Assessment of Profile Transformation for Turbomachinery Large Eddy Simulations - From Academic to Industrial Applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clovis Gout ◽  
Dimitrios Papadogiannis ◽  
Jérôme Dombard ◽  
Florent Duchaine ◽  
Laurent Gicquel ◽  
...  

Abstract Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of turbomachinery stages has been recently brought to attention due to its potential increased prediction fidelity and its reduced dependency to modeling. Such simulations are however often very CPU intensive, with potentially long return times and only possible for reduced periodic sectors. For real applications, such limitations are prohibitive for a daily use in a design phase. Indeed, most industrial turbomachinery applications rely on designs where at least one of the blade rows has a prime number of blades. Full 360° simulations are in such a case required for appropriate flow dynamics predictions, which implies prohibitive computational costs although recent demonstrations prove these feasible. To make LES affordable in an industrial context, it is clearly necessary to find ways to reduce its cost and return time, one approach being the reduction of the computational domain size. The Profile Transformation Approach (PTA) is one of such specific methods that allows to simulate down to a single blade passage per blade row, thus decreasing the domain size of the problem and its CPU cost. PTA has been devised and validated in a URANS context and its limits are well known in this specific context. In terms of development and implementation in a code, PTA essentially consists in re-scaling the flow field at the rotor/stator interface to comply with the geometrical constraints on both sides of the interface since these often have different angular extents. Thanks to this flow re-scaling, periodic flow conditions can be applied on the azimuthal limits of both domains while retaining only one passage per row. In the following, the method is assessed in the context of fully unsteady LES simulations in an attempt to identify generated approximations and errors. This LES approach is then used to address a set of cases of increasing complexity ranging from the academic problem focusing first on the convection of a vortex across an interface and finishing with simulations of industrial relevance.

Author(s):  
Xiaofeng Yang ◽  
Saurabh Gupta ◽  
Tang-Wei Kuo ◽  
Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan

A comparative cold flow analysis between Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) and large eddy simulation (LES) cycle-averaged velocity and turbulence predictions is carried out for a single cylinder engine with a transparent combustion chamber (TCC) under motored conditions using high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements as the reference data. Simulations are done using a commercial computationally fluid dynamics (CFD) code CONVERGE with the implementation of standard k-ε and RNG k-ε turbulent models for RANS and a one-equation eddy viscosity model for LES. The following aspects are analyzed in this study: The effects of computational domain geometry (with or without intake and exhaust plenums) on mean flow and turbulence predictions for both LES and RANS simulations. And comparison of LES versus RANS simulations in terms of their capability to predict mean flow and turbulence. Both RANS and LES full and partial geometry simulations are able to capture the overall mean flow trends qualitatively; but the intake jet structure, velocity magnitudes, turbulence magnitudes, and its distribution are more accurately predicted by LES full geometry simulations. The guideline therefore for CFD engineers is that RANS partial geometry simulations (computationally least expensive) with a RNG k-ε turbulent model and one cycle or more are good enough for capturing overall qualitative flow trends for the engineering applications. However, if one is interested in getting reasonably accurate estimates of velocity magnitudes, flow structures, turbulence magnitudes, and its distribution, they must resort to LES simulations. Furthermore, to get the most accurate turbulence distributions, one must consider running LES full geometry simulations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 02054
Author(s):  
Martin Lasota ◽  
Petr Šidlof

The phonatory process occurs when air is expelled from the lungs through the glottis and the pressure drop causes flow-induced oscillations of the vocal folds. The flow fields created in phonation are highly unsteady and the coherent vortex structures are also generated. For accuracy it is essential to compute on humanlike computational domain and appropriate mathematical model. The work deals with numerical simulation of air flow within the space between plicae vocales and plicae vestibulares. In addition to the dynamic width of the rima glottidis, where the sound is generated, there are lateral ventriculus laryngis and sacculus laryngis included in the computational domain as well. The paper presents the results from OpenFOAM which are obtained with a large-eddy simulation using second-order finite volume discretization of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Large-eddy simulations with different subgrid scale models are executed on structured mesh. In these cases are used only the subgrid scale models which model turbulence via turbulent viscosity and Boussinesq approximation in subglottal and supraglottal area in larynx.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146808741988186
Author(s):  
Hongjiang Li ◽  
Christopher J Rutland ◽  
Francisco E Hernández Pérez ◽  
Hong G Im

