Large eddy simulation of coherent structures in rectangular methane non-premixed flame

Large eddy simulation of a three-dimensional spatially developing transitional free methane non-premixed flame is performed. The solver of the governing equations is based upon a projection method. The Smagorinsky model is utilized for the turbulent subgrid scale terms. A global reaction mechanism is applied for the simulation of methane/air combustion. Simulation results clearly illustrate the coherent structure of the rectangular non-premixed flame, consisting of three distinct zones in the near field. Periodic characteristics of the coherent structures in the rectangular non-premixed flame are discussed. The predicted structure of the flame is in good agreement with the experimental results. Distributions of species concentrations across the flame surfaces are illustrated and typical flame structures in the far field are analyzed. Local mass fraction analysis and flow visualization indicate that the black spots of the flames are due to strong entrainment of oxygen into the central jet by streamwise vortices, and breaking up of the flame is caused by an enormous amount of entrainment of streamwise vortices as well as stretching of spanwise vortices at the bottom of the flame.     

Energy dissipation bounds for hear flows for a model in large eddy simulation

This report gives an upper bound for the time average of the energy dissipation rate, including energy dissipation due to viscous dissipation and turbulent diffusion in a model for the motion of large eddies in a turbulent flow. The bound is only a function of the reference velocity U, the domain diameter L, the eddy size δ, and surprisingly, the Reynolds number.     

On the well-posedness and conservation laws of a family of multiscale deconvolution models for the magnetohydrodynamics equations

We present a mathematical study of a large eddy simulation (LES) model for the incompressible magnetohydrodynamics equations. The classical closure problem arising for LES models is solved with the multiscale deconvolution technique developed by Dunca in [11]. We prove the model admits unique, regular weak solutions and provide a mathematical study of the modeling error.     

Large eddy simulation of in-cylinder turbulent flows in a DISI gasoline engine

A large eddy simulation (LES) approach is used to study the in-cylinder turbulent flows of a direct injection gasoline engine, with emphasis on the relationship between the in-cycle turbulent fluctuations and the inter-cycle, i.e. cycle-to-cycle variation (CCV). In total 13 continuous cycles have been calculated, both the single cycle result and phase-averaged result have been compared with our PIV measurements, and reasonable agreements are obtained. Computational results show that, the in-cylinder turbulence is induced primarily by the intake jet. At the early stage of the intake stroke, both the turbulent fluctuations and cyclic variations are intensive and they are of the same magnitude order. While in the compression stroke, the decay of turbulent fluctuations are greater than that of the cyclic variations, and the ratio between them is less than 15%, and the flow field tends to be isotropic. This study demonstrated that LES is capable to describe more realistically details and rules of the in-cylinder turbulent flow and the cycle-to-cycle variations. By using LES coupled with the Q-criterion, the large scale coherent structures in the turbulent flow field can be identified.     

Computer simulation of stable structures in crystal substances

Mathematical methods and algorithms used to design an automated system for predicting the properties of substances with a given crystal-chemical formula are described.     

Large eddy simulation of a sheet/cloud cavitation on a NACA0015 hydrofoil

A single fluid model of sheet/cloud cavitation is developed and applied to a NACA0015 hydrofoil. First, a cavity formation model is set up, based on a three-dimensional (3D) non-cavitation model of Navier–Stokes equations with a large eddy simulation (LES) scheme for weakly compressible flows. A fifth-order polynomial curve is adopted to describe the relationship between density coefficient ratio and pressure coefficient when cavitation occurs. The Navier–Stokes equations including cavitation bubble clusters are solved using the finite-volume approach with time-marching scheme, and MacCormack’s explicit-corrector scheme is adopted. Simulations are carried out in a 3D field acting on a hydrofoil NACA0015 at angles of attack 4°, 8° and 20°, with cavitation numbers σ = 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0, Re = 10⁶, and a 360 × 63 × 29 meshing system. We study time-dependent sheet/cloud cavitation structures, caused by the interaction of viscous objects, such as vortices, and cavitation bubbles. At small angles of attack (4°), the sheet cavity is relatively stable just by oscillating in size at the accumulation stage; at 8° it has a tendency to break away from the upper foil section, with the cloud cavitation structure becoming apparent; at 20°, the flow separates fully from the leading edge of the hydrofoil, and the vortex cavitation occurs. Comparisons with other studies, carried out mainly in the context of flow patterns on which prior experiments and simulations were done, demonstrate the power of our model. Overall, it can snapshot the collapse of cloud cavitation, and allow a study of flow patterns and their instabilities, such as “crescent-shaped regions.”     

