Numerical study of the pressure drop phenomena in wound woven wire matrix of a Stirling regenerator

Friction pressure drop correlation equations are derived from a numerical study by characterizing the pressure drop phenomena through porous medium of both types namely stacked and wound woven wire matrices of a Stirling engine regenerator over a specified range of Reynolds number, diameter and porosity. First, a finite volume method (FVM) based numerical approach is used and validated against well known experimentally obtained empirical correlations for a misaligned stacked woven wire matrix, the most widely used due to fabrication issues, for Reynolds number up to 400. The friction pressure drop correlation equation derived from the numerical results corresponds well with the experimentally obtained correlations with less than 5% deviation. Once the numerical approach is validated, the study is further extended to characterize the pressure drop phenomena in a wound woven wire matrix model of a Stirling engine regenerator for a diameter range from 0.080 to 0.110 mm and a porosity range from 0.472 to 0.638 within the same Reynolds number range. Thus, the new correlation equations are derived from this numerical study for different flow configurations of the Stirling engine regenerator. The results indicate flow nature and complex geometry dependent friction pressure drop characteristics within the present Stirling engine regenerator system. It is believed that the developed correlations can be applied with confidence as a cost effective solution to characterize and hence to optimize stacked and woven Stirling engine efficiency in the above specified ranges

Numerical study of the heat transfer in wound woven wire matrix of a Stirling regenerator

Nusselt number correlation equations are numerically derived by characterizing the heat transfer phenomena through porous medium of both stacked and wound woven wire matrices of a Stirling engine regenerator over a specified range of Reynolds number, diameter and porosity. A finite volume method (FVM) based numerical approach is proposed and validated against well known experimentally obtained empirical correlations for a random stacking woven wire matrix, the most widely used due to fabrication issues, for Reynolds number up to 400. The results show that the numerically derived correlation equation corresponds well with the experimentally obtained correlations with less than 6% deviation with the exception of low Reynolds numbers. Once the numerical approach is validated, the study is further extended to characterize the heat transfer in a wound woven wire matrix model for a diameter range from 0.08 to 0.11 mm and a porosity range from 0.60 to 0.68 within the same Reynolds number range. Thus, the new correlation equations are numerically derived for different flow configurations of the Stirling engine regenerator. It is believed that the developed correlations can be applied with confidence as a cost effective solution to characterize and hence to optimize stacked and wound woven wire Stirling regenerator in the above specified ranges

Residual Stress Pattern Prediction in Spray Transfer Multipass Welding by Means of Numerical Simulation

One of the main problems of gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process is the generation of residual stresses (RS), which has a direct impact on the mechanical performance of welded components. Nevertheless, RS pattern prediction is complex and requires the simulation of the welding process. Consequently, most of the currently used dimensioning approaches do not consider RS, leading to design oversized structures. This fact is especially relevant in big structures since it generates high material, manufacturing and product transportation costs. Nowadays, there are different numerical methods to predict the RS generated in GMAW process, being Goldak’s method one of the most widely used model. However, the use of these methods during the design process is limited, as they require experimentally defining many parameters. Alternatively, in this chapter, a new methodology to define the heat source energy based on the spray welding physics is exposed. The experimental validation of the methodology conducted for a multipass butt weld case shows good agreement in both the temperature pattern (9.16% deviation) and the RS pattern (42 MPa deviation). Finally, the proposed methodology is extended to analyse the influence of the thickness and the number of passes in the RS pattern of thick T-joint welds

Procedure to predict residual stress pattern in spray transfer multipass welding

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is one of the most used joining method in the industry. However, one of the main problems of this process is the generation of residual stresses which have direct impact on the fatigue life of welded components. Nevertheless, residual stress pattern prediction is complex and requires the simulation of the welding process. Currently, there are different numerical methods to predict the residual stresses generated in GMAW process, being Goldak’s method one of the most widely used model. However, the main limitation of these methods is that they require defining many parameters experimentally and, consequently, this method is not valid during design process. Alternatively, in this work, it is developed a procedure where the heat source is defined based on the welding physics for spray transfer welding. The developed procedure has been validated for a spray transfer multipass butt weld case. Results have shown good correspondence with an average deviation of 9.16 % in thermal field and 42 MPa in the final residual stress field. Thus, the developed procedure has been validated as a cost-effective alternative method to estimate residual stress pattern in spray transfer multipass welding. Furthermore, the developed method does not require any welding experimental characterization once the efficiency of the used welding machine is defined. The proposed method can be used as a valid tool to optimize the welding process in order to minimize the residual stress field and, consequently, improve the fatigue life

