Idealised flow past an island in a dynamically adaptive finite element model

2010 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Munday ◽  
David P. Marshall ◽  
Matthew D. Piggott
Author(s):  
Darrell W. Pepper ◽  
Yitung Chen ◽  
Joseph M. Lombardo

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element model that employs local mesh adaptation is being developed to determine potential wind energy sites within the state of Nevada. Meteorological data collected from various private, county, city, and government agencies are used to generate diagnostic flow fields, which subsequently provide initial conditions for the prognostic solution of the time-dependent equations of motion and species transport. The model runs on a multiprocessor SGI Onyx 3800. Results of the data collection, including wind energy site forecasts, will be made available on the web when the assessment for the entire state is completed.


Author(s):  
Xiuling Wang ◽  
Darrell W. Pepper ◽  
Yitung Chen ◽  
Hsuan-Tsung Hsieh

Calculating wind velocities accurately and efficiently is the key to successfully assessing wind fields over irregular terrain. In the finite element method, decreasing individual element size (increasing the mesh density) and increasing shape function interpolation order are known to improve accuracy. However, computational speed is typically impaired, along with tremendous increases in computational storage. This problem becomes acutely obvious when dealing with atmospheric flows. An h-adaptation scheme, which allows one to start with a coarse mesh that ultimately refines in high gradients regions, can obtain high accuracy at reduced computational time and storage. H-adaptation schemes have been shown to be very effective in compressible flows for capturing shocks [1], but have found limited use in atmospheric wind field simulations [2]. In this paper, an h-adaptive finite element model has been developed that refines and unrefines element regions based upon velocity gradients. An objective analysis technique is applied to generate a mass consistent 3-D flow field utilizing sparse meteorological data. Results obtained from the PSU/NCAR MM5 atmospheric model are used to establish the initial velocity field in lieu of available meteorological tower data. Wind field estimations for the northwest area of Nevada are currently being examined as potential locations for wind turbines.


1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahender Reddy ◽  
Olivier Hardy ◽  
Harold Thomas ◽  
Pramod Bangarpet

1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (3-6) ◽  
pp. 359-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell W. Pepper ◽  
David B. Carrington ◽  
Joseph M. Lombardo

Author(s):  
Diogo L. Cecílio ◽  
Philippe R. B. Devloo ◽  
Sônia M. Gomes ◽  
Erick S.R. Santos

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