Fluids — Open Access Journal

We study an optimal control problem for the mathematical model that describes steady non-isothermal creeping flows of an incompressible fluid through a locally Lipschitz bounded domain. The control parameters are the pressure and the temperature on the in-flow and out-flow parts of the boundary of the flow domain. We propose the weak formulation of the problem and prove the existence of weak solutions that minimize a given cost functional. It is also shown that the marginal function of this control system is lower semi-continuous. Full article

A method for shock capturing by adaptive filtering for use with high-resolution, high-order schemes for Large Eddy Simulations (LES) is presented. The LES method used in all the examples here employs the Explicit Filtering approach and the spatial derivatives are obtained with sixth-order, compact, finite differences. The adaptation is to drop the order of the explicit filter to two at gridpoints where a shock is detected, and to then increase the order from 2 to 10 in steps at successive gridpoints away from the shock. The method is found to be effective in a series of tests of common inviscid 1D and 2D problems of shock propagation and propagation of waves through shocks. As a prelude to LES, the 3D Taylor–Green problem for the inviscid and a finite viscosity case were simulated. An assessment of the overall performance of the method for LES was carried out by simulating an underexpanded round jet at a Reynolds number of 6.09 million, based in centerline velocity and diameter at nozzle exit plane. Very close quantitative agreement was found for the development of centerline mean pressure when compared to experiment. Simulations on several increasingly finer grids showed a monotonic extension of the computed part of the inertial range, with little change to low frequency content. Amplitudes and locations of large changes in pressure through several cells were captured accurately. A similar performance was observed for LES of an impinging jet containing normal and curved shocks. Full article

Viscous fingering is fluid dynamics instability induced on the displacement front when a less viscous fluid (LVF) displaces a more viscous fluid (MVF), thereby reducing the displacement efficiency. The displacement of a denser fluid by a less dense fluid produces a gravitational tongue. This gravitational segregation also reduces the displacement efficiency. In this study, the three-dimensional structure of the fingering pattern at the viscous fingering to gravitational segregation boundary was examined using X-ray microtomography on a packed bed of particles. At low gravity numbers, viscous fingering resembled that without gravity characterized by nonlinear interaction including tip-splitting, shielding, and coalescence. At intermediate gravity numbers, viscous fingering is associated with the gravitational tongue due to segregation. At high gravity numbers, a clear gravitational tongue penetrates from the inlet to the outlet. Consequently, the concentration near the injection point decreases and exhibits a flat profile in the flow direction. The displacement efficiency decreases with increasing gravity number, with the highest value achieved without gravity but depends on many factors, including the viscosity ratio and Péclet number. Full article

This work presents new analytical and semi-analytical solutions for the pure Couette and Poiseuille–Couette flows, described by the recently proposed (Ferrás et al., A Generalised Phan-Thien–Tanner Model, JNNFM 2019) viscoelastic model, known as the generalised Phan-Thien–Tanner constitutive equation. This generalised version considers the Mittag–Leffler function instead of the classical linear or exponential functions of the trace of the stress tensor, and provides one or two new fitting constants in order to achieve additional fitting flexibility. The analytical solutions derived in this work allow a better understanding of the model, and therefore contribute to improve the modelling of complex materials, and will provide an interesting challenge to computational rheologists, to benchmarking and to code verification. Full article

A hybrid Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes/large-eddy simulation (RANS/LES) turbulence model integrated with a transition formulation is developed and tested on a surrogate model problem through a joint experimental and computational fluid dynamic approach. The model problem consists of a circular cylinder for generating coherent unsteadiness and a downstream airfoil in the cylinder wake. The cylinder flow is subcritical, with a Reynolds number of 64,000 based upon the cylinder diameter. The quantitative dynamics of vortex shedding and Reynolds stresses in the cylinder near wake are well captured, owing to the turbulence-resolving large eddy simulation mode that was activated in the wake. The hybrid model switched between RANS and LES modes outside the boundary layers, as expected. According to the experimental and simulation results, the airfoil encountered local flow angle variations up to ±50°. Further analysis through a phase-averaging technique found phase lags in the airfoil boundary layer along the chordwise locations, and both the phase-averaged and mean velocity profiles collapsed into the Law-of-the-wall in the range of $0<y^{+}<50$. The features of high blade-loading fluctuations due to unsteadiness and transitional boundary layers are of interest in the aerodynamic studies of full-scale wind turbine blades, making the current model problem a comprehensive benchmark case for future model development and validation. Full article

