Three‐dimensional vortex simulation of unsteady flow in hydraulic turbines

On the basis of the Helmholtz decomposition, a grid‐free numerical scheme is provided for the solution of unsteady flow in hydraulic turbines. The Lagrangian vortex method is utilized to evaluate the convection and stretch of the vorticity, and the BEM is used to solve the Neumann problem to define the potential flow. The no‐slip boundary condition is satisfied by generating vortex sticks at the solid surface. A semi‐analytical regularization technique is applied to evaluate the singular boundary surface integrals of the potential velocity and its gradients accurately. The fast multipole method was extended to evaluate the velocity and velocity gradients induced by the discretized vortex blobs in the Lagrangian vortex method. The successful simulation for the unsteady flow through a hydraulic turbine's runner has manifested the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A three‐dimensional vortex particle‐in‐cell method for vortex motions in the vicinity of a wall

A new vortex particle‐in‐cell method for the simulation of three‐dimensional unsteady incompressible viscous flow is presented. The projection of the vortex strengths onto the mesh is based on volume interpolation. The convection of vorticity is treated as a Lagrangian move operation but one where the velocity of each particle is interpolated from an Eulerian mesh solution of velocity–Poisson equations. The change in vorticity due to diffusion is also computed on the Eulerian mesh and projected back to the particles. Where diffusive fluxes cause vorticity to enter a cell not already containing any particles new particles are created. The surface vorticity and the cancellation of tangential velocity at the plate are related by the Neumann conditions. The basic framework for implementation of the procedure is also introduced where the solution update comprises a sequence of two fractional steps. The method is applied to a problem where an unsteady boundary layer develops under the impact of a vortex ring and comparison is made with the experimental and numerical literature. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Construction of three-dimensional images of flow structure via particle tracking techniques

Construction of three-dimensional images of flow structure, based on the quantitative velocity field, is assessed for cases where experimental data are obtained using particle tracking technique. The experimental data are in the form of contiguous planes of particle images. These contiguous data planes are assumed to correspond to successive spatial realizations in steady flow, or to phase-referenced realizations in an unsteady flow.Given the particle images on contiguous planes, the in-plane velocity fields are determined. Then, the out-of-plane velocity field is obtained using a spectral interpolation method. Application of this method allows, in principle, construction of the three-dimensional vorticity field and the streamline patterns.A critical assessment is made of the uncertainties arising from the in-plane interpolation of the velocity field obtained from particle tracking and the evaluation of the out-of-plane velocity component. The consequences of such uncertainties on the reconstructed vorticity distributions and streamline patterns are addressed for two basic types of vortex flows: a columnar vortex, for which the streamlines are not closed and are spatially periodic in the streamwise direction; and for a spherical (Hill's) vortex exhibiting closed streamline patterns, and no spatial periodicity.     

Vortex‐in‐cell method combined with a boundary element method for incompressible viscous flow analysis

In this study, an immersed boundary vortex‐in‐cell (VIC) method for simulating the incompressible flow external to two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional bodies is presented. The vorticity transport equation, which is the governing equation of the VIC method, is represented in a Lagrangian form and solved by the vortex blob representation of the flow field. In the present scheme, the treatment of convection and diffusion is based on the classical fractional step algorithm. The rotational component of the velocity is obtained by solving Poisson's equation using an FFT method on a regular Cartesian grid, and the solenoidal component is determined from solving an integral equation using the panel method for the convection term, and the diffusion term is implemented by a particle strength exchange scheme. Both the no‐slip and no‐through flow conditions associated with the surface boundary condition are satisfied by diffusing vortex sheet and distributing singularities on the body, respectively. The present method is distinguished from other methods by the use of the panel method for the enforcement of the no‐through flow condition. The panel method completes making use of the immersed boundary nature inherent in the VIC method and can be also adopted for the calculation of the pressure field. The overall process is parallelized using message passing interface to manage the extensive computational load in the three‐dimensional flow simulations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vortex particle‐in‐cell method for three‐dimensional viscous unbounded flow computations

