A Unique Modelling Strategy to Dynamically Simulate the Performance of a Lobe Pump for Industrial Applications

The performance of a newly designed tri-lobe industrial lobe pump of high capacity is simulated by using commercial CFD solver Ansys Fluent. A combination of user-defined-functions and meshing strategies is employed to capture the rotation of the lobes. The numerical model is validated by comparing the simulated results with the literature values. The processes of suction, displacement, compression and exhaust are accurately captured in the transient simulation. The fluid pressure value remains in the range of inlet pressure value till the processes of suction and displacement are over. The instantaneous process of compression is accurately captured in the simulation. The movement of a particular working chamber is traced along the gradual degree of lobe’s rotation. At five different degrees of lobe’s rotation, pressure contour plots are reported which clearly shows the pressure values inside the working chamber. Each pressure value inside the working chamber conforms to the particular process in which the working chamber is operating. Finally, the power requirement at the shaft of rotation is estimated from the simulated values. The estimated value of power requirement is 3.61 BHP FHP whereas the same calculated theoretically is 3 BHP FHP. The discrepancy is attributed to the assumption of symmetry of blower along the thickness.

Time-Domain Analysis of Body Freedom Flutter Based on 6DOF Equation

The reduced weight and improved efficiency of modern aeronautical structures result in a decreasing separation of frequency ranges of rigid and elastic modes.Particularly,a high-aspect-ratio flexible flying wing is prone to body freedomflutter(BFF),which is a result of coupling of the rigid body short-periodmodewith 1st wing bendingmode.Accurate prediction of the BFF characteristics is helpful to reflect the attitude changes of the vehicle intuitively and design the active flutter suppression control law.Instead of using the rigid body mode,this work simulates the rigid bodymotion of the model by using the six-degree-of-freedom(6DOF)equation.A dynamicmesh generation strategy particularly suitable for BFF simulation of free flying aircraft is developed.An accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics/Computational Structural Dynamics/six-degree-of-freedom equation(CFD/CSD/6DOF)-based BFF prediction method is proposed.Firstly,the time-domain CFD/CSD method is used to calculate the static equilibrium state of the model.Based on this state,the CFD/CSD/6DOF equation is solved in time domain to evaluate the structural response of themodel.Then combinedwith the variable stiffnessmethod,the critical flutter point of the model is obtained.This method is applied to the BFF calculation of a flyingwing model.The calculation results of the BFF characteristics of the model agree well with those fromthe modalmethod andNastran software.Finally,the method is used to analyze the influence factors of BFF.The analysis results show that the flutter speed can be improved by either releasing plunge constraint or moving the center ofmass forward or increasing the pitch inertia.

Numerical Investigation of the Aerodynamic Performance Affected by Spiral Inlet and Outlet in a Positive Displacement Blower

The flow in the positive displacement blower is very complex.The existing two-dimensional numerical simulation cannot provide the detailed flow information,especially flow characteristics along the axial direction,which is unfavorable to improve the performance of positive displacement blower.To investigate the effects of spiral inlet and outlet on the aerodynamic performance of positive displacement blower,three-dimensional unsteady flow characteristics in a three-lobe positive displacement blower with and without the spiral inlet and outlet are simulated by solving Navier-Stokes equations coupled with RNG k-ε turbulent model.In the numerical simulation,the dynamic mesh technique and overset mesh updating method are used.The computational results are compared with the experimental measurements on the variation of flow rate with the outlet pressure to verify the validity of the numerical method presented.The results show that the mass flow rate with the change of pressure is slightly affected by the application of spiral inlet and outlet,but the internal flow state is largely affected.In the exhaust region,the fluctuations of pressure,velocity and temperature as well as the average values of velocity are significantly reduced.This illustrates that the spiral outlet can effectively suppress the fluctuations of pressure,thus reducing reflux shock and energy dissipation.In the intake area,the average value of pressure,velocity and temperature are slightly declined,but the fluctuations of them are significantly reduced,indicating that the spiral inlet plays the role in making the flow more stable.The numerical results obtained reveal the three-dimensional flow characteristics of the positive displacement blower with spiral inlet and outlet,and provide useful reference to improve performance and empirical correction in the noise-reduction design of the positive displacement blowers.