A performance simulator of spiral wound membrane (SWM) modules used for desalination is a valuable tool for process design and optimization. The existing state-of-the-art mesoscale simulation tools account for the spatial non-uniformities created by the operation itself (flow, pressure, and concentration distributions) but they assume uniform membrane properties. However, experimental studies reveal that membrane properties are by no means uniform. Therefore, the need arises to account for this non-uniformity in simulation tools thus enabling a systematic assessment of its impact, among other benefits; a first step toward this goal is presented herein. In particular, the issue of an organic fouling layer growing on a membrane with non-uniform permeability is analyzed. Several mathematical treatments of the problem are discussed and indicative results are presented. The concept of fouling layer thickness probability density function is suggested as a means to introduce sub-grid level calculations in existing simulation tools. The analysis leads to the selection of an appropriate methodology to incorporate this effect in the dynamic simulation of fouling layer evolution at the membrane-sheet scale. Full article

Reservoir simulation models are the major tools for studying fluid flow behavior in hydrocarbon reservoirs. These models are constructed based on geological models, which are developed by integrating data from geology, geophysics, and petro-physics. As the complexity of a reservoir simulation model increases, so does the computation time. Therefore, to perform any comprehensive study which involves thousands of simulation runs, a very long period of time is required. Several efforts have been made to develop proxy models that can be used as a substitute for complex reservoir simulation models. These proxy models aim at generating the outputs of the numerical fluid flow models in a very short period of time. This research is focused on developing a proxy fluid flow model using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. In this work, the proxy model is developed for a real case CO₂ sequestration project in which the objective is to evaluate the dynamic reservoir parameters (pressure, saturation, and CO₂ mole fraction) under various CO₂ injection scenarios. The data-driven model that is developed is able to generate pressure, saturation, and CO₂ mole fraction throughout the reservoir with significantly less computational effort and considerably shorter period of time compared to the numerical reservoir simulation model. Full article

The viscous fluid flow past a semi-infinite porous solid, which is proportionally sheared at one boundary with the possibility of the fluid slipping according to Navier’s slip or second order slip, is considered here. Such an assumption takes into consideration several of the boundary conditions used in the literature, and is a generalization of them. Upon introducing a similarity transformation, the governing equations for the problem under consideration reduces to a system of nonlinear partial differential equations. Interestingly, we were able to obtain an exact analytical solution for the velocity, though the equation is nonlinear. The flow through the porous solid is assumed to obey the Brinkman equation, and is considered relevant to several applications. Full article

In this paper, a first-order projection method is used to solve the Navier–Stokes equations numerically for a time-dependent incompressible fluid inside a three-dimensional (3-D) lid-driven cavity. The flow structure in a cavity of aspect ratio $\delta =1$ and Reynolds numbers $(100,400,1000)$ is compared with existing results to validate the code. We then apply the developed code to flow of a generalised Newtonian fluid with the well-known Ostwald–de Waele power-law model. Results show that, by decreasing n (further deviation from Newtonian behaviour) from 1 to 0.9, the peak values of the velocity decrease while the centre of the main vortex moves towards the upper right corner of the cavity. However, for $n=0.5$, the behaviour is reversed and the main vortex shifts back towards the centre of the cavity. We moreover demonstrate that, for the deeper cavities, $\delta =2,4$, as the shear-thinning parameter n decreased the top-main vortex expands towards the bottom surface, and correspondingly the secondary flow becomes less pronounced in the plane perpendicular to the cavity lid. Full article

