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A practical engineering approach to the design of a 60 kW wind generator with improved performances is presented. The proposed approach relies on the use of a specific, “ad hoc” developed software, OPTIWR (Optimization Software), expressly conceived to define an “optimum” rotor configuration in the framework of the blade element-momentum theory. Starting from an initial input geometric configuration (corresponding to an already existing 50 kW turbine) and for given values of the wind velocity Vwind and of the advance ratio X = Vwind/ΩR (where Ω is the blade rotational speed and R is the propeller radius), this software is used to determine iteratively the optimized distributions of chords and twists which can guarantee a constant value of the socalled axial induction factor a = 1/3 along the blade. The output configuration is then converted into a CAD model to be used, in turn, as input data for a CFD commercial software. With this tool the relative rotational motion between the fluid and the wind turbine are simulated resorting to a MRF (Moving Reference Frame) technique (for which continuity and momentum equations are solved in a rotating reference frame). The outcomes of the numerical simulations are then used to verify the improved performances of the optimized configuration and to which extent the CFD data agree with “expected” behaviours (i.e. performances predicted on the basis of the simplified model). Finally, some details about the construction technique used to turn the optimized configuration into an effective working prototype are provided, in conjunction with a critical discussion of suitable production methods for composite components.

The rapid accumulation of particles suspended in a thermocapillary liquid bridge is planned to be investigated during the JEREMI experiment on the International Space Station scheduled for 2016. An overview is given of the current status of experimental and numerical investigations of this phenomenon.

This paper describes the implementation and performances of a parallel solver for the direct numerical simulation of the three-dimensional and time-dependent Navier Stokes equations on distributed-memory, massively parallel computers. The feasibility of this approach to study Marangoni flow instability in half zone liquid bridges is examined. The results indicate that the incompressible, non linear Navier-Stokes problem, governing the Marangoni flows behaviour, can effectively be parallelized on a distributed-memory parallel machine by remapping the distributed data structure. The numerical code is based on a three-dimensional Simplified Marker and Cell primitive variable method applied to a staggered finite-difference grid. Using this method, the problem is split in two problems, one parabolic and the other elliptic. A parallel algorithm, explicit in time, is utilized to solve the parabolic equations. A parallel multisplitting kernel is introduced for the solution of the pseudo-pressure elliptic equation, representing the most time-consuming part of the algorithm. A grid-partition strategy is used in the parallel implementations of both the parabolic equations and the multisplitting elliptic kernel. A Message Passing Interface (MPI) is coded for the boundary conditions; this protocol is portable to different systems supporting this interface for interprocessor communications. Numerical experiments illustrate good numerical properties and parallel efficiency. In particular, good scalability on a large number of processors can be achieved as long as the granularity of the parallel application is not too small. However, increasing the number of processors, the Speed-Up is ever smaller than the ideal linear Speed Up. The communication timings indicate that complex practical calculations, such as the solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for the numerical simulation of the instability of Marangoni flows, can be expected to run on a massively parallel machine with good efficiency.

Pure surface-tension-driven flow is a unique type of flow that can be controlled through external manipulation of thermal and/or mechanical boundary conditions at the free liquid surface where the entire driving force for the convection is generated. This unique feature has been exploited in recent studies for the active control of the flow instability. The use of forced coaxial gas streams has been proposed as a way to stabilize the Marangoni convection in liquid bridges in the planned space experiment JEREMI (Japanese and European Research Experiment on Marangoni Instabilities). It is aimed at understanding the mechanism of the instability and the role of the surface heat transfer and surface shear stresses. This overview presents corresponding preparatory experimental and numerical studies.

