Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) Version 6 - General Purpose Thermo-Fluid Network Analysis Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, Alok; Leclair, Andre; Moore, Ric; Schallhorn, Paul

2011-01-01

GFSSP stands for Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program. It is a general-purpose computer program to compute pressure, temperature and flow distribution in a flow network. GFSSP calculates pressure, temperature, and concentrations at nodes and calculates flow rates through branches. It was primarily developed to analyze Internal Flow Analysis of a Turbopump Transient Flow Analysis of a Propulsion System. GFSSP development started in 1994 with an objective to provide a generalized and easy to use flow analysis tool for thermo-fluid systems.

Transient multi-physics analysis of a magnetorheological shock absorber with the inverse Jiles-Atherton hysteresis model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Jiajia; Li, Yancheng; Li, Zhaochun; Wang, Jiong

2015-10-01

This paper presents multi-physics modeling of an MR absorber considering the magnetic hysteresis to capture the nonlinear relationship between the applied current and the generated force under impact loading. The magnetic field, temperature field, and fluid dynamics are represented by the Maxwell equations, conjugate heat transfer equations, and Navier-Stokes equations. These fields are coupled through the apparent viscosity and the magnetic force, both of which in turn depend on the magnetic flux density and the temperature. Based on a parametric study, an inverse Jiles-Atherton hysteresis model is used and implemented for the magnetic field simulation. The temperature rise of the MR fluid in the annular gap caused by core loss (i.e. eddy current loss and hysteresis loss) and fluid motion is computed to investigate the current-force behavior. A group of impulsive tests was performed for the manufactured MR absorber with step exciting currents. The numerical and experimental results showed good agreement, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed multi-physics FEA model.

Cost-effective computational method for radiation heat transfer in semi-crystalline polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boztepe, Sinan; Gilblas, Rémi; de Almeida, Olivier; Le Maoult, Yannick; Schmidt, Fabrice

2018-05-01

This paper introduces a cost-effective numerical model for infrared (IR) heating of semi-crystalline polymers. For the numerical and experimental studies presented here semi-crystalline polyethylene (PE) was used. The optical properties of PE were experimentally analyzed under varying temperature and the obtained results were used as input in the numerical studies. The model was built based on optically homogeneous medium assumption whereas the strong variation in the thermo-optical properties of semi-crystalline PE under heating was taken into account. Thus, the change in the amount radiative energy absorbed by the PE medium was introduced in the model induced by its temperature-dependent thermo-optical properties. The computational study was carried out considering an iterative closed-loop computation, where the absorbed radiation was computed using an in-house developed radiation heat transfer algorithm -RAYHEAT- and the computed results was transferred into the commercial software -COMSOL Multiphysics- for solving transient heat transfer problem to predict temperature field. The predicted temperature field was used to iterate the thermo-optical properties of PE that varies under heating. In order to analyze the accuracy of the numerical model experimental analyses were carried out performing IR-thermographic measurements during the heating of the PE plate. The applicability of the model in terms of computational cost, number of numerical input and accuracy was highlighted.

Modelling fully-coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) processes in fractured reservoirs using GOLEM: a massively parallel open-source simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacquey, Antoine; Cacace, Mauro

2017-04-01

Utilization of the underground for energy-related purposes have received increasing attention in the last decades as a source for carbon-free energy and for safe storage solutions. Understanding the key processes controlling fluid and heat flow around geological discontinuities such as faults and fractures as well as their mechanical behaviours is therefore of interest in order to design safe and sustainable reservoir operations. These processes occur in a naturally complex geological setting, comprising natural or engineered discrete heterogeneities as faults and fractures, span a relatively large spectrum of temporal and spatial scales and they interact in a highly non-linear fashion. In this regard, numerical simulators have become necessary in geological studies to model coupled processes and complex geological geometries. In this study, we present a new simulator GOLEM, using multiphysics coupling to characterize geological reservoirs. In particular, special attention is given to discrete geological features such as faults and fractures. GOLEM is based on the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE). The MOOSE framework provides a powerful and flexible platform to solve multiphysics problems implicitly and in a tightly coupled manner on unstructured meshes which is of interest for the considered non-linear context. Governing equations in 3D for fluid flow, heat transfer (conductive and advective), saline transport as well as deformation (elastic and plastic) have been implemented into the GOLEM application. Coupling between rock deformation and fluid and heat flow is considered using theories of poroelasticity and thermoelasticity. Furthermore, considering material properties such as density and viscosity and transport properties such as porosity as dependent on the state variables (based on the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam models) increase the coupling complexity of the problem. The GOLEM application aims therefore at integrating more physical processes observed in the field or in the laboratory to simulate more realistic scenarios. The use of high-level nonlinear solver technology allow us to tackle these complex multiphysics problems in three dimensions. Basic concepts behing the GOLEM simulator will be presented in this study as well as a few application examples to illustrate its main features.

Exploring a Multiphysics Resolution Approach for Additive Manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estupinan Donoso, Alvaro Antonio; Peters, Bernhard

2018-06-01

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a fast-evolving technology aiming to efficiently produce complex parts while saving resources. Worldwide, active research is being performed to solve the existing challenges of this growing technique. Constant computational advances have enabled multiscale and multiphysics numerical tools that complement the traditional physical experimentation. In this contribution, an advanced discrete-continuous concept is proposed to address the physical phenomena involved during laser powder bed fusion. The concept treats powder as discrete by the extended discrete element method, which predicts the thermodynamic state and phase change for each particle. The fluid surrounding is solved with multiphase computational fluid dynamics techniques to determine momentum, heat, gas and liquid transfer. Thus, results track the positions and thermochemical history of individual particles in conjunction with the prevailing fluid phases' temperature and composition. It is believed that this methodology can be employed to complement experimental research by analysis of the comprehensive results, which can be extracted from it to enable AM processes optimization for parts qualification.

Unstructured Finite Volume Computational Thermo-Fluid Dynamic Method for Multi-Disciplinary Analysis and Design Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, Alok; Schallhorn, Paul

1998-01-01

This paper describes a finite volume computational thermo-fluid dynamics method to solve for Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with energy equation and thermodynamic equation of state in an unstructured coordinate system. The system of equations have been solved by a simultaneous Newton-Raphson method and compared with several benchmark solutions. Excellent agreements have been obtained in each case and the method has been found to be significantly faster than conventional Computational Fluid Dynamic(CFD) methods and therefore has the potential for implementation in Multi-Disciplinary analysis and design optimization in fluid and thermal systems. The paper also describes an algorithm of design optimization based on Newton-Raphson method which has been recently tested in a turbomachinery application.

Multiphysics Simulations of Hot-Spot Initiation in Shocked Insensitive High-Explosive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najjar, Fady; Howard, W. M.; Fried, L. E.

2010-11-01

Solid plastic-bonded high-explosive materials consist of crystals with micron-sized pores embedded. Under mechanical or thermal insults, these voids increase the ease of shock initiation by generating high-temperature regions during their collapse that might lead to ignition. Understanding the mechanisms of hot-spot initiation has significant research interest due to safety, reliability and development of new insensitive munitions. Multi-dimensional high-resolution meso-scale simulations are performed using the multiphysics software, ALE3D, to understand the hot-spot initiation. The Cheetah code is coupled to ALE3D, creating multi-dimensional sparse tables for the HE properties. The reaction rates were obtained from MD Quantum computations. Our current predictions showcase several interesting features regarding hot spot dynamics including the formation of a "secondary" jet. We will discuss the results obtained with hydro-thermo-chemical processes leading to ignition growth for various pore sizes and different shock pressures.

Moose: An Open-Source Framework to Enable Rapid Development of Collaborative, Multi-Scale, Multi-Physics Simulation Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slaughter, A. E.; Permann, C.; Peterson, J. W.; Gaston, D.; Andrs, D.; Miller, J.

2014-12-01

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL)-developed Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE; www.mooseframework.org), is an open-source, parallel computational framework for enabling the solution of complex, fully implicit multiphysics systems. MOOSE provides a set of computational tools that scientists and engineers can use to create sophisticated multiphysics simulations. Applications built using MOOSE have computed solutions for chemical reaction and transport equations, computational fluid dynamics, solid mechanics, heat conduction, mesoscale materials modeling, geomechanics, and others. To facilitate the coupling of diverse and highly-coupled physical systems, MOOSE employs the Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) method when solving the coupled nonlinear systems of equations arising in multiphysics applications. The MOOSE framework is written in C++, and leverages other high-quality, open-source scientific software packages such as LibMesh, Hypre, and PETSc. MOOSE uses a "hybrid parallel" model which combines both shared memory (thread-based) and distributed memory (MPI-based) parallelism to ensure efficient resource utilization on a wide range of computational hardware. MOOSE-based applications are inherently modular, which allows for simulation expansion (via coupling of additional physics modules) and the creation of multi-scale simulations. Any application developed with MOOSE supports running (in parallel) any other MOOSE-based application. Each application can be developed independently, yet easily communicate with other applications (e.g., conductivity in a slope-scale model could be a constant input, or a complete phase-field micro-structure simulation) without additional code being written. This method of development has proven effective at INL and expedites the development of sophisticated, sustainable, and collaborative simulation tools.

Advanced graphical user interface for multi-physics simulations using AMST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, Florian; Vogel, Frank

2017-07-01

Numerical modelling of particulate matter has gained much popularity in recent decades. Advanced Multi-physics Simulation Technology (AMST) is a state-of-the-art three dimensional numerical modelling technique combining the eX-tended Discrete Element Method (XDEM) with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) [1]. One major limitation of this code is the lack of a graphical user interface (GUI) meaning that all pre-processing has to be made directly in a HDF5-file. This contribution presents the first graphical pre-processor developed for AMST.

A generalised porous medium approach to study thermo-fluid dynamics in human eyes.

PubMed

Mauro, Alessandro; Massarotti, Nicola; Salahudeen, Mohamed; Romano, Mario R; Romano, Vito; Nithiarasu, Perumal

2018-03-22

The present work describes the application of the generalised porous medium model to study heat and fluid flow in healthy and glaucomatous eyes of different subject specimens, considering the presence of ocular cavities and porous tissues. The 2D computational model, implemented into the open-source software OpenFOAM, has been verified against benchmark data for mixed convection in domains partially filled with a porous medium. The verified model has been employed to simulate the thermo-fluid dynamic phenomena occurring in the anterior section of four patient-specific human eyes, considering the presence of anterior chamber (AC), trabecular meshwork (TM), Schlemm's canal (SC), and collector channels (CC). The computational domains of the eye are extracted from tomographic images. The dependence of TM porosity and permeability on intraocular pressure (IOP) has been analysed in detail, and the differences between healthy and glaucomatous eye conditions have been highlighted, proving that the different physiological conditions of patients have a significant influence on the thermo-fluid dynamic phenomena. The influence of different eye positions (supine and standing) on thermo-fluid dynamic variables has been also investigated: results are presented in terms of velocity, pressure, temperature, friction coefficient and local Nusselt number. The results clearly indicate that porosity and permeability of TM are two important parameters that affect eye pressure distribution. Graphical abstract Velocity contours and vectors for healthy eyes (top) and glaucomatous eyes (bottom) for standing position.

Implementing a Loosely Coupled Fluid Structure Interaction Finite Element Model in PHASTA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pope, David

Fluid Structure Interaction problems are an important multi-physics phenomenon in the design of aerospace vehicles and other engineering applications. A variety of computational fluid dynamics solvers capable of resolving the fluid dynamics exist. PHASTA is one such computational fluid dynamics solver. Enhancing the capability of PHASTA to resolve Fluid-Structure Interaction first requires implementing a structural dynamics solver. The implementation also requires a correction of the mesh used to solve the fluid equations to account for the deformation of the structure. This results in mesh motion and causes the need for an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian modification to the fluid dynamics equations currently implemented in PHASTA. With the implementation of both structural dynamics physics, mesh correction, and the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian modification of the fluid dynamics equations, PHASTA is made capable of solving Fluid-Structure Interaction problems.

Computational Study of 3-D Hot-Spot Initiation in Shocked Insensitive High-Explosive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najjar, F. M.; Howard, W. M.; Fried, L. E.

2011-06-01

High explosive shock sensitivity is controlled by a combination of mechanical response, thermal properties, and chemical properties. The interplay of these physical phenomena in realistic condensed energetic materials is currently lacking. A multiscale computational framework is developed investigating hot spot (void) ignition in a single crystal of an insensitive HE, TATB. Atomistic MD simulations are performed to provide the key chemical reactions and these reaction rates are used in 3-D multiphysics simulations. The multiphysics code, ALE3D, is linked to the chemistry software, Cheetah, and a three-way coupled approach is pursued including hydrodynamics, thermal and chemical analyses. A single spherical air bubble is embedded in the insensitive HE and its collapse due to shock initiation is evolved numerically in time; while the ignition processes due chemical reactions are studied. Our current predictions showcase several interesting features regarding hot spot dynamics including the formation of a ``secondary'' jet. Results obtained with hydro-thermo-chemical processes leading to ignition growth will be discussed for various pore sizes and different shock pressures. LLNL-ABS-471438. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Finite element computation of multi-physical micropolar transport phenomena from an inclined moving plate in porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shamshuddin, MD.; Anwar Bég, O.; Sunder Ram, M.; Kadir, A.

2018-02-01

Non-Newtonian flows arise in numerous industrial transport processes including materials fabrication systems. Micropolar theory offers an excellent mechanism for exploring the fluid dynamics of new non-Newtonian materials which possess internal microstructure. Magnetic fields may also be used for controlling electrically-conducting polymeric flows. To explore numerical simulation of transport in rheological materials processing, in the current paper, a finite element computational solution is presented for magnetohydrodynamic, incompressible, dissipative, radiative and chemically-reacting micropolar fluid flow, heat and mass transfer adjacent to an inclined porous plate embedded in a saturated homogenous porous medium. Heat generation/absorption effects are included. Rosseland's diffusion approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. A Darcy model is employed to simulate drag effects in the porous medium. The governing transport equations are rendered into non-dimensional form under the assumption of low Reynolds number and also low magnetic Reynolds number. Using a Galerkin formulation with a weighted residual scheme, finite element solutions are presented to the boundary value problem. The influence of plate inclination, Eringen coupling number, radiation-conduction number, heat absorption/generation parameter, chemical reaction parameter, plate moving velocity parameter, magnetic parameter, thermal Grashof number, species (solutal) Grashof number, permeability parameter, Eckert number on linear velocity, micro-rotation, temperature and concentration profiles. Furthermore, the influence of selected thermo-physical parameters on friction factor, surface heat transfer and mass transfer rate is also tabulated. The finite element solutions are verified with solutions from several limiting cases in the literature. Interesting features in the flow are identified and interpreted.

Computational simulation of biomolecules transport with multi-physics near microchannel surface for development of biomolecules-detection devices.

PubMed

Suzuki, Yuma; Shimizu, Tetsuhide; Yang, Ming

2017-01-01

The quantitative evaluation of the biomolecules transport with multi-physics in nano/micro scale is demanded in order to optimize the design of microfluidics device for the biomolecules detection with high detection sensitivity and rapid diagnosis. This paper aimed to investigate the effectivity of the computational simulation using the numerical model of the biomolecules transport with multi-physics near a microchannel surface on the development of biomolecules-detection devices. The biomolecules transport with fluid drag force, electric double layer (EDL) force, and van der Waals force was modeled by Newtonian Equation of motion. The model validity was verified in the influence of ion strength and flow velocity on biomolecules distribution near the surface compared with experimental results of previous studies. The influence of acting forces on its distribution near the surface was investigated by the simulation. The trend of its distribution to ion strength and flow velocity was agreement with the experimental result by the combination of all acting forces. Furthermore, EDL force dominantly influenced its distribution near its surface compared with fluid drag force except for the case of high velocity and low ion strength. The knowledges from the simulation might be useful for the design of biomolecules-detection devices and the simulation can be expected to be applied on its development as the design tool for high detection sensitivity and rapid diagnosis in the future.

Flexible parallel implicit modelling of coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical processes in fractured rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cacace, Mauro; Jacquey, Antoine B.

2017-09-01

Theory and numerical implementation describing groundwater flow and the transport of heat and solute mass in fully saturated fractured rocks with elasto-plastic mechanical feedbacks are developed. In our formulation, fractures are considered as being of lower dimension than the hosting deformable porous rock and we consider their hydraulic and mechanical apertures as scaling parameters to ensure continuous exchange of fluid mass and energy within the fracture-solid matrix system. The coupled system of equations is implemented in a new simulator code that makes use of a Galerkin finite-element technique. The code builds on a flexible, object-oriented numerical framework (MOOSE, Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment) which provides an extensive scalable parallel and implicit coupling to solve for the multiphysics problem. The governing equations of groundwater flow, heat and mass transport, and rock deformation are solved in a weak sense (either by classical Newton-Raphson or by free Jacobian inexact Newton-Krylow schemes) on an underlying unstructured mesh. Nonlinear feedbacks among the active processes are enforced by considering evolving fluid and rock properties depending on the thermo-hydro-mechanical state of the system and the local structure, i.e. degree of connectivity, of the fracture system. A suite of applications is presented to illustrate the flexibility and capability of the new simulator to address problems of increasing complexity and occurring at different spatial (from centimetres to tens of kilometres) and temporal scales (from minutes to hundreds of years).

Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) - Version 6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, Alok; LeClair, Andre; Moore, Ric; Schallhorn, Paul

2015-01-01

The Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) is a finite-volume based general-purpose computer program for analyzing steady state and time-dependent flow rates, pressures, temperatures, and concentrations in a complex flow network. The program is capable of modeling real fluids with phase changes, compressibility, mixture thermodynamics, conjugate heat transfer between solid and fluid, fluid transients, pumps, compressors, flow control valves and external body forces such as gravity and centrifugal. The thermo-fluid system to be analyzed is discretized into nodes, branches, and conductors. The scalar properties such as pressure, temperature, and concentrations are calculated at nodes. Mass flow rates and heat transfer rates are computed in branches and conductors. The graphical user interface allows users to build their models using the 'point, drag, and click' method; the users can also run their models and post-process the results in the same environment. The integrated fluid library supplies thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties of 36 fluids, and 24 different resistance/source options are provided for modeling momentum sources or sinks in the branches. Users can introduce new physics, non-linear and time-dependent boundary conditions through user-subroutine.

Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program, Version 6.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, A. K.; LeClair, A. C.; Moore, A.; Schallhorn, P. A.

2013-01-01

The Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) is a finite-volume based general-purpose computer program for analyzing steady state and time-dependant flow rates, pressures, temperatures, and concentrations in a complex flow network. The program is capable of modeling real fluids with phase changes, compressibility, mixture thermodynamics, conjugate heat transfer between solid and fluid, fluid transients, pumps, compressors and external body forces such as gravity and centrifugal. The thermo-fluid system to be analyzed is discretized into nodes, branches, and conductors. The scalar properties such as pressure, temperature, and concentrations are calculated at nodes. Mass flow rates and heat transfer rates are computed in branches and conductors. The graphical user interface allows users to build their models using the 'point, drag, and click' method; the users can also run their models and post-process the results in the same environment. The integrated fluid library supplies thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties of 36 fluids, and 24 different resistance/source options are provided for modeling momentum sources or sinks in the branches. This Technical Memorandum illustrates the application and verification of the code through 25 demonstrated example problems.

Advanced laser modeling with BLAZE multiphysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palla, Andrew D.; Carroll, David L.; Gray, Michael I.; Suzuki, Lui

2017-01-01

The BLAZE Multiphysics™ software simulation suite was specifically developed to model highly complex multiphysical systems in a computationally efficient and highly scalable manner. These capabilities are of particular use when applied to the complexities associated with high energy laser systems that combine subsonic/transonic/supersonic fluid dynamics, chemically reacting flows, laser electronics, heat transfer, optical physics, and in some cases plasma discharges. In this paper we present detailed cw and pulsed gas laser calculations using the BLAZE model with comparisons to data. Simulations of DPAL, XPAL, ElectricOIL (EOIL), and the optically pumped rare gas laser were found to be in good agreement with experimental data.

Design and multi-physics optimization of rotary MRF brakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topcu, Okan; Taşcıoğlu, Yiğit; Konukseven, Erhan İlhan

2018-03-01

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a popular method to solve the optimization problems. However, calculations for each particle will be excessive when the number of particles and complexity of the problem increases. As a result, the execution speed will be too slow to achieve the optimized solution. Thus, this paper proposes an automated design and optimization method for rotary MRF brakes and similar multi-physics problems. A modified PSO algorithm is developed for solving multi-physics engineering optimization problems. The difference between the proposed method and the conventional PSO is to split up the original single population into several subpopulations according to the division of labor. The distribution of tasks and the transfer of information to the next party have been inspired by behaviors of a hunting party. Simulation results show that the proposed modified PSO algorithm can overcome the problem of heavy computational burden of multi-physics problems while improving the accuracy. Wire type, MR fluid type, magnetic core material, and ideal current inputs have been determined by the optimization process. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this multi-physics approach is novel for optimizing rotary MRF brakes and the developed PSO algorithm is capable of solving other multi-physics engineering optimization problems. The proposed method has showed both better performance compared to the conventional PSO and also has provided small, lightweight, high impedance rotary MRF brake designs.

Fluid flow in the osteocyte mechanical environment: a fluid-structure interaction approach.

