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Film cooling as applied to rocket nozzles is analyzed numerically with emphasis on the assessment of the effect of the mixing of coolant with the hot stream. Cooling performance, as characterized by cooling effectiveness, is studied for three different coolants in the three-dimensional, turbulent flow field of a supersonic convergent-divergent nozzle operating with a hot stream temperature of 2500 K over a range of blowing ratios. The coolant stream is injected tangentially into the mainstream using a diffuser-type injector. Parameters influencing the effectiveness, such as coolant injector configuration and mixing layer, are analyzed. Thermal and species mixing between the coolant and the mainstream are investigated with regard to their impact on cooling effectiveness. The results obtained provide insight into the film cooling performance of the gases and the heat transfer characteristics associated with these three gases. An injector taper angle of 30° results in the most effective cooling among the configurations considered (0°, 15°, 30° and 45°). Mixing of the coolant with the hot stream is examined based on the distributions of velocity, temperature and species. The higher values of cooling effectiveness for Helium are attributed to its thermophysical properties and the reduced rate of mixing with the hot stream. The results further indicate that through optimization of the blowing ratio and the coolant injector configuration, the film cooling effectiveness can be substantially improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) have proven to be suitable for changing wind conditions, particularly in urban settings. In this paper, a 2D URANS (Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes) numerical analysis is employed for an H-Darrieus VAWT. A turbulent domain is created through systemically randomising the inlet velocity to create macro-turbulence in front of the VAWT. The parameters for spatial and temporal randomisation of velocity and its effects on the turbine performance are studied for a mean free stream velocity, U∞ = 10 m/s, and a tip speed ratio (TSR) of 4.1. The mean Coefficient of power (Cp) for randomised fluctuation of 2 m/s and half-cycle randomisation update frequency is 0.411 and for uniform inlet velocity is 0.400. The Cp vs. Tip Speed ratio plot suggests that the optimal tip speed ratio for operation is around 4.1 for this particular wind turbine of diameter 1 m, chord 0.06 m, and NACA 0018 airfoils. The effect of randomisation for tip speed ratio λ = 2.5, 3.3, 4.1, and 5.3 on the performance of the turbine is studied. Turbine wake recovers at a faster rate for macro-turbulent conditions and is symmetric when compared to wake generated by uniform velocity inlet. The maximum velocity deficit for a distance behind the turbine, x/d = 8 at TSR (λ) = 4.1 is 46% for randomised inlet and 64% for uniform inlet. The effect of randomisation for λ = 2.5 to 5.3 on the performance of the turbine is analysed. A time-varying gust based on International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Extreme Operating Gust is used to study the effect of fluctuating wind conditions in a turbulent environment. Since real-time conditions often exceed gust factors mentioned by IEC, winds with large gust factors such as 1.50, 1.64, and 1.80 are analysed. With an increase in gust amplitude, Ugust = 6 m/s to Ugust = 12 m/s on a free stream velocity of U∞ = 10 m/s, the mean Cp decreases from 0.41 to 0.35 since the wind turbine operates under tip speed ratios outside optimal range due to large fluctuations in incoming velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, numerical simulations have been carried out to analyze the effect of convective heat transfer on flow separation occurring in a DLP-PAR nozzle. Heat transfer coefficient (0, 200 and 1000 w/m2K) was applied to the nozzle wall to incorporate the cooling effect for different gas inlet temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1500 K. The impact of the cooling effect was analyzed based on nozzle wall temperature and wall static pressure. The wall static pressure distribution also characterizes movement of the separation point. For an inlet temperature of 1000 K, a detailed heat transfer study was carried out for four different nozzle pressure ratios (14, 22, 30 and 40). Significant amount of heat transfer was observed for pressure ratio 14, which in turn had an impact on flow separation. The wall cooling resulted in a shift of the point of separation towards the nozzle exit. For the nozzle pressure ratio of 14, this shift was by about 8.8%, indicating that the flow separation can be delayed by way of cooling for the considered inlet temperature. For higher inlet temperatures, the effect of heat transfer on flow separation seems to be negligible. The current study concludes that the separation point can be controlled by convective cooling for inlet gas temperatures below 1500 K so that the optimal performance of the nozzle can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chevron nozzles, which are characterized by the serrations at the nozzle exit, are widely used for suppressing jet noise in aircraft engines. The noise suppression is accomplished by the enhanced mixing of the exhaust streams, which, in turn, is a result of the streamwise vorticity induced by the serrations. The present study focuses on the numerical modeling of the acoustic field in a compressible jet issuing from a chevron nozzle at a Mach number of 0.8. The study evaluates the effectiveness of turbulence modeling approaches of Large Eddy Simulation and Detached Eddy Simulation methods and compares them with the less computationally intensive Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) formulation. The Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings noise model was used to predict the overall sound pressure level in the far field. The LES predictions of the acoustic signature were found to match well with the experimental data, whereas the URANS model grossly underpredicted the sound pressure levels in the compressible jet flow field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristics of microjet hydrogen diffusion flames stabilized near extinction are investigated numerically. Two-dimensional simulations are carried out using a detailed reaction mechanism. The effect of burner wall material, thickness, and thermal radiation on flame characteristics such as flame height and maximum flame temperature are studied. Results show that the flame stabilizes at lower fuel jet velocities for quartz burner than steel or aluminum. Higher flame temperatures are observed for low conductive burners, whereas the flame length increases with an increase in thermal conductivity of the burner. Even though thermal radiation has a minor effect on flame characteristics like flame temperature and flame height, it significantly influences the flame structure for low conductive burner materials. The burner tip and its vicinity are substantially heated for low conductive burners. The effect of burner wall thickness on flame height is significant, whereas it has a more negligible effect on maximum flame temperature. Variation in wall thickness also affects the distribution of H and HO2 radicals in the flame region. Although the variation in wall thickness has the least effect on the overall flame shape and temperature distribution, the structure near the burner port differs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy crisis has forced researchers to look for various non-conventional energy sources. Wind energy is one of the potential sources, and researchers have invested resources in developing different kinds of wind turbines. Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) have received less attention than their horizontal-axis counterparts. A helical-bladed VAWT is preferred because it makes perfect sense as an improvement in design, as they have higher azimuth angles of power generation capabilities. This paper studies the effects of the helix angle of blades in the aerodynamic performance of VAWT using 3D numerical simulations. Three different helix angles of 60°, 90°, and 120° of a three-bladed VAWT operating across different tip speed ratios were studied. Turbulence is modelled using a four-equation transition SST k-ω model (shear stress transport). The 60° helical-bladed VAWT was found to be better performing in comparison with all other helical-bladed and straight-bladed VAWT. The ripple effects on the shaft are also analysed using a standard deviation plot of the moment coefficient generated by a single blade over one complete cycle of its rotation. It was observed that the greater the helix angle, the lower the standard deviation. The paper also tries to analyse the percentage of power generated by each quartile of flow and the contribution of each section of the blade. Ansys FLUENT was employed for the entire study. A comparative study between different helical-bladed VAWT and straight-bladed VAWT was carried out along with wake structure analysis and flow contours for a better understanding of the flow field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]