Unstructured finite volume algorithms for compressible multiphase flow

This research presents novel algorithms for computing flow within an unstructured, collocated, finite volume solver in the presence of non-orthogonality and compressibility in order to extend the range of problems which can be modelled with the University's in-house CFD code: PHYSICA. A new non-orthogonality diffusion correction relaxation parameter has been successfully introduced and tested with benchmarks from the literature. Cases involving geometries meshed with commercial packages have been successfully run with the diffusion correction methods, variable bounding and proper under-relaxation practices. The applicability of a pressure interpolation method has also been tested with these cases. A procedure for solving compressible flow within a finite volume, pressure correction type scheme, has been devised and successfully implemented in different test cases. This method is however prone to numerical diffusion in the presence of shocks, but does work even in the presence of skewed meshes. The method was then tested with the case of an oxygen jet entering a heated furnace, for which experimental data is available for comparison. The method was successful in predicting the axial variables of the jet, and used to develop a turbulence modification model for such jets. The method was finally used to model the deformation of a free surface impinged by a compressible jet, using a novel zonal method called zonal Gas And Liquid Analyser (GALA). Convergence was achieved with the method developed in this research, together with the application of the counter diffusion method to model the moving interface

Acoustic cavitation measurements and modeling in liquid aluminum

The quantification of acoustic pressures in liquid metals is of paramount interest for the optimization of ultrasonic melt treatment (UST) of large volumes. Until recently, the measurements of acoustic pressure and cavitation intensity in a melt were cumbersome and unreliable due to the high temperatures and the lack of suitable instruments. These difficulties imposed strict limitations on the experimental and numerical investigation of cavitation and bubble dynamics within liquid metals. In recent years, our group used a unique calibrated high temperature cavitometer to measure cavitation activity and acoustic pressures in liquid aluminum. Phenomena such as acoustic attenuation, shielding, and cavitation intensity have been studied. These measurements were also used to validate a non-linear acoustic numerical model applicable to flow in bubbly liquids subject to acoustic cavitation. Both experimental and numerical characterization of the acoustic and flow fields provides a powerful tool to optimize cavitation processing in liquid metals