Search Results (129)

Fish in nature can extract the vortex energies from the environment to enhance their swimming performance. This paper numerically investigated the hydrodynamic characteristics and the energy-saving advantages of an undulating fish-like body behind the vortical flows generated by an upstream cylinder. The numerical model was based on a robust ghost cell immersed boundary method for the solution of incompressible flows around arbitrary complex flexible boundaries. We examined the dynamic characteristics, the swimming performance, and the wake structures of the downstream fish under different locations and diameters of the cylinder in a wide range of Strouhal numbers. It was found that the average drag coefficient was significantly reduced in the presence of the upstream cylinder, while the RMS (root mean square) lift coefficients were very close for different locations and diameters of the cylinder as well as in the fish-only case. Therefore, the downstream fish gain efficiency and thrust enhancement by capturing energies from the vortex flows, which are more significant for smaller Strouhal numbers (St). However, the swimming efficiency converges to near 0.12 at St = 1.2 for different locations and diameters of the upstream cylinder, just slightly higher than that of the fish-only case. The fish can experience the thrust in not only the von-Kármán vortex street, but also the reversed one. In addition, the fish can be situated in the extended shear layer region and the fully developed wake region dependent on the position and diameter of the upstream cylinder, leading to abundant wake modes such as the splitting, coalescing, and competing of vortices. Full article

Large-eddy and direct numerical simulations generate vast data sets that are challenging to interpret, even for simple geometries at low Reynolds numbers. This has increased the importance of automatic methods for extracting significant features to understand physical phenomena. Traditional techniques like the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) have been widely used for this purpose. However, recent advancements in computational power have allowed for the development of data-driven modal reduction approaches. This paper discusses four applications of deep neural networks for aerodynamic applications, including a convolutional neural network autoencoder, to analyze unsteady flow fields around a circular cylinder at Re = 100 and a supersonic boundary layer with Tollmien–Schlichting waves. The autoencoder results are comparable to those obtained with POD and spectral POD. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the autoencoder can compress steady hypersonic boundary-layer profiles into a low-dimensional vector space that is spanned by the pressure gradient and wall-temperature ratio. This paper also proposes a convolutional neural network model to estimate velocity and temperature profiles across different hypersonic flow conditions. Full article

The vortex-induced vibrations of two side-by-side flexible cylinders in a uniform flow were studied using a three-dimensional direct numerical simulation at Reynolds number Re = 350 with an aspect ratio of 100, and a center-to-center spacing ratio of 2.5. A mixture of standing-traveling wave pattern was induced in the in-line (IL) vibration, while the cross-flow (CF) vibration displayed a standing-wave characteristic. The ninth vibration mode prominently occurred in both IL and CF directions, along with competition between multiple modes. Proximity effects from the neighboring cylinder caused the primary frequency to be consistent between IL and CF vibrations for each cylinder, deviating from the IL to CF ratio of 2:1 in isolated cylinder conditions. Repulsive mean lift coefficients were observed in both stationary and vibrating conditions for the two cylinders due to asymmetrical vortex shedding in this small gap. Comparatively, lift and drag coefficients were notably increased in the vibrating condition, albeit with a lower vortex shedding frequency. Positive energy transfer was predominantly excited along the span via vortex shedding from the cylinder itself and the neighboring one, leading to increasing lower-mode vibration amplitudes. The flip-flopping (FF) wake pattern was excited in the stationary and vibrating cylinders, causing spanwise vortex dislocations and wake transition over time, with the FF pattern being more regular in the stationary cylinder case. Full article

The vibrissae of harbor seals exhibit a distinct three-dimensional structure compared to circular cylinders, resulting in a wave-shaped configuration that effectively reduces drag and suppresses vortex shedding in the wake. However, this unique cylinder design has not yet been applied to wind power technologies. Therefore, this study applies this concept to the design of downwind wind turbines and employs wind tunnel testing to compare the wake flow characteristics of a single-cylinder model while also investigating the output power and wake performance of the model wind turbine. Herein, we demonstrate that in the single-cylinder test, the bionic case shows reduced turbulence intensity in its wake compared to that observed with the circular cylinder case. The difference in the energy distribution in the frequency domain behind the cylinder was mainly manifested in the near-wake region. Moreover, our findings indicate that differences in power coefficient are predominantly noticeable with high tip speed ratios. Furthermore, as output power increases, this bionic cylindrical structure induces greater velocity deficit and higher turbulence intensity behind the rotor. These results provide valuable insights for optimizing aerodynamic designs of wind turbines towards achieving enhanced efficiency for converting wind energy. Full article

