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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Progress in computing nozzle/plume flow fields

The long-term goal is to develop the capability to predict chemically-reacting, multi-stream nozzle and plume flow fields. Two basic Navier-Stokes solvers, including the widely used F-3D code, are upgraded to include several upwind difference schemes and portable chemistry packages. Current computational capabilities for solving equilibrium single-stream and multi-stream, frozen gas, and finite rate chemistry problems are described. A variety of complex nozzle and plume flows were computed. Solutions presented include axisymmetric plume flow for ideal and equilibrium air, 3-D NASP nozzle/afterbody flow, and an internal nozzle calculation comparing various finite-rate chemistry packages.

Ruffin, Stephen M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Wall-modeled LES of the NASA Juncture Flow Experiment

We perform wall-modeled large eddy simulation (WMLES) of the NASA Juncture Flow experiment (Kegerise & Neuhart, NASA/TM–2019–20286) using an equilibrium wall model and unstructured finite volume solver, to assess its predictive ability for complex geometries. The flow condition simulated corresponds to 5 degrees angle of attack with a freestream Mach number of 0.189, and a Reynolds number based on the mean crank chord of 2.4 million. All simulations neglect the effects of wind tunnel walls, sting and mast present in the experiment. To assess the performance of WMLES on simpler flows with very coarse grids, we simulate flow in a turbulent channel at a friction Reynolds number, Reτ≈2000, and flow through a square duct at anReτ≈1000. The duct flow results using the equilibrium wall model indicate that the skin friction is inaccurate near the corner for grid topologies and resolutions typically used in WMLES, having implications for more complicated flows such as the juncture flow. For the juncture flow simulation, two different approaches are investigated. The first approach consists of a truncated-domain simulation wherein the inflow plane of the computational domain is placed at≈0.2chord length of the wing, and we prescribe the mean flow from a separate Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solution along with synthetic turbulence to initiate realistic unsteadiness in the domain. The second approach involves simulating the entire geometry with trips to trigger transition to turbulence. The truncated- and full-domain simulations contain about 62 and 90 million cells, respectively; with 8-10 points per boundary layer thickness in the wall-parallel directions, 14-20 points in the wall-normal direction and a near-wall viscous spacing (∆n+1) of≈100. Preliminary results are encouraging overall in terms of the prediction of wall pressure, wall skin friction, velocity and stresses; but indicate that further work is required to improve the predictions in the separation bubble and wing-fuselage corner regions. The grid resolution used in this study is still fairly coarse, and the results should be interpreted as work in progress.

Prahladh S Iyer↗
NASA NTRS1990

Numerical simulation of particle-wave interaction in boundary layers

The effects of wall injection and particle motion on the spatial stability of two-dimensional plane channel flow are investigated. For this purpose, an accurate Navier-Stokes solver to simulate the space-time evolution of disturbances in three-dimensional flows has been developed. The code is operational on the NASA Langley CRAY2 and can be ported to any other supercomputer. The code has been tested extensively in tracking the spatial evolution of two-dimensional disturbances in plane channel flow and provided excellent agreement with the linear theory including at the inflow/outflow boundaries. Preliminary calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of stationary and moving sources of vortical disturbances simulating a particle traveling in the flow field. Results suggest that even at very low amplitudes, vortical disturbances act as amplifiers on the Tollmien-Schlichting waves promoting rapid instability. It is also found that slow moving particles are more dangerous than both stationary and fast moving particles for the same disturbance levels.

Biringen, S.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Towards Adaptive Mesh Refinement for the Spectral Element Solver Nek5000

When performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of complex flows, the a priori knowledge of the flow physics and the location of the dominant flow features are usually unknown. For this reason, the development of adaptive remeshing techniques is crucial for large-scale computational problems. Some work has been made recently to provide Nek5000 with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) capabilities in order to facilitate the generation of the grid and push forward the limit in terms of problem size and complexity [10]. Nek5000 is an open-source, highly scalable and portable code based on the spectral element method (SEM) [4], which offers minimal dissipation and dispersion, high accuracy and exponential convergence. It is aimed at solving direct and large-eddy simulations of turbulent incompressible or low Mach-number flows with heat transfer and species transport. The approach chosen for adapting the mesh is the h-refinement method, where elements are split locally, which requires the relaxation of the conforming grid constraint currently imposed by Nek5000. Other challenges include the implementation of an efficient management of the grid as refinement is applied, the development of tools to localize the critical flow regions via error estimators and the extension of the current preconditioning strategy to non-conforming grids. In this paper, we present a new procedure to setup an algebraic multigrid solver used as part of the preconditioner for the pressure equation.

