Mehriar Dianat

Large eddy simulation of liquid-jet primary breakup in air crossflow

A robust two-phase-flow large-eddy-simulation methodology is applied to simulate the primary breakup of an axisymmetric liquid jet injected into an air crossflow at atmospheric pressure. The coupled level-set and volume-of-fluid method is implemented for accurate interface tracking. To deal with high liquid/gas density ratio, an extrapolated liquid-velocity field is created and used for momentum-equation discretization in the vicinity of the interface. Based on the local level-set value, sharp jumps in fluid density and viscosity are assumed across the interface. By simulating the nonturbulent inflow of a liquid jet into a nonturbulent gaseous crossflow, regular surface waves are observed in the large-eddy-simulation predictions on the upstream side of the liquid jet, with the wavelength agreeing well with experimental measurements. The predicted wavelength decreases as the gaseous Weber number increases, implying that the surface waves arise from a Rayleigh–Taylor-type instability. The simulated velocity...

Comparison of Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes and Large Eddy Simulation Computational Fluid Dynamics Methodologies for Air Swirl Fuel Injectors

It is well documented that various large-scale quasiperiodic flow structures, such as a precessing vortex core (PVC) and multiple vortex helical instabilities, are present in the swirling flows typical of air swirl fuel injectors. Prediction of these phenomena requires time-resolved computational methods. The focus of the present work was to compare the performance and cost implications of two computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodologies-unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) using a k-e model and large eddy simulation (LES) for such flows. The test case was a single stream radial swirler geometry, which has been the subject of extensive experimental investigation. Both approaches captured the gross (time-mean) features of strongly swirling confined flows in reasonable agreement with experiment. The temporal dynamics of the quadruple vortex pattern emanating from within the swirler and observed experimentally were successfully predicted by LES, but not by URANS. Spectral analysis of two flow configurations (with and without a central jet) revealed various coherent frequencies embedded within the broadband turbulent frequency range. LES reproduced these characteristics, in excellent agreement with experimental data, whereas URANS predicted the presence of coherent motions but at incorrect amplitudes and frequencies. For the no-jet case, LES-predicted spectral data indicated the occurrence of a PVC, which was also observed experimentally for this flow condition; the URANS solution failed to reproduce this measured trend. On the evidence of this study, although k-e based URANS offers considerable computational savings, its inability to capture the temporal characteristics of the flows studied here sufficiently accurately suggests that only LES-based CFD, which captures the stochastic nature of the turbulence much more faithfully, is to be recommended for fuel injector flows.

Comparison of URANS and LES CFD Methodologies for Air Swirl Fuel Injectors

It is well documented that various large scale quasi-periodic flow structures, such as a Precessing Vortex Core (PVC) and multiple vortex helical instabilities, are present in the swirling flows typical of air swirl fuel injectors. Prediction of these phenomena requires time-resolved computational methods. The focus of the present work was to compare the performance and cost implications of two CFD methodologies — Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (URANS – using a k-e model) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) for such flows. The test case was a single stream radial swirler geometry, which has been the subject of extensive experimental investigation. Both approaches captured the gross (time-mean) features of strongly swirling confined flows in reasonable agreement with experiment. The temporal dynamics of the quadruple vortex pattern emanating from within the swirler and observed experimentally were successfully predicted by LES, but not by URANS. Spectral analysis of two flow configurations (with and without a central jet), revealed various coherent frequencies embedded within the broadband turbulent frequency range. LES reproduced these characteristics, in excellent agreement with experimental data, whereas URANS predicted the presence of coherent motions but at incorrect amplitudes and frequencies. For the no jet case, LES-predicted spectral data indicated the occurrence of a PVC, which was also observed experimentally for this flow condition; the URANS solution failed to reproduce this measured trend. On the evidence of this study, although k-e based URANS offers considerable computational savings, its inability to capture the temporal characteristics of the flows studied here sufficiently accurately suggests that only LES-based CFD, which captures the stochastic nature of the turbulence much more faithfully, is to be recommended for fuel injector flows.Copyright

Large-Eddy Simulation of Two-phase Plane Mixing Layer

This paper describes the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) of a droplet laden mixing layer. The method uses an Eulerian description of the carrier flow with a Lagrangian formulation for the dispersed phase. Special treatment of inlet conditions for both phases is critical. Sub-grid scale dispersion effects are investigated, predictions of Sauter Mean Diameter and concentration agree closely with experimental data. The performance of a hybrid droplet/parcel approach for improved efficiency has also been investigated.

An LES Turbulent Inflow Generator using A Recycling and Rescaling Method

The present paper describes a recycling and rescaling method for generating turbulent inflow conditions for Large Eddy Simulation. The method is first validated by simulating a turbulent boundary layer and a turbulent mixing layer. It is demonstrated that, with input specification of mean velocities and turbulence rms levels (normal stresses) only, it can produce realistic and self-consistent turbulence structures. Comparison of shear stress and integral length scale indicates the success of the method in generating turbulent 1-point and 2-point correlations not specified in the input data. With the turbulent inlet conditions generated by this method, the growth rate of the turbulent boundary/mixing layer is properly predicted. Furthermore, the method can be used for the more complex inlet boundary flow types commonly found in industrial applications, which is demonstrated by generating non-equilibrium turbulent inflow and spanwise inhomogeneous inflow. As a final illustration of the benefits brought by this approach, a droplet-laden mixing layer is simulated. The dispersion of droplets in the near-field immediately downstream of the splitter plate trailing edge where the turbulent mixing layer begins is accurately reproduced due to the realistic turbulent structures captured by the recycling/rescaling method.

