International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow最新文献

Purpose

Due to the abundant use of granular materials in chemical industries, it is inevitable to store raw materials and products in bulk in silos. For this reason, much research has been carried out in the field of construction, operation and maintenance of silos. One of the important issues that must be investigated in silos is the behavior of their structure when the materials inside them are unloaded. Structural vibrations and the creation of normal noise usually discharge the granular of material from the silo. Both of phenomena are undesirable due to the problems they can cause to the structure and its surroundings. According to the said issues, this paper aims to investigate the vibration problem of the sulfur storage silo of the first refinery during discharge with the help of measuring experimental vibration data and simulating the silo model.

Design/methodology/approach

In the experimental investigation, the main cause of the vibration of the 400-ton silo in the refinery is used. The mass asymmetry phenomenon when the silo is filled is also considered. The experimental results are authenticated by software analysis too.

Findings

The results showed that the natural frequency of the ninth mode is almost equal to the natural frequency of sulfur discharge from the silos and has the largest shape change in the structure and vibration range. It is also concluded that the larger sulfur silo (400 tons) should be prioritized over the smaller sulfur silo (200 tons) in the emptying program, and the 400 tons silo should never be emptied even through the 200 tons silo is empty.

Originality/value

An attempt is made to investigate the issue of vibration in sulfur storage silos in the first refinery of South Pars in the form of experimental investigation and modal analysis.

Purpose

This study aims to examine the cilia-driven flow of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) non-Newtonian fluid through a porous medium. The Jeffrey fluid model is taken into account. The fluid motion in a two-dimensional symmetric channel emphasizes the dominance of viscous properties over inertial properties in the context of long wavelength and low Reynolds number approximations.

Design/methodology/approach

An integrated numerical and analytic results are obtained by hybrid approach. A statistical method analysis of variance along with response surface methodology is used. Sensitivity analysis is used to validate the accuracy of nondimensional numbers.

Findings

The impact of various flow parameters is presented graphically and in numerical tables. It is noted that the velocity slip parameter is the most sensitive flow parameter in velocity and relaxation to retardation time ratio in temperature.

Originality/value

A model on cilia-generated flow of MHD non-Newtonian Jeffrey fluid is proposed.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the aerodynamic characteristics and uplift force tendencies of pantographs within the operational height span of 1,600–2,980 mm, aiming to offer valuable insights for research concerning the adaptability of pantograph-catenary systems on double-stack high container transportation lines.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight pantograph models were formulated based on lines with the contact wire of 6,680 mm in height. The aerodynamic calculations were carried out using the SST k-ω separated vortex model. A more improved aerodynamic uplift force method was also presented. The change rule of the aerodynamic uplift force under different working heights of the pantograph was analyzed according to the transfer coefficients of the aerodynamic forces and moments.

Findings

The results show that the absolute values of the aerodynamic forces and moments of the upper and lower frame increase with the working height, whereas those of the collector head do not change. The absolute values of the transfer coefficients of the lower frame and link arm were significantly larger than those of the upper frame. Therefore, the absolute value of the aerodynamic uplift force increased and then decreased with the working height. The maximum value occurred at a working height of 2,400 mm.

Originality/value

A new method for calculating the aerodynamic uplift force of pantographs is proposed. The specifical change rule of the aerodynamic uplift force of the pantograph on double-stack high container transportation lines was determined from the perspective of the transfer coefficients of the aerodynamic forces and moments.

Purpose

This study aims to enhance heat transfer efficiency while minimizing friction factor and entropy generation in the flow of Nickel zinc ferrite (NiZnFe₂O₄) nanoparticles suspended in multigrade 20W-40 motor oil (as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers). The investigation focuses on the effects of the melting process, nonspherical particle shapes, thermal dispersion and viscous dissipation on the nanofluid flow.

Design/methodology/approach

The fundamental governing equations are transformed into a set of similarity equations using Lie group transformations. The resulting set of equations is numerically solved using the spectral local linearization method. Additionally, sensitivity analysis using response surface methodology (RSM) is conducted to evaluate the influence of key parameters on response function.

