The energy conversion is proposed to analyze the effects of liquid properties on the formation of an ejecta sheet, prompt splashing, and crown evolution. The incompressible laminar Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the volume-of-fluid model are solved numerically in an axisymmetric frame to simulate the impact process. Based on the energy conversion curves and liquid-gas interface shapes, the Weber number is shown to be the main dimensionless quantity controlling the impact process, especially with regard to crown evolution. However, the Reynolds number does have some influence on the drop impact process, especially during the stage of ejecta sheet formation and prompt splashing. By studying energy conversion during the impact process, the crown evolution is shown to be accelerated significantly with decreasing Weber number, but is hardly affected by the Reynolds number. A linear relation is found between the time to the moment of crown stabilization (when the crown height reaches its maximum value) and the square root of the Weber number. The relationship between the Weber number and the energy distribution at the moment of crown stabilization is also studied.

The importance of the turbulence closure to the modeling accuracy of the partially-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (PANS) is investigated in prediction of the flow around a circular cylinder at Reynolds number of 3900. A series of PANS calculations at various degrees of physical resolution is conducted using three Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS)-based closures: the standard, shear-stress transport (SST), and turbulent/nonturbulent (TNT) k–ω models. The latter is proposed in this work. The results illustrate the dependence of PANS on the closure. At coarse physical resolutions, a narrower range of scales is resolved so that the influence of the closure on the simulations accuracy increases significantly. Among all closures, PANS–TNT achieves the lowest comparison errors. The reduced sensitivity of this closure to freestream turbulence quantities and the absence of auxiliary functions from its governing equations are certainly contributing to this result. It is demonstrated that the use of partial turbulence quantities in such auxiliary functions calibrated for total turbulent (RANS) quantities affects their behavior. On the other hand, the successive increase of physical resolution reduces the relevance of the closure, causing the convergence of the three models toward the same solution. This outcome is achieved once the physical resolution and closure guarantee the precise replication of the spatial development of the key coherent structures of the flow.

To characterize the microflow over a larger range of Knudsen numbers, an improved kinetic equation considering the volume diffusion effect for nonideal gases was presented based on Klimontovich's kinetic equation and Enskog equation-based lattice Boltzmann Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (LBGK) model. Then, with the modified effective viscosity and the second-order slip boundary condition, a series of numerical simulations of gas flows with different mean Knudsen numbers were carried out based on the proposed model. Compared with the solutions of Navier–Stokes equations, Navier–Stokes equations with different slip boundary conditions, bivelocity hydrodynetics, and experimental data, we found that the present model can be valid up to a Knudsen number of 30. It is also shown that the present model furnishes a better solution in the transitional flow regime (0.1 < Kn < 10). The results not only illustrate that the present model could offer a satisfactory solution to a wider range of mean Knudsen number, but also show the importance of the compressibility and surface-dominated effects in micro gas flows. The improved model provides a promising tool for handling the micro gas flows with complex geometries and boundaries.

The dynamic motion of tethered undersea kites (TUSK) is studied using numerical simulations. TUSK systems consist of a rigid winged-shaped kite moving in an ocean current. The kite is connected by tethers to a platform on the ocean surface or anchored to the seabed. Hydrodynamic forces generated by the kite are transmitted through the tethers to a generator on the platform to produce electricity. TUSK systems are being considered as an alternative to marine turbines since the kite can move at a high-speed, thereby increasing power production compared to conventional marine turbines. The two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations are solved on a regular structured grid to resolve the ocean current flow, and a fictitious domain-immersed boundary method is used for the rigid kite. A projection method along with open multiprocessing (OpenMP) is employed to solve the flow equations. The reel-out and reel-in velocities of the two tethers are adjusted to control the kite angle of attack and the resultant hydrodynamic forces. A baseline simulation, where a high net power output was achieved during successive kite power and retraction phases, is examined in detail. The effects of different key design parameters in TUSK systems, such as the ratio of tether to current velocity, kite weight, current velocity, and the tether to kite chord length ratio, are then further studied. System power output, vorticity flow fields, tether tensions, and hydrodynamic coefficients for the kite are determined. The power output results are shown to be in good agreement with the established theoretical results for a kite moving in two dimensions.