PubMed

Verbruggen, Stefaan W; Vaughan, Ted J; McNamara, Laoise M

2014-01-01

Osteocytes are believed to be the primary sensor of mechanical stimuli in bone, which orchestrate osteoblasts and osteoclasts to adapt bone structure and composition to meet physiological loading demands. Experimental studies to quantify the mechanical environment surrounding bone cells are challenging, and as such, computational and theoretical approaches have modelled either the solid or fluid environment of osteocytes to predict how these cells are stimulated in vivo. Osteocytes are an elastic cellular structure that deforms in response to the external fluid flow imposed by mechanical loading. This represents a most challenging multi-physics problem in which fluid and solid domains interact, and as such, no previous study has accounted for this complex behaviour. The objective of this study is to employ fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modelling to investigate the complex mechanical environment of osteocytes in vivo. Fluorescent staining of osteocytes was performed in order to visualise their native environment and develop geometrically accurate models of the osteocyte in vivo. By simulating loading levels representative of vigorous physiological activity ([Formula: see text] compression and 300 Pa pressure gradient), we predict average interstitial fluid velocities [Formula: see text] and average maximum shear stresses [Formula: see text] surrounding osteocytes in vivo. Interestingly, these values occur in the canaliculi around the osteocyte cell processes and are within the range of stimuli known to stimulate osteogenic responses by osteoblastic cells in vitro. Significantly our results suggest that the greatest mechanical stimulation of the osteocyte occurs in the cell processes, which, cell culture studies have indicated, is the most mechanosensitive area of the cell. These are the first computational FSI models to simulate the complex multi-physics mechanical environment of osteocyte in vivo and provide a deeper understanding of bone mechanobiology.

Validation Data and Model Development for Fuel Assembly Response to Seismic Loads

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bardet, Philippe; Ricciardi, Guillaume

2016-01-31

Vibrations are inherently present in nuclear reactors, especially in cores and steam generators of pressurized water reactors (PWR). They can have significant effects on local heat transfer and wear and tear in the reactor and often set safety margins. The simulation of these multiphysics phenomena from first principles requires the coupling of several codes, which is one the most challenging tasks in modern computer simulation. Here an ambitious multiphysics multidisciplinary validation campaign is conducted. It relied on an integrated team of experimentalists and code developers to acquire benchmark and validation data for fluid-structure interaction codes. Data are focused on PWRmore » fuel bundle behavior during seismic transients.« less

Consistent multiphysics simulation of a central tower CSP plant as applied to ISTORE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Votyakov, Evgeny V.; Papanicolas, Costas N.

2017-06-01

We present a unified consistent multiphysics approach to model a central tower CSP plant. The framework for the model includes Monte Carlo ray tracing (RT) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) components utilizing the OpenFOAM C++ software library. The RT part works effectively with complex surfaces of engineering design given in CAD formats. The CFD simulation, which is based on 3D Navier-Stokes equations, takes into account all possible heat transfer mechanisms: radiation, conduction, and convection. Utilizing this package, the solar field of the experimental Platform for Research, Observation, and TEchnological Applications in Solar Energy (PROTEAS) and the Integrated STOrage and Receiver (ISTORE), developed at the Cyprus Institute, are being examined.

A numerical performance assessment of a commercial cardiopulmonary by-pass blood heat exchanger.

PubMed

Consolo, Filippo; Fiore, Gianfranco B; Pelosi, Alessandra; Reggiani, Stefano; Redaelli, Alberto

2015-06-01

We developed a numerical model, based on multi-physics computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, to assist the design process of a plastic hollow-fiber bundle blood heat exchanger (BHE) integrated within the INSPIRE(TM), a blood oxygenator (OXY) for cardiopulmonary by-pass procedures, recently released by Sorin Group Italia. In a comparative study, we analyzed five different geometrical design solutions of the BHE module. Quantitative geometrical-dependent parameters providing a comprehensive evaluation of both the hemo- and thermo-dynamics performance of the device were extracted to identify the best-performing prototypical solution. A convenient design configuration was identified, characterized by (i) a uniform blood flow pattern within the fiber bundle, preventing blood flow shunting and the onset of stagnation/recirculation areas and/or high velocity pathways, (ii) an enhanced blood heating efficiency, and (iii) a reduced blood pressure drop. The selected design configuration was then prototyped and tested to experimentally characterize the device performance. Experimental results confirmed numerical predictions, proving the effectiveness of CFD modeling as a reliable tool for in silico identification of suitable working conditions of blood handling medical devices. Notably, the numerical approach limited the need for extensive prototyping, thus reducing the corresponding machinery costs and time-to-market. Copyright © 2015 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Multi-physics Approach to Understanding Low Porosity Soils and Reservoir Rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, M.; Mapeli, C.; Livo, K.; Hasanov, A.; Schindler, M.; Ou, L.

2017-12-01

We present recent results on our multiphysics approach to rock physics. Thus, we evaluate geophysical measurements by simultaneously measuring petrophysical properties or imaging strains. In this paper, we present simultaneously measured acoustic and electrical anisotropy data as functions of pressure. Similarly, we present strains and strain localization images simultaneously acquired with acoustic measurements as well as NMR T2 relaxations on pressurized fluids as well as rocks saturated with these pressurized fluids. Such multiphysics experiments allow us to constrain and assign appropriate causative mechanisms to development rock physics models. They also allow us to decouple various effects, for example, fluid versus pressure, on geophysical measurements. We show applications towards reservoir characterization as well as CO2 sequestration applications.

Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) as a chaotic multiphysics spring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veveakis, E.; Alevizos, S.; Poulet, T.

2017-03-01

Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) events display a rich behaviour of slow and accelerated slip with simple oscillatory to complicated chaotic time series. It is commonly believed that the fast events appearing as non volcanic tremors are signatures of deep fluid injection. The fluid source is suggested to be related to the breakdown of hydrous phyllosilicates, mainly the serpentinite group minerals such as antigorite or lizardite that are widespread in the top of the slab in subduction environments. Similar ETS sequences are recorded in different lithologies in exhumed crustal carbonate-rich thrusts where the fluid source is suggested to be the more vigorous carbonate decomposition reaction. If indeed both types of events can be understood and modelled by the same generic fluid release reaction AB(solid) ⇌A(solid) +B(fluid) , the data from ETS sequences in subduction zones reveal a geophysically tractable temporal evolution with no access to the fault zone. This work reviews recent advances in modelling ETS events considering the multiphysics instabilities triggered by the fluid release reaction and develops a thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical oscillator (THMC spring) model for such mineral reactions (like dehydration and decomposition) in Megathrusts. We describe advanced computational methods for THMC instabilities and discuss spectral element and finite element solutions. We apply the presented numerical methods to field examples of this important mechanism and reproduce the temporal signature of the Cascadia and Hikurangi trench with a serpentinite oscillator.

Computational Investigation on the performance of thermo-acoustically driven pulse tube refrigerator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skaria, Mathew; Rasheed, K. K. Abdul; Shafi, K. A.; Kasthurirengan, S.; Behera, Upendra

2017-02-01

A Thermoacoustic Pulse Tube Refrigeration (TAPTR) system employs a thermo acoustic engine as the pressure wave generator instead of mechanical compressor. Such refrigeration systems are highly reliable due to the absence of moving components, structural simplicity and the use of environmental friendly working fluids. In the present work, a traveling wave thermoacoustic primmover (TWTAPM) has been developed and it is coupled to a pulse tube cryocooler. The performance of TAPTR depends on the operating and working fluid parameters. Simulation studies of the system has been performed using ANSYS Fluent and compared with experimental results.

Multi-physics optimization of three-dimensional microvascular polymeric components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aragón, Alejandro M.; Saksena, Rajat; Kozola, Brian D.; Geubelle, Philippe H.; Christensen, Kenneth T.; White, Scott R.

2013-01-01

This work discusses the computational design of microvascular polymeric materials, which aim at mimicking the behavior found in some living organisms that contain a vascular system. The optimization of the topology of the embedded three-dimensional microvascular network is carried out by coupling a multi-objective constrained genetic algorithm with a finite-element based physics solver, the latter validated through experiments. The optimization is carried out on multiple conflicting objective functions, namely the void volume fraction left by the network, the energy required to drive the fluid through the network and the maximum temperature when the material is subjected to thermal loads. The methodology presented in this work results in a viable alternative for the multi-physics optimization of these materials for active-cooling applications.

Assessment of a Hybrid Continuous/Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Code for Geothermal Reservoir Simulations

DOE PAGES

Xia, Yidong; Podgorney, Robert; Huang, Hai

2016-03-17

FALCON (“Fracturing And Liquid CONvection”) is a hybrid continuous / discontinuous Galerkin finite element geothermal reservoir simulation code based on the MOOSE (“Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment”) framework being developed and used for multiphysics applications. In the present work, a suite of verification and validation (“V&V”) test problems for FALCON was defined to meet the design requirements, and solved to the interests of enhanced geothermal system (“EGS”) design. Furthermore, the intent for this test problem suite is to provide baseline comparison data that demonstrates the performance of the FALCON solution methods. The simulation problems vary in complexity from singly mechanical ormore » thermo process, to coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in geological porous media. Numerical results obtained by FALCON agreed well with either the available analytical solution or experimental data, indicating the verified and validated implementation of these capabilities in FALCON. Some form of solution verification has been attempted to identify sensitivities in the solution methods, where possible, and suggest best practices when using the FALCON code.« less

Deep geothermal systems interpreted by coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical numerical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Max; Lesueur, Martin; Held, Sebastian; Poulet, Thomas; Veveakis, Manolis; Regenauer-Lieb, Klaus; Kohl, Thomas

2017-04-01

The dynamic response of the geothermal reservoirs of Soultz-sous-Forêts (NE France) and a new site in Iceland are theoretically studied upon fluid injection and production. Since the Soultz case can be considered the most comprehensive project in the area of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), it is tailored for the testing of forward modeling techniques that aim at the characterization of fluid dynamics and mechanical properties in any deeply-seated fractured cystalline reservoir [e.g. Held et al., 2014]. We present multi-physics finite element models using the recently developed framework MOOSE (mooseframework.org) that implicitly consider fully-coupled feedback mechanisms of fluid-rock interaction at depth where EGS are located (depth > 5 km), i.e. the effects of dissipative strain softening on chemical reactions and reactive transport [Poulet et al., 2016]. In a first suite of numerical experiments, we show that an accurate simulation of propagation fronts allows studying coupled fluid and heat transport, following preferred pathways, and the transport time of the geothermal fluid between injection and production wells, which is in good agreement with tracer experiments performed inside the natural reservoir. Based on induced seismicity experiments and related damage along boreholes, we concern with borehole instabilities resulting from pore pressure variations and (a)seismic creep in a second series of simulations. To this end, we account for volumetric and deviatoric components, following the approach of Veveakis et al. (2016), and discuss the mechanisms triggering slow earthquakes in the stimulated reservoirs. Our study will allow applying concepts of unconventional geomechanics, which were previously reviewed on a theoretical basis [Regenauer-Lieb et al., 2015], to substantial engineering problems of deep geothermal reservoirs in the future. REFERENCES Held, S., Genter, A., Kohl, T., Kölbel, T., Sausse, J. and Schoenball, M. (2014). Economic evaluation of geothermal reservoir performance through modeling the complexity of the operating EGS in Soultz-sous-Forêts. Geothermics, 51, 270-280, doi:10.1016/j.geothermics.2014.01.016 Poulet, T., Paesold, M. and Veveakis, M. (2016). Multi-Physics Modelling of Fault Mechanics Using REDBACK: A Parallel Open-Source Simulator for Tightly Coupled Problems. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, doi:10.1007/s00603-016-0927-y Regenauer-Lieb, K., Bunger, A., Chua, H. T., et al., 2015. Deep Geothermal: The 'Moon Landing' Mission in the Unconventional Energy and Minerals Space. Journal of Earth Science, 26(1): 2-10, doi:10.1007/s12583-015-0515-1 Veveakis, M., Alevizos, S., Poulet, T. (2016). Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS) as a chaotic Multiphysics spring. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, in press, doi:10.1016/j.pepi.2016.10.002

Multiphysics numerical modeling of the continuous flow microwave-assisted transesterification process.

PubMed

Muley, Pranjali D; Boldor, Dorin

2012-01-01

Use of advanced microwave technology for biodiesel production from vegetable oil is a relatively new technology. Microwave dielectric heating increases the process efficiency and reduces reaction time. Microwave heating depends on various factors such as material properties (dielectric and thermo-physical), frequency of operation and system design. Although lab scale results are promising, it is important to study these parameters and optimize the process before scaling up. Numerical modeling approach can be applied for predicting heating and temperature profiles including at larger scale. The process can be studied for optimization without actually performing the experiments, reducing the amount of experimental work required. A basic numerical model of continuous electromagnetic heating of biodiesel precursors was developed. A finite element model was built using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2 software by coupling the electromagnetic problem with the fluid flow and heat transfer problem. Chemical reaction was not taken into account. Material dielectric properties were obtained experimentally, while the thermal properties were obtained from the literature (all the properties were temperature dependent). The model was tested for the two different power levels 4000 W and 4700 W at a constant flow rate of 840ml/min. The electric field, electromagnetic power density flow and temperature profiles were studied. Resulting temperature profiles were validated by comparing to the temperatures obtained at specific locations from the experiment. The results obtained were in good agreement with the experimental data.

Review of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) researches on nano fluid flow through micro channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewangan, Satish Kumar

2018-05-01

Nanofluid is becoming a promising heat transfer fluids due to its improved thermo-physical properties and heat transfer performance. Micro channel heat transfer has potential application in the cooling high power density microchips in CPU system, micro power systems and many such miniature thermal systems which need advanced cooling capacity. Use of nanofluids enhances the effectiveness of t=scu systems. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a very powerful tool in computational analysis of the various physical processes. It application to the situations of flow and heat transfer analysis of the nano fluids is catching up very fast. Present research paper gives a brief account of the methodology of the CFD and also summarizes its application on nano fluid and heat transfer for microchannel cases.

Three-dimensional fuel pin model validation by prediction of hydrogen distribution in cladding and comparison with experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aly, A.; Avramova, Maria; Ivanov, Kostadin

To correctly describe and predict this hydrogen distribution there is a need for multi-physics coupling to provide accurate three-dimensional azimuthal, radial, and axial temperature distributions in the cladding. Coupled high-fidelity reactor-physics codes with a sub-channel code as well as with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool have been used to calculate detailed temperature distributions. These high-fidelity coupled neutronics/thermal-hydraulics code systems are coupled further with the fuel-performance BISON code with a kernel (module) for hydrogen. Both hydrogen migration and precipitation/dissolution are included in the model. Results from this multi-physics analysis is validated utilizing calculations of hydrogen distribution using models informed bymore » data from hydrogen experiments and PIE data.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keyes, D.; McInnes, L. C.; Woodward, C.

This report is an outcome of the workshop Multiphysics Simulations: Challenges and Opportunities, sponsored by the Institute of Computing in Science (ICiS). Additional information about the workshop, including relevant reading and presentations on multiphysics issues in applications, algorithms, and software, is available via https://sites.google.com/site/icismultiphysics2011/. We consider multiphysics applications from algorithmic and architectural perspectives, where 'algorithmic' includes both mathematical analysis and computational complexity and 'architectural' includes both software and hardware environments. Many diverse multiphysics applications can be reduced, en route to their computational simulation, to a common algebraic coupling paradigm. Mathematical analysis of multiphysics coupling in this form is not alwaysmore » practical for realistic applications, but model problems representative of applications discussed herein can provide insight. A variety of software frameworks for multiphysics applications have been constructed and refined within disciplinary communities and executed on leading-edge computer systems. We examine several of these, expose some commonalities among them, and attempt to extrapolate best practices to future systems. From our study, we summarize challenges and forecast opportunities. We also initiate a modest suite of test problems encompassing features present in many applications.« less

An Integrated Solution for Performing Thermo-fluid Conjugate Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kornberg, Oren

2009-01-01

A method has been developed which integrates a fluid flow analyzer and a thermal analyzer to produce both steady state and transient results of 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D analysis models. The Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) is a one dimensional, general purpose fluid analysis code which computes pressures and flow distributions in complex fluid networks. The MSC Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer (MSC.SINDA) is a one dimensional general purpose thermal analyzer that solves network representations of thermal systems. Both GFSSP and MSC.SINDA have graphical user interfaces which are used to build the respective model and prepare it for analysis. The SINDA/GFSSP Conjugate Integrator (SGCI) is a formbase graphical integration program used to set input parameters for the conjugate analyses and run the models. The contents of this paper describes SGCI and its thermo-fluids conjugate analysis techniques and capabilities by presenting results from some example models including the cryogenic chill down of a copper pipe, a bar between two walls in a fluid stream, and a solid plate creating a phase change in a flowing fluid.

Multiphysics Simulations: Challenges and Opportunities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keyes, David; McInnes, Lois C.; Woodward, Carol

2013-02-12

We consider multiphysics applications from algorithmic and architectural perspectives, where ‘‘algorithmic’’ includes both mathematical analysis and computational complexity, and ‘‘architectural’’ includes both software and hardware environments. Many diverse multiphysics applications can be reduced, en route to their computational simulation, to a common algebraic coupling paradigm. Mathematical analysis of multiphysics coupling in this form is not always practical for realistic applications, but model problems representative of applications discussed herein can provide insight. A variety of software frameworks for multiphysics applications have been constructed and refined within disciplinary communities and executed on leading-edge computer systems. We examine several of these, expose somemore » commonalities among them, and attempt to extrapolate best practices to future systems. From our study, we summarize challenges and forecast opportunities.« less

A coupled diffusion-fluid pressure model to predict cell density distribution for cells encapsulated in a porous hydrogel scaffold under mechanical loading.

PubMed

Zhao, Feihu; Vaughan, Ted J; Mc Garrigle, Myles J; McNamara, Laoise M

2017-10-01

Tissue formation within tissue engineering (TE) scaffolds is preceded by growth of the cells throughout the scaffold volume and attachment of cells to the scaffold substrate. It is known that mechanical stimulation, in the form of fluid perfusion or mechanical strain, enhances cell differentiation and overall tissue formation. However, due to the complex multi-physics environment of cells within TE scaffolds, cell transport under mechanical stimulation is not fully understood. Therefore, in this study, we have developed a coupled multiphysics model to predict cell density distribution in a TE scaffold. In this model, cell transport is modelled as a thermal conduction process, which is driven by the pore fluid pressure under applied loading. As a case study, the model is investigated to predict the cell density patterns of pre-osteoblasts MC3T3-e1 cells under a range of different loading regimes, to obtain an understanding of desirable mechanical stimulation that will enhance cell density distribution within TE scaffolds. The results of this study have demonstrated that fluid perfusion can result in a higher cell density in the scaffold region closed to the outlet, while cell density distribution under mechanical compression was similar with static condition. More importantly, the study provides a novel computational approach to predict cell distribution in TE scaffolds under mechanical loading. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiphysics Modeling of an Annular Linear Induction Pump With Applications to Space Nuclear Power Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kilbane, J.; Polzin, K. A.

2014-01-01

An annular linear induction pump (ALIP) that could be used for circulating liquid-metal coolant in a fission surface power reactor system is modeled in the present work using the computational COMSOL Multiphysics package. The pump is modeled using a two-dimensional, axisymmetric geometry and solved under conditions similar to those used during experimental pump testing. Real, nonlinear, temperature-dependent material properties can be incorporated into the model for both the electrically-conducting working fluid in the pump (NaK-78) and structural components of the pump. The intricate three-phase coil configuration of the pump is implemented in the model to produce an axially-traveling magnetic wave that is qualitatively similar to the measured magnetic wave. The model qualitatively captures the expected feature of a peak in efficiency as a function of flow rate.

Atomistic to Continuum Multiscale and Multiphysics Simulation of NiTi Shape Memory Alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gur, Sourav

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are materials that show reversible, thermo-elastic, diffusionless, displacive (solid to solid) phase transformation, due to the application of temperature and/ or stress (/strain). Among different SMAs, NiTi is a popular one. NiTi shows reversible phase transformation, the shape memory effect (SME), where irreversible deformations are recovered upon heating, and superelasticity (SE), where large strains imposed at high enough temperatures are fully recovered. Phase transformation process in NiTi SMA is a very complex process that involves the competition between developed internal strain and phonon dispersion instability. In NiTi SMA, phase transformation occurs over a wide range of temperature and/ or stress (strain) which involves, evolution of different crystalline phases (cubic austenite i.e. B2, different monoclinic variant of martensite i.e. B19', and orthorhombic B19 or BCO structures). Further, it is observed from experimental and computational studies that the evolution kinetics and growth rate of different phases in NiTi SMA vary significantly over a wide spectrum of spatio-temporal scales, especially with length scales. At nano-meter length scale, phase transformation temperatures, critical transformation stress (or strain) and phase fraction evolution change significantly with sample or simulation cell size and grain size. Even, below a critical length scale, the phase transformation process stops. All these aspects make NiTi SMA very interesting to the science and engineering research community and in this context, the present focuses on the following aspects. At first this study address the stability, evolution and growth kinetics of different phases (B2 and variants of B19'), at different length scales, starting from the atomic level and ending at the continuum macroscopic level. The effects of simulation cell size, grain size, and presence of free surface and grain boundary on the phase transformation process (transformation temperature, phase fraction evolution kinetics due to temperature) are also demonstrated herein. Next, to couple and transfer the statistical information of length scale dependent phase transformation process, multiscale/ multiphysics methods are used. Here, the computational difficulty from the fact that the representative governing equations (i.e. different sub-methods such as molecular dynamics simulations, phase field simulations and continuum level constitutive/ material models) are only valid or can be implemented over a range of spatiotemporal scales. Therefore, in the present study, a wavelet based multiscale coupling method is used, where simulation results (phase fraction evolution kinetics) from different sub-methods are linked via concurrent multiscale coupling fashion. Finally, these multiscale/ multiphysics simulation results are used to develop/ modify the macro/ continuum scale thermo-mechanical constitutive relations for NiTi SMA. Finally, the improved material model is used to model new devices, such as thermal diodes and smart dampers.