Numerical study on DPM dispersion and distribution in an underground development face based on dynamic mesh

In 2012,the International Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC)classified diesel particulate matter(DPM)as a carcinogen to human.With the increased usage of diesel equipment in underground mines,miners have a high risk of over-exposure to DPM,which has drawn many concerns from the public.This study used computational fluid dynamics(CFD)to analyse the DPM dispersion and concentration distribution characteristics in an underground development face based on an onsite experiment.The DPM emitted from a moving loader under a forcing auxiliary ventilation system was simulated.The motion of the load-haul-dump(LHD)in the tunnel was represented by a dynamic mesh method.The species transport approach was applied to study the DPM behaviours.High DPM concentration zones were then identified based on the simulation results.The results could provide guidelines for work practices and be helpful to an optimum auxiliary ventilation design to reduce underground miner exposure.

Numerical computation and analysis of high-speed autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) moving in head sea based on dynamic mesh

Autonomous underwater vehicles （AUVs） navigating on the sea surface are usually required to complete the communication tasks in complex sea conditions. The movement forms and flow field characteristics of a multi-moving state AUV navigating in head sea at high speed were studied. The mathematical model on longitudinal motion of the high-speed AUV in head sea was established with considering the hydrodynamic lift based on strip theory, which was solved to get the heave and pitch of the AUV by Gaussian elimination method. Based on this, computational fluid dynamics （CFD） method was used to establish the mathematical model of the unsteady viscous flow around the AUV with considering free surface effort by using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） equations, shear-stress transport （SST） k-w model and volume of fluid （VOF） model. The three-dimensional numerical wave in the computational field was realized through defining the unsteady inlet boundary condition. The motion forms of the AUV navigating in head sea at high speed were carried out by the program source code of user-defined function （UDF） based on dynamic mesh. The hydrodynamic parameters of the AUV such as drag, lift, pitch torque, velocity, pressure and wave profile were got, which reflect well the real ambient flow field of the AUV navigating in head sea at high speed. The computational wave profile agrees well with the experimental phenomenon of a wave-piercing surface vehicle. The force law of the AUV under the impacts of waves was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, which provides an effective theoretical guidance and technical support for the dynamics research and shape design of the AUV in real complex environnaent.

Mesh Generation and Dynamic Mesh Management for KIVA-3V

To improve mesh quality for KIVA-3V a method has been developed for rapid mesh generation and dynamic mesh management with moving valves for internal combustion engines. Two phases are included in rapid mesh generation： the initial mesh generation and the mesh pre-treatment. In the second step （pre-treatment）, the connectivity of those cells is generated by a new algorithm added to the KIVA-3V code after the initial mesh generated. In dynamic mesh management phase, a new rezoning algorithm is developed and the basic principle is that the rezoning starts from the moving part. The movement of the adjustment is treated as an ＂earth quake wave＂ propagating to the surrounding vertexes. The amount of coordinate adjustment of the surrounding vertexes is determined by the movement of the epicenter and the distance between the vertexes and the ＂epicenter＂. Finally, a real IC engine mesh is generated and managed aceording to the new method. It gives a new theory and a new method for creating and managing the mesh in IC engine.

Dynamic analysis of new type elastic screen surface with multi degree of freedom and experimental validation

A feasible method was proposed to improve the vibration intensity of screen surface via application of a new type elastic screen surface with multi degree of freedom(NTESSMDF). In the NTESSMDF, the primary robs were coupled to the main screen structure with ends embedded into the elastomers, and the secondary robs were attached to adjacent two primary robs with elastic bands. The dynamic model of vibrating screen with NTESSMDF was established based on Lagrange's equation and the equivalent stiffnesses of the elastomer and elastic band were calculated. According to numerical simulation using the 4th order Runge-Kutta method, the vibration intensity of screen surface can be enhanced substantially with an averaged acceleration amplitude increasing ratio of 72.36%. The primary robs and secondary robs vibrate inversely in steady state, which would result in the friability of materials and avoid stoppage. The experimental results validate the dynamic characteristics with acceleration amplitude rising by62.93% on average, which demonstrates the feasibility of NTESSMDF.

Numerical Prediction of Hydrodynamic Forces on A Ship Passing Through A Lock

While passing through a lock, a ship usually undergoes a steady forward motion at low speed. Owing to the size restriction of lock chamber, the shallow water and bank effects on the hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship may be remarkable, which may have an adverse effect on navigation safety. However, the complicated hydrodynamics is not yet fully understood. This paper focuses on the hydrodynamic forces acting on a ship passing through a lock. The unsteady viscous flow and hydrodynamic forces are calculated by applying an unsteady RANS code with a RNG k-e turbulence model. User-defined function （UDF） is compiled to define the ship motion. Meanwhile, the grid regeneration is dealt with by using the dynamic mesh method and sliding interface technique. Numerical study is carried out for a bulk carrier ship passing through the Pierre Vandamme Lock in Zeebrugge at the model scale. The proposed method is validated by comparing the numerical results with the data of captive model tests. By analyzing the numerical results obtained at different speeds, water depths and eccentricities, the influences of speed, water depth and eccentricity on the hydrodynamic forces are illustrated. The numerical method proposed in this paper can qualitatively predict the ship-lock hydrodynamic interaction. It can provide certain guidance on the manoeuvring and control of ships passing through a lock.

