Impact of the wind field at the complex terrain site Perdigão on the surface pressure fluctuations of a wind turbine

The influence of turbulent inflow, as it occurs in complex terrain, on the unsteady surface pressure distributions on a wind turbine is investigated numerically. A method is presented that enables an accurate reproduction of the inflow to the turbine in the complex terrain in Perdigao, Portugal. For this purpose, a precursor simulation with the steady-state atmospheric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code E-Wind and a high-resolution Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES) with FLOWer is performed. The conservation of the flow field is validated by a comparison with measurements from the 2017 field campaign in Perdigao. Then, the resolved fluid-structure coupled generic wind turbine I82 is included in the FLOWer simulation to investigate the impact of the complex terrain inflow on the surface pressure fluctuations on tower and blades. A comparison with simulations of the same turbine in flat terrain with simpler inflows shows that the turbine in complex terrain has a significantly different vortex shedding at the tower, which dominates the periodic pressure fluctuations at the tower sides and back. However, the dominant source of periodic pressure fluctuations on the upper part of the tower, the blade-tower interaction, is hardly altered by the terrain flow. The pressure fluctuations on the blade have a rather broadband characteristic, caused by the interaction of the leading edge with the inflow turbulence. In general, it is shown that a sophisticated DDES of the complex terrain plays a decisive role in the unsteady aerodynamics of the turbine, due to its specific flow characteristic.

An Investigation of Ultrasonic-Assisted Electrochemical Machining of Micro-Hole Array

This paper uses an ultrasonic vibration-integrated array electrode for 301 stainless steel micro-hole drilling. The influence of machining parameters such as ultrasonic vibration amplitude, working voltage, pulse-off time and electrode feed rate on different processing characteristics are discussed. The experimental results show that the ultrasonic-assisted electrode array vibrating generates a periodic pressure difference for the electrolyte. The periodic pressure difference forms a pumping effect and a cavitation effect. The two effects can effectively renew the electrolyte in the machining gap and discharge the reaction product, gas and reaction heat from the gap. Machining speed can be increased by over 500% when the ultrasonic amplitude increases from 0.94 μm to 2.87 μm. Micro-hole drilling with the optimum experimental parameter combination of ultrasonic amplitude 2.87 μm, working voltage 11 V, pulse-off time 50 μs and electrode feed rate 5 μm/s can result in a minimum average diagonal length and a smaller amount of variation in diagonal length. It also improves the inlet and outlet taper angle of micro-holes.

Analytical and numerical study for oscillatory flow of viscoelastic fluid in a tube with isosceles right triangular cross section

A theoretical investigation is carried out to analyze the oscillatory flow of second-grade fluid under the periodic pressure gradient in a long tube of isosceles right triangular cross section in the present study. The analytical expressions for the velocity profile and phase difference are obtained. The numerical solutions are calculated by using the finite difference method with Crank–Nicolson (C–N) scheme. In comparison with the Newtonian fluid (λ = 0), the effects of retardation time, Deborah number and Womersley number on the velocity profile and phase difference are discussed numerically and graphically. For smaller Womersley number, the behavior of second-grade fluid is dominated by viscosity. For larger Womersley number α = 20, the flow becomes more difficult to be generated under periodic pressure gradient with increasing retardation time. Furthermore, the analytical expressions of the mean velocity amplitude and phase difference are given explicitly for discussing.

Experimental Resonances in Viscoelastic Microfluidics

Pulsatile flows of viscoelastic fluids are very important for lab-on-a-chip devices, because most biofluids have viscoelastic character and respond distinctively to different periodic forcing. They are also very important for organ-on-a-chip devices, where the natural mechanical conditions of cells are emulated. The resonance frequency of a fluid refers to a particular pulsatile periodicity of the pressure gradient that maximizes the amplitude of flow velocity. For viscoelastic fluids, this one has been measured experimentally only at macroscales, since fine tuning of rheological properties and system size is needed to observe it at microscales. We study the dynamics of a pulsatile (zero-mean flow) fluid slug formed by a viscoelastic fluid bounded by two air-fluid interfaces, in a microchannel of polymethyl methacrylate. We drive the fluid slug by a single-mode periodic pressure drop, imposed by a piezoactuator. We use three biocompatible polymer solutions of polyethylene oxide as model viscoelastic fluids, and find resonances. We propose a model accounting for surface tension and fluid viscoelasticity that has an excellent agreement with our experimental findings. It also provides an alternative way of measuring relaxation times. We validate the method with parameters reported in the literature for two of the solutions, and estimate the relaxation time for the third one.

