scholarly journals The minimal-span channel for rough-wall turbulent flows

2017 ◽  
Vol 816 ◽  
pp. 5-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. MacDonald ◽  
D. Chung ◽  
N. Hutchins ◽  
L. Chan ◽  
A. Ooi ◽  
...  

Roughness predominantly alters the near-wall region of turbulent flow while the outer layer remains similar with respect to the wall shear stress. This makes it a prime candidate for the minimal-span channel, which only captures the near-wall flow by restricting the spanwise channel width to be of the order of a few hundred viscous units. Recently, Chung et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 773, 2015, pp. 418–431) showed that a minimal-span channel can accurately characterise the hydraulic behaviour of roughness. Following this, we aim to investigate the fundamental dynamics of the minimal-span channel framework with an eye towards further improving performance. The streamwise domain length of the channel is investigated with the minimum length found to be three times the spanwise width or 1000 viscous units, whichever is longer. The outer layer of the minimal channel is inherently unphysical and as such alterations to it can be performed so long as the near-wall flow, which is the same as in a full-span channel, remains unchanged. Firstly, a half-height (open) channel with slip wall is shown to reproduce the near-wall behaviour seen in a standard channel, but with half the number of grid points. Next, a forcing model is introduced into the outer layer of a half-height channel. This reduces the high streamwise velocity associated with the minimal channel and allows for a larger computational time step. Finally, an investigation is conducted to see if varying the roughness Reynolds number with time is a feasible method for obtaining the full hydraulic behaviour of a rough surface. Currently, multiple steady simulations at fixed roughness Reynolds numbers are needed to obtain this behaviour. The results indicate that the non-dimensional pressure gradient parameter must be kept below 0.03–0.07 to ensure that pressure gradient effects do not lead to an inaccurate roughness function. An empirical costing argument is developed to determine the cost in terms of CPU hours of minimal-span channel simulations a priori. This argument involves counting the number of eddy lifespans in the channel, which is then related to the statistical uncertainty of the streamwise velocity. For a given statistical uncertainty in the roughness function, this can then be used to determine the simulation run time. Following this, a finite-volume code with a body-fitted grid is used to determine the roughness function for square-based pyramids using the above insights. Comparisons to experimental studies for the same roughness geometry are made and good agreement is observed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 863 ◽  
pp. 407-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sicong Wu ◽  
Kenneth T. Christensen ◽  
Carlos Pantano

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent channel flow over rough surfaces, formed from hexagonally packed arrays of hemispheres on both walls, were performed at friction Reynolds numbers $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=200$, $400$ and $600$. The inner normalized roughness height $k^{+}=20$ was maintained for all Reynolds numbers, meaning all flows were classified as transitionally rough. The spacing between hemispheres was varied within $d/k=2$–$4$. The statistical properties of the rough-wall flows were contrasted against a complementary smooth-wall DNS at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=400$ and literature data at $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=2003$ revealing strong modifications of the near-wall turbulence, although the outer-layer structure was found to be qualitatively consistent with smooth-wall flow. Amplitude modulation (AM) analysis was used to explore the degree of interaction between the flow in the roughness sublayer and that of the outer layer utilizing all velocity components. This analysis revealed stronger modulation effects, compared to smooth-wall flow, on the near-wall small-scale fluctuations by the larger-scale structures residing in the outer layer irrespective of roughness arrangement and Reynolds number. A predictive inner–outer model based on these interactions, and exploiting principal component analysis (PCA), was developed to predict the statistics of higher-order moments of all velocity fluctuations, thus addressing modelling of anisotropic effects introduced by roughness. The results show excellent agreement between the predicted near-wall statistics up to fourth-order moments compared to the original statistics from the DNS, which highlights the utility of the PCA-enhanced AM model in generating physics-based predictions in both smooth- and rough-wall turbulence.


2019 ◽  
Vol 873 ◽  
pp. 287-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Bross ◽  
Thomas Fuchs ◽  
Christian J. Kähler

With the aim to characterize the near-wall flow structures and their interaction with large-scale motions in the log-law region, time-resolved planar and volumetric flow field measurements were performed in the near-wall and log-law region of an adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer following a zero pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer at a friction Reynolds number $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}=5000$. Due to the high spatial and temporal resolution of the measurements, it was possible to resolve and identify uniform-momentum zones in the region $z/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}<0.15$ or $z^{+}<350$ and to relate them with well known coherent flow motions near the wall. The space–time results confirm that the turbulent superstructures have a strong impact even on the very near-wall flow motion and also their alternating appearance in time and intensity could be quantified over long time sequences. Using the time record of the velocity field, rare localized separation events appearing in the viscous sublayer were also analysed. By means of volumetric particle tracking velocimetry their three-dimensional topology and dynamics could be resolved. Based on the results, a conceptual model was deduced that explains their rare occurrence, topology and dynamics by means of a complex interaction process between low-momentum turbulent superstructures, near-wall low-speed streaks and tilted longitudinal and spanwise vortices located in the near-wall region.


