Comparative Large Eddy Simulation study of a large-scale buoyant fire

A fully-coupled Large Eddy Simulation model which incorporates all essential combustion, radiation and soot chemistry considerations have been developed to simulate the temporal vortical structure of a large-scale buoyant fire. Numerical results are validated and compared against a full-scale fire measurements and predictions from other LES models. Quantitative comparisons against experimental data suggested that the present model successfully captured the vortical structures and the puffing behaviour of a buoyant fire.     

Characterisation of underground blast-induced ground motions from large-scale field tests

An in-situ large-scale underground blast test program was conducted to investigate stress wave characteristics inside the medium, at the soil-rock interface and on the soil ground surface. The stress wave measurements were made through a vertical borehole and a horizontal borehole inside the rock mass, and along several horizontal lines arranged at the rock-soil interface and on the soil surface. Three different charge weights of 0.5, 2.5 and 10 t with loading densities of 0.5, 2.5 and 10 kg/m³, respectively, were used in the detonation. The measured stress wave time histories and their characteristic parameters, such as peak particle velocity (PPV) and peak particle acceleration (PPA), as well as the principal frequency (PF) at different locations are presented and analyzed in this paper. The results are also compared with those recorded from small-scale tests in a previous study and those from some other researchers, and the pertinent scale effects are discussed by observing differences of the stress wave intensities between the small-scale and the large-scale tests.Received: 18 November 2002, Accepted: 8 July 2003, Published online: 8 October 2003     

Nonlinear effects of the ekman layer on the dynamics of large-scale eddies in shallow water

Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 2, pp. 49–54, March–April, 1991.     

Bending tests to estimate the axial force in slender beams with unknown boundary conditions

This paper presents a static method for the axial load identification of slender prismatic beams with uncertain length and unknown boundary conditions as is typical of struts and ties of truss structures or tie-rods of arches and vaults. The proposed method requires the knowledge of the beam flexural rigidity only. Flexural displacements or curvatures are measured at five cross sections of the beam subjected to an additional concentred lateral load. Unlike analogous dynamic methods, any set of experimental data may be used in the identification algorithm. The proposed algorithm is verified by means of many numerical and experimental tests on beams having different boundary conditions. Excellent estimates of the axial forces are obtained when the greatest possible distance between sensors is adopted, even if in the presence of high values of the axial forces very accurate displacement measurements are required.     

受火作用单对称截面钢梁的侧向弯扭屈曲分析

通过非线性有限元通用程序 ANSYS 进行数值分析,首次对单轴对称钢梁在火载荷作用下发生的侧向弯扭屈曲行为进行系统的参数研究,主要考察载荷比、跨度、端部约束条件、温度梯度等因素对钢梁弯扭屈曲失效行为的影响.结果发现:钢梁发生侧向弯扭屈曲的临界温度随温度梯度的增加而提高,但随着载荷比的增大而降低;悬链作用对侧向弯扭屈曲的影响可以忽略;固支梁的抗火性能要优于简支梁;对于两种梁的跨度情形(3m和6m),跨度较大时具有突变特性的侧向弯曲屈曲难以发生,但这种跨度变化并未改变侧向弯扭屈曲这一重要失效形式.     

环境温度对熔铸炸药圆柱体装药热安全性的影响

根据热爆炸理论的热平衡方程,在Thomas边界条件下,数值计算了热爆炸临界体系温度、临界环境温度和临界装药尺寸的关系。在不同的温度范围,环境温度对临界尺寸的影响不同:在80℃以上,温度的影响比较显著;而在70℃以下,温度的影响不太显著;环境温度为105℃时,环境温度对临界尺寸的影响结果也就是FrankKamenetskii热量平衡方程在稳态条件下的处理结果,且是最保守的估计。作为示例列出了一种EAK(Ethylenediaminedinitrate Ammomiumnitrate Totassiumnitrate)基的分子间炸药的热爆炸临界条件的计算结果。     

Experimental and numerical analysis of spray-atomization characteristics of biodiesel fuel in various fuel and ambient temperatures conditions

The purpose of this work is to reveal the effects of fuel temperatures and ambient gas conditions on the spray-atomization behavior of soybean oil methyl ester (SME) fuel. The spray-atomization behavior was analyzed through spray parameters such as the axial distance from the nozzle tip, local and overall Sauter mean diameter (SMD). These parameters were obtained from a spray visualization system and a droplet measuring system. In addition, the experimental results were compared with the numerical results calculated by the KIVA-3V code. It was revealed that the increase of the fuel temperature (from 300 K to 360 K) little affects the spray liquid tip penetration. The increase of the ambient gas temperature (from 300 K to 450 K) caused a increase in the spray liquid tip penetration. Also, biodiesel fuel evaporation actively occurred due to the increase in the fuel temperature and the ambient gas temperature. Of special significance was that the highest vapor fuel mass concentration was observed at the center region of the spray axis. In the results of the microscopic characteristics, the detected local droplet size at the axial direction and overall droplet size at the axial and radial direction in a control volume increased when the fuel temperature increased. This is believed to be due to an increase in the number of small droplets that quickly evaporated. In addition, the increased fuel temperature caused the decrease of the number of droplets and the increase of the vapor fuel mass. The mean axial velocity of droplets decreased with increasing fuel temperature.     

