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A verification and validation study was performed using the open source computational fluid dynamics solver OpenFOAM version 2.0.0 for incompressible bluff body fluid flows. This includes flow over a backward facing step, a sphere in the subcritical regime, and delta wing with sharp leading edge. The study investigates solver scalability, and accuracy of numerical methods and turbulence models available in the solver. Grid verification study shows mostly monotonic convergence with averaged grid uncertainty

SUMMARY Static model coefficients for an algebraic subgrid stress (SGS) model are determined using a dynamic approach, based on results from simulations of isotropic decaying turbulence. The study was motivated by the discrepancies in energy transfer predictions using the previously documented coefficients (Bhushan and Warsi, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids 2005; 49: 489–519). The discrepancies are identified to be due to inconsistent filter functions used in the analytic estimates and the simulations. The study emphasizes that SGS model development should use filter functions compatible with those inherent in CFD application solvers. The dynamic approach predicts consistent model and transfer coefficients for different grid resolutions and is judged to be a reliable basis for model coefficient adjustments. The predicted Leonard's stress coefficient and associated energy transfer coefficients agree very well with the analytic estimates using a Gaussian/cutoff combination filter. This suggests that the modeling of Leonard's stress term using a truncated Taylor series expansion is robust and may not benefit significantly from dynamic modeling. Validation simulations were performed for turbulent channel flow at Reτ = 180 and 590. The dynamic approach was found to be reliable only for the lower log-layer of the Reτ = 590 case, where the scale invariance condition was satisfied. Nonetheless, in this narrow range, the model and transfer coefficients compare well with the isotropic case. The static coefficient algebraic model with new adjusted coefficients shows improved predictions compared with the previous coefficients, for both isotropic decaying turbulence and channel flow cases. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper investigates a recently proposed dynamic hybrid RANS-LES framework using a general-purpose finite-volume flow solver. The new method is highly generalized, allowing coupling of any selected RANS model with any selected LES model and containing no explicit grid dependence in its formulation. Selected results are presented for three test cases: two-dimensional channel flow, backward facing step, and a nozzle flow relevant to biomedical applications. Comparison with experimental and DNS data, and with other hybrid RANS-LES approaches, highlights the advantages of the new method and suggests that further investigation is warranted.

The Tesla valve is a passive-type check valve used for flow control in micro- or minichannel systems for a variety of applications. Although the design and effectiveness of a singular Tesla valve is somewhat well understood, the effects of using multiple, identically shaped Tesla valves in series—forming a multistaged Tesla valve (MSTV)—have not been well documented in the open literature. Therefore, using high-performance computing (HPC) and three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the effectiveness of an MSTV using Tesla valves with preoptimized designs was quantified in terms of diodicity for laminar flow conditions. The number of Tesla valves/stages (up to 20), valve-to-valve distance (up to 3.375 hydraulic diameters), and Reynolds number (up to 200) was varied to determine their effect on MSTV diodicity. Results clearly indicate that the MSTV provides for a significantly higher diodicity than a single Tesla valve and that this difference increases with Reynolds number. Minimizing the distance between adjacent Tesla valves can significantly increase the MSTV diodicity, however, for very low Reynolds number (Re

This paper presents a new model concept for prediction of boundary layer transition using a linear eddy-viscosity RANS approach. It is a single-point, physics-based method that adopts an alternative to the Laminar Kinetic Energy (LKE) framework. The model is based on a description of the transition process previously discussed by Walters (2009). The version of the model presented here uses the k-ω SST model as the baseline, and includes the effects of transition through one additional transport equation for v2. Here v2 is interpreted as the energy of fully turbulent, 3D velocity fluctuations, while k represents the energy of both fully turbulent and pre-transitional velocity fluctuations. This modelling approach leads to slow growth of fluctuating energy in the pre-transitional region and relaxation towards a fully turbulent model result downstream of transition. Simplicity of the formulation and ease of extension to other baseline models are two potential advantages of the new method. An initial version of the model has been implemented as a UDF subroutine in the commercial CFD code FLUENT and tested for canonical flat plate boundary layer test cases with different freestream turbulence conditions.Copyright © 2012 by ASME

One of the key challenges for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of human lung airflow is the sheer size and complexity of the complete, multiscale geometry of the bronchopulmonary tree. Since 3-D CFD simulations of the full airway tree are currently intractable, researchers have proposed reduced geometry models in which multiple airway paths are truncated downstream of the first few generations. This paper investigates a recently proposed method for closing the CFD model by application of physiologically correct boundary conditions at truncated outlets. A realistic, reduced geometry model of the lung airway based on CT data has been constructed up to generation 18, including extrathoracic, bronchi, and bronchiole regions. Results indicate that the new method yields reasonable results for pressure drop through the airway, at a small fraction of the cost of fully resolved simulations.

This paper presents results from an ongoing effort to develop and validate a two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence model for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) prediction of transitional and turbulent flow. The new model is based on a k-ω model framework, making it more easily implemented into existing general-purpose CFD solvers than other recently proposed model forms. The model incorporates inviscid and viscous damping functions for the eddy viscosity, as well as a production damping term, in order to reproduce the appropriate effects of laminar, transitional, and turbulent boundary layer flow. The new model has been implemented into a Mississippi State University (MSU) Computational Simulation and Design Center (SimCenter) developed flow solver (U2NCLE), as well as a commercially available CFD code (FLUENT). For model validation, comparisons were made to experimental data for an incompressible, zero-pressure gradient, flat plate geometry over a range of freestream turbulence quantities, using both of the flow solvers. Additional test cases were performed with the in-house flow solver and compared to experimental data for two sharp-cone geometries. The Mach number for the cone cases ranged from 0.4 to 2. The results presented in this document show that the new model performed well for the 2-D test cases and showed agreement with the experimental data of the 3-D geometries. The results illustrate the ability of the model to yield reasonable predictions of transitional flow behavior using a very simple modeling framework, including an appropriate response to freestream turbulence quantities.Copyright © 2007 by ASME

This paper presents the initial development and validation of a modified two-equation eddy-viscosity turbulence model for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) prediction of transitional and turbulent flow. The new model is based on a k-ω model framework, making it more easily implemented into existing general-purpose CFD solvers than other recently proposed model forms. The model incorporates inviscid and viscous damping functions for the eddy viscosity, as well as a production damping term, in order to reproduce the appropriate effects of laminar, transitional, and turbulent boundary layer flow. It has been implemented into a commercially available flow solver (FLUENT) and evaluated for simple attached and separated flow conditions, including 2-D flow over a flat plate and a circular cylinder. The results presented show that the new model is able to yield reasonable predictions of transitional flow behavior using a very simple modeling framework, including an appropriate response to freestream turbulence and boundary layer separation.Copyright © 2006 by ASME