Marcos Vanella

Influence of flexibility on the aerodynamic performance of a hovering wing

SUMMARY In the present study, a computational investigation was carried out to understand the influence of flexibility on the aerodynamic performance of a hovering wing. A flexible, two-dimensional, two-link model moving within a viscous fluid was considered. The Navier–Stokes equations governing the fluid dynamics were solved together with the equations governing the structural dynamics by using a strongly coupled fluid–structure interaction scheme. Harmonic kinematics was used to prescribe the motions of one of the links, thus effectively reducing the wing to a single degree-of-freedom oscillator. The wings flexibility was characterized by the ratio of the flapping frequency to the natural frequency of the structure. Apart from the rigid case, different values of this frequency ratio (only in the range of 1/2 to 1/6) were considered at the Reynolds numbers of 75, 250 and 1000. It was found that flexibility can enhance aerodynamic performance and that the best performance is realized when the wing is excited by a non-linear resonance at 1/3 of the natural frequency. Specifically, at Reynolds numbers of 75, 250 and 1000, the aerodynamic performance that is characterized by the ratio of lift coefficient to drag coefficient is respectively increased by 28%, 23% and 21% when compared with the corresponding ratios of a rigid wing driven with the same kinematics. For all Reynolds numbers, the lift generated per unit driving power is also enhanced in a similar manner. The wake capture mechanism is enhanced, due to a stronger flow around the wing at stroke reversal, resulting from a stronger end of stroke vortex at the trailing edge. The present study provides some clues about how flexibility affects the aerodynamic performance in low Reynolds number flapping flight. In addition, it points to the importance of considering non-linear resonances for enhancing aerodynamic performance.

A strain-based model for mechanical hemolysis based on a coarse-grained red blood cell model.

Mechanical hemolysis is a major concern in the design of cardiovascular devices, such as prosthetic heart valves and ventricular assist devices. The primary cause of mechanical hemolysis is the impact of the device on the local blood flow, which exposes blood elements to non-physiologic conditions. The majority of existing hemolysis models correlate red blood cell (RBC) damage to the imposed fluid shear stress and exposure time. Only recently more realistic, strain-based models have been proposed, where the RBC’s response to the imposed hydrodynamic loading is accounted for. In the present work we extend strain-based models by introducing a high-fidelity representation of RBCs, which is based on existing coarse-grained particle dynamics approach. We report a series of numerical experiments in simple shear flows of increasing complexity, to illuminate the basic differences between existing models and establish their accuracy in comparison to the high-fidelity RBC approach. We also consider a practical configuration, where the flow through an artificial heart valve is computed. Our results shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and identify the key gaps that should be addressed in the development of new models.

Improving Large-Eddy Simulation of Neutral Boundary Layer Flow across Grid Interfaces

AbstractIncreasing computational power has enabled grid resolutions that support large-eddy simulation (LES) of the atmospheric boundary layer. These simulations often use grid nesting or adaptive mesh refinement to refine the grid in regions of interest. LES generates errors at grid refinement interfaces, such as resolved energy accumulation, that may compromise solution accuracy. In this paper, the authors test the ability of two LES formulations and turbulence closures to mitigate errors associated with the use of LES on nonuniform grids for a half-channel approximation to a neutral atmospheric boundary layer simulation. Idealized simulations are used to examine flow across coarse–fine and fine–coarse interfaces, as would occur in a two-way nested configuration or with block structured adaptive mesh refinement. Specifically, explicit filtering of the advection term and the mixed model are compared to a standard LES formulation with an eddy viscosity model. Errors due to grid interfaces are evaluated by...

Optimization of multigrid based elliptic solver for large scale simulations in the FLASH code

FLASH is a multiphysics multiscale adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code originally designed for simulation of reactive flows often found in Astrophysics. With its wide user base and flexible applications configuration capability, FLASH has a dual task of maintaining scalability and portability in all its solvers. The scalability of fully explicit solvers in the code is tied very closely to that of the underlying mesh. Others such as the Poisson solver based on a multigrid method have more complex scaling behavior. Multigrid methods suffer from processor starvation and dominating communication costs at coarser grids with increase in the number of processors. In this paper, we propose a combination of uniform grid mesh with AMR mesh, and the merger of two different sets of solvers to overcome the scalability limitation of the Poisson solver in FLASH. The principal challenge in the proposed merger is the efficiency of the communication algorithm to map the mesh back and forth between uniform grid and AMR. We present two different parallel mapping algorithms and also discuss results from performance studies of the two implementations. Copyright

Large-eddy simulation of decaying isotropic turbulence across a grid refinement interface using explicit filtering and reconstruction

This paper explores numerical errors that arise when large-eddy simulation (LES) is used with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). LES and AMR combined can reduce the computational cost of turbulence simulations compared to direct numerical simulations, but are rarely used together due to complications that arise with the application of the turbulence closure model at different grid resolutions. Errors appear at grid refinement interfaces due to dependence of computed quantities on the LES filter width and insufficient smoothness of the solution at the grid scale. Here, explicit filtering and approximate reconstruction of the unfiltered velocity field are used to mitigate the effects of these errors in a simulation of decaying isotropic turbulence advected past a grid refinement interface. In particular, different explicit filter types and levels of reconstruction are tested. Explicit filtering with zero-level reconstruction is found to produce the best long-term convergence to a uniform grid solution with minimum perturbation at the interface. Higher levels of reconstruction yield better near-interface convergence. When explicit filtering is used, the explicit filter width transition is more important than the grid spacing transition in terms of solution convergence and interface perturbation. These results inform the use of LES on more complicated AMR grids.