Numerical simulation on rotordynamic characteristics of annular seal under uniform and non-uniform flows

Currently, the flow field of annular seals disturbed by the circular whirl motion of rotors is usually solved using computational fluid dynamics(CFD) to evaluate the five rotordynamic coefficients. The simulations are based on the traditional quasi-steady method. In this work, an improved quasi-steady method along with the transient method was presented to compute the rotordynamic coefficients of a long seal. By comparisons with experimental data, the shortcomings of quasi-steady methods have been identified. Then, the effects of non-uniform incoming flow on seal dynamic coefficients were studied by transient simulations. Results indicate that the long seal has large cross stiffness k and direct mass M which are not good for rotor stability, while the transient method is more suitable for the long seal for its excellent performance in predicting M. When the incoming flow is non-uniform, the stiffness coefficients vary with the eccentric directions. Based on the rotordynamic coefficients under uniform incoming flow, the linearized fluid force formulas, which can consider the effects of non-uniform incoming flow, have been presented and can well explain the varying-stiffness phenomenon.

DPM dispersion inside a single straight entry using dynamic mesh model

Three-dimensional simulations of diesel particulate matter （DPM） distribution inside a single straight entry for the Load-Haul-Dump loader （LHD）-truck loading and truck hauling operations were conducted by using ANSYS FLUENT computational fluid dynamics software. The loading operation was performed for a fixed period of 3 min. The dynamic mesh technique in FLUENT was used to study the impact of truck motion on DPM distribution. The resultant DPM distributions are presented for the cases when the truck were driving upstream and downstream of the loading face. Interesting phenomena were revealed in the study including the piston effect, layering of DPM in the roof region, and backflow of diesel exhaust against ventilation. The results from the simulation can be used to determine if the areas inside the face area and straight entry exceed the current U.S. regulatory requirement for DPM concentration （〉160 pg/m3）. This research can guide the selection of DPM reduction strategies and improve the working practices for the underground miners.

Predicting the Growth of Ash Deposits in Drop Tube Furnace Using Dynamic Mesh Technique

Modeling and experiments of the growth of ash deposits during the combustion in a drop tube furnace are presented in this paper.An existing deposition model for ash deposit was used,which involves relationship among the force of gravity,elastic rebound and adhesion forces acting at the moment of ash particle impaction.Important parameters of this model were determined by the experimental data.The influence of particle size and velocity on deposit geometry was investigated.The growth of ash deposits involving various inlet velocities,tube diameters and tube arrangements were simulated with dynamic mesh technique in Fluent.The simulation results show that particle normal impacted velocity plays an important role due to elastic bounce force term.Deposited geometry was influenced by side velocity(velocity of inlet⁃2),and large velocity has an obvious effect to change the shape of deposition and postpone the steady time.

Simulation and experiment of starting transient flow field of the hydrostatic bearing based on dynamic mesh method

A new method is developed to assess and analyze the dynamic performance of hydrostatic bearing oil film by using an amulets-layer dynamic mesh technique. It is implemented using C Language to compile the UDF program of a single oil film of the hydrostatic bearing. The effects of key lubrication parameters of the hydrostatic bearing are evaluated and analyzed under various working conditions,i.e. under no-load,a load of 40 t,a full load of 160 t,and the rotation speed of 1r/min,2r/min,4r/min,8r/min,16r/min,32r/min. The transient data of oil film bearing capacity under different load and rotation speed are acquired for a total of 18 working conditions during the oil film thickness changing. It allows the effective prediction of dynamic performance of large size hydrostatic bearing. Experiments on hydrostatic bearing oil film have been performed and the results were used to define the boundary conditions for the numerical simulations and validate the developed numerical model. The results showed that the oil film thickness became thinner with the increase of the operating time of the hydrostatic bearing,both the oil film rigidity and the oil cavity pressure increased significantly,and the increase of the bearing capacity was inversely proportional to the cube of the change of the film thickness. Meanwhile,the effect of the load condition on carrying capacity of large size static bearing was more important than the speed condition. The error between the simulation value and the experimental value was 4.25%.