The experimental results from nine benchmark test cases conducted by five different groups are presented. The goal of this study is to build an experimental database for validation of numerical models in liquid bridge geometry. The need arises as comparison of numerical results with a single experiment can lead to a large discrepancy due to specific experimental conditions. Perfectly conducting rigid walls and, especially, idealized boundary conditions at the free surface employed in numerical studies are not always realized in experiments. The experimental benchmark has emphasized strong sensitivity of the threshold of instability to the liquid bridge shape. A clear distinction should be made between results belonging to the different disturbance patterns, i.e. different wave numbers. The results of benchmark contributors are in a satisfactory agreement when they are associated with the stability branch with an identical wave number. In this case the discrepancy of the results for determination of the critical parameters is about ±15%-18% and they can be used for the validation of numerical models. © 2011 Tech Science Press., En ligne: http://www.techscience.com/paper.asp?jnl=fdmp&issue=v7n1&no=01, SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This article deals with laboratory experiments and numerical simulations of convection and dissolution phenomena in partially miscible liquids. Transparent organic liquids (cyclohexane and methanol) are considered as a model system to study problems occurring during solidification of metal alloys with a miscibility gap. Non-invasive optical techniques are used to study stable and unstable convective solutal plumes, that are produced at the tip of a liquid droplet dissolving in a non-isothermal partially miscible liquid. Numerical simulations explain the observed behaviour and capture additional insights into the physics of the phenomenon, following from a delicate balance between counteracting buoyancy and surface tension-driven flows.

Flotation of liquid droplets on pool surfaces, in the presence of temperature differences, is studied experimentally and numerically. Coalescence or sinking of the droplet is prevented by the thermal Marangoni motion, owing to the surface tension imbalance at the pool surface. The mechanism is the same as that investigated in previous works on coalescence and wetting prevention in the presence of temperature differences. If the droplet is colder than the liquid surface, the flow is directed radially towards the drop; this radial flow field drags the ambient air under the drop, thus creating an air film and avoiding a direct contact between the droplet and the pool molecules.The surface velocities are measured visually with a CCD camera to image the motion of tracers floating on the pool surface; the surface temperature distributions along the pool and the droplet surfaces are measured by an infrared thermocamera. The experimental results are correlated by numerical results obtained under the assumption of spherical drop and axisymmetric flow regime. Different liquids are considered and the influence of evaporation is discussed, showing a good agreement between the experiments and the numerical simulations.

Oscillatory Marangoni convection in silicone oil–liquid bridges with different geometrical aspect ratios is investigated by three-dimensional and time-dependent numerical simulations, based on control volume methods in staggered cylindrical non-uniform grids. The three-dimensional oscillatory flow regimes are studied and compared with previous experimental and theoretical results. The results show that the critical wavenumber (m), related to the azimuthal spatio-temporal flow structure, is a monotonically decreasing function of the geometrical aspect ratio of the liquid bridge (defined as the ratio of length to diameter). For this function, a general correlation formula is found, which is in agreement with the previous experimental findings. The critical Marangoni number and the oscillation frequency are decreasing functions of the aspect ratio; however, the critical Marangoni number, based on the axial length of the bridge, does not change much with the aspect ratio. For each aspect ratio investigated, the onset of the instability from the axisymmetric steady state to the three-dimensional oscillatory one is characterized by the appearance of a standing wave regime that exhibits, after a certain time, a second transition to a travelling wave regime. The standing wave regime is more stable for lower aspect ratios since it lasts for a long time. This behaviour is explained on the basis of the propagation velocity of the disturbances in the liquid phase. For this velocity, a general correlation law is found as a function of the aspect ratio and of the Marangoni number. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Solidification of Gallium (Pr=0.02) in liquid bridges in zero gravity conditions is investigated by numerical solutions of the three-dimensional and time-dependent flow-field equations. A single region (continuum) formulation based on the enthalpy method is adopted to model the phase change problem. The paper analyzes the influence of the azimuthally asymmetric and steady first bifurcation of the Marangoni flow on the shape of the solid/melt interface during the crystal growth process. The numerical results show that this interface is distorted in the azimuthal direction. The distortion is related to the sinusoidal three-dimensional temperature disturbances due to the instability of the Marangoni flow. The three-dimensional flow field organization, related to the wave number, changes during the solidification process; this behaviour is explained according to the variation of the aspect ratio of the solidifying liquid bridge. A correlation law is found for the azimuthal wave number of the instability as function of the melt zone aspect ratio.