Coupled fluid-solid thermal interaction modeling for efficient transient simulation of biphasic water-steam energy systems

This paper proposes a fluid-solid coupled finite element formulation for the transient simulation of water-steam energy systems with phase change due to boiling and condensation. As it is commonly assumed in the study of thermal systems, the transient effects considered are exclusively originated by heat transfer processes. A homogeneous mixture model is adopted for the analysis of biphasic flow, resulting in a nonlinear transient advection-diffusion-reaction energy equation and an integral form for mass conservation in the fluid, coupled to the linear transient heat conduction equation for the solid. The conservation equations are approximated applying a stabilized Petrov-Galerkin FEM formulation, providing a set of coupled nonlinear equations for mass and energy conservation. This numerical model, combined with experimental heat transfer coefficients, provides a comprehensive simulation tool for the coupled analysis of boiling and condensation processes. For the treatment of enthalpy discontinuities traveling with the flow, a novel explicit-implicit time integration method based on Crank-Nicolson scheme is proposed, analyzing its accuracy and stability properties. To reduce problem size and enhance numerical efficiency, a modal superposition method with balanced truncation is applied to the solid equations. Finally, different example problems are solved to demonstrate the capabilities, flexibility and accuracy of the proposed formulation.     

Advection-diffusion equations: Temporal sinc methods

A fully Sinc–Galerkin method for solving advection–diffusion equations subject to arbitrary radiation boundary conditions is presented. This procedure gives rise to a discretization, which has its most natural representation in the form of a Sylvester system where the coefficient matrix for the temporal discretization is full. The word “full” often implies a computationally more complex method compared to, for example, temporal marching. In a comparison of time-marching versus this sinc-temporal procedure, the Sylvester formulation defines a common framework within which these procedures can be evaluated. This framework has been included in the introduction to illustrate an efficiency measure for either method. Similar remarks with regard to fullness versus sparseness in the Sylvester formulation apply when the spatial discretization is spectral or, for example, differencing. Although it is indicated how this sinc-temporal method can be combined with alternative spatial discretizations, the natural affinity between sinc methods for space and time discretizations motivate carrying out the numerical illustrations using the sinc basis in each. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

An existence result for a two‐phase Stefan problem arising in metal casting

We present a model arising from the thermal modelling of two metal casting processes. We consider an enthalpy formulation for this two‐phase Stefan problem in a time varying three‐dimensional domain and consider convective heat transfer in the liquid phase. Then, we introduce a weak formulation in a fixed domain, by means of a suitable transformation. Existence of solution is obtained by applying an abstract theorem. The proof of this theorem is done by taking an implicit discretization in time together with a regularization. By passing to the limit in the regularization parameter and in the time step, we obtain the existence of solution of the continuous problem. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entropy-conservative spatial discretization of the multidimensional quasi-gasdynamic system of equations

The multidimensional quasi-gasdynamic system written in the form of mass, momentum, and total energy balance equations for a perfect polytropic gas with allowance for a body force and a heat source is considered. A new conservative symmetric spatial discretization of these equations on a nonuniform rectangular grid is constructed (with the basic unknown functions—density, velocity, and temperature—defined on a common grid and with fluxes and viscous stresses defined on staggered grids). Primary attention is given to the analysis of entropy behavior: the discretization is specially constructed so that the total entropy does not decrease. This is achieved via a substantial revision of the standard discretization and applying numerous original features. A simplification of the constructed discretization serves as a conservative discretization with nondecreasing total entropy for the simpler quasi-hydrodynamic system of equations. In the absence of regularizing terms, the results also hold for the Navier–Stokes equations of a viscous compressible heat-conducting gas.     

Numerical solution of the nonlinear heat equation in heterogeneous media 1

The nonlinear multi-dimensional heat transfer problem in discontinuously heterogeneous. but piecewise homogeneous media is treated numerically by using the enthalpy lormulation, certain regularization of the contact conditions between the homogeneous subdomains (like in [1,2]), the fully implicit time discretization and linear finite elements in space with Imear interpolation and numerical integration. A convergence is proved by using a technique that does not check the time derivative of temperature. Phase transitions with a positive latent heat (i.e. Stefan problems) are covered, as well. Besides, the problem need not be of a strongly parabolic type. Some numerical experience with the nonlinear Gauss-Seidel algorithm to solve the created nonlinear algebraic systems is presented, too.     