Coupled Level-Set Volume of Fluid Simulations of Water Flowing Over a Simplified Drainage Channel With and Without Air Coflow

The motivation for this paper is to predict the flow of water over exterior surfaces of road vehicles. We present simulations of liquid flows on solid surfaces under the influence of gravity with and without the addition of aerodynamic forces on the liquid. This is done using an implementation of a Coupled Level Set Volume of Fluid method (CLSVOF) multiphase approach implemented in the open source OpenFOAM CFD code. This is a high fidelity interface-resolving method that solves for the velocity field in both phases without restrictions on the flow regime. In the current paper the suitability of the approach to Exterior Water Management (EWM) is demonstrated using the representative test cases of a continuous liquid rivulet flowing along an inclined surface with a channel located downstream perpendicular to the oncoming flow. Experimental work has been carried out to record the motion of the rivulet in this case and also to measure the contact angle of the liquid with the solid surface. The measurements of the liquid/solid characteristics such as equilibrium and dynamic contact angles are described along with the analytical expression for contact angle vs. capillary number used in the CFD code. The results from the simulations are compared to experimental measurements. The simulations are carried out with air co-flows of 0, 0.5 and 10 m/s. The simulations are seen to reproduce physical phenomena such as the liquid pinning at sharp corners and the longitudinal stretching of the rivulet with higher air velocity.

Simulation of Scalar Mixing in Co-axial Jet Flows using an LES Method

The present paper describes a study that is aimed at establishing and quantifying the benefits of the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method for predicting scalar turbulent transport in a combustor relevant jet-mixing problem. A non-reacting co-annular jet mixing configuration is considered for which comprehensive experimental data for both velocity and scalar fields have recently been obtained. Detailed comparisons are presented for the development of the axial velocity field in terms of both mean and turbulence intensity. Similarly, the mixing between the jets is examined by comparison with measurements for the mean concentration and the variance of concentration fluctuations. Agreement with these statistically averaged fields is demonstrated to be very good, and a considerable improvement over the standard eddy viscosity RANS approach. Illustrations are presented of the time-resolved information that LES provides such as time histories, and also conserved scalar pdf predictions. The LES results are shown, even using a simple Smagorinsky sub-grid-scale model, to predict correctly lower values of the turbulent Prandtl number (∼ 0.6) in the free shear regions of the flow, as well as higher values (∼ 1.0) in the wall-affected regions. The ability to predict turbulent Prandtl number variations (rather than input these as commonly done in most combustor RANS CFD models) is an important and promising feature of the LES approach for combustor simulation since it is known to be important in determining combustor exit temperature traverse.Copyright

An iterative interface reconstruction method for PLIC in general convex grids as part of a Coupled Level Set Volume of Fluid solver

Abstract Reconstructing the interface within a cell, based on volume fraction and normal direction, is a key part of multiphase flow solvers which make use of piecewise linear interface calculation (PLIC) such as the Coupled Level Set Volume of Fluid (CLSVOF) method. In this paper, we present an iterative method for interface reconstruction (IR) in general convex cells based on tetrahedral decomposition. By splitting the cell into tetrahedra prior to IR the volume of the truncated polyhedron can be calculated much more rapidly than using existing clipping and capping methods. In addition the root finding algorithm is designed to take advantage of the nature of the relationship between volume fraction and interface position by using a combination of Newtons and Mullers methods. In stand-alone tests of the IR algorithm on single cells with up to 20 vertices the proposed method was found to be 2 times faster than an implementation of an existing analytical method, while being easy to implement. It was also found to be 3.4–11.8 times faster than existing iterative methods using clipping and capping and combined with Brents root finding method. Tests were then carried out of the IR method as part of a CLSVOF solver. For a sphere deformed by a prescribed velocity field the proposed method was found to be up to 33% faster than existing iterative methods. For simulations including the solution of the velocity field the maximum speed up was found to be approximately 52% for a case where 12% of cells lie on the interface. Analysis of the full simulation CPU time budget also indicates that while the proposed method has produced a considerable speed-up, further gains due to increasing the efficiency of the IR method are likely to be small as the IR step now represents only a small proportion of the run time.

A Validated Two-Phase Flow Large Eddy Simulation Methodology

A robust two-phase flow LES methodology is described, validated and applied to simulate primary breakup of a liquid jet injected into an airstream in either co-flow or cross-flow configuration. A Coupled Level Set and Volume of Fluid method is implemented for accurate capture of interface dynamics. Based on the local Level Set value, fluid density and viscosity fields are treated discontinuously across the interface. In order to cope with high density ratio, an extrapolated liquid velocity field is created and used for discretisation in the vicinity of the interface. Simulations of liquid jets discharged into higher speed airstreams with non-turbulent boundary conditions reveals the presence of regular surface waves. In practical configurations, both air and liquid flows are, however, likely to be turbulent. To account for inflowing turbulent eddies on the liquid jet interface primary breakup requires a methodology for creating physically correlated unsteady LES boundary conditions, which match experimental data as far as possible. The Rescaling/Recycling Method is implemented here to generate realistic turbulent inflows. It is found that liquid rather than gaseous eddies determine the initial interface shape, and the downstream turbulent liquid jet disintegrates much more chaotically than the non-turbulent one. When appropriate turbulent inflows are specified, the liquid jet behaviour in both co-flow and cross-flow configurations is correctly predicted by the current LES methodology, demonstrating its robustness and accuracy in dealing with high liquid/gas density ratio two-phase systems.Copyright