Experiments on the instability modes of buoyant diffusion flames and effects of ambient atmosphere on the instabilities

Large scale dynamic behavior of buoyant diffusion flames were studied experimentally. It was found that buoyant diffusion flames originating from circular nozzles exhibit two different modes of flame instabilities. The first mode results in a sinuous meandering of the diffusion flame, characteristic of flames originating from small diameter nozzles. This instability originates at some distance downstream of the nozzle exit in the contraction region of the buoyant flame envelope and develops into a sinuous motion of the flame. The second mode is the varicose mode which develops very close to the nozzle exit as axisymmetric perturbations of a contracting flame surface. In this mode, flame oscillations result in the formation of toroidal vortical structures that convect through the flame and cause periodic burn out at the flame top resulting in the observed flame height fluctuations. The average flame heights are found to be typically shorter for these flames. The oscillation frequencies and their scaling for the two modes are also different with the sinuous mode having higher frequencies than the varicose mode. It was also observed that the instability can switch from one mode to the other and the probability of observing the varicose mode appears to increase with increasing Richardson number. Additionally, the feasibility of altering the behavior of buoyant diffusion flames was explored through variation of the oxidizer medium density. It was found that the flame oscillations can be completely suppressed for flames burning in helium rich helium–oxygen mixtures. At lower helium concentrations, the oscillation frequency can be significantly reduced. In order to enhance the buoyancy effect, CO₂–O₂ mixtures were also studied. However, the density increase and its effects on flame oscillation frequency were found to be small compared to those flames burning in air. These experiments point towards the feasibility of altering buoyant flame behavior under earth gravity and studying the large scale dynamical aspects of buoyant flames without the need of variable gravity environment. Received: 2 March 1999/Accepted: 6 August 1999     

Entrance effects in the channels of the parallel plate stack in oscillatory flow conditions

This paper considers an entrance flow into the channels formed by a stack of parallel plates, placed in an acoustic resonator that provides oscillatory flow forcing. Interesting complex flow phenomena around the extremity of the stack are observed, essentially due to the introduction of cross-sectional discontinuities: vortex formation and shedding during the fluid ejection from the channels and development of an entrance flow during the suction phase, when the fluid enters the channels from outside. It is the latter that is of particular interest in this study. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to investigate the flow structures in the “entrance region”. Velocity profiles are measured as a function of phase angle within an oscillation period and the distance from the stack end into the channel. Using the data obtained, an “entrance length” defined by analogy with existing fluid mechanical definitions, is estimated. The experiments are supplemented by CFD calculations to improve the understanding of such entrance flows.     

LES analysis of fire source aspect ratio effects on fire-wind enhancement

Enhancement of wind by bushfire, referred to as bushfire-wind enhancement phenomenon, causes damages to buildings located in bushfire-prone areas by increasing pressure load around the structures. This study focuses on the effects of point source aspect ratio (AR) on the wind enhanced by fire. FireFOAM solver of OpenFOAM platform is used to perform Large Eddy Simulation analysis for different fire source aspect ratios under two different fire source conditions: (i) identical fire intensity (fire heat release rate per unit area) and (ii) identical fire heat release rate conditions. Simulations were performed for three different fire source aspect ratios under these fire source boundary conditions. An appropriate normalization group based on fire source hydraulic diameter was introduced for fire-induced pressure gradient to explain the variation of wind enhancement with fire source aspect ratio. The results reveal that under a constant fire intensity condition, increasing the fire source aspect ratio causes a higher normalized fire-induced pressure gradient which leads to more intensified wind enhancement. In contrast, the increase of fire source aspect ratio while fire heat release rate is kept constant culminates in a reduction in the normalized fire-induced pressure gradient, reducing wind enhancement. Moreover, with the increase of the fire source aspect ratio, the area of counter-rotating vortices (CRV) where maximum wind enhancement occurs is expanded. The results also show that with the increase of fire source aspect ratio, the length of flame attachment to the ground immediately downstream of fire increases. In addition to the longitudinal wind enhancement, the effects of fire source aspect ratio on vertical velocity were also analyzed based on the Richardson number defined by hydraulic diameter and flow reference velocity. The effects of the aspect ratio on flame length were also studied. It was shown as a result of the increase of aspect ratio for one unit, flame length increases by approximately 14% and reduces by 7% under constant fire intensity and constant fire heat release rate condition, respectively.     

Nonlocal effects under elastic percolation conditions in deep-ling strata

A nonlocal formulation is proposed for the hypothesis of the constancy of rock pressure for nonstationary percolation under pressure in a deep-lying elastic rockshelf. According to the formulation proposed, stress variations in the skeleton of the rockshelf are caused by changes in the interstitial pressure in the proximity of the area studied.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 35–38, July–August, 1968.The author is indebted to É. A. Avakyan and N. A. Efremova for performing the computations.     

