Numerical study of the noninertial systems: application to train coupler systems

Car coupler forces have a significant effect on the longitudinal train dynamics and stability. Because the coupler inertia is relatively small in comparison with the car inertia; the high stiffness associated with the coupler components can lead to high frequencies that adversely impact the computational efficiency of train models. The objective of this investigation is to study the effect of the coupler inertia on the train dynamics and on the computational efficiency as measured by the simulation time. To this end, two different models are developed for the car couplers; one model, called the inertial coupler model, includes the effect of the coupler inertia, while in the other model, called the noninertial model, the effect of the coupler inertia is neglected. Both inertial and noninertial coupler models used in this investigation are assumed to have the same coupler kinematic degrees of freedom that capture geometric nonlinearities and allow for the relative translation of the draft gears and end of car cushioning (EOC) devices as well as the relative rotation of the coupler shank. In both models, the coupler kinematic equations are expressed in terms of the car body and coupler coordinates. Both the inertial and noninertial models used in this study lead to a system of differential and algebraic equations that are solved simultaneously in order to determine the coordinates of the cars and couplers. In the case of the inertial model, the coupler kinematics is described using the absolute Cartesian coordinates, and the algebraic equations describe the kinematic constraints imposed on the motion of the system. In this case of the inertial model, the constraint equations are satisfied at the position, velocity, and acceleration levels. In the case of the noninertial model, the equations of motion are developed using the relative joint coordinates, thereby eliminating systematically the algebraic equations that represent the kinematic constraints. A quasistatic force analysis is used to determine a set of coupler nonlinear force algebraic equations for a given car configuration. These nonlinear force algebraic equations are solved iteratively to determine the coupler noninertial coordinates which enter into the formulation of the equations of motion of the train cars. The results obtained in this study showed that the neglect of the coupler inertia eliminates high frequency oscillations that can negatively impact the computational efficiency. The effect of these high frequencies that are attributed to the coupler inertia on the simulation time is examined using frequency and eigenvalue analyses. While the neglect of the coupler inertia leads, as demonstrated in this investigation, to a much more efficient model, the results obtained using the inertial and noninertial coupler models show good agreement, demonstrating that the coupler inertia can be neglected without having an adverse effect on the accuracy of the solution.     

Transient heating effects in high pressure Diesel injector nozzles

The tendency of today’s fuel injection systems to reach injection pressures up to 3000 bar in order to meet forthcoming emission regulations may significantly increase liquid temperatures due to friction heating; this paper identifies numerically the importance of fuel pressurization, phase-change due to cavitation, wall heat transfer and needle valve motion on the fluid heating induced in high pressure Diesel fuel injectors. These parameters affect the nozzle discharge coefficient (C_d), fuel exit temperature, cavitation volume fraction and temperature distribution within the nozzle. Variable fuel properties, being a function of the local pressure and temperature are found necessary in order to simulate accurately the effects of depressurization and heating induced by friction forces. Comparison of CFD predictions against a 0-D thermodynamic model, indicates that although the mean exit temperature increase relative to the initial fuel temperature is proportional to (1 − C_d²) at fixed needle positions, it can significantly deviate from this value when the motion of the needle valve, controlling the opening and closing of the injection process, is taken into consideration. Increasing the inlet pressure from 2000 bar, which is the pressure utilized in today’s fuel systems to 3000 bar, results to significantly increased fluid temperatures above the boiling point of the Diesel fuel components and therefore regions of potential heterogeneous fuel boiling are identified.     

Conjugate Natural Convection in a Porous Enclosure with Non-Uniform Heat Generation

Effects of a conductive wall on natural convection in a square porous enclosure having internal heating at a rate proportional to a power of temperature difference is studied numerically in this article. The horizontal heating is considered, where the vertical walls heated isothermally at different temperatures while the horizontal walls are kept adiabatic. The Darcy model is used in the mathematical formulation for the porous layer and finite difference method is applied to solve the dimensionless governing equations. The governing parameters considered are the Rayleigh number (0 ???Ra ???1000), the internal heating and the local exponent parameters (0 ????? ???5), (1 ????? ???3), the wall to porous thermal conductivity ratio (0.44 ???Kr ???9.9) and the ratio of wall thickness to its width (0.02 ???D ???0.5). The results are presented to show the effect of these parameters on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. It is found a strong internal heating can generate significant maximum fluid temperature more than the conductive solid wall. Increasing value thermal conductivity ratio and/or decreasing the thickness of solid wall can increase the maximum fluid temperature. It is also found that at very low Rayleigh number, the heat transfer across the porous enclosure remain stable for any values of the thermal conductivity ratio.     

A turbulent time scale based k–ε model for probability density function modeling of turbulence/chemistry interactions: Application to HCCI combustion

Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine technology is known as an alternative to reduce NO_x and particulate matter (PM) emissions. As shown by several experimental studies published in the literature, the ideally homogeneous mixture charge becomes stratified in composition and temperature, and turbulent mixing is found to play an important role in controlling the combustion progress. In a previous study, an IEM model (Interaction by Exchange with the Mean) has been used to describe the micromixing in a stochastic reactor model that simulates the HCCI process. The IEM model is a deterministic model, based on the principle that the scalar value approaches the mean value over the entire volume with a characteristic mixing time. In this previous model, the turbulent time scale was treated as a fixed parameter. The present study focuses on the development of a micro-mixing time model, in order to take into account the physical phenomena it stands for. For that purpose, a (k–ε) model is used to express this micro-mixing time model. The turbulence model used here is based on zero dimensional energy cascade applied during the compression and the expansion cycle; mean kinetic energy is converted to turbulent kinetic energy. Turbulent kinetic energy is converted to heat through viscous dissipation. Besides, in this study a relation to calculate the initial heterogeneities amplitude is proposed. The comparison of simulation results against experimental data shows overall satisfactory agreement at variable turbulent time scale.     