Computational thermo-fluid dynamics contributions to advanced gas turbine engine design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graham, R. W.; Adamczyk, J. J.; Rohlik, H. E.

1984-01-01

The design practices for the gas turbine are traced throughout history with particular emphasis on the calculational or analytical methods. Three principal components of the gas turbine engine will be considered: namely, the compressor, the combustor and the turbine.

Tackling some of the most intricate geophysical challenges via high-performance computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khosronejad, A.

2016-12-01

Recently, world has been witnessing significant enhancements in computing power of supercomputers. Computer clusters in conjunction with the advanced mathematical algorithms has set the stage for developing and applying powerful numerical tools to tackle some of the most intricate geophysical challenges that today`s engineers face. One such challenge is to understand how turbulent flows, in real-world settings, interact with (a) rigid and/or mobile complex bed bathymetry of waterways and sea-beds in the coastal areas; (b) objects with complex geometry that are fully or partially immersed; and (c) free-surface of waterways and water surface waves in the coastal area. This understanding is especially important because the turbulent flows in real-world environments are often bounded by geometrically complex boundaries, which dynamically deform and give rise to multi-scale and multi-physics transport phenomena, and characterized by multi-lateral interactions among various phases (e.g. air/water/sediment phases). Herein, I present some of the multi-scale and multi-physics geophysical fluid mechanics processes that I have attempted to study using an in-house high-performance computational model, the so-called VFS-Geophysics. More specifically, I will present the simulation results of turbulence/sediment/solute/turbine interactions in real-world settings. Parts of the simulations I present are performed to gain scientific insights into the processes such as sand wave formation (A. Khosronejad, and F. Sotiropoulos, (2014), Numerical simulation of sand waves in a turbulent open channel flow, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 753:150-216), while others are carried out to predict the effects of climate change and large flood events on societal infrastructures ( A. Khosronejad, et al., (2016), Large eddy simulation of turbulence and solute transport in a forested headwater stream, Journal of Geophysical Research:, doi: 10.1002/2014JF003423).

Simulation in Metallurgical Processing: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludwig, Andreas; Wu, Menghuai; Kharicha, Abdellah

2016-08-01

This article briefly addresses the most important topics concerning numerical simulation of metallurgical processes, namely, multiphase issues (particle and bubble motion and flotation/sedimentation of equiaxed crystals during solidification), multiphysics issues (electromagnetic stirring, electro-slag remelting, Cu-electro-refining, fluid-structure interaction, and mushy zone deformation), process simulations on graphical processing units, integrated computational materials engineering, and automatic optimization via simulation. The present state-of-the-art as well as requirements for future developments are presented and briefly discussed.

Multiphysics Code Demonstrated for Propulsion Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, Charles; Melis, Matthew E.

1998-01-01

The utility of multidisciplinary analysis tools for aeropropulsion applications is being investigated at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The goal of this project is to apply Spectrum, a multiphysics code developed by Centric Engineering Systems, Inc., to simulate multidisciplinary effects in turbomachinery components. Many engineering problems today involve detailed computer analyses to predict the thermal, aerodynamic, and structural response of a mechanical system as it undergoes service loading. Analysis of aerospace structures generally requires attention in all three disciplinary areas to adequately predict component service behavior, and in many cases, the results from one discipline substantially affect the outcome of the other two. There are numerous computer codes currently available in the engineering community to perform such analyses in each of these disciplines. Many of these codes are developed and used in-house by a given organization, and many are commercially available. However, few, if any, of these codes are designed specifically for multidisciplinary analyses. The Spectrum code has been developed for performing fully coupled fluid, thermal, and structural analyses on a mechanical system with a single simulation that accounts for all simultaneous interactions, thus eliminating the requirement for running a large number of sequential, separate, disciplinary analyses. The Spectrum code has a true multiphysics analysis capability, which improves analysis efficiency as well as accuracy. Centric Engineering, Inc., working with a team of Lewis and AlliedSignal Engines engineers, has been evaluating Spectrum for a variety of propulsion applications including disk quenching, drum cavity flow, aeromechanical simulations, and a centrifugal compressor flow simulation.

CFD Multiphysics Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perrell, Eric R.

2005-01-01

The recent bold initiatives to expand the human presence in space require innovative approaches to the design of propulsion systems whose underlying technology is not yet mature. The space propulsion community has identified a number of candidate concepts. A short list includes solar sails, high-energy-density chemical propellants, electric and electromagnetic accelerators, solar-thermal and nuclear-thermal expanders. For each of these, the underlying physics are relatively well understood. One could easily cite authoritative texts, addressing both the governing equations, and practical solution methods for, e.g. electromagnetic fields, heat transfer, radiation, thermophysics, structural dynamics, particulate kinematics, nuclear energy, power conversion, and fluid dynamics. One could also easily cite scholarly works in which complete equation sets for any one of these physical processes have been accurately solved relative to complex engineered systems. The Advanced Concepts and Analysis Office (ACAO), Space Transportation Directorate, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, has recently released the first alpha version of a set of computer utilities for performing the applicable physical analyses relative to candidate deep-space propulsion systems such as those listed above. PARSEC, Preliminary Analysis of Revolutionary in-Space Engineering Concepts, enables rapid iterative calculations using several physics tools developed in-house. A complete cycle of the entire tool set takes about twenty minutes. PARSEC is a level-zero/level-one design tool. For PARSEC s proof-of-concept, and preliminary design decision-making, assumptions that significantly simplify the governing equation sets are necessary. To proceed to level-two, one wishes to retain modeling of the underlying physics as close as practical to known applicable first principles. This report describes results of collaboration between ACAO, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), to begin building a set of level-two design tools for PARSEC. The "CFD Multiphysics Tool" will be the propulsive element of the tool set. The name acknowledges that space propulsion performance assessment is primarily a fluid mechanics problem. At the core of the CFD Multiphysics Tool is an open-source CFD code, HYP, under development at ERAU. ERAU is renowned for its undergraduate degree program in Aerospace Engineering the largest in the nation. The strength of the program is its applications-oriented curriculum, which culminates in one of three two-course Engineering Design sequences: Aerospace Propulsion, Spacecraft, or Aircraft. This same philosophy applies to the HYP Project, albeit with fluid physics modeling commensurate with graduate research. HYP s purpose, like the Multiphysics Tool s, is to enable calculations of real (three-dimensional; geometrically complex; intended for hardware development) applications of high speed and propulsive fluid flows.

Thermo-poroelastic response of an argillaceous limestone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selvadurai, Patrick; Najari, Meysam

2016-04-01

Argillaceous limestones are now being considered by many countries that intend to develop deep geologic storage facilities for siting both high-level and intermediate- to low-level nuclear fuel wastes. In deep geologic settings for high level nuclear wastes, the heating due to radioactive decay is transmitted through an engineered barrier, which consists of the waste container and an engineered geologic barrier, which consists of an encapsulating compacted bentonite. The heat transfer process therefore leads to heating of the rock mass where the temperature of the rock is substantially lower than the surface temperature of the waste container. This permits the use of mathematical theories of poroelastic media where phase transformations, involving conversion of water to a vapour form are absent. While the thermo-poroelastic responses of geologic media such as granite and porous tuff have been investigated in the literature, the investigation of thermo-poroelastic responses of argillaceous limestones is relatively new. Argillaceous limestones are considered to be suitable candidates for siting deep geologic repositories owing to the ability to accommodate stress states with generation of severe defects that can influence their transmissivity characteristics. Also the clay fraction in such rocks can contribute to long term healing type phenomena, which is a considerable advantage. This research presents the results of a laboratory investigation and computational modelling of the same that examines the applicability of the theory of thermo-poroelasticity, which extend Biot's classical theory of poroelasticity to include uncoupled heat conduction. The experimental configuration involves the boundary heating of a cylinder of the Cobourg Limestone from southern Ontario, Canada. The cylinder measuring 150 mm in diameter and 278 mm in length contains an axisymmetric fluid-filled cylindrical cavity measuring 26 mm in diameter and 139 mm in length. Thermo-poroelastic effects are induced by instantaneously raising the boundary temperature of the cylinder from 25oC to either 40oC or 60oC. The thermo-poroelastic effects will lead to the generation of pore fluid pressures in the sealed cavity. The cavity fluid pressures will increase with time and will decay as the excess pressure diffuse into the argillaceous limestone. This pressure pulse signature is used to validate the applicability of a thermo-hydro-mechanical model, where the mechanical, physical and flow parameters used have been determined form separate tests. The correlation between the experimental results and the computational predictions are also assessed in terms of a sensitivity study where ranges of estimates are assigned for parameters with critical influences. _____________________________________________ 1 William Scott Professor and James McGill Professor 2 Post Doctoral Fellow

Enabling Predictive Simulation and UQ of Complex Multiphysics PDE Systems by the Development of Goal-Oriented Variational Sensitivity Analysis and a-Posteriori Error Estimation Methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Estep, Donald

2015-11-30

This project addressed the challenge of predictive computational analysis of strongly coupled, highly nonlinear multiphysics systems characterized by multiple physical phenomena that span a large range of length- and time-scales. Specifically, the project was focused on computational estimation of numerical error and sensitivity analysis of computational solutions with respect to variations in parameters and data. In addition, the project investigated the use of accurate computational estimates to guide efficient adaptive discretization. The project developed, analyzed and evaluated new variational adjoint-based techniques for integration, model, and data error estimation/control and sensitivity analysis, in evolutionary multiphysics multiscale simulations.

ThermoFit: A Set of Software Tools, Protocols and Schema for the Organization of Thermodynamic Data and for the Development, Maintenance, and Distribution of Internally Consistent Thermodynamic Data/Model Collections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghiorso, M. S.

2013-12-01

Internally consistent thermodynamic databases are critical resources that facilitate the calculation of heterogeneous phase equilibria and thereby support geochemical, petrological, and geodynamical modeling. These 'databases' are actually derived data/model systems that depend on a diverse suite of physical property measurements, calorimetric data, and experimental phase equilibrium brackets. In addition, such databases are calibrated with the adoption of various models for extrapolation of heat capacities and volumetric equations of state to elevated temperature and pressure conditions. Finally, these databases require specification of thermochemical models for the mixing properties of solid, liquid, and fluid solutions, which are often rooted in physical theory and, in turn, depend on additional experimental observations. The process of 'calibrating' a thermochemical database involves considerable effort and an extensive computational infrastructure. Because of these complexities, the community tends to rely on a small number of thermochemical databases, generated by a few researchers; these databases often have limited longevity and are universally difficult to maintain. ThermoFit is a software framework and user interface whose aim is to provide a modeling environment that facilitates creation, maintenance and distribution of thermodynamic data/model collections. Underlying ThermoFit are data archives of fundamental physical property, calorimetric, crystallographic, and phase equilibrium constraints that provide the essential experimental information from which thermodynamic databases are traditionally calibrated. ThermoFit standardizes schema for accessing these data archives and provides web services for data mining these collections. Beyond simple data management and interoperability, ThermoFit provides a collection of visualization and software modeling tools that streamline the model/database generation process. Most notably, ThermoFit facilitates the rapid visualization of predicted model outcomes and permits the user to modify these outcomes using tactile- or mouse-based GUI interaction, permitting real-time updates that reflect users choices, preferences, and priorities involving derived model results. This ability permits some resolution of the problem of correlated model parameters in the common situation where thermodynamic models must be calibrated from inadequate data resources. The ability also allows modeling constraints to be imposed using natural data and observations (i.e. petrologic or geochemical intuition). Once formulated, ThermoFit facilitates deployment of data/model collections by automated creation of web services. Users consume these services via web-, excel-, or desktop-clients. ThermoFit is currently under active development and not yet generally available; a limited capability prototype system has been coded for Macintosh computers and utilized to construct thermochemical models for H2O-CO2 mixed fluid saturation in silicate liquids. The longer term goal is to release ThermoFit as a web portal application client with server-based cloud computations supporting the modeling environment.

Thermo-Physical Properties of Intermediate Temperature Heat Pipe Fluids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beach, Duane E. (Technical Monitor); Devarakonda, Angirasa; Anderson, William G.

2005-01-01

Heat pipes are among the most promising technologies for space radiator systems. The paper reports further evaluation of potential heat pipe fluids in the intermediate temperature range of 400 to 700 K in continuation of two recent reports. More thermo-physical property data are examined. Organic, inorganic, and elemental substances are considered. The evaluation of surface tension and other fluid properties are examined. Halides are evaluated as potential heat pipe fluids. Reliable data are not available for all fluids and further database development is necessary. Many of the fluids considered are promising candidates as heat pipe fluids. Water is promising as a heat pipe fluid up to 500 to 550 K. Life test data for thermo-chemical compatibility are almost non-existent.

Thermo-Physical Properties of Intermediate Temperature Heat Pipe Fluids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Devarakonda, Angirasa; Anderson, William G.

2004-01-01

Heat pipes are among the most promising technologies for space radiator systems. The paper reports further evaluation of potential heat pipe fluids in the intermediate temperature range of 400 to 700 K in continuation of two recent reports. More thermo-physical property data are examined. Organic, inorganic and elemental substances are considered. The evaluation of surface tension and other fluid properties are examined. Halides are evaluated as potential heat pipe fluids. Reliable data are not available for all fluids and further database development in necessary. Many of the fluids considered are promising candidates as heat pipe fluids. Water is promising as a heat pipe fluid up to 500-550 K. Life test data for thermo-chemical compatibility are almost non-existent.

Lattice Boltzmann modeling of transport phenomena in fuel cells and flow batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Ao; Shyy, Wei; Zhao, Tianshou

2017-06-01

Fuel cells and flow batteries are promising technologies to address climate change and air pollution problems. An understanding of the complex multiscale and multiphysics transport phenomena occurring in these electrochemical systems requires powerful numerical tools. Over the past decades, the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method has attracted broad interest in the computational fluid dynamics and the numerical heat transfer communities, primarily due to its kinetic nature making it appropriate for modeling complex multiphase transport phenomena. More importantly, the LB method fits well with parallel computing due to its locality feature, which is required for large-scale engineering applications. In this article, we review the LB method for gas-liquid two-phase flows, coupled fluid flow and mass transport in porous media, and particulate flows. Examples of applications are provided in fuel cells and flow batteries. Further developments of the LB method are also outlined.

Numerical modeling of continuous flow microwave heating: a critical comparison of COMSOL and ANSYS.

PubMed

Salvi, D; Boldor, Dorin; Ortego, J; Aita, G M; Sabliov, C M

2010-01-01

Numerical models were developed to simulate temperature profiles in Newtonian fluids during continuous flow microwave heating by one way coupling electromagnetism, fluid flow, and heat transport in ANSYS 8.0 and COMSOL Multiphysics v3.4. Comparison of the results from the COMSOL model with the results from a pre-developed and validated ANSYS model ensured accuracy of the COMSOL model. Prediction of power Loss by both models was in close agreement (5-13% variation) and the predicted temperature profiles were similar. COMSOL provided a flexible model setup whereas ANSYS required coupling incompatible elements to transfer load between electromagnetic, fluid flow, and heat transport modules. Overall, both software packages provided the ability to solve multiphysics phenomena accurately.

REDBACK: an Open-Source Highly Scalable Simulation Tool for Rock Mechanics with Dissipative Feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poulet, T.; Veveakis, M.; Paesold, M.; Regenauer-Lieb, K.

2014-12-01

Multiphysics modelling has become an indispensable tool for geoscientists to simulate the complex behaviours observed in their various fields of study where multiple processes are involved, including thermal, hydraulic, mechanical and chemical (THMC) laws. This modelling activity involves simulations that are computationally expensive and its soaring uptake is tightly linked to the increasing availability of supercomputing power and easy access to powerful nonlinear solvers such as PETSc (http://www.mcs.anl.gov/petsc/). The Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) is a finite-element, multiphysics framework (http://mooseframework.org) that can harness such computational power and allow scientists to develop easily some tightly-coupled fully implicit multiphysics simulations that run automatically in parallel on large clusters. This open-source framework provides a powerful tool to collaborate on numerical modelling activities and we are contributing to its development with REDBACK (https://github.com/pou036/redback), a module for Rock mEchanics with Dissipative feedBACKs. REDBACK builds on the tensor mechanics finite strain implementation available in MOOSE to provide a THMC simulator where the energetic formulation highlights the importance of all dissipative terms in the coupled system of equations. We show first applications of fully coupled dehydration reactions triggering episodic fluid transfer through shear zones (Alevizos et al, 2014). The dimensionless approach used allows focusing on the critical underlying variables which are driving the resulting behaviours observed and this tool is specifically designed to study material instabilities underpinning geological features like faulting, folding, boudinage, shearing, fracturing, etc. REDBACK provides a collaborative and educational tool which captures the physical and mathematical understanding of such material instabilities and provides an easy way to apply this knowledge to realistic scenarios, where the size and complexity of the geometries considered, along with the material parameters distributions, add as many sources of different instabilities. References: Alevizos, S., T. Poulet, and E. Veveakis (2014), J. Geophys. Res., 119, 4558-4582, doi:10.1002/2013JB010070.

Laser Heating of the Core-Shell Nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Astefanoaei, Iordana; Dumitru, Ioan; Stancu, Alexandru

2016-12-01

The induced thermal stress in a heating process is an important parameter to be known and controlled in the magnetization process of core-shell nanowires. This paper analyses the stress produced by a laser heating source placed at one end of a core-shell type structure. The thermal field was computed with the non-Fourier heat transport equation using a finite element method (FEM) implemented in Comsol Multiphysics. The internal stresses are essentially due to thermal gradients and different expansion characteristics of core and shell materials. The stress values were computed using the thermo elastic formalism and are depending on the laser beam parameters (spot size, power etc.) and system characteristics (dimensions, thermal characteristics). Stresses in the GPa range were estimated and consequently we find that the magnetic state of the system can be influenced significantly. A shell material as the glass which is a good thermal insulator induces in the magnetic core, the smaller stresses and consequently the smaller magnetoelastic energy. These results lead to a better understanding of the switching process in the magnetic materials.

A finite difference method for a coupled model of wave propagation in poroelastic materials.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Song, Limin; Deffenbaugh, Max; Toksöz, M Nafi

2010-05-01

A computational method for time-domain multi-physics simulation of wave propagation in a poroelastic medium is presented. The medium is composed of an elastic matrix saturated with a Newtonian fluid, and the method operates on a digital representation of the medium where a distinct material phase and properties are specified at each volume cell. The dynamic response to an acoustic excitation is modeled mathematically with a coupled system of equations: elastic wave equation in the solid matrix and linearized Navier-Stokes equation in the fluid. Implementation of the solution is simplified by introducing a common numerical form for both solid and fluid cells and using a rotated-staggered-grid which allows stable solutions without explicitly handling the fluid-solid boundary conditions. A stability analysis is presented which can be used to select gridding and time step size as a function of material properties. The numerical results are shown to agree with the analytical solution for an idealized porous medium of periodically alternating solid and fluid layers.

Multiphysics control of a two-fluid coaxial atomizer supported by electric-charge on the liquid jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machicoane, Nathanael; Osuna, Rodrigo; Aliseda, Alberto

2017-11-01

We present an experimental setup to investigate multiphysics control strategies on atomization of a laminar fluid stream by a coaxial turbulent jet. Spray control (i.e. driving the droplet size distribution and the spatio-temporal location of the droplets towards a desired objective) has many potential engineering applications, but requires a mechanistic understanding of the processes that control droplet formation and transport (primary and secondary instabilities, turbulent transport, hydrodynamic and electric forces on the droplets, ...). We characterize experimentally the break-up dynamics in a canonical coaxial atomizer, and the spray structure (droplet size, location, and velocity as a function of time) in a series of open loop conditions with harmonic forcing of the gas swirl ratio, liquid injection rate, the electric field strength at the nozzle and along the spray development region. The effect of these actuators are characterized for different gas Reynolds numbers ranging from 104-106. This open-loop characterization of the injector will be used to develop reduced order models for feedback control, as well as to validate assumptions underlying an adjoint-based computational control strategy. This work is part of a large-scale project funded by an ONR MURI to provide fundamental understanding of the mechanisms for feedback control of sprays.