Ice giant seismology: prospecting for normal modes

The properties of ice giant normal mode oscillations, including their periods, spatial structure, stratospheric amplitudes and relative influence on the external gravity field, are surveyed for the purpose of formulating the best strategy for their eventual detection. Measurement requirements for detecting a normal mode's periodic pressure and temperature variations, including a possible stratospheric signal, and its effect on the external gravity field, are discussed in terms of its radial velocity amplitude at the 1 bar pressure level. It is found that for reasonable amplitudes, detection of the pressure and temperature variations of ice giant normal modes presents an extraordinary technical challenge. The prospects for detecting their gravitational influence on an orbiting spacecraft are more promising, with requirements that lie within the range of current technology. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Future exploration of ice giant systems’.

Multifactor Evaluation of Multiple Service Support and Optimization of Working Resistance of New Support Based on Dynamic Pressure

The scientific and feasible method is extremely important for the evaluation of whether the support of coal mines needs to be scrapped, but it has not been formed. If the support cannot be continued to use, the determined reasonable working resistance of the support before the primary mining of coal seam should be optimized. Based on the field measurement and theoretical analysis, the concept of the actual rated working resistance of the support is proposed and analyzed accurately; the total amount of roof subsidence of circulating multiple coal cutting cycles during periodic pressure is calculated; the support performance is evaluated by multifactors; a new method for determining the reasonable working resistance of the support based on dynamic pressure is proposed. The study found that the safety valve of support is opened in advance and the resistance loss rate is large; the total amount of roof subsidence during periodic pressure is high; FAHP + EWM evaluation score of support system performance is 63.31 points. The scientific evaluation of multifactors showed that the support has reached service life, and as a result, the new 105 working faces required replacement with new support. The reasonable working resistance of the support in the 3-1 coal seam is optimized according to the new method based on dynamic pressure. This study can greatly improve the safety of roof control in the working face.

Unsteady Laminar Pulsating Flow in a Saturated Porous Microchannel in the Presence of Electrical Double-Layer Effects

The forced convection of a pulsating flow in a saturated porous parallel-plates microchannel driven by a periodic pressure in the presence of an electrical double layer is investigated. Such configuration is very important but seldom considered in literature. Analytical solutions for electrical, momentum, and temperature fields are obtained by means of a substitution approach. The results show that the flow fields depend highly on the electro-osmotic parameter κ, the angular velocity parameter Ω, as well as the Darcy number Da.

Investigation of the periodic axisymmetric flow of a viscoelastic fluid through a cylindrical tube

A generalized Womersley model of a nonstationary axisymmetric flow of a viscous incompressible fluid through a tube of circular cross-section to periodic pressure fluctuations at the inlet of the tube is obtained due for the case of a fluid with complicated rheology. The rheological parameters of the fluid are viscosity and four relaxation coefficients for strains and stresses of the first and second order. Such rheology is proper to the non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluids with mesostructure, namely technical and biological micro/ nanofluids. It was shown that with the increase of the relaxation coefficients of the first/second order the flow rate, the average and maximum velocities decrease/increase, accordingly. Simultaneous changes in these parameters can lead to complex changes in the velocity profile, especially for higher harmonics. The studied regularities can explain the deviations of the flow parameters of different micro/nanofluids from the values predicted by the classical Womersley solution for a homogeneous Newtonian fluid, which does not take into account viscous dissipation during the rearrangement of the fluid mesostructure.