Performance of large-diameter pneumatic down-the-hole (DTH) hammers: A focus on influences of the hammer structure

Pneumatic down-the-hole (DTH) hammer has been extensively used in air drillings through hard and ultra-hard geological formations. Numerical modeling can offer close observation on the working behaviors by visualizing internal pressure status as well as provide reliable performance predictions for large-diameter DTH hammers to which conventional empirical and experimental approaches cannot be applied. In this study, CFD simulations coupled with dynamic meshing are utilized to simulate the air flow and piston movement inside the large-diameter DTH hammers. The numerical modeling scheme is verified against a theoretical model published in literature. Effects of structural parameters on hammer performance, including piston mass, piston upper-end diameter, piston groove diameter, and lengths of intake and exhaust stroke in both front and rear chambers, are analyzed in detail by virtue of sets of numerical simulations. The simulations suggest that changing the intake stroke of front chamber has a negligible influence on hammer performance while increasing the piston groove would lower all the four indicators of hammer performance, including impact energy, impact frequency, maximum stroke, and air consumption rate. Changing the other structural parameters demonstrates mixed effects on the performance indicators. Based on the numerical simulations, a large GQ-400 DTH hammer has been designed for reduced air consumption rate and tested in a field drilling practice. The air drilling test with the designed hammer provided a penetration rate 1.7 times faster than that of conventional mud drilling.

Aerodynamic characteristics of a pitching airfoil with leading-edge morphing

This paper focuses on the effect of the phase offset of Leading-Edge(LE)morphing on the aerodynamic characteristics of a pitching NACA0012 airfoil.Assuming an unstretched camber and using polynomial interpolation,an explicit expression for LE nonlinear morphing is proposed and implemented for the large pitching motion of the airfoil.Flow field results and aerodynamic forces are obtained by solving the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for both the airfoil’s pitching motion and LE morphing.Furthermore,the index of instantaneous aerodynamic power is used to quantify the work done by the airflow in a dynamic process.According to the instantaneous aerodynamic power and energy map,which denotes the energy transfer between the airfoil’s oscillation and flow field,the airfoil is subject to stall flutter.The results show that LE morphing with an optimal phase offset of 315°reduces the energy extraction from the flow field,suppressing the stall flutter instability.This optimal phase offset is effective at different pitching axis positions of the airfoil.The results signify that LE morphing can suppress stall flutter by advancing the occurrence of the first LE vortex and increasing the nose-down moment during the upstroke period.

Numerical simulation of friction stir butt-welding of 6061 aluminum alloy

A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was established to simulate the friction stir butt-welding of 6061 aluminum alloy. The dynamic mesh method was applied in this model to make the tool move forward and rotate in a manner similar to a real tool, and the calculated volumetric source of energy was loaded to establish a similar thermal environment to that used in the experiment. Besides, a small piece of zinc stock was embedded into the workpiece as a trace element. Temperature fields and vector plots were determined using a finite volume method, which was indirectly verified by traditional metallography. The simulation result indicated that the temperature distribution was asymmetric but had a similar tendency on the two sides of the welding line. The maximum temperature on the advancing side was approximately 10 K higher than that on the retreating side. Furthermore, the precise process of material flow behavior in combination with streamtraces was demonstrated by contour maps of the phases. Under the shearing force and forward extrusion pressure, material located in front of the tool tended to move along the tangent direction of the rotating tool. Notably, three whirlpools formed under a special pressure environment around the tool, resulting in a uniform composition distribution.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Interactions Between Free-Surface Waves and A Floating Breakwater with Cylindrical-Dual/Rectangular-Single Pontoon

This paper investigates the hydrodynamic performance of a cylindrical-dual or rectangular-single pontoon floating breakwater using the numerical method and experimental study. The numerical simulation work is based on the multi-physics computational fluid dynamics(CFD) code and an innovative full-structured dynamic grid method applied to update the three-degree-of-freedom(3-DOF) rigid structure motions. As a time-marching scheme, the trapezoid analogue integral method is used to update the time integration combined with remeshing at each time step.The application of full-structured mesh elements can prevent grids distortion or deformation caused by large-scale movement and improve the stability of calculation. In movable regions, each moving zone is specified with particular motion modes(sway, heave and roll). A series of experimental studies are carried out to validate the performance of the floating body and verify the accuracy of the proposed numerical model. The results are systematically assessed in terms of wave coefficients, mooring line forces, velocity streamlines and the 3-DOF motions of the floating breakwater. When compared with the wave coefficient solutions, excellent agreements are achieved between the computed and experimental data, except in the vicinity of resonant frequency. The velocity streamlines and wave profile movement in the fluid field can also be reproduced using this numerical model.

