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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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At least 19 records

Modeling of transient two-component flow using a four-point implicit method

The four-point, centered implicit scheme that is extensively used in open channel flow simulation is shown to be applicable to rapid and slow pressure transient problems in conduits with nearly single phase and two-phase flows. It is only necessary to choose the proper weighting factor value, theta, of the Courant number. For rapid pressure transients such as waterhammer, the implicit method can yield reasonable results with limited numerical dispersion and attenuation if theta is only slightly greater than the critical value of 0.5. For slower pressure gradients in single and two-phase flows, reasonable numerical solutions may be achieved for Courant number values as high as 20.

Wiggert, D. C.↗

A Fully Implicit Time Accurate Method for Hypersonic Combustion: Application to Shock-induced Combustion Instability

A new fully implicit, time accurate algorithm suitable for chemically reacting, viscous flows in the transonic-to-hypersonic regime is described. The method is based on a class of Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) schemes and uses successive Gauss-Siedel relaxation sweeps. The inversion of large matrices is avoided by partitioning the system into reacting and nonreacting parts, but still maintaining a fully coupled interaction. As a result, the matrices that have to be inverted are of the same size as those obtained with the commonly used point implicit methods. In this paper we illustrate the applicability of the new algorithm to hypervelocity unsteady combustion applications. We present a series of numerical simulations of the periodic combustion instabilities observed in ballistic-range experiments of blunt projectiles flying at subdetonative speeds through hydrogen-air mixtures. The computed frequencies of oscillation are in excellent agreement with experimental data.

Yungster, Shaye↗

Prediction of the Thrust Performance and the Flowfield of Liquid Rocket Engines

In an effort to improve the current solutions in the design and analysis of liquid propulsive engines, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model capable of calculating the reacting flows from the combustion chamber, through the nozzle to the external plume, was developed. The Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) fired at sea level, was investigated as a sample case. The CFD model, FDNS, is a pressure based, non-staggered grid, viscous/inviscid, ideal gas/real gas, reactive code. An adaptive upwinding differencing scheme is employed for the spatial discretization. The upwind scheme is based on fourth order central differencing with fourth order damping for smooth regions, and second order central differencing with second order damping for shock capturing. It is equipped with a CHMQGM equilibrium chemistry algorithm and a PARASOL finite rate chemistry algorithm using the point implicit method. The computed flow results and performance compared well with those of other standard codes and engine hot fire test data. In addition, the transient nozzle flowfield calculation was also performed to demonstrate the ability of FDNS in capturing the flow separation during the startup process.

Wang, T.-S.↗

Implicit/Multigrid Algorithms for Incompressible Turbulent Flows on Unstructured Grids

An implicit code for computing inviscid and viscous incompressible flows on unstructured grids is described. The foundation of the code is a backward Euler time discretization for which the linear system is approximately solved at each time step with either a point implicit method or a preconditioned Generalized Minimal Residual (GMRES) technique. For the GMRES calculations, several techniques are investigated for forming the matrix-vector product. Convergence acceleration is achieved through a multigrid scheme that uses non-nested coarse grids that are generated using a technique described in the present paper. Convergence characteristics are investigated and results are compared with an exact solution for the inviscid flow over a four-element airfoil. Viscous results, which are compared with experimental data, include the turbulent flow over a NACA 4412 airfoil, a three-element airfoil for which Mach number effects are investigated, and three-dimensional flow over a wing with a partial-span flap.

Anderson, W. Kyle↗

Application of two-point implicit central-difference methods to hyperbolic systems

This paper presents a general solution algorithm for the set of difference equations that arise when two-point central differences are used to approximate the flux difference terms in systems of hyperbolic differential equations. The general algorithm eliminates the weak points associated with the nonstandard algorithm reported by Wornom and Hafez (1986). The disadvantages of their algorithm relate to its implementation. It consists of separate algorithms for subsonic, supersonic, sonic and shock cells, applied individually, which presents a major bookkeeping problem when multiple sonic and shock cells are present. The general algorithm eliminates this problem and introduces an improved shock treatment which produces shocks with at most one interior shock point.

