9 research outputs found
The Influence of Horizontal Boundaries on Ekman Circulation and Angular Momentum Transport in a Cylindrical Annulus
We present numerical simulations of circular Couette flow in axisymmetric and
fully three-dimensional geometry of a cylindrical annulus inspired by Princeton
MRI liquid gallium experiment. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are
solved with the spectral element code Nek5000 incorporating realistic
horizontal boundary conditions of differentially rotating rings. We investigate
the effect of changing rotation rates (Reynolds number) and of the horizontal
boundary conditions on flow structure, Ekman circulation and associated
transport of angular momentum through the onset of unsteadiness and
three-dimensionality. A mechanism for the explanation of the dependence of the
Ekman flows and circulation on horizontal boundary conditions is proposed.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures; to be published in the Topical Issue of the
Physica Scripta in 200
Viscous-Inviscid Interactions in a Boundary-Layer Flow Induced by a Vortex Array
In this paper we investigate the asymptotic validity of boundary layer
theory. For a flow induced by a periodic row of point-vortices, we compare
Prandtl's solution to Navier-Stokes solutions at different numbers. We
show how Prandtl's solution develops a finite time separation singularity. On
the other hand Navier-Stokes solution is characterized by the presence of two
kinds of viscous-inviscid interactions between the boundary layer and the outer
flow. These interactions can be detected by the analysis of the enstrophy and
of the pressure gradient on the wall. Moreover we apply the complex singularity
tracking method to Prandtl and Navier-Stokes solutions and analyze the previous
interactions from a different perspective
CFD benchmark for a heavy liquid metal fuel assembly
As part of a Department of Energy International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (1-NERI), the Dutch Nuclear Research and consultancy Group (NRG), the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCKCEN), Ghent University (UGent) in Belgium and the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) are collaborating with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to perform and compare a series of thermal hydraulic simulations representative of a heavy liquid metal fast reactor fuel assembly. Such a widely spaced wire-wrapped fuel assembly is a complex configuration for which few flow data are available for verification and validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. For this benchmark a 19-pin wire-wrapped rod bundle with characteristics representative of the MYRRHA flexible fast research reactor, under design at SCK'CEN in Belgium, is modeled. The heat conduction in the cladding of the fuel rods and the spacer wires is taken into account by conjugate heat transfer. UGent, ENEA and NRG performed their Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations with commercially available CFD codes. The high-fidelity ANL Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) was performed with Nek5000, used for CFD in the Simulation-based High-efficiency Advanced Reactor Prototyping (SHARP) suite. The paper will show and discuss the comparison of the thermal and hydraulic RANS results and the reference Nek5000 LES results. The comparison with the LES results will indicate to which extent the current liquid metal modeling methods are sufficient and help to highlight remaining issues. The results of the study are very valuable in the design and licensing process for MYRRHA