Experimental and Numerical Study on Pectoral-Fin Propulsive System

Generally the underwater bio-robots take the tail fin as propulsor, and combined with pectoral fin they can manoeuvre agilely and control their position and movement at will. In nature, a lot of fishes realize to suspend itself in water to go forward and to move back up by the pectoral fin moving complexly. So that it is significant theoretically and valuable for practical application to investigate the propulsive principle and hydrodynamic performance of pectoral fin, and find the method utilizing the pectoral fin to manoeuvre the underwater bio-robot agilely. In this paper, a two degree of freedom （DoF） motion model is established for a rigid pectoral fin, and the hydrodynamic performances of the pectoral fin are studied by use of the pectoral fin propulsive experimental platform developed by Harbin Engineering University, simultaneously the hydrodynamic performance of the pectoral fin is analyzed when some parameters change. Then, through the secondary development of FLUENT （CFD code） software, the hydrodynamic performances of rigid pectoral fin in viscous flows are calculated and the results are compared with the latest experimental results. The research in this paper will provide the theoretical reference for the design of the manoeuvring system imitating pectoral fin, at the same time will become the foundation for the development of the small underwater bio-robot.

Shock-Wave/Rail-Fasteners Interaction for Two Rocket Sleds in the Supersonic Flow Regime

Rocket sleds belong to a category of large-scale test platforms running on the ground.The applications can be found in many fields,such as aerospace engineering,conventional weapons,and civil high-tech products.In the present work,shock-wave/rail-fasteners interaction is investigated numerically when the rocket sled is in supersonic flow conditions.Two typical rocket sled models are considered,i.e.,an anti-D shaped version of the rocket sled and an axisymmetric slender-body variant.The dynamics for Mach number 2 have been simulated in the framework of a dynamic mesh method.The emerging shock waves can be categorized as head-shock,tailing-shock and reflected-shock.An unsteady large-scale vortex and related shock dynamics have been found for the anti-D shaped rocket sled.However,a quasi-steady flow state exists for the slender-body shaped rocket sled.It indicates that the axisymmetric geometry is more suitable for the effective production of rocket sleds.With the help of power spectral density analysis,we have also determined the characteristic frequencies related to shock-wave/rail-fasteners interaction.Furthermore,a harmonic phenomenon has been revealed,which is intimately related to a shock wave reflection mechanism.

Numerical Solution of the Asymmetric Water Impact of A Wedge in Three Degrees of Freedom

Impact problems associated with water entry have important applications in various aspects of naval architecture and ocean engineering. Estimation of hydrodynamic impact forces especially during the first instances after the impact is very important and is of interest. Since the estimation of hydrodynamic impact load plays an important role in safe design and also in evaluation of structural weight and costs, it is better to use a reliable and accurate prediction method instead of a simple estimation resulted by analyzing methods. In landing of flying boats, some phenomena such as weather conditions and strong winds can cause asymmetric instead of symmetric descent. In this paper, a numerical simulation of the asymmetric impact of a wedge, as the step of a flying boat, considering dynamic equations in two-phase flow is taken into account. The dynamic motion of the wedge in two-phase flow is solved based on finite volume method with volume of fluid （VOF） scheme considering dynamic equations. Then the effects of different angles of impact and water depth on the velocity change and slamming forces in an asymmetric impact are investigated. The comparison between the simulation results and experimental data verifies the accuracy of the method applied in the present study.

A Numerical Investigation of Gap and Shape Effects on a 2D Plunger-Type Wave Maker

The installation of plunger-type wave makers in experimental tanks will generally include a gap between the back of the wedge and the wall of the tank.In this study,we analyze the influence of this gap on the wave making performance of the plunger using two-dimensional(2 D)CFD calculations for a range of nearly linear wave conditions and compare the results with both experimental measurements and linear potential flow theory.Three wedge-shaped profiles,all with the same submerged volume,are considered.Moreover,the generated waves are compared with the predictions of linear potential flow theory.The calculations are made using the commercial ANSYS FLUENT finite-volume code with dynamic meshes to solve the Navier-Stokes equations and the volume of fluid scheme to capture the air-water interface.Furthermore,the linear potential flow solution of Wu(J Hydraul Res 26:481-493,1988)is extended to consider an arbitrary profile and serve as a reference solution.The amplitude ratios of the generated waves predicted by the CFD calculations compare well with the predictions of linear potential flow theory for a simple wedge,indicating that viscous effects do not influence this ratio for small-amplitude motions in 2 D.By contrast,significant higher harmonic components are produced by larger amplitude motions.Also,the simple wedge is found to produce the smallest spurious higher harmonic content in the far-field wave.