Application of fuzzy sets to transient analysis of space structures

An application of fuzzy sets, in conjunction with finite elements, to the transient analysis of a precision-deployable space structure is presented. The structural members are modeled by using beam finite elements, and the structure's latch joint is modeled by using a spring–damper–Coulomb friction element. Two types of transient response simulations are performed: slow transient load–deflection response and transient impulse response. The first simulation is used to evaluate the stiffness and buckling loads at the structure's tip. The second simulation is used to evaluate the structure's natural frequencies, mode shapes and the precision of the final shape. For each simulation the possibility distributions of various response quantities are obtained. Fuzzy sets are used to represent three beam properties, namely: damping coefficient, bending stiffness, and axial stiffness; as well as two joint parameters: Coulomb friction force and damping coefficient. Fuzzy set techniques provide an insight into the range of possible responses associated with the combined selected variations in the system parameters.     

Linear and nonlinear instabilities of a granular bed: Determination of the scales of ripples and dunes in rivers

Granular media are frequently found in nature and in industry and their transport by a fluid flow is of great importance to human activities. One case of particular interest is the transport of sand in open-channel and river flows. In many instances, the shear stresses exerted by the fluid flow are bounded to certain limits and some grains are entrained as bed-load: a mobile layer which stays in contact with the fixed part of the granular bed. Under these conditions, an initially flat granular bed may be unstable, generating ripples and dunes such as those observed on the bed of rivers. In free-surface water flows, dunes are bedforms that scale with the flow depth, while ripples do not scale with it. This article presents a model for the formation of ripples and dunes based on the proposition that ripples are primary linear instabilities and that dunes are secondary instabilities formed from the competition between the coalescence of ripples and free surface effects. Although simple, the model is able to explain the growth of ripples, their saturation (not explained in previous models) and the evolution from ripples to dunes, presenting a complete picture for the formation of dunes.     

Numerical solutions of a model for the propagation of a surface-catalysed flame in a tube

Numerical simulations of a surface-catalysed flame in a tubeare performed, corresponding to an experiment where a premixedfuel is fed into a tube whose inner surface is coated with acatalyst. In these experiments, subsequent to ignition, a reactionwave can be seen as a red-hot region which propagates back alongthe tube towards the inlet, and is due to low temperature combustionoccurring only on the inner surface of the tube where the catalystis present. The solutions of a mathematical model for this behaviourshow that initial-value problems do indeed result in such steadilypropagating waves. The numerically obtained wave speeds andsteady solution are compared to a previous large Damköhlernumber (D_a) asymptotic analysis using a simple reaction ratemodel, and agreement is very good even for moderately largevalues of D_a. However, for such Damköhler numbers, thewave speeds are found to be much larger than observed experimentally.Indeed, the simulations show that O(1) values of D_a are requiredto obtain the lower experimental wave speeds. Nevertheless,the wave speeds as a function of flow rate through the tubedo not agree well with the preliminary experimental resultsfor any choice of the parameters. A more realistic, Arrheniusreaction rate model is then considered. The Arrhenius modelpredicts a rapid change in temperature at the wave front, inmuch better agreement with the experiments than for the simplerreaction model.     

A 3D modeling of static and forward smoldering combustion in a packed bed of materials

A three-dimensional (3D) model based on the first principles of mass, momentum and energy was developed that numerically simulates the processes of static and forward smoldering in a porous packed bed of plant materials. The packed bed contains cellulose material or tobacco (cigarette) wrapped in a porous paper and surrounded by an ambient air. Other major characteristics of the model are including the effects of buoyancy forces in the flow field, separate treatment of solid and gas in a thermally non-equilibrium environment, and use of multi-precursor kinetic models for the pyrolysis of staring material and oxidation of char. The changes in porosity due to pyrolysis and char oxidation and the effect of porosity on the bed permeability and gas diffusivity are included. The mass, momentum, energy, and species transport equations are solved in a discretized computational domain using a commercially available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The simulation results show that the model reasonably reproduces the major features of a burning cigarette during smoldering and puffing and are in a good agreement with the existing experimental results for cigarettes. Results include the velocity profiles, gas and solid temperatures, coal shape, burn rates, profile and transport of gas and vapor species throughout the packed bed, dilution through the wrapper paper and ventilation in the filter section, and the mass fraction of some pyrolysis and oxidation products in the mainstream and sidestream flows.     

