G. Kosec¹, B. Šarler²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.47, No.2, pp. 191-216, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.047.191

Abstract This paper explores an application of a novel mesh-free Local Radial Basis Function Collocation Method (LRBFCM) [Sarler and Vertnik (2006)] in solution of coupled heat transfer and fluid flow problems with solid-liquid phase change. The melting/freezing of a pure substance is solved in primitive variables on a fixed grid with convection suppression, proportional to the amount of the solid fraction. The involved temperature, velocity and pressure fields are represented on overlapping sub-domains through collocation by using multiquadrics Radial Basis Functions (RBF). The involved first and second derivatives of the fields are calculated from the respective… More >

R. Vertnik¹, B. Šarler²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.44, No.1, pp. 65-96, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.044.065

Abstract The application of the mesh-free Local Radial Basis Function Collocation Method (LRBFCM) in solution of incompressible turbulent flow is explored in this paper. The turbulent flow equations are described by the low - Re number k-emodel with Jones and Launder [Jones and Launder (1971)] closure coefficients. The involved velocity, pressure, turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation fields are represented on overlapping 5-noded sub-domains through collocation by using multiquadrics Radial Basis Functions (RBF). The involved first and second derivatives of the fields are calculated from the respective derivatives of the RBF's. The velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and… More >

I. Karagoz, F.Kaya

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.43, No.2, pp. 111-130, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.043.111

Abstract The aim of this work is to investigate the suitability of various turbulence models and their options for highly complex swirling flows in tangential inlet cyclones. Three-dimensional, steady governing equations for the incompressible, turbulent flow inside the cyclone are solved numerically. The prediction performance of three popular turbulence models and various options available for these models was evaluated by comparing the computed velocity profiles and pressure drop with the experimental data given in the literature. Results obtained from the numerical tests have demonstrated that the swirl factor for the RNG k-emodel has considerably influence on More >

Peter Lucas¹, Alexander H. van Zuijlen¹, Hester Bijl¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.41, No.2, pp. 147-176, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.041.147

Abstract Mesh adaptation is a fairly established tool to obtain numerically accurate solutions for flow problems. Computational efficiency is, however, not always guaranteed for the adaptation strategies found in literature. Typically excessive mesh growth diminishes the potential efficiency gain. This paper, therefore, extends the strategy proposed by [Aftosmis and Berger (2002)] to compute the refinement threshold. The extended strategy computes the refinement threshold based on a user desired number of grid cells and adaptations, thereby ensuring high computational efficiency. Because our main interest is flow around wind turbines, the adaptation strategy has been optimized for flow More >

Elsa Báez, Alfredo Nicolás¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.41, No.2, pp. 107-130, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.041.107

Abstract The unsteady Navier-Stokes equations in primitive variables that govern viscous incompressible fluid flow are numerically solved by a simple projection method which involves an operator splitting technique of three steps in the time discretization process. The numerical scheme does not involve any iteration, is independent of the spatial dimension, and its costly part relies on the solution of elliptic problems for which very efficient solvers exist regardless of the spatial discretization. The scheme is tested with the well known two-dimensional lid-driven cavity problem at moderate and high Reynolds numbers Re in the range 400 ≤ Re… More >

A. B. Mahmud Hasan^1,2, S.M. Guo¹, M.A. Wahab¹

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.4, pp. 399-410, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.399

Abstract The effects of gas flow channel design were studied experimentally for increasing fuel cell performance and fuel optimization. Three types of gas flow channels (serpentine, straight and interdigitated) were designed on the basis of water flooding due to electrochemical reactions, electro-osmotic drag, etc. Experimental results indicate that the best cell performance can be obtained by arranging interdigitated gas flow channel at the anode side and serpentine gas flow channel at the cathode side. Detailed analysis on complex two phase water generation and electrochemical phenomena behind those results were analyzed in this work to find out More >

A. K. Plappally^1,3, I. Yakub^2,3, L. C. Brown^1,2,3, A. B. O. Soboyejo¹

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.4, pp. 373-398, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.373

Abstract Water flow through point-of-use porous ceramic water treatment filters have been theoretically analyzed in this technical paper. Filters tested were manufactured by combining low cost materials namely, clay and sawdust. Three filters with distinct volume fractions of clay to sawdust (75:25, 65:35 and 50:50) were tested. Sintered clay filters casted in frustum shapes were structurally characterized using mercury intrusion porosimetry. A linear increase in porosity with volume fraction of sawdust was observed. Flow experiments were carried out at constant room temperature and pressure. Potable tap water was used in these studies. Flows through filters occurring More >

A. Alke¹, D. Bothe¹

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.4, pp. 345-372, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.345

Abstract We present a computational approach based on the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method for simulating the influence of a soluble surfactant on the behavior of two-phase systems with deformable interface. Our approach is applicable to diffusion controlled processes, where the relation between the area-specific excess surfactant concentration on the interface and the volume-specific concentration adjacent to the interface is given by an adsorption isotherm. Main issues of the numerical model are an extended surface transport theorem used for describing the interfacial flux and an iso-surface of the VOF-variable used as a connected approximation for the interface. 3D-simulations More >

F. Mechighel^1,2, M. El Ganaoui¹, M. Kadja², B. Pateyron³, S. Dost⁴

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.4, pp. 313-330, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.313

Abstract A numerical study has been carried out to investigate the three-dimen -sional buoyant flow in a parallelepiped box heated from below and partially from the two sidewalls (a configuration commonly used for solidification problems and crystal growth systems). Attention has been paid, in particular, to phenomena of symmetry breaking and transition to unsteady non-symmetric convection for a low Prandtl number fluid (Pr=0.01). The influence of an applied horizontal magnetic field on the stability properties of the flow has been also considered. Results obtained may be summarized as follows: In the absence of magnetic field and More >

K.V. Pagalthivarthi¹, P.K. Gupta²

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 93-122, 2009, DOI:10.3970/fdmp.2009.005.093

Abstract The objective of the present work is to predict erosive wear in multisize dense slurry flow in a rotating channel. The methodology comprises numerical prediction of two-phase flow which is accomplished using the Galerkin finite element method. The wear models for both sliding wear and impact wear mechanisms account for the particle size dependence. The effect of various operating parameters such as rotation rate, solids concentration, flow rate, particle size distribution and so forth has been studied. Results indicate that wear rate in general increases along the pressure-side of the channel with rotation rate, overall More >