Wornom, Stephen F.↗

Streamlined Convergence Acceleration for CFD Codes

Enigma, a simplified interface to the PETSc library, is shown to enable the rapid solution of discrete partial differential equations. Two CFD codes, LAURA and HyperSolve, use Enigma to compute steady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. Using PETSc, Enigma is shown to provide a Jacobian-Free Newton-Krylov method (JFNK), globalized with pseudotransient continuation, that improves efficiency over the point-implicit relaxation method traditionally used by LAURA. It is shown that iterative error has a large impact on surface heat transfer predicted by LAURA on an axisymmetric sphere-cone geometry. Also, the convergence rate of HyperSolve simulating subsonic flow over a delta wing geometry with the JFNK method is shown to be more efficient than employing a defect correction method as the nonlinear solver.

Thompson, Kyle B.↗

Comparison of Nonequilibrium Solution Algorithms Applied to Chemically Stiff Hypersonic Flows

Three solution algorithms, explicit under-relaxation, point implicit, and lower-upper symmetric Gauss-Seidel, are used to compute nonequilibrium flow around the Apollo 4 return capsule at the 62-km altitude point in its descent trajectory. By varying the Mach number, the efficiency and robustness of the solution algorithms were tested for different levels of chemical stiffness.The performance of the solution algorithms degraded as the Mach number and stiffness of the flow increased. At Mach 15 and 30, the lower-upper symmetric Gauss-Seidel method produces an eight order of magnitude drop in the energy residual in one-third to one-half the Cray C-90 computer time as compared to the point implicit and explicit under-relaxation methods. The explicit under-relaxation algorithm experienced convergence difficulties at Mach 30 and above. At Mach 40 the performance of the lower-upper symmetric Gauss-Seidel algorithm deteriorates to the point that it is out performed by the point implicit method. The effects of the viscous terms are investigated. Grid dependency questions are explored.

Palmer, Grant↗

Some problems of the calculation of three-dimensional boundary layer flows on general configurations

An accurate solution of the three-dimensional boundary layer equations over general configurations such as those encountered in aircraft and space shuttle design requires a very efficient, fast, and accurate numerical method with suitable turbulence models for the Reynolds stresses. The efficiency, speed, and accuracy of a three-dimensional numerical method together with the turbulence models for the Reynolds stresses are examined. The numerical method is the implicit two-point finite difference approach (Box Method) developed by Keller and applied to the boundary layer equations by Keller and Cebeci. In addition, a study of some of the problems that may arise in the solution of these equations for three-dimensional boundary layer flows over general configurations.

Cebeci, T.↗

Assessment of Preconditioner for a USM3D Hierarchical Adaptive Nonlinear Method (HANIM) (Invited)

Enhancements to the previously reported mixed-element USM3D Hierarchical Adaptive Nonlinear Iteration Method (HANIM) framework have been made to further improve robustness, efficiency, and accuracy of computational fluid dynamic simulations. The key enhancements include a multi-color line-implicit preconditioner, a discretely consistent symmetry boundary condition, and a line-mapping method for the turbulence source term discretization. The USM3D iterative convergence for the turbulent flows is assessed on four configurations. The configurations include a two-dimensional (2D) bump-in-channel, the 2D NACA 0012 airfoil, a three-dimensional (3D) bump-in-channel, and a 3D hemisphere cylinder. The Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solutions have been obtained using a Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model and families of uniformly refined nested grids. Two types of HANIM solutions using line- and point-implicit preconditioners have been computed. Additional solutions using the point-implicit preconditioner alone (PA) method that broadly represents the baseline solver technology have also been computed. The line-implicit HANIM shows superior iterative convergence in most cases with progressively increasing benefits on finer grids.

Pandya, Mohagna J.↗

A comparison of three-dimensional nonequilibrium solution algorithms applied to hypersonic flows with stiff chemical source terms

Three solution algorithms, explicit underrelaxation, point implicit, and lower upper symmetric Gauss-Seidel (LUSGS), are used to compute nonequilibrium flow around the Apollo 4 return capsule at 62 km altitude. By varying the Mach number, the efficiency and robustness of the solution algorithms were tested for different levels of chemical stiffness. The performance of the solution algorithms degraded as the Mach number and stiffness of the flow increased. At Mach 15, 23, and 30, the LUSGS method produces an eight order of magnitude drop in the L2 norm of the energy residual in 1/3 to 1/2 the Cray C-90 computer time as compared to the point implicit and explicit under-relaxation methods. The explicit under-relaxation algorithm experienced convergence difficulties at Mach 23 and above. At Mach 40 the performance of the LUSGS algorithm deteriorates to the point it is out-performed by the point implicit method. The effects of the viscous terms are investigated. Grid dependency questions are explored.

