Energy Harvesting in the Wake of An Inverted C-Shaped Bluff Body

This paper proposes a novel wake-induced vibration(WIV)-based energy harvesting system consisting of two bluff bodies.An inverted C-shaped bluff body is stationary installed at the upstream position to generate an interference wake street,and a cylinder bluff body equipped with a transducer is elastically suspended at the downstream position to harness WIV energy.The hydrodynamics and energy harvesting(EH)performance of the proposed system are investigated via experimental studies.The reduced velocity(U*)ranging from 2 to 14(the corresponding Reynolds number ranging from 15100 to 106200)is considered in the present study.It is found that the wake generated by the inverted C-shaped bluff body significantly affects the EH performance.Enlarging the opening angle(α)of the C-shaped bluff body increases the vibration amplitude of the downstream cylinder,thereby increasing the harvested power.When the spacing(L)between two bluff bodies is two times the cylinder diameter(D),the wake-induced vibration(WIV)mode is observed,while the combined WIV and wake galloping(WG)mode occurs whenαis 150°,and L equals 3D or 4D.The average drag coefficient becomes negative when L is 2D,3D,or 4D.By carefully configuring a C-shaped bluff body,the wake generated by it can bring an augmenting effect on the vibration of the downstream EH cylinder.For example,the RMS power output of the proposed EH system reaches a maximum of 0.31 W at U*=8 and L=4D,which is 300%greater than that of its traditional counterpart.Furthermore,after a number of case stud-ies,it is identified that the proposed EH system can achieve the best performance whenαis 150°and L=2D.

Simulation of bluff body stabilized flows with hybrid RANS and PDF method

The motivation of this study is to investigate the turbulence-chemistry interactions by using probability density function （PDF） method. A consistent hybrid Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS）/PDF method is used to simulate the turbulent non-reacting and reacting flows. The joint fluctuating velocity-frequency-composition PDF equation coupled with the Reynolds averaged density, momentum and energy equations are solved on unstructured meshes by the Lagrangian Monte Carlo （MC） method combined with the finite volume （FV） method. The simulation of the axisymmetric bluff body stabilized non-reacting flow fields is presented in this paper. The calculated length of the recirculation zone is in good agreement with the experimental data. Moreover, the significant change of the flow pattern with the increase of the jet-to-coflow momentum flux ratio is well predicted. In addition, comparisons are made between the joint PDF model and two different Reynolds stress models.

Intrinsic relationship of vorticity between modes A and B in the wake of a bluff body

The intrinsic physical relationship of vorticity between modes A and B in the three-dimensional wake transition is investigated.Direct numerical simulations for the flow past a square-section cylinder are carried out at Reynolds numbers of 180 and 250,associated with modes A and B,respectively.Based on the analysis of spacial distributions of vorticity in the near wake,characteristics of the vertical vorticity in modes A and B are identified.Moreover,the relationship of three vorticity components with specific signs is summarized into two sign laws,as intrinsic physical relationships between two instability modes.By the theory of vortex-induced vortex,such two sign laws confirm that there are two and only two kinds of vortex-shedding patterns in the near wake,just corresponding to modes A and B.In brief,along the free stream direction,mode A can be described by the parallel shedding vertical vortices with the same sign,while mode B is described by the parallel shedding streamwise vortices with the same sign.Finally,it is found out that the|-type vortex is a basic kind of vortex structure in both modes A and B.

Mechanism of wavy vortex and sign laws in flow past a bluff body:vortex-induced vortex

As reported in a previous work by Lin et al.(Acta Meeh Sin, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s 10409-018-0758-z), an interesting phenomenon was discovered based on the analysis of wavy vortex and vorticity distribution in the shear layers and near wake of a peak-perforated conic shroud, and two sign laws were summarized. In the present paper, the theory of a vortex-induced vortex is introduced to explore mechanisms in a wavy vortex and applicable sign laws for uniform and incompressible flow past a fixed bluff body. Based on the analysis of the nearest-wall How, two vortex-induced models for streamwise and vertical vortex pairs, respectively, are proposed under two boundary cases, denoting the induced vorticity introduced or distributed on and near the walls. As a result, the first sign law, for only streamwise and vertical components of vorticity, and the second sign law, for three components of vorticity, are obtained under their own particular conditions. The first sign law reveals the intrinsic physical relationship between streamwise and vertical vorticities, independent of the distribution of spanwise vortices in the whole flow field. It is also confirmed that the spanwise vortices, as well as the shear layers and wake width, distributed wavily across the span, are attributed to the introduced streamwise or vertical vortices. The two sign laws for vorticity are independent of the disturbed spanwise wavelength and the Reynolds number. Through the analysis of flow past the conic shroud, the two sign laws are successfully used to summarize typical spacial distributions of vorticity in three flow regions: on and near the front cylinder surfaces, the separated shear layers and the near wake.