Simulations can reduce the time and cost to develop and deploy advanced technologies and enable their rapid scale-up for fossil fuel-based energy systems. However, to ensure their usefulness in practice, the credibility of the simulations needs to be established with uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has been applying non-intrusive UQ methodologies to categorize and quantify uncertainties in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of gas-solid multiphase flows. To reduce the computational cost associated with gas-solid flow simulations required for UQ analysis, techniques commonly used in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) and data mining are used to construct smart proxy models, which can reduce the computational cost of conducting large numbers of multiphase CFD simulations. The feasibility of using AI and machine learning to construct a smart proxy for a gas-solid multiphase flow has been investigated by looking at the flow and particle behavior in a non-reacting rectangular fluidized bed. The NETL’s in house multiphase solver, Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFiX), was used to generate simulation data for the rectangular fluidized bed. The artificial neural network (ANN) was used to construct a CFD smart proxy, which is able to reproduce the CFD results with reasonable error (about 10%). Several blind cases were used to validate this technology. The results show a good agreement with CFD runs while the approach is less computationally expensive. The developed model can be used to generate the time averaged results of any given fluidized bed with the same geometry with different inlet velocity in couple of minutes. Full article

Motivated by red blood cell dynamics and injectable capsules for drug delivery, in this paper, a computational study of capsule ejection from a narrow channel into a reservoir is undertaken for a combination of varying deformable capsule sizes and channel dimensions. A mass-spring membrane model is coupled to an Immersed Boundary–Lattice Boltzmann model solver. The aim of the present work is the description of the capsules’ motion, deformation and the response of the fluid due to the complex particles’ dynamics. The interactions between the capsules affect the local velocity field and are responsible for the dynamics observed. Capsule membrane deformability is also seen to affect inter-capsule interaction. We observe that the train of three particles locally homogenises the velocity field and the leading capsule travels faster than the other two trailing capsules. Variations in the size of reservoir do not seem to be relevant, while the ratio of capsule diameter to channel diameter as well as the ratio of capsule diameter to inter-capsule spacing play a major role. This flow set-up has not been covered in the literature, and consequently we focus on describing capsule motion, membrane deformation and fluid dynamics, as a preliminary investigation in this field. Full article

The influence of a strong and gusty wind field on ocean waves is investigated. How the random wind affects solitary waves is analyzed in order to obtain insights about wave generation by randomly time varying wind forcing. Using the Euler equations of fluid dynamics and the method of multiple scales, a random nonlinear Schrödinger equation and a random modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation are obtained for randomly wind forced nonlinear deep water waves. Miles theory is used for modeling the pressure variation at the wave surface resulting from the wind velocity field. The nonlinear Schrödinger equation and the modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation are computed using a relaxation pseudo spectral scheme. The results show that the influence of gusty wind on solitary waves leads to a randomly increasing ocean wave envelope. However, in a laboratory setup with much smaller wave amplitudes and higher wave frequencies, the influence of water viscosity is much higher. This leads to fluctuating solutions, which are sensitive to wind forcing. Full article

Performance data on earth dams and levees continue to indicate that piping is one of the major causes of failure. Current criteria for prevention of piping in earth dams and levees have remained largely empirical. This paper aims at developing a mechanistic understanding of the conditions necessary to prevent piping and to enhance the likelihood of self-healing of cracks in levees subjected to hydrodynamic loading from astronomical and meteorological (including hurricane storm surge-induced) forces. Systematic experimental investigations are performed to evaluate erosion in finite-length cracks as a result of transient hydrodynamic loading. Here, a novel application of the localized collocation meshless method (LCMM) to the hydrodynamic and poroelastic problem is introduced to arrive at high-fidelity field solutions. Results from the LCMM numerical simulations are designed to be used as an input, along with the soil and erosion parameters obtained experimentally, to characterize progressive piping. Full article

