Reduced-order modeling of transonic flows around an airfoil submitted to small deformations

A reduced-order model (ROM) is developed for the prediction of unsteady transonic flows past an airfoil submitted to small deformations, at moderate Reynolds number. Considering a suitable state formulation as well as a consistent inner product, the Galerkin projection of the compressible flow Navier–Stokes equations, the high-fidelity (HF) model, onto a low-dimensional basis determined by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), leads to a polynomial quadratic ODE system relevant to the prediction of main flow features. A fictitious domain deformation technique is yielded by the Hadamard formulation of HF model and validated at HF level. This approach captures airfoil profile deformation by a modification of the boundary conditions whereas the spatial domain remains unchanged. A mixed POD gathering information from snapshot series associated with several airfoil profiles can be defined. The temporal coefficients in POD expansion are shape-dependent while spatial POD modes are not. In the ROM, airfoil deformation is introduced by a steady forcing term. ROM reliability towards airfoil deformation is demonstrated for the prediction of HF-resolved as well as unknown intermediate configurations

Reduced-order modeling for unsteady transonic flows around an airfoil

High-transonic unsteady flows around an airfoil at zero angle of incidence and moderate Reynolds numbers are characterized by an unsteadiness induced by the von Kármán instability and buffet phenomenon interaction. These flows are investigated by means of low-dimensional modeling approaches. Reduced-order dynamical systems based on proper orthogonal decomposition are derived from a Galerkin projection of two-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations. A specific formulation concerning density and pressure is considered. Reduced-order modeling accurately predicts unsteady transonic phenomena

Lock-in of the vortex-induced vibrations of a long tensioned beam in shear flow

The occurrence of lock-in, defined as the local synchronization between the vortex shedding frequency and the cross-flow structural vibration frequency, is investigated in the case of a tensioned beam of length to diameter ratio 200, free to move in both the in-line and cross-flow directions, and immersed in a linear shear current. Direct numerical simulation is employed at three Reynolds numbers, from 110 to 1100, so as to include the transition to turbulence in the wake. The Reynolds number influences the response amplitudes, but in all cases we observed similar fluid-structure interaction mechanisms, resulting in high-wavenumber vortex-induced vibrations consisting of a mixture of standing and traveling wave patterns. Lock-in occurs in the high oncoming velocity region, over at least 30% of the cylinder length. In the case of multi-frequency response, at any given spanwise location lock-in is principally established at one of the excited vibration frequencies, usually the locally predominant one. The spanwise patterns of the force and added mass coefficients exhibit different behaviors within the lock-in versus the non-lock-in region. The spanwise zones where the flow provides energy to excite the structural vibrations are located mainly within the lock-in region, while the flow damps the structural vibrations in the non-lock-in region

Distributed lock-in drives broadband vortex-induced vibrations of a long flexible cylinder in shear flow

A slender flexible body immersed in sheared cross-flow may exhibit vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) involving a wide range of excited frequencies and structural wavenumbers. The mechanisms of broadband VIVs of a cylindrical tensioned beam of length-to-diameter aspect ratio 200 placed in shear flow, with an exponentially varying profile along the span, are investigated by means of direct numerical simulation. The Reynolds number is equal to 330 based on the maximum velocity, for comparison with previous work on narrowband vibrations in linear shear flow. The flow is found to excite the structure at a number of different locations under a condition of wake–body synchronization, or lock-in. Broadband responses are associated with a distributed occurrence of the lock-in condition along the span, as opposed to the localized lock-in regions limited to the high inflow velocity zone, reported for narrowband vibrations in sheared current. Despite the instantaneously multi-frequency nature of broadband responses, the lock-in phenomenon remains a locally mono-frequency event, since the vortex formation is generally synchronized with a single vibration frequency at a given location. The spanwise distribution of the excitation zones induces travelling structural waves moving in both directions; this contrasts with the narrowband case where the direction of propagation toward decreasing inflow velocity is preferred. A generalization of the mechanism of phase-locking between the in-line and cross-flow responses is proposed for broadband VIVs under the lock-in condition. A spanwise drift of the in-line/cross-flow phase difference is identified for the high-wavenumber vibration components; this drift is related to the strong travelling wave character of the corresponding structural waves

Multi-frequency vortex-induced vibrations of a long tensioned beam in linear and exponential shear flows