Offermans, N.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Euler Flow Computations on Non-Matching Unstructured Meshes

Advanced fluid solvers to predict aerodynamic performance-coupled treatment of multiple fields are described. The interaction between the fluid and structural components in the bladed regions of the engine is investigated with respect to known blade failures caused by either flutter or forced vibrations. Methods are developed to describe aeroelastic phenomena for internal flows in turbomachinery by accounting for the increased geometric complexity, mutual interaction between adjacent structural components and presence of thermal and geometric loading. The computer code developed solves the full three dimensional aeroelastic problem of-stage. The results obtained show that flow computations can be performed on non-matching finite-volume unstructured meshes with second order spatial accuracy.

Gumaste, Udayan↗
NASA NTRS1986

Comparison of Euler and full potential marching techniques for flows over complex configurations

Two recently developed aerodynamic prediction techniques based on the steady full potential equation and the unsteady Euler equations have been applied to a variety of three-dimensional supersonic flow problems exhibiting embedded subsonic regions. Both techniques utilize planar Gauss-Seidel relaxation in the marching direction and approximate factorization in the cross-flow plane. A conservative switching scheme and flux bias technique are employed in the full potential method to transition from the supersonic marching procedure to a subsonic relaxation algorithm and vice versa. A new unified approach with finite volume, high accuracy (up to third order) Total Variation Diminishing formulation (based on Roe's scheme) is used in the Euler solver. In the supersonic regions of the flow an 'infinitely large' time step is employed, and a finite time step is applied in the subsonic regions of the flow to reach the steady-state as a time-asymptote. Numerical solutions are obtained for a number of complex configurations, including: (1) an elliptic waverider, (2) a realistic fighter configuration, (3) the Space Shuttle, and (4) a Shuttle-like configuration. Both the Full Potential and Euler numerical results are in good agreement with available experimental data.

Szema, K. Y.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Establishing Approaches to Modeling the Ares I-X and Ares I Roll Control System with Free-stream Interaction

Approaches were established for modeling the roll control system and analyzing the jet interactions of the activated roll control system on Ares-type configurations using the USM3D Navier-Stokes solver. Components of the modeling approach for the roll control system include a choice of turbulence models, basis for computing a dynamic equivalence of the real gas rocket exhaust flow in terms of an ideal gas, and techniques to evaluate roll control system performance for wind tunnel and flight conditions. A simplified Ares I-X configuration was used during the development phase of the roll control system modeling approach. A limited set of Navier-Stokes solutions was obtained for the purposes of this investigation and highlights of the results are included in this paper. The USM3D solutions were compared to equivalent solutions at select flow conditions from a real gas Navier- Stokes solver (Loci-CHEM) and a structured overset grid Navier-Stokes solver (OVERFLOW).

Pao, S. Paul↗
NASA NTRS1986

Finite-volume and integral-equation techniques for transonic and supersonic vortex-dominated flows

Two computational techniques are developed to calculate the compressible vortex-dominated flows. The first technique is a finite-volume Euler Solver which uses four-Stage Runge-Kutta time stepping with second- and fourth-order dissipation terms. The technique is applied to supersonic conical and three-dimensional flows about sharp- and round-edged delta wings. Attached and separated-flow solutions have been obtained depending on the values of damping coefficients. The second technique is an integral-equation solver of the full potential equation which uses a volume-integral term in addition to the classical surface-integral terms. The technique is applied to transonic three-dimensional flows about sharp-edged delta wings. A hybrid technique which combines the finite-volume and the integral-equation solvers is also presented.

Kandil, O. A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Ongoing Study of Supersonic Retro-Propulsion Using Structured Overset Grids and OVERFLOW

The interest in supersonic retro-propulsion (SRP) as a means of deceleration during planetary entry increases with the desire to land high mass vehicles on Mars. Since it is difficult to obtain flight data or properly simulate this type of flow field in a wind tunnel, the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) becomes increasingly important, as does the need to verify the current CFD methods. This presentation will show results from structured overset grids and OVERFLOW, a Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes solver, obtained during the continuing CFD verification process. Flow structure, surface pressure, forces, and moments are compared to historic and modern wind tunnel data as well as to other Navier-Stokes solvers, DPLR and FUN3D. Cases include single and multiple nozzle cases from the Jarvinen and Adams experiment,i the Daso et al experiment, and a recent test in the NASA Langley Unitary Wind Tunnel (scheduled for June 2010).

