Computational Study of Viscoelastic Flows in Microchannels

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanyang Xue ◽  
Xuanhong Cheng ◽  
Alparslan Oztekin

Abstract Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been performed in a 2D cross-section of the microchannel to characterize the viscoelastic flow field using OpenFOAM with customized stabilizing methods. The continuity and momentum equations coupled with the Giesekus constitutive model are solved. The computational domain consists of a straight main channel that is 100 μm in width and a 1:4 square-shaped cavity in the middle of the channel. The mesh convergence study is performed with both structured and unstructured cells. Flow and stress fields are compared with different cell densities. The numerical study is carried out on various Deborah numbers (De). The first normal stress difference is computed to examine the elastic lift force for future studies for nanoparticle separations. The vortex on the expansion side shrinks while the contraction side expands as De is increased. A banded zone of stronger N1 in the bulk region of the cavity, observed at higher De, could be favorable in particle separation applications. As the simulation process being validated, this study can help with future improvements to achieve higher flow rates.

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Jiang ◽  
Vikas Thondapu ◽  
Eric K. W. Poon ◽  
Peter Barlis ◽  
Andrew S. H. Ooi

Incomplete stent apposition (ISA) is one of the causes leading to poststent complications, which can be found when an undersized or an underexpanded stent is deployed at lesions. The previous research efforts have focused on ISA in idealized coronary arterial geometry with circular cross section. However, arterial cross section eccentricity plays an important role in both location and severity of ISA. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are carried out to systematically study the effects of ISA in arteries with elliptical cross section, as such stents are partially embedded on the minor axis sides of the ellipse and malapposed elsewhere. Overall, ISA leads to high time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) at the proximal end of the stent and low TAWSS at the ISA transition region and the distal end. Shear rate depends on both malapposition distance and blood stream locations, which is found to be significantly higher at the inner stent surface than the outer surface. The proximal high shear rate signifies increasing possibility in platelet activation, when coupled with low TAWSS at the transition and distal regions which may indicate a nidus for in-stent thrombosis.


Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Yorgos G. Stergiou ◽  
Aggelos T. Keramydas ◽  
Antonios D. Anastasiou ◽  
Aikaterini A. Mouza ◽  
Spiros V. Paras

The study of hemodynamics is particularly important in medicine and biomedical engineering as it is crucial for the design of new implantable devices and for understanding the mechanism of various diseases related to blood flow. In this study, we experimentally identify the cell free layer (CFL) width, which is the result of the Fahraeus–Lindqvist effect, as well as the axial velocity distribution of blood flow in microvessels. The CFL extent was determined using microscopic photography, while the blood velocity was measured by micro-particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV). Based on the experimental results, we formulated a correlation for the prediction of the CFL width in small caliber (D < 300 μm) vessels as a function of a modified Reynolds number (Re∞) and the hematocrit (Hct). This correlation along with the lateral distribution of blood viscosity were used as input to a “two-regions” computational model. The reliability of the code was checked by comparing the experimentally obtained axial velocity profiles with those calculated by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. We propose a methodology for calculating the friction loses during blood flow in μ-vessels, where the Fahraeus–Lindqvist effect plays a prominent role, and show that the pressure drop may be overestimated by 80% to 150% if the CFL is neglected.


Author(s):  
Cosan Daskiran ◽  
Jacob Riglin ◽  
Alparslan Oztekin

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been conducted to investigate the performance of a predetermined propeller-based hydrokinetic turbine design in staggered and non-staggered placements for river applications. Actual turbine models were used instead of low fidelity actuator line or actuator disks for CFD simulations to achieve more reliable results. The k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model was employed to resolve wall effects on turbine surface and to determine wake interactions behind the turbines. The wake interaction behind the upstream turbine causes significant drop on downstream turbine performance within non-staggered configuration. The upstream turbines in both staggered and non-staggered placement offers the same relative power of 0.96, while the relative power for downstream turbine is 0.98 for staggered installment and 0.16 for inline placement.


Author(s):  
Sai Nithin Reddy Kantareddy ◽  
Rebecca A. Fielding ◽  
Michael J. Robinson ◽  
Reuben H. Kraft

This preliminary study aims to computationally model and study the fracture patterns in the human calcaneus during variable impact loading conditions. A finite element model of the foot and ankle is used to understand the effect of loading rates and orientation of the foot on fracture patterns. Simulations are carried out by applying varying impact velocities of steel plate to the foot & ankle model in accordance with data regarding underbody blasts. These impact velocities are applied to reach a peak in 1.5 ms. Fracture of bone is represented using the plastic kinematic constitutive model with element erosion method, where elements are removed from the simulation after an inelastic failure strain is exceeded. The simulations last for 5 ms to observe the extent of fracture in the calcaneus. Following simulations, the resulting fracture patterns are compared to available images from experimental impact tests to qualitatively assess the simufutions. A mesh convergence study is performed to determine the level of refinement of mesh necessary to represent this problem. The mesh appears to converge at the refinement level of the medium coarse mesh. The effect of impact velocities on fracture is studied on unjlexed and flexed foot models. At lower velocities, fracture is observed in the form of a single continuous crack, and a pronounced branched type of network is observed at higher velocities. Finally, variation in fracture networks due to variability in strength of the bone is studied. For lower values of failure strain, significantly larger and branched networks of fracture are observed.


Author(s):  
Bülent Düz ◽  
Jule Scharnke ◽  
Rink Hallmann ◽  
Jan Tukker ◽  
Siddhant Khurana ◽  
...  