The balance between accuracy and computational complexity is currently a focal point of research in dynamical system modeling. From the perspective of model reduction, this paper addresses the mode selection strategy in Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) by integrating an embedded fractal theory based on fractal dimension (FD). The existing model selection methods lack interpretability and exhibit arbitrariness in choosing mode dimension truncation levels. To address these issues, this paper analyzes the geometric features of modes for the dimensional characteristics of dynamical systems. By calculating the box counting dimension (BCD) of modes and the correlation dimension (CD) and embedding dimension (ED) of the original dynamical system, it achieves guidance on the importance ranking of modes and the truncation order of modes in DMD. To validate the practicality of this method, it is applied to the reduction applications on the reconstruction of the velocity field of cylinder wake flow and the force field of compressor blades. Theoretical results demonstrate that the proposed selection technique can effectively characterize the primary dynamic features of the original dynamical systems. By employing a loss function to measure the accuracy of the reconstruction models, the computed results show that the overall errors of the reconstruction models are below 5%. These results indicate that this method, based on fractal theory, ensures the model’s accuracy and significantly reduces the complexity of subsequent computations, exhibiting strong interpretability and practicality. Full article

To clarify the hydrodynamic interference characteristics of flows around multiple cylinders under the wall effect, the two-dimensional (2D) flows around the near-wall single, two tandem and parallel cylinders are simulated under different gap ratios (0.15 ≤ G/D ≤ 3.0) and spacing ratios (1.5 ≤ T/D ≤ 4.0) at a Reynolds number of Re = 6300. We also examine the wake patterns, the force coefficients, and the vortex-shedding frequency with emphases on the wall effect and effects of the two-cylinder interference. A critical wall gap of G/D = 0.6 is identified in the single-cylinder case where the wall can exert significant influences. The two near-wall tandem cylinders exhibit three wake states: stretching mode, attachment mode, and impinging mode. The force coefficients on the upstream cylinder are significantly affected by the wall for G/D ≤ 0.6. The downstream cylinder is mainly influenced by the upstream cylinder. For G/D > 0.6, the force coefficients on the two cylinders exhibit a similar variation trend. In the parallel arrangement, the two cylinders exhibit four wake states in different G/D and T/D ranges: double stretching mode, hetero-vortex scale mode, unilateral vortex mode, and free vortex mode. Moreover, the two parallel cylinders in the hetero-vortex scale or free vortex mode have two states: synchronous in-phase state and synchronous out-of-phase state. The mean drag coefficients on the two cylinders decrease, while the mean lift coefficients exhibit opposite variation trends, as the T/D grows. Full article

Low-coverage line-belt-pattern protective forests offer significant advantages in terms of wind and sand control measures. It is important to study the windbreak effectiveness of sand-fixing forests with different spacing for the construction and optimization of plant shelterbelt configurations. The effect of plant spacing on the flow field around a row of trees was investigated using the k-ε turbulence model coupled with the porous media model. In order to accurately simplify the complex and stochastic plant constitutive features, we simplify the plant canopy to a circular platform geometry, which introduces a porous media model, and the plant trunk is simulated as a solid cylinder. The simulation results show that windbreaks only affect wind profiles up to 1.25-times the height of the tree; on the leeward side of the canopy, large-spaced shelterbelts provide greater protection in the near-wake zone, while small-spaced shelterbelts are more effective at reducing velocity in the re-equilibration zone. The flow field recovery properties of the trunk and canopy indicate that the canopy wake zone is longer. In this study, we also quantitatively analyze the relationship between average wind protection effectiveness as a function of plant spacing and streamwise distance from the leeward side of the canopy, and the given parameterized scheme shows a power exponential relationship between wind protection effectiveness and plant spacing and a logarithmic relationship with streamwise distance. This scheme can provide a predictive assessment of the effects during the implementation of the plant shelterbelt. Full article

Curved free shear layers emerge in many engineering problems involving complex flow geometries, such as the flow over a backward-facing step, flows with wall injection in a boundary layer, the flow inside side-dump combustors, or wakes generated by vertical axis wind turbines, among others. Previous studies involving centrifugal instabilities have mainly focused on wall-flows where Taylor instabilities between two rotating concentric cylinders or Görtler vortices in boundary layers are generated. Curved free shear layer flows, however, have not received sufficient attention, especially in the nonlinear regime. The present work investigates the development of centrifugal instabilities in a curved free shear layer flow in the nonlinear compressible regime. The compressible Navier–Stokes equations are reduced to the nonlinear boundary region equations (BREs) in a high Reynolds number asymptotic framework, wherein the streamwise wavelength of the disturbances is assumed to be much larger than the spanwise and wall-normal counterparts. We study the effect of the freestream Mach number $M_{\infty }$, the shear layer thickness $\delta$, the amplitude of the incoming disturbance A, and the relative velocity difference across the shear layer $\Delta V$ on the development of these centrifugal instabilities. Our parametric study shows that, among other things, the kinetic energy of the curved shear layer flow increases with increasing $\Delta V$ and A decreases with increasing $delta$. It was also found that increasing the disturbance amplitude of the incoming disturbance leads to significant growth in the mushroom-like structure’s amplitude and renders the secondary instability structures more prominent, indicating increased mixing for all Mach numbers under consideration. Full article