In this paper, we present a new shape optimization method by using sensitivities obtained from the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) form of the Navier–Stokes equations. In the ALE description, the nodes of the computational domain may be moved with the fluid as in the Lagrangian description, held fixed in space as in the Eulerian description, or moved in some arbitrary way in between. Applying the adjoint method with respect to mesh motion allows the whole sensitivity field for the shape changes to be calculated using only two solver calls, a primal solver call and an adjoint solver call. We show that the sensitivities with respect to the mesh motion can be calculated in a postprocessing step to the primal and adjoint flow simulations. The resulting ALE sensitivities are compared to sensitivities obtained using a finite difference approach. Finally, the sensitivities are coupled to a mesh motion smoothing algorithm, and a duct is optimized with respect to the total pressure drop using the proposed method.

A theoretical framework to model the dynamics of acoustically driven microbubble inside a rigid tube is presented. The proposed model is not a variant of the conventional Rayleigh–Plesset category of models. It is derived from the reduced Navier–Stokes equation and is coupled with the evolving flow field solution inside the tube by a similarity transformation approach. The results are computed, and compared with experiments available in literature, for the initial bubble radius of Ro = 1.5 μm and 2 μm for the tube diameter of D = 12 μm and 200 μm with the acoustic parameters as utilized in the experiments. Results compare quite well with the existing experimental data. When compared to our earlier basic model, better agreement on a larger tube diameter is obtained with the proposed coupled model. The model also predicts, accurately, bubble fragmentation in terms of acoustic and geometric parameters.

In this paper, we review and compare the level set, phase-field, and immersed boundary methods for incompressible two-phase flows. The models are based on modified Navier–Stokes and interface evolution equations. We present the basic concepts behind these approaches and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method. We also present numerical solutions of the three methods and perform characteristic numerical experiments for two-phase fluid flows.

This paper describes the general convection-diffusion equation in 2D domain based on a particular fourth order finite difference method. The current fourth-order compact formulation is implemented for the first time, which offers a semi-explicit method of solution for the resulting equations. A nine point finite difference scheme with uniform grid spacing is also put into action for discretization purpose. The proposed numerical model is based on the Navier–Stokes equations in a stream function-vorticity formulation. The fast convergence characteristic can be mentioned as an advantage of this scheme. It combines the enhanced Fournié's fourth order scheme and the expanded fourth order boundary conditions, while offering a semi-explicit formulation. To accomplish this, some coefficients which do not influence the solutions are also omitted from Fournié's formulation. Consequently, very accurate results can be acquired with a relatively coarse mesh in a short time. The robustness and accuracy of the proposed scheme is proved using the benchmark problems of flow in a driven square cavity at medium and relatively high Reynolds numbers, flow over a backward-facing step, and flow in an L-shaped cavity.

Pipes are widely used in hydraulic and pneumatic subsystems for transferring energy or signals. Accurate prediction of pressure transients is very important in the drive and control circuits of complex fluid-line systems. Based on the approximation of Navier-Stokes equations for one-dimensional flow, a mathematical model of the pneumatic pipe with lumped parameters was developed using ordinary differential equations, which can be easily implemented in most computer programs for the simulation of complex heterogeneous engineering systems. Implemented in Matlab-Simulink software, the computer model of the pipe makes it possible to determine the influence of capacitance, inertance, resistance and heat exchange on the dynamic characteristics of the control and power circuits of pneumatic systems. An advantage of the model is that various functions can be selected to describe linear resistances and local resistances are taken into account, particularly at the inlet and outlet. Such resistances largely affect flow resistances in short tubes (up to 10 m) that can be found, e.g., in pneumatic brake systems of road vehicles. Confirmed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results, the consistency of the pressure curves obtained in experimental and simulation tests proves the implemented tube model to be useful for the calculations of pneumatic system dynamics.

