Performance and Near-Wake Measurements for a Vertical Axis Turbine at Moderate Reynolds Number

Author(s):  
Peter Bachant ◽  
Martin Wosnik

Experiments were performed with a 1 m diameter, 1 m tall three-bladed vertical axis turbine in a towing tank. Rotor power and drag (or thrust) were measured at a tow speed of 1 m/s, corresponding to a turbine diameter Reynolds number ReD = 106 and an approximate blade chord Reynolds number Rec = λU∞c/ν ∼ 105. Mechanical exergy efficiency estimates were computed from power and drag measurements using an actuator disk approach. Characteristics of the turbine’s near-wake were measured at one turbine diameter downstream. Variation of all three mean and fluctuating velocity components in the vertical and cross-stream directions were measured at peak turbine power output via acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The effect of tip speed ratio on near-wake mean velocity was observed at the turbine center line. Transverse profiles of mean velocity, fluctuating velocity, and Reynolds stresses were also measured at the turbine’s quarter height for two tip speed ratios of interest. Results are compared and contrasted with previous lower Reynolds number studies, and will provide a detailed data set for validation of numerical models.

Volume 1 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Oyewola

The comparison of the structures of the boundary layer with and without suction of the same momentum thickness Reynolds number Rθ have been made in a turbulent boundary subjected to concentrated suction, applied through a short porous wall strip. The results indicate that, relative to σ = 0, the mean velocity collapses reasonably well but there are some discrepancies in the Reynolds stresses distributions. These discrepancies are also noted in the distributions of the anisotropy invariant tensor, skewness and flatness factors. The result would suggest that the differences are a result of the difference in the initial boundary condition, which influences the flow structures to a significant streamwise location.


Author(s):  
James Scheppegrell ◽  
Adriane G. Moura ◽  
Jacob Dodson ◽  
Austin Downey

Abstract Many structures are subjected to varying forces, moving boundaries, and other dynamic conditions. Whether part of a vehicle, building, or active energy mitigation device, data on such changes can represent useful knowledge, but also presents challenges in its collection and analysis. In systems where changes occur rapidly, assessment of the system’s state within a useful time span is required to enable an appropriate response before the system’s state changes further. Rapid state estimation is especially important but poses unique difficulties. In determining the state of a structural system subjected to high-rate dynamic changes, measuring the frequency response is one method that can be used to draw inferences, provided the system is adequately understood and defined. The work presented here is the result of an investigation into methods to determine the frequency response, and thus state, of a structure subjected to high-rate boundary changes in real-time. In order to facilitate development, the Air Force Research Laboratory created the DROPBEAR, a testbed with an oscillating beam subjected to a continuously variable boundary condition. One end of the beam is held by a stationary fixed support, while a pinned support is able to move along the beam’s length. The free end of the beam structure is instrumented with acceleration, velocity, and position sensors measuring the beam’s vertical axis. Direct position measurement of the pin location is also taken to provide a reference for comparison with numerical models. This work presents a numerical investigation into methods for extracting the frequency response of a structure in real-time. An FFT based method with a rolling window is used to track the frequency of a data set generated to represent the range of the DROPBEAR, and is run with multiple window lengths. The frequency precision and latency of the FFT method is analyzed in each configuration. A specialized frequency extraction technique, Delayed Comparison Error Minimization, is implemented with parameters optimized for the frequency range of interest. The performance metrics of latency and precision are analyzed and compared to the baseline rolling FFT method results, and applicability is discussed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 256 ◽  
pp. 163-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reidar Kristoffersen ◽  
Helge I. Andersson