When flow-induced forces are altered at the blood vessel, maladaptive remodeling can occur. One reason such remodeling may occur has to do with the abnormal functioning of the aortic heart valve due to disease, calcification, injury, or an improperly-designed prosthetic valve, which restricts the opening of the valve leaflets and drastically alters the hemodynamics in the ascending aorta. While the specifics underlying the fundamental mechanisms leading to changes in heart valve function may differ from one cause to another, one common and important change is in leaflet stiffness and/or mass. Here, we examine the link between valve stiffness and mass and the hemodynamic environment in aorta by coupling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with high-resolution fluid–structure interaction (FSI) computational fluid dynamics to simulate blood flow in a patient-specific model. The thoracic aorta and a native aortic valve were re-constructed in the FSI model from the MRI data and used for the simulations. The effect of valve stiffness and mass is parametrically investigated by varying the thickness (h) of the leaflets (h = 0.6, 2, 4 mm). The FSI simulations were designed to investigate systematically progressively higher levels of valve stiffness by increasing valve thickness and quantifying hemodynamic parameters known to be linked to aortopathy and valve disease. The computed results reveal dramatic differences in all hemodynamic parameters: (1) the geometric orifice area (GOA), (2) the maximum velocity $V_{\max }$ of the jet passing through the aortic orifice area, (3) the rate of energy dissipation ${\dot{E}}_{\mathrm{diss}}\left(t\right)$, (4) the total loss of energy $E_{\mathrm{diss}}$, (5) the kinetic energy of the blood flow $E_{\mathrm{kin}}\left(t\right)$, and (6) the average magnitude of vorticity ${\Omega }_{\mathrm{a}}\left(t\right),$ illustrating the change in hemodynamics that occur due to the presence of aortic valve stenosis. Full article

I present an exact and explicit solution to the nonlinear governing equations in the equatorial f-plane, describing geophysical edge waves propagating over a plane-sloping beach, in the presence of underlying uniform currents. I also derive the analytical expressions of geophysical edge wave dynamics and the mass transport velocity. Full article

A local flow topology analysis was conducted for laminar particle-affected flows. Based on the invariants of the velocity gradient tensor, all possible flow structures can be categorized into two focal and two nodal topologies for incompressible flows. The underlying field descriptions for bubble- and droplet-affected flows in the creeping flow regime were determined analytically for two different boundary conditions. A nodal-to-focal-to-nodal transition can be observed in both phases and the focal topologies are predominant in the interior phase. It was also found that the topology distribution in the interior phase is independent of the dynamic viscosity ratio and the boundary conditions, which is not the case in the exterior phase. The focal region in the exterior phase extends to infinity for the far-field boundary condition, whereas it is bounded to a tire-like zone attached to the bubble or droplet for the near-field boundary condition. Furthermore, the existence of a narrow band of intermediate nodal topologies was demonstrated analytically, which raises the question on the origin of this behavior. To complement the findings about the flow topology classification, the strengths of the underlying vorticity and invariant fields are discussed, including their dependency on the considered phase and boundary condition. Full article

The second law of thermodynamics is indispensable in engineering applications. It allows us to determine if a given process is feasible or not, and if the given process is feasible, how efficient or inefficient is the process. Thus, the second law plays a key role in the design and operation of engineering processes, such as steam power plants and refrigeration processes. Nevertheless students often find the second law and its applications most difficult to comprehend. The second law revolves around the concepts of entropy and entropy generation. The feasibility of a process and its efficiency are directly related to entropy generation in the process. As entropy generation occurs in all flow processes due to friction in fluids, fluid mechanics can be used as a tool to teach the second law of thermodynamics and related concepts to students. In this article, flow through packed beds and consolidated porous media is analyzed in terms of entropy generation. The link between entropy generation and mechanical energy dissipation is established in such flows in terms of the directly measurable quantities such as pressure drop. Equations are developed to predict the entropy generation rates in terms of superficial fluid velocity, porous medium characteristics, and fluid properties. The predictions of the proposed equations are presented and discussed. Factors affecting the rate of entropy generation in flow through packed beds and consolidated porous media are identified and explained. Full article