A new vortex particle‐in‐cell (PIC) method is developed for the computation of three‐dimensional unsteady, incompressible viscous flow in an unbounded domain. The method combines the advantages of the Lagrangian particle methods for convection and the use of an Eulerian grid to compute the diffusion and vortex stretching. The velocity boundary conditions used in the method are of Dirichlet‐type, and can be calculated using the vorticity field on the grid by the Biot–Savart equation. The present results for the propagation speed of the single vortex ring are in good agreement with the Saffman's model. The applications of the method to the head‐on and head‐off collisions of the two vortex rings show good agreement with the experimental and numerical literature. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vortex sound

Vortex motion is the only source of aerodynamic sound production in low Mach number flow: the unsteady part of the vorticity distribution contributes linearly to the sound field. The following fundamental model flows, which illustrate the vorticity as the predominant sound source in unsteady flows, are discussed: An initially planar elliptic vortex; two identical coaxial initially elliptic vortex rings, where a special case is the leap-frogging of two identical circular rings. For head-on collision of two identical circular vortex rings and for several cases of vortex-body interaction good agreement between theory and experiment exists. If the Mach number is not low, other mechanisms have also to be considered. Here the theory is not yet fully developed. Experimental results for a vortex-airfoil interaction in transonic flow show that local flow separation and boundary layer as well as compressibility effects play a basic role. However, if the motion of vorticity would be known in subsonic flow, essential parts of the sound field could be calculated by the theory. — In addition, it is shown that the general theory is well suited to provide a better understanding of the scattering of sound waves by vortex motion, at least for long wave lengths.     

Numerical study of an inviscid incompressible flow through a channel of finite length

A two‐dimensional inviscid incompressible flow in a rectilinear channel of finite length is studied numerically. Both the normal velocity and the vorticity are given at the inlet, and only the normal velocity is specified at the outlet. The flow is described in terms of the stream function and vorticity. To solve the unsteady problem numerically, we propose a version of the vortex particle method. The vorticity field is approximated using its values at a set of fluid particles. A pseudo‐symplectic integrator is employed to solve the system of ordinary differential equations governing the motion of fluid particles. The stream function is computed using the Galerkin method. Unsteady flows developing from an initial perturbation in the form of an elliptical patch of vorticity are calculated for various values of the volume flux of fluid through the channel. It is shown that if the flux of fluid is large, the initial vortex patch is washed out of the channel, and when the flux is reduced, the initial perturbation evolves to a steady flow with stagnation regions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of unsteady interaction of centrifugal impeller with its diffuser using Lagrangian discrete vortex method

In this study, an advanced Lagrangian vortex- boundary element method is applied to simulate the unsteady impeller-diffuser interactions in a diffuser pump not only for design but also for off-design considerations. In velocity calculations based on the Biot-Savart law we do not have to grid large portions of the flow field and the calculation points are concentrated in the regions where vorticity is present. Lagrangian representation of the evolving vorticity field is well suited to moving boundaries. An integral pressure equation shows that the pressure distribution can be estimated directly from the instantaneous velocity and vorticity field. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data and the comparisons show that the method used in this study can provide us insight into the complicated unsteady impeller-diffuser interaction phenomena in a diffuser pump.     

Unsteady flow structure and vorticity convection over the airfoil oscillating at high reduced frequency