The multi-frequency vortex-induced vibrations of a cylindrical tensioned beam of aspect ratio 200, free to move in the in-line and cross-flow directions within first a linearly and then an exponentially sheared current are investigated by means of direct numerical simulation, at a Reynolds number equal to 330. The shape of the inflow profile impacts the spectral content of the mixed standing traveling wave structural responses: narrowband vibrations are excited within the lock-in area, which is limited to a single region lying in the high flow velocity zone, for the linear shear case; in contrast, the lock-in condition occurs at several spanwise locations in the exponential shear case, resulting in broadband responses, containing a wide range of excited frequencies and spatial wavenumbers. The broadband in-line and cross-flow vibrations occurring for the exponential shear current have a phase difference that lies within a specific range along the entire span; this differs from the phase drift noted for narrowband responses in linear shear flow. Lower vibration amplitudes, time-averaged and fluctuating in-line force coefficients are observed for the exponential shear current. The cross-flow force coefficient has comparable magnitude for both inflow profiles along the span, except in zones where the broadband vibrations are under the lock-in condition but not the narrowband ones. As in the narrowband case, the fluid forces associated with the broadband responses are dominated by high frequencies related to high-wavenumber vibration components. Considerable variability of the effective added mass coefficients along the span is noted in both cases

Anisotropic Organised Eddy Simulation for the prediction of non-equilibrium turbulent flows around bodies

The unsteady turbulent flow around bodies at high Reynolds number is predicted by an anisotropic eddy-viscosity model in the context of the Organised Eddy Simulation (OES). A tensorial eddy-viscosity concept is developed to reinforce turbulent stress anisotropy, that is a crucial characteristic of non-equilibrium turbulence in the near-region. The theoretical aspects of the modelling are investigated by means of a phase-averaged PIV in the flow around a circular cylinder at Reynolds number 1.4×10^5. A pronounced stress–strain misalignment is quantified in the near-wake region of the detached flow, that is well captured by a tensorial eddy-viscosity concept. This is achieved by modelling the turbulence stress anisotropy tensor by its projection onto the principal matrices of the strain-rate tensor. Additional transport equations for the projection coefficients are derived from a second-order moment closure scheme. The modification of the turbulence length scale yielded by OES is used in the Detached Eddy Simulation hybrid approach. The detached turbulent flows around a NACA0012 airfoil (2-D) and a circular cylinder (3-D) are studied at Reynolds numbers 105 and 1.4×10^5, respectively. The results compared to experimental ones emphasise the predictive capabilities of the OES approach concerning the flow physics capture for turbulent unsteady flows around bodies at high Reynolds numbers

In-line flow-induced vibrations of a rotating cylinder

The flow-induced vibrations of an elastically mounted circular cylinder, free to oscillate in the direction parallel to the current and subjected to a forced rotation about its axis, are investigated by means of two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations, at a Reynolds number equal to 100 based on the cylinder diameter and inflow velocity. The cylinder is found to oscillate up to a rotation rate (ratio between the cylinder surface and inflow velocities) close to 2 (first vibration region), then the body and the flow are steady until a rotation rate close to 2.7 where a second vibration region begins. Each vibration region is characterized by a specific regime of response. In the first region, the vibration amplitude follows a bell-shaped evolution as a function of the reduced velocity (inverse of the oscillator natural frequency). The maximum vibration amplitudes, even though considerably augmented by the rotation relative to the non-rotating body case, remain lower than 0.1 cylinder diameters. Due to their trends as functions of the reduced velocity and to the fact that they develop under a condition of wake-body synchronization or lock-in, the responses of the rotating cylinder in this region are comparable to the vortex-induced vibrations previously described in the absence of rotation. The symmetry breaking due to the rotation is shown to directly impact the structure displacement and fluid force frequency contents. In the second region, the vibration amplitude tends to increase unboundedly with the reduced velocity. It may become very large, higher than 2.5 diameters in the parameter space under study. Such structural oscillations resemble the galloping responses reported for non-axisymmetric bodies. They are accompanied by a dramatic amplification of the fluid forces compared to the non-vibrating cylinder case. It is shown that body oscillation and flow unsteadiness remain synchronized and that a variety of wake topologies may be encountered in this vibration region. The low-frequency, large-amplitude responses are associated with novel asymmetric multi-vortex patterns, combining a pair and a triplet or a quartet of vortices per cycle. The flow is found to undergo three-dimensional transition in the second vibration region, with a limited influence on the system behaviour. It appears that the transition occurs for a substantially lower rotation rate than for a rigidly mounted cylinder