BIGHORN Computational Fluid Dynamics Theory, Methodology, and Code Verification & Validation Benchmark Problems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xia, Yidong; Andrs, David; Martineau, Richard Charles

This document presents the theoretical background for a hybrid finite-element / finite-volume fluid flow solver, namely BIGHORN, based on the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) computational framework developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). An overview of the numerical methods used in BIGHORN are discussed and followed by a presentation of the formulation details. The document begins with the governing equations for the compressible fluid flow, with an outline of the requisite constitutive relations. A second-order finite volume method used for solving the compressible fluid flow problems is presented next. A Pressure-Corrected Implicit Continuous-fluid Eulerian (PCICE) formulation for timemore » integration is also presented. The multi-fluid formulation is being developed. Although multi-fluid is not fully-developed, BIGHORN has been designed to handle multi-fluid problems. Due to the flexibility in the underlying MOOSE framework, BIGHORN is quite extensible, and can accommodate both multi-species and multi-phase formulations. This document also presents a suite of verification & validation benchmark test problems for BIGHORN. The intent for this suite of problems is to provide baseline comparison data that demonstrates the performance of the BIGHORN solution methods on problems that vary in complexity from laminar to turbulent flows. Wherever possible, some form of solution verification has been attempted to identify sensitivities in the solution methods, and suggest best practices when using BIGHORN.« less

A Comparison of Curing Process-Induced Residual Stresses and Cure Shrinkage in Micro-Scale Composite Structures with Different Constitutive Laws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dongna; Li, Xudong; Dai, Jianfeng; Xi, Shangbin

2018-02-01

In this paper, three kinds of constitutive laws, elastic, "cure hardening instantaneously linear elastic (CHILE)" and viscoelastic law, are used to predict curing process-induced residual stress for the thermoset polymer composites. A multi-physics coupling finite element analysis (FEA) model implementing the proposed three approaches is established in COMSOL Multiphysics-Version 4.3b. The evolution of thermo-physical properties with temperature and degree of cure (DOC), which improved the accuracy of numerical simulations, and cure shrinkage are taken into account for the three models. Subsequently, these three proposed constitutive models are implemented respectively in a 3D micro-scale composite laminate structure. Compared the differences between these three numerical results, it indicates that big error in residual stress and cure shrinkage generates by elastic model, but the results calculated by the modified CHILE model are in excellent agreement with those estimated by the viscoelastic model.

Optimization and parallelization of the thermal–hydraulic subchannel code CTF for high-fidelity multi-physics applications

DOE PAGES

Salko, Robert K.; Schmidt, Rodney C.; Avramova, Maria N.

2014-11-23

This study describes major improvements to the computational infrastructure of the CTF subchannel code so that full-core, pincell-resolved (i.e., one computational subchannel per real bundle flow channel) simulations can now be performed in much shorter run-times, either in stand-alone mode or as part of coupled-code multi-physics calculations. These improvements support the goals of the Department Of Energy Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) Energy Innovation Hub to develop high fidelity multi-physics simulation tools for nuclear energy design and analysis.

gpuSPHASE-A shared memory caching implementation for 2D SPH using CUDA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkler, Daniel; Meister, Michael; Rezavand, Massoud; Rauch, Wolfgang

2017-04-01

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless Lagrangian method that has been successfully applied to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), solid mechanics and many other multi-physics problems. Using the method to solve transport phenomena in process engineering requires the simulation of several days to weeks of physical time. Based on the high computational demand of CFD such simulations in 3D need a computation time of years so that a reduction to a 2D domain is inevitable. In this paper gpuSPHASE, a new open-source 2D SPH solver implementation for graphics devices, is developed. It is optimized for simulations that must be executed with thousands of frames per second to be computed in reasonable time. A novel caching algorithm for Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) shared memory is proposed and implemented. The software is validated and the performance is evaluated for the well established dambreak test case.

Thermo-mechanical behavior of power electronic packaging assemblies: From characterization to predictive simulation of lifetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalverny, O.; Alexis, J.

2018-02-01

This article deals with thermo-mechanical behavior of power electronic modules used in several transportation applications as railway, aeronautic or automotive systems. Due to a multi-layered structures, involving different materials with a large variation of coefficient of thermal expansion, temperature variations originated from active or passive cycling (respectively from die dissipation or environmental constraint) induces strain and stresses field variations, giving fatigue phenomenon of the system. The analysis of the behavior of these systems and their dimensioning require the implementation of complex modeling strategies by both the multi-physical and the multi-scale character of the power modules. In this paper we present some solutions for studying the thermomechanical behavior of brazed assemblies as well as taking into account the interfaces represented by the numerous metallizations involved in the process assembly.

Shock-driven fluid-structure interaction for civil design

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wood, Stephen L; Deiterding, Ralf

The multiphysics fluid-structure interaction simulation of shock-loaded structures requires the dynamic coupling of a shock-capturing flow solver to a solid mechanics solver for large deformations. The Virtual Test Facility combines a Cartesian embedded boundary approach with dynamic mesh adaptation in a generic software framework of flow solvers using hydrodynamic finite volume upwind schemes that are coupled to various explicit finite element solid dynamics solvers (Deiterding et al., 2006). This paper gives a brief overview of the computational approach and presents first simulations that utilize the general purpose solid dynamics code DYNA3D for complex 3D structures of interest in civil engineering.more » Results from simulations of a reinforced column, highway bridge, multistory building, and nuclear reactor building are presented.« less

Droplet flow along the wall of rectangular channel with gradient of wettability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kupershtokh, A. L.

2018-03-01

The lattice Boltzmann equations (LBE) method (LBM) is applicable for simulating the multiphysics problems of fluid flows with free boundaries, taking into account the viscosity, surface tension, evaporation and wetting degree of a solid surface. Modeling of the nonstationary motion of a drop of liquid along a solid surface with a variable level of wettability is carried out. For the computer simulation of such a problem, the three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann equations method D3Q19 is used. The LBE method allows us to parallelize the calculations on multiprocessor graphics accelerators using the CUDA programming technology.

Multi-Physics Computational Grains (MPCGs): Newly-Developed Accurate and Efficient Numerical Methods for Micromechanical Modeling of Multifunctional Materials and Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bishay, Peter L.

This study presents a new family of highly accurate and efficient computational methods for modeling the multi-physics of multifunctional materials and composites in the micro-scale named "Multi-Physics Computational Grains" (MPCGs). Each "mathematical grain" has a random polygonal/polyhedral geometrical shape that resembles the natural shapes of the material grains in the micro-scale where each grain is surrounded by an arbitrary number of neighboring grains. The physics that are incorporated in this study include: Linear Elasticity, Electrostatics, Magnetostatics, Piezoelectricity, Piezomagnetism and Ferroelectricity. However, the methods proposed here can be extended to include more physics (thermo-elasticity, pyroelectricity, electric conduction, heat conduction, etc.) in their formulation, different analysis types (dynamics, fracture, fatigue, etc.), nonlinearities, different defect shapes, and some of the 2D methods can also be extended to 3D formulation. We present "Multi-Region Trefftz Collocation Grains" (MTCGs) as a simple and efficient method for direct and inverse problems, "Trefftz-Lekhnitskii Computational Gains" (TLCGs) for modeling porous and composite smart materials, "Hybrid Displacement Computational Grains" (HDCGs) as a general method for modeling multifunctional materials and composites, and finally "Radial-Basis-Functions Computational Grains" (RBFCGs) for modeling functionally-graded materials, magneto-electro-elastic (MEE) materials and the switching phenomena in ferroelectric materials. The first three proposed methods are suitable for direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the micromechanics of smart composite/porous materials with non-symmetrical arrangement of voids/inclusions, and provide minimal effort in meshing and minimal time in computations, since each grain can represent the matrix of a composite and can include a pore or an inclusion. The last three methods provide stiffness matrix in their formulation and hence can be readily implemented in a finite element routine. Several numerical examples are provided to show the ability and accuracy of the proposed methods to determine the effective material properties of different types of piezo-composites, and detect the damage-prone sites in a microstructure under certain loading types. The last method (RBFCGs) is also suitable for modeling the switching phenomena in ferro-materials (ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, etc.) after incorporating a certain nonlinear constitutive model and a switching criterion. Since the interaction between grains during loading cycles has a profound influence on the switching phenomena, it is important to simulate the grains with geometrical shapes that are similar to the real shapes of grains as seen in lab experiments. Hence the use of the 3D RBFCGs, which allow for the presence of all the six variants of the constitutive relations, together with the randomly generated crystallographic axes in each grain, as done in the present study, is considered to be the most realistic model that can be used for the direct mesoscale numerical simulation (DMNS) of polycrystalline ferro-materials.

High Precision Thermal, Structural and Optical Analysis of an External Occulter Using a Common Model and the General Purpose Multi-Physics Analysis Tool Cielo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoff, Claus; Cady, Eric; Chainyk, Mike; Kissil, Andrew; Levine, Marie; Moore, Greg

2011-01-01

The efficient simulation of multidisciplinary thermo-opto-mechanical effects in precision deployable systems has for years been limited by numerical toolsets that do not necessarily share the same finite element basis, level of mesh discretization, data formats, or compute platforms. Cielo, a general purpose integrated modeling tool funded by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Exoplanet Exploration Program, addresses shortcomings in the current state of the art via features that enable the use of a single, common model for thermal, structural and optical aberration analysis, producing results of greater accuracy, without the need for results interpolation or mapping. This paper will highlight some of these advances, and will demonstrate them within the context of detailed external occulter analyses, focusing on in-plane deformations of the petal edges for both steady-state and transient conditions, with subsequent optical performance metrics including intensity distributions at the pupil and image plane.

Reversible Self-Actuated Thermo-Responsive Pore Membrane

PubMed Central

Park, Younggeun; Gutierrez, Maria Paz; Lee, Luke P.

2016-01-01

Smart membranes, which can selectively control the transfer of light, air, humidity and temperature, are important to achieve indoor climate regulation. Even though reversible self-actuation of smart membranes is desirable in large-scale, reversible self-regulation remains challenging. Specifically, reversible 100% opening/closing of pore actuation showing accurate responsiveness, reproducibility and structural flexibility, including uniform structure assembly, is currently very difficult. Here, we report a reversible, thermo-responsive self-activated pore membrane that achieves opening and closing of pores. The reversible, self-actuated thermo-responsive pore membrane was fabricated with hybrid materials of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide), (PNIPAM) within polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to form a multi-dimensional pore array. Using Multiphysics simulation of heat transfer and structural mechanics based on finite element analysis, we demonstrated that pore opening and closing dynamics can be self-activated at environmentally relevant temperatures. Temperature cycle characterizations of the pore structure revealed 100% opening ratio at T = 40 °C and 0% opening ratio at T = 20 °C. The flexibility of the membrane showed an accurate temperature-responsive function at a maximum bending angle of 45°. Addressing the importance of self-regulation, this reversible self-actuated thermo-responsive pore membrane will advance the development of future large-scale smart membranes needed for sustainable indoor climate control. PMID:27991563

Reversible Self-Actuated Thermo-Responsive Pore Membrane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Younggeun; Gutierrez, Maria Paz; Lee, Luke P.

2016-12-01

Smart membranes, which can selectively control the transfer of light, air, humidity and temperature, are important to achieve indoor climate regulation. Even though reversible self-actuation of smart membranes is desirable in large-scale, reversible self-regulation remains challenging. Specifically, reversible 100% opening/closing of pore actuation showing accurate responsiveness, reproducibility and structural flexibility, including uniform structure assembly, is currently very difficult. Here, we report a reversible, thermo-responsive self-activated pore membrane that achieves opening and closing of pores. The reversible, self-actuated thermo-responsive pore membrane was fabricated with hybrid materials of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide), (PNIPAM) within polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to form a multi-dimensional pore array. Using Multiphysics simulation of heat transfer and structural mechanics based on finite element analysis, we demonstrated that pore opening and closing dynamics can be self-activated at environmentally relevant temperatures. Temperature cycle characterizations of the pore structure revealed 100% opening ratio at T = 40 °C and 0% opening ratio at T = 20 °C. The flexibility of the membrane showed an accurate temperature-responsive function at a maximum bending angle of 45°. Addressing the importance of self-regulation, this reversible self-actuated thermo-responsive pore membrane will advance the development of future large-scale smart membranes needed for sustainable indoor climate control.

Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program, Version 5.0-Educational

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, A. K.

2011-01-01

The Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) is a finite-volume based general-purpose computer program for analyzing steady state and time-dependent flow rates, pressures, temperatures, and concentrations in a complex flow network. The program is capable of modeling real fluids with phase changes, compressibility, mixture thermodynamics, conjugate heat transfer between solid and fluid, fluid transients, pumps, compressors and external body forces such as gravity and centrifugal. The thermofluid system to be analyzed is discretized into nodes, branches, and conductors. The scalar properties such as pressure, temperature, and concentrations are calculated at nodes. Mass flow rates and heat transfer rates are computed in branches and conductors. The graphical user interface allows users to build their models using the point, drag and click method; the users can also run their models and post-process the results in the same environment. The integrated fluid library supplies thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties of 36 fluids and 21 different resistance/source options are provided for modeling momentum sources or sinks in the branches. This Technical Memorandum illustrates the application and verification of the code through 12 demonstrated example problems.

Multiphysics Computational Analysis of a Solid-Core Nuclear Thermal Engine Thrust Chamber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Ten-See; Canabal, Francisco; Cheng, Gary; Chen, Yen-Sen

2007-01-01

The objective of this effort is to develop an efficient and accurate computational heat transfer methodology to predict thermal, fluid, and hydrogen environments for a hypothetical solid-core, nuclear thermal engine - the Small Engine. In addition, the effects of power profile and hydrogen conversion on heat transfer efficiency and thrust performance were also investigated. The computational methodology is based on an unstructured-grid, pressure-based, all speeds, chemically reacting, computational fluid dynamics platform, while formulations of conjugate heat transfer were implemented to describe the heat transfer from solid to hydrogen inside the solid-core reactor. The computational domain covers the entire thrust chamber so that the afore-mentioned heat transfer effects impact the thrust performance directly. The result shows that the computed core-exit gas temperature, specific impulse, and core pressure drop agree well with those of design data for the Small Engine. Finite-rate chemistry is very important in predicting the proper energy balance as naturally occurring hydrogen decomposition is endothermic. Locally strong hydrogen conversion associated with centralized power profile gives poor heat transfer efficiency and lower thrust performance. On the other hand, uniform hydrogen conversion associated with a more uniform radial power profile achieves higher heat transfer efficiency, and higher thrust performance.

Analysis of Aerospike Plume Induced Base-Heating Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Ten-See

1998-01-01

Computational analysis is conducted to study the effect of an aerospike engine plume on X-33 base-heating environment during ascent flight. To properly account for the effect of forebody and aftbody flowfield such as shocks and to allow for potential plume-induced flow-separation, thermo-flowfield of trajectory points is computed. The computational methodology is based on a three-dimensional finite-difference, viscous flow, chemically reacting, pressure-base computational fluid dynamics formulation, and a three-dimensional, finite-volume, spectral-line based weighted-sum-of-gray-gases radiation absorption model computational heat transfer formulation. The predicted convective and radiative base-heat fluxes are presented.

Modeling Coupled Physical and Chemical Erosional Processes Using Structure from Motion Reconstruction and Multiphysics Simulation: Applications to Knickpoints in Bedrock Streams in Limestone Caves and on Earth's Surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosch, R.; Ward, D.

2017-12-01

Investigation of erosion rates and processes at knickpoints in surface bedrock streams is an active area of research, involving complex feedbacks in the coupled relationships between dissolution, abrasion, and plucking that have not been sufficiently addressed. Even less research has addressed how these processes operate to propagate knickpoints through cave passages in layered sedimentary rocks, despite these features being common along subsurface streams. In both settings, there is evidence for mechanical and chemical erosion, but in cave passages the different hydrologic and hydraulic regimes, combined with an important role for the dissolution process, affect the relative roles and coupled interactions between these processes, and distinguish them from surface stream knickpoints. Using a novel approach of imaging cave passages using Structure from Motion (SFM), we create 3D geometry meshes to explore these systems using multiphysics simulation, and compare the processes as they occur in caves with those in surface streams. Here we focus on four field sites with actively eroding streambeds that include knickpoints: Upper River Acheron and Devil's Cooling Tub in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; and two surface streams in Clermont County, Ohio, Avey's Run and Fox Run. SFM 3D reconstructions are built using images exported from 4K video shot at each field location. We demonstrate that SFM is a viable imaging approach for reconstructing cave passages with complex morphologies. We then use these reconstructions to create meshes upon which to run multiphysics simulations using STAR-CCM+. Our approach incorporates multiphase free-surface computational fluid dynamics simulations with sediment transport modeled using discrete element method grains. Physical and chemical properties of the water, bedrock, and sediment enable computation of shear stress, sediment impact forces, and chemical kinetic conditions at the bed surface. Preliminary results prove the efficacy of commercially available multiphysics simulation software for modeling various flow conditions, erosional processes, and their complex coupled interactions in cave passages and in surface stream channels to expand knowledge and understanding of overall cave system development and river profile erosion.

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC, year 2 quarter 1 progress report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lottes, S.A.; Bojanowski, C.; Shen, J.

2012-04-09

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. Themore » analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to improve design allowing for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFHRC wind engineering laboratory. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of October through December 2011.« less

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC, year 2 quarter 2 progress report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lottes, S.A.; Bojanowski, C.; Shen, J.

2012-06-28

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. Themore » analysis methods employ well benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to improve design allowing for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFHRC wind engineering laboratory. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of January through March 2012.« less

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC, year 1 quarter 3 progress report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lottes, S.A.; Kulak, R.F.; Bojanowski, C.

2011-08-26

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. Themore » analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water loads on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to assess them for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, vehicle stability under high wind loading, and the use of electromagnetic shock absorbers to improve vehicle stability under high wind conditions. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of April through June 2011.« less

Multi-Physics MRI-Based Two-Layer Fluid-Structure Interaction Anisotropic Models of Human Right and Left Ventricles with Different Patch Materials: Cardiac Function Assessment and Mechanical Stress Analysis

PubMed Central

Tang, Dalin; Yang, Chun; Geva, Tal; Gaudette, Glenn; del Nido, Pedro J.

2011-01-01

Multi-physics right and left ventricle (RV/LV) fluid-structure interaction (FSI) models were introduced to perform mechanical stress analysis and evaluate the effect of patch materials on RV function. The FSI models included three different patch materials (Dacron scaffold, treated pericardium, and contracting myocardium), two-layer construction, fiber orientation, and active anisotropic material properties. The models were constructed based on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images acquired from a patient with severe RV dilatation and solved by ADINA. Our results indicate that the patch model with contracting myocardium leads to decreased stress level in the patch area, improved RV function and patch area contractility. PMID:21765559

Numerical modeling of the fetal blood flow in the placental circulatory system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shannon, Alexander; Gallucci, Sergio; Mirbod, Parisa

2015-11-01

The placenta is a unique organ of exchange between the growing fetus and the mother. It incorporates almost all functions of the adult body, acting as the fetal lung, digestive and immune systems, to mention a few. The exchange of oxygen and nutrients takes place at the surface of the villous tree. Using an idealized geometry of the fetal villous trees in the mouse placenta, in this study we performed 3D computational analysis of the unsteady fetal blood flow, gas, and nutrient transport over the chorionic plate. The fetal blood was treated as an incompressible Newtonian fluid, and the oxygen and nutrient were treated as a passive scalar dissolved in blood plasma. The flow was laminar, and a commercial CFD code (COMSOL Multiphysics) has been used for the simulation. COMSOL has been selected because it is multi-physics FEM software that allows for the seamless coupling of different physics represented by partial differential equations. The results clearly illustrate that the specific branching pattern and the in-plane curvature of the fetal villous trees affect the delivery of blood, gas and nutrient transport to the whole placenta.

Implementation of Finite Volume based Navier Stokes Algorithm Within General Purpose Flow Network Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schallhorn, Paul; Majumdar, Alok

2012-01-01

This paper describes a finite volume based numerical algorithm that allows multi-dimensional computation of fluid flow within a system level network flow analysis. There are several thermo-fluid engineering problems where higher fidelity solutions are needed that are not within the capacity of system level codes. The proposed algorithm will allow NASA's Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) to perform multi-dimensional flow calculation within the framework of GFSSP s typical system level flow network consisting of fluid nodes and branches. The paper presents several classical two-dimensional fluid dynamics problems that have been solved by GFSSP's multi-dimensional flow solver. The numerical solutions are compared with the analytical and benchmark solution of Poiseulle, Couette and flow in a driven cavity.

Mingus Discontinuous Multiphysics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pat Notz, Dan Turner

Mingus provides hybrid coupled local/non-local mechanics analysis capabilities that extend several traditional methods to applications with inherent discontinuities. Its primary features include adaptations of solid mechanics, fluid dynamics and digital image correlation that naturally accommodate dijointed data or irregular solution fields by assimilating a variety of discretizations (such as control volume finite elements, peridynamics and meshless control point clouds). The goal of this software is to provide an analysis framework form multiphysics engineering problems with an integrated image correlation capability that can be used for experimental validation and model

ALE3D: An Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian Multi-Physics Code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Noble, Charles R.; Anderson, Andrew T.; Barton, Nathan R.

ALE3D is a multi-physics numerical simulation software tool utilizing arbitrary-Lagrangian- Eulerian (ALE) techniques. The code is written to address both two-dimensional (2D plane and axisymmetric) and three-dimensional (3D) physics and engineering problems using a hybrid finite element and finite volume formulation to model fluid and elastic-plastic response of materials on an unstructured grid. As shown in Figure 1, ALE3D is a single code that integrates many physical phenomena.

Dissipative slip flow along heat and mass transfer over a vertically rotating cone by way of chemical reaction with Dufour and Soret effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilal, S.; Rehman, Khalil Ur; Jamil, Hamayun; Malik, M. Y.; Salahuddin, T.

