Nonlinear Versus Linear Stress-Strain Relations in Engine Turbulence Modeling Under Swirl and Squish Flow Conditions

Author(s):  
Mirko Baratta ◽  
Andrea E. Catania ◽  
Stefano d’Ambrosio

A general form of the stress-strain constitutive relation was introduced for the application of two nonlinear k-ε turbulence models, namely, the ARS model of Gatski and Speziale ([1]) and the Cubic model of Lien et al. ([2]), to the numerical analysis of flow fields in a test engine with flat-piston and bowl-in-piston arrangements, under swirling or no-swirling flow motored conditions. The model capabilities in capturing turbulent flow features were compared to those of the upgraded linear RNG k-ε model which was previously indicated as a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost ([3]). Evaluations were made on the basis of the predicted flow evolution throughout the whole engine cycle, as well as of the comparison between numerical and experimental results. Furthermore, the effect of the stress-strain relationship on the predicted averaged turbulence quantities and anisotropy invariant values were examined, in addition to the sensitivity of the nonlinear models to the mesh quality. Finally, prospects concerning possible improvements of turbulence Eddy Viscosity Models (EVM) were presented. The predictions were made by a newly developed CFD code embedding various accuracy-order finite-volume discretization schemes. Modified wall boundary conditions with respect to the conventional logarithmic-function approach were used, so as to give negligible importance to the local equilibrium hypothesis.

Author(s):  
Mirko Baratta ◽  
Andrea E. Catania ◽  
Stefano d’Ambrosio

A general form of the stress-strain constitutive relation was introduced for the application of two nonlinear k-ε turbulence models, namely, the algebraic Reynolds stress model of Gatski and Speziale (1993, “On Explicit Algebraic Stress Models for Complex Turbulent Flows,” J. Fluid Mech., 254, pp. 59–78) and the cubic model of Lien et al. (1996, “Low Reynolds Number Eddy-Viscosity Modeling Based on Non-Linear Stress-Strain/Vorticity Relations,” Proceedings of Third Symposium on Engineering Turbulence Modeling and Measurements, Crete, Greece), to the numerical analysis of flow fields in a test engine with flat-piston and bowl-in-piston arrangements, under swirling and no-swirling flow motored conditions. The model capabilities in capturing turbulent flow features were compared to those of the upgraded linear RNG k-ε model, which was previously indicated as a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost. Evaluations were made on the basis of the predicted flow evolution throughout the whole engine cycle, as well as of the comparison between the numerical and experimental results. Furthermore, the effect of the stress-strain relationship on the predicted averaged turbulence quantities and anisotropy-invariant values were examined, in addition to the sensitivity of the nonlinear models to the mesh quality. Finally, prospects concerning possible improvements of turbulence eddy-viscosity models were presented. The predictions were made by a newly developed CFD code embedding various accuracy-order finite-volume discretization schemes. Modified wall boundary conditions with respect to the conventional logarithmic-function approach were used, so as to make the local equilibrium hypothesis virtually ineffective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 01013
Author(s):  
Hariyo Priambudi Setyo Pratomo ◽  
Fandi Dwiputra Suprianto ◽  
Teng Sutrisno

Turbulence simulation remains one of the active research activities in computational engineering. Along with the increase in computing power and the prime motivation of improving the accuracy of statistical turbulence modeling approaches and reducing the expensive computational cost of both direct numerical and large turbulence scale- resolving simulations, various hybrid turbulence models being capable of capturing unsteadiness in the turbulence are now accessible. Nevertheless this introduces the daunting task to select an appropriate method for different cases as one can not know a priori the inherent nature of the turbulence. It is the aim of this paper to address recent progresses and further researches within a branch of the hybrid RANS-LES models examined by the first author as simple test cases but generating complex turbulent flows are available from experimentation. In particular, failure of a seamless hybrid formulation not explicitly dependent on the grid scale is discussed. From the literature, it is practical that at least one can go on with confidence when choosing a potential hybrid model by intuitively distinguishing between strongly and weakly unstable turbulent flows.


