On The Modeling Of Boundary Conditions For Embedded Schemes

A simple embedded method for an unstructured grid is presented. An enhancement of the boundary treatments using ghost points is then described. Several examples are used to demonstrate the viability of the approach for inviscid flow simulations

Fluid-structure interaction using adaptive embedded unstructured grids

Fluid-structure interaction cases with severe topological change due to fragmentation or rupture in the structure have prompted the development of flow solvers using a so-called embedded mesh approach. A simple embedded domain method for node-based unstructured grid solvers is presented. Edges crossing embedded surface faces are either removed or duplicated. Several techniques to improve the treatment of boundary points close to the immersed surfaces are explored. Adaptive mesh refinement based on proximity to the curvature or corners of the embedded CSD surfaces is used to enhance the accuracy of the solution. User-defined or automatic deactivation for the regions inside immersed solid bodies is employed to avoid unnecessary work. Several examples are included that show the viability of this approach for coupled fluid-structure problems

Numerical Simulation of Long-Duration Blast Wave Evolution in Confined Facilities

The objective of this research effort was to investigate the quasi-steady flow field produced by explosives in confined facilities. In this effort we modeled tests in which a high explosive (HE) cylindrical charge was hung in the center of a room and detonated. The HEs used for the tests were C-4 and AFX 757. While C-4 is just slightly under-oxidized and is typically modeled as an ideal explosive, AFX 757 includes a significant percentage of aluminum particles, so long-time afterburning and energy release must be considered. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)-produced thermo-chemical equilibrium algorithm, “Cheetah”, was used to estimate the remaining burnable detonation products. From these remaining species, the afterburning energy was computed and added to the flow field. Computations of the detonation and afterburn of two HEs in the confined multi-room facility were performed. The results demonstrate excellent agreement with available experimental data in terms of blast wave time of arrival, peak shock amplitude, reverberation, and total impulse (and hence, total energy release, via either the detonation or afterburn processes. KeywordsDetonation-Blast wave-EOS-After burning-CF

On the coupling of CFD and CSD methodologies for modeling blast-structure interactions

This paper describes applications of a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) methodology to the simulation of blast waves generated by bare explosive charges in a test facility with rigid and deformable walls. The coupled algorithm combines FEFLO98 (CFD) and MARS3D (CSD) via an embedded approach, where the CSD objects float through the CFD domain. This combination enables an easier and more accurate prediction of structural deformation, cracking and failure under blast loading. Several experiments were conducted to characterize blast load and structural response as a function of charge size, weapon ignition point (nose or tail) and orientation (horizontal or vertical). The numerical simulations helped in understanding the experimental results, some of which were not intuitively understood. Good agreement between the experimental results and the numerical predictions were demonstrated for pressure data, blast loading and the corresponding structural response. Keywords: blast-structure interaction, coupled CFD and CSD, blast wave evolution, structural response to blast loading

Development And Applications Of An Embedded CSD Approach For Coupled CFD/CSD Modeling Of Blastlstructure Interactions

This paper describes recent developments and select applications of a program that couples parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) methodologies. FEFL098 is the CFD code used while DYNA3D handles the CSD portion. FEFL098 solves the time-dependent, compressible Euler and Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations on an unstructured mesh of tetrahedral elements. DYNA3D solves explicitly the large deformation, large strain formulation equations on an unstructured grid composed of bricks and hexahedral elements. The initial algorithm constructed to model the coupled processes used the so-called "glued-mesh" approach, where the CFD and CSD faces match identically. Failure of this approach to model severe structural deformations in steel plates, as well as crack growth and propagation in steel and concrete, led us to the development of the so-called "embedded-mesh" approach, where the CSD mesh float through the CFD domain. While each approach has its own advantages, limitations and deficiencies, the embedded approach was proven to be superior for the class of problems modeled here. Critical applications of both approaches are described, including weapon detonation and fragmentation, airblast interaction with a reinforced concrete wall, and fragment/airblast interactions with steel wall structures including a generic steel ship hull and a steel tower

Adaptive Embedded Unstructured Grid Methods

A simple embedded domain method for node-based unstructured grid solvers is presented. The key modification of the original, edge-based solver is to remove all geometry-parameters (essentially the normals) belonging to edges cut by embedded surface faces. Several techniques to improve the treatment of boundary points close to the immersed surfaces are explored. Alternatively, higher-order boundary conditions are achieved by duplicating crossed edges and their endpoints. Adaptive mesh refinement based on proximity to or the curvature of the embedded CSD surfaces is used to enhance the accuracy of the solution. User-defined or automatic deactivation for the regions inside immersed solid bodies is employed to avoid unnecessary work. Several examples are included that show the viability of this approach for inviscid and viscous, compressible and incompressible, steady and unsteady flows, as well as coupled fluid–structure problems

