Taku Nonomura

Data Mining of Pareto-Optimal Transonic Airfoil Shapes Using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition

A new approach to extract useful design information from Pareto-optimal solutions of optimization problems is proposed and applied to an aerodynamic transonic airfoil shape optimization. The proposed approach enables an analysis of line, face, or volume data of all Pareto-optimal solutions such as shape and flow field by decomposing the data into principal modes and corresponding base vectors using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Analysis of the shape and surface pressure data of the Pareto-optimal solutions of an aerodynamic transonic airfoil shape optimization problem showed that the optimized airfoils can be categorized into two families (low drag designs and high lift designs), where the lift is increased by changing the camber near the trailing edge among the low drag designs while the lift is increased by moving the lower surface upward among the high lift designs.

Large-Eddy Simulation of Low-Reynolds-Number Flow Over Thick and Thin NACA Airfoils

In this study, the flowfields around NACA0012 and NACA0002 airfoils at Reynolds number of 23,000 and the aerodynamic characteristics of these flowfields were analyzed using implicit large-eddy simulation and laminar-flow simulation. Around this Reynolds number, the flow over an airfoil separates, transits, and reattaches, resulting in the generation of a laminar separation bubble at the angle of attack in a certain degree range. Over an NACA0012 airfoil, the separation point moves toward its leading edge with an increasing angle of attack, and the separated flow may transit to create a short bubble. On the other hand, over an NACA0002 airfoil, the separation point is kept at its leading edge, and the separated flow may transit to create a long bubble. Moreover, nonlinearity appears in the lift curve of the NACA0012 airfoil, but not in that of NACA0002, despite the existence of a laminar separation bubble.

Aeroacoustic Waves Generated from a Supersonic Jet Impinging on an Inclined Flat Plate

This paper presents a computational study of the flow and flow-induced acoustic fields of a supersonic jet impinging on an inclined flat plate. For the numerical simulations, we solved three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations with a modified weighted compact nonlinear scheme. We analyzed the simulation results mainly from the viewpoint of the acoustic emission and propagation mechanism, and we investigated the acoustic field characteristics such as directivity, their spectra, and acoustic wave source positions. The acoustic fields indicate that there are at least three types of acoustic waves in all the cases considered in the study: (i) Mach waves generated from the shear layer of the main jet, (ii) acoustic waves generated from the impingement region, and (iii) Mach waves generated from the shear layer of the supersonic flow downstream of the jet impingement. The indication of the second type of wave (ii) is important because the commonly used empirical method for the estimation of the acoustic waves from a rocket plume does not consider such acoustic waves. We also discussed the effects of nozzle-plate distance and temperature on the second type of acoustic waves (ii).

Numerical (error) issues on compressible multicomponent flows using a high-order differencing scheme: Weighted compact nonlinear scheme

A weighted compact nonlinear scheme (WCNS) is applied to numerical simulations of compressible multicomponent flows, and four different implementations (fully or quasi-conservative forms and conservative or primitive variables interpolations) are examined in order to investigate numerical oscillation generated in each implementation. The results show that the different types of numerical oscillation in pressure field are generated when fully conservative form or interpolation of conservative variables is selected, while quasi-conservative form generally has poor mass conservation property. The WCNS implementation with quasi-conservative form and interpolation of primitive variables can suppress these oscillations similar to previous finite volume WENO scheme, despite the present scheme is finite difference formulation and computationally cheaper for multi-dimensional problems. Series of analysis conducted in this study show that the numerical oscillation due to fully conservative form is generated only in initial flow fields, while the numerical oscillation due to interpolation of conservative variables exists during the computations, which leads to significant spurious numerical oscillations near interfaces of different component of fluids. The error due to fully conservative form can be greatly reduced by smoothing interface, while the numerical oscillation due to interpolation of conservative variables cannot be significantly reduced. The primitive variable interpolation is, therefore, considered to be better choice for compressible multicomponent flows in the framework of WCNS. Meanwhile better choice of fully or quasi-conservative form depends on a situation because the error due to fully conservative form can be suppressed by smoothed interface and because quasi-conservative form eliminates all the numerical oscillation but has poor mass conservation.

Three-dimensional simulations of discharge plasma evolution on a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator

To develop simulation techniques for reconstructing microdischarges in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator and analyze spanwise non-uniformity in a body force field, three-dimensional discharge plasma simulations of a DBD plasma actuator were conducted assuming step-like positive and negative applied voltages. Our study showed that to break the spanwise uniformity, some disturbances were required in the computational conditions to reconstruct the three-dimensional microdischarges, and the attachment of some minute bumps (several tens of micrometers in size) on the electrode edge allowed for the successful reconstruction of glow-type microdischarges and streamer-type filamentary discharges in the negative and positive applied voltage cases, respectively. The tentative body force field has strong spanwise non-uniformity corresponding to the plasma structure, and in addition, a spanwise directional body force also exists, especially in the streamer discharge. However, the spanwise averaged b...

