73 research outputs found
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Influence of diesel fuel viscosity on cavitating throttle flow simulations at erosive operation conditions
This work investigates the effect of liquid fuel viscosity, as specific by the European Committee for Standardization 2009 (European Norm) for all automotive fuels, on the predicted cavitating flow in micro-orifice flows. The wide range of viscosities allowed, leads to a significant variation of orifice nominal Reynolds numbers for the same pressure drop across the orifice. This in turn, is found to affect flow detachment, formation of large-scale vortices and micro-scale turbulence. A pressure-based compressible solver is used on the filtered Navier-Stokes equations using the multi-fluid approach; separate velocity fields are solved for each phase that share a common pressure. The rates of evaporation and condensation are evaluated with a simplified model based on the Rayleigh-Plesset equation; the Coherent Structure Model is adopted for the sub-grid scales modeling in the momentum conservation equation. The test case simulated is a well reported benchmark throttled flow channel geometry, referred to as ’I-channel’; this has allowed for easy optical access for which flow visualization and LIF measurements allowed for validation of the developed methodology. Despite its simplicity, the Ichannel geometry is found to reproduce the most characteristic flow features prevailing in high-speed flows realized in cavitating fuel injectors. Following, the effect of liquid viscosity on integral mass flow, velocity profiles, vapor cavities distribution and pressure peaks indicating locations prone to cavitation erosion are reported
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Modelling of Diesel fuel properties through its surrogates using Perturbed-Chain, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory
The Perturbed-Chain, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory equation of state is utilised to model the effect of pressure and temperature on the density, volatility and viscosity of four Diesel surrogates; these calculated properties are then compared to the properties of several Diesel fuels. Perturbed-Chain, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory calculations are performed using different sources for the pure component parameters. One source utilises literature values obtained from fitting vapour pressure and saturated liquid density data or from correlations based on these parameters. The second source utilises a group contribution method based on the chemical structure of each compound. Both modelling methods deliver similar estimations for surrogate density and volatility that are in close agreement with experimental results obtained at ambient pressure. Surrogate viscosity is calculated using the entropy scaling model with a new mixing rule for calculating mixture model parameters. The closest match of the surrogates to Diesel fuel properties provides mean deviations of 1.7% in density, 2.9% in volatility and 8.3% in viscosity. The Perturbed-Chain, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory results are compared to calculations using the Peng–Robinson equation of state; the greater performance of the Perturbed-Chain, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory approach for calculating fluid properties is demonstrated. Finally, an eight-component surrogate, with properties at high pressure and temperature predicted with the group contribution Perturbed-Chain, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory method, yields the best match for Diesel properties with a combined mean absolute deviation of 7.1% from experimental data found in the literature for conditions up to 373°K and 500 MPa. These results demonstrate the predictive capability of a state-of-the-art equation of state for Diesel fuels at extreme engine operating conditions
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A cavitation aggressiveness index within the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes methodology for cavitating flows
The paper proposes a methodology within the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solvers for cavitating flows capable of predicting the flow regions of bubble collapse and the potential aggressiveness to material damage. An aggressiveness index is introduced, called cavitation aggressiveness index (CAI) based on the total derivative of pressure which identifies surface areas exposed to bubble collapses, the index is tested in two known cases documented in the open literature and seems to identify regions of potential cavitation damage
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The Influence of geometrical and operational parameters on internal flow characteristics of Internally Mixing Twin-Fluid Y-Jet Atomizers
Internally mixing twin-fluid Y-jet atomizers are widely used in coal fired thermal power plants for start-up, oil-fired thermal power plants and industrial boilers. The flow through internally mixing Y-jet atomizers is numerically modeled using the compressible Navier-Stokes equations; Wall Modeled Large Eddy Simulations (WMLES) is used to resolve the turbulence with Large Eddy Simulations whereas the Prandtl Mixing Length Model is used for modeling the subgrid scale structures, which are affected by geometric and operational parameters. Moreover, the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method is used to capture the development and fragmentation of the liquid-gas interface within the Y-jet atomizer. The numerical results are compared with correlations available in open literature for the pressure drop; further results are presented for the multiphase flow regime maps available for vertical pipes. The results show that the mixing point pressure is strongly dependent on the mixing port diameter to airport diameter ratio, specifically for gas to liquid mass flowrate ratio (GLR) in the range 0.1 < GLR < 0.4; the mixing port length moderately affects the mixing point pressure while the angle between mixing and liquid ports is found not to have an appreciable effect. Moreover, it is found that the vertical pipe multiphase flow regime maps in the literature could be applied to the flow through the mixing port of the twin-fluid Y-jet atomizer. The main flow regimes found under the studied operational conditions are annular and wispy annular flow
Cavitation Induction by Projectile Impacting on a Water Jet
The present paper focuses on the simulation of the high-velocity impact of a projectile impacting on a water-jet, causing the onset, development and collapse of cavitation. The simulation of the fluid motion is carried out using an explicit, compressible, density-based solver developed by the authors using the OpenFOAM library. It employs a barotropic two-phase flow model that simulates the phase-change due to cavitation and considers the co-existence of non-condensable and immiscible air. The projectile is considered to be rigid while its motion through the computational domain is modelled through a direct-forcing Immersed Boundary Method. Model validation is performed against the experiments of Field et al. [Field, J., Camus, J. J., Tinguely, M., Obreschkow, D., Farhat, M., 2012. Cavitation in impacted drops and jets and the effect on erosion damage thresholds. Wear 290–291, 154–160. doi:10.1016/j.wear.2012.03.006. URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043164812000968 ], who visualised cavity formation and shock propagation in liquid impacts at high velocities. Simulations unveil the shock structures and capture the high-speed jetting forming at the impact location, in addition to the subsequent cavitation induction and vapour formation due to refraction waves. Moreover, model predictions provide quantitative information and a better insight on the flow physics that has not been identified from the reported experimental data, such as shock-wave propagation, vapour formation quantity and induced pressures. Furthermore, evidence of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability developing on the liquid-air interface are predicted when sufficient dense grid resolution is utilised