The flow around two tandem circular cylinders in proximity to a wall is investigated using particle image velocimetry (PIV) for Re = 2 × 10³. The spacing ratios L/D are 1, 2, and 5, and the gap ratios G/D are 0.3, 0.6, and 1. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method and λci vortex identification method are used to investigate the evolution of flow structure, and the influences of L/D and G/D on flow physics are shown. At L/D = 2 and G/D = 0.3, a “pairing” process occurs between the wall shear layer and the upstream cylinder’s lower shear layer, resulting in a small separation bubble behind the upstream cylinder. At L/D = 1, the Strouhal number (St) increases with decreasing G/D. At three gap ratios, the St gradually decreases as L/D increases. At G/D = 0.3, there is nearly a 49.98% decrease from St = 0.3295 at L/D = 1 to St = 0.1648 at L/D = 5, which is larger than the reductions in cases of G/D = 0.6 and G/D = 1. The effects of L/D on the evolution of flow structure at G/D = 0.6 are revealed in detail. At L/D = 1, the vortex shedding resembles that of the single cylinder. As L/D increases to 2, a squarish flow structure is formed between two cylinders, and a small secondary vortex is formed due to induction of the lower shear layer of the upstream cylinder. At L/D = 5, there is a vortex merging process between the upper wake vortices of the upstream and downstream cylinders, and the lower wake vortex of the upstream cylinder directly impinges the downstream cylinder. In addition, the shear layers and wake vortices of the upstream cylinder interact with the wake of the downstream cylinder as L/D increases, resulting in reductions in velocity fluctuations, and the production and turbulent diffusion of turbulent kinetic energy are decreased behind the downstream cylinder. Full article

The energy harnessing from flow-induced vibrations (FIV) by an oscillating foil placed tandemly behind a circular cylinder (which serves as a vortex generator) is investigated. The foil is submerged in the wake produced by the fixed cylinder and could oscillate in the direction perpendicular to the incoming flow with single-degree freedom. The spacing ratio ranges from 1.0 to 5.0. The oncoming fluid velocity is U = 1–10 m/s, corresponding to the reduced velocity U_r = 3.81–38.08 and the Reynolds number Re = 9.58 × 10³–9.58 × 10⁴. Four harnessing damping ratios (ζ_harness = 0.0054–0.0216) are used to simulate the energy conversion conditions. The main conclusions are: (1) The optimal oscillation pattern related to the highest harnessed energy emerges as the spacing ratio close to 1.0. (2) The airflow energy converted by the foil is positively correlated with the harnessing damping ratio because the amplitude responses are similar at various harnessing damping ratios. A high velocity yields the highest harnessed power. (3) The harnessing efficiency of the foil could reach 48.89%, which is much more than that of an isolated flapping foil. Full article

This study utilizes a bidirectional fluid–structure interaction numerical method to investigate the hydrodynamic and energy harvesting characteristics of two tandem three rigidly connected cylinder oscillators with different inter-oscillator spacing ratios. The analysis considers inter-oscillator spacing ratios of 8, 12, and 16 within a reduced velocity range of U* = 2–13 (equivalent to flow velocities of 0.18–1.16 m/s). The research explores the hydrodynamic interference features, energy harvesting variations, and the efficiency and density of energy harvesting of both upstream and downstream three-cylinder oscillators. The findings indicate that with increasing reduced velocity and inter-oscillator spacing ratio, the mutual interference between upstream and downstream oscillators diminishes. Wake patterns observed in the two series-connected three-cylinder oscillators include 2P, 2S, and 2T patterns, with fragmented vortices and banded vortices at specific reduced velocities. The most significant disparity in energy harvesting efficiency between upstream and downstream oscillators is observed at U* = 9. Full article

