Parametric and V&V study in a fundamental CFD process: revisiting the lid-driven cavity flow

Purpose The openings on aircraft structures can be modeled from an aerodynamical point of view as lid-driven cavities (LDC). This paper aims to show the primary verification and validation (V&V) process in computational fluid dynamics (CFD, and to investigate the influences of numerical settings on the efficiency and accuracy for solving the LDC problem. Design/methodology/approach To dig into the details of CFD approaches, this paper outlines the design, implementation, V&V and results of an efficient explicit algorithm. The parametric study is performed thoroughly focusing on various iteration methods, grid density discretization terms and Reynolds number effects. Findings This study parameterized the numerical implementation which provides empirical insights into how computational accuracy and efficiency are affected by changing numerical settings. At a low Reynolds number (not over 1,000), the time-derivative preconditioning is necessary, and k = 0.1 can be the optimal value to guarantee the efficiency, as well as the stability. A larger artificial viscosity (c = 1/16) would relieve the calculating oscillation issue but proportionally increase the discretization error. Furthermore, the iteration method and the mesh quality are two key factors that affect the convergence efficiency, thus need to be selected “wisely”. Practical implications The study shows how numerical implementation can enhance an accurate and efficient solution. This workflow can be used to determine the best parameter settings whenever CFD researchers applying this LDC problem as a complementary design tool for testing newly developed solvers. Originality/value The studied LDC problem is representative of CFD analysis in real aircraft structures. These numerical simulations provide a cost-effective and convenient tool to understand the parameter sensitivity, solution receptivity and physics of the CFD process.

PIV measurement of buffer and logarithmic layers with detached eddies which mimics the neutral atmospheric surface layer

Accurate comprehension of turbulence characteristics in the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) under near neutral conditions, which is a lower part of the atmospheric boundary layer and a very high-Re number flow, is critically required in view of the increasing and broadening use of numerical weather prediction models. The models need to estimate turbulence fluxes of momentum, heat and moisture in the ASL as boundary conditions. On the other hand, observations (Högström 1990, Drobinski et al. 2007) have revealed that the fluxes under near-neutral conditions are often inconsistent with Monin-Obukhof theory, which has been widely used in models. The observations were conducted over flat surfaces with homogeneous roughness, and thus the violation from the theory might not be due to the underlying surface conditions. Thus, aiming to investigate an origin of the violation from the theory, we have carried out a wind tunnel experiment on the logarithmic layer along a smooth flat wall with a larger-scale disturbance, which mimics the near-neutral atmospheric surface layer (Hattori et al. 2010). In the present study, we especially examine a PIV measurement with a long-distance microscope lens to discuss the interaction of turbulences structures between buffer and logarithmic layers, which must give a clue on Reynolds number effects

Experimental study of low Reynolds number effects on aerodynamics of smooth and sinusoidal leading-edge wings in the vicinity of the ground

Present study experimentally investigates the effects of ground clearance and Reynolds number on aerodynamic coefficients of smooth and sinusoidal leading-edge wings. Wind tunnel tests are conducted over a wide range of angles of attack from zero to 36 degrees, low Reynolds numbers of 30,000, 45,000 and 60,000, and also ground clearances of 0.5, 1 and ∞. Results showed that reduction of ground clearance and increment of Reynolds number cause the lift coefficient and the lift to drag ratio of both wings to be enhanced. Furthermore, the effects of Reynolds number and ground clearance on the smooth leading-edge wing are more than the sinusoidal leading-edge one. In addition, the sinusoidal leading-edge wing shows an excellent performance in the poststall region due to producing a higher lift and also by delaying the stall angle compared to the smooth leading-edge wing.

Propeller aerodynamic optimisation to minimise energy consumption for electric fixed-wing aircraft

An electric propulsion model for propeller-driven aircraft is developed with the aim of minimising the power consumption for a given airspeed and thrust. Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT) is employed for propeller performance predictions fed with aerodynamic aerofoil data obtained from a proposed combined Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)–Montgomerie method, which is also validated. The Two-Dimensional (2D) aerofoil data are corrected to consider compressibility, three-dimensional, viscous and Reynolds-number effects. The BEMT model showed adequate fitting with experimental data from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) database. Additionally, Goldstein optimisation via vortex theory is employed to design pitch and chord distributions minimising the induced losses of the propeller. Particle swarm optimisation is employed to find the optimal value for a wide range of geometrical and operational parameters considering some constraints. The optimisation algorithm is validated through a study case where an existing optimisation problem is approached, leading to very similar results. Some trends and insights are obtained from the study case and discussed regarding the design of an optimal propulsion system. Finally, CFD simulations of the study case are carried out, showing a slight relative error of BEMT.