WEDM oriented micro gear design and mesh simulation

For the design of gears manufactured with wire electrical discharge machining （WEDM） technology, determination of the primary gear parameters is discussed considering the characteristics of the machining method. Some constraint conditions on gear parameters are abnegated, which makes micro gear design more flexible. Based on gear mesh theory, the algorithm of generating gear tooth profiles is studied, which includes involute and non-involute curve segments. The phenomena of tooth profile interferences during gear mesh are analyzed, and a gear mesh simulation algorithm is designed. Based on ACIS, the WEDM oriented software for the design and mesh simulation of micro gears is developed, by which the modeling, mesh simulation and interference check can be implemented. An experiment is carried out to design and manufacture a pair of micro involute gears, and the proposed method is proved feasible.

Effects of mesh style and grid convergence on numerical simulation accuracy of centrifugal pump

In order to evaluate the effects of mesh generation techniques and grid convergence on pump performance in centrifugal pump model, three widely used mesh styles including structured hexahedral, unstructured tetrahedral and hybrid prismatic/tetrahedral meshes were generated for a centrifugal pump model. And quantitative grid convergence was assessed based on a grid convergence index(GCI), which accounts for the degree of grid refinement. The structured, unstructured or hybrid meshes are found to have certain difference for velocity distributions in impeller with the change of grid cell number. And the simulation results have errors to different degrees compared with experimental data. The GCI-value for structured meshes calculated is lower than that for the unstructured and hybrid meshes. Meanwhile, the structured meshes are observed to get more vortexes in impeller passage.Nevertheless, the hybrid meshes are found to have larger low-velocity area at outlet and more secondary vortexes at a specified location than structured meshes and unstructured meshes.

Loaded multi-tooth contact analysis and calculation for contact stress of face-gear drive with spur involute pinion

The analytical method based on "Hertz theory on normal contact of elastic solids" and the numerical method based on finite element method (FEM) calculating the contact stress of face-gear drive with spur involute pinion were introduced, and their relative errors are below 10%, except edge contact, which turns out that these two methods can compute contact stress of face-gear drive correctly and effectively. An agreement of the localized bearing contact stress is gotten for these two methods, making sure that the calculation results of FEM are reliable. The loaded meshing simulations of multi-tooth FEM model were developed, and the determination of the transmission error and the maximal load distribution factor of face-gear drive under torques were given. A formula for the maximal load distribution factor was proposed. By introducing the maximal load distribution factor in multi-tooth contact zone, a method for calculating the maximal contact stress in multi-tooth contact can be given. Compared to FEM, the results of these formulae are proved to be reliable, and the relative errors are below 10%.

Quasi Ellipsoid Gear Surface Reconstruction Based on Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Method and Transmission Characteristic

Special transmission 3D model simulation must be based on surface discretization and reconstruction, but special transmission usually has complicated tooth shape and movement, so present software can＇t provide technical support for special transmission 3D model simulation. Currently, theoretical calculation and experimental method are difficult to exactly solve special transmission contact analysis problem. How to reduce calculation and computer memories consume and meet calculation precision is key to resolve special transmission contact analysis problem. According to 3D model simulation and surface reconstruction of quasi ellipsoid gear is difficulty, this paper employes meshless local Petrov-Galerkin （MLPG） method. In order to reduce calculation and computer memories consume, we disperse tooth mesh into finite points--sparseness points cloud or grid mesh, and then we do interpolation reconstruction in some necessary place of the 3D surface model during analysis. Moving least square method （MLSM） is employed for tooth mesh interpolation reconstruction, there are some advantages to do interpolation by means of MLSM, such as high precision, good flexibility and no require of tooth mesh discretization into units. We input the quasi ellipsoid gear reconstruction model into simulation software, we complete tooth meshing simulation. Simulation transmission ratio during meshing period was obtained, compared with theoretical transmission ratio, the result inosculate preferably. The method using curve reconstruction realizes surface reconstruction, reduce simulation calculation enormously, so special gears simulation can be realized by minitype computer. The method provides a novel solution for special transmission 3D model simulation analysis and contact analysis.

Numerical simulation of heat transfer process in cement grate cooler based on dynamic mesh technique

A grate cooler is key equipment in quenching clinker and recovering heat in cement production. A two-dimensional numerical model based on a 5000 t/d cement plant is proposed to for a study on the gas-solid coupled heat transfer process between the cooling air and clinker in a grate cooler. In this study, we use the Fluent dynamic mesh technique and porous media model through which the transient temperature distribution with the clinker motion process and steady temperature and pressure distribution are obtained. We validate the numerical model with the operating data of the cooling air outlet temperature. Then, we discuss the amount of mid-temperature air outlet and average diameter of clinker particles, which affect the heat effective utilization and cooling air pressure drop in clinker layer. We found that after adding one more mid-temperature air outlet, the average temperature of the air flowing into the heat recovery boiler increases by 29.04℃ and the ratio of heat effective utilization increases by 5.3%. This means heat recovery is more effective on adding one more mid-temperature air outlet. Further, the smaller the clinker particles, the more is the pressure drop in clinker layer; thus more power consumption is needed by the cooling fan.

Numerical simulation of three-dimensional breaking waves and its interaction with a vertical circular cylinder

Wave breaking plays an important role in wave-structure interaction. A novel control volume finite element method with adaptive unstructured meshes is employed here to study 3-D breaking waves. The numerical framework consists of a ＂volume of fluid＂ type method for the interface capturing and adaptive unstructured meshes to improve computational efficiency. The numerical model is validated against experimental measurements of breaking wave over a sloping beach and is then used to study the breaking wave impact on a vertical circular cylinder on a slope. Detailed complex interfacial structures during wave impact, such as plunging jet formation and splash-up are captured in the simulation, demonstrating the capability of the present method.

Transient simulation of regression rate on thrust regulation process in hybrid rocket motor

The main goal of this paper is to study the characteristics of regression rate of solid grain during thrust regulation process. For this purpose, an unsteady numerical model of regression rate is established. Gas–solid coupling is considered between the solid grain surface and combustion gas.Dynamic mesh is used to simulate the regression process of the solid fuel surface. Based on this model, numerical simulations on a H2O2/HTPB（hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene） hybrid motor have been performed in the flow control process. The simulation results show that under the step change of the oxidizer mass flow rate condition, the regression rate cannot reach a stable value instantly because the flow field requires a short time period to adjust. The regression rate increases with the linear gain of oxidizer mass flow rate, and has a higher slope than the relative inlet function of oxidizer flow rate. A shorter regulation time can cause a higher regression rate during regulation process. The results also show that transient calculation can better simulate the instantaneous regression rate in the operation process.

Lattice Boltzmann method for simulating particle-fluid interactions

The lattice Boltzmann method （LBM） has gained increasing popularity in the last two decades as an alternative numerical approach for solving fluid flow problems. One of the most active research areas in the LBM is its application in particle-fluid systems, where the advantage of the LBM in efficiency and parallel scalability has made it superior to many other direct numerical simulation （DNS） techniques. This article intends to provide a brief review of the application of the LBM in particle-fluid systems. The numerical techniques in the LBM pertaining to simulations of particles are discussed, with emphasis on the advanced treatment for boundary conditions on the particle-fluid interface. Other numerical issues, such as the effect of the internal fluid, are also briefly described. Additionally, recent efforts in using the LBM to obtain closures for particle-fluid drag force are also reviewed.