Abstract The kinematics under spilling and plunging breakers are investigated using both experimental and numerical methods. In a modular laboratory flume, the breakers were generated using dispersive focusing, and the kinematics underneath them were measured utilizing the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. Using the state-of-art high-speed video cameras and lasers, the kinematics were measured at a high sampling rate without needing phase-locked averaging. Afterwards, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out for comparison purposes. These simulations were run in single-phase using a finite-volume based Navier-Stokes solver with a piecewise-linear interface reconstruction scheme. The spilling and plunging breakers from the measurements were reconstructed in the computational domain using an iterative scheme. As a result a good match with the measured waves was obtained in the simulations. Results indicate that even though measured kinematics are somewhat higher than the simulated ones especially in the spilling and overturning regions, the CFD simulations can accurately capture the relevant details of the flow and produce reasonably accurate kinematics in comparison with the PIV results.


2013 ◽  
Vol 275-277 ◽  
pp. 409-412
Author(s):  
Duen Sheng Lee ◽  
Kai Ting Hsieh ◽  
Po Chih Tsao ◽  
Tzu Chen Hung ◽  
Yi Tung Chen ◽  
...  

This study presents a scaled-down single fuel assembly experiment to simulate the fuel in the spent fuel pool (SFP). From experiment results, this study obtained the relationship among pressure drop and velocity, the viscous resistance and inertial resistance factor. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, the large number of fuel rod bundles is approximated with porous medium technique that imposes similar flow resistance to the motion of the fluid. Difference of the pressure drop between numerical and experimental results is within acceptable deviation.


Author(s):  
A Zargoushi ◽  
F Talebi ◽  
SH Hosseini

The cold box, which comprises of several plate-fin heat exchangers (PFHE), is largely utilized in different industries. In this research, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique has been used for investigating the impact of different fluid distributors on the rates of heat and mass transfer, in an industrial complex cold box equipped with plate-fins. While inlet and outlet fluid distributors and channels were taken into account in the computational domain, the porous media technique was applied to the channels as an alternative to the fins in the original cold box. The mass transfer model including the phase change was accounted for by the flash calculations. Local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) between the porous medium and fluid flow with a mass transfer was used in the simulations. Three principal side distributors, i.e. diagonals A, B, and C, were used, and their performance was evaluated by CFD. It was found that using each of these types of distributors led to different CFD results in the cold box. The heat transfer rate in the case of the diagonal C was 73% more than that of the diagonal A. The flow uniformity index in the case of the diagonal C was 11.6% greater than that of the diagonal A in the stream C.


Author(s):  
Dominik Du¨chs ◽  
Sabine Brunklaus ◽  
Peter Spang ◽  
Marion Ritzi-Lehnert ◽  
Klaus Drese

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are conducted to compare the efficiency of different types of micromixers with respect to their potential application in chip-based stopped-flow designs. The evaluation of a mixing parameter for different geometries and at various flow velocities enables a comparison between the Berger ball mixer and other designs that are in principle suitable for applications in microfluidic chips.


Author(s):  
Jayakanth Loganathan ◽  
Kian-Meng Lim ◽  
Heow Pueh Lee ◽  
Boo Cheong Khoo

In this paper, we present a numerical study of a stratospheric balloon system tethered to a passive device, known as the Stratosail, for station-keeping operation. For scientific applications, stratospheric balloons that operate at altitudes between 15 and 20 km will need to maintain station over a fixed point above the earth for a prescribed period of time. This is a challenging problem due to the limitation of payloads and lack of an energy source. The present study uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to analyze the drift velocity of such a balloon-Stratosail system under typical wind conditions in the stratosphere. The Stratosail is attached below the super-pressure helium balloon via a long and thin tether about 10 to 15 km below the balloon, providing a drag force to alter the flight path of the balloon. Its operation depends on the natural differences in the wind speed and wind direction at different altitudes in the atmosphere that act on the balloon and the Stratosail (spaced far apart by 10km to 15 km). In this study, we calculated the drag forces on the balloon and Stratosail for typical wind speeds at various altitudes in the stratosphere. The tether was also modelled as a cable joining the balloon and sail. With this model, the drift velocity of the system was calculated for various altitudes and the angle of attack of the sail.


Author(s):  
Zhongqi (Henry) Jia ◽  
Seongkyu Lee

This paper investigates the acoustics of a one-passenger and a six-passenger quadrotor urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft in level flight based on a high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. The CFD simulations are carried out using the HPCMP CREATETM-AV multidisciplinary rotorcraft analysis and simulation tool Helios. The acoustic simulations are performed using the acoustic prediction tool PSU-WOPWOP. A total of three CFD models are simulated: a one-passenger isolated rotor configuration, a one-passenger full configuration with a fuselage, and a six-passenger isolated rotor configuration. The noise comparison between the one-passenger isolated rotor case and the full configuration case shows that the vehicle fuselage increases the A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL) up to 5 dB. The acoustic comparison between the one-passenger and the six-passenger isolated rotor configuration shows that the maximum overall SPL difference is up to 14 dB. Furthermore, it is shown that the noise of the six-passenger configuration is approximately 11 dB lower than that of a similar-sized conventional helicopter in an overhead scenario. The community noise impact of UAM aircraft is also assessed and compared to various background noise levels. The results show that the one-passenger quadrotor noise can be fully masked by freeway noise at an altitude greater than or equal to 1000 ft, while the six-passenger quadrotor noise can only be partially masked by freeway noise even at an altitude of 1000 ft.


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