Schauerhamer, Daniel Guy↗
NASA NTRS1986

The calculation of supersonic viscous flows using the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations

Solution of the parabolic Navier-Stokes (PNS) equations for supersonic flows is discussed, and compatibility of the PNS method with the triple-deck theory of Stewartson (1974) is demonstrated. Characteristic and stability analyses show that use of an appropriate filter on the pressure term in the x-momentum equation can suppress the departure solutions, giving the usual desired weak interaction solution. An Alternating Direction Explicit procedure, with minimal computer storage requirements compared to the full Navier-Stokes solvers, is proposed to calculate strongly interacting flows using a global iteration procedure for the PNS equations. The PNS equations are used to solve the hypersonic viscous interaction problem, and good agreement is found with experimental results.

Davis, R. T.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Multigrid solution of the Navier-Stokes equations on highly stretched grids with defect correction

Relaxation-based multigrid solvers for the steady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are examined to determine their computational speed and robustness. Four relaxation methods with a common discretization have been used as smoothers in a single tailored multigrid procedure. The equations are discretized on a staggered grid with first order upwind used for convection in the relaxation process on all grids and defect correction to second order central on the fine grid introduced once per multigrid cycle. A fixed W(1,1) cycle with full weighting of residuals is used in the FAS multigrid process. The resulting solvers have been applied to three 2D flow problems, over a range of Reynolds numbers, on both uniform and highly stretched grids. In all cases the L(sub 2) norm of the velocity changes is reduced to 10(exp -6) in a few 10's of fine grid sweeps. The results from this study are used to draw conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual relaxation schemes as well as those of the overall multigrid procedure when used as a solver on highly stretched grids.

Sockol, Peter M.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Conjugate Compressible Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Ducts

A computational approach to modeling transient, compressible fluid flow with heat transfer in long, narrow ducts is presented. The primary application of the model is for analyzing fluid flow and heat transfer in solid propellant rocket motor nozzle joints during motor start-up, but the approach is relevant to a wide range of analyses involving rapid pressurization and filling of ducts. Fluid flow is modeled through solution of the spatially one-dimensional, transient Euler equations. Source terms are included in the governing equations to account for the effects of wall friction and heat transfer. The equation solver is fully-implicit, thus providing greater flexibility than an explicit solver. This approach allows for resolution of pressure wave effects on the flow as well as for fast calculation of the steady-state solution when a quasi-steady approach is sufficient. Solution of the one-dimensional Euler equations with source terms significantly reduces computational run times compared to general purpose computational fluid dynamics packages solving the Navier-Stokes equations with resolved boundary layers. In addition, conjugate heat transfer is more readily implemented using the approach described in this paper than with most general purpose computational fluid dynamics packages. The compressible flow code has been integrated with a transient heat transfer solver to analyze heat transfer between the fluid and surrounding structure. Conjugate fluid flow and heat transfer solutions are presented. The author is unaware of any previous work available in the open literature which uses the same approach described in this paper.

Cross, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Recommendations for Achieving Accurate Numerical Simulation of Tip Clearance Flows in Transonic Compressor Rotors

The tip clearance flows of transonic compressor rotors are important because they have a significant impact on rotor and stage performance. While numerical simulations of these flows are quite sophisticated. they are seldom verified through rigorous comparisons of numerical and measured data because these kinds of measurements are rare in the detail necessary to be useful in high-speed machines. In this paper we compare measured tip clearance flow details (e.g. trajectory and radial extent) with corresponding data obtained from a numerical simulation. Recommendations for achieving accurate numerical simulation of tip clearance flows are presented based on this comparison. Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) measurements acquired in a transonic compressor rotor, NASA Rotor 35, are used. The tip clearance flow field of this transonic rotor was simulated using a Navier-Stokes turbomachinery solver that incorporates an advanced k-epsilon turbulence model derived for flows that are not in local equilibrium. Comparison between measured and simulated results indicates that simulation accuracy is primarily dependent upon the ability of the numerical code to resolve important details of a wall-bounded shear layer formed by the relative motion between the over-tip leakage flow and the shroud wall. A simple method is presented for determining the strength of this shear layer.