Palmer, Grant↗

Time integration algorithms for the two-dimensional Euler equations on unstructured meshes

Explicit and implicit time integration algorithms for the two-dimensional Euler equations on unstructured grids are presented. Both cell-centered and cell-vertex finite volume upwind schemes utilizing Roe's approximate Riemann solver are developed. For the cell-vertex scheme, a four-stage Runge-Kutta time integration, a fourstage Runge-Kutta time integration with implicit residual averaging, a point Jacobi method, a symmetric point Gauss-Seidel method and two methods utilizing preconditioned sparse matrix solvers are presented. For the cell-centered scheme, a Runge-Kutta scheme, an implicit tridiagonal relaxation scheme modeled after line Gauss-Seidel, a fully implicit lower-upper (LU) decomposition, and a hybrid scheme utilizing both Runge-Kutta and LU methods are presented. A reverse Cuthill-McKee renumbering scheme is employed for the direct solver to decrease CPU time by reducing the fill of the Jacobian matrix. A comparison of the various time integration schemes is made for both first-order and higher order accurate solutions using several mesh sizes, higher order accuracy is achieved by using multidimensional monotone linear reconstruction procedures. The results obtained for a transonic flow over a circular arc suggest that the preconditioned sparse matrix solvers perform better than the other methods as the number of elements in the mesh increases.

Slack, David C.↗

A nearly-linear computational-cost scheme for the forward dynamics of an N-body pendulum

The dynamic equations of motion of an n-body pendulum with spherical joints are derived to be a mixed system of differential and algebraic equations (DAE's). The DAE's are kept in implicit form to save arithmetic and preserve the sparsity of the system and are solved by the robust implicit integration method. At each solution point, the predicted solution is corrected to its exact solution within given tolerance using Newton's iterative method. For each iteration, a linear system of the form J delta X = E has to be solved. The computational cost for solving this linear system directly by LU factorization is O(n exp 3), and it can be reduced significantly by exploring the structure of J. It is shown that by recognizing the recursive patterns and exploiting the sparsity of the system the multiplicative and additive computational costs for solving J delta X = E are O(n) and O(n exp 2), respectively. The formulation and solution method for an n-body pendulum is presented. The computational cost is shown to be nearly linearly proportional to the number of bodies.

Chou, Jack C. K.↗

Semi-implicit and fully implicit shock-capturing methods for hyperbolic conservation laws with stiff source terms

Some numerical aspects of finite-difference algorithms for nonlinear multidimensional hyperbolic conservation laws with stiff nonhomogenous (source) terms are discussed. If the stiffness is entirely dominated by the source term, a semi-implicit shock-capturing method is proposed provided that the Jacobian of the soruce terms possesses certain properties. The proposed semi-implicit method can be viewed as a variant of the Bussing and Murman point-implicit scheme with a more appropriate numerical dissipation for the computation of strong shock waves. However, if the stiffness is not solely dominated by the source terms, a fully implicit method would be a better choice. The situation is complicated by problems that are higher than one dimension, and the presence of stiff source terms further complicates the solution procedures for alternating direction implicit (ADI) methods. Several alternatives are discussed. The primary motivation for constructing these schemes was to address thermally and chemically nonequilibrium flows in the hypersonic regime. Due to the unique structure of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors for fluid flows of this type, the computation can be simplified, thus providing a more efficient solution procedure than one might have anticipated.

Yee, H. C.↗

Semi-implicit and fully implicit shock-capturing methods for hyperbolic conservation laws with stiff source terms

Some numerical aspects of finite-difference algorithms for nonlinear multidimensional hyperbolic conservation laws with stiff nonhomogeneous (source) terms are discussed. If the stiffness is entirely dominated by the source term, a semi-implicit shock-capturing method is proposed provided that the Jacobian of the source terms possesses certain properties. The proposed semi-implicit method can be viewed as a variant of the Bussing and Murman point-implicit scheme with a more appropriate numerical dissipation for the computation of strong shock waves. However, if the stiffness is not solely dominated by the source terms, a fully implicit method would be a better choice. The situation is complicated by problems that are higher than one dimension, and the presence of stiff source terms further complicates the solution procedures for alternating direction implicit (ADI) methods. Several alternatives are discussed. The primary motivation for constructing these schemes was to address thermally and chemically nonequilibrium flows in the hypersonic regime. Due to the unique structure of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors for fluid flows of this type, the computation can be simplified, thus providing a more efficient solution procedure than one might have anticipated.

