Turbulent model validations with CFD/wind tunnel test and application to SEA for wind noise prediction

Wind noise is becoming to have a higher priority in automotive industry. Several past studies investigated whether SEA can be utilized to predict wind noise by applying a turbulent spectrum model as the input. However, there are many kinds of turbulent models developed and the appropriate model for input to SEA is still unclear. Due to this, this paper focuses on clarifying an appropriate turbulent model for SEA simulation. First, the input turbulent pressure spectrum from five models are validated with wind tunnel tests and CFD. Next, a conventional numerical approach is used to validate models from the aspect of response accuracy. Finally, turbulent models are applied to an SEA model developed for a wind tunnel, and the SEA response is validated with test data. From those input/response validations, an appropriate turbulent model is investigated.

Improving drilling hydraulics estimations-a case study

Accurate pressure drop estimation is important for drill string and bit nozzles design and optimized fluid circulations as well as identifying the drilling problems such as bit nozzle(s) washout or plugging. In this study, the Bingham Plastic model has been modified by applying a coefficient to its turbulent pressure loss calculations. This coefficient encompasses the effects of the drill pipe tool joints and other effects in estimation of pressure losses. The range of the coefficient was determined in field applications for different hole sizes and mud types. The results showed that applying a correction coefficient of 1.08–1.12 to turbulent pressure loss equations (depending on borehole size and mud type) improves the pressure loss estimation. By applying this coefficient, the estimated pressure losses are increased to compensate the under-estimation of the Bingham Plastic model. This is considered a significant contribution to accurate calculation of borehole hydraulics and in-time detection and identification of borehole problems and reduction of invisible lost time. The findings also showed that this enhanced effect is independent of the mud type. The use of this coefficient removes the necessity of using rather complex mud rheological models such as the Herschel–Bulkley model.

Study on flow field and aerodynamic noise of electric vehicle rearview mirror

With the development of new energy and intelligent vehicles, aerodynamic noise problem of pure electric vehicles at high speed has become increasingly prominent. The characteristics of the flow field and aerodynamic noise of the rearview mirror region were investigated by large eddy simulation, acoustic perturbation equations and reduction order analysis. By comparing the pressure coefficients of the coarse, medium and dense grids with wind tunnel test results, the pressure distribution, and numerical accuracy of the medium grid on the body are clarified. It is shown from the flow field proper orthogonal decomposition of the mid-section that the sum of the energy of the first three modes accounts for more than 16%. Based on spectral proper orthogonal decomposition, the peak frequencies of the first-order mode are 19 and 97 Hz. As for the turbulent pressure of side window, the first mode accounts for approximately 11.3% of the total energy, and its peak appears at 39 and 117 Hz. While the first mode of sound pressure accounts for about 41.7%, and the energy peaks occur at 410 and 546 Hz. Compared with traditional vehicle, less total turbulent pressure level and total sound pressure level are found at current electric vehicle because of the limited interaction between the rearview mirror and A-pillar.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation on the Flow-Induced Interior Noise Based on Pellicular Analysis

Turbulence caused by the rearview mirror and A-pillar is the main source of interior wind noise. Because of the difference in energy and transfer efficiency of acoustic and turbulent pressure, it is important to accurately identify the two kinds of pressure on the window surface when studying interior wind noise. Wave Number Decomposition (WND) and Pellicular Mode Decomposition (PMD) are successfully applied to decompose the pressure on the window. Furthermore, the transfer function calculated by pellicular analysis is used to calculate the interior wind noise, and the result is compared with the result calculated by the Finite Element Method (FEM) and measured by the experiment. The results revealed that the interior wind noise calculated by the pellicular analysis method is almost the same as the result calculated by the FEM, and that it presents obvious advantages in computational efficiency.

Convection Theory and Related Problems in Stellar Structure, Evolution, and Pulsational Stability II. Turbulent Convection and Pulsational Stability of Stars

Using our non-local and time-dependent theory of convection and a fixed set of convective parameters (C1, C2/C1 , C3)= (0.70, 0.50, 3.0) calibrated against the Sun, the linear non-adiabatic oscillations for evolutionary models with masses 1–20 M⊙ are calculated. The results show that almost all the classical instability strips can be reproduced. The theoretical instability strips of δ Scuti and γ Doradusvariables agree well with Kepler spacecraft observations. There is no essential difference in the excitation mechanism for δ Scuti and γ Doradus stars. They are excited by the combined effects of the radiative κ-mechanism and coupling between convection and oscillations. They represent two subgroups of a broader type of δ Scuti and γ Doradus stars, located in the lower part of the Cepheid instability strip. δ Scuti is the p-mode subgroup and γ Doradus is the g-mode subgroup. The luminous variable red giants observed by MACHO and OGLE are low-order radial pulsators among low-mass red giant and asymptotic giant branch stars. The excitation and damping mechanism of oscillations for low-temperature stars is studied in detail. Convective flux and turbulent viscosity are consistent damping mechanisms. The damping effect of the convective enthalpy flux is inversely proportional to the frequency of the modes, so it plays an important role in stabilizing the low-order modes and defining the red edge of the Cepheid instability strip. The damping effect of turbulent viscosity reaches its maximum at 3ωτc/16∼1, where τc is the dynamic time scale of turbulent convection and ω is the angular frequency of the modes. Turbulent viscosity is the main damping mechanism for stabilizing the high-order modes of low-temperature variables. The turbulent pressure is, in general, an excitation mechanism; it reaches maximum at 3ωτc/4∼1, and it plays an important role for the excitation of red variables. Convection is not, in fact, a pure damping effect for stellar oscillations. The relative contributions of turbulent pressure, turbulent viscosity, and convective enthalpy flux for excitation and damping effects change with stellar parameters (mass, luminosity, effective temperature) and with the radial order and spherical harmonic degree of the oscillation mode; therefore, the combined effect of convection is sometimes damping, and sometimes the excitation of oscillations. Our research shows that, for low-luminosity red giants, the low-order modes are pulsationally stable, while the intermediate- and high-order modes are unstable. Toward higher luminosity, the range of unstable modes shifts gradually toward the lower order. All of the intermediate- and high-order modes become stable, and a few low-order modes become unstable for high-luminosity red giants. They show the typical pulsational characteristics of Mira-like variables. The variable red giants are, at least for the high-luminosity RGs, self-excited. For red giants, the frequency of the maximally unstable modes predicted by our theory is similar to that given by the semi-empirical scaling relation.

Surface effects and turbulent pressure

The application of the full potential of stellar seismology is made difficult by the improper modelling of the upper-most layers of solar-like stars and their influence on the modelled frequencies. Our knowledge of these so-called ‘surface effects’ has improved thanks to the use of 3D hydrodynamical simulations, however, the calculation of eigenfrequencies relies on empirical models for the description of the Lagrangian perturbation of turbulent pressure, namely: the reduced-Γ1 model (RGM) and the gas-Γ1 model (GGM). Starting from the fully compressible turbulence equations, we derived both the GGM and RGM models by using a closure to model the flux of turbulent kinetic energy. We find that both models originate from two terms: the source of turbulent pressure due to compression produced by the oscillations and the divergence of the flux of turbulent pressure. We also demonstrate that they are both compatible with the adiabatic approximation and, additionally, that they imply a number of questionable assumptions, mainly with respect to mode physics. Among other hypotheses, it is necessary to neglect the Lagrangian perturbation of the dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy into heat and the Lagrangian perturbation of buoyancy work.