A comparative study of residual stress profiles on Inconel 718 induced by dry face turning

Residual stress profiles induced by different dry face turning conditions are compared employing X-ray diffraction method, Hole-Drilling method and Finite Element Modelling. It is well known that the surface integrity condition has a great influence on the machined parts fatigue life, specially the residual stress profile. This issue is important when machining aeronautical critical parts, even more due to the difficulty of machining of nickel based superalloys, such as Inconel 718. This research work is focused on the identification of the residual stress profile uncertainty of experimental and numerical measurements. For this proposal, several measurements were carried out on a set of Inconel 718 samples machined with different conditions of cutting speed and feed rate under dry conditions. Although residual stress profiles are similar, differences are found between the three measurement techniques used in this study

Automation of Simulation Based Design Validation and Reporting of a Valve Family

Valves are mechanical devices for controlling fluid-flow in pipes of different diameter and service pressures used in several industry sectors. Most demanding industry sectors add custom design requirements and require product validation reports many times even before placing valve purchase orders of varying quantities. Therefore, customer and valve developer requirements must be made compatible, design reliably completed and a design validation report created, all as soon as possible. In order to respond to these market constraints, complete valve design process from product planning to product design and validation delivery must be optimized. This paper reports a 96% time reduction in Simulation Based Design validation and reporting tasks obtained by applying Design Automation in a company that develops valves for this market. Additionally, the architecture and most remarkable features of the Simulation Based Design validation and reporting automation are described

Analysis of One-Way and Two-Way FSI Approaches to Characterise the Flow Regime and the Mechanical Behaviour during Closing Manoeuvring Operation of a Butterfly Valve

Butterfly valves are widely used industrial piping components as on-off and flow controlling devices. The main challenge in the design process of this type of valves is the correct dimensioning to ensure proper mechanical performance as well as to minimise flow losses that affect the efficiency of the system. Butterfly valves are typically dimensioned in a closed position based on mechanical approaches considering uniform hydrostatic pressure, whereas the flow losses are analysed by means of CFD simulations. The main limitation of these approaches is that they do not consider either the influence of the dynamics of the manoeuvring stage or coupled phenomena. Recent works have included the influence of the flow on the mechanical behaviour for different opening angles by means of one-way FSI approach. However, these works consider steady-state flow for the selected angles, not capturing the effect of the transient flow evolution during the manoeuvring stage. Two-way FSI modelling approach could allow overcoming such limitations providing more accurate results. Nevertheless, the use of this technique is limited due to the increase in the computational cost. In the present work, the applicability of FSI one-way and two-way approaches is evaluated for the analysis of butterfly valves, showing that not considering fluid-structure coupling involves not capturing the most critical situation for the valve disc

Fretting : review on the numerical simulation and modelling of wear, fatigue and fracture

This chapter presents a general background and the state of the art of numerical simulation and modeling of fretting phenomenon in terms of wear, fatigue and fracture. First, an introduction of fretting and its implications is exposed. Second, different methodologies for wear modeling and simulation are described and discussed. Afterwards, fatigue and fracture analysis approaches are revised. To that end, multiaxial fatigue parameters are introduced putting an emphasis on the physical basis of the fretting phenomena and the suitability of each model. On the other hand, the propagation phase based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) via the finite element method (FEM) and the eXtended finite element method (X-FEM) analysis methods is presented and compared. Finally, different approaches and latest developments for fretting fatigue lifetime prediction are presented and discussed

Determining tool/chip temperatures from thermography measurements in metal cutting

Temperature measurement in metal cutting is of central importance as tool wear and surface integrity have been demonstrated to be temperature dependent. In this context, infrared thermography is presented as a reliable technique to determine tool temperatures and thermal fields at near real-time. However, a constraint of this technique is that temperatures are measured on the tool side faces normal to the cutting edge but offset from the tool/chip contact. In the present research, tool/chip contact temperatures were calculated from the tool side based on analytical theories of heating and the principles of heat generation in cutting processes. The required inputs were commonly measurable variables (cutting and feed forces, chip thickness and tool/chip contact length). The proposed approach was combined with a new calibration method in which a calibration curve that directly relates real and radiated temperatures is obtained, instead of measuring the emissivity of the radiating surface. As a case study, the research was conducted on a set of four ferrite-pearlite steels (16MnCr5, 27MnCr, C45 and C60). The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the method to establish the real influence of the cutting conditions (cutting speed and feed) and to distinguish the effect that different work material microstructures have in tool/chip temperature. Furthermore, the results showed a high degree of accuracy and less than 12% deviation from the trends when compared with 2D cutting simulations