a Fishing Vessel Based on CFD Simulation of the Hull Forms and Rudder Shapes

  • Hyeonsil Choi;Soo Yeon Kwon;Sang-Hyun Kim;In-Tae Kim
    • Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.129-136
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    • 2023
  • To evaluate manoeuvring performance of merchant ships, the mathematical modeling group (MMG) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are used. However, it is difficult to use the MMG to evaluate the manoeuvring performance of fishing vessels, thus research using CFD simulations is necessary. Also, since the course-changing and turning ability is crucial in fishing operations, a rudder design suitable for fishing vessels is necessary. This study designs a rudder using National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil sections and evaluates its manoeuvring performance. A CFD model is used to evaluate the manoeuvring performance of the fishing vessel, and turning and zig-zag tests are conducted. The effectiveness of using CFD simulations based on Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations to assess the manoeuvring performance of fishing vessels was validated. No significant difference was found in the manoeuvring performance for hull forms and rudder designs for course-changing ability. However, the original hull form showed superior turning performance. Among five rudders with varying aspect ratios and shapes, the rudder with 5.5% aspect ratio had the best turning performance. Regarding the rudder design for fishing vessels, NACA airfoil was employed, and a rudder aspect ratio of 5.5% based on the immersed hull side area is recommended.

Prediction of aerodynamic coefficients of streamlined bridge decks using artificial neural network based on CFD dataset

  • Severin Tinmitonde;Xuhui He;Lei Yan;Cunming Ma;Haizhu Xiao
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.36 no.6
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    • pp.423-434
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    • 2023
  • Aerodynamic force coefficients are generally obtained from traditional wind tunnel tests or computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Unfortunately, the techniques mentioned above can sometimes be cumbersome because of the cost involved, such as the computational cost and the use of heavy equipment, to name only two examples. This study proposed to build a deep neural network model to predict the aerodynamic force coefficients based on data collected from CFD simulations to overcome these drawbacks. Therefore, a series of CFD simulations were conducted using different geometric parameters to obtain the aerodynamic force coefficients, validated with wind tunnel tests. The results obtained from CFD simulations were used to create a dataset to train a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network (ANN) model. The models were obtained using three optimization algorithms: scaled conjugate gradient (SCG), Bayesian regularization (BR), and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithms (LM). Furthermore, the performance of each neural network was verified using two performance metrics, including the mean square error and the R-squared coefficient of determination. Finally, the ANN model proved to be highly accurate in predicting the force coefficients of similar bridge sections, thus circumventing the computational burden associated with CFD simulation and the cost of traditional wind tunnel tests.