Numerical study of coorbital thermal torques on cold or hot satellites

ABSTRACT We evaluate the thermal torques exerted on low-mass planets embedded in gaseous protoplanetary discs with thermal diffusion, by means of high-resolution three-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations. We confirm that thermal torques essentially depend on the offset between the planet and its corotation, and find a good agreement with analytic estimates when this offset is small compared to the size of the thermal disturbance. For larger offsets that may be attained in discs with a large pressure gradient or a small thermal diffusivity, thermal torques tend towards an asymptotic value broadly compatible with results from a dynamical friction calculation in an unsheared medium. We perform a convergence study and find that the thermal disturbance must be resolved over typically 10 zones for a decent agreement with analytic predictions. We find that the luminosity at which the net thermal torque changes sign matches that predicted by linear theory within a few percents. Our study confirms that thermal torques usually supersede Lindblad and corotation torques by almost an order of magnitude for low-mass planets. As we increase the planetary mass, we find that the ratio of thermal torques to Lindblad and corotation torques is progressively reduced, and that the thermal disturbance is increasingly distorted by the horseshoe flow. Overall, we find that thermal torques are dominant for masses up to an order of magnitude larger than implemented in recent models of planetary population synthesis. We finally briefly discuss the case of stellar or intermediate-mass objects embedded in discs around active galactic nuclei.

Modeling of Cavitation Induced Fuel Atomization and Breakup Processes

Recent experimental and modeling studies have indicated that turbulence and cavitation behaviors within a realistic fuel injector have significant effects on the liquid atomization and spray processes. In addition to the breakup process induced by aerodynamic force at the liquid/gas interface, the effects of flow characteristics including turbulence and cavitation inside the injector nozzle on atomization have been shown to be important. The cavitation within the injector is complicated by the turbulent flow under large pressure gradient and geometry of the injector orifice. We have previously developed the “T-blob” and “T-TAB” model, for liquid fuel primary and secondary breakup predictions respectively, to account for liquid turbulence effects within the injector. The objective of this study is to further account for the cavitation effect in the atomization process of a cylindrical liquid jet. In the primary breakup model, the level of the turbulence effect on the liquid breakup depends on the characteristic scales and the initial flow conditions. These scales are further modified to include the cavitation effect. The drop size formed is estimated based on the energy distribution among wave, turbulence and cavitation modes. This paper describes theoretical development of the current model. Both non-evaporating and evaporating spray cases will be investigated to validate the newly developed cavitation-induced atomization model.

Numerical study on characteristics of unsteady flow in a centrifugal pump volute at partial load condition

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the detailed flow field and cavitation effect in the centrifugal pump volute at partial load condition. Design/methodology/approach – Unsteady flows in a centrifugal pump volute at non-cavitation and cavitation conditions are investigated by using a computation fluid dynamics framework combining the re-normalization group k-e turbulence model and the mass transport cavitation model. Findings – The flow field in pump volute is very complicated at part load condition with large pressure gradient and intensive vortex movement. Under cavitation conditions, the dominant frequency for most of the monitoring points in volute transit from the blade passing frequency to a lower frequency. Generally, the maximum amplitudes of pressure fluctuations in volute at serious cavitation condition is twice than that at non-cavitation condition because of the violent disturbances caused by cavitation shedding and explosion. Originality/value – The detailed flow field and cavitation effect in the centrifugal pump volute at partial load condition are revealed and analysed.

Small Scale Flow Structure Evolution During Mechanical Heart Valve Closure

Despite half a century of use, mechanical heart valves still require further research to reduce the non-physiologic nature of the flow field, which is the source of potential medical complications, of which the most serious complication is thrombus formation [1]. In the systolic phase of the flow, excessive fluid stresses are generated by the non-physiologic flow patterns [2, 3]. In the closed valve position, a large pressure gradient is imposed across the device which leads to the generation of strong and damaging small-scale leakage flows that entrain platelets such that they are exposed to elevated stresses for excessive time durations [4–6].

Immersed Boundary-Lattice Boltzmann Coupling Scheme for Fluid-Structure Interaction with Flexible Boundary

Coupling the immersed boundary (IB) method and the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method might be a promising approach to simulate fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems with flexible structures and complex boundaries, because the former is a general simulation method for FSIs in biological systems, the latter is an efficient scheme for fluid flow simulations, and both of them work on regular Cartesian grids. In this paper an IB-LB coupling scheme is proposed and its feasibility is verified. The scheme is suitable for FSI problems concerning rapid flexible boundary motion and a large pressure gradient across the boundary. We first analyze the respective concepts, formulae and advantages of the IB and LB methods, and then explain the coupling strategy and detailed implementation procedures. To verify the effectiveness and accuracy, FSI problems arising from the relaxation of a distorted balloon immersed in a viscous fluid, an unsteady wake flow caused by an impulsively started circular cylinder at Reynolds number 9500, and an unsteady vortex shedding flow past a suddenly started rotating circular cylinder at Reynolds number 1000 are simulated. The first example is a benchmark case for flexible boundary FSI with a large pressure gradient across the boundary, the second is a fixed complex boundary problem, and the third is a typical moving boundary example. The results are in good agreement with the analytical and existing numerical data. It is shown that the proposed scheme is capable of modeling flexible boundary and complex boundary problems at a second-order spatial convergence; the volume leakage defect of the conventional IB method has been remedied by using a new method of introducing the unsteady and non-uniform external force; and the LB method makes the IB method simulation simpler and more efficient.

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE INTERACTION MECHANISM OF TWO BUBBLES

In the frame of inviscid and incompressible fluids without taking into consideration of surface tension effects, the axisymmetric evolution of two buoyancy-driven bubbles in an infinite and initially stationary liquid are investigated numerically by VOF method. The numerical experiments are performed for two bubbles with same size, with the following one being half of the leading one, and with the leading one being half of the following one, and for different bubble distances. The ratio of gas density to liquid density is 0.001. It is found by numerical experiment that when the distance between the two bubbles is greater than or equal to one and half of the bigger bubble radius, the interaction is very weak and the two bubbles evolute like isolated ones rising in an infinite liquid. When the two bubbles come closer, the leading bubble itself evolutes like an isolated one rising in an infinite liquid. However, due to the smaller distance between the two bubbles, large pressure gradient forms in the liquid region near the top of the following bubble, which causes the upward stretch of its top part no matter what sizes of the two bubbles are. When the distance between the two bubbles is less than or equal to three-tenth of the bigger bubble radius, before the liquid jet behind the leading bubble fully developed, the top part of the following bubble has already been sucked into the leading one, giving a pear-like shape. Soon after the following bubble merges with the leading one. It is also found that for the smaller bubble, its transition to toroidal is always faster than that of the bigger one because of its smaller size. The mechanism of the above phenomena has been analyzed numerically.