On the generation of large-scale homogeneous turbulence

An active turbulence generating grid, based on the rotating-vane design of Makita (1991), was developed for a large wind tunnel. At 2.14 m square, the grid is the largest of this type ever developed. To improve the isotropy of the turbulence generated, the grid was placed in the wind tunnel contraction. Measurements show that the grid produces a closely uniform mean flow and homogeneous isotropic turbulence to within two integral scales from the wall. By systematically varying the flow speed and parameters controlling the random motion of the vanes, grid turbulence with a wide variety of characteristics was produced and the dependence of those characteristics on the operating parameters of the grid revealed. Taylor Reynolds numbers of the grid turbulence varied from 100 to 1,360 and integral scales from 5 to almost 70 cm. The extreme cases represent some of the highest Reynolds number and largest scale homogeneous turbulent flows ever generated in a wind tunnel.     

Investigation on lateral dispersion characteristics of fuel particles in dense phase zone of a large-scale circulating fluidized bed boiler under combustion conditions

The dispersion characteristics of fuel particles in the dense phase zone in circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers have an important influence on bed temperature distribution and pollutant emissions. However, previous research in literature was mostly on small-scale apparatus, whose results could not be applied directly to large-scale CFB with multiple dispersion sources. To help solve this problem, we proposed a novel method to estimate the lateral dispersion coefficient (D_x) of fuel particles under partial coal cut-off condition in a 350 MW supercritical CFB boiler based on combustion and dispersion models. Meanwhile, we carried out experiments to obtain the D_x in the range of 0.1218–0.1406 m²/s. Numerical simulations were performed and the influence of operating conditions and furnace structure on fuel dispersion characteristics was investigated, the simulation value of D_x was validated against experimental data. Results revealed that the distribution of bed temperature caused by the fuel dispersion was mainly formed by char combustion. Because of the presence of intermediate water-cooled partition wall, the mixing and dispersion of fuel and bed material particles between the left and right sides of the furnace were hindered, increasing the non-uniformity of the bed temperature near furnace front wall.     

Attributes of the large-scale coherent motions in a shear layer

PIV observations in a shear layer have been used to identify and characterize the discrete large-scale coherent motions (LSCMs) in the nominally self-preserving region: x/θ_o ≈ 450–610, of a shear layer. The LSCMs are given an objective definition wherein their centers are the (swirling flow pattern) nodes of the velocity-vector field as seen by an observer in the Galilean reference frame translating at an appropriately defined reference velocity. The statistical attributes of size, lateral location, and separation between these coherent motions (that exist in a single image) as well as their characteristic vorticity magnitude 〈ω_max〉 are reported.     

Study of dynamic end effects in an elastic strip with sliding boundary conditions

The dynamic response of an elastic, semi-infinite strip with sliding surfaces, subjected to various forms of end excitations, was solved analytically employing the property of bi-orthogonality of wave modes. An explicit relation between the amplitudes of evanescent waves and the form of the excitation was obtained. Quantitative measure for dynamic end effects was suggested, termed Saint-Venant ratio (SVR). It was shown that two qualities of that ratio are useful for monitoring the health of structural joints (SHM): being that ratio not affected by the intensity of the end excitation and its high sensitivity to small variations in the form of the excitation. The axial behavior of the strip subjected to several forms of end excitations was further used to demonstrate the validity of a previously suggested dynamic version of Saint-Venant’s principle.     

Numerical and experimental study on effect of wall geometry on wall impingement process of hollow-cone fuel spray under various ambient conditions

The spray–wall impingement process in gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, which is caused by the interaction among spray, wall and air to move the air–fuel mixture near the spark plug, directly influences the engine performance and emissions. Therefore, a detailed understanding of this process is very important in designing an injection system and controlling a strategy of GDI engines. The purpose of this study is to understand the spray–wall impingement characteristics for more efficient designing of the injection system in GDI engines and to supply the fundamental data under engine operation conditions. The wall impingement processes of hollow-cone fuel spray according to ambient gas conditions and wall geometry are calculated by validated spray models. The calculated results were compared with the experimental results obtained by the laser-induced exciplex fluorescence (LIEF) technique. It was found that the spray and vortex cloud at the high ambient pressure were distributed at inner area of cavity and the more fuel film mass observed at this condition. The fuel film mass decreased with the increase of ambient temperature, while the fuel film mass increased at high cavity angles.     

Dynamics of large-scale eddies in turbulent flows

A model equation based on the equipartition of the turbulent dissipation is proposed for describing the dynamics of large-scale eddies in turbulent flows. The equation is reducible to the equation of motion of an inviscid fluid, so that the motion of the large-scale eddies can be described in terms of inviscid fluid dynamics. It is found that the large-scale eddies are always weakened by the background turbulence and their evolution is slowed down compared with the corresponding inviscid motion. In the case of turbulent mixing layer, its linear growth in downstream direction is accounted for by the exponential growth in time of the perturbation in an inviscid plane vortex sheet.