VanZante, Dale E.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Computational Investigation of Nominally-Orthogonal Pneumatic Active Flow Control for High-Lift Systems

We explore the feasibility of using nominally-orthogonal jets as active aerodynamic load control for multi-element high-lift systems, and whether the nominally-orthogonal jets can offer a variety of performance improvements. These nominally-orthogonal jets inject momentum normal to the airfoil surface near the flap trailing edge, where they create a vortex that entrains flow from the opposing side and change the airfoil circulation. Lift-enhancement opportunities of trailing edge nominally-orthogonal jets have previously been studied by Malavard et al. and Blaylock et al. on single-element airfoils; however, their effect on drag was not thoroughly investigated. In this study, we investigate two- dimensional nominally-orthogonal jet effects on both lift and drag on a two-element airfoil, NLR7301. We utilize Chimera Grid Tools to generate structured curvilinear overset grids, and the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver OVERFLOW-2 to solve for the flow field around the airfoil. We perform various computational sensitivity studies on the baseline airfoil without a jet to validate computational results against benchmark experimental data. Using a Chimera overset grid topology, we demonstrate a similar lift-enhancement effect between a nominally-orthogonal jet and a nominally-orthogonal physical tab employed at the same location on the studied airfoil. After we introduce the nominally-orthogonal jet concept, we investigate nominally-orthogonal jets with various momentum coefficient settings, C(sub µ) = 0.00 − 0.04 and present a lift-enhancement relationship ∆C(sub l) ≃ 3.59 (C(sub µ)) for this airfoil. We discuss that utilizing a nominally-orthogonal jet with C(sub µ) = 0.01 can shift the linear region of the lift curve by a ∆C(sub l) = 0.36 for the pressure side jet and by a ∆C(sub l) = −0.27 for the suction side jet. Employing a nominally-orthogonal jet is also shown effective in altering the drag. To study the impact, we carry out a drag decomposition study in the form of drag polars. We show for a given C(sub l) = 2.50, a nominally-orthogonal jet with C(sub µ) = 0.01 on the pressure and suction side of the airfoil results in 113 drag count decrements and 41 drag count increments, respectively, compared to the baseline airfoil with no jet. These results show that large and controllable changes in aerodynamic performance can be achieved by relatively small active flow control inputs using the nominally-orthogonal jets presented in this study.

Nominally-Orthogonal↗
DOE OSTI2015

High Order Finite Difference Methods with Subcell Resolution for Stiff Multispecies Discontinuity Capturing

Here, we extend the high order finite-difference method with subcell resolution (SR) in [34] for two-species stiff one-reaction models to multispecies and multireaction inviscid chemical reactive flows, which are significantly more difficult because of the multiple scales generated by different reactions. For reaction problems, when the reaction time scale is very small, the reaction zone scale is also small and the governing equations become very stiff. Wrong propagation speed of discontinuity may occur due to the underresolved numerical solution in both space and time. The present SR method for reactive Euler system is a fractional step method. In the convection step, any high order shock-capturing method can be used. In the reaction step, an ODE solver is applied but with certain computed flow variables in the shock region modified by the Harten subcell resolution idea. Several numerical examples of multispecies and multireaction reactive flows are performed in both one and two dimensions. Studies demonstrate that the SR method can capture the correct propagation speed of discontinuities in very coarse meshes.

65M06↗
NASA NTRS2017

Comparisons Between NO PLIF Imaging and CFD Simulations of Mixing Flowfields for High-Speed Fuel Injectors