In this work, a hybrid breakup model tailored for direct-injection spark-ignition engine sprays is developed and implemented in the OpenFOAM CFD code. The model uses the Lagrangian–Eulerian approach whereby parcels of liquid fuel are injected into the computational domain. Atomization and breakup of the liquid parcels are described by two sub-models based on the breakup mechanisms reported in the literature. Evaluation of the model has been carried out by comparing large-eddy simulation results with experimental measurements under multiple direct-injection spark-ignition engine-like conditions. Spray characteristics including liquid and vapor penetration curves, droplet velocities, and Sauter mean diameter distributions are examined in detail. The model has been found to perform well for the spray conditions considered in this work. Results also show that after the end of injection, most of the residual droplets that are still in the breakup process are driven by the bag and bag–stamen breakup mechanisms. Finally, an effort to unify the breakup length parameter is made, and the given value is tested under various ambient density and temperature conditions. The predicted trends follow the measured data closely for the penetration rates, even though the model is not specifically tuned for individual cases.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saiful Islam Mallik ◽  
Md. Ashraf Uddin

A large eddy simulation (LES) of a plane turbulent channel flow is performed at a Reynolds number Re? = 590 based on the channel half width, ? and wall shear velocity, u? by approximating the near wall region using differential equation wall model (DEWM). The simulation is performed in a computational domain of 2?? x 2? x ??. The computational domain is discretized by staggered grid system with 32 x 30 x 32 grid points. In this domain the governing equations of LES are discretized spatially by second order finite difference formulation, and for temporal discretization the third order low-storage Runge-Kutta method is used. Essential turbulence statistics of the computed flow field based on this LES approach are calculated and compared with the available Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and LES data where no wall model was used. Comparing the results throughout the calculation domain we have found that the LES results based on DEWM show closer agreement with the DNS data, especially at the near wall region. That is, the LES approach based on DEWM can capture the effects of near wall structures more accurately. Flow structures in the computed flow field in the 3D turbulent channel have also been discussed and compared with LES data using no wall model.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 207-239
Author(s):  
Saman Salehian ◽  
Reda R Mankbadi

The focus of this work is on understanding the effect of water injection from the launch pad on the noise generated during rocket’s lift-off. To simplify the problem, we consider a supersonic jet impinging on a flat plate with water injection from the impingement plate. The Volume of Fluid model is adopted in this work to simulate the two-phase flow. A Hybrid Large Eddy Simulation – Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Simulation approach is employed to model turbulence, wherein Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Simulation is used near the walls, and Large Eddy Simulation is used elsewhere in the computational domain. The numerical issues associated with simulating the noise of two-phase supersonic flow are addressed. The pressure fluctuations on the impingement plate obtained from numerical simulations agree well with the experimental data. Furthermore, the predicted effect of water injection on the far-field broadband noise is consistent with that of the experiment. The possible mechanisms for noise reduction by water injection are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 813 ◽  
pp. 23-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Pérez-Torró ◽  
Jae Wook Kim

A numerical investigation on the stalled flow characteristics of a NACA0021 aerofoil with a sinusoidal wavy leading edge (WLE) at chord-based Reynolds number $Re_{\infty }=1.2\times 10^{5}$ and angle of attack $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=20^{\circ }$ is presented in this paper. It is observed that laminar separation bubbles (LSBs) form at the trough areas of the WLE in a collocated fashion rather than uniformly/periodically distributed over the span. It is found that the distribution of LSBs and their influence on the aerodynamic forces is strongly dependent on the spanwise domain size of the simulation, i.e. the wavenumber of the WLE used. The creation of a pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices from the WLE and their evolution as an interface/buffer between the LSBs and the adjacent fully separated shear layers are discussed in detail. The current simulation results confirm that an increased lift and a decreased drag are achieved by using the WLEs compared to the straight leading edge (SLE) case, as observed in previous experiments. Additionally, the WLE cases exhibit a significantly reduced level of unsteady fluctuations in aerodynamic forces at the frequency of periodic vortex shedding. The beneficial aerodynamic characteristics of the WLE cases are attributed to the following three major events observed in the current simulations: (i) the appearance of a large low-pressure zone near the leading edge created by the LSBs; (ii) the reattachment of flow behind the LSBs resulting in a decreased volume of the rear wake; and, (iii) the deterioration of von-Kármán (periodic) vortex shedding due to the breakdown of spanwise coherent structures.