Investigation of vortical flow over bluff bodies with base cavities

Based on our previous research about drag reduction in term of the base cavity length using two dimensional simulations, this paper describes a numerical study of a bluff body of which the number of base cavities is successively increased and the cavity geometries are also modified to assume different shapes. Here we attempt to find an effective configuration to reduce the drag by increasing the number of base cavities. The numerical simulations examining varied number of base cavities reveal the presence of different strength of vortices in the wake zone which is the reason why the drag coefficients are distinctly different for different cases. In the case with double and triple rectangular cavities, we use the pressure contours snapshots at successive time instants to describe the wake evolution. We further investigate the effect of variable base cavity shapes for a constant cavity length at an identical time instant. A total of two different geometries of base cavities are discussed here： the rectangular and the sinusoidal cavities with sharp and rounded trailing edges, respectively. The numerical results reveal that the for- mer is an effective drag reduction configuration which can produce a significant base pressure recovery corresponding to the strength of the vortices shown in the pressure contour figures. While the latter shows no obvious reduction in drag coefficient and a similar intensity of vortex in the wake zone compared with the unmodified case. Reductions in drag are observed for all the investigated cavity configurations, and additionally it is found that the magnitude of the reduction bears a direct relationship with the number of the cavities up to a certain minimum value.

Theoretical Analysis and Experimental Verification on Valve-less Piezoelectric Pump with Hemisphere-segment Bluff-body

Existing researches on no-moving part valves in valve-less piezoelectric pumps mainly concentrate on pipeline valves and chamber bottom valves, which leads to the complex structure and manufacturing process of pump channel and chamber bottom. Furthermore, position fixed valves with respect to the inlet and outlet also makes the adjustability and controllability of flow rate worse. In order to overcome these shortcomings, this paper puts forward a novel implantable structure of valve-less piezoelectric pump with hemisphere-segments in the pump chamber. Based on the theory of flow around bluff-body, the flow resistance on the spherical and round surface of hemisphere-segment is different when fluid flows through, and the macroscopic flow resistance differences thus formed are also different. A novel valve-less piezoelectric pump with hemisphere-segment bluff-body （HSBB） is presented and designed. HSBB is the no-moving part valve. By the method of volume and momentum comparison, the stress on the bluff-body in the pump chamber is analyzed. The essential reason of unidirectional fluid pumping is expounded, and the flow rate formula is obtained. To verify the theory, a prototype is produced. By using the prototype, experimental research on the relationship between flow rate, pressure difference, voltage, and frequency has been carried out, which proves the correctness of the above theory. This prototype has six hemisphere-segments in the chamber filled with water, and the effective diameter of the piezoelectric bimorph is 30mm. The experiment result shows that the flow rate can reach 0.50 mL/s at the frequency of 6 Hz and the voltage of 110 V. Besides, the pressure difference can reach 26.2 mm H20 at the frequency of 6 Hz and the voltage of 160 V. This research proposes a valve-less piezoelectric pump with hemisphere-segment bluff-body, and its validity and feasibility is verified through theoretical analysis and experiment.

Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Swirling Pipe Flow with an Internal Conical Bluff Body

Turbulent swirling flow inside a short pipe interacting with a conical bluff body was simulated using the commercial CFD code Fluent.The geometry used is a simplified version of a novel liquid/gas separator used in multiphase flow metering.Three turbulence models,belonging to the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)equations framework,are used.These are,RNG k-ε,SST k-ωand the full Reynolds stress model(RSM)in their steady and unsteady versions.Steady and unsteady RSM simulations show similar behavior.Compared to other turbulence models,they yield the best predictions of the mean velocity profiles though they exhibit some discrepancies in the core region.The influence of the Reynolds number on velocity profiles,swirl decay,and wall pressure on the bluff body are also presented.For Reynolds numbers generating a Rankine-like velocity profile,the width and magnitude of flow reversal zone decreases along the pipe axis disappearing downstream for lower Reynolds numbers.The tangential velocity peaks increase with increasing Reynolds number.The swirl decay rate follows an exponential form in accordance with the existing literature.These flow features would affect the performance of the real separator and,thus,the multiphase flow meter,noticeably.