Direct numerical simulations of fully developed pressure-driven turbulent flow in a rotating channel have been performed. The unsteady Navier–Stokes equations were written for flow in a constantly rotating frame of reference and solved numerically by means of a finite-difference technique on a 128 × 128 × 128 computational mesh. The Reynolds number, based on the bulk mean velocity Um and the channel half-width h, was about 2900, while the rotation number Ro = 2|Ω|h/Um varied from 0 to 0.5. Without system rotation, results of the simulation were in good agreement with the accurate reference simulation of Kim, Moin & Moser (1987) and available experimental data. The simulated flow fields subject to rotation revealed fascinating effects exerted by the Coriolis force on channel flow turbulence. With weak rotation (Ro = 0.01) the turbulence statistics across the channel varied only slightly compared with the nonrotating case, and opposite effects were observed near the pressure and suction sides of the channel. With increasing rotation the augmentation and damping of the turbulence along the pressure and suction sides, respectively, became more significant, resulting in highly asymmetric profiles of mean velocity and turbulent Reynolds stresses. In accordance with the experimental observations of Johnston, Halleen & Lezius (1972), the mean velocity profile exhibited an appreciable region with slope 2Ω. At Ro = 0.50 the Reynolds stresses vanished in the vicinity of the stabilized side, and the nearly complete suppression of the turbulent agitation was confirmed by marker particle trackings and two-point velocity correlations. Rotational-induced Taylor-Görtler-like counter-rotating streamwise vortices have been identified, and the simulations suggest that the vortices are shifted slightly towards the pressure side with increasing rotation rates, and the number of vortex pairs therefore tend to increase with Ro.


2019 ◽  
Vol 867 ◽  
pp. 723-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. Miyanawala ◽  
R. K. Jaiman

We present a dynamic decomposition analysis of the wake flow in fluid–structure interaction (FSI) systems under both laminar and turbulent flow conditions. Of particular interest is to provide the significance of low-dimensional wake flow features and their interaction dynamics to sustain the free vibration of a square cylinder at a relatively low mass ratio. To obtain the high-dimensional data, we employ a body-conforming variational FSI solver based on the recently developed partitioned iterative scheme and the dynamic subgrid-scale turbulence model for a moderate Reynolds number ($Re$). The snapshot data from high-dimensional FSI simulations are projected to a low-dimensional subspace using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). We utilize each corresponding POD mode to detect features of the organized motions, namely, the vortex street, the shear layer and the near-wake bubble. We find that the vortex shedding modes contribute solely to the lift force, while the near-wake and shear layer modes play a dominant role in the drag force. We further examine the fundamental mechanism of this dynamical behaviour and propose a force decomposition technique via low-dimensional approximation. To elucidate the frequency lock-in, we systematically analyse the decomposed modes and their dynamical contributions to the force fluctuations for a range of reduced velocity at low Reynolds number laminar flow. These quantitative mode energy contributions demonstrate that the shear layer feeds the vorticity flux to the wake vortices and the near-wake bubble during the wake–body synchronization. Based on the decomposition of wake dynamics, we suggest an interaction cycle for the frequency lock-in during the wake–body interaction, which provides the interrelationship between the high-amplitude motion and the dominating wake features. Through our investigation of wake–body synchronization below critical $Re$ range, we discover that the bluff body can undergo a synchronized high-amplitude vibration due to flexibility-induced unsteadiness. Owing to the wake turbulence at a moderate Reynolds number of $Re=22\,000$, a distorted set of POD modes and the broadband energy distribution are observed, while the interaction cycle for the wake synchronization is found to be valid for the turbulent wake flow.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Jordan ◽  
S. A. Ragab

The formation and the downstream transport of the Strouhal vortices in the near wake of a circular cylinder are investigated using the large-eddy simulation (LES) method. The governing equations are formulated in curvilinear coordinates to accommodate a nonorthogonal grid with formal development of a dynamic model to account for the subgrid turbulent scales. Results were produced with and without use of the model. The focus of the investigation is at a subcritical Reynolds number of 5600. Using the dynamic model, the LES results compared best to the published experimental data in terms of both the global and local wake characteristics such as the drag and base pressure coefficients, shedding and detection frequencies, peak vorticity, and the downstream mean velocity-defect and Reynolds stresses. The results further showed streamwise filaments that connect subsequent Strouhal vortices. Qualitatively, the time-averaged Reynolds stresses of the formation region revealed similar symmetric characteristics over the range 525 ≤ Re ≤ 140,000.