2016-12-01

An attempt has been constructed in the communication to envision heat and mass transfer characteristics of viscous fluid over a vertically rotating cone. Thermal transport in the fluid flow is anticipated in the presence of viscous dissipation. Whereas, concentration of fluid particles is contemplated by incorporating the diffusion-thermo (Dufour) and thermo-diffusion (Soret) effects. The governing equations for concerning problem is first modelled and then nondimensionalized by implementing compatible transformations. The utilization of these transformations yields ordinary differential system which is computed analytically through homotopic procedure. Impact of velocity, temperature and concentration profiles are presented through fascinating graphics. The influence of various pertinent parameters on skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are interpreted through graphical and tabular display. After comprehensive examination of analysis, it is concluded that temperature of fluid deescalates for growing values of Soret parameter whereas it shows inciting attitude towards Dufour parameter and similar agreement is observed for the behavior of concentration profile with respect to these parameters. Furthermore, the affirmation of present work is established by developing comparison with previously published literature. An excellent agreement is found which shows the credibility and assurance of present analysis.

A Coupled Multiphysics Approach for Simulating Induced Seismicity, Ground Acceleration and Structural Damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podgorney, Robert; Coleman, Justin; Wilkins, Amdrew; Huang, Hai; Veeraraghavan, Swetha; Xia, Yidong; Permann, Cody

2017-04-01

Numerical modeling has played an important role in understanding the behavior of coupled subsurface thermal-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes associated with a number of energy and environmental applications since as early as the 1970s. While the ability to rigorously describe all key tightly coupled controlling physics still remains a challenge, there have been significant advances in recent decades. These advances are related primarily to the exponential growth of computational power, the development of more accurate equations of state, improvements in the ability to represent heterogeneity and reservoir geometry, and more robust nonlinear solution schemes. The work described in this paper documents the development and linkage of several fully-coupled and fully-implicit modeling tools. These tools simulate: (1) the dynamics of fluid flow, heat transport, and quasi-static rock mechanics; (2) seismic wave propagation from the sources of energy release through heterogeneous material; and (3) the soil-structural damage resulting from ground acceleration. These tools are developed in Idaho National Laboratory's parallel Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment, and are integrated together using a global implicit approach. The governing equations are presented, the numerical approach for simultaneously solving and coupling the three coupling physics tools is discussed, and the data input and output methodology is outlined. An example is presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the coupled multiphysics approach. The example involves simulating a system conceptually similar to the geothermal development in Basel Switzerland, and the resultant induced seismicity, ground motion and structural damage is predicted.

Wasatch: An architecture-proof multiphysics development environment using a Domain Specific Language and graph theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saad, Tony; Sutherland, James C.

To address the coding and software challenges of modern hybrid architectures, we propose an approach to multiphysics code development for high-performance computing. This approach is based on using a Domain Specific Language (DSL) in tandem with a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representation of the problem to be solved that allows runtime algorithm generation. When coupled with a large-scale parallel framework, the result is a portable development framework capable of executing on hybrid platforms and handling the challenges of multiphysics applications. In addition, we share our experience developing a code in such an environment – an effort that spans an interdisciplinarymore » team of engineers and computer scientists.« less

Wasatch: An architecture-proof multiphysics development environment using a Domain Specific Language and graph theory

DOE PAGES

Saad, Tony; Sutherland, James C.

2016-05-04

To address the coding and software challenges of modern hybrid architectures, we propose an approach to multiphysics code development for high-performance computing. This approach is based on using a Domain Specific Language (DSL) in tandem with a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representation of the problem to be solved that allows runtime algorithm generation. When coupled with a large-scale parallel framework, the result is a portable development framework capable of executing on hybrid platforms and handling the challenges of multiphysics applications. In addition, we share our experience developing a code in such an environment – an effort that spans an interdisciplinarymore » team of engineers and computer scientists.« less

Experimental and numerical investigations of resonant acoustic waves in near-critical carbon dioxide.

PubMed

Hasan, Nusair; Farouk, Bakhtier

2015-10-01

Flow and transport induced by resonant acoustic waves in a near-critical fluid filled cylindrical enclosure is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Supercritical carbon dioxide (near the critical or the pseudo-critical states) in a confined resonator is subjected to acoustic field created by an electro-mechanical acoustic transducer and the induced pressure waves are measured by a fast response pressure field microphone. The frequency of the acoustic transducer is chosen such that the lowest acoustic mode propagates along the enclosure. For numerical simulations, a real-fluid computational fluid dynamics model representing the thermo-physical and transport properties of the supercritical fluid is considered. The simulated acoustic field in the resonator is compared with measurements. The formation of acoustic streaming structures in the highly compressible medium is revealed by time-averaging the numerical solutions over a given period. Due to diverging thermo-physical properties of supercritical fluid near the critical point, large scale oscillations are generated even for small sound field intensity. The strength of the acoustic wave field is found to be in direct relation with the thermodynamic state of the fluid. The effects of near-critical property variations and the operating pressure on the formation process of the streaming structures are also investigated. Irregular streaming patterns with significantly higher streaming velocities are observed for near-pseudo-critical states at operating pressures close to the critical pressure. However, these structures quickly re-orient to the typical Rayleigh streaming patterns with the increase operating pressure.

Parallelization of the preconditioned IDR solver for modern multicore computer systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bessonov, O. A.; Fedoseyev, A. I.

2012-10-01

This paper present the analysis, parallelization and optimization approach for the large sparse matrix solver CNSPACK for modern multicore microprocessors. CNSPACK is an advanced solver successfully used for coupled solution of stiff problems arising in multiphysics applications such as CFD, semiconductor transport, kinetic and quantum problems. It employs iterative IDR algorithm with ILU preconditioning (user chosen ILU preconditioning order). CNSPACK has been successfully used during last decade for solving problems in several application areas, including fluid dynamics and semiconductor device simulation. However, there was a dramatic change in processor architectures and computer system organization in recent years. Due to this, performance criteria and methods have been revisited, together with involving the parallelization of the solver and preconditioner using Open MP environment. Results of the successful implementation for efficient parallelization are presented for the most advances computer system (Intel Core i7-9xx or two-processor Xeon 55xx/56xx).

Stress heterogeneity above and within a deep geothermal reservoir: From borehole observations to geomechanical modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seithel, Robin; Peters, Max; Lesueur, Martin; Kohl, Thomas

2017-04-01

Overpressured reservoir conditions, local stress concentrations or a locally rotated stress field can initiate substantial problems during drilling or reservoir exploitation. Increasing geothermal utilization in the Molasse basin area in S-Germany is faced with such problems of deeply seated reservoir sections. In several wells, radial fluid flow systems are interpreted as highly porous layers. However, in nearby wells a combination of linear fluid flow, local stress heterogeneities and structural geology hint to a rather fault dominated reservoir (Seithel et al. 2015). Due to missing knowledge of the stress magnitude, stress orientation and their coupling to reservoir response, we will present a THMC model of critical formations and the geothermal reservoir targeting nearby faults. In an area south of Munich, where several geothermal wells are constructed, such wells are interpreted and integrated into a 30 x 30 km simulated model area. One of the main objectives here is to create a geomechanical reservoir model in a thermo-mechanical manner in order to understand the coupling between reservoir heterogeneities and stress distributions. To this end, stress analyses of wellbore data and laboratory tests will help to calibrate a reliable model. In order to implement the complex geological structure of the studied wedge-shaped foreland basin, an automatic export of lithology, fault and borehole data (e.g. from Petrel) into a FE mesh is used. We will present a reservoir-scale model that considers thermo-mechanic effects and analyze their influence on reservoir deformation, fluid flow and stress concentration. We use the currently developed finite element application REDBACK (https://github.com/pou036/redback), inside the MOOSE framework (Poulet et al. 2016). We show that mechanical heterogeneities nearby fault zones and their orientation within the stress field correlate to fracture pattern, interpreted stress heterogeneities or variegated flow systems within the reservoir. REFERENCES Poulet, T.; Paesold, M.; Veveakis, M. (2016), Multi-Physics Modelling of Fault Mechanics Using REDBACK. A Parallel Open-Source Simulator for Tightly Coupled Problems. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. doi: 10.1007/s00603-016-0927-y. Seithel, R.; Steiner, U.; Müller, B.I.R.; Hecht, Ch.; Kohl, T. (2015), Local stress anomaly in the Bavarian Molasse Basin, Geothermal Energy 3(1), p.77. doi:10.1186/s40517-014-0023-z

Evaluation of a transient, simultaneous, arbitrary Lagrange-Euler based multi-physics method for simulating the mitral heart valve.

PubMed

Espino, Daniel M; Shepherd, Duncan E T; Hukins, David W L

2014-01-01

A transient multi-physics model of the mitral heart valve has been developed, which allows simultaneous calculation of fluid flow and structural deformation. A recently developed contact method has been applied to enable simulation of systole (the stage when blood pressure is elevated within the heart to pump blood to the body). The geometry was simplified to represent the mitral valve within the heart walls in two dimensions. Only the mitral valve undergoes deformation. A moving arbitrary Lagrange-Euler mesh is used to allow true fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The FSI model requires blood flow to induce valve closure by inducing strains in the region of 10-20%. Model predictions were found to be consistent with existing literature and will undergo further development.

Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program, Version 5.0-Educational. Supplemental Information for NASA/TM-2011-216470. Supplement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, A. K.

2011-01-01

The Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) is a finite-volume based general-purpose computer program for analyzing steady state and time-dependent flow rates, pressures, temperatures, and concentrations in a complex flow network. The program is capable of modeling real fluids with phase changes, compressibility, mixture thermodynamics, conjugate heat transfer between solid and fluid, fluid transients, pumps, compressors and external body forces such as gravity and centrifugal. The thermofluid system to be analyzed is discretized into nodes, branches, and conductors. The scalar properties such as pressure, temperature, and concentrations are calculated at nodes. Mass flow rates and heat transfer rates are computed in branches and conductors. The graphical user interface allows users to build their models using the point, drag and click method; the users can also run their models and post-process the results in the same environment. The integrated fluid library supplies thermodynamic and thermo-physical properties of 36 fluids and 21 different resistance/source options are provided for modeling momentum sources or sinks in the branches. This Technical Memorandum illustrates the application and verification of the code through 12 demonstrated example problems. This supplement gives the input and output data files for the examples.

Numerical Modeling of Electrode Degradation During Resistance Spot Welding Using CuCrZr Electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauthier, Elise; Carron, Denis; Rogeon, Philippe; Pilvin, Philippe; Pouvreau, Cédric; Lety, Thomas; Primaux, François

2014-05-01

Resistance spot welding is a technique widely used by the automotive industry to assemble thin steel sheets. The cyclic thermo-mechanical loading associated with the accumulation of weld spots progressively deteriorates the electrodes. This study addresses the development of a comprehensive multi-physical model that describes the sequential deterioration. Welding tests achieved on uncoated and Zn-coated steel sheets are analyzed. Finite element analysis is performed using an electrical-thermal-metallurgical model. A numerical experimental design is carried out to highlight the main process parameters and boundary conditions which affect electrode degradation.

Heat Transfer by Thermo-Capillary Convection. Sounding Rocket COMPERE Experiment SOURCE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuhrmann, Eckart; Dreyer, Michael

2009-08-01

This paper describes the results of a sounding rocket experiment which was partly dedicated to study the heat transfer from a hot wall to a cold liquid with a free surface. Natural or buoyancy-driven convection does not occur in the compensated gravity environment of a ballistic phase. Thermo-capillary convection driven by a temperature gradient along the free surface always occurs if a non-condensable gas is present. This convection increases the heat transfer compared to a pure conductive case. Heat transfer correlations are needed to predict temperature distributions in the tanks of cryogenic upper stages. Future upper stages of the European Ariane V rocket have mission scenarios with multiple ballistic phases. The aims of this paper and of the COMPERE group (French-German research group on propellant behavior in rocket tanks) in general are to provide basic knowledge, correlations and computer models to predict the thermo-fluid behavior of cryogenic propellants for future mission scenarios. Temperature and surface location data from the flight have been compared with numerical calculations to get the heat flux from the wall to the liquid. Since the heat flux measurements along the walls of the transparent test cell were not possible, the analysis of the heat transfer coefficient relies therefore on the numerical modeling which was validated with the flight data. The coincidence between experiment and simulation is fairly good and allows presenting the data in form of a Nusselt number which depends on a characteristic Reynolds number and the Prandtl number. The results are useful for further benchmarking of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes such as FLOW-3D and FLUENT, and for the design of future upper stage propellant tanks.

Influence of condensed species on thermo-physical properties of LTE and non-LTE SF6-Cu mixture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhexin; Wu, Yi; Yang, Fei; Sun, Hao; Rong, Mingzhe; Wang, Chunlin

2017-10-01

SF6-Cu mixture is frequently formed in high-voltage circuit breakers due to the electrode erosion and metal vapor diffusion. During the interruption process, the multiphase effect and deviation from local thermal equilibrium (non-LTE assumption) can both affect the thermo-physical of the arc plasma and further influence the performance of circuit breaker. In this paper, thermo-physical properties, namely composition, thermodynamic properties and transport coefficients are calculated for multiphase SF6-Cu mixture with and without LTE assumption. The composition is confirmed by combining classical two-temperature mass action law with phase equilibrium condition deduced from second law of thermodynamics. The thermodynamic properties and transport coefficients are calculated using the multiphase composition result. The influence of condensed species on thermo-physical properties is discussed at different temperature, pressure (0.1-10 atm), non-equilibrium degrees (1-10), and copper molar proportions (0-50%). It is found that the multiphase effect has significant influence on specific enthalpy, specific heat and heavy species thermal conductivity in both LTE and non-LTE SF6-Cu system. This paper provides a more accurate database for computational fluid dynamic calculation.

Development of Multi-physics (Multiphase CFD + MCNP) simulation for generic solution vessel power calculation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Seung Jun; Buechler, Cynthia Eileen

The current study aims to predict the steady state power of a generic solution vessel and to develop a corresponding heat transfer coefficient correlation for a Moly99 production facility by conducting a fully coupled multi-physics simulation. A prediction of steady state power for the current application is inherently interconnected between thermal hydraulic characteristics (i.e. Multiphase computational fluid dynamics solved by ANSYS-Fluent 17.2) and the corresponding neutronic behavior (i.e. particle transport solved by MCNP6.2) in the solution vessel. Thus, the development of a coupling methodology is vital to understand the system behavior at a variety of system design and postulated operatingmore » scenarios. In this study, we report on the k-effective (keff) calculation for the baseline solution vessel configuration with a selected solution concentration using MCNP K-code modeling. The associated correlation of thermal properties (e.g. density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, specific heat) at the selected solution concentration are developed based on existing experimental measurements in the open literature. The numerical coupling methodology between multiphase CFD and MCNP is successfully demonstrated, and the detailed coupling procedure is documented. In addition, improved coupling methods capturing realistic physics in the solution vessel thermal-neutronic dynamics are proposed and tested further (i.e. dynamic height adjustment, mull-cell approach). As a key outcome of the current study, a multi-physics coupling methodology between MCFD and MCNP is demonstrated and tested for four different operating conditions. Those different operating conditions are determined based on the neutron source strength at a fixed geometry condition. The steady state powers for the generic solution vessel at various operating conditions are reported, and a generalized correlation of the heat transfer coefficient for the current application is discussed. The assessment of multi-physics methodology and preliminary results from various coupled calculations (power prediction and heat transfer coefficient) can be further utilized for the system code validation and generic solution vessel design improvement.« less

Effect of Age-Related Human Lens Sutures Growth on Its Fluid Dynamics.

PubMed

Wu, Ho-Ting D; Howse, Louisa A; Vaghefi, Ehsan

2017-12-01

Age-related nuclear cataract is the opacification of the clear ocular lens due to oxidative damage as we age, and is the leading cause of blindness in the world. A lack of antioxidant supply to the core of ever-growing ocular lens could contribute to the cause of this condition. In this project, a computational model was developed to study the sutural fluid inflow of the aging human lens. Three different SOLIDWORKS computational fluid dynamics models of the human lens (7 years old; 28 years old; 46 years old) were created, based on available literature data. The fluid dynamics of the lens sutures were modelled using the Stokes flow equations, combined with realistic physiological boundary conditions and embedded in COMSOL Multiphysics. The flow rate, volume, and flow rate per volume of fluid entering the aging lens were examined, and all increased over the 40 years modelled. However, while the volume of the lens grew by ∼300% and the flow rate increased by ∼400%, the flow rate per volume increased only by very moderate ∼38%. Here, sutural information from humans of 7 to 46 years of age was obtained. In this modelled age range, an increase of flow rate per volume was observed, albeit at very slow rate. We hypothesize that with even further increasing age (60+ years old), the lens volume growth would outpace its flow rate increases, which would eventually lead to malnutrition of the lens nucleus and onset of cataracts.

Light-field-characterization in a continuous hydrogen-producing photobioreactor by optical simulation and computational fluid dynamics.

PubMed

Krujatz, Felix; Illing, Rico; Krautwer, Tobias; Liao, Jing; Helbig, Karsten; Goy, Katharina; Opitz, Jörg; Cuniberti, Gianaurelio; Bley, Thomas; Weber, Jost

2015-12-01

Externally illuminated photobioreactors (PBRs) are widely used in studies on the use of phototrophic microorganisms as sources of bioenergy and other photobiotechnology research. In this work, straightforward simulation techniques were used to describe effects of varying fluid flow conditions in a continuous hydrogen-producing PBR on the rate of photofermentative hydrogen production (rH2 ) by Rhodobacter sphaeroides DSM 158. A ZEMAX optical ray tracing simulation was performed to quantify the illumination intensity reaching the interior of the cylindrical PBR vessel. 24.2% of the emitted energy was lost through optical effects, or did not reach the PBR surface. In a dense culture of continuously producing bacteria during chemostatic cultivation, the illumination intensity became completely attenuated within the first centimeter of the PBR radius as described by an empirical three-parametric model implemented in Mathcad. The bacterial movement in chemostatic steady-state conditions was influenced by varying the fluid Reynolds number. The "Computational Fluid Dynamics" and "Particle Tracing" tools of COMSOL Multiphysics were used to visualize the fluid flow pattern and cellular trajectories through well-illuminated zones near the PBR periphery and dark zones in the center of the PBR. A moderate turbulence (Reynolds number = 12,600) and fluctuating illumination of 1.5 Hz were found to yield the highest continuous rH2 by R. sphaeroides DSM 158 (170.5 mL L(-1) h(-1) ) in this study. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dependency graph for code analysis on emerging architectures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shashkov, Mikhail Jurievich; Lipnikov, Konstantin

Direct acyclic dependency (DAG) graph is becoming the standard for modern multi-physics codes.The ideal DAG is the true block-scheme of a multi-physics code. Therefore, it is the convenient object for insitu analysis of the cost of computations and algorithmic bottlenecks related to statistical frequent data motion and dymanical machine state.

Petascale computation of multi-physics seismic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabriel, Alice-Agnes; Madden, Elizabeth H.; Ulrich, Thomas; Wollherr, Stephanie; Duru, Kenneth C.

2017-04-01

Capturing the observed complexity of earthquake sources in concurrence with seismic wave propagation simulations is an inherently multi-scale, multi-physics problem. In this presentation, we present simulations of earthquake scenarios resolving high-detail dynamic rupture evolution and high frequency ground motion. The simulations combine a multitude of representations of model complexity; such as non-linear fault friction, thermal and fluid effects, heterogeneous fault stress and fault strength initial conditions, fault curvature and roughness, on- and off-fault non-elastic failure to capture dynamic rupture behavior at the source; and seismic wave attenuation, 3D subsurface structure and bathymetry impacting seismic wave propagation. Performing such scenarios at the necessary spatio-temporal resolution requires highly optimized and massively parallel simulation tools which can efficiently exploit HPC facilities. Our up to multi-PetaFLOP simulations are performed with SeisSol (www.seissol.org), an open-source software package based on an ADER-Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) scheme solving the seismic wave equations in velocity-stress formulation in elastic, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic media with high-order accuracy in time and space. Our flux-based implementation of frictional failure remains free of spurious oscillations. Tetrahedral unstructured meshes allow for complicated model geometry. SeisSol has been optimized on all software levels, including: assembler-level DG kernels which obtain 50% peak performance on some of the largest supercomputers worldwide; an overlapping MPI-OpenMP parallelization shadowing the multiphysics computations; usage of local time stepping; parallel input and output schemes and direct interfaces to community standard data formats. All these factors enable aim to minimise the time-to-solution. The results presented highlight the fact that modern numerical methods and hardware-aware optimization for modern supercomputers are essential to further our understanding of earthquake source physics and complement both physic-based ground motion research and empirical approaches in seismic hazard analysis. Lastly, we will conclude with an outlook on future exascale ADER-DG solvers for seismological applications.

