The influence of fluid–structure interaction on cloud cavitation about a rigid and a flexible hydrofoil. Part 3

Experimental studies of the influence of fluid–structure interaction on cloud cavitation about a stiff stainless steel (SS) and a flexible composite (CF) hydrofoil have been presented in Parts I (Smith et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 896, 2020a, p. A1) and II (Smith et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 897, 2020b, p. A28). This work further analyses the data and complements the measurements with reduced-order model predictions to explain the complex response. A two degrees-of-freedom steady-state model is used to explain why the tip bending and twisting deformations are much higher for the CF hydrofoil, while the hydrodynamic load coefficients are very similar. A one degree-of-freedom dynamic model, which considers the spanwise bending deflection only, is used to capture the dynamic response of both hydrofoils. Peaks in the frequency response spectrum are observed at the re-entrant jet-driven and shock-wave-driven cavity shedding frequencies, system bending frequency and heterodyne frequencies caused by the mixing of the two cavity shedding frequencies. The predictions capture the increase of the mean system bending frequency and wider bandwidth of frequency modulation with decreasing cavitation number. The results show that, in general, the amplitude of the deformation fluctuation is higher, but the amplitude of the load fluctuation is lower for the CF hydrofoil compared with the SS hydrofoil. Significant dynamic load amplification is observed at subharmonic lock-in when the shock-wave-driven cavity shedding frequency matches with the nearest subharmonic of the system bending frequency of the CF hydrofoil. Both measurements and predictions show an absence of dynamic load amplification at primary lock-in because of the low intensity of cavity load fluctuations with high cavitation number.

RNA Sequencing Reveals Distinct Immune Responses in the Chorioamniotic Membranes of Women with Preterm Labor and Microbial or Sterile Intra-amniotic Inflammation

ABSTRACT Preterm labor precedes premature birth, the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Preterm labor can occur in the context of either microbe-associated intra-amniotic inflammation (i.e., intra-amniotic infection) or intra-amniotic inflammation in the absence of detectable microorganisms (i.e., sterile intra-amniotic inflammation). Both intra-amniotic infection and sterile intra-amniotic inflammation trigger local immune responses that have deleterious effects on fetal life. Yet, the extent of such immune responses in the fetal tissues surrounding the amniotic cavity (i.e., the chorioamniotic membranes) is poorly understood. By using RNA sequencing (RNA seq) as a discovery approach, we found that there were significant transcriptomic differences involving host response to pathogens in the chorioamniotic membranes of women with intra-amniotic infection compared to those from women without inflammation. In addition, the sterile or microbial nature of intra-amniotic inflammation was associated with distinct transcriptomic profiles in the chorioamniotic membranes. Moreover, the immune response in the chorioamniotic membranes of women with sterile intra-amniotic inflammation was milder in nature than that induced by microbes and involved the upregulation of alarmins and inflammasome-related molecules. Lastly, the presence of maternal and fetal inflammatory responses in the placenta was associated with the upregulation of immune processes in the chorioamniotic membranes. Collectively, these findings provide insight into the immune responses against microbes or alarmins that take place in the fetal tissues surrounding the amniotic cavity, shedding light on the immunobiology of preterm labor and birth.

Numerical investigation of the cavitating flow structure with special emphasis on the vortex identification method

The three kinds of vortex identification methods, namely, [Formula: see text] criterion, [Formula: see text] criterion and [Formula: see text] method, are then employed to investigate the physical interactions between the cavitation and vortex dynamics around two-dimensional Clark-Y hydrofoil. The results show that compared to the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] criterion, the [Formula: see text] method can capture the vortex structures with both strong and weak vortices, especially for the weak vortices located in the boundary of the cavity and the back region of the re-entrant flow. A proper value of [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text] method based on the previous studies is then suggested to avoid the pseudo-vortex structure in cavitating flow field due to division by zero. The modified [Formula: see text] method with a proper [Formula: see text] is then applied to analyze the details of vortical structures in the growth of attached cavity, the re-entrant flow development stage and the cloud cavity shedding stage. The results show that the vortical structures are captured in the boundary and rear region of the attached cavity, the intensity and complexity of strong vortices in the rear boundary region of re-entrant flow increased with its development, and the strength and area of vortical structures at the trailing edge of hydrofoil increased with propulsion of cloud cavity before it sheds completely.

Compressibility Effects on Cavity Dynamics behind a Two-Dimensional Wedge

To understand cavity dynamics, many experimental and computational studies have been conducted for many decades. As computational methods, incompressible, isothermal compressible, and fully compressible flow solvers were used for the purpose. In the present study, to understand the compressibility effect on cavity dynamics, both incompressible and fully compressible flow solvers were developed, respectively. Experiments were also carried out in a cavitation tunnel to compare with the computational results. The cavity shedding dynamics, re-entrant jet, transition from bounded shear layer vortices to Karman vortices, and pressure and velocity contours behind the two-dimensional wedge by the two developed solvers were compared at various cavitation numbers.

Dynamic Behaviors of Re-Entrant Jet and Cavity Shedding During Transitional Cavity Oscillation on NACA0015 Hydrofoil

Transitional cavity shedding is known as the stage of attached cavitation with high instability and distinct periodicity. In this study, we experimentally investigated the dynamic characteristics of transitional cavity (0.8≤L/c<1) shedding on NACA0015 hydrofoil with high-speed video observation and synchronous pressure measurement. In the partial cavity (0.4<L/c<0.8) oscillation, the sheet cavitation grew along the chord with good spanwise uniformity, and the middle-entrant jet played a dominant role in cavity shedding. Meanwhile, in the transitional cavity oscillation, the previous shedding cavity exhibited a prohibitive effect on the growth of sheet cavitation on the hydrofoil, resulting in concave cavity closure line. Moreover, two symmetrical side-entrant jets originated at the near-wall ends and induced the two-stage shedding phenomenon. The aft and fore parts of the sheet cavitation shed separated as different forms and eventually merged into the large-scale cloud cavity.

Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Attached Cavitating Flows around Different Twisted Hydrofoils

In this paper, the turbulent attached cavitating flows around two different twisted hydrofoils, named as NACA0009 and Clark-y, are studied numerically, with emphasis on cavity shedding dynamic behavior and the turbulence flow structures. The computational method of large eddy simulation (LES) coupled with a homogeneous cavitation model is applied and assessed by previous experimental data. It was found that the predicted results were in good agreement with that of the experiment. The unsteady cavity morphology of the two hydrofoils undergoes a similar quasi-periodic process, but has different shedding dynamic behavior. The scale of the U-type shedding structures forming on the suction surface of NACA0009 is larger than that of Clark-y. This phenomenon is also present in the iso-surface distributions of Q-criterion. Otherwise, the time-averaged cavity morphology is dramatically different for the two hydrofoils, and it is found that the attached location of the cavity is closely related to the hydrofoil geometry. The time fluctuation of the lift force coefficients is affected significantly by the cavity shedding dynamics. Compared with NACA0009, the lift force of Clark-y shows more fluctuation, due to its complicated shedding behavior. Further analysis of the turbulent structure indicates that the more violent shedding behaviors can induce higher levels of turbulence velocity fluctuations.