Development of draft tube in hydro-turbine: a review

The efficiency of a hydraulic reaction turbine is significantly affected by the efficiency of its draft tube. The shape (profile) and velocity distribution at the inlet affect the performance of the draft tube. So far, the design of draft tubes has been improved through experimental observations resulting in ‘rules of thumb’ and empirical formulae. In the last two decades the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for research and designing complex profiles has improved significantly due to its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. A CFD-based design can further be aided with robust and user-friendly optimisation. Numerical analysis of fluid through a draft tube is challenging and time consuming due to complex flow features. Hence there is a need for developing accurate and reliable CFD models together with efficient optimisation. Studies of the principles of draft tube, internal flow pattern, various turbulence models and associated divergence along with results have been presented in this paper. The objective of this paper is to present the application of CFD simulation in design and flow analysis of the draft tube and also find out the factors which influence the deviation of CFD results with experimental results. From the literature, it has been observed that there are several factors (accurate inlet conditions, turbulent models selected for simulation, modification in geometric parameters and accuracy in measurement of experimental results) that influence the draft tube design and performance. Thus, there is a scope of research for optimisation of geometrical parameters of the draft tube for its best performance at full load condition using CFD simulation. It is carried out by applying 3D velocity as an inlet boundary condition measured with particle image velocimetry/laser Doppler velocimetry.     

液力变矩器内部流场的三维数值模拟

液力变矩器内部的液体流动是一个非常复杂的三维流动问题.在液力变矩器设计和制造过程中,利用CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics计算流体力学)从事设计和分析时,CFD数值模拟的精确程度与模型的建立和采取的数值方法、网格的划分以及边界条件的选择有关.为了考察这些影响因素,对典型的YB355-2型液...     

Detailing the effects of geometry approximation and grid simplification on the capability of a CFD model to address the benchmark test case for flow around a computer simulated person

This paper details the use of a simplified CFD model to predict the flow patterns around a computer simulated person in a displacement ventilated room. The use of CFD is a valuable tool for indoor airflow analysis and the level of complexity of the model being investigated is often critical to the accuracy of predictions. The closer the computational geometry is to the real geometry of interest, the more accurate the corresponding results are expected to be. High complexity meshes enable elaborated geometries to be resolved. The drawback is, however, their increased computational cost. The Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) model (Version 5) enabled to investigate the effects of geometry and computational grid simplification on the accuracy of numerical predictions. The FDS model is based on a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system and all solid obstructions are forced to conform to the underlying numerical grid which is a potential limitation when dealing with complex geometries such as those of a human body. Nevertheless, the developed computational model was based exclusively on a three-dimensional rectangular geometry. At the same time, in order to limit the total number of grid cells, a relatively coarser grid than those used for similar simulations was adopted in the investigation. The developed model was then assessed in terms of its capability of reproducing benchmark temperature and air velocity distributions. The extent to which numerical results depend on different simulation settings was detailed and different boundary conditions are discussed in order to provide some guidance on the parameters that resulted to affect the accuracy of the predicted results. The comparison between numerical results and measurements showed that a simplified CFD model can be used to capture the airflow characteristics of the investigated scenario with predictions showing a favourable agreement with experimental data at least in the qualitative features of the flow (the detailed investigation of the local airflow field near the occupant can not be probably conducted apart from considering the real human geometry). Significant influence of simulator geometry and of boundary conditions was found.     

Feasibility of utilizing numerical viscosity from coarse grid CFD for fast turbulence modeling of indoor environments

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a useful tool in building indoor environment study. However, the notorious computational effort of CFD is a significant drawback that restricts its applications in many areas and stages. Factors such as grid resolution and turbulence modeling are the main reasons that lead to large computing cost of this method. This study investigates the feasibility of utilizing inherent numerical viscosity induced by coarse CFD grid, coupled with simplest turbulence model, to greatly reduce the computational cost while maintaining reasonable modeling accuracy of CFD. Numerical viscosity introduced from space discretization in a carefully specified coarse grid resolution may have similar magnitude as turbulence viscosity for typical indoor airflows. This presents potentials of substituting sophisticated turbulence models with inherent numerical viscosity models from coarse grid CFD that are often used in fast CFD analysis. Case studies were conducted to validate the analytical findings, by comparing the coarse grid CFD predictions with the grid-independent CFD solutions as well as experimental data obtained from literature. The study shows that a uniform coarse grid can be applied, along with a constant turbulence viscosity model, to reasonably predict general airflow patterns in typical indoor environments. Although such predictions may not be as precise as fine-grid CFDs with well validated complex turbulence models, the accuracy is acceptable for indoor environment study, especially at an early stage of a project. The computing speed is about 100 times faster than a fine-grid CFD, which makes it possible to simulate a complicated 3-dimensional building in real-time (or near real-time) with personal computer.     