Well-posed absorbing layer for hyperbolic problems

Summary. The perfectly matched layer (PML) is an efficient tool to simulate propagation phenomena in free space on unbounded domain. In this paper we consider a new type of absorbing layer for Maxwell's equations and the linearized Euler equations which is also valid for several classes of first order hyperbolic systems. The definition of this layer appears as a slight modification of the PML technique. We show that the associated Cauchy problem is well-posed in suitable spaces. This theory is finally illustrated by some numerical results. It must be underlined that the discretization of this layer leads to a new discretization of the classical PML formulation. Received May 5, 2000 / Published online November 15, 2001     

Variational integrators of higher order for flexible multibody systems

In this paper we present a time stepping scheme which is based on a variational integrator. This higher-order time stepping scheme includes constraints and a viscoelastic material formulation. A variational integrator is structure-preserving which results from using a discrete variational principle. Therefore, a variational integrator always takes the form of discrete EULER-LAGRANGE equations or the equivalent position-momentum equations. In this framework, we consider the motion of a flexible rope with non-holonomic constraints by the LAGRANGE-multiplier technique. The time stepping scheme is derived from a space-time discretization of HAMILTON's principle. The space discretization is based on one-dimensional linear LAGRANGE polynomials, whereas the time discretization is based on higher-order polynomials and higher-order quadrature rules. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On boundary-volume element discretization of inhomogenous elastodynamic problems

This paper presents an integral equation formulation and its discretization scheme for the elastodynamic problem in which the material properties are prescribed as arbitrary, continuous and differentiable functions of the spatial coordinates. The formulation is made by using the Green's function for the corresponding problem in homogenous elasticity. From a weighted residual statement of the problem, the governing differential equation is transformed into a set of the integral equations in the inner domain as well as on the boundary. These integral equations are discretized by introducing a finite number of the boundary-volume-time elements, and the solution for the system of linear equations thus obtained is discussed.     

A flexible approach to the simulation of hybrid multibody systems

The present works deals with the incorporation of both flexible beam and shell structures into the realm of flexible multibody dynamics. Geometrically exact beam formulations based on classical Simo-Reissner kinematics are suitable for modelling beam-type flexible components in the context of finite-deformation multibody dynamics. So geometrically exact shell formulations are based on Reissner-Mindlin kinematics. In [2], a flexible framework for dealing with flexible structural elements in a multibody context is described. A specific isoparametric finite element discretization of a shell formulation leads to semi-discrete equations of motions assuming the form of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). A compatible isoparametric formulation of beams has already been developed in [1]. The uniform DAE framework makes possible the incorporation of alternative finite element formulations. In addition to that, various time-stepping schemes such as energy-momentum methods or variational integrators can be applied. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nyström discretization of parabolic boundary integral equations

A Nyström method for the discretization of thermal layer potentials is proposed and analyzed. The method is based on considering the potentials as generalized Abel integral operators in time, where the kernel is a time dependent surface integral operator. The time discretization is the trapezoidal rule with a corrected weight at the endpoint to compensate for singularities of the integrand. The spatial discretization is a standard quadrature rule for surface integrals of smooth functions. We will discuss stability and convergence results of this discretization scheme for second-kind boundary integral equations of the heat equation. The method is explicit, does not require the computation of influence coefficients, and can be combined easily with recently developed fast heat solvers.     

A non-uniform discretization of stochastic heat equations with multiplicative noise on the unit sphere

We investigate a discretization of a class of stochastic heat equations on the unit sphere with multiplicative noise. A spectral method is used for the spatial discretization and the truncation of the Wiener process, while an implicit Euler scheme with non-uniform steps is used for the temporal discretization. Some numerical experiments inspired by Earth’s surface temperature data analysis GISTEMP provided by NASA are given.     

High-order adaptive finite element-singly implicit Runge-Kutta methods for parabolic differential equations

We describe an adaptive mesh refinement finite element method-of-lines procedure for solving one-dimensional parabolic partial differential equations. Solutions are calculated using Galerkin's method with a piecewise hierarchical polynomial basis in space and singly implicit Runge-Kutta (SIRK) methods in time. A modified SIRK formulation eliminates a linear systems solution that is required by the traditional SIRK formulation and leads to a new reduced-order interpolation formula. Stability and temporal error estimation techniques allow acceptance of approximate solutions at intermediate stages, yielding increased efficiency when solving partial differential equations. A priori energy estimates of the local discretization error are obtained for a nonlinear scalar problem. A posteriori estimates of local spatial discretization errors, obtained by order variation, are used with the a priori error estimates to control the adaptive mesh refinement strategy. Computational results suggest convergence of the a posteriori error estimate to the exact discretization error and verify the utility of the adaptive technique.This research was partially supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, USAF, under Grant Number AFOSR-90-0194; the U.S. Army Research Office under Contract Number DAAL 03-91-G-0215; by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number CDA-8805910; and by a grant from the Committee on Research, Tulane University.     

Variational differential quadrature: A technique to simplify numerical analysis of structures

A new solution method in the area of computational mechanics is developed in this article, which is called variational differential quadrature (VDQ). The main idea of this method is based on the accurate and direct discretization of the energy functional in the structural mechanics. In the VDQ method, through developing an efficient matrix formulation and using an accurate integral operator, the discretized governing equations are derived directly from the weak form of the equations with no need for the analytical derivation of the strong form. This technique provides an alternative way to discretize the energy functional, which avoids the local interpolation and the assembly process of the methods of this kind. We first implement the VDQ method for the nonlinear elasticity theory considering the Green-St. Venant strain tensor; then we simplify the formulation further for the first-order shear deformable beam and plate theories. The final formulation of these cases demonstrates the simplicity of the implementation for the VDQ method in the numerical analysis of the structures, which is a major goal for this article. Using these examples, one can easily learn and apply this technique to other structures. To assess the performance of the VDQ method, we compare it with the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method and finite element method (FEM) in the case of bending analysis of Mindlin plates. It is indicated that computational cost of VDQ is less than that of GDQ, and the convergence rate of VDQ is faster than that of FEM.     

