• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2008

The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS) analysis of the 3-D steady flow around the NREL Phase VI horizontal axis wind turbine(HAWT) rotor was performed. The CFD analysis results were compared with experimental data at several different wind speeds. The present CFD model shows good agreements with the experiments both at low wind speed which formed well-attache flow mostly on the upper surface of the blade, and at high wind speed which blade surface flow completely separated. However, some discrepancy occurs at the relatively high wind speeds where mixed attached and separated flow formed on the suction surface of the blade. It seems that the discrepancy is related to the onset of stall phenomena and consequently separation prediction capability of the current turbulence model. It is also found that strong span-wise flow occurs in stalled area due to the centrifugal force generated by rotation of the turbine rotor and it prevents abrupt reduction of normal force for higher wind speed than the designed value.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2015

Recently, a lot of studies have been made about the methods used to generate turbulent velocity fields stochastically in order to effectively predict broadband flow noise. Among them, the FRPM (Fast Random Particle Mesh) method which generates turbulence with specific statistical properties using turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation obtained from the steady solution of the RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) equations has been successfully applied. However, the FRPM method cannot be applied to the flow noise problems involving intrinsic unsteady characteristics such as centrifugal fan. In this paper, to effectively predict the broadband noise generated by centrifugal fan, U-FRPM (unsteady FRPM) method is developed by extending the FRPM method to be combined with the unsteady numerical solutions of the unsteady RANS equations to generate the turbulence considered as broadband noise sources. Firstly, an unsteady flow field is obtained from the unsteady RANS equations through CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Then, noise sources are generated using the U-FRPM method combined with acoustic analogy. Finally, the linear propagation model which is realized through BEM (Boundary Element Method) is combined with the generated sources to predict broadband noise at the listeners' position. The proposed technique is validated to compare its prediction result with the measured data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.344-352
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• 2006

Evacuation performance, starting transient, and plume blowback at diffuser breakdown of a straight cylindrical supersonic exhaust diffuser with no externally supplied secondary flow are investigated. Pressure records in the transitional periods are measured by a small-scale cold-gas simulator. Flow-fields evolving in the diffuser-type ejector are solved by preconditioned Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with a low-Reynolds number $k-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model edited for turbulence compressibility effects. The present RANS method is properly validated with measured static wall pressure distributions and evacuation level at steady operation as well as the pressure records during the transition regime.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.30-45
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• 2013

The present work focuses on the unsteady aerodynamics and aeroelastic properties of a small-medium sized wind-turbine blade operating under ideal conditions. A tapered/twisted blade representative of commercial blades used in an experiment setup at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is considered. The aerodynamic loads are computed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. For this purpose, FLUENT$^{(R)}$, a commercial finite-volume code that solves the Navier-Stokes and the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, is used. Turbulence effects in the 2D simulations are modeled using the Wilcox k-w model for validation of the CFD approach. For the 3D aerodynamic simulations, in a first approximation, and considering that the intent is to present a methodology and workflow philosophy more than highly accurate turbulent simulations, the unsteady laminar Navier-Stokes equations were used to determine the unsteady loads acting on the blades. Five different blade pitch angles were considered and their aerodynamic performance compared. The structural dynamics of the flexible wind-turbine blade undergoing significant elastic displacements has been described by a nonlinear flap-lag-torsion slender-beam differential model. The aerodynamic quasi-steady forcing terms needed for the aeroelastic governing equations have been predicted through a strip-theory based on a simple 2D model, and the pertinent aerodynamic coefficients and the distribution over the blade span of the induced velocity derived using CFD. The resulting unsteady hub loads are achieved by a first space integration of the aeroelastic equations by applying the Galerkin's approach and by a time integration using a harmonic balance scheme. Comparison among two- and three- dimensional computations for the unsteady aerodynamic load, the flap, lag and torsional deflections, forces and moments are presented in the paper. Results, discussions and pertinent conclusions are outlined.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2015