Numerical investigations on effects of bluff body in flat plate micro thermo photovoltaic combustor with sudden expansion

In order to reveal combustion characteristics of H_2/air mixture in a micro-combustor with and without bluff body, the effects of inlet velocities, equivalence ratios and bluff body's blockage ratios on the temperature field, pressure of the combustor wall, combustion efficiency and blow-off limit were investigated. The numerical results indicate that the sudden expansion plate micro combustor with bluff body could enhance the turbulent disturbance of the mixed gas in the combustion chamber and the combustion condition is improved. Moreover, a low-speed and high temperature recirculation region was formed between the sudden expansion step and the bluff body so that the high and uniform wall temperature(>1000 K) could be gotten. As a result, it could strengthen the mixing process, prolong the residence time of gas, control the flame position effectively and widen the operation range by the synergistic effect of the bluff body and steps. When the blockage ratio ranged from 0.3 to 0.6, it could be found that the bluff body could play a stabilizing effect and expand combustion blow burning limit, and combustion efficiency firstly was increased with the inlet velocity and equivalence ratio, and then was decreased.

Simulation of vortex shedding behind a bluff body flame stabilizer using a hybrid U-RANS/PDF method

The present study aims at the investigation of the effects of turbulence-chemistry interaction on combus- tion instabilities using a probability density function （PDF） method. The instantaneous quantities in the flow field were decomposed into the Favre-averaged variables and the stochastic fluctuations, which were calculated by unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes （U-RANS） equations and the PDF model, respectively. A joint fluctuating velocity- frequency-composition PDF was used. The governing equa- tions are solved by a consistent hybrid finite volume/Monte- Carlo algorithm on triangular unstructured meshes. A non- reacting flow behind a triangular-shaped bluff body flame stabilizer in a rectilinear combustor was simulated by the present method. The results demonstrate the capability of the present method to capture the large-scale coherent struc- tures. The triple decomposition was performed, by divid- ing the coherent Favre-averaged velocity into time-averaged value and periodical coherent part, to analyze the coherent and incoherent contributions to Reynolds stresses. A sim- ple modification to the coefficients in the turbulent frequency model will help to improve the simulation results. Unsteady flow fields were depicted by streamlines and vorticity con- tours. Moreover, the association between turbulence produc- tion and vorticity saddle points is illustrated.

Recent development of vortex method in incompressible viscous bluff body flows

Vortex methods have been alternative tools of finite element and finite difference methods for several decades. This paper presents a brief review of vortex method development in the last decades and introduces efficient vortex methods developed for high Reynolds number bluff body flows and suitable for running on parallel computer architectures. Included in this study are particle strength exchange methods, core-spreading method, deterministic particle method and hybrid vortex methods. Combined with conservative methods, vortex methods can comprise the most available tools for simulations of three-dimensional complex bluff body flows at high Reynolds numbers.

Study on Hydrodynamic Vibration in Dual Bluff Body Vortex Flowmeter

The characteristics of the dual bluff body vortex shedding is investigated, and the possibility to use dual bluff body combinations to strengthen the hydrodynamic vibration around the bluff body objects is explored. The numerical and experimental approaches were utilized to examine the time dependent flow field and the pressure oscillation around the bluff bodies. The numerical data were obtained by the advanced large eddy simulation model. The experiment was conducted on a laboratory scale of Karman vortex flowmeter with 40 mm diameter. It is revealed that the optimized dual bluff body combinations strengthened the hydrodynamic vibration. It was also found that the hydrodynamic vibration with 180° phase difference occurred at the axisymmetric points of circular pipe on the lateral faces of the equilateral triangle-section bluff bodies. Using the dual bluff body configuration and the differential sensing technique, a novel prototype of vortex flowmeter with excellent noise immunity and improved sensibility was developed.

Comparative Appraisal of Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network Method for Stabilized Turbulent Confined Jet Diffusion Flames Using Bluff-Body Burners

The present study was conducted to present the comparative modeling, predictive and generalization abilities of response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) for the thermal structure of stabilized confined jet diffusion flames in the presence of different geometries of bluff-body burners. Two stabilizer disc burners tapered at 30° and 60° and another frustum cone of 60°/30° inclination angle were employed all having the same diameter of 80 (mm) acting as flame holders. The measured radial mean temperature profiles of the developed stabilized flames at different normalized axial distances (x/dj) were considered as the model example of the physical process. The RSM and ANN methods analyze the effect of the two operating parameters namely (r), the radial distance from the center line of the flame, and (x/dj) on the measured temperature of the flames, to find the predicted maximum temperature and the corresponding process variables. A three-layered Feed Forward Neural Network in conjugation with the hyperbolic tangent sigmoid (tansig) as transfer function and the optimized topology of 2:10:1 (input neurons: hidden neurons: output neurons) was developed. Also the ANN method has been employed to illustrate such effects in the three and two dimensions and shows the location of the predicted maximum temperature. The results indicated the superiority of ANN in the prediction capability as the ranges of R2 and F Ratio are 0.868 - 0.947 and 231.7 - 864.1 for RSM method compared to 0.964 - 0.987 and 2878.8 7580.7 for ANN method beside lower values for error analysis terms.