Multiscale computational modeling of a radiantly driven solar thermal collector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponnuru, Koushik

The objectives of the master's thesis are to present, discuss and apply sequential multiscale modeling that combines analytical, numerical (finite element-based) and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis to assist in the development of a radiantly driven macroscale solar thermal collector for energy harvesting. The solar thermal collector is a novel green energy system that converts solar energy to heat and utilizes dry air as a working heat transfer fluid (HTF). This energy system has important advantages over competitive technologies: it is self-contained (no energy sources are needed), there are no moving parts, no oil or supplementary fluids are needed and it is environmentally friendly since it is powered by solar radiation. This work focuses on the development of multi-physics and multiscale models for predicting the performance of the solar thermal collector. Model construction and validation is organized around three distinct and complementary levels. The first level involves an analytical analysis of the thermal transpiration phenomenon and models for predicting the associated mass flow pumping that occurs in an aerogel membrane in the presence of a large thermal gradient. Within the aerogel, a combination of convection, conduction and radiation occurs simultaneously in a domain where the pore size is comparable to the mean free path of the gas molecules. CFD modeling of thermal transpiration is not possible because all the available commercial CFD codes solve the Navier Stokes equations only for continuum flow, which is based on the assumption that the net molecular mass diffusion is zero. However, thermal transpiration occurs in a flow regime where a non-zero net molecular mass diffusion exists. Thus these effects are modeled by using Sharipov's [2] analytical expression for gas flow characterized by high Knudsen number. The second level uses a detailed CFD model solving Navier Stokes equations for momentum, heat and mass transfer in the various components of the device. We have used state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Flow3D (www.flow3d.com) to model the effects of multiple coupled physical processes including buoyancy driven flow from local temperature differences within the plenums, fluid-solid momentum and heat transfer, and coupled radiation exchange between the aerogel, top glazing and environment. In addition, the CFD models include both convection and radiation exchange between the top glazing and the environment. Transient and steady-state thermal models have been constructed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The third level consists of a lumped-element system model, which enables rapid parametric analysis and helps to develop an understanding of the system behavior; the mathematical models developed and multiple CFD simulations studies focus on simultaneous solution of heat, momentum, mass and gas volume fraction balances and succeed in accurate state variable distributions confirmed by experimental measurements.

Numerical Analysis of Thermo Hydraulic Conditions in Car Fog Lamp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramšak, M.; Žunič, Z.; Škerget, L.; Jurejevčič, T.

2009-08-01

In the article a coupled heat transfer in the solid and fluid inside of a car fog lamp is presented using CFD software CFX [1]. All three basic principles of heat transfer are dealt with: conduction, convection and radiation. Two different approaches to radiation modeling are compared. Laminar and turbulent flow modeling are compared since computed Rayleight number indicates transitional flow regime. Results are in good agreement with the measurements.

LSBB: a Low Noise Laboratory for Inter--Disciplinary Underground Science and Technology in Rustrel--Pays d'Apt, Vaucluse, France

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaffet, S.

2008-12-01

Located in the Provence-Alpes--Côte d'Azur region (Southern France), LSBB is an underground facility that is dedicated since 10 years ago, to interdisciplinary fundamental and applied R&D activities in a low level anthropogenic area that secures the site with one of the lowest environmental noise in the world. LSBB is both a host-laboratory for private and academic experiments and a unique access-laboratory to study near- surface multi-physics environmental processes. This site offers operational facilities characterized by a fully connected fiber-optics network managed by a team of 3 permanent engineers and the collaboration with more than 30 research units in Europe. Initially designed for the French nuclear defence and converted in 1997 into an academic laboratory, LSBB is a hardened facility made of 3.7~km of horizontal galleries and vaults buried 500~m deep within the unsaturated zone of a carbonate platform which is a typical analogue of the currently exploited water and oil reservoirs of the Middle--East. Another major attraction of the LSBB is that it hosts a unique--in--the--world broad low-pass filter magnetic shielded zone (1500~m3 with electromagnetic noise level below 2~fT/√Hz for frequencies above 50~Hz). Thanks to such an exceptional environmental and technological context, LSBB provides one of the best european opportunities for the development of research projects related to near-surface imaging and multiscale and multiphysics coupled processes in natural porous media; magnetic field perturbations coupled to seismic wave excitations; thermo--hydromechanical and chemical fluid--rock interaction in heterogeneous carbonates; dark matter research; reliability and sensitivity to the natural radioactive environment of nano-- electronic and nano--structures. Projects interact through co--sharing of the multi--parametric and at--the-- leading--edge measurements and results, that are centralised in a dedicated internet plateform.

Analytical study and numerical solution of the inverse source problem arising in thermoacoustic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holman, Benjamin R.

In recent years, revolutionary "hybrid" or "multi-physics" methods of medical imaging have emerged. By combining two or three different types of waves these methods overcome limitations of classical tomography techniques and deliver otherwise unavailable, potentially life-saving diagnostic information. Thermoacoustic (and photoacoustic) tomography is the most developed multi-physics imaging modality. Thermo- and photo- acoustic tomography require reconstructing initial acoustic pressure in a body from time series of pressure measured on a surface surrounding the body. For the classical case of free space wave propagation, various reconstruction techniques are well known. However, some novel measurement schemes place the object of interest between reflecting walls that form a de facto resonant cavity. In this case, known methods cannot be used. In chapter 2 we present a fast iterative reconstruction algorithm for measurements made at the walls of a rectangular reverberant cavity with a constant speed of sound. We prove the convergence of the iterations under a certain sufficient condition, and demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the algorithm in numerical simulations. In chapter 3 we consider the more general problem of an arbitrarily shaped resonant cavity with a non constant speed of sound and present the gradual time reversal method for computing solutions to the inverse source problem. It consists in solving back in time on the interval [0, T] the initial/boundary value problem for the wave equation, with the Dirichlet boundary data multiplied by a smooth cutoff function. If T is sufficiently large one obtains a good approximation to the initial pressure; in the limit of large T such an approximation converges (under certain conditions) to the exact solution.

Coupled Multi-physical Simulations for the Assessment of Nuclear Waste Repository Concepts: Modeling, Software Development and Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massmann, J.; Nagel, T.; Bilke, L.; Böttcher, N.; Heusermann, S.; Fischer, T.; Kumar, V.; Schäfers, A.; Shao, H.; Vogel, P.; Wang, W.; Watanabe, N.; Ziefle, G.; Kolditz, O.

2016-12-01

As part of the German site selection process for a high-level nuclear waste repository, different repository concepts in the geological candidate formations rock salt, clay stone and crystalline rock are being discussed. An open assessment of these concepts using numerical simulations requires physical models capturing the individual particularities of each rock type and associated geotechnical barrier concept to a comparable level of sophistication. In a joint work group of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), scientists of the UFZ are developing and implementing multiphysical process models while BGR scientists apply them to large scale analyses. The advances in simulation methods for waste repositories are incorporated into the open-source code OpenGeoSys. Here, recent application-driven progress in this context is highlighted. A robust implementation of visco-plasticity with temperature-dependent properties into a framework for the thermo-mechanical analysis of rock salt will be shown. The model enables the simulation of heat transport along with its consequences on the elastic response as well as on primary and secondary creep or the occurrence of dilatancy in the repository near field. Transverse isotropy, non-isothermal hydraulic processes and their coupling to mechanical stresses are taken into account for the analysis of repositories in clay stone. These processes are also considered in the near field analyses of engineered barrier systems, including the swelling/shrinkage of the bentonite material. The temperature-dependent saturation evolution around the heat-emitting waste container is described by different multiphase flow formulations. For all mentioned applications, we illustrate the workflow from model development and implementation, over verification and validation, to repository-scale application simulations using methods of high performance computing.

A Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Thermoelectromagnetic Convection (TEMC) on the Bridgman Growth of Ge(1-x)Si(x)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yesilyurt, Serhat; Vujisic, Ljubomir; Motakef, Shariar; Szofran, F. R.; Volz, Martin P.

1998-01-01

Thermoelectric currents at the growth interface of GeSi during Bridgman growth are shown to promote convection when a low intensity axial magnetic field is applied. TEMC, typically, is characterized by a meridional flow driven by the rotation of the fluid; meridional convection alters composition of the melt, and shape of the growth interface substantially. TEMC effect is more important in micro-gravity environment than the terrestrial one, and can be used to control convection during the growth of GeSi. In this work, coupled thermo-solutal flow equations (energy, scalar transport, momentum and mass) are solved in tandem with Maxwell's equations to compute the thermo-solutat flow field, electric currents, and the growth-interface shape.

Multiscale framework for predicting the coupling between deformation and fluid diffusion in porous rocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andrade, José E; Rudnicki, John W

2012-12-14

In this project, a predictive multiscale framework will be developed to simulate the strong coupling between solid deformations and fluid diffusion in porous rocks. We intend to improve macroscale modeling by incorporating fundamental physical modeling at the microscale in a computationally efficient way. This is an essential step toward further developments in multiphysics modeling, linking hydraulic, thermal, chemical, and geomechanical processes. This research will focus on areas where severe deformations are observed, such as deformation bands, where classical phenomenology breaks down. Multiscale geometric complexities and key geomechanical and hydraulic attributes of deformation bands (e.g., grain sliding and crushing, and poremore » collapse, causing interstitial fluid expulsion under saturated conditions), can significantly affect the constitutive response of the skeleton and the intrinsic permeability. Discrete mechanics (DEM) and the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) will be used to probe the microstructure---under the current state---to extract the evolution of macroscopic constitutive parameters and the permeability tensor. These evolving macroscopic constitutive parameters are then directly used in continuum scale predictions using the finite element method (FEM) accounting for the coupled solid deformation and fluid diffusion. A particularly valuable aspect of this research is the thorough quantitative verification and validation program at different scales. The multiscale homogenization framework will be validated using X-ray computed tomography and 3D digital image correlation in situ at the Advanced Photon Source in Argonne National Laboratories. Also, the hierarchical computations at the specimen level will be validated using the aforementioned techniques in samples of sandstone undergoing deformation bands.« less

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC year 1 quarter 4 progress report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lottes, S.A.; Kulak, R.F.; Bojanowski, C.

2011-12-09

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. Themore » analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to assess them for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFCHR wind engineering laboratory, vehicle stability under high wind loading, and the use of electromagnetic shock absorbers to improve vehicle stability under high wind conditions. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of July through September 2011.« less

A Numerical Study of Coupled Non-Linear Equations of Thermo-Viscous Fluid Flow in Cylindrical Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pothanna, N.; Aparna, P.; Gorla, R. S. R.

2017-12-01

In this paper we present numerical solutions to coupled non-linear governing equations of thermo-viscous fluid flow in cylindrical geometry using MATHEMATICA software solver. The numerical results are presented in terms of velocity, temperature and pressure distribution for various values of the material parameters such as the thermo-mechanical stress coefficient, thermal conductivity coefficient, Reiner Rivlin cross viscosity coefficient and the Prandtl number in the form of tables and graphs. Also, the solutions to governing equations for slow steady motion of a fluid have been obtained numerically and compared with the existing analytical results and are found to be in excellent agreement. The results of the present study will hopefully enable a better understanding applications of the flow under consideration.

TerraFERMA: The Transparent Finite Element Rapid Model Assembler for multi-physics problems in the solid Earth sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegelman, M. W.; Wilson, C. R.; Van Keken, P. E.

2013-12-01

We announce the release of a new software infrastructure, TerraFERMA, the Transparent Finite Element Rapid Model Assembler for the exploration and solution of coupled multi-physics problems. The design of TerraFERMA is driven by two overarching computational needs in Earth sciences. The first is the need for increased flexibility in both problem description and solution strategies for coupled problems where small changes in model assumptions can often lead to dramatic changes in physical behavior. The second is the need for software and models that are more transparent so that results can be verified, reproduced and modified in a manner such that the best ideas in computation and earth science can be more easily shared and reused. TerraFERMA leverages three advanced open-source libraries for scientific computation that provide high level problem description (FEniCS), composable solvers for coupled multi-physics problems (PETSc) and a science neutral options handling system (SPuD) that allows the hierarchical management of all model options. TerraFERMA integrates these libraries into an easier to use interface that organizes the scientific and computational choices required in a model into a single options file, from which a custom compiled application is generated and run. Because all models share the same infrastructure, models become more reusable and reproducible. TerraFERMA inherits much of its functionality from the underlying libraries. It currently solves partial differential equations (PDE) using finite element methods on simplicial meshes of triangles (2D) and tetrahedra (3D). The software is particularly well suited for non-linear problems with complex coupling between components. We demonstrate the design and utility of TerraFERMA through examples of thermal convection and magma dynamics. TerraFERMA has been tested successfully against over 45 benchmark problems from 7 publications in incompressible and compressible convection, magmatic solitary waves and Stokes flow with free surfaces. We have been using it extensively for research in basic magma dynamics, fluid flow in subduction zones and reactive cracking in poro-elastic materials. TerraFERMA is open-source and available as a git repository at bitbucket.org/tferma/tferma and through CIG. Instability of a 1-D magmatic solitary wave to spherical 3D waves calculated using TerraFERMA

High frequency electromagnetism, heat transfer and fluid flow coupling in ANSYS multiphysics.

PubMed

Sabliov, Cristina M; Salvi, Deepti A; Boldor, Dorin

2007-01-01

The goal of this study was to numerically predict the temperature of a liquid product heated in a continuous-flow focused microwave system by coupling high frequency electromagnetism, heat transfer, and fluid flow in ANSYS Multiphysics. The developed model was used to determine the temperature change in water processed in a 915 MHz microwave unit, under steady-state conditions. The influence of the flow rates on the temperature distribution in the liquid was assessed. Results showed that the average temperature of water increased from 25 degrees C to 34 degrees C at 2 l/min, and to 42 degrees C at 1 l/min. The highest temperature regions were found in the liquid near the center of the tube, followed by progressively lower temperature regions as the radial distance from the center increased, and finally followed by a slightly higher temperature region near the tube's wall corresponding to the energy distribution given by the Mathieu function. The energy distribution resulted in a similar temperature pattern, with the highest temperatures close to the center of the tube and lower at the walls. The presented ANSYS Multiphysics model can be easily improved to account for complex boundary conditions, phase change, temperature dependent properties, and non-Newtonian flows, which makes for an objective of future studies.

A Computational Study of a Circular Interface Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxon, William; Black, Wolfgang; Denissen, Nicholas; McFarland, Jacob; Los Alamos National Laboratory Collaboration; University of Missouri Shock Tube Laboratory Team

2017-11-01

The Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) is a hydrodynamic instability that appears in several high energy density applications such as inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In ICF, as the thermonuclear fuel is being compressed it begins to mix due to fluid instabilities including the RMI. This mixing greatly decreases the energy output. The RMI occurs when two fluids of different densities are impulsively accelerated and the pressure and density gradients are misaligned. In magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the RMI may be suppressed by introducing a magnetic field in an electrically conducting fluid, such as a plasma. This suppression has been studied as a possible mechanism for improving confinement in ICF targets. In this study,ideal MHD simulations are performed with a circular interface impulsively accelerated by a shock wave in the presence of a magnetic field. These simulations are executed with the research code FLAG, a multiphysics, arbitrary Lagrangian/Eulerian, hydrocode developed and utilized at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The simulation results will be assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively to examine the stabilization mechanism. These simulations will guide ongoing MHD experiments at the University of Missouri Shock Tube Facility.

CFD Vision 2030 Study: A Path to Revolutionary Computational Aerosciences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Slotnick, Jeffrey; Khodadoust, Abdollah; Alonso, Juan; Darmofal, David; Gropp, William; Lurie, Elizabeth; Mavriplis, Dimitri

2014-01-01

This report documents the results of a study to address the long range, strategic planning required by NASA's Revolutionary Computational Aerosciences (RCA) program in the area of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), including future software and hardware requirements for High Performance Computing (HPC). Specifically, the "Vision 2030" CFD study is to provide a knowledge-based forecast of the future computational capabilities required for turbulent, transitional, and reacting flow simulations across a broad Mach number regime, and to lay the foundation for the development of a future framework and/or environment where physics-based, accurate predictions of complex turbulent flows, including flow separation, can be accomplished routinely and efficiently in cooperation with other physics-based simulations to enable multi-physics analysis and design. Specific technical requirements from the aerospace industrial and scientific communities were obtained to determine critical capability gaps, anticipated technical challenges, and impediments to achieving the target CFD capability in 2030. A preliminary development plan and roadmap were created to help focus investments in technology development to help achieve the CFD vision in 2030.

A multiphysics 3D model of tissue growth under interstitial perfusion in a tissue-engineering bioreactor.

PubMed

Nava, Michele M; Raimondi, Manuela T; Pietrabissa, Riccardo

2013-11-01

The main challenge in engineered cartilage consists in understanding and controlling the growth process towards a functional tissue. Mathematical and computational modelling can help in the optimal design of the bioreactor configuration and in a quantitative understanding of important culture parameters. In this work, we present a multiphysics computational model for the prediction of cartilage tissue growth in an interstitial perfusion bioreactor. The model consists of two separate sub-models, one two-dimensional (2D) sub-model and one three-dimensional (3D) sub-model, which are coupled between each other. These sub-models account both for the hydrodynamic microenvironment imposed by the bioreactor, using a model based on the Navier-Stokes equation, the mass transport equation and the biomass growth. The biomass, assumed as a phase comprising cells and the synthesised extracellular matrix, has been modelled by using a moving boundary approach. In particular, the boundary at the fluid-biomass interface is moving with a velocity depending from the local oxygen concentration and viscous stress. In this work, we show that all parameters predicted, such as oxygen concentration and wall shear stress, by the 2D sub-model with respect to the ones predicted by the 3D sub-model are systematically overestimated and thus the tissue growth, which directly depends on these parameters. This implies that further predictive models for tissue growth should take into account of the three dimensionality of the problem for any scaffold microarchitecture.

RTM user's guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Claus, Steven J.; Loos, Alfred C.

1989-01-01

RTM is a FORTRAN '77 computer code which simulates the infiltration of textile reinforcements and the kinetics of thermosetting polymer resin systems. The computer code is based on the process simulation model developed by the author. The compaction of dry, woven textile composites is simulated to describe the increase in fiber volume fraction with increasing compaction pressure. Infiltration is assumed to follow D'Arcy's law for Newtonian viscous fluids. The chemical changes which occur in the resin during processing are simulated with a thermo-kinetics model. The computer code is discussed on the basis of the required input data, output files and some comments on how to interpret the results. An example problem is solved and a complete listing is included.

COMPUTATIONAL CHALLENGES IN BUILDING MULTI-SCALE AND MULTI-PHYSICS MODELS OF CARDIAC ELECTRO-MECHANICS

PubMed Central

Plank, G; Prassl, AJ; Augustin, C

2014-01-01

Despite the evident multiphysics nature of the heart – it is an electrically controlled mechanical pump – most modeling studies considered electrophysiology and mechanics in isolation. In no small part, this is due to the formidable modeling challenges involved in building strongly coupled anatomically accurate and biophyically detailed multi-scale multi-physics models of cardiac electro-mechanics. Among the main challenges are the selection of model components and their adjustments to achieve integration into a consistent organ-scale model, dealing with technical difficulties such as the exchange of data between electro-physiological and mechanical model, particularly when using different spatio-temporal grids for discretization, and, finally, the implementation of advanced numerical techniques to deal with the substantial computational. In this study we report on progress made in developing a novel modeling framework suited to tackle these challenges. PMID:24043050

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC. Quarterly report January through March 2011. Year 1 Quarter 2 progress report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lottes, S. A.; Kulak, R. F.; Bojanowski, C.

2011-05-19

This project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focusmore » of the project are wind and water loads on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to assess them for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, vehicle stability under high wind loading, and the use of electromagnetic shock absorbers to improve vehicle stability under high wind conditions. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of January through March 2011.« less

A general computation model based on inverse analysis principle used for rheological analysis of W/O rapeseed and soybean oil emulsions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vintila, Iuliana; Gavrus, Adinel

2017-10-01

The present research paper proposes the validation of a rigorous computation model used as a numerical tool to identify rheological behavior of complex emulsions W/O. Considering a three-dimensional description of a general viscoplastic flow it is detailed the thermo-mechanical equations used to identify fluid or soft material's rheological laws starting from global experimental measurements. Analyses are conducted for complex emulsions W/O having generally a Bingham behavior using the shear stress - strain rate dependency based on a power law and using an improved analytical model. Experimental results are investigated in case of rheological behavior for crude and refined rapeseed/soybean oils and four types of corresponding W/O emulsions using different physical-chemical composition. The rheological behavior model was correlated with the thermo-mechanical analysis of a plane-plane rheometer, oil content, chemical composition, particle size and emulsifier's concentration. The parameters of rheological laws describing the industrial oils and the W/O concentrated emulsions behavior were computed from estimated shear stresses using a non-linear regression technique and from experimental torques using the inverse analysis tool designed by A. Gavrus (1992-2000).

Fluid flow in porous media using image-based modelling to parametrize Richards' equation.

PubMed

Cooper, L J; Daly, K R; Hallett, P D; Naveed, M; Koebernick, N; Bengough, A G; George, T S; Roose, T

2017-11-01

The parameters in Richards' equation are usually calculated from experimentally measured values of the soil-water characteristic curve and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The complex pore structures that often occur in porous media complicate such parametrization due to hysteresis between wetting and drying and the effects of tortuosity. Rather than estimate the parameters in Richards' equation from these indirect measurements, image-based modelling is used to investigate the relationship between the pore structure and the parameters. A three-dimensional, X-ray computed tomography image stack of a soil sample with voxel resolution of 6 μm has been used to create a computational mesh. The Cahn-Hilliard-Stokes equations for two-fluid flow, in this case water and air, were applied to this mesh and solved using the finite-element method in COMSOL Multiphysics. The upscaled parameters in Richards' equation are then obtained via homogenization. The effect on the soil-water retention curve due to three different contact angles, 0°, 20° and 60°, was also investigated. The results show that the pore structure affects the properties of the flow on the large scale, and different contact angles can change the parameters for Richards' equation.