Oil and gas industry pumps viscous fluids and investigation of flow physics is important to understand the machine behavior to deliver such fluids. 3D numerical flow simulation and analysis for different viscous fluids at different rotational speeds of a centrifugal impeller have been reported in this paper. Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations were solved and the performance analysis was made. Standard two equation k-${\varepsilon}$ model was used for the turbulence closure of steady incompressible flow. An inlet recirculation and reverse flow in impeller passage was observed at low impeller speeds. It was also found that the higher viscosity fluids have higher recirculation which hinders the impeller performance.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.313-324
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• 2016

Surrogate model based shape optimization methodology to enhance performance of a centrifugal pump has been implemented in this work. Design variables, such as blade number and blade angles defining the pump impeller blade shape were selected and a three-level full factorial design approach was used for efficiency enhancement. A three-dimensional simulation using Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations for the performance analysis was carried out after designing the geometries of the impellers at the design points. Standard $k-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model was used for steady incompressible flow simulations. The optimized impeller incurred lower losses by shifting the trailing edge towards the impeller pressure side. It is observed that the surrogates are problem dependent and most accurate surrogate does not deliver the best design always.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.687-708
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• 2014

The performance of the $k-{\varepsilon}$ and $k-{\omega}$ two-equation turbulence models was investigated in computational simulations of the neutrally stratified atmospheric boundary layer developing above various terrain types. This was achieved by using a proposed methodology that mimics the experimental setup in the boundary layer wind tunnel and accounts for a decrease in turbulence parameters with height, as observed in the atmosphere. An important feature of this approach is pressure regulation along the computational domain that is additionally supported by the nearly constant turbulent kinetic energy to Reynolds shear stress ratio at all heights. In addition to the mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy commonly simulated in previous relevant studies, this approach focuses on the appropriate prediction of Reynolds shear stress as well. The computational results agree very well with experimental results. In particular, the difference between the calculated and measured mean velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds shear stress profiles is less than ${\pm}10%$ in most parts of the computational domain.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.351-362
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• 2020

In this study, the impact of roof slope on the flow characteristics over low-sloped gable roofs was investigated using steady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations based on a k-ω SST turbulence model. A measurement database of the flow field over a scaled model of 15° was created using particle image velocimetry (PIV). Sensitivity analyses for the grid resolutions and turbulence models were performed. Among the three common Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) models, the k-ω SST model exhibited a better performance, followed by the RNG model and then the realizable k-ε model. Next, the flow properties over the differently sloped (0° to 25°) building models were determined. It was found that the effect of roof slope on the flow characteristics was identified by changing the position and size of the separation bubbles, 15° was found to be approximately the sensitive slope at which the distribution of the separation bubbles changed significantly. Additionally, it is suggested additional attention focused on the distributions of the negative pressure on the windward surfaces (especially 5° and 10° roofs) and the possible snow redistribution on the leeward surfaces.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.782-793
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• 2018

A small-scale horizontal axis hydrokinetic turbine is designed, manufactured and studied both experimentally and numerically in this study. The turbine is expected to work in most of China's sea areas where the ocean current velocity is low and to supply electricity for remote islands. To improve the efficiency of the turbine at low flow velocities, a magnetic coupling is used for the non-contacting transmission of the rotor torque. A prototype is manufactured and tested in a towing tank. The experimental results show that the turbine is characterized by a cut-in velocity of 0.25 m/s and a maximum power coefficient of 0.33, proving the feasibility of using magnetic couplings to reduce the resistive torque in the transmission parts. Three dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, which are based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, are then performed to evaluate the performance of the rotor both at transient and steady state.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.999-1007
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• 2013

The present work reports numerical results of the pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of pipes with various shapes such as circular, elliptical, circumferential wavy and twisted using a three-dimensional simulation. Numerical simulations are calculated for laminar to turbulent flows. The fully developed flow in pipes was modeled using steady incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. The friction and Colburn factor of each pipe are compared with those of a circular tube. The overall flow and heat transfer calculations are evaluated by the volume and area goodness factor. Finally, the objective of the investigation is to find a pipe shape that decreases the pressure loss and increases the heat transfer coefficient.