基于深度学习的钝体断面外形气动性能高效预测方法

对于气动性能,钝体断面的气动外形非常重要,采用传统风洞试验及CFD模拟计算得到钝体断面气动性能需消耗大量时间,大大影响钝体断面气动外形的气动性能评估效率。通过卷积神经网络深度学习技术实现对气动性能的快速预测,深度学习模型训练完成后,输入形状信息和与形状相关的流场信息,即可输出不同几何形状下的阻力系数,进而得到钝体断面的气动性能。为寻找性能最优的深度学习模型,通过综合判定误差和参数量大小对卷积神经网络结构的深度和宽度进行优化。对深度学习模型输出阻力系数与CFD计算结果进行对比发现,误差符合预期要求,并且相较于传统方法,基于深度学习网络的预测所需时间达到数量级的提升,未来可作为钝体断面气动外形优化的关键方法。

雷诺数3900时三维带齿圆柱流场特征

采用k-ωSST湍流模型对雷诺数为3900时的三维带齿圆柱展开数值模拟研究,包括升阻力系数、压力系数时均流场特性,以及速度分布、涡量分布等瞬时流场特性。模拟结果表明:绕流流场产生旋涡脱落,在靠近结构壁面的尾流区,流场速度分布呈现V形,在稍远处V形底部趋于平缓,呈现U形,且在带齿圆柱后产生与流动方向相反的速度回流区;在同一时刻下,沿结构展向不同位置处的流动呈现明显的三维特性。

风嘴外形对钝体钢箱梁铁路斜拉桥涡振性能的影响

钝体钢箱梁在大跨度铁路桥梁建设中具有广阔的应用前景,以某大跨度钝体钢箱梁铁路斜拉桥为背景,采用1∶50节段模型风洞试验对该类箱梁的涡振响应进行测试,试验结果表明梁体在各测试风攻角(0°、±3°、±5°)下均存在涡激振动。为抑制涡激振动,通过风洞试验并结合计算流体动力学研究风嘴外形对钝体钢箱梁涡振性能的影响规律。研究表明,采用下行风嘴形式与减小风嘴角度均能提高三角形风嘴的制振能力。在传统三角形风嘴上部设置平台可显著提高风嘴制振性能,增加平台长度与减小风嘴角度均可有效提高该类风嘴的制振效果,但其中平台长度是主导影响因素。进而提出一种带平台的三角形下行风嘴制振措施,并通过1∶25节段模型风洞试验对该措施有效性进行验证。数值模拟结果表明,改变风嘴外形可有效降低主梁表面的旋涡尺寸,从而起到抑振主梁涡振的作用。研究成果可为大跨度钝体钢箱梁铁路桥的涡振制振设计提供参考。

钝体火焰稳定器后燃烧不稳定数值模拟

为了缓解航空发动机加力燃烧室中频繁出现的燃烧不稳定现象,利用商业软件Fluent对带钝体火焰稳定器的模型加力燃烧室进行基于大涡模拟(LES)的3维热态数值仿真。通过分别改变加力燃烧室的来流温度、来流马赫数、燃油当量比3种影响燃烧的关键因素来分析其对火焰稳定器后燃烧不稳定现象的影响。结果表明:来流温度从600 K提升到1200 K时,钝体稳定器后火焰形式由直线状的剪切层火焰向波浪状的漩涡火焰转变,燃烧不稳定机制由K-H不稳定向BVK不稳定转变;来流马赫数从0.1提高到0.3时,燃烧不稳定的脉动频率随之提高,压力脉动的幅值随之增大,但放热脉动的幅值先增大后减小;燃油当量比从0.5增大到0.7时,燃烧不稳定的频率变化较小,压力脉动与放热脉动的幅值存在先增后减的趋势。