Serpentinization: Getting water into a low permeability peridotite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulven, Ole Ivar

2017-04-01

Fluid consuming rock transformation processes occur in a variety of settings in the Earth's crust. One such process is serpentinization, which involves hydration of ultramafic rock to form serpentine. With peridotite being one of the dominating rocks in the oceanic crust, this process changes physical and chemical properties of the crust at a large scale, increases the amount of water that enters subduction zones, and might even affect plate tectonics te{jamtveit}. A significant number of papers have studied serpentinization in different settings, from reaction fronts progressing over hundreds of meters te{rudge} to the interface scale fracture initiation te{pluemper}. However, the process represents a complicated multi-physics problem which couples external stress, mechanical deformation, volume change, fracture formation, fluid transport, the chemical reaction, heat production and heat flow. Even though it has been argued that fracture formation caused by the volume expansion allows fluid infiltration into the peridotite te{rudge}, it remains unclear how sufficient water can enter the initially low permeability peridotite to pervasively serpentinize the rock at kilometre scale. In this work, we study serpentinization numerically utilizing a thermo-hydro-mechanical model extended with a fluid consuming chemical reaction that increases the rock volume, reduces its density and strength, changes the permeability of the rock, and potentially induces fracture formation. The two-way coupled hydromechanical model is based on a discrete element model (DEM) previously used to study a volume expanding process te{ulven_1,ulven_2} combined with a fluid transport model based on poroelasticity te{ulven_sun}, which is here extended to include fluid unsaturated conditions. Finally, a new model for reactive heat production and heat flow is introduced, to make this probably the first ever fully coupled chemo-thermo-hydromechanical model describing serpentinization. With this model, we are able to improve the understanding of how water is able to penetrate deep into the crust to pervasively serpentinize the initially low permeability peridotite. Jamtveit, B., Austrheim, H., and Putnis, A., ``Disequilibrium metamorphism of stressed lithosphere'', Earth-Sci. Rev. 154, 2016, pp. 1 - 13. Plümper, O., Røyne, A., Magraso, A., and Jamtveit, B., ``The interface-scale mechanism of reaction-induced fracturing during upper mantle serpentinization'', Geology 40, 2012, pp. 1103 - 1106. Rudge, J. F., Kelemen, P. B., and Spiegelman, M., ``A simple model of reaction induced cracking applied to serpentinization and carbonation of peridotite'', Earth Planet. Sc. Lett. 291, 2010, Issues 1-4, pp. 215 - 227. Ulven, O. I., Storheim, H., Austrheim, H., and Malthe-Sørenssen, A., ``Fracture Initiation During Volume Increasing Reactions in Rocks and Applications for CO2 Sequestration'', Earth Planet. Sc. Lett. 389C, 2014a, pp. 132 - 142, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.12.039. Ulven, O. I., Jamtveit, B., and Malthe-Sørenssen, A., ``Reaction-driven fracturing of porous rock'', J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth 119, 2014b, doi:10.1002/2014JB011102. Ulven, O. I., and Sun, W.C., ``Borehole breakdown studied using a two-way coupling dual-graph lattice model for fluid-driven fracture'', under review.

Transient Simulation of the Multi-SERTTA Experiment with MAMMOTH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ortensi, Javier; Baker, Benjamin; Wang, Yaqi

This work details the MAMMOTH reactor physics simulations of the Static Environment Rodlet Transient Test Apparatus (SERTTA) conducted at Idaho National Laboratory in FY-2017. TREAT static-environment experiment vehicles are being developed to enable transient testing of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) type fuel specimens, including fuel concepts with enhanced accident tolerance (Accident Tolerant Fuels, ATF). The MAMMOTH simulations include point reactor kinetics as well as spatial dynamics for a temperature-limited transient. The strongly coupled multi-physics solutions of the neutron flux and temperature fields are second order accurate both in the spatial and temporal domains. MAMMOTH produces pellet stack powers that are within 1.5% of the Monte Carlo reference solutions. Some discrepancies between the MCNP model used in the design of the flux collars and the Serpent/MAMMOTH models lead to higher power and energy deposition values in Multi-SERTTA unit 1. The TREAT core results compare well with the safety case computed with point reactor kinetics in RELAP5-3D. The reactor period is 44 msec, which corresponds to a reactivity insertion of 2.685% delta k/kmore » $. The peak core power in the spatial dynamics simulation is 431 MW, which the point kinetics model over-predicts by 12%. The pulse width at half the maximum power is 0.177 sec. Subtle transient effects are apparent at the beginning insertion in the experimental samples due to the control rod removal. Additional difference due to transient effects are observed in the sample powers and enthalpy. The time dependence of the power coupling factor (PCF) is calculated for the various fuel stacks of the Multi-SERTTA vehicle. Sample temperatures in excess of 3100 K, the melting point UO$$_2$$, are computed with the adiabatic heat transfer model. The planned shaped-transient might introduce additional effects that cannot be predicted with PRK models. Future modeling will be focused on the shaped-transient by improving the control rod models in MAMMOTH and adding the BISON thermo-elastic models and thermal-fluids heat transfer.« less

Thermo-mechanical pressurization of experimental faults in cohesive rocks during seismic slip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Violay, M.; Di Toro, G.; Nielsen, S.; Spagnuolo, E.; Burg, J. P.

2015-11-01

Earthquakes occur because fault friction weakens with increasing slip and slip rates. Since the slipping zones of faults are often fluid-saturated, thermo-mechanical pressurization of pore fluids has been invoked as a mechanism responsible for frictional dynamic weakening, but experimental evidence is lacking. We performed friction experiments (normal stress 25 MPa, maximal slip-rate ∼3 ms-1) on cohesive basalt and marble under (1) room-humidity and (2) immersed in liquid water (drained and undrained) conditions. In both rock types and independently of the presence of fluids, up to 80% of frictional weakening was measured in the first 5 cm of slip. Modest pressurization-related weakening appears only at later stages of slip. Thermo-mechanical pressurization weakening of cohesive rocks can be negligible during earthquakes due to the triggering of more efficient fault lubrication mechanisms (flash heating, frictional melting, etc.).

Analysis of thermo-chemical nonequilibrium models for carbon dioxide flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rock, Stacey G.; Candler, Graham V.; Hornung, Hans G.

1992-01-01

The aerothermodynamics of thermochemical nonequilibrium carbon dioxide flows is studied. The chemical kinetics models of McKenzie and Park are implemented in separate three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics codes. The codes incorporate a five-species gas model characterized by a translational-rotational and a vibrational temperature. Solutions are obtained for flow over finite length elliptical and circular cylinders. The computed flowfields are then employed to calculate Mach-Zehnder interferograms for comparison with experimental data. The accuracy of the chemical kinetics models is determined through this comparison. Also, the methodology of the three-dimensional thermochemical nonequilibrium code is verified by the reproduction of the experiments.

XFEM modeling of hydraulic fracture in porous rocks with natural fractures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Tao; Liu, ZhanLi; Zeng, QingLei; Gao, Yue; Zhuang, Zhuo

2017-08-01

Hydraulic fracture (HF) in porous rocks is a complex multi-physics coupling process which involves fluid flow, diffusion and solid deformation. In this paper, the extended finite element method (XFEM) coupling with Biot theory is developed to study the HF in permeable rocks with natural fractures (NFs). In the recent XFEM based computational HF models, the fluid flow in fractures and interstitials of the porous media are mostly solved separately, which brings difficulties in dealing with complex fracture morphology. In our new model the fluid flow is solved in a unified framework by considering the fractures as a kind of special porous media and introducing Poiseuille-type flow inside them instead of Darcy-type flow. The most advantage is that it is very convenient to deal with fluid flow inside the complex fracture network, which is important in shale gas extraction. The weak formulation for the new coupled model is derived based on virtual work principle, which includes the XFEM formulation for multiple fractures and fractures intersection in porous media and finite element formulation for the unified fluid flow. Then the plane strain Kristianovic-Geertsma-de Klerk (KGD) model and the fluid flow inside the fracture network are simulated to validate the accuracy and applicability of this method. The numerical results show that large injection rate, low rock permeability and isotropic in-situ stresses tend to lead to a more uniform and productive fracture network.

Reduced Order Model Implementation in the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization Toolkit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mandelli, Diego; Smith, Curtis L.; Alfonsi, Andrea

2015-09-01

The RISMC project aims to develop new advanced simulation-based tools to perform Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA) for the existing fleet of U.S. nuclear power plants (NPPs). These tools numerically model not only the thermo-hydraulic behavior of the reactor primary and secondary systems but also external events temporal evolution and components/system ageing. Thus, this is not only a multi-physics problem but also a multi-scale problem (both spatial, µm-mm-m, and temporal, ms-s-minutes-years). As part of the RISMC PRA approach, a large amount of computationally expensive simulation runs are required. An important aspect is that even though computational power is regularly growing, themore » overall computational cost of a RISMC analysis may be not viable for certain cases. A solution that is being evaluated is the use of reduce order modeling techniques. During the FY2015, we investigated and applied reduced order modeling techniques to decrease the RICM analysis computational cost by decreasing the number of simulations runs to perform and employ surrogate models instead of the actual simulation codes. This report focuses on the use of reduced order modeling techniques that can be applied to any RISMC analysis to generate, analyze and visualize data. In particular, we focus on surrogate models that approximate the simulation results but in a much faster time (µs instead of hours/days). We apply reduced order and surrogate modeling techniques to several RISMC types of analyses using RAVEN and RELAP-7 and show the advantages that can be gained.« less

Multi-Physics Modelling of Fault Mechanics Using REDBACK: A Parallel Open-Source Simulator for Tightly Coupled Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poulet, Thomas; Paesold, Martin; Veveakis, Manolis

2017-03-01

Faults play a major role in many economically and environmentally important geological systems, ranging from impermeable seals in petroleum reservoirs to fluid pathways in ore-forming hydrothermal systems. Their behavior is therefore widely studied and fault mechanics is particularly focused on the mechanisms explaining their transient evolution. Single faults can change in time from seals to open channels as they become seismically active and various models have recently been presented to explain the driving forces responsible for such transitions. A model of particular interest is the multi-physics oscillator of Alevizos et al. (J Geophys Res Solid Earth 119(6), 4558-4582, 2014) which extends the traditional rate and state friction approach to rate and temperature-dependent ductile rocks, and has been successfully applied to explain spatial features of exposed thrusts as well as temporal evolutions of current subduction zones. In this contribution we implement that model in REDBACK, a parallel open-source multi-physics simulator developed to solve such geological instabilities in three dimensions. The resolution of the underlying system of equations in a tightly coupled manner allows REDBACK to capture appropriately the various theoretical regimes of the system, including the periodic and non-periodic instabilities. REDBACK can then be used to simulate the drastic permeability evolution in time of such systems, where nominally impermeable faults can sporadically become fluid pathways, with permeability increases of several orders of magnitude.

The Zero Boil-Off Tank Experiment Contributions to the Development of Cryogenic Fluid Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chato, David J.; Kassemi, Mohammad

2015-01-01

The Zero Boil-Off Technology (ZBOT) Experiment involves performing a small scale ISS experiment to study tank pressurization and pressure control in microgravity. The ZBOT experiment consists of a vacuum jacketed test tank filled with an inert fluorocarbon simulant liquid. Heaters and thermo-electric coolers are used in conjunction with an axial jet mixer flow loop to study a range of thermal conditions within the tank. The objective is to provide a high quality database of low gravity fluid motions and thermal transients which will be used to validate Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modeling. This CFD can then be used in turn to predict behavior in larger systems with cryogens. This paper will discuss the current status of the ZBOT experiment as it approaches its flight to installation on the International Space Station, how its findings can be scaled to larger and more ambitious cryogenic fluid management experiments, as well as ideas for follow-on investigations using ZBOT like hardware to study other aspects of cryogenic fluid management.

Multiscale multiphysics and multidomain models—Flexibility and rigidity

PubMed Central

Xia, Kelin; Opron, Kristopher; Wei, Guo-Wei

2013-01-01

The emerging complexity of large macromolecules has led to challenges in their full scale theoretical description and computer simulation. Multiscale multiphysics and multidomain models have been introduced to reduce the number of degrees of freedom while maintaining modeling accuracy and achieving computational efficiency. A total energy functional is constructed to put energies for polar and nonpolar solvation, chemical potential, fluid flow, molecular mechanics, and elastic dynamics on an equal footing. The variational principle is utilized to derive coupled governing equations for the above mentioned multiphysical descriptions. Among these governing equations is the Poisson-Boltzmann equation which describes continuum electrostatics with atomic charges. The present work introduces the theory of continuum elasticity with atomic rigidity (CEWAR). The essence of CEWAR is to formulate the shear modulus as a continuous function of atomic rigidity. As a result, the dynamics complexity of a macromolecular system is separated from its static complexity so that the more time-consuming dynamics is handled with continuum elasticity theory, while the less time-consuming static analysis is pursued with atomic approaches. We propose a simple method, flexibility-rigidity index (FRI), to analyze macromolecular flexibility and rigidity in atomic detail. The construction of FRI relies on the fundamental assumption that protein functions, such as flexibility, rigidity, and energy, are entirely determined by the structure of the protein and its environment, although the structure is in turn determined by all the interactions. As such, the FRI measures the topological connectivity of protein atoms or residues and characterizes the geometric compactness of the protein structure. As a consequence, the FRI does not resort to the interaction Hamiltonian and bypasses matrix diagonalization, which underpins most other flexibility analysis methods. FRI's computational complexity is of \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\\begin{document}${\\cal O}(N^2)$\\end{document}O(N2) at most, where N is the number of atoms or residues, in contrast to \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\\begin{document}${\\cal O}(N^3)$\\end{document}O(N3) for Hamiltonian based methods. We demonstrate that the proposed FRI gives rise to accurate prediction of protein B-Factor for a set of 263 proteins. We show that a parameter free FRI is able to achieve about 95% accuracy of the parameter optimized FRI. An interpolation algorithm is developed to construct continuous atomic flexibility functions for visualization and use with CEWAR. PMID:24320318

Multiscale multiphysics and multidomain models—Flexibility and rigidity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xia, Kelin; Opron, Kristopher; Wei, Guo-Wei, E-mail: wei@math.msu.edu

The emerging complexity of large macromolecules has led to challenges in their full scale theoretical description and computer simulation. Multiscale multiphysics and multidomain models have been introduced to reduce the number of degrees of freedom while maintaining modeling accuracy and achieving computational efficiency. A total energy functional is constructed to put energies for polar and nonpolar solvation, chemical potential, fluid flow, molecular mechanics, and elastic dynamics on an equal footing. The variational principle is utilized to derive coupled governing equations for the above mentioned multiphysical descriptions. Among these governing equations is the Poisson-Boltzmann equation which describes continuum electrostatics with atomicmore » charges. The present work introduces the theory of continuum elasticity with atomic rigidity (CEWAR). The essence of CEWAR is to formulate the shear modulus as a continuous function of atomic rigidity. As a result, the dynamics complexity of a macromolecular system is separated from its static complexity so that the more time-consuming dynamics is handled with continuum elasticity theory, while the less time-consuming static analysis is pursued with atomic approaches. We propose a simple method, flexibility-rigidity index (FRI), to analyze macromolecular flexibility and rigidity in atomic detail. The construction of FRI relies on the fundamental assumption that protein functions, such as flexibility, rigidity, and energy, are entirely determined by the structure of the protein and its environment, although the structure is in turn determined by all the interactions. As such, the FRI measures the topological connectivity of protein atoms or residues and characterizes the geometric compactness of the protein structure. As a consequence, the FRI does not resort to the interaction Hamiltonian and bypasses matrix diagonalization, which underpins most other flexibility analysis methods. FRI's computational complexity is of O(N{sup 2}) at most, where N is the number of atoms or residues, in contrast to O(N{sup 3}) for Hamiltonian based methods. We demonstrate that the proposed FRI gives rise to accurate prediction of protein B-Factor for a set of 263 proteins. We show that a parameter free FRI is able to achieve about 95% accuracy of the parameter optimized FRI. An interpolation algorithm is developed to construct continuous atomic flexibility functions for visualization and use with CEWAR.« less

Three-dimensional numerical study of laminar confined slot jet impingement cooling using slurry of nano-encapsulated phase change material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohib Ur Rehman, M.; Qu, Z. G.; Fu, R. P.

2016-10-01

This Article presents a three dimensional numerical model investigating thermal performance and hydrodynamics features of the confined slot jet impingement using slurry of Nano Encapsulated Phase Change Material (NEPCM) as a coolant. The slurry is composed of water as a base fluid and n-octadecane NEPCM particles with mean diameter of 100nm suspended in it. A single phase fluid approach is employed to model the NEPCM slurry.The thermo physical properties of the NEPCM slurry are computed using modern approaches being proposed recently and governing equations are solved with a commercial Finite Volume based code. The effects of jet Reynolds number varying from 100 to 600 and particle volume fraction ranging from 0% to 28% are considered. The computed results are validated by comparing Nusselt number values at stagnation point with the previously published results with water as working fluid. It was found that adding NEPCM to the base fluid results with considerable amount of heat transfer enhancement.The highest values of heat transfer coefficients are observed at H/W=4 and Cm=0.28. However, due to the higher viscosity of slurry compared with the base fluid, the slurry can produce drastic increase in pressure drop of the system that increases with NEPCM particle loading and jet Reynolds number.

HeartMate II left ventricular assist system: from concept to first clinical use.

PubMed

Griffith, B P; Kormos, R L; Borovetz, H S; Litwak, K; Antaki, J F; Poirier, V L; Butler, K C

2001-03-01

The HeartMate II left ventricular assist device (LVAD) (ThermoCardiosystems, Inc, Woburn, MA) has evolved from 1991 when a partnership was struck between the McGowan Center of the University of Pittsburgh and Nimbus Company. Early iterations were conceptually based on axial-flow mini-pumps (Hemopump) and began with purge bearings. As the project developed, so did the understanding of new bearings, computational fluid design and flow visualization, and speed control algorithms. The acquisition of Nimbus by ThermoCardiosystems, Inc (TCI) sped developments of cannulas, controller, and power/monitor units. The system has been successfully tested in more than 40 calves since 1997 and the first human implant occurred in July 2000. Multicenter safety and feasibility trials are planned for Europe and soon thereafter a trial will be started in the United States to test 6-month survival in end-stage heart failure.

Numerical simulation for the coupled thermo-mechanical performance of a lined rock cavern for underground compressed air energy storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Shu-Wei; Xia, Cai-Chu; Zhao, Hai-Bin; Mei, Song-Hua; Zhou, Yu

2017-12-01

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a technology that uses compressed air to store surplus electricity generated from low power consumption time for use at peak times. This paper presents a thermo-mechanical modeling for the thermodynamic and mechanical responses of a lined rock cavern used for CAES. The simulation was accomplished in COMSOL Multiphysics and comparisons of the numerical simulation and some analytical solutions validated the thermo-mechanical modeling. Air pressure and temperatures in the sealing layer and concrete lining exhibited a similar trend of ‘up-down-down-up’ in one cycle. Significant temperature fluctuation occurred only in the concrete lining and sealing layer, and no strong fluctuation was observed in the host rock. In the case of steel sealing, principal stresses in the sealing layer were larger than those in the concrete and host rock. The maximum compressive stresses of the three layers and the displacement on the cavern surface increased with the increase of cycle number. However, the maximum tensile stresses exhibited the opposite trend. Polymer sealing achieved a relatively larger air temperature and pressure compared with steel and air-tight concrete sealing. For concrete layer thicknesses of 0 and 0.1 m and an initial air pressure of 4.5 MPa, the maximum rock temperature could reach 135 °C and 123 °C respectively in a 30 day simulation.

The Application of COMSOL Multiphysics Package on the Modelling of Complex 3-D Lithospheric Electrical Resistivity Structures - A Case Study from the Proterozoic Orogenic belt within the North China Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, L.; Yin, Y.; Deng, M.; Guo, L.; Yan, J.

2017-12-01

At present, most magnetotelluric (MT) forward modelling and inversion codes are based on finite difference method. But its structured mesh gridding cannot be well adapted for the conditions with arbitrary topography or complex tectonic structures. By contrast, the finite element method is more accurate in calculating complex and irregular 3-D region and has lower requirement of function smoothness. However, the complexity of mesh gridding and limitation of computer capacity has been affecting its application. COMSOL Multiphysics is a cross-platform finite element analysis, solver and multiphysics full-coupling simulation software. It achieves highly accurate numerical simulations with high computational performance and outstanding multi-field bi-directional coupling analysis capability. In addition, its AC/DC and RF module can be used to easily calculate the electromagnetic responses of complex geological structures. Using the adaptive unstructured grid, the calculation is much faster. In order to improve the discretization technique of computing area, we use the combination of Matlab and COMSOL Multiphysics to establish a general procedure for calculating the MT responses for arbitrary resistivity models. The calculated responses include the surface electric and magnetic field components, impedance components, magnetic transfer functions and phase tensors. Then, the reliability of this procedure is certificated by 1-D, 2-D and 3-D and anisotropic forward modeling tests. Finally, we establish the 3-D lithospheric resistivity model for the Proterozoic Wutai-Hengshan Mts. within the North China Craton by fitting the real MT data collected there. The reliability of the model is also verified by induced vectors and phase tensors. Our model shows more details and better resolution, compared with the previously published 3-D model based on the finite difference method. In conclusion, COMSOL Multiphysics package is suitable for modeling the 3-D lithospheric resistivity structures under complex tectonic deformation backgrounds, which could be a good complement to the existing finite-difference inversion algorithms.

Grizzly Usage and Theory Manual

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spencer, B. W.; Backman, M.; Chakraborty, P.