Weak formulation based Haar wavelet method for solving differential equations

The Haar wavelet based discretization method for solving differential equations is developed. Nonlinear Burgers equation is considered as a test problem. Both, strong and weak formulations based approaches are discussed. The discretization scheme proposed is based on the weak formulation. An attempt is made to combine the advantages of the FEM and Haar wavelets. The obtained numerical results have been validated against a closed form analytical solution as well as FEM results. Good agreement with the exact solution has been observed.     

Time-harmonic solution for acousto-elastic interaction with controllability and spectral elements

The classical way of solving the time-harmonic linear acousto-elastic wave problem is to discretize the equations with finite elements or finite differences. This approach leads to large-scale indefinite complex-valued linear systems. For these kinds of systems, it is difficult to construct efficient iterative solution methods. That is why we use an alternative approach and solve the time-harmonic problem by controlling the solution of the corresponding time dependent wave equation.In this paper, we use an unsymmetric formulation, where fluid-structure interaction is modeled as a coupling between pressure and displacement. The coupled problem is discretized in space domain with spectral elements and in time domain with central finite differences. After discretization, exact controllability problem is reformulated as a least-squares problem, which is solved by the conjugate gradient method.     

Simulation of Premixed Turbulent Combustion in a Gas Engine using the Immersed Boundary Method and a Level Set Flame Model

An efficient simulation approach for turbulent flame brush propagation is a level set formulation closed by the turbulent flame speed. A formulation of the level set equation with the corresponding treatment of the turbulent mass burning rate that is compatible with standard Finite Volume discretization schemes available in computational fluid dynamics codes is employed. In order to simplify and to speed up the meshing process in complicated geometries (here in gas engines) the immersed boundary method in a continuous formulation, where the forces replacing the boundaries are introduced in the momentum conservation equations before discretization, is employed. In our contribution, aspects of the numerical implementation of the level set flame model combined with the immersed boundary formulation in OpenFOAM are presented. First representative simulation results of a homogeneous methane/air mixture combustion in a simplified engine geometry are shown. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Fourth-Order Splitting Methods for Time-Dependant Differential Equations

This study was suggested by previous work on the simulation of evolution equations with scale-dependent processes,e.g.,wave-propagation or heat-transfer,that are modeled by wave equations or heat equations.Here,we study both parabolic and hyperbolic equations.We focus on ADI (alternating direction implicit) methods and LOD (locally one-dimensional) methods,which are standard splitting methods of lower order,e.g.second-order.Our aim is to develop higher-order ADI methods,which are performed by Richardson extrapolation,Crank-Nicolson methods and higher-order LOD methods,based on locally higher-order methods.We discuss the new theoretical results of the stability and consistency of the ADI methods.The main idea is to apply a higher- order time discretization and combine it with the ADI methods.We also discuss the dis- cretization and splitting methods for first-order and second-order evolution equations. The stability analysis is given for the ADI method for first-order time derivatives and for the LOD (locally one-dimensional) methods for second-order time derivatives.The higher-order methods are unconditionally stable.Some numerical experiments verify our results.     

Modelling two-dimensional flow past arbitrary cylindrical bodies using boundary element formulations

This paper presents an efficient method of solving Queen's linearized equations for steady plane flow of an incompressible, viscous Newtonian fluid past a cylindrical body of arbitrary cross-section. The numerical solution technique is the well known direct boundary element method. Use of a fundamental solution of Oseen's equations, the ‘Oseenlet’, allows the problem to be reduced to boundary integrals and numerical solution then only requires boundary discretization. The formulation and solution method are validated by computing the net forces acting on a single circular cylinder, two equal but separated circular cylinders and a single elliptic cylinder, and comparing these with other published results. A boundary element representation of the full Navier-Stokes equations is also used to evaluate the drag acting on a single circular cylinder by matching with the numerical Oseen solution in the far field.     

Variational Integrators for Thermo-Viscoelastic Discrete Systems

Variational integrators are modern time-integration schemes based on a discretization of the underlying variational principle. In this paper, Hamilton's principle is approximated by an action sum, whose vanishing variation results in discrete Euler-Lagrange equations or, equivalently, in discrete evolution equations for the position and momentum. In order to include the viscous and thermal virtual work (mechanical and thermal virtual dissipation), Hamilton's principle is extended by D'Alembert terms, which account for the time evolution equation of the internal variable and Fourier's law. From this variational formulation, variational integrators using different orders of approximation of the state variables as well as of the quadrature of the action integral are constructed and compared. A thermo-viscoelastic double pendulum comprised of two discrete masses connected by generalized Maxwell elements, and subject to heat conduction between them serves as a discrete model problem. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)