In this work, we conducted a numerical study on the cavitation flow around a circular cylinder with $Re=200$ and $\sigma =1,$ through the implementation of a porous coating. The primary objective addressed the effectiveness of utilizing a porous surface to control cavitation. We analyzed the cavitation dynamics around the cylinder and the hydrodynamic performance at different permeability levels of the porous surfaces ($K={10}^{-12}-{10}^{-10}$). The flow was governed by the density-based homogeneous mixture model, and the volume penalization method was used to deal with the porous layer. A high-order compact numerical method was adopted for the simulation of the cavitating flow through solving the preconditioned multiphase equations. The hydrodynamic findings demonstrated that the fluctuations in the lift coefficient decreased when the porous layer was applied. However, it is not possible to precisely express an opinion about drag because the drag coefficient may vary, either increasing or decreasing, depending on the permeability within a constant thickness of the porous layer. The results revealed that the application of a porous layer led to the effective suppression of cavitation vortex shedding. In addition, a reduction of the shedding frequency was obtained, which was accompanied by thinner and elongated vortices in the wake region of the cylinder. With the proper porous layer, the inception of the cavitation on the cylinder was suppressed, and the amplitude of pressure pulsations due to the cavitation shedding mechanism was mitigated. Full article

Four types of undulated cylinders with streamwise undulation, transverse undulation, in-phase undulation and antiphase undulation are employed to investigate the undulation-axis effect on the structure of heat transfer around wavy cylinders. The flows around these undulated cylinders are numerically simulated by large eddy simulation at Re = 3000. The force coefficients and Nusselt numbers of the cylinders with transverse undulation and in-phase undulation are significantly influenced by wavelength and wave amplitude. On the other hand, the cylinders with streamwise undulation and antiphase undulation show a very weak dependence of the force coefficients and Nusselt numbers on the combinations of wavelength and wave amplitude. It is noted that the cylinder with antiphase undulation, under certain wavy conditions, provides about the same Nusselt number as the smooth cylinder, even though the force coefficients are considerably decreased. The thermal characteristics, according to the combination of wavy geometric parameters, are supported by the surface distribution of the Nusselt numbers. In addition, the isothermal distribution, which depends on the wake flow, explains the variation in the Nusselt numbers. The present results suggest that a proper modification of geometry can improve both heat transfer and aerodynamic performances. Full article

A novel three-equation turbulence model has been proposed as a potential solution to overcome some of the issues related to the k–ε models of turbulence. A number of turbulence models found in the literature designed for compressed turbulence within internal combustion engine cylinders tend to exhibit limitations when applied to turbulent shear flows, such as those occurring through intake or exhaust valves of the engine. In the event that the flow is out of equilibrium where P_k deviates from ε, the turbulence models require a separate turbulence time-scale determiner along with the dissipation, ε. In the current research, this is accomplished by resolving an additional equation that accounts for turbulence time scale, τ. After presenting the rationale behind the model, its application to three types of free shear flows were given. It has been shown that the three-equation k–ε–τ model outperforms the standard k–ε model as well as a number of two-equation models in these flows. Initially, the k–ε–τ model handles the issue of the plane jet/round jet anomaly in an effective manner. Secondly, it outperforms the two-equation models in predicting the flow behavior in the case of plane wake, one that is distinguished by its weak shear form. Full article

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for bridge inspection is becoming increasingly popular due to its ability to improve efficiency and ensure the safety of monitoring personnel. Compared to traditional manual monitoring methods, UAV inspections are a safer and more efficient alternative. This paper examines the impact of meteorological conditions on UAV-based bridge monitoring during specific tasks, with the aim of enhancing the safety of the UAV’s costly components. The wake vortex behind a bridge structure can vary over time due to airflow, which can have a direct impact on the safety of UAV flights. To assess this impact, numerical analysis is conducted based on monitoring requirements specific to different tasks, taking into account wind speed, wind direction, and air temperature. In order to optimize UAV trajectory, it is important to consider the wake vortex intensity and its associated influence region, which can pose a potential danger to UAV flight. Additionally, the analysis should take into account the aerodynamic effects of different types of bridge columns on the wake vortex. An optimization algorithm was utilized to optimize the trajectory of a UAV during bridge inspections within the safe region affected by wind fields. This resulted in the determination of an effective and safe flight path. The study reveals that varying wind speeds have an impact on the safe flight zone of UAVs, even if they are below the operational requirements. Therefore, when monitoring bridges using UAVs, it is important to take into account the influence of meteorological conditions. Furthermore, it was observed that the flight path of UAVs during square cylinder column monitoring is longer and more time-consuming than round cylinder column monitoring. Determining an effective UAV inspection path is crucial for completing bridge monitoring tasks in windy conditions, establishing bridge inspection standards, and developing the Intelligent Bridge Inspection System (IBIS). Full article