Mechanisms for laminar separated-flow control using dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma actuator at low Reynolds number

Large-eddy simulations have been conducted to investigate the mechanisms of separated-flow control using a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator at a low Reynolds number. In the present study, the mechanisms are classified according to the means of momentum injection to the boundary layer. The separated flow around the NACA 0015 airfoil at a Reynolds number of 63 000 is used as the base flow for separation control. Both normal and burst mode actuations are adopted in separation control. The burst frequency non-dimensionalized by the freestream velocity and the chord length (F+) is varied from 0.25 to 25, and we discuss the control mechanism through the comparison of the aerodynamic performance and controlled flow-fields in each normal and burst case. Lift and drag coefficients are significantly improved for the cases of F+ = 1, 5, and 15 due to flow reattachment associated with a laminar-separation bubble. Frequency and linear stability analyses indicate that the F+ = 5 and 15 cases effectively exc...

Geometric interpretations and spatial symmetry property of metrics in the conservative form for high-order finite-difference schemes on moving and deforming grids

The role of a geometric conservation law (GCL) on a finite-difference scheme is revisited for conservation laws, and the conservative forms of coordinate-transformation metrics are introduced in general dimensions. The sufficient condition of a linear high-order finite-difference scheme is arranged in detail, for which the discretized conservative coordinate-transformation metrics and Jacobian satisfy the GCL identities on three-dimensional moving and deforming grids. Subsequently, the geometric interpretation of the metrics and Jacobian discretized by a linear high-order finite-difference scheme is discussed, and only the symmetric conservative forms of the discretized metrics and Jacobian are shown to have the appropriate geometric structures. The symmetric and asymmetric conservative forms of the metrics and Jacobian are examined by the computation of an inviscid compressible fluid on highly-skewed stationary and deforming grids using sixth-order compact and fourth-order explicit central-difference schemes, respectively. The resolution of the isentropic vortex and the robustness of the computation are improved by employing symmetric conservative forms on the coordinate-transformation metrics and Jacobian that have an appropriate geometry background. An integrated conservation of conservative quantities is also attained on the deforming grid when symmetric conservative forms are adopted to the time metrics and Jacobian.

Aerodynamic Multiobjective Design Exploration of Flapping Wing Using a Navier–Stokes Solver

An aerodynamic design optimization problem of a three-dimensional flapping wing is explored with the multiobjective design exploration framework coupled with a Navier – Stokes solver. The results show that there is a tradeoff among lift maximization, thrust maximization, and required power minimization. The results also show that strong vortex is generated in both down stroke and up stroke motions for thrust maximization while strong vortex is generated only in down stroke motion for lift maximization. This study also reveals effects of the design parameters on the design objectives, for example, pitch offset has positive linear relationship to the lift.

A simple interface sharpening technique with a hyperbolic tangent function applied to compressible two-fluid modeling

A simple interface sharpening technique based on hyperbolic tangent interpolation, which was proposed in the previous study F. Xiao, Y. Honma, K. Kono, A simple algebraic interface capturing scheme using hyperbolic tangent function, Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids 48 (2005) 1023-1040], is applied to the compressible two-fluid modeling. The implementation of this scheme is very simple: the interpolation of the volume fraction in the monotonicity-upwind-scheme-for-conservation-law (MUSCL) solver is just replaced by the hyperbolic tangent interpolation, while the MUSCL interpolations for other variables are maintained. This technique is limited for the region near the interface to prevent the spurious oscillations of a minor phase. The one-dimensional and two-dimensional problems are solved, and the results are compared with those of the original MUSCL solver. The results show that the interface is significantly sharpened with this technique, and its sharpness is well controlled by one parameter. In addition, the robustness of the scheme does not change with sharpening the interface in the range we investigated. An interface sharpening technique is proposed for compressible two-fluid modeling.This method simply uses the hyperbolic tangent interpolation for volume fraction.Interface thickness is well controlled by one parameter in the scheme.

On the feedback mechanism in supersonic cavity flows

Self-sustained oscillations in supersonic cavity flows are investigated by implicit large-eddy simulations of a supersonic flow (M∞ = 2.0, ReD = 105) past a three-dimensional rectangular cavity with length-to-depth ratio of 2. Both turbulent and laminar inflows are considered, and a variation of boundary-layer thickness in the turbulent inflow case is conducted. An additional simulation of turbulent free shear layer is also performed to illustrate the relationship between shedding vortices and acoustic excitations. Feedback mechanism is identified as the dominant mechanism driving the self-sustained oscillations in supersonic open cavity flows, regardless of the upstream turbulent state and the boundary-layer thickness. The generation of discrete vortices in the cavity shear layer is shown to be highly associated with acoustic excitations rather than natural instabilities of the cavity shear layer. Simulation results support that the primary noise source arises from the successive passage of large-scale v...