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Large Eddy Simulation of diesel injector opening with a two phase cavitation model
In the current paper, indicative results of the flow simulation during the opening phase of a Diesel injector are presented. In order to capture the complex flow field and cavitation structures forming in the injector, Large Eddy Simulation has been employed, whereas compressibility of the liquid was included. For taking into account cavitation effects, a two phase homogenous mixture model was employed. The mass transfer rate of the mixture model was adjusted to limit as much as possible the occurrence of negative pressures. During the simulation, pressure peaks have been found in areas of vapour collapse, with magnitude beyond 4000bar, which is higher that the yield stress of common materials. The locations of such pressure peaks corresponds well with the actual erosion location as found from X ray scans
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Numerical investigation of bubble dynamics using tabulated data
An explicit density-based solver of the compressible Euler equations suitable for cavitation simulations is presented, using the full Helmholtz energy Equation of State (EoS) for n-Dodecane. Tabulated data are derived from this EoS in order to calculate the thermodynamic properties of the liquid, vapour and mixture composition during cavitation. For determining thermodynamic properties from the conservative variable set, bilinear interpolation is employed; this results to significantly reduced computational cost despite the complex thermodynamics model incorporated. The latter is able to predict the temperature variation of both the liquid and the vapour phases. The methodology uses a Mach number consistent numerical flux, suitable for subsonic up to supersonic flow conditions. Finite volume discretization is employed in conjunction with a second order Runge-Kutta time integration scheme. The numerical method is validated against the Riemann problem, comparing it with the exact solution which has been derived in the present work for an arbitrary EoS. Further validation is performed against the well-known Rayleigh collapse of a pure vapour bubble. It is then used for the simulation of a 2-D axisymmetric n-Dodecane vapour bubble collapsing in the proximity of a flat wall placed at different locations from the centre of the bubble. The predictive capability of the incorporated Helmholtz EoS is assessed against the widely used barotropic EoS and the non-isothermal Homogeneous Equilibrium Mixture (HEM)
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Unveiling the physical mechanism behind pistol shrimp cavitation
Snapping shrimps use a special shaped claw to generate a cavitating high speed water jet. Cavitation formed in this way, may be used for hunting/stunning prey and communication. The present work is a novel computational effort to provide insight on the mechanisms of cavitation formation during the claw closure. The geometry of the claw used here is a simplified claw model, based on prior experimental work. Techniques, such as Immersed Boundary and Homogenous Equilibrium Model (HEM), are employed to describe the claw motion and cavitating flow field respectively. The simulation methodology has been validated against prior experimental work and is applied here for claw closure at realistic conditions. Simulations show that during claw closure, a high velocity jet forms, inducing vortex roll-up around it. If the closure speed is high enough, the intensity of the swirling motion is enough to produce strong depressurization in the vortex core, leading to the formation of a cavitation ring. The cavitation ring moves along the jet axis and, soon after its formation, collapses and rebounds, producing high pressure pulses
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A Compressible ÎŁ-ÎĄ Two-Fluid Atomization Model with Dynamic Interface Sharpening based on Flow Topology Detection
Liquid fuel atomization is characterized by multi-scale flow features and the coexistence of different flow regimes which complicate the simulation of an atomizing spray under realistic operating conditions. The present work introduces an atomization model dealing with such multi-scale complexities. The proposed model is com-pressible, so it can capture the density variations that affect spray penetration and atomization mechanisms. It is developed within a multi-phase Eulerian-Eulerian framework that considers slip velocity effects between the phases and introduces an additional transport equation for the surface area (ÎŁ); the latter aims to model the unre-solved sub-grid scale surface area variation. Moreover, a flow topology detection algorithm is applied in the flow field aiming to distinguish between different flow regimes; finally, the numerical algorithm applies appropriate closure relations for the interfacial source terms of the two-fluid model. The interfacial structures are also treated differently depending on the flow topology; a VOF method is applied in dense spray regions for resolving the interface fully and a non-sharp interface model is imposed in dilute spray regions, where sub-grid scale models are implemented for the modelling of relevant phenomena. The efficient coupling between the two-fluid model and the VOF method is examined via a standard interface capturing validation case of a rising bubble in a stagnant liquid. For the validation of the dynamic switching between different model formulations based on local topology and the numerical stability under the coexistence of various flow regimes, a Rayleigh-Taylor instability case is simulated and tested with the proposed model
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A new methodology for estimating cavitation erosion: Application on a high speed cavitation test RIG
In this work a new methodology for the prediction of flow areas of cavitation erosion is presented. The new methodology is a post processing procedure utilizing the results of the flow field solution; it is based on tracking the cavity boundaries in near-wall regions where the material derivative of the vapour volume fraction is reducing, meaning that in these areas the vapour structures are collapsing. Three cavitation erosion indexes are proposed and tested, by simulating the flow formed in a high-speed cavitation tunnel at Laboratoire des Ecoulements GĂ©ophysiques et Industriels (LEGI) of the University of Grenoble, where experimental erosion results have been obtained in the past. Agreement between the experimental data and the predictions is satisfactory, indicating the research road for developing an accurate prediction methodology of erosion and material loss
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