Yee, H. C.↗

Boundary conditions for implicit solutions to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations in finite computational domains

The admissible boundary conditions for the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are insufficient to determine completely the flow variables at grid points on the boundaries of a finite computational domain. A general method is presented in which the boundary conditions are supplemented by conservatively differenced forms of the flow equations. For implicit algorithms, the method provides a fully implicit coupling between boundary and interior points. Implicit boundary-point computation schemes are given for most types of flow boundary encountered in internal and external flow problems. Convergence to steady state is generally faster than with locally explicit boundary-point schemes.

Thomas, P. D.↗

Conservative supra-characteristics method for splitting the hyperbolic systems of gasdynamics with computed boundaries for real and perfect gases

Implicit methods developed by Beam and Warming (1978 and Briley and McDonald (1977) make it possible to overcome the hyperbolic stiffness of the conservative compressible Navier-Stokes equations in the fine wall region computational mesh for high Reynold's number flow. Certain difficulties related to the use of these methods could be overcome by employing an approach reported by Roe (1981). In the present investigation Roe's conceptual framework has been adopted for constructing globally conservative finite difference methods. A globally conservative upwind finite difference method (CSCM) consisting of both implicit interior point and boundary point equations is constructed from a new characteristics based flux difference splitting. It is found that the employed upwind eigenvector split scheme which combines fully coupled implicit interior point and boundary point approximations has the desired properties of robust stability and accuracy.

Lombard, C. K.↗

Integrated numerical methods for hypersonic aircraft cooling systems analysis

Numerical methods have been developed for the analysis of hypersonic aircraft cooling systems. A general purpose finite difference thermal analysis code is used to determine areas which must be cooled. Complex cooling networks of series and parallel flow can be analyzed using a finite difference computer program. Both internal fluid flow and heat transfer are analyzed, because increased heat flow causes a decrease in the flow of the coolant. The steady state solution is a successive point iterative method. The transient analysis uses implicit forward-backward differencing. Several examples of the use of the program in studies of hypersonic aircraft and rockets are provided.

Petley, Dennis H.↗

OTIS 3.2 Software Released

Trajectory, mission, and vehicle engineers concern themselves with finding the best way for an object to get from one place to another. These engineers rely upon special software to assist them in this. For a number of years, many engineers have used the OTIS program for this assistance. With OTIS, an engineer can fully optimize trajectories for airplanes, launch vehicles like the space shuttle, interplanetary spacecraft, and orbital transfer vehicles. OTIS provides four modes of operation, with each mode providing successively stronger optimization capability. The most powerful mode uses a mathematical method called implicit integration to solve what engineers and mathematicians call the optimal control problem. OTIS 3.2, which was developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center, is the latest release of this industry workhorse and features new capabilities for parameter optimization and mission design. OTIS stands for Optimal Control by Implicit Simulation, and it is implicit integration that makes OTIS so powerful at solving trajectory optimization problems. Why is this so important? The optimization process not only determines how to get from point A to point B, but it can also determine how to do this with the least amount of propellant, with the lightest starting weight, or in the fastest time possible while avoiding certain obstacles along the way. There are numerous conditions that engineers can use to define optimal, or best. OTIS provides a framework for defining the starting and ending points of the trajectory (point A and point B), the constraints on the trajectory (requirements like "avoid these regions where obstacles occur"), and what is being optimized (e.g., minimize propellant). The implicit integration method can find solutions to very complicated problems when there is not a lot of information available about what the optimal trajectory might be. The method was first developed for solving two-point boundary value problems and was adapted for use in OTIS. Implicit integration usually allows OTIS to find solutions to problems much faster than programs that use explicit integration and parametric methods. Consequently, OTIS is best suited to solving very complicated and highly constrained problems.

Riehl, John P.↗