Sensitivity of the predicted convective heat transfer in a cooled room to the computational fluid dynamics simulation approach

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) plays an increasingly important role in the design, analysis and optimization of engineering systems. However, CFD does not necessarily provide reliable results. The most crucial numerical solution error is caused by inadequate grid resolution, and the key modelling error sources in CFD in ventilated indoor environments are turbulence modelling and diffuser modelling. Many researchers already proposed guidelines, but they based their analyses on local variables. In response, underlying study intended to verify the impact of the CFD simulation approach on the convective heat flux, an integral quantity. The authors tested several grids, Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes turbulence models and diffuser models for three convection regimes in a cooled room. The diffuser modelling had a much larger impact than the grid and the turbulence modelling, as long as the jet dominated the airflow. So, CFD users, who want to model forced/mixed convection airflow indoors, certainly need to pay attention to the diffuser modelling.     

Axisymmetric alternating direction explicit scheme for efficient coupled simulation of hydro-mechanical interaction in geotechnical engineering—Application to circular footing and deep tunnel in saturated ground

Explicit solution techniques have been widely used in geotechnical engineering for simulating the coupled hydro-mechanical (H-M) interaction of fluid flow and deformation induced by structures built above and under saturated ground, i.e. circular footing and deep tunnel. However, the technique is only conditionally stable and requires small time steps, portending its inefficiency for simulating large-scale H-M problems. To improve its efficiency, the unconditionally stable alternating direction explicit (ADE) scheme could be used to solve the flow problem. The standard ADE scheme, however, is only moderately accurate and is restricted to uniform grids and plane strain flow conditions. This paper aims to remove these drawbacks by developing a novel high-order ADE scheme capable of solving flow problems in non-uniform grids and under axisymmetric conditions. The new scheme is derived by performing a fourth-order finite difference (FD) approximation to the spatial derivatives of the axisymmetric fluid–diffusion equation in a non-uniform grid configuration. The implicit Crank-Nicolson technique is then applied to the resulting approximation, and the subsequent equation is split into two alternating direction sweeps, giving rise to a new axisymmetric ADE scheme. The pore pressure solutions from the new scheme are then sequentially coupled with an existing geomechanical simulator in the computer code fast Lagrangian analysis of continua (FLAC). This coupling procedure is called the sequentially-explicit coupling technique based on the fourth-order axisymmetric ADE scheme or SEA-4-AXI. Application of SEA-4-AXI for solving axisymmetric consolidation of a circular footing and of advancing tunnel in deep saturated ground shows that SEA-4-AXI reduces computer runtime up to 42%–50% that of FLAC's basic scheme without numerical instability. In addition, it produces high numerical accuracy of the H-M solutions with average percentage difference of only 0.5%–1.8%.     

Predicting airflow distribution and contaminant transport in aircraft cabins with a simplified gasper model

This study investigated the air distribution and contaminant transport in aircraft cabins with gaspers by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). If the detailed gasper geometry were used in the CFD simulations, the grid number would be unacceptably high. To reduce the grid number, this investigation proposed a method for simplifying the gasper geometry. The method was then validated by two sets of experimental data obtained from a cabin mockup and a real aircraft cabin. It was found that for the cabin mockup, the CFD simulation with the simplified gasper model reduced the grid number from 1.58 to 0.3 million and the computing cost from 2 days to 1 hour without compromising the accuracy. In the five-row economy-class cabin of the MD-82 airplane, the CFD simulation with the simplified gasper model was acceptable in predicting the distribution of air velocity, air temperature, and contaminant concentration.     