Author(s):  
Dominik von Lavante ◽  
Eckart Laurien

With recent progress in high-temperature pebble-bed reactor programs research focus has started to include more ancillary engineering issues. One very important aspect for the realisability is the mixing of hot and colder helium in the reactor lower plenum. Under nominal operating conditions, depending on core design, the temperature of hot gas leaving the core can locally differ up to 210° C. Due to material limitations, these temperature differences have to be reduced to at least ±15° C. Several reduced-size air experiments have been performed on this problem, but their applicability to modern commercially sized reactors is not certain. With the rise in computing power CFD simulations can be performed in addition, but advanced turbulence modeling is necessary due to the highly swirling and turbulent nature of this flow. The presented work uses the geometry of the German HTR-Modul which consists of an annular mixing channel and radially arranged ribs. Using the commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX, we have made detailed analyses of the complex 3D vortical flow phenomena within this geometry. Several momentum transport turbulence models, e.g. the classical k-e model, advanced two-equation models and Reynolds-Stress Models were compared with respect to their accuracy for this particular flow. In addition, the full set of turbulent scalar flux transport equations was implemented for modeling the three components of turbulent transport of enthalpy seperately and were compared with the standard turbulent Prandtl number approach. As expected from previous work in related fields of turbulence modeling, the differences in predicting the mixing performance between models were significant. Only the full Reynolds-Stress model coupled with the scalar flux equations was able to reproduce the experimentally observed reduction of mixing efficiency with increasing Reynolds number. The correct scaling of mixing efficiencies demonstrates that the utilized turbulence models are able to reproduce the physics of the underlying flow. Hence they could be employed for the scaling and optimization of the lower plenum geometry. The results also showed that the original geometry used for the HTR-Modul is insufficient to provide adequate mixing, and that hence a not sufficiently mixed coolant for future reactor designs might be an issue. Based on this work, an optimization for future lower plenum geometries has become feasible.


Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunhui Zhang ◽  
Charles Patrick Bounds ◽  
Lee Foster ◽  
Mesbah Uddin

In today’s road vehicle design processes, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has emerged as one of the major investigative tools for aerodynamics analyses. The age-old CFD methodology based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approach is still considered as the most popular turbulence modeling approach in automotive industries due to its acceptable accuracy and affordable computational cost for predicting flows involving complex geometries. This popular use of RANS still persists in spite of the well-known fact that, for automotive flows, RANS turbulence models often fail to characterize the associated flow-field properly. It is even true that more often, the RANS approach fails to predict correct integral aerodynamic quantities like lift, drag, or moment coefficients, and as such, they are used to assess the relative magnitude and direction of a trend. Moreover, even for such purposes, notable disagreements generally exist between results predicted by different RANS models. Thanks to fast advances in computer technology, increasing popularity has been seen in the use of the hybrid Detached Eddy Simulation (DES), which blends the RANS approach with Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The DES methodology demonstrated a high potential of being more accurate and informative than the RANS approaches. Whilst evaluations of RANS and DES models on various applications are abundant in the literature, such evaluations on full-car models are relatively fewer. In this study, four RANS models that are widely used in engineering applications, i.e., the realizable k - ε two-layer, Abe–Kondoh–Nagano (AKN) k - ε low-Reynolds, SST k - ω , and V2F are evaluated on a full-scale passenger vehicle with two different front-end configurations. In addition, both cases are run with two DES models to assess the differences between the flow predictions obtained using RANS and DES.


Author(s):  
Vasiliy M. Zubanov ◽  
Leonid S. Shabliy ◽  
Alexander V. Krivcov

This article reports CFD-modeling technique of flow through a kerosene pump and suggests appropriate CFD tools, model configuration, types of boundary conditions, turbulence models and meshing technique. The flow features were analyzed and error of the CFD-model was estimated. The CFD results were compared with experimental results. The final CFD-model, which was also verified with the impeller radial load estimation, shows that the technique produces sufficient accurate results with less computational cost. The technique can be used for the design optimization of a multistage pump.