An approximate solution to the Navier–Stokes equations was found for the case describing two-dimensional steady-state laminar flow over an array of porous pipes with high wall Reynolds number. The Navier–Stokes equations in cylindrical coordinates reduced to a fourth-order nonlinear differential equation, which was solved for high wall Reynolds number flows through the porous wall using a zeroth- and first-order singular perturbation method. Our analytic solution for the high wall Reynolds number case is consistent with solutions found from the low Reynolds number case and that found using finite element analysis.

In the present study, both experimental and numerical techniques were employed to study three-dimensional laminar wall jet flows. The wall jet was created using a circular pipe of diameter 7 × 10 − 3 m and flows into an open water tank. The inlet Reynolds numbers based on the pipe diameter and jet exit velocity were 310 and 800. A particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to conduct detailed measurements at various streamwise-transverse and streamwise-spanwise planes. The complete nonlinear incompressible Navier–Stokes equation was also solved using a collocated finite volume based in-house computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The computation was performed for three inlet Reynolds numbers, namely, 310, 420, and 800. From the PIV measurements and CFD results, velocity profiles and jet half-widths were extracted at selected downstream locations. It was observed that the numerical results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. The distributions of the velocities, jet spread rates, and vorticity were used to provide insight into the characteristics of three-dimensional laminar wall jet flows.

In this work, we present two simple mean flow solutions that mimic the bulk gas motion inside a full-length, cylindrical hybrid rocket engine. Two distinct methods are used. The first is based on steady, axisymmetric, rotational, and incompressible flow conditions. It leads to an Eulerian solution that observes the normal sidewall mass injection condition while assuming a sinusoidal injection profile at the head end wall. The second approach constitutes a slight improvement over the first in its inclusion of viscous effects. At the outset, a first order viscous approximation is constructed using regular perturbations in the reciprocal of the wall injection Reynolds number. The asymptotic approximation is derived from a general similarity reduced Navier–Stokes equation for a viscous tube with regressing porous walls. It is then compared and shown to agree remarkably well with two existing solutions. The resulting formulations enable us to model the streamtubes observed in conventional hybrid engines in which the parallel motion of gaseous oxidizer is coupled with the cross-streamwise (i.e., sidewall) addition of solid fuel. Furthermore, estimates for pressure, velocity, and vorticity distributions in the simulated engine are provided in closed form. Our idealized hybrid engine is modeled as a porous circular-port chamber with head end injection. The mathematical treatment is based on a standard similarity approach that is tailored to permit sinusoidal injection at the head end.

Relationship between accuracy and number of velocity particles in velocity slip phenomena was investigated by numerical simulations and theoretical considerations. Two types of 2D models were used: the octagon family and the D2Q9 model. Models have to possess the following four prerequisites to accurately simulate the velocity slip phenomena: (a) equivalency to the Navier–Stokes equations in the N-S flow area, (b) conservation of momentum flow P x y in the whole area, (c) appropriate relaxation process in the Knudsen layer, and (d) capability to properly express the mass and momentum flows on the wall. Both the octagon family and the D2Q9 model satisfy conditions (a) and (b). However, models with fewer velocity particles do not sufficiently satisfy conditions (c) and (d). The D2Q9 model fails to represent a relaxation process in the Knudsen layer and shows a considerable fluctuation in the velocity slip due to the model’s angle to the wall. To perform an accurate velocity slip simulation, models with sufficient velocity particles, such as the triple octagon model with moving particles of 24 directions, are desirable.