An investigation of matched index of refraction technique and its application in optical measurements of fluid flow

Optical distortions caused by non-uniformities of the refractive index within the measurement volume is a major impediment for all laser diagnostic imaging techniques applied in experimental fluid dynamic studies. Matching the refractive indices of the working fluid and the test section walls and interfaces provides an effective solution to this problem. The experimental set-ups designed to be used along with laser imaging techniques are typically constructed of transparent solid materials. In this investigation, different types of aqueous salt solutions and various organic fluids are studied for refractive index matching with acrylic and fused quartz, which are commonly used in construction of the test sections. One aqueous CaCl₂·2H₂O solution (63 % by weight) and two organic fluids, Dibutyl Phthalate and P-Cymene, are suggested for refractive index matching with fused quartz and acrylic, respectively. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the refractive indices of these fluids is investigated, and the Thermooptic Constant is calculated for each fluid. Finally, the fluid viscosity for different shear rates is measured as a function of temperature and is applied to characterize the physical behavior of the proposed fluids.     

Heat transfer during heat sterilization and cooling processes of canned products

In this paper, an analysis of transient heat transfer during heat sterilization and cooling processes of a cylindrical canned product is presented. In the analysis, most practical case including the boundary condition of third kind (i.e., convection boundary condition, leading to 0.1 ≤ Bi ≤ 100) was employed. A simple analytical model for determining effective heat transfer coefficients for such products is developed. For the heat sterilization process, heating coefficient is incorporated into heat transfer coefficient model. An experimental study was performed to measure the thermal center temperatures of the short-cylindrical canned products (i.e., Tuna fish) during heat sterilization at the retort medium temperatures of 115^∘C and 121^∘C, and during cooling process at 16^∘C. The effective heat transfer coefficient model used the experimental temperature data. Using these effective heat transfer coefficients the center temperature distributions were calculated and compared with the experimental temperature distributions. Agreement was found considerably high. The results of the present study indicate that the heat-transfer analysis technique and heat-transfer coefficient model are reliable, and can provide accurate results for such problems. Received on 12 November 1997     

Modelling for heat and mass transfer parameters in deep-frying of products

In this paper, the development of new models to determine heat and mass transfer parameters (HMTPs) in terms of the thermal diffusivity, heat transfer coefficient, moisture diffusivity and moisture transfer coefficient for slab, cylindrical, and spherical products being deep-fried was presented. In the model development, two cases of the Biot number, i.e., 0<Bi<100, and Bi≥100 in the transient heat and mass transfer were considered. In order to verify the models, frying experiments were performed using the cylindrically shaped potatoes as test samples, and these samples were fried in a deep fryer at 180°C. The lag factor and frying coefficient for a frying process, which affect heat and mass transfer parameters, were first-defined and considered most important process parameters. By using the temperature and moisture measurements, the frying coefficient and lag factor were determined and incorporated into the models. The HMTPs were determined in a simple and effective manner. In this respect, we can conclude that the present models are useful tools for determining the HMTPs for the products during frying and will be beneficial to the practical applications.     

A Revisit to the Frozen Stress Phenomena in Photoelasticity

Stress freezing in photoelasticity is regularly employed for 3-D elastic stress analysis of geometrically complex models, wherein the models under load are soaked at the stress freezing temperature and slowly cooled to room temperature. During this process, a model may distort or fail undergoing large deformations at the stress freezing temperature owing to thermo-mechanical interactions. The contribution of thermal deformation to the model distortions is neglected in the available literature of stress freezing. This aspect of stress freezing is investigated in this paper, wherein Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is used to study the strain behavior during a complete stress freezing cycle for an epoxy made of CY230 resin cured with HY951 hardener. The results show that the thermal contributions to the model distortions at the critical temperature must be taken care of to estimate the failure margins. The distortions and failures would mainly depend upon the thermal and mechanical response of the model material and the complexity of the model.     

Thermal and gas flow characterization of a fluxless Si solder bonding oven

In this paper the technology of the “Linn” type Si fluxless solder bonding oven and the thermal and gas flow characterization of the oven are discussed. This oven is used for fixing silicon chips on metal substrates with high temperature solder bonding process. The solder is applied in a foil form which is placed between the Si chip and the metal substrate. This does not contain any flux, therefore a reducing agent has to be applied to avoid the oxidation of the joints during the soldering process. In this technology the reducing agent is the forming gas which is a mixture of 10 vol.% H₂ and 90 vol.% N₂. The key factors of this soldering process was studied; the suitable temperature (350-370 °C for 13-15 min) and the adequate H₂ concentration (8-10 vol.%). A detailed 3D gas flow model of the Linn oven was prepared which is based on the finite volume model (FVM) method. The gas flow circumstances using the basic and a hypothetic oven setting were compared by simulations applied the ANSYS-FLUENT system. The gas flow model was verified by the measurements of the temperature, the H₂ concentration and the pressure inside the oven. Furthermore the heating ability of the oven under full load was characterized by the change of the heating temperature and the time coefficient of the heating.