1999 ◽  
Vol 385 ◽  
pp. 325-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
ASGHAR ESMAEELI ◽  
GRÉTAR TRYGGVASON

Direct numerical simulations of the motion of two- and three-dimensional finite Reynolds number buoyant bubbles in a periodic domain are presented. The full Navier–Stokes equations are solved by a finite difference/front tracking method that allows a fully deformable interface between the bubbles and the ambient fluid and the inclusion of surface tension. The rise Reynolds numbers are around 20–30 for the lowest volume fraction, but decrease as the volume fraction is increased. The rise of a regular array of bubbles, where the relative positions of the bubbles are fixed, is compared with the evolution of a freely evolving array. Generally, the freely evolving array rises slower than the regular one, in contrast to what has been found earlier for low Reynolds number arrays. The structure of the bubble distribution is examined and it is found that while the three-dimensional bubbles show a tendency to line up horizontally, the two-dimensional bubbles are nearly randomly distributed. The effect of the number of bubbles in each period is examined for the two-dimensional system and it is found that although the rise Reynolds number is nearly independent of the number of bubbles, the velocity fluctuations in the liquid (the Reynolds stresses) increase with the size of the system. While some aspects of the fully three-dimensional flows, such as the reduction in the rise velocity, are predicted by results for two-dimensional bubbles, the structure of the bubble distribution is not. The magnitude of the Reynolds stresses is also greatly over-predicted by the two-dimensional results.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksandra O. Shumilova ◽  
Alexander N. Sukhodolov ◽  
George S. Constantinescu ◽  
Bruce J. MacVicar

Abstract. Natural dynamics of river floodplains are driven by the interaction of flow and patchy riparian vegetation, which has implications for riverbed morphology and diversity of riparian habitats. Fundamental mechanisms affecting the dynamics of flow in such systems are still not fully understood due to a lack of experimental data collected in natural environments that are free of scaling effects present in laboratory studies. Here we present a detailed dataset on hydrodynamics of shallow wake flows that develop behind solid and porous obstructions. The dataset was collected during a field experimental campaign carried out in a side branch of the gravel-bed Tagliamento River in Northeast Italy. The dataset consists of thirty experimental runs in which we varied the diameter of the surface-mounted obstruction, its solid volume fraction, and the porosity at the leading edge, the object's submergence, and the approach velocity. Each run included: (1) measurements of mean velocity and turbulence in the longitudinal transect through the centreline of the flow with up to 25–30 sampling locations, and from 8 to 10 lateral profiles measured at 14 locations; (2) detailed surveys of the free surface topography; and (3) flow visualizations and video-recordings of the wakes patterns using a drone. The field scale of the experimental setup, the precise control of the approaching velocity, configuration of models, and the natural gravel-bed context for this experiment makes this data set unique. Besides enabling the examination of scaling effects, these data also allow the verification of numerical models and provide insight into the effects of driftwood accumulations on the dynamics of wakes. Data are made available as open access via the Zenodo portal (Shumilova et al. 2020) with DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3968748.


2008 ◽  
Vol 601 ◽  
pp. 425-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
MOSES KHOR ◽  
JOHN SHERIDAN ◽  
MARK C. THOMPSON ◽  
KERRY HOURIGAN

Observations have been made of the time-mean velocity profile at midspan in the near-wake of circular cylinders at moderate Reynolds numbers between 600 and 4600, well beyond the Reynolds number of approximately 200 at which the wake becomes three-dimensional. The measured profiles are found to be represented quite accurately by a family of function profiles with known linear instability characteristics. The complex instability frequency is then determined as a function of wake position, using the function profiles. In general, the near wake undergoes a transition from convective to absolute instability; the distance downstream to the point of transition is found to increase over the Reynolds number range investigated. The emergence of a significant region of convective instability is consistent with the known appearance of Bloor–Gerrard vortices. The selected frequency of the wake instability is determined by the saddle-point criterion; the Strouhal numbers for Bénard–von Kármán vortex shedding are found to compare well with the values in the literature.


Author(s):  
Guoguang Su ◽  
Shuye Teng ◽  
Hamn-Ching Chen ◽  
Je-Chin Han

Computations were performed to study three-dimensional turbulent flow and heat transfer in a rotating rectangular channel with 45° V-shaped ribs. The channel aspect ratio (AR) is 4:1, the rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio (e/Dh) is 0.078 and the rib-pitch-to-height ratio (P/e) is 10. A total of eight calculations have been performed with various combinations of rotation number, Reynolds number, coolant-to-wall density ratio, and channel orientation. The rotation number and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio varied from 0.0 to 0.28 and from 0.122 to 0.40, respectively, while the Reynolds number varied from 10,000 to 500,000. Three channel orientations (90°, −135°, and 135° from the rotation direction) were also investigated. A multi-block Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method was employed in conjunction with a near-wall second-moment turbulence closure for detailed predictions of mean velocity, mean temperature, turbulent Reynolds stresses, and heat fluxes and heat transfer coefficients.


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