ΓD‐convergence for a class of quasilinear elliptic equations in thin structures

We study the asymptotic behaviour of the solution of a stationary quasilinear elliptic problem posed in a domain Ω^(ε) of asymptotically degenerating measure, i.e. meas Ω^(ε) → 0 as ε → 0, where ε is the parameter that characterizes the scale of the microstructure. We obtain the convergence of the solution and the homogenized model of the problem is constructed using the notion of convergence in domains of degenerating measure. Proofs are given using the method of local characteristics of the medium Ω^(ε) associated with our problem in a variational form. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cluster identification and characterization in the riser of a circulating fluidized bed from numerical simulation results

A methodology of identification and characterization of coherent structures mostly known as clusters is applied to hydrodynamic results of numerical simulation generated for the riser of a circulating fluidized bed. The numerical simulation is performed using the MICEFLOW code, which includes the two-fluids IIT’s hydrodynamic model B. The methodology for cluster characterization that is used is based in the determination of four characteristics, related to average life time, average volumetric fraction of solid, existing time fraction and frequency of occurrence. The identification of clusters is performed by applying a criterion related to the time average value of the volumetric solid fraction. A qualitative rather than quantitative analysis is performed mainly owing to the unavailability of operational data used in the considered experiments. Concerning qualitative analysis, the simulation results are in good agreement with literature. Some quantitative comparisons between predictions and experiment were also presented to emphasize the capability of the modeling procedure regarding the analysis of macroscopic scale coherent structures.     

Investigation of rolling horizon flexibility contracts in a supply chain under highly variable stochastic demand

Email: patrick.walsh{at}ul.ie Received on 19 January 2007. Accepted on 3 October 2007. A discrete-event simulation model of a supply chain has beendeveloped to evaluate operational performance of sharing uncertaininformation on upcoming demand between an original equipmentmanufacturer (OEM) and a contract manufacturer under a formalrolling horizon flexibility (RHF) contract in a four-node supplychain. There are two types of RHF contracts evaluated, i.e.RHF contract with constant flexibility and decreasing flexibilitybounds. The demand is externalized (i.e. the OEM receives thedemand), stochastic and generated according to a gamma distribution.This paper reports on the analysis of RHF contracts operatingwith coefficients of variation of demand up to 2.00. Analysisof the interaction of RHF contracts with forecasting and theimpact an RHF contract has on the transmission of the bullwhipeffect are reported here.     

Transient numerical simulation of a thermoelectrical problem in cylindrical induction heating furnaces

This paper concerns the mathematical modelling and numerical solution of thermoelectrical phenomena taking place in an axisymmetric induction heating furnace. We formulate the problem in a two-dimensional domain and propose a finite element method and an iterative algorithm for its numerical solution. We also provide a family of one-dimensional analytical solutions which are used to test the two-dimensional code and to predict the behaviour of the furnace under special conditions. Some numerical results for an industrial furnace used in silicon purification are shown. Dedicated to Mariano Gasca on his 60th birthday     

The weakness of strong ties: Collective action failure in a highly cohesive group*

Following Homans, exchange theorists have modeled informal social control as an exchange of peer approval for compliance with group obligations. The exchange model predicts higher compliance in cohesive networks with strong social ties. However, previous specifications failed to incorporate bilateral exchange of approval. Computer simulations using a Bush‐Mosteller stochastic learning model show that bilateral exchanges evolve more readily than multilateral, causing social control to flow into the maintenance of interpersonal relationships at the expense of compliance with group obligations, a structural form of the “second‐order free‐rider problem.”     

A diversity of localized structures in a (2 + 1)-dimensional KdV equation

The singular manifold method is used to solve a (2 + 1)-dimensional KdV equation. An exact solution containing two arbitrary functions is then obtained. A diversity of localized structures, such as generalized dromions and solitoffs, is exposed by making full use of these arbitrary functions. These localized structures are illustrated by graphs.