2016-03-01

Grizzly is a multiphysics simulation code for characterizing the behavior of nuclear power plant (NPP) structures, systems and components (SSCs) subjected to a variety of age-related aging mechanisms. Grizzly simulates both the progression of aging processes, as well as the capacity of aged components to safely perform. This initial beta release of Grizzly includes capabilities for engineering-scale thermo-mechanical analysis of reactor pressure vessels (RPVs). Grizzly will ultimately include capabilities for a wide range of components and materials. Grizzly is in a state of constant development, and future releases will broaden the capabilities of this code for RPV analysis, as wellmore » as expand it to address degradation in other critical NPP components.« less

Numerical modeling of fluid migration in subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, M. J.; Quinteros, J.; Sobolev, S. V.

2015-12-01

It is well known that fluids play a crucial role in subduction evolution. For example, mechanical weakening along tectonic interfaces, due to high fluid pressure, may enable oceanic subduction. Hence, the fluid content seems to be a critical parameter for subduction initiation. Studies have also shown a correlation between the location of slab dehydration and intermediate seismic activity. Furthermore, expelled fluids from the subduction slab affect the melting temperature, consequently, contributing to partial melting in the wedge above the down-going plate and extensive volcanism. In summary, fluids have a great impact on tectonic processes and therefore should be incorporated into geodynamic numerical models. Here we use existing approaches to couple and solve fluid flow equations in the SLIM-3D thermo-mechanical code. SLIM-3D is a three-dimensional thermo-mechanical code capable of simulating lithospheric deformation with elasto-visco-plastic rheology. It has been successfully applied to model geodynamic processes at different tectonic settings, including subduction zones. However, although SLIM-3D already includes many features, fluid migration has not been incorporated into the model yet. To this end, we coupled solid and fluid flow assuming that fluids flow through a porous and deformable solid. Thereby, we introduce a two-phase flow into the model, in which the Stokes flow is coupled with the Darcy law for fluid flow. Ultimately, the evolution of porosity is governed by a compaction pressure and the advection of the porous solid. We show the details of our implementation of the fluid flow into the existing thermo-mechanical finite element code and present first results of benchmarks and experiments. We are especially interested in the coupling of subduction processes and the evolution of the magmatic arc. Thereby, we focus on the key factors controlling magma emplacement and its influence on subduction processes.

Aiding flow Thermo-Solutal Convection in Porous Cavity: ANN approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jafer Kazi1, Mohammed; Ameer Ahamad, N.; Yunus Khan, T. M.

2017-08-01

The transfer of thermal energy along with the diffusion of mass is common phenomenon that occurs in nature. The thermos-solutal convection in porous medium arises due to combined effect of diffusion of heat as well as mass inside the domain. The density variation of fluid due to absorbed heat at one end of porous cavity leads to fluid movement which in turn initiates the heat transfer. The mass diffusion inside the porous regime occurs due to concentration difference between two ends of cavity. Generally this phenomenon is studied with the help of numerical methods but current work emphasis the successful usage of artificial neural network in predicting the thermos-solutal convection of aiding flow in porous medium.

Volumetric Stress-Strain Analysis of Optohydrodynamically Suspended Biological Cells

PubMed Central

Liang, Yu; Saha, Asit K.

2011-01-01

Ongoing investigations are exploring the biomechanical properties of isolated and suspended biological cells in pursuit of understanding single-cell mechanobiology. An optical tweezer with minimal applied laser power has positioned biologic cells at the geometric center of a microfluidic cross-junction, creating a novel optohydrodynamic trap. The resulting fluid flow environment facilitates unique multiaxial loading of single cells with site-specific normal and shear stresses resulting in a physical albeit extensional state. A recent two-dimensional analysis has explored the cytoskeletal strain response due to these fluid-induced stresses [Wilson and Kohles, 2010, “Two-Dimensional Modeling of Nanomechanical Stresses-Strains in Healthy and Diseased Single-Cells During Microfluidic Manipulation,” J Nanotechnol Eng Med, 1(2), p. 021005]. Results described a microfluidic environment having controlled nanometer and piconewton resolution. In this present study, computational fluid dynamics combined with multiphysics modeling has further characterized the applied fluid stress environment and the solid cellular strain response in three dimensions to accompany experimental cell stimulation. A volumetric stress-strain analysis was applied to representative living cell biomechanical data. The presented normal and shear stress surface maps will guide future microfluidic experiments as well as provide a framework for characterizing cytoskeletal structure influencing the stress to strain response. PMID:21186894

Poroelastic Modeling as a Proof of Concept for Modular Representation of Coupled Geophysical Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, R. L., II; Knepley, M.; Aminzadeh, F.

2017-12-01

We seek to use the tools provided by the Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation (PETSc) to represent a multiphysics problem in a form that decouples the element definition from the fully coupled equation through the use of pointwise functions that imitate the strong form of the governing equation. This allows allows individual physical processes to be expressed as independent kernels that may be then coupled with the existing finite element framework, PyLith, and capitalizes upon the flexibility offered by the solver, data management, and time stepping algorithms offered by PETSc. To demonstrate a characteristic example of coupled geophysical simulation devised in this manner, we present a model of a synthetic poroelastic environment, with and without the consideration of inertial effects, with fluid initially represented as a single phase. Matrix displacement and fluid pressure serve as the desired unknowns, with the option for various model parameters represented as dependent variables of the central unknowns. While independent of PyLith, this model also serves to showcase the adaptability of physics kernels for synthetic forward modeling. In addition, we seek to expand the base case to demonstrate the impact of modeling fluid as single phase compressible versus a single incompressible phase. As a goal, we also seek to include multiphase fluid modeling, as well as capillary effects.

Subsurface Reactive Transport Modelling of the Lateritic Ni mineralization in New Caledonia: A coupled Thermo-Hydro-Geochemical Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myagkiy, Andrey; Golfier, Fabrice; Truche, Laurent; Cathelineau, Michel

2017-04-01

This research proposes a subsurface reactive geochemical transport modelling of the development of a nickel laterite profile in New Caledonia over the past few million years. Such a regolith formation from ultramafic bedrock was not yet modelled and gives new profound insights into the Ni vertical mobility, its retention processes in a soil profile and relative enrichment, that are still poorly studied. The downward progression of the lateritization front is allowed by the leaching of the soluble elements (Si, Mg and Ni) through drainage system, represented by porous column of peridotite. Particular emphasis is placed on the detailed understanding of Ni redistribution as a function of time and depth triggered by Ni-bearing silicate precipitation (i.e. garnierite) and by sorption or recrystallization process with goethite. Current work consists of the following models: i) 1-D calculations that are done at 25oC with the code PHREEQC associated with the llnl thermodynamic database and ii) 2-D model that handles coupled thermo-hydro-chemical processes and is calculated on the interface Comsol-Phreeqc (iCP, Nardi et al., 2014). The impact of i) fluid flow in fractures and ii) recharge rate along with iii) hydraulic and iv) geothermal gradients are considered here. While the first model gives profound insights into the vertical mobility of metals upon the formation of laterite (Myagkiy et al, submitted), the latter one additionally allows to describe heterogeneities of mineralizing distributions due to the influence of preferential pathways (fractures), convective flows and lateral transfers. Our long-term 1-D simulations (10 Ma) clearly demonstrate that the Ni enrichment and thickening of iron-rich zone are governed by the vertical progression of the pH front. At the same time 2-D modelling shows reactivation of Ni from oxide zone and it subsequent redistribution and concentration in saprolite. Such a model appears to be of importance in attempt of explanation Ni mineralization processes, revealing the main keys to understanding the trace elements mobility in ultramafic environment. Myagkiy A, Truche L, Cathelineau M, Golfier F. "Revealing the conditions of Ni mineralization in laterite profile of New Caledonia: insights from reactive geochemical transport modelling" Preprint submitted to Chemical Geology (September 28, 2016). Nardi A, Idiart A, Trinchero P, de Vries LM, and Molinero J. "Interface COMSOL-PHREEQC (iCP), an efficient numerical framework for the solution of coupled multiphysics and geochemistry."Computers & Geosciences 69 (2014): 10-21.

Large-scale Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Simulations in Complex Geological Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Therrien, R.; Lemieux, J.

2011-12-01

The study of a potential deep repository for radioative waste disposal in Canada context requires simulation capabilities for thermo-hydro-mechanical processes. It is expected that the host rock for the deep repository will be subjected to a variety of stresses during its lifetime such as in situ stresses in the rock, stressed caused by excavation of the repository and thermo-mechanical stresses. Another stress of concern for future Canadian climates will results from various episodes of glaciation. In that case, it can be expected that over 3 km of ice may be present over the land mass, which will create a glacial load that will be transmitted to the underlying geological materials and therefore impact their mechanical and hydraulic responses. Glacial loading will affect pore fluid pressures in the subsurface, which will in turn affect groundwater velocities and the potential migration of radionuclides from the repository. In addition, permafrost formation and thawing resulting from glacial advance and retreat will modify the bulk hydraulic of the geological materials and will have a potentially large impact on groundwater flow patterns, especially groundwater recharge. In the context of a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel, the performance of the repository to contain the spent nuclear fuel must be evaluated for periods that span several hundred thousand years. The time-frame for thermo-hydro-mechanical simulations is therefore extremely long and efficient numerical techniques must be developed. Other challenges are the representation of geological formations that have potentially complex geometries and physical properties and may contain fractures. The spatial extent of the simulation domain is also very large and can potentially reach the size of a sedimentary basin. Mass transport must also be considered because the fluid salinity in a sedimentary basin can be highly variable and the effect of fluid density on groundwater flow must be accounted for. Adding mass transport with density effect introduces further non-linearities in the governing equations, thus leading to increased simulation times. We will present challenges and current developments related to this topic in the Canadian context. Current efforts aim at improving simulation capabilities for large-scale 3D thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation in complex geologic materials. One topic of interest is to evaluate the appropriateness of simplifying the effect of glacial loading by using a one-dimensional hydro-mechanical representation that assumes purely vertical strain as opposed to the much more computationally intensive 3D representation.

Effects of physical properties on thermo-fluids cavitating flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, T. R.; Wang, G. Y.; Huang, B.; Li, D. Q.; Ma, X. J.; Li, X. L.

2015-12-01

The aims of this paper are to study the thermo-fluid cavitating flows and to evaluate the effects of physical properties on cavitation behaviours. The Favre-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the energy equation are applied to numerically investigate the liquid nitrogen cavitating flows around a NASA hydrofoil. Meanwhile, the thermodynamic parameter Σ is used to assess the thermodynamic effects on cavitating flows. The results indicate that the thermodynamic effects on the thermo-fluid cavitating flows significantly affect the cavitation behaviours, including pressure and temperature distribution, the variation of physical properties, and cavity structures. The thermodynamic effects can be evaluated by physical properties under the same free-stream conditions. The global sensitivity analysis of liquid nitrogen suggests that ρv, Cl and L significantly influence temperature drop and cavity structure in the existing numerical framework, while pv plays the dominant role when these properties vary with temperature. The liquid viscosity μl slightly affects the flow structure via changing the Reynolds number Re equivalently, however, it hardly affects the temperature distribution.

Influence of ionization on the Gupta and on the Park chemical models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morsa, Luigi; Zuppardi, Gennaro

2014-12-01

This study is an extension of former works by the present authors, in which the influence of the chemical models by Gupta and by Park was evaluated on thermo-fluid-dynamic parameters in the flow field, including transport coefficients, related characteristic numbers and heat flux on two current capsules (EXPERT and Orion) during the high altitude re-entry path. The results verified that the models, even computing different air compositions in the flow field, compute only slight different compositions on the capsule surface, therefore the difference in the heat flux is not very relevant. In the above mentioned studies, ionization was neglected because the velocities of the capsules (about 5000 m/s for EXPERT and about 7600 m/s for Orion) were not high enough to activate meaningful ionization. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the incidence of ionization, linked to the chemical models by Gupta and by Park, on both heat flux and thermo fluid-dynamic parameters. The present computer tests were carried out by a direct simulation Monte Carlo code (DS2V) in the velocity interval 7600-12000 m/s, considering only the Orion capsule at an altitude of 85 km. The results verified what already found namely when ionization is not considered, the chemical models compute only a slight different gas composition in the core of the shock wave and practically the same composition on the surface therefore the same heat flux. On the opposite, the results verified that when ionization is considered, the chemical models compute different compositions in the whole shock layer and on the surface therefore different heat flux. The analysis of the results relies on a qualitative and a quantitative evaluation of the effects of ionization on both chemical models. The main result of the study is that when ionization is taken into account, the Park model is more reactive than the Gupta model; consequently, the heat flux computed by Park is lower than the one computed by Gupta; using the Gupta model, in the design of a thermal protection system, is recommended.

Computational Investigations in Rectangular Convergent and Divergent Ribbed Channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivakumar, Karthikeyan; Kulasekharan, N.; Natarajan, E.

2018-05-01

Computational investigations on the rib turbulated flow inside a convergent and divergent rectangular channel with square ribs of different rib heights and different Reynolds numbers (Re=20,000, 40,000 and 60,000). The ribs were arranged in a staggered fashion between the upper and lower surfaces of the test section. Computational investigations are carried out using computational fluid dynamic software ANSYS Fluent 14.0. Suitable solver settings like turbulence models were identified from the literature and the boundary conditions for the simulations on a solution of independent grid. Computations were carried out for both convergent and divergent channels with 0 (smooth duct), 1.5, 3, 6, 9 and 12 mm rib heights, to identify the ribbed channel with optimal performance, assessed using a thermo hydraulic performance parameter. The convergent and divergent rectangular channels show higher Nu values than the standard correlation values.

Multiphysics modeling of non-linear laser-matter interactions for optically active semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraczek, Brent; Kanp, Jaroslaw

Development of photonic devices for sensors and communications devices has been significantly enhanced by computational modeling. We present a new computational method for modelling laser propagation in optically-active semiconductors within the paraxial wave approximation (PWA). Light propagation is modeled using the Streamline-upwind/Petrov-Galerkin finite element method (FEM). Material response enters through the non-linear polarization, which serves as the right-hand side of the FEM calculation. Maxwell's equations for classical light propagation within the PWA can be written solely in terms of the electric field, producing a wave equation that is a form of the advection-diffusion-reaction equations (ADREs). This allows adaptation of the computational machinery developed for solving ADREs in fluid dynamics to light-propagation modeling. The non-linear polarization is incorporated using a flexible framework to enable the use of multiple methods for carrier-carrier interactions (e.g. relaxation-time-based or Monte Carlo) to enter through the non-linear polarization, as appropriate to the material type. We demonstrate using a simple carrier-carrier model approximating the response of GaN. Supported by ARL Materials Enterprise.

AEROELASTIC SIMULATION TOOL FOR INFLATABLE BALLUTE AEROCAPTURE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liever, P. A.; Sheta, E. F.; Habchi, S. D.

2006-01-01

A multidisciplinary analysis tool is under development for predicting the impact of aeroelastic effects on the functionality of inflatable ballute aeroassist vehicles in both the continuum and rarefied flow regimes. High-fidelity modules for continuum and rarefied aerodynamics, structural dynamics, heat transfer, and computational grid deformation are coupled in an integrated multi-physics, multi-disciplinary computing environment. This flexible and extensible approach allows the integration of state-of-the-art, stand-alone NASA and industry leading continuum and rarefied flow solvers and structural analysis codes into a computing environment in which the modules can run concurrently with synchronized data transfer. Coupled fluid-structure continuum flow demonstrations were conducted on a clamped ballute configuration. The feasibility of implementing a DSMC flow solver in the simulation framework was demonstrated, and loosely coupled rarefied flow aeroelastic demonstrations were performed. A NASA and industry technology survey identified CFD, DSMC and structural analysis codes capable of modeling non-linear shape and material response of thin-film inflated aeroshells. The simulation technology will find direct and immediate applications with NASA and industry in ongoing aerocapture technology development programs.

Stabilized FE simulation of prototype thermal-hydraulics problems with integrated adjoint-based capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shadid, J. N.; Smith, T. M.; Cyr, E. C.; Wildey, T. M.; Pawlowski, R. P.

2016-09-01

A critical aspect of applying modern computational solution methods to complex multiphysics systems of relevance to nuclear reactor modeling, is the assessment of the predictive capability of specific proposed mathematical models. In this respect the understanding of numerical error, the sensitivity of the solution to parameters associated with input data, boundary condition uncertainty, and mathematical models is critical. Additionally, the ability to evaluate and or approximate the model efficiently, to allow development of a reasonable level of statistical diagnostics of the mathematical model and the physical system, is of central importance. In this study we report on initial efforts to apply integrated adjoint-based computational analysis and automatic differentiation tools to begin to address these issues. The study is carried out in the context of a Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes approximation to turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer using a particular spatial discretization based on implicit fully-coupled stabilized FE methods. Initial results are presented that show the promise of these computational techniques in the context of nuclear reactor relevant prototype thermal-hydraulics problems.

Stabilized FE simulation of prototype thermal-hydraulics problems with integrated adjoint-based capabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shadid, J.N., E-mail: jnshadi@sandia.gov; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Mexico; Smith, T.M.

A critical aspect of applying modern computational solution methods to complex multiphysics systems of relevance to nuclear reactor modeling, is the assessment of the predictive capability of specific proposed mathematical models. In this respect the understanding of numerical error, the sensitivity of the solution to parameters associated with input data, boundary condition uncertainty, and mathematical models is critical. Additionally, the ability to evaluate and or approximate the model efficiently, to allow development of a reasonable level of statistical diagnostics of the mathematical model and the physical system, is of central importance. In this study we report on initial efforts tomore » apply integrated adjoint-based computational analysis and automatic differentiation tools to begin to address these issues. The study is carried out in the context of a Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes approximation to turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer using a particular spatial discretization based on implicit fully-coupled stabilized FE methods. Initial results are presented that show the promise of these computational techniques in the context of nuclear reactor relevant prototype thermal-hydraulics problems.« less

Stabilized FE simulation of prototype thermal-hydraulics problems with integrated adjoint-based capabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shadid, J. N.; Smith, T. M.; Cyr, E. C.

A critical aspect of applying modern computational solution methods to complex multiphysics systems of relevance to nuclear reactor modeling, is the assessment of the predictive capability of specific proposed mathematical models. The understanding of numerical error, the sensitivity of the solution to parameters associated with input data, boundary condition uncertainty, and mathematical models is critical. Additionally, the ability to evaluate and or approximate the model efficiently, to allow development of a reasonable level of statistical diagnostics of the mathematical model and the physical system, is of central importance. In our study we report on initial efforts to apply integrated adjoint-basedmore » computational analysis and automatic differentiation tools to begin to address these issues. The study is carried out in the context of a Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes approximation to turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer using a particular spatial discretization based on implicit fully-coupled stabilized FE methods. We present the initial results that show the promise of these computational techniques in the context of nuclear reactor relevant prototype thermal-hydraulics problems.« less

Stabilized FE simulation of prototype thermal-hydraulics problems with integrated adjoint-based capabilities

DOE PAGES

Shadid, J. N.; Smith, T. M.; Cyr, E. C.; ...

2016-05-20

A critical aspect of applying modern computational solution methods to complex multiphysics systems of relevance to nuclear reactor modeling, is the assessment of the predictive capability of specific proposed mathematical models. The understanding of numerical error, the sensitivity of the solution to parameters associated with input data, boundary condition uncertainty, and mathematical models is critical. Additionally, the ability to evaluate and or approximate the model efficiently, to allow development of a reasonable level of statistical diagnostics of the mathematical model and the physical system, is of central importance. In our study we report on initial efforts to apply integrated adjoint-basedmore » computational analysis and automatic differentiation tools to begin to address these issues. The study is carried out in the context of a Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes approximation to turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer using a particular spatial discretization based on implicit fully-coupled stabilized FE methods. We present the initial results that show the promise of these computational techniques in the context of nuclear reactor relevant prototype thermal-hydraulics problems.« less

Analysis of physics-based preconditioning for single-phase subchannel equations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hansel, J. E.; Ragusa, J. C.; Allu, S.

2013-07-01

The (single-phase) subchannel approximations are used throughout nuclear engineering to provide an efficient flow simulation because the computational burden is much smaller than for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and empirical relations have been developed and validated to provide accurate solutions in appropriate flow regimes. Here, the subchannel equations have been recast in a residual form suitable for a multi-physics framework. The Eigen spectrum of the Jacobian matrix, along with several potential physics-based preconditioning approaches, are evaluated, and the the potential for improved convergence from preconditioning is assessed. The physics-based preconditioner options include several forms of reduced equations that decouplemore » the subchannels by neglecting crossflow, conduction, and/or both turbulent momentum and energy exchange between subchannels. Eigen-scopy analysis shows that preconditioning moves clusters of eigenvalues away from zero and toward one. A test problem is run with and without preconditioning. Without preconditioning, the solution failed to converge using GMRES, but application of any of the preconditioners allowed the solution to converge. (authors)« less

An optimization-based approach for solving a time-harmonic multiphysical wave problem with higher-order schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mönkölä, Sanna

2013-06-01

This study considers developing numerical solution techniques for the computer simulations of time-harmonic fluid-structure interaction between acoustic and elastic waves. The focus is on the efficiency of an iterative solution method based on a controllability approach and spectral elements. We concentrate on the model, in which the acoustic waves in the fluid domain are modeled by using the velocity potential and the elastic waves in the structure domain are modeled by using displacement. Traditionally, the complex-valued time