Findings

Higher dispersion reduces entropy production. Needle-shaped particles significantly enhance heat transfer by 27.65% with melting and reduce entropy generation by 45.32%. Increasing the Darcy number results in a reduction of friction by 16.06%, lower entropy by 31.72% and an increase in heat transfer by 17.26%. The Nusselt number is highly sensitive to thermal dispersion across melting and varying volume fraction parameters.

Originality/value

This study addresses a significant research gap by exploring the combined effects of melting, particle shapes and thermal dispersion on nanofluid flow, which has not been thoroughly investigated before. The focus on practical applications such as fuel cells, material processing, biomedicine and various cooling systems underscores its relevance to sectors such as nuclear reactors, tumor treatments and manufacturing. The incorporation of RSM for friction factor analysis introduces a unique dimension to the research, offering novel insights into optimizing nanofluid performance under diverse conditions.

Purpose

This study aims to validate the linear flow theory with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and to propose a novel shape for the airfoil that will improve supersonic aerodynamic performance compared to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 64a210 airfoil.

Design/methodology/approach

To design the new airfoil shape, this study uses a convex optimization approach to obtain a global optimal shape for an airfoil. First, modeling is conducted using linear flow theory, and then numerical verification is done by CFD simulations using ANSYS Fluent. The optimization process ensures that the new airfoil maintains the same cross-sectional area and thickness as the NACA 64a210 airfoil. This study found that an efficient way to obtain the ideal airfoil shape is by using linear flow theory, and the numerical simulations supported the assumptions inherent in the linear flow theory.

Findings

This study’s findings show notable improvements (from 4% to 200%) in the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil, especially in the supersonic range, which points to the suggested airfoil as a potential option for several fighter aircraft. Under various supersonic conditions, the optimized airfoil exhibits improved lift-over-drag ratios, leading to improved flight performance and lower fuel consumption.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted mainly for supersonic flow, whereas the subsonic flow is tested for a Mach number of 0.7. This study would be extended for both subsonic and supersonic flights.

Practical implications

Convex optimization and linear flow theory are combined in this work to create an airfoil that performs better in supersonic conditions than the NACA 64a210. By closely matching the CFD results, the linear flow theory's robustness is confirmed. This means that the initial design phase no longer requires extensive CFD simulations, and the linear flow theory can be used quickly and efficiently to obtain optimal airfoil shapes.

Social implications

The proposed airfoil can be used in different fighter aircraft to enhance performance and reduce fuel consumption. Thus, lower carbon emission is expected.

Originality/value

The unique aspect of this work is how convex optimization and linear flow theory were combined to create an airfoil that performs better in supersonic conditions than the NACA 64a210. Comprehensive CFD simulations were used for validation, highlighting the optimization approach's strength and usefulness in aerospace engineering.

Purpose

The performance of a bladeless Tesla turbine is closely tied to momentum diffusion, kinetic energy transfer and wall shear stress generation on its rotating disks. The surface roughness adds complexity of flow analysis in such a domain. This paper aims to assess the effect of roughness on flow structures and the application of roughness models in flow cross sections with submillimeter height, including both stationary and rotating walls.

Design/methodology/approach

This research starts with the examination of flow over a rough flat plate, and then proceeds to study flow within minichannels, evaluating the effect of roughness on flow characteristics. An in-house test stand validates the numerical solutions of minichannel. Finally, flow through the minichannel with corotating walls was analyzed. The k-ω SST turbulent model and Aupoix's roughness method are used for numerical simulations.

Findings

The findings emphasize the necessity of considering the constricted dimensions of the flow cross section, thereby improving the alignment of derived results with theoretical estimations. Moreover, this study explores the effects of roughness on flow characteristics within the minichannel with stationary and rotating walls, offering valuable insights into this intricate phenomenon, and depicts the appropriate performance of chosen roughness model in studied cases.

Originality/value

The originality of this investigation is the assessment and validation of flow characteristics inside minichannel with stationary and corotating walls when the roughness is implemented. This phenomenon, along with the effect of roughness on the transportation of kinetic energy to the rough surface of a minichannel in an in-house test setup, is assessed.