Dynamic thermal CFD simulation of a typical office by efficient transient solution methods

This paper describes the evolution and application of an efficient dynamic thermal modelling (DTM) procedure, developed within computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results of a case study to simulate the dynamic thermal conditions within a typical office space using the novel DTM–CFD procedure are reported. The main area of investigation was the ability to account for the time-varying thermal response of building fabrics to internal and external ambient conditions and the consequential effect on the air inside the enclosure. The proposed DTM–CFD procedure utilised a transient time-varying grid schedule, ‘Freeze-Flow’ and ‘Boundary Freeze’ techniques. ‘Freeze Flow’ paused the solution of all governing equations of fluid flow, except temperature; while ‘Boundary Freeze’ froze temperatures at boundaries of the CFD model whilst solving all equations in the flow domain. The DTM–CFD procedure provides the potential for solving the problem of generating large quantities of data, whilst effectively and accurately modelling heat transfer through the building fabric and internal air simultaneously using CFD alone. An assessment of the performance of the DTM–CFD procedure was made through inter-model comparisons with fully transient CFD solutions. The procedure was successful in providing more detailed dynamic thermal simulations than would have otherwise been obtainable from a DTM and more efficiently (simulation time) than a CFD model.     

Bearing force mobilisation in pull-out tests on geogrids

This paper presents a study on the mobilisation of bearing forces in geogrids subjected to pull-out solicitation. A theoretical model incorporating the effects of interference between grid bearing members on grid pull-out behaviour is presented and used for the interpretation of the results of large-scale pull-out tests on grids with varying geometrical and mechanical properties. The results obtained in this study show the influence of parameters such as free reinforcement length, test speed and interference between members on the pull-out response of geogrids. It is also shown that the load–displacement curve obtained in pull-out tests is not sufficient for an accurate investigation of soil–grid interaction and bearing force degradation mechanisms must be incorporated in the analysis of grid pull-out response if accurate predictions of pull-out strength and grid deformations are to be made.     

CFD analysis of pollutant dispersion around buildings: Effect of cell geometry

The choice of the best mesh in terms of cost, time and accuracy of computational solutions in the CFD industry is a challenging topic and a subject of some controversy. Generating meshes based on hexahedral elements requires significant time and effort, however, these meshes are claimed to produce high quality solutions. Meshes that employ tetrahedral elements can be constructed much faster in complex geometries, but may increase the levels of numerical diffusion. The objective of this study is to better establish quantitative assessment of the influence of cell geometry in the computational mesh on the CFD results of pollutant dispersion around buildings in order to help modelers to choose the most effective mesh type for their applications. In order to achieve this objective, two widely used mesh styles, i.e., hexahedral-based and tetrahedral-based meshes, are considered in the simulation of this flow problem. Quantitative grid convergence was calculated based on a grid convergence index (GCI). The mesh style was found to have an observable effect on the calculated pollutant concentrations. For instance, the hexahedral-based mesh was observed to have GCI values that were in an order of magnitude below the tetrahedral-based mesh values for all resolutions considered, even in the very fine tetrahedral-based mesh. Furthermore, the GCI value, and hence the truncation error, remains high compared to conventional hexahedral cases. The study recommends taking special care when employing an unstructured tetrahedral-based mesh to ensure that the mesh is fine enough and any numerical errors should be documented for selected variables reported analogous to experimental uncertainty in order to assess the quality of the numerical solution.     

Low-Reynolds number mixing ventilation flows: Impact of physical and numerical diffusion on flow and dispersion