1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Ben Chie Yen

Urban drainage models utilize hydraulics of different levels. Developing or selecting a model appropriate to a particular project is not an easy task. Not knowing the hydraulic principles and numerical techniques used in an existing model, users often misuse and abuse the model. Hydraulically, the use of the Saint-Venant equations is not always necessary. In many cases the kinematic wave equation is inadequate because of the backwater effect, whereas in designing sewers, often Manning's formula is adequate. The flow travel time provides a guide in selecting the computational time step At, which in turn, together with flow unsteadiness, helps in the selection of steady or unsteady flow routing. Often the noninertia model is the appropriate model for unsteady flow routing, whereas delivery curves are very useful for stepwise steady nonuniform flow routing and for determination of channel capacity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1399
Author(s):  
Jure Oder ◽  
Cédric Flageul ◽  
Iztok Tiselj

In this paper, we present uncertainties of statistical quantities of direct numerical simulations (DNS) with small numerical errors. The uncertainties are analysed for channel flow and a flow separation case in a confined backward facing step (BFS) geometry. The infinite channel flow case has two homogeneous directions and this is usually exploited to speed-up the convergence of the results. As we show, such a procedure reduces statistical uncertainties of the results by up to an order of magnitude. This effect is strongest in the near wall regions. In the case of flow over a confined BFS, there are no such directions and thus very long integration times are required. The individual statistical quantities converge with the square root of time integration so, in order to improve the uncertainty by a factor of two, the simulation has to be prolonged by a factor of four. We provide an estimator that can be used to evaluate a priori the DNS relative statistical uncertainties from results obtained with a Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes simulation. In the DNS, the estimator can be used to predict the averaging time and with it the simulation time required to achieve a certain relative statistical uncertainty of results. For accurate evaluation of averages and their uncertainties, it is not required to use every time step of the DNS. We observe that statistical uncertainty of the results is uninfluenced by reducing the number of samples to the point where the period between two consecutive samples measured in Courant–Friedrichss–Levy (CFL) condition units is below one. Nevertheless, crossing this limit, the estimates of uncertainties start to exhibit significant growth.


Author(s):  
Z. Y. Song ◽  
C. Cheng ◽  
F. M. Xu ◽  
J. Kong

Based on the analytical solution of one-dimensional simplified equation of damping tidal wave and Heuristic stability analysis, the precision of numerical solution, computational time and the relationship between the numerical dissipation and the friction dissipation are discussed with different numerical schemes in this paper. The results show that (1) when Courant number is less than unity, the explicit solution of tidal wave propagation has higher precision and requires less computational time than the implicit one; (2) large time step is allowed in the implicit scheme in order to reduce the computational time, but the precision of the solution also reduce and the calculation precision should be guaranteed by reducing the friction factor: (3) the friction factor in the implicit solution is related to Courant number, presented as the determined friction factor is smaller than the natural value when Courant number is larger than unity, and their relationship formula is given from the theoretical analysis and the numerical experiments. These results have important application value for the numerical simulation of the tidal wave.


Author(s):  
Randy P. Hessel ◽  
Ettore Musu ◽  
Salvador M. Aceves ◽  
Daniel L. Flowers

A computational mesh is required when performing CFD-combustion modeling of internal combustion engines. For combustion chambers with moving pistons and valves, like those in typical cars and trucks, the combustion chamber shape changes continually in response to piston and valve motion. The combustion chamber mesh must then also change at each time step to reflect that change in geometry. The method of changing the mesh from one computational time step to the next is called rezoning. This paper introduces a new method of mesh rezoning for the KIVA3V CFD-combustion program. The standard KIVA3V code from Los Alamos National Laboratory comes with standard rezoners that very nicely handle mesh motion for combustion chambers whose mesh does not include valves and for those with flat heads employing vertical valves. For pent-roof and wedge-roof designs KIVA3V offers three rezoners to choose from, the choice depending on how similar a combustion chamber is to the sample combustion chambers that come with KIVA3V. Often, the rezoners must be modified for meshes of new combustion chamber geometries to allow the mesh to successfully capture change in geometry during the full engine cycle without errors. There is no formal way to approach these modifications; typically this requires a long trial and error process to get a mesh to work for a full engine cycle. The benefit of the new rezoner is that it replaces the three existing rezoners for canted valve configurations with a single rezoner and has much greater stability, so the need for ad hoc modifications of the rezoner is greatly reduced. This paper explains how the new rezoner works and gives examples of its use.


RBRH ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice César Fassoni-Andrade ◽  
Fernando Mainardi Fan ◽  
Walter Collischonn ◽  
Artur César Fassoni ◽  
Rodrigo Cauduro Dias de Paiva

ABSTRACT The one-dimensional flow routing inertial model, formulated as an explicit solution, has advantages over other explicit models used in hydrological models that simplify the Saint-Venant equations. The main advantage is a simple formulation with good results. However, the inertial model is restricted to a small time step to avoid numerical instability. This paper proposes six numerical schemes that modify the one-dimensional inertial model in order to increase the numerical stability of the solution. The proposed numerical schemes were compared to the original scheme in four situations of river’s slope (normal, low, high and very high) and in two situations where the river is subject to downstream effects (dam backwater and tides). The results are discussed in terms of stability, peak flow, processing time, volume conservation error and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error). In general, the schemes showed improvement relative to each type of application. In particular, the numerical scheme here called Prog Q(k+1)xQ(k+1) stood out presenting advantages with greater numerical stability in relation to the original scheme. However, this scheme was not successful in the tide simulation situation. In addition, it was observed that the inclusion of the hydraulic radius calculation without simplification in the numerical schemes improved the results without increasing the computational time.


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