Flow-induced vibrations of a rotating cylinder

The flow-induced vibrations of a circular cylinder, free to oscillate in the cross-flow direction and subjected to a forced rotation about its axis, are analysed by means of two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations. The impact of the symmetry breaking caused by the forced rotation on the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) mechanisms is investigated for a Reynolds number equal to 100, based on the cylinder diameter and inflow velocity. The cylinder is found to oscillate freely up to a rotation rate (ratio between the cylinder surface and inflow velocities) close to 4. Under forced rotation, the vibration amplitude exhibits a bell-shaped evolution as a function of the reduced velocity (inverse of the oscillator natural frequency) and reaches 1.9 diameters, i.e. three times the maximum amplitude in the non-rotating case. The free vibrations of the rotating cylinder occur under a condition of wake–body synchronization similar to the lock-in condition driving non-rotating cylinder VIV. The largest vibration amplitudes are associated with a novel asymmetric wake pattern composed of a triplet of vortices and a single vortex shed per cycle, the TCS pattern. In the low-frequency vibration regime, the flow exhibits another new topology, the U pattern, characterized by a transverse undulation of the spanwise vorticity layers without vortex detachment; consequently, free oscillations of the rotating cylinder may also develop in the absence of vortex shedding. The symmetry breaking due to the rotation is shown to directly impact the selection of the higher harmonics appearing in the fluid force spectra. The rotation also influences the mechanism of phasing between the force and the structural response

Vortex-induced vibrations of a flexible cylinder at large inclination angle

The free vibrations of a flexible circular cylinder inclined at 80 degrees within a uniform current are investigated by means of direct numerical simulation, at Reynolds number 500 based on the body diameter and inflow velocity. In spite of the large inclination angle, the cylinder exhibits regular in-line and crossflow vibrations excited by the flow through the lock-in mechanism, i.e. synchronization of body motion and vortex formation. A profound reconfiguration of the wake is observed compared with the stationary body case. The vortex-induced vibrations are found to occur under parallel, but also oblique vortex shedding where the spanwise wavenumbers of the wake and structural response coincide. The shedding angle and frequency increase with the spanwise wavenumber. The cylinder vibrations and fluid forces present a persistent spanwise asymmetry which relates to the asymmetry of the local current relative to the body axis, owing to its in-line bending. In particular, the asymmetrical trend of flow–body energy transfer results in a monotonic orientation of the structural waves. Clockwise and counter-clockwise figure eight orbits of the body alternate along the span, but the latter are found to be more favourable to structure excitation. Additional simulations at normal incidence highlight a dramatic deviation from the independence principle, which states that the system behaviour is essentially driven by the normal component of the inflow velocity

Three-dimensional flow past a fixed or freely vibrating cylinder in the early turbulent regime

The three-dimensional structure of the flow downstream of a circular cylinder, either fixed or subjected to vortex-induced vibrations, is investigated by means of numerical simulation, at Reynolds number 3900, based on the cylinder diameter and current velocity. The flow exhibits pronounced fluctuations distributed along the span in all studied cases. Qualitatively, it is characterized by spanwise undulations of the shear layers separating from the body and the development of vortices elongated in the plane normal to its axis (planar vortices). A quantitative analysis of crossflow vorticity fluctuations in the spanwise direction reveals a peak of fluctuation amplitude in the near region (i.e., area of formation of the spanwise wake vortices) and opposite trends of the spanwise wavelength in the shear layer and wake regions; the wavelength tends to decrease as a function of the streamwise distance in the shear layers down to a minimum value close to 0.5 body diameters and then slowly increases further in the wake. The spanwise structure of the flow is differently altered in these two regions, once the cylinder vibrates. In the shear layer region, body motion is associated with an enhancement of planar vortex formation. The amplification of vorticity spanwise fluctuations in this region is accompanied by a reduction of the spanwise wavelength; it is found to decrease as a function of the instantaneous Reynolds number based on the instantaneous flow velocity seen by the moving body, following the global trend of the wavelength versus Reynolds number previously reported for fixed cylinders. In the wake region, the flow spanwise structure is essentially unaltered compared to the fixed body case, in spite of the major distortions of the streamwise and crossflow length scales