Quality assurance in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is essential for an accurate and reliable assessment of complex indoor airflow. Two important aspects are the limitation of numerical diffusion and the appropriate choice of inlet conditions to ensure the correct amount of physical diffusion. This paper presents an assessment of the impact of both numerical and physical diffusion on the predicted flow patterns and contaminant distribution in steady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) CFD simulations of mixing ventilation at a low slot Reynolds number (Re≈2,500). The simulations are performed on five different grids and with three different spatial discretization schemes; i.e. first-order upwind (FOU), second-order upwind (SOU) and QUICK. The impact of physical diffusion is assessed by varying the inlet turbulence intensity (TI) that is often less known in practice. The analysis shows that: (1) excessive numerical and physical diffusion leads to erroneous results in terms of delayed detachment of the wall jet and locally decreased velocity gradients; (2) excessive numerical diffusion by FOU schemes leads to deviations (up to 100%) in mean velocity and concentration, even on very high-resolution grids; (3) difference between SOU and FOU on the coarsest grid is larger than difference between SOU on coarsest grid and SOU on 22 times finer grid; (4) imposing TI values from 1% to 100% at the inlet results in very different flow patterns (enhanced or delayed detachment of wall jet) and different contaminant concentrations (deviations up to 40%); (5) impact of physical diffusion on contaminant transport can markedly differ from that of numerical diffusion.     

Analytical solutions to the axisymmetric consolidation of a multi-layer soil system under surcharge combined with vacuum preloading

Surcharge combined with vacuum preloading is a common technique for accelerating the consolidation process in ground improvement. A unit cell model for the axisymmetric consolidation of a soft soil using a prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) under a surcharge, combined with vacuum preloading, is investigated in this study. Based on this model, analytical solutions for a multi-layer soil system are put forward and the explicit expressions for two-layer and one-layer systems are presented. The accuracy of the proposed solution is verified using an analytical solution available in the literature. In the parametric study, the influencing factors on the consolidation process, such as, the smear zone, the PVD spacing, the hydraulic conductivity in the radial direction, the coefficient of vacuum decrease, are taken into account. The water flow in the radial direction plays an important role in the consolidation process while the impact of the vertical flow mainly develops around the interfaces between two adjacent layers. In addition, the proposed analytical solution is applied in a case history with three different layers and the results are reasonable.     

Comparison of coarse grid lattice Boltzmann and Navier Stokes for real time flow simulations in rooms

Coarse grid lattice Boltzmann models (LBM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are compared in building simulations. Three simulations are used to assess the different numerical models: (i) a 2D isothermal flow case, (ii) a 3D isothermal flow case and (iii) a 2D non-isothermal flow case. Both models predicted the correct flow patterns and temperature field and could be used for real time (RT), near real time (NRT) and faster than real time (FRT) simulations without loss of accuracy on multi-core processors. The results indicate that the coarse grid CFD is both faster and more time accurate than the LBM for unsteady simulations.     

可调式跌水网格混合器性能研究

研究了可调式跌水网格混合器性能(水头损失、混合效率)与其主要设计参数(网格间距、网格与混合管的距离)的关系.结果表明:在网格与混合管距离为10 cm,网格间距为6 cm,单个网格面积为36 cm2的最优设计参数条件下,该混合器的混合效率可达到96%以上,水头损失为0.5 m左右;进水流量在50%范围内波动时,该混合器混合效率对流量变化不敏感,均可达到92%以上.     

Theoretical and numerical studies of coupling multizone and CFD models for building air distribution simulations

Multizone network models employ several assumptions, such as uniform temperature and pressure and quiescent air inside a zone, which may lead to inaccurate results in flow calculations. These assumptions can be eliminated in the zones, where the assumptions are inappropriate, by coupling a multizone network program with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program. Through theoretical analysis, this paper proves that the solution of air distribution by using the coupled program exists and is unique. Three possible coupling methods have been discussed in the paper. The best method is pressure-pressure coupling that exchanges pressure between the multizone and CFD because it is most stable and can always lead to a converged solution. Numerical tests were further performed to verify the theory and it demonstrated that the coupled program is able to effectively improve the accuracy of the results. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results of this paper provide a theoretical basis for improving the accuracy for modeling airflow and contaminant distributions in buildings. The coupled multizone and computational fluid dynamics can give high fidelity results, so field measurements may not be needed in the future. Designers of indoor environment in the future can use such a tool to evaluate different alternatives in design and identify the best solution for a building that can provide a healthy indoor environment.     