Unsteady vortex structures and vorticity convection over the airfoil (NACA 0012), oscillating in the uniform inflow, are studied by flow visualization and velocity measurements. The airfoil, pivoting at one-third of the chord, oscillates periodically near the static stalling angle of attack (AOA) at high reduced-frequency. The phase-triggering and modified phase-averaged techniques are employed to reconstruct the pseudo instantaneous velocity field over the airfoil. During the down stroke cycle, the leading-edge separation vortex is growing and the vortex near the trailing edge begins to shed into the wake. During the upstroke cycle, the leading-edge separation vortex is matured and moves downstream, and the counter clockwise vortex is forming near the trailing edge. Convection speeds and wavelength of the unsteady vortex structure over the airfoil equal to that of the counter clockwise vortex shed into the wake. This kind of vortex structure is termed as “synchronized shedding” type. The wavelength of unsteady vortex structure over the airfoil is significantly different from that at low reduced-frequency. Consistent convection speeds of the leading-edge separation vortex are acquired from the spatial-temporal variations of local circulation and local surface vorticity generation, and equals that predicted from flow visualization. Spatial-temporal variations of the local surface vorticity generation clearly reveal the formation and passage of the leading-edge separation vortex only in the region where the flow does not separate completely from the surface. Significant amounts of the surface vorticity are generated within the leading-edge region of the airfoil during the upstroke cycle. Only negligible amount of surface vorticity is produced within the region of complete flow separation. During the down stroke cycle, the surface vorticity generation is mild along the airfoil surface, except the leading-edge region where a small scale leading-edge separation vortex is forming and growing.     

A combined vortex and panel method for numerical simulations of viscous flows: a comparative study of a vortex particle method and a finite volume method

This paper describes and compares two vorticity‐based integral approaches for the solution of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. Either a Lagrangian vortex particle method or an Eulerian finite volume scheme is implemented to solve the vorticity transport equation with a vorticity boundary condition. The Biot–Savart integral is used to compute the velocity field from a vorticity distribution over a fluid domain. The vorticity boundary condition is improved by the use of an iteration scheme connected with the well‐established panel method. In the early stages of development of flows around an impulsively started circular cylinder, and past an impulsively started foil with varying angles of attack, the computational results obtained by the Lagrangian vortex method are compared with those obtained by the Eulerian finite volume method. The comparison is performed separately for the pressure fields as well. The results obtained by the two methods are in good agreement, and give a better understanding of the vorticity‐based methods. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of a vortex method to free surface flows

Vortex methods have found wide applications in various practical problems. The use of vortex methods in free surface flow problems, however, is still very limited. This paper demonstrates a vortex method for practical computation of non-linear free surface flows produced by moving bodies. The method is a potential flow formulation which uses the exact non-linear free surface boundary condition at the exact location of the instantaneous free surface. The position of the free surface, on which vortices are distributed, is updated using a Lagrangian scheme following the fluid particles on the free surface. The vortex densities are updated by the non-linear dynamic boundary condition, derived from the Euler equations, with an iterative Lagrangian numerical scheme. The formulation is tested numerically for a submerged circular cylinder in unsteady translation. The iteration is shown to converge for all cases. The results of the unsteady simulations agree well with classical linearized solutions. The stability of the method is also discussed.     

Modeling the flow past an oscillating airfoil by the method of viscous vortex domains

The Lagrangian vortex method for solving the Navier-Stokes equations is applied for numerically modeling the unsteady flow past a wing airfoil executing angular oscillations in a viscous incompressible flow. Formulas relating the unsteady forces on the airfoil and the vorticity field are derived. The calculated results are compared with the experimental data for the NACA-0012 airfoil executing harmonic oscillations in an air flow at the Reynolds number Re = 4.4 × 10⁴.     

VISCOUS FLOWFIELD BASED ON DISCONTINUOUS BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD AND VORTEX METHOD

基于非协调边界元方法和涡方法的联合应用, 模拟了二维和三维黏性不可压缩流场. 计算中利用离散涡元对漩涡的产生、凝聚和输送过程进行模拟, 并将整体计算域分解为采用涡泡模拟的内部区域和用涡列模拟的数字边界层区域. 计算域中涡量场的拉伸和对流由Lagrangian涡方法模拟, 用随机走步模拟涡量场的扩散. 内部区域涡元涡量场速度由广义Biot-Savart公式计算, 势流场速度则采用非协调边界元方法计算. 非协调边界元将所有节点均取在光滑边界处, 从而避免了法向速度的不连续现象; 而对于系数矩阵不对称的大型边界元方程组,引入了非常高效的预处理循环型广义极小残余(the generalized minimum residual, GMRES)迭代算法, 使得边界元法的优势得到了充分发挥, 同时, 在内部涡元势流场计算中对近边界点采用了正则化算法, 该算法将奇异积分转化为沿单元围道上一系列线积分, 消除了势流计算中速度及速度梯度的奇异性. 二维、三维流场算例证明了所用方法的正确性, 也验证了该算法可以大幅度提高模拟精度和效率.     