Coupling of CFD and CSD methodologies for modeling blast and structural response

This paper describes recent algorithm developments and applications of a program that couples parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structural Dynamics (CSD) methodologies. FEFL098 is the CFD code used while DYNA3D handles the CSD portion. FEFL098 solves the time-dependent compressible Euler and Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations on an unstructured mesh of tetrahedral elements. DYNA3D solves explicitly the large deformation, large strain formulation equations on an unstructured grid composed of bricks and hexahedral elements. While the initial coupled algorithm used the so-called "glued-mesh" approach, where the CFD and CSD faces match identically, failure of this approach to model severe structural deformation, as well as crack propagation in steel and concrete, led us to the development of the so-called "embedded-mesh" approach. Here, the CSD objects float through the CFD domain. While each approach has its own advantages, limitations, and deficiencies, the embedded approach was proven to be superior for the class of problems modeled here. Critical application of both approaches are described, including weapon detonation and fragmentation, airblast interaction with a reinforced concrete wall, and fragment/airblast interaction with a steel wall. The final application models the interaction of an external airblast with a generic steel ship

Linear Sources for Mesh Generation

Sources offer a convenient way to prescribe a size distribution in space. For each newly created mesh point, the mesh generator queries the local size distribution, either to create a new point or element, depending on the underlying mesh generation method, to smooth the mesh, or to get a local relevant length scale. Sources may have different shapes such as points, edges, triangles, or boxes. They provide the size distribution given some user defined parameters and the distance of a point location to the source. Traditionally, the source strength is considered as constant. In this work, extensions to linear sources in space are proposed. It is shown that in the case of curvature refined mesh generation, substantial savings may occur due to the much better approximation of the curvature variation for a simple modification of traditional sources. Even though curvature refinement is the main application of this work, improvements through linear sources are relevant to other contexts such as user defined sources. The technique is very general as it deals with a fundamental aspect of mesh generation and can be easily incorporated into an existing mesh generator with traditional sources. Thorough details of source approximations and source filtering are provided. Relations with lower envelopes are highlighted. Practical examples illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method

CFD Applications in Support of the Space Shuttle Risk Assessment

The paper describes a numerical study of a potential accident scenario of the space shuttle, operating at the same flight conditions as flight 51L, the Challenger accident. The interest in performing this simulation is derived by evidence that indicates that the event itself did not exert large enough blast loading on the shuttle to break it apart. Rather, the quasi-steady aerodynamic loading on the damaged, unbalance vehicle caused the break-up. Despite the enormous explosive potential of the shuttle total fuel load (both liquid and solid), the post accident explosives working group estimated the maximum energy involvement to be equivalent to about five hundreds of pounds of TNT. This understanding motivated the simulation described here. To err on the conservative side, we modeled the event as an explosion, and used the maximum energy estimate. We modeled the transient detonation of a 500 lbs spherical charge of TNT, placed at the main engine, and the resulting blast wave propagation about the complete stack. Tracking of peak pressures and impulses at hundreds of locations on the vehicle surface indicate that the blast load was insufficient to break the vehicle, hence demonstrating likely crew survivability through such an event.&nbsp

Extending the Range and Applicability of the Loose Coupling Approach for FSI Simulations

Several algorithms for fluid-structure interaction are described. All of them are useful for the loose coupling of fluid and structural dynamics codes. The first class of algorithms considers the loose coupling of implicit time-marching codes. Of these, a predictor-corrector algorithm that may be interpreted as a Jacobi iteration with block-diagonal terms was found to be a good compromise of simplicity, generality and speed. The second class of algorithms treats the displacement of the surface of the structure that is in contact with the fluid. It is shown that a straightforward treatment of the displacements for arbitrary choice of timesteps can lead to instabilities. For optimal stability, at each timestep the ending time of the fluid should be just beyond the ending time of the structure. The third class of algorithms treats the movement of the flow mesh in an ALE setting. The use of a projective prediction of mesh velocities, as well as linelet preconditioning for the resulting PCG system can reduce significantly the effort required. Examples are included that show the effectiveness of the proposed procedures