Author(s):  
Sunil Patil ◽  
Danesh Tafti

Large eddy simulations of swirling flow and the associated convective heat transfer in a gas turbine can combustor under cold flow conditions for Reynolds numbers of 50,000 and 80,000 with a characteristic Swirl number of 0.7 are carried out. A precursor Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulation is used to provide the inlet boundary conditions to the large-eddy simulation (LES) computational domain, which includes only the can combustor. A stochastic procedure based on the classical view of turbulence as a superposition of the coherent structures is used to simulate the turbulence at the inlet plane of the computational domain using the mean flow velocity and Reynolds stress data from the precursor RANS simulation. To further reduce the overall computational resource requirement and the total computational time, the near wall region is modeled using a zonal two layer model (WMLES). A novel formulation in the generalized co-ordinate system is used for the solution of effective tangential velocity and temperature in the inner layer virtual mesh. The WMLES predictions are compared with the experimental data of Patil et al. (2011, “Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Convective Heat Transfer in Gas Turbine Can Combustor,” ASME J. Turbomach., 133(1), p. 011028) for the local heat transfer distribution on the combustor liner wall obtained using robust infrared thermography technique. The heat transfer coefficient distribution on the liner wall predicted from the WMLES is in good agreement with experimental values. The location and the magnitude of the peak heat transfer are predicted in very close agreement with the experiments.


Author(s):  
Ying Huai ◽  
Amsini Sadiki

In this work, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has been carried out to analyze the turbulent mixing processes in an impinging jet configuration. To characterize and quantify turbulent mixing processes, in terms of scalar structures and degree of mixing, three parameters have been basically introduced. They are “mixedness parameter”, which represents the probability of mixed fluids in computational domain, the Spatial Mixing Deficiency (SMD) and the Temporal Mixing Deficiency (TMD) parameters for characterizing the mixing at different scalar scale degrees. With help of these parameters, a general mixing optimization procedure has then been suggested and achieved in an impinging jet configuration. An optimal jet angle was estimated and the overall mixing degree with this jet angle reached around six times more than the original design. It turns out that the proposed idea and methodology can be helpful for practical engineering design processes.


Author(s):  
K. Tomikawa ◽  
H. Horie ◽  
M. Iida ◽  
C. Arakawa ◽  
Y. Ooba

In this study, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) was applied to predict the boundary layer development within unsteady wake induced linear turbine cascade of Low Pressure turbine (LPT) blades. In the calculation, unsteady wake was simulated by moving cylindrical bars upstream of the blade. The Multiblock method with a parallel computational algorithm was introduced to use the large computational domain with necessary grid refinement. It was demonstrated that the results were good agreement with experiments, and confirmed that a separation bubble of suction side was suppressed by the incoming wakes. Under the condition of significant effect of compressibility, separation point and reattachment point moved to the rear of the blade. In addition, under the condition of low Reynolds number, loss coefficient showed a tendency depending on Strouhal number.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Site Hu ◽  
Chao Zhou ◽  
Zhenhua Xia ◽  
Shiyi Chen

This study investigates the aerodynamic performance of a low-pressure turbine, namely the T106C, by large eddy simulation (LES) and coarse grid direct numerical simulation (CDNS) at a Reynolds number of 100,000. Existing experimental data were used to validate the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool. The effects of subgrid scale (SGS) models, mesh densities, computational domains and boundary conditions on the CFD predictions are studied. On the blade suction surface, a separation zone starts at a location of about 55% along the suction surface. The prediction of flow separation on the turbine blade is always found to be difficult and is one of the focuses of this work. The ability of Smagorinsky and wall-adapting local eddy viscosity (WALE) model in predicting the flow separation is compared. WALE model produces better predictions than the Smagorinsky model. CDNS produces very similar predictions to WALE model. With a finer mesh, the difference due to SGS models becomes smaller. The size of the computational domain is also important. At blade midspan, three-dimensional (3D) features of the separated flow have an effect on the downstream flows, especially for the area near the reattachment. By further considering the effects of endwall secondary flows, a better prediction of the flow separation near the blade midspan can be achieved. The effect of the endwall secondary flow on the blade suction surface separation at the midspan is explained with the analytical method based on the Biot–Savart Law.


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