Simulation dynamisch‐thermischen Langzeitverhaltens in Gebäuden mittels CFD

Dynamic CFD simulation of thermal long‐term behaviour of buildings. The design of complex buildings increasingly demands the usage of simulation programmes. Actual dynamic thermal simulation programmes in use are incapable to determine the air flow and the temperature distribution in a room. One solution is to displace building simulations to a CFD platform which involves extremely long calculation times and large amounts of data. To reduce the calculation time a new freeze‐flow method was developed for ANSYS CFX‐5. It is based on the periodic freezing of the hydrodynamic equations enabling long term simulations. The CFD simulations were validated for free convection which is the dominating driving force of flow in rooms. Freeze‐flow simulations of simple test models confirmed a dramatic reduction in calculation time without any loss in accuracy compared to full dynamic CFD simulations.     

CFD modelling of the effect of fire source geometry and location on smoke flow multiplicity

Understanding solution multiplicity of smoke flow at the same building configuration and ambient conditions is important for managing smoke flows and human evacuation in buildings. One of the known examples with solution multiplicity is in a simple single-compartment building on fire under an opposing wind. The occurrence of multiple solutions of smoke flow is induced by competing wind and thermal buoyancy forces. Under a given and moderate wind, the critical buoyancy flux ratio for the existence of smoke flow multiplicity, which is a ratio between defined parameters representing buoyancy force and wind pressure, is related to building height and opening area, as shown using a zone model. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were used here to evaluate whether the behaviour of smoke flow multiplicity was affected by the geometry and location of the fire source(s). Our simulation results were in good agreement with previous macroscopic analysis results. A floor fire source can produce the largest smoke flow rate in the buoyancy-dominated flow regime among the tested cases while two corner sources can produce the smallest smoke flow rate. A floor source had a relatively large smoke flow rate in the wind-dominated flow regime while a point source had relatively small smoke flow rate. Moreover, a larger critical buoyancy flux ratio and a larger range of fire power in which smoke flow multiplicity existed were found for a floor fire source than for other sources. Switching of smoke flow solutions in building fires was found to depend on the initial conditions and the magnitude of flow perturbations.     

An analysis of compartment fire doorway flows

A mathematical study is made to compute the doorway flow behavior due to fire in a room. Two approaches were taken, first a model attempting to include the effect of fire entrainment and vent mixing; second was a model based on an ideal point source plume fire—both in the zone model concept. Limiting analytic results were found for the latter to give insight into the physics. The results were compared to available flow data, and an approximate formula was developed to predict the doorway mass flow rate to within 20% for a wide range of fire conditions. CFD computations were also explored using FDS. Results are compared from FDS and the zone model with experimental data for a wide range of variables.     

Fire Dynamics Simulator (Version 4.0) Simulation for Tunnel Fire Scenarios with Forced,Transient, Longitudinal Ventilation Flows

In this study, a series of sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) version 4.0, for tunnel fire simulations. A tunnel fire test with a fire size on the order of a 100 MW with forced, time-varying longitudinal ventilation was chosen from the Memorial Tunnel Ventilation Test Program (MTVTP) after considering recent tunnel fire accidents and the use of CFD models in practice. A careful study of grid size and parameters used in the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) turbulence model—turbulent Prandtl number, turbulent Schmidt number, and Smagorinsky constant—was conducted. More detailed analyses were performed to refine the smoke layer prediction of FDS, especially on backflow (i.e., a reversed smoke flow near the ceiling). Also, energy conservation was checked for this scenario in FDS. A simple guideline is given for smoke layer simulations using FDS for similar tunnel fire scenarios.     

对《基坑降水计算中应用裘布依公式的问题》一文的理解与体会

本文根据裘布依、泰斯公式等假定条件,指出"假设的稳定流和实际的非稳定流"等问题是随裘布依公式与"生"俱来的缺陷,这些缺陷不仅仅表现在基坑降水计算中;裘布依、泰斯公式等建立模型的假定条件中最为根本的部分基本一致,而水文地质条件如此复杂多变,因此,不仅仅是裘布依理论,即便其它理论也难以完整描述基坑降水中复杂的地下水动力场特征;泰斯、裘布依公式等实际应用中,可以说都是利用其近似解,但当近似解的近似程度能够满足实际工作的精度要求时,这种近似解显然是有价值的。在此原则下,利用简捷有效的裘布依公式计算相关水文地质参数未尝不是一种较好的选择。