矩形前缘剪切流对圆柱气动和绕流特性影响规律的研究

横风中高速列车-桥梁系统存在复杂气动干扰效应,主要表现为桥面分离流与列车绕流间的相互作用。该效应可能显著改变列车风荷载,并最终影响桥上行车稳定性。为揭示列车-桥梁系统气动干扰效应机理,采用错列布置的二维圆柱和矩形钝体结构为抽象模型,通过风洞实验系统研究两者相对位置对圆柱气动力的影响规律。圆柱直径D=60mm,矩形迎风面高度H=48 mm,基于来流风速U∞和D的雷诺数Re=6×10^(4)~1×10^(5)。实验发现,圆柱距矩形前沿水平距离L与两者垂直方向的间隙G对圆柱气动力均有显著影响。当G/D较小时,圆柱上侧产生较大负压区;随G/D逐渐增大,圆柱下侧产生较大负压区;当G/D进一步增大到某一临界值时,圆柱风压基本呈对称分布,圆柱尾流中开始产生周期性旋涡脱落,且涡脱频率低于孤立圆柱。随着L/D的增大,该G/D临界值逐渐增大,圆柱涡脱频率逐渐下降,涡脱强度逐渐减弱。当圆柱和矩形处在特定的相对位置时,圆柱气动力出现明显的雷诺数效应,圆柱的瞬时风压会产生2种模态。当G/D=0.4时,圆柱绕流会产生双稳态现象,且随着L/D的增大双稳态现象逐渐减弱。该现象是由于矩形前缘分离流的加速冲击在圆柱上,促使局部绕流提前转捩,从而使圆柱在亚临界区产生临界区的气动特性。研究结果可为实际工程中桥上行车的安全性和稳定性分析提供参考。

带驻涡凹腔的径向钝体稳定器燃烧特性研究

针对燃烧室高速气流中低压组织燃烧需求,本文分析驻涡稳定器-径向稳定器组合结构的燃烧性能,对驻涡燃烧室传焰和稳焰结构的优化设计提供支撑。研究采用实验和数值模拟相结合的方法,在0.06~0.08MPa的负压条件下,获得了组合稳定器结构的燃烧效率、出口温度分布和热态流场。结果表明,径向稳定器的存在使得燃烧室出口产生了明显的温度不均匀现象;降低燃烧室总压将导致燃烧效率明显恶化,总压每下降0.01MPa,对应的燃烧效率将下降约5%。燃烧区的位置与流场息息相关,在热态燃烧过程中,高温区集中在凹腔侧边和径向稳定器外侧,燃烧室中央部分存在来源于凹腔值班级、并沿径向稳定器传播的火焰。余气系数的提升将增加主流供油的穿透深度,导致燃烧区进一步集中在燃烧室两侧,出口温度不均匀程度将由此上升,当余气系数下降到2以下时,燃烧室两侧燃油的富集将导致燃烧效率下降。

基于涡激振动的压电风能收集器研究进展

近年来,随着物联网、无线传感器网络和便携式医疗设备的迅速发展,如何为这些独立设备提供可靠、清洁和自给的能源成为其发展的关键.传统的化学电池不仅寿命有限,而且庞大的电池数量带来了高昂的维护成本,废弃后的电池还会给环境保护带来更大的负担.自然环境中风能分布广泛、储藏量大且无污染,是绿色可再生能源.将风能转换为电能是目前能源利用的重点.然而,涡轮风力发电机投资巨大、对风场要求高、占地面积大、维修困难,同时产生的噪声和生态问题日益突出.目前,如何利用新材料和简单结构实现低速风能的高效收集正在成为国内外研究的热点.基于涡激振动的微型风能收集器是目前较为有效的风能收集技术之一,有望实现分散分布的无线传感器自供电.文章从涡激振动能量收集器的工作原理、研究进展、效率提升方法等方面综述了涡激振动能量收集器的研究现状.着重讨论了钝体形态优化、非线性特性引入、多风向风能收集结构设计和混合风能收集器设计等增强方案对涡激振动风能收集器性能的影响,为高性能涡激振动能量收集器的设计提供参考.最后,对涡激振动风能收集器面临的关键问题与难点进行了分析和总结,并对今后的研究方向和未来的发展前景进行了展望.

驻涡燃烧室前钝体燃料喷射性能数值分析

为研究驻涡燃烧室在前钝体燃料喷射状况下的燃烧性能,采用3维数值仿真模拟方法,对驻涡燃烧室前钝体燃料喷射状况下的燃烧效率及燃烧室性能与无前钝体燃料喷射状况下的燃烧性能进行了对比分析,并对驻涡燃烧室的冷流以及燃烧状态下的燃烧室性能进行了系统研究。燃烧室温度分布表明:前钝体顶部燃料喷射在0.2~0.7的喷射系数范围内,缩短了燃烧室火焰长度,提高了燃烧室在相同轴向长度下的燃烧效率,使燃烧室更加紧凑;驻涡燃烧室前钝体顶部燃料喷射孔的孔径在一定范围内的变化对燃烧室的燃烧效率、出口温度分布系数以及总压损失影响较小。