Shadowgraph observations of the transition of the thermal boundary layer in a side-heated cavity

The transition of the thermal boundary layer from start-up to a quasi-steady state in a side-heated cavity is observed using a shadowgraph technique. Three stages of the transition, including an initial growth stage, an entrainment development stage and a quasi-steady stage, are demonstrated. A significant feature of the transition revealed from the present flow visualisation is the formation of a double-layer structure along the sidewall at the entrainment development stage. It is believed that the reverse flow in the double-layer structure is the likely cause responsible for the unstable travelling waves at the quasi-steady state.     

Natural convection in a reservoir sidearm subject to solar radiation: experimental observations

The natural convection in a reservoir sidearm induced by solar radiation is visualised using a shadowgraph technique. The flow visualisation reveals three stages of the flow development, namely an initial growth stage, a transitional stage and a quasi-steady stage. At the initial growth stage, a distinct thermal boundary layer grows rapidly along the sloping bottom. The transitional stage is characterised by the onset of convective instability in a form of rising plumes. At the quasi-steady state, the mean temperature across the enclosure increases steadily in time and the flow is sighted with quasi-regular presence of instabilities with reduced intensities. Received: 3 July 2001/Accepted: 10 December 2001     

Maxwell's Equations in Two-Phase Systems II: Two-Equation Model

The method of volume averaging is used to derive the two-equation model for Maxwell's equations in a two-phase system. The analysis provides a set of macroscopic transport equations for the electric and magnetic fields that are completely coupled in terms of the closure problem. When the closure problem is quasi-steady, a formal solution is obtained and estimates are developed for the differences between the averaged fields in the individual phases. These estimates lead to constraints for the condition of local electrodynamic equilibrium.     

The influence of thermal expansion flow on droplet evaporation

It has been demonstrated recently that it follows from conservation of mass that unsteady temperature fields create flow in an incompressible fluid with a temperature-dependent density even in the absence of gravity. The paper studies the influence of thermal expansion flow on spherically symmetric evaporation of an isolated droplet. A model problem of a droplet evaporating at a constant rate is first considered. In this idealized situation one can use the assumption of a thin thermal boundary layer to solve analytically the unsteady moving-boundary heat conduction problem to find the temperature field inside the droplet both with and without the thermal expansion flow. Next evaporation of a fuel droplet in a diesel engine is studied numerically. The heat diffusion equation is solved in the liquid phase while the standard quasi-steady model is used for the gas phase. The results of the calculation show that for high ambient temperatures the influence of the thermal expansion flow on the droplet lifetime can be considerable.     

Fluid–structure interaction analysis of flexible turbomachinery

A method for the performance computation of an expandable-impeller pump is developed and validated. Large deformations of the highly flexible pump impellers result in a strong coupling between the impeller and fluid flow. The computational method therefore requires simultaneous solution of fluid flow and structural response. OpenFOAM provides the flow and mesh motion solvers and is coupled to an author-developed structural solver in a tightly coupled approach using a fixed-point iteration. The structural deformations are time-dependent because the material exhibits stress relaxation. The time-constant of the relaxation, however, is very large, thereby allowing quasi-steady simulations. A water-tunnel test of a viscoelastic hydrofoil is employed to validate the solver. Simulations of the test problem show good agreement with the experimental results and demonstrate the need for several sub-iterations of the solver even for the quasi-steady simulations.     

可变形儒可夫斯基翼型亚音速非定常气动力的研究

对于翼面变形速度远小于来流速度情况下的儒可夫斯翼型亚音速绕流问题,通过仿射变换将可压缩流动转换成不可压缩流动,将解析解和离散涡方法相结合计算变形机翼的不可压缩流动速度场,再利用逆变换得到变形机翼的亚音速流动速度场,进而分析非定常气动力特性,建立变形机翼的准定常升力系数和非定常附加升力系数在可压缩和不可压缩两种状态下的简单近似对应关系。计算结果显示变形机翼的非定常气动升力近似等于准定常计算结果叠加上虚拟质量力导致的非定常附加升力,该非定常附加升力随翼型变形速率呈线性关系,由机翼当前时刻飞行姿态、翼型及其变形速率确定,与具体变形历史过程无关。低来流马赫数时虚拟质量力导致的非定常效应显著,高亚音速流动时准定常升力起主导作用。同时还分析了不同马赫数下机翼往复变形过程中升力的变化特性,指出尽管高亚音速变形机翼的气动升力近似等于准定常气动升力,但不能忽视非定常附加升力的影响,非定常附加升力将导致完成往复变形需要外界输入正比于Ma∞/[(1-Ma2∞)]的功。     

Experimental observations of the thermal flow around a square obstruction on a vertical wall in a differentially heated cavity