Calculation of unsteady supersonic flow past a two-dimensional cascade of plates ween vorticity inhomogeneities of the flow act on it

In the framework of the linear theory of small perturbations the problem of unsteady subsonic flow past a two-dimensional cascade of plates has been considered in a number of papers. Thus, the unsteady aerodynamic characteristics of a cascade of vibrating plates were calculated in [1] by the method of integral equations, while the same method was used in [2, 3] to calculate the sound fields that are excited when sound waves Coming from outside or vorticity inhomogeneities of the oncoming flow act on the cascade. The problem of a two-dimensional cascade of vibrating plates in a supersonic flow was solved in [4, 5]. In [4] the solution was constructed on the basis of the well-known solution of the problem of vibrations of a single plate, while in [5] a variant of the method of integral equations was used which differed slightly from the usual formulation of this method [1–3]. The approach proposed in [5] is used below to calculate the unsteady flow past a two-dimensional cascade of plates in the case when vorticity inhomogeneities of a supersonic oncoming flow act on it. Equations are obtained for the strength of the unsteady pressure jumps arising in such a flow and the vortex wakes shed from the trailing edges of the plates. Examples of the calculations illustrating the accuracy of the method and its possibilities are given.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp, 152–160, May–June, 1986.     

A potential-flow,deformable-body model for fluid–structure interactions with compact vorticity: application to animal swimming measurements

This paper presents an approach to quantify the unsteady fluid forces, moments and mass transport generated by swimming animals, based on measurements of the surrounding flow field. These goals are accomplished within a framework that is independent of the vorticity field, making it unnecessary to directly resolve boundary layers on the animal, body–vortex interactions, or interactions among vortex lines in the wake. Instead, the method identifies Lagrangian coherent structures in the flow, whose dynamics in flows with compact vorticity are shown to be well approximated by potential flow concepts, especially the Kirchhoff and deformation potentials from deformable body theory. Examples of the application of these methods are given for pectoral fin locomotion of the bluegill sunfish and undulatory swimming of jellyfish, and the methods are validated by analysis of a canonical starting vortex ring flow. The transition to a Lagrangian approach toward animal swimming measurements suggests the possibility of implementing recently developed particle tracking (vis-à-vis DPIV) techniques for fully three-dimensional measurements of animal swimming.     

Simultaneous quantitative flow measurement using PIV on both sides of the air–water interface for breaking waves

An experimental method for simultaneously measuring the velocity fields on the air and water side of unsteady breaking waves is presented. The method includes a novel technique for seeding the air flow such that the air velocity can be resolved in the absence of wind. Low density particles that have large Stokes drag and ability to respond to high-frequency flow fluctuations are used to seed the air flow. Multi-camera, multi-laser particle image velocimetry setups are applied to small-scale unsteady breaking waves, yielding fully time-resolved velocity fields. The surface tension of the fluid is altered and controlled to form spilling breaking waves. Results for the velocity and vorticity fields of representative spilling breakers, which show shedding of an air-side vortex and well-documented generation of water-side vorticity, are presented and discussed.     