The inflow velocities in various components of many engineering systems often display variations in time (fluctuations) during the operation cycle, which may substantially affect the flow-induced vibrations and instabilities of these systems. For this reason, the aeroelasticity study of these systems should include the effect of the inflow velocity variations, which until now has not been taken into account. This paper presents a fluid-dynamic analysis of the unsteady confined viscous flows generated by the variations in time of the inflow velocities and by oscillating walls, which is required for the study of flow-induced vibration and instability of various engineering systems. The time-accurate solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations for these unsteady flows are obtained with a finite-difference method using artificial compressibility on a stretched staggered grid, which is a second-order method in space and time. A special decoupling procedure, based on the utilization of the continuity equation, is used in conjunction with a factored alternate direction scheme to substantially enhance the computational efficiency of the method by reducing the problem to the solution of scalar tridiagonal systems of equations. This method is applied to obtain solutions for the benchmark unsteady confined flow past a downstream-facing step, generated by harmonic variations in time of the inflow velocity and by an oscillating wall, which display multiple flow separation regions on the upper and lower walls. The influence of the Reynolds number and of the oscillation frequency and the amplitudes of the inflow velocity and oscillating wall on the formation of the flow separation regions are thoroughly analyzed in this paper. It was found that for certain values of the Reynolds number and oscillation frequency and amplitudes, the flow separation at the upper wall is present only during a portion of the oscillatory cycle and disappears for the rest of the cycle, and that for other values of these parameters secondary flow separations may also be formed.

The existing solutions of Navier–Stokes and energy equations in the literature regarding the three-dimensional problem of stagnation-point flow either on a flat plate or on a cylinder are only for the case of axisymmetric formulation. The only exception is the study of three-dimensional stagnation-point flow on a flat plate by Howarth (1951, “The Boundary Layer in Three-Dimensional Flow—Part II: The Flow Near Stagnation Point,” Philos. Mag., 42, pp. 1433–1440 ), which is based on boundary layer theory approximation and zero pressure assumption in direction of normal to the surface. In our study the nonaxisymmetric three-dimensional steady viscous stagnation-point flow and heat transfer in the vicinity of a flat plate are investigated based on potential flow theory, which is the most general solution. An external fluid, along z -direction, with strain rate a impinges on this flat plate and produces a two-dimensional flow with different components of velocity on the plate. This situation may happen if the flow pattern on the plate is bounded from both sides in one of the directions, for example x -axis, because of any physical limitation. A similarity solution of the Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation is presented in this problem. A reduction in these equations is obtained by the use of appropriate similarity transformations. Velocity profiles and surface stress-tensors and temperature profiles along with pressure profile are presented for different values of velocity ratios, and Prandtl number.

For the aim of computing compressible turbulent flowfield involving shock waves, an implicit large eddy simulation (LES) code has been developed based on the idea of monotonically integrated LES. We employ the weighted compact nonlinear scheme (WCNS) not only for capturing possible shock waves but also for attaining highly accurate resolution required for implicit LES. In order to show that WCNS is a proper choice for implicit LES, a two-dimensional homogeneous turbulence is first obtained by solving the Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow. We compare the inertial range in the computed energy spectrum with that obtained by the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and also those given by the different LES approaches. We then obtain the same homogeneous turbulence by solving the equations for compressible flow. It is shown that the present implicit LES can reproduce the inertial range in the energy spectrum given by DNS fairly well. A truncation of energy spectrum occurs naturally at high wavenumber limit indicating that dissipative effect is included properly in the present approach. A linear stability analysis for WCNS indicates that the third order interpolation determined in the upwind stencil introduces a large amount of numerical viscosity to stabilize the scheme, but the same interpolation makes the scheme weakly unstable for waves satisfying k Δ x ≈ 1 . This weak instability results in a slight increase in the energy spectrum at high wavenumber limit. In the computed result of homogeneous turbulence, a fair correlation is shown to exist between the locations where the magnitude of ∇ × ω becomes large and where the weighted combination of the third order interpolations in WCNS deviates from the optimum ratio to increase the amount of numerical viscosity. Therefore, the numerical viscosity involved in WCNS becomes large only at the locations where the subgrid-scale viscosity can arise in ordinary LES. This suggests the reason why the present implicit LES code using WCNS can resolve turbulent flowfield reasonably well.