Large-Eddy Simulation of Flow Through an Array of Cubes with Local Grid Refinement

High resolution simulations of the transport of urban contaminants are important for disaster response and city planning. Large-eddy simulation (LES) and mesh refinement can each be used to decrease the computational cost of modelling, but combining these techniques can result in additional errors at grid-refinement interfaces. Here, we study the effect of the turbulence closure on the accuracy of LES results, for grids with mesh refinement, in a test case of flow through a periodic array of cubes. It is found that a mixed-model turbulence closure, using both an eddy viscosity and a scale similarity component, reduces energy accumulation at grid-refinement interfaces when used with explicit filtering of the advection term. The mixed model must be used with explicit filtering to control high wavenumber errors generated by the non-linear scale-similarity model. The results demonstrate that the turbulence closure mitigates errors associated with using LES on block-structured grids for urban-flow simulations.

Validation Facility and Model Development for Nuclear Fuel Assembly Response to Seismic Loading

A joint experimental and numerical campaign is conducted to provide validation dataset of high-fidelity fluid–structure interaction (FSI) models of nuclear fuel assemblies during seismic loading. A refractive index-matched (RIM) flow loop is operated on a six-degree-of-freedom shake table and instrumented with nonintrusive optical diagnostics. The test section can house up to three full-height fuel assemblies. To guarantee reproducible and controlled initial conditions, special care is given to the test section inlet plenum; in particular, it is designed to minimize secondary pulsatile flow that may arise due to ground acceleration. A single transparent surrogate 6×6 fuel subassembly is used near prototypical Reynolds number, Re=105 based on hydraulic diameter. To preserve dynamic similarity of the model with prototype, the main dimensionless parameters are matched and custom spacer grids are designed. Special instruments are developed to characterize fluid and structure response and to operate in this challenging shaking environment. In parallel to the earlier experiments, we also conducted fully coupled direct numerical simulations, where the equations for the fluid and the structure are simultaneously advanced in time using a partitioned scheme. To deal with the highly complex geometrical configuration, which also involves large displacements and deformations, we utilize a second-order accurate, immersed boundary (IB) formulation, where the geometry is immersed in a block-structured grid with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). To explore a wide parametric range, we will consider several subsets of the experimental configuration. A typical computation involves 60,000 cores, on leadership high-performance computing facilities (i.e., IBM Blue-Gene Q–MIRA).

An adaptive reconstruction for Lagrangian, direct-forcing, immersed-boundary methods

Abstract Lagrangian, direct-forcing, immersed boundary (IB) methods have been receiving increased attention due to their robustness in complex fluid-structure interaction problems. They are very sensitive, however, on the selection of the Lagrangian grid, which is typically used to define a solid or flexible body immersed in a fluid flow. In the present work we propose a cost-efficient solution to this problem without compromising accuracy. Central to our approach is the use of isoparametric mapping to bridge the relative resolution requirements of Lagrangian IB, and Eulerian grids. With this approach, the density of surface Lagrangian markers, which is essential to properly enforce boundary conditions, is adapted dynamically based on the characteristics of the underlying Eulerian grid. The markers are not stored and the Lagrangian data-structure is not modified. The proposed scheme is implemented in the framework of a moving least squares reconstruction formulation, but it can be adapted to any Lagrangian, direct-forcing formulation. The accuracy and robustness of the approach is demonstrated in a variety of test cases of increasing complexity.

Parallel Algorithms for Using Lagrangian Markers in Immersed Boundary Method with Adaptive Mesh Refinement in FLASH

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are at the forefront of computational mechanics in requiring large-scale computational resources associated with high performance computing (HPC). Many flows of practical interest also include moving and deforming boundaries. High fidelity computations of fluid-structure interactions (FSI) are amongst the most challenging problems in computational mechanics. Additionally, many FSI applications have different resolution requirements in different parts of the domain and therefore requirement adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) for computational efficiency. FLASH is a well established AMR code with an existing Lagrangian framework which could be augmented and exploited to implement an immersed boundary method for simulating fluid-structure interactions atop an existing infrastructure. This paper describes the augmentations to the Lagrangian framework, and the new parallel algorithms added to the FLASH infrastructure that enabled the implementation of immersed boundary method in FLASH. The paper also presents scaling behavior and performance analysis of the implementations.

Direct and Large-Eddy Simulations of Biological Flows

The broader area of bio-fluid dynamics includes a wide array of applications from very diverse fields. The study of animal locomotion (i.e. swimming, flying) is probably one of the areas where eddy resolving approaches such as direct numerical simulations (DNS) and large-eddy simulations (LES) can have a major impact.