Physics of forced unsteady flow for a NACA 0015 airfoil undergoing constant-rate pitch-up motion*

The unsteady Navier-Stokes (NS) analysis of Osswald, Ghia and Ghia in velocity-vorticity variables is modified to study the dynamic stall phenomenon for a NACA 0015 airfoil undergoing constant Ω₀ pitch-up maneuvers at Reynolds number Re =10 000 and 45000. The use of third-order accurate biased upwind differencing for the nonlinear convective terms in the vorticity transport equation removes the spurious oscillations observed in the earlier studies by the authors for these values of Re. The fully implicit and vectorized ADI-BGE method of the authors is used to solve the unsteady NS equations. Instantaneous inertial surface vorticity, which is an invariant of the choice of reference frame selected, is employed to determine the location of separation of the boundary-layer flow on the suction surface; also a separation bubble embedded within the boundary layer is observed for both cases somewhere between the leading edge and the quarter-chord point. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quarternary vortices have been observed before the dynamic-stall vortex evolves and gathers its maximum strength.     

Three-dimensional flow structures and associated turbulence in the tip region of a waterjet pump rotor blade

Stereo particle image velocimetry measurements focus on the flow structure and turbulence within the tip leakage vortex (TLV) of an axial waterjet pump rotor. Unobstructed optical access to the sample area is achieved by matching the optical refractive index of the transparent pump with that of the fluid. Data obtained in closely spaced planes enable us to reconstruct the 3D TLV structure, including all components of the mean vorticity and strain-rate tensor along with the Reynolds stresses and associated turbulence production rates. The flow in the tip region is highly three-dimensional, and the characteristics of the TLV and leakage flow vary significantly along the blade tip chordwise direction. The TLV starts to roll up along the suction side tip corner of the blade, and it propagates within the passage toward the pressure side of the neighboring blade. A shear layer with increasing length connects the TLV to the blade tip and initially feeds vorticity into it. During initial rollup, the TLV involves entrainment of a few vortex filaments with predominantly circumferential vorticity from the blade tip. Being shed from the blade, these filaments also have high circumferential velocity and appear as swirling jets. The circumferential velocity in the TLV core is also substantially higher than that in the surrounding passage flow, but the velocity peak does not coincide with the point of maximum vorticity. When entrainment of filaments stops in the aft part of the passage, newly forming filaments wrap around the core in helical trajectories. In ensemble-averaged data, these filaments generate a vortical region that surrounds the TLV with vorticity that is perpendicular to that in the vortex core. Turbulence within the TLV is highly anisotropic and spatially non-uniform. Trends can be traced to high turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent shear stresses, e.g., in the shear layer containing the vortex filaments and the contraction region situated along the line where the leakage backflow meets the throughflow, causing separation of the boundary layer at the pump casing. Upon exposure to adverse pressure gradients in the aft part of the passage, at 0.65–0.7 chord fraction in the present conditions, the TLV bursts into a broad turbulent array of widely distributed vortex filaments.     

非定常流动的快速拉格朗日涡方法数值模拟

采用快速拉格朗日涡方法数值模拟有复杂旋涡运动的非定常流动. 利用离散涡元模拟旋涡的产生、聚集和输送过程. 拉格朗日描述法用来计算离散涡元的移动,而移动速度则利用广义毕奥-萨伐尔公式结合快速多极子展开法计算,修正的涡半径扩散模型用来模拟离散涡元的黏性扩散. 突然起动圆柱和大攻角下突然起动翼型的非定常有涡流动的数值模拟,及其与试验结果的对比验证了方法的有效性. 另外,大攻角下突然起动翼型的计算结果给出了翼型起动后吸力面旋涡的产生、发展,周期性非定常流动的形成,以及尾流旋涡结构等一些重要的流动特征.[关键词] 非定常流有涡流动快速涡方法      

Particle Simulation of Swirling Flows

The vortex particle method has been applied to the axisymmetric swirling flow of a viscous fluid. The formulation used yields two transport equations which have been solved within the lagrangian framework of particle method. The diffusion operator for both equations has been approximated by means of a Particle Strength Exchange scheme. Applications to the cases of one isolated vortex ring and two co-rotating vortex rings illustrate the interest of this new method. Special attention has been devoted to the vorticity production resulting from the interaction between the azimuthal components of vorticity and velocity. The generation of small eddies at the boundary of the vortex ring cross-section has been particularly investigated. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.