The transient thermal boundary layer flow around a square obstruction placed at the middle of the hot wall in a differentially heated cavity is visualized using a shadowgraph technique. The results show that the thermal boundary layer flow, which is blocked by the obstruction, firstly forms an intrusion head under the obstruction (the lower intrusion head). Subsequently, the lower intrusion head bypasses the obstruction and reattaches to the down-stream boundary. During the reattachment process, a more complicated flow is induced, and eventually both the lower intrusion head and the thermal boundary layer destabilize. After the lower intrusion head is convected away, the thermal boundary layer flow re-stabilizes. At the quasi-steady state, the thermal boundary layer forms a double-layer structure, which is split into two sections by the obstruction. It is demonstrated that both the transient processes and the quasi-steady state flow structures of the thermal boundary layer are significantly altered by the obstruction in comparison with the case without the obstruction.     

Linear Stability Analysis of Infiltration,Analytical and Numerical Solution

Linear stability analysis is applied to the Richards equation by perturbing the pressure field. An analytical solution of the stability problem of flow through stratified media is presented. It is obtained under two simplifying assumptions: the quasi-steady hypothesis and the quasi-linear hypothesis. Flow is found to be unconditionally stable. A numerical experiment and the comparison with published data supports the conclusion that upscaling capillary phenomena is crucial in order to capture the essence of finger flow by continuum models.     

Flow between two unsteadily rotating disks

Summary This is a theoretical investigation of the unsteady laminar flow of a viscous incompressible fluid between two infinite parallel disks, which are rotating with angular velocities varying with time. The solution is obtained in the form of a series expansion about the quasi-steady state. The deviation of the actual instantaneous state of the flow from the quasi-steady state is determined.     

激波与爆轰波对撞的数值模拟研究

用二阶精度NND差分格式和改进的二阶段化学反应模型模拟了爆轰波与激波的对撞过程,研究了不同强度入射激波对爆轰过渡区域的影响. 当对撞激波较弱时,透射爆轰波演变主要受流动膨胀作用的影响,可划分为对撞影响区、爆轰恢复区和稳定发展区3个阶段. 在爆轰恢复区和稳定发展区,前导激波压力经历一个过冲、然后向稳定爆轰过渡的过程,表现了爆轰波熄爆和再起爆的物理特征. 当对撞激波较强时,可燃混合气体的高热力学参数导致了更高的化学反应活化程度,形成了弱爆轰向稳定爆轰的直接转变.      

Unglazed selective absorber solar air collector: Heat exchange analysis

Unglazed solar air collectors show promise for applications such as ventilation air heating or crop drying. In this paper a mathematical model is developed to analyze the heat exchanges in an unglazed non-porous selective absorber air heater. It is shown that at quasi-steady state the energy balance equations of the components of the collector cascade into a single first order differential equation. The solution of this differential equation is written down as an explicit expression of the local temperature of the fluid flowing in the collector in terms of the time dependent solar intensity. The effect of various parameters such as the inlet fluid temperature, the mass flow rate, and the depth of the air channel on the thermal performances of the unglazed selective absorber collector are also studied. These performances are comparable to those of a conventional two glass covers air collector for low wind speeds. Received on 8 February 1999     

A numerical study of natural convection from a localized heat source in the lower plenum of a fast breeder reactor under failed conditions

A comprehensive numerical study has been done to investigate two-dimensional, steady state, conjugate natural heat convection in the hemi spherical lower plenum of a fast breeder reactor under failed conditions. The continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved over the entire domain, using the corresponding properties for the solid and fluid regions. The control volume approach is employed in order to discretize the governing equations for their numerical solution. A parametric study has been done to study the variation of the velocity vectors and isotherms for different constant temperature of the heat source, simulating different heat generation rates. The actual problem in a nuclear reactor involves a volumetric heat generation in the debris falling over the heat shield plate under failed conditions of the reactor and heat is removed by a decay heat exchanger serving as a sink. In this study we have reduced this transient problem to a quasi-steady problem with a prescribed temperature on the heat shield plate. This makes the problem more tractable. The fluid flow pattern, variation of the temperature along the axis in and around the heat source are presented to show the overall heat transfer characteristics inside the plenum.     

Analytic Solution of an Inhomogeneous Kinetic Equation in the Problem of Second-Order Thermal Creep

An analytic solution of the problem of second-order thermal creep is obtained. A method for solving the half-space boundary value problem for an inhomogeneous linearized kinetic BGK equation forms the basis of the solution. The general solution of the input equation is constructed in the form of an expansion of the corresponding characteristic equation in terms of the eigenfunctions. Substitution of the solution in the boundary conditions leads to a Riemann boundary value problem. The unknown thermal creep velocity is found from the condition of solvability of the boundary value problem. The numerical analysis performed confirms the existence of negative thermophoresis (in the direction of the temperature gradient) for high-conductivity aerosol particles at low Knudsen numbers.     