A direct simulation Monte Carlo method ( DSMC ) solver, adapted to the subsonic microflow, is developed under the object-conception language ( C++ ). Some technical details critical in these DSMC computations are provided. The numerical simulations of gas flow in a microchannel are carried out using the developed DSMC solver. Streamwise velocity distributions in the slip flow regime are compared with the analytical solution based on the Navier–Stokes equations with the velocity slip boundary condition. Satisfactory agreements have been achieved. Furthermore, the domain of the validity of this continuum approach is discussed. Simulations are then extended to the transitional flow regime. Streamwise velocity distributions are also compared with the results of the numerical solutions of the linearized Boltzmann equation. We emphasize the influence of the accommodation coefficient on the velocity profiles and on the mass flow rate. The simulation results on the mass flow rate are compared with the experimental data, which allow us to validate the “experimental” technique of the determination of the accommodation coefficient.

Analytical analysis of fluid flow in an annular microchannel subjected to uniform wall injection at various Reynolds numbers is presented. The classical Navier–Stokes equations are used in the present study. Mathematically, using an appropriate change of variable, Navier–Stokes equations are transformed to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The governing equations are analytically solved using series solution method. Some analytical results are given for the prediction of velocity profiles and pressure distributions in annular microchannels. The agreement between the computational fluid dynamics and the analytical predictions is very good. However, the analytical results are valid in a limited range of radius ratios and needs more study.

Recent progress in understanding the theoretical basis and effectiveness of implicit large eddy simulation (ILES) is reviewed in both incompressible and compressible flow regimes. We use a modified equation analysis to show that the leading-order truncation error terms introduced by certain hybrid high resolution methods provide implicit subgrid scale (SGS) models similar in form to those of conventional mixed SGS models. Major properties of the implicit SGS model are related to the choice of high-order and low-order scheme components, the choice of a flux limiter, which determines how these schemes are blended locally depending on the flow, and the designed balance of the dissipation and dispersion contributions to the numerical solution. Comparative tests of ILES and classical LES in the Taylor–Green vortex case show robustness in capturing established theoretical findings for transition and turbulence decay.

Implicit large eddy simulation (ILES) has provided many computer simulations with an efficient and effective model for turbulence. The capacity for ILES has been shown to arise from a broad class of numerical methods with specific properties producing nonoscillatory solutions using limiters that provide these methods with nonlinear stability. The use of modified equation has allowed us to understand the mechanisms behind the efficacy of ILES as a model. Much of the understanding of the ILES modeling has proceeded in the realm of incompressible flows. Here, we extend this analysis to compressible flows. While the general conclusions are consistent with our previous findings, the compressible case has several important distinctions. Like the incompressible analysis, the ILES of compressible flow is dominated by an effective self-similarity model ( Bardina, J., Ferziger, J. H., and Reynolds, W. C., 1980, “Improved Subgrid Scale Models for Large Eddy Simulations,” AIAA Paper No. 80–1357 ; Borue, V., and Orszag, S. A., 1998, “Local Energy Flux and Subgrid-Scale Statistics in Three Dimensional Turbulence,” J. Fluid Mech., 366, pp. 1–31 ; Meneveau, C., and Katz, J., 2000, “Scale-Invariance and Turbulence Models for Large-Eddy Simulations,” Annu. Rev. Fluid. Mech., 32, pp. 1–32 ). Here, we focus on one of these issues, the form of the effective subgrid model for the conservation of mass equations. In the mass equation, the leading order model is a self-similarity model acting on the joint gradients of density and velocity. The dissipative ILES model results from the limiter and upwind differencing resulting in effects proportional to the acoustic modes in the flow as well as the convective effects. We examine the model in several limits including the incompressible limit. This equation differs from the standard form found in the classical Navier–Stokes equations, but generally follows the form suggested by Brenner (2005, “Navier-Stokes Revisited,” Physica A, 349(1–2), pp. 60–133) in a modification of Navier–Stokes necessary to successfully reproduce some experimentally measured phenomena. The implications of these developments are discussed in relation to the usual turbulence modeling approaches.