The current work compares experimentally and computationally obtained nitric oxide (NO) planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) images of the mixing flowfields for three types of high-speed fuel injectors: a strut, a ramp, and a rectangular flushwall. These injection devices, which exhibited promising mixing performance at lower flight Mach numbers, are currently being studied as a part of the Enhanced Injection and Mixing Project (EIMP) at the NASA Langley Research Center. The EIMP aims to investigate scramjet fuel injection and mixing physics, and improve the understanding of underlying physical processes relevant to flight Mach numbers greater than eight. In the experiments, conducted in the NASA Langley Arc-Heated Scramjet Test Facility (AHSTF), the injectors are placed downstream of a Mach 6 facility nozzle, which simulates the high Mach number air flow at the entrance of a scramjet combustor. Helium is used as an inert substitute for hydrogen fuel. Both schlieren and PLIF techniques are applied to obtain mixing flowfield flow visualizations. The experimental PLIF is obtained by using a UV laser sheet to interrogate a plane of the flow by exciting fluorescence from the NO molecules, which are present in the AHSTF air. Consequently, the absence of signal in the resulting PLIF images is an indication of pure helium (fuel). The computational PLIF is obtained by applying a fluorescence model for NO to the results of the Reynolds-averaged simulations (RAS) of the mixing flow field carried out using the VULCAN-CFD solver. This approach is required because the PLIF signal is a nonlinear function of not only NO concentration, but also pressure, temperature, and the flow velocity. This complexity allows additional flow features to be identified and compared with those obtained from the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, however, such comparisons are only semiquantitative. Three-dimensional image reconstruction, similar to that used in magnetic resonance imaging, is also used to obtain images in the streamwise and spanwise planes from select cross-stream PLIF plane data. Synthetic schlieren is also computed from the RAS data. Good agreement between the experimental and computational results provides increased confidence in the CFD simulations for investigations of injector performance.

Drozda, Tomasz G.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Simulation and Optimizing Groundwater Investigations, Conceptual Design Analysis, Model Calibration and Remedial Design Using Parallel Numerical Methods: Theory and Application - 16578

Optimization of environmental restoration efforts at complex groundwater sites involves the development of a conceptual and often numerical flow and transport models. Typically, a limited number of simulations are done to assess the impact of parameter uncertainty, to evaluate remedial alternatives and develop a remedy, or to modify an existing remedy. A limited number of simulations are performed because each simulation can take upwards of several hours per simulation and until now the ability to conduct the 100's to 1000's of simulations needed to derive an optimal remedy was beyond the reach of the everyday practitioner. HGL has developed and implemented new parallel simulation and optimization methods in their software and has successfully deployed applications on high performance Cloud-based computing platforms. This advancement removes the impediment of burdensome and unpredictable runtime requirements these types of projects have typically exhibited using heuristic trial-and-error or even automated serial computation approaches. A parallel numerical solver has been added to the subsurface flow and transport simulator MODFLOW-SURFACT{sup TM} and has demonstrated reductions in solution time by as much as a factor of 9.8. This is accomplished by distributing the numerical computations of every time step over multiple processors. The integrated parallel simulation and optimization method uses the breadth and depth search approach; iteratively producing sets of tens or 100's of candidate solutions that are evaluated concurrently instead sequentially (i.e. one model evaluation at a time). Solutions within 80-100% of the globally optimal solution are regularly found expending only 5-10% of the usual computational effort using this new parallel optimization method (reducing computation effort by 10 to 20 times). Distributing optimal search runs across multiple processors additionally reduces calendar time to solutions. Practitioners evaluating multiple conceptual site models, model calibration by auto-calibration methods and remedial design by heuristics can enjoy significant reductions in model solution time by using the parallel numerical matrix solver in the physics-based simulator. Combining investigation and design analysis with breadth and depth parallel optimization methods, projects at the fringe of practical optimization, along with projects that were beyond the reach of formal optimization methods are now wholly feasible and tractable optimization problems. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1993

Preconditioned conjugate-gradient methods for low-speed flow calculations

An investigation is conducted into the viability of using a generalized Conjugate Gradient-like method as an iterative solver to obtain steady-state solutions of very low-speed fluid flow problems. Low-speed flow at Mach 0.1 over a backward-facing step is chosen as a representative test problem. The unsteady form of the two dimensional, compressible Navier-Stokes equations is integrated in time using discrete time-steps. The Navier-Stokes equations are cast in an implicit, upwind finite-volume, flux split formulation. The new iterative solver is used to solve a linear system of equations at each step of the time-integration. Preconditioning techniques are used with the new solver to enhance the stability and convergence rate of the solver and are found to be critical to the overall success of the solver. A study of various preconditioners reveals that a preconditioner based on the Lower-Upper Successive Symmetric Over-Relaxation iterative scheme is more efficient than a preconditioner based on Incomplete L-U factorizations of the iteration matrix. The performance of the new preconditioned solver is compared with a conventional Line Gauss-Seidel Relaxation (LGSR) solver. Overall speed-up factors of 28 (in terms of global time-steps required to converge to a steady-state solution) and 20 (in terms of total CPU time on one processor of a CRAY-YMP) are found in favor of the new preconditioned solver, when compared with the LGSR solver.

Ajmani, Kumud↗