Purpose

The premise of this research is that the coupling of reinforcement learning algorithms and computational dynamics can be used to design efficient control strategies and to improve the cooling of hot components by quenching, a process that is classically carried out based on professional experience and trial-error methods. Feasibility and relevance are assessed on various 2-D numerical experiments involving boiling problems simulated by a phase change model. The purpose of this study is then to integrate reinforcement learning with boiling modeling involving phase change to optimize the cooling process during quenching.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed approach couples two state-of-the-art in-house models: a single-step proximal policy optimization (PPO) deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm (for data-driven selection of control parameters) and an in-house stabilized finite elements environment combining variational multi-scale (VMS) modeling of the governing equations, immerse volume method and multi-component anisotropic mesh adaptation (to compute the numerical reward used by the DRL agent to learn), that simulates boiling after a phase change model formulated after pseudo-compressible Navier–Stokes and heat equations.

Findings

Relevance of the proposed methodology is illustrated by controlling natural convection in a closed cavity with aspect ratio 4:1, for which DRL alleviates the flow-induced enhancement of heat transfer by approximately 20%. Regarding quenching applications, the DRL algorithm finds optimal insertion angles that adequately homogenize the temperature distribution in both simple and complex 2-D workpiece geometries, and improve over simpler trial-and-error strategies classically used in the quenching industry.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this constitutes the first attempt to achieve DRL-based control of complex heat and mass transfer processes involving boiling. The obtained results have important implications for the quenching cooling flows widely used to achieve the desired microstructure and material properties of steel, and for which differential cooling in various zones of the quenched component will yield irregular residual stresses that can affect the serviceability of critical machinery in sensitive industries.

Purpose

Wall-modeled large eddy simulation (LES) is a practical tool for solving wall-bounded flows with less computational cost by avoiding the explicit resolution of the near-wall region. However, its use is limited in flows that have high non-equilibrium effects like separation or transition. This study aims to present a novel methodology of using high-fidelity data and machine learning (ML) techniques to capture these non-equilibrium effects.

Design/methodology/approach

A precursor to this methodology has already been tested in Radhakrishnan et al. (2021) for equilibrium flows using LES of channel flow data. In the current methodology, the high-fidelity data chosen for training includes direct numerical simulation of a double diffuser that has strong non-equilibrium flow regions, and LES of a channel flow. The ultimate purpose of the model is to distinguish between equilibrium and non-equilibrium regions, and to provide the appropriate wall shear stress. The ML system used for this study is gradient-boosted regression trees.

Findings

The authors show that the model can be trained to make accurate predictions for both equilibrium and non-equilibrium boundary layers. In example, the authors find that the model is very effective for corner flows and flows that involve relaminarization, while performing rather ineffectively at recirculation regions.

Originality/value

Data from relaminarization regions help the model to better understand such phenomenon and to provide an appropriate boundary condition based on that. This motivates the authors to continue the research in this direction by adding more non-equilibrium phenomena to the training data to capture recirculation as well.

Purpose

This paper aims to present a numerical investigation into heat transfer and entropy generation resulting from magnetohydrodynamic laminar flow through a microchannel under asymmetric boundary conditions. Furthermore, the authors consider the effects of viscous dissipation and Joule heating.

Design/methodology/approach

The finite difference method is used to obtain the numerical solution. Simulations are conducted across a broad range of Hartmann (Ha = 0 ∼ 40) and Brinkman (Br = 0.01 ∼ 1) numbers, along with various asymmetric isothermal boundaries characterized by a heating ratio denoted as ϕ.

Findings

The findings indicate a significant increase in the Nusselt number with increasing Hartmann number, regardless of whether Br equals zero or not. In addition, it is demonstrated that temperature differences between the microchannel walls can lead to substantial distortions in fluid temperature distribution and heat transfer. The results reveal that the maximum entropy generation occurs at the highest values of Ha and η (a dimensionless parameter emerging from the formulation) obtained for ϕ = −1. Moreover, it is observed that local entropy generation rates are highest near the channel wall at the entrance region.

Originality/value

The study provides valuable insights into the complex interactions between magnetic fields, viscous dissipation and Joule heating in microchannel flows, particularly under asymmetric heating conditions. This contributes to a better understanding of heat transfer and entropy generation in advanced microfluidic systems, which is essential for optimizing their design and performance.