Nonlinear aeroelastic coupled trim and stability analysis of rotor-fuselage

Based on the Hamilton principle and the moderate deflection beam theory, discretizing the helicopter blade into a number of beam elements with 15 degrees of freedora, and using a quasi-steady aero-model, a nonlinear coupled rotor/fuselage equation is established. A periodic solution of blades and fuselage is obtained through aeroelastic coupled trim using the temporal finite element method （TEM）. The Peters dynamic inflow model is used for vehicle stability. A program for computation is developed, which produces the blade responses, hub loads, and rotor pitch controls. The correlation between the analytical results and related literature is good. The converged solution simultaneously satisfies the blade and the vehicle equilibrium equations.     

侧加热腔内的自然对流

开展侧加热腔内自然对流的研究具有重大的环境及工业应用背景. 总结侧加热腔内水平温差驱动的自然对流的最新研究进展, 并概述相应的流动性质、动力机制和传热特性以及对不同无量纲控制参数的依赖也有重要的科学价值. 已取得的研究结果显示突然侧加热的腔内自然对流的发展可包括初始阶段、过渡阶段和定常或准定常阶段. 不同发展阶段的流动依赖于瑞利数、普朗特数及腔体的高宽比, 且定常或准定常阶段的流态可以是定常层流流动、非定常周期性流动或者湍流流动. 此外, 回顾了对流流动失稳机制的研究成果以及湍流自然对流方面的新进展. 最后, 展望了侧加热腔内的自然对流研究的前景.      

Shock wave interaction with area changes in ducts

Whitham's approximation for handling shock wave propagation in area changes (reductions) in a duct was checked in comparison with a numerical solution. Also the Whitham approximation for shock wave propagation from a constant cross-sectional duct to a duct of a smaller cross-sectional area was studied and compared with a numerical solution. It was found that for modest incident shock Mach numbers and modest area reductions the Whitham approximation provided a fair solution for the shock Mach number and for the post-shock pressure. For higher shock Mach numbers and/or area reductions, large discrepancies exit between the approximate and exact solutions. A wider range of applicability of the Whitham approximation is found for the monotonical area reduction case; it is quite narrow for the passage of a shock wave from a wider to a narrower duct case. In addition, the effect of the extent of the area change region on the time required for reaching a quasi-steady flow was studied. It was shown that the longer the area change segment is, the longer it takes to reach a quasi-steady flow.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1.0 and the AMS fonts, developed by the American Mathematical Society.     

Spreading of a liquid over a plane rigid substrate in an electric field

The influence of an electric field on spreading of a thin conducting liquid layer over a plane rigid substrate is investigated theoretically. The conductivity of the liquid is assumed to be so low that the effect of the magnetic field of the currents generated in the liquid under the action of the electric field can be neglected. The spreading is assumed to be so slow that the quasi-steady approximation can be used to calculate the electric field strength which can be considered to be equal to zero inside the liquid. Equations that describe variations in the layer shape are obtained in the lubrication theory approximation. The general formulation of the problem is considered. The solution of the problem is obtained in parametric form when the effect of the gravity force and the surface tension can be neglected. Variations in the layer thickness along the substrate are so smooth that the charge distribution over its surface can be assumed to be the same as that over the substrate surface in the absence of the liquid.     

One-dimensional model for microscale shock tube flow

A one-dimensional model for the numerical simulation of transport effects in small-scale, i.e., low Reynolds number, shock tubes is presented. The conservation equations have been integrated in the lateral directions and three-dimensional effects have been introduced as carefully controlled sources of mass, momentum and energy, into the axial conservation equations. The unsteady flow of gas behind the shock wave is reduced to a quasi-steady flow by choosing a coordinate system attached to the shock. The boundary layer problem is thereby reduced to a laminar solution, similar to the Blasius solution, with the exception that the wall velocity can be nonzero. The resulting one-dimensional equations are then solved numerically using a two-step Lax-Wendroff/ MacCormack scheme with flux correction transport. For validation purposes, comparisons are performed against previously published shock structure and low Reynolds number shock tube experiments; good agreement is observed. The model has been used to predict the performance of a 10μm shock tube and the result of this simulation shows the possibility of shock wave disappearance at lower pressure ratios for a micro-scale shock tube.      

Assessment of evaporation equilibrium and stability concerning an acoustically excited drop in combustion products

The evaporation of drops in a sound field has been the subject of numerous studies aimed at determining its role in combustion instability. The models generally assume local equilibrium evaporation at the interface. We determine here the conditions of validity of this assumption, without calling into question other a priori assumptions of the classical model, in particular spherically symmetric quasi-steady evolution in the gas phase and liquid phase thermal unsteadiness with pure heat conduction.