Author(s):  
S. Krajnovic ◽  
L. Davidson

The feasibility of use of large-eddy simulation (LES) in external vehicle aerodynamics is investigated. The computational cost needed for LES of the full size car at road conditions is beyond the capability of the computers in the near future (Krajnovic´ (2002)). Since LES cannot be used for quantitative prediction of this flow, i.e. obtaining the aerodynamic forces and moments, an alternative use of this technique is suggested that can enhance the understanding of the flow around a car. It is found that making LES of the flow around simplified car-like shapes at lower Reynolds number can increase our knowledge of the flow around a car. Two simulations are made, one of the flow around a cube and the other of the flow around a simplified bus. The former simulation proved that LES with relatively coarse resolution and simple inlet boundary condition can provide accurate results. The latter simulation resulted in flow in agreement with experimental observations and displayed some flow features that were not observed in experiments or steady simulations of such flows. This simulation gave us possibility to study the transient mechanisms that are responsible for the aerodynamic properties of a car. The knowledge gained from this simulation can be used by the stylist to tune the aerodynamics of the car’s design but also by the CFD specialists to improve the turbulence models.


1995 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Brereton ◽  
R. R. Mankbadi

Turbulent flow which undergoes organized temporal unsteadiness is a subject of great importance to unsteady aerodynamic and thermodynamic devices. Of the many classes of unsteady flows, those bounded by rigid smooth walls are particularly amenable to fundamental studies of unsteady turbulence and its modeling. These flows are presently being given increased attention as interest grows in the prospect of predicting non-equilibrium turbulence and because of their relevance to turbulence–acoustics interactions, in addition to their importance as unsteady flows in their own right. It is therefore timely to present a review of recent advances in this area, with particular emphasis placed on physical understanding of the turbulent processes in these flows and the development of turbulence models to predict them. A number of earlier reviews have been published on unsteady turbulent flows, which have tended to focus on specific aspects of certain flows. This review is intended to draw together, from the diverse literature on the subject, information on fundamental aspects of these flows which are relevant to improved understanding and development of predictive models. Of particular relevance are issues of instability and transition to turbulence in reciprocating flows, the robustness of coherent structures in wall-bounded flows to forced perturbations (in contrast to the relative ease of manipulation in free shear flows), unsteady scalar transport, improved measurement technology, recent contributions to target data for model testing and the quasi-steady and non-steady rapid distortion approaches to turbulence modeling in these flows. The present article aims to summarize recent contributions to this research area, with a view to consolidating comprehension of the well-known basics of these flows, and drawing attention to critical gaps in information which restrict our understanding of unsteady turbulent flows.


Author(s):  
David Roos Launchbury ◽  
Luca Mangani ◽  
Ernesto Casartelli ◽  
Francesco Del Citto

Abstract In the industrial simulation of flow phenomena, turbulence modeling is of prime importance. Due to their low computational cost, Reynolds-averaged methods (RANS) are predominantly used for this purpose. However, eddy viscosity RANS models are often unable to adequately capture important flow physics, specifically when strongly anisotropic turbulence and vortex structures are present. In such cases the more costly 7-equation Reynolds stress models often lead to significantly better results. Unfortunately, these models are not widely used in the industry. The reason for this is not mainly the increased computational cost, but the stability and convergence issues such models usually exhibit. In this paper we present a robust implementation of a Reynolds stress model that is solved in a coupled manner, increasing stability and convergence speed significantly compared to segregated implementations. In addition, the decoupling of the velocity and Reynolds stress fields is addressed for the coupled equation formulation. A special wall function is presented that conserves the anisotropic properties of the model near the walls on coarser meshes. The presented Reynolds stress model is validated on a series of semi-academic test cases and then applied to two industrially relevant situations, namely the tip vortex of a NACA0012 profile and the Aachen Radiver radial compressor case.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Jiang ◽  
Mingjun Diao ◽  
Haomiao Sun ◽  
Yu Ren

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the upstream angle on flow over a trapezoidal broad-crested weir based on numerical simulations using the open-source toolbox OpenFOAM. Eight trapezoidal broad-crested weir configurations with different upstream face angles (θ = 10°, 15°, 22.5°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, 90°) were investigated under free-flow conditions. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) method and two turbulence models (the standard k-ε model and the SST k-w model) were employed in the numerical simulations. The numerical results were compared with the experimental results obtained from published papers. The root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean absolute percent error (MAPE) were used to evaluate the accuracy of the numerical results. The statistical results show that RMSE and MAPE values of the standard k-ε model are 0.35–0.67% and 0.50–1.48%, respectively; the RMSE and MAPE values of the SST k-w model are 0.25–0.66% and 0.55–1.41%, respectively. Additionally, the effects of the upstream face angle on the flow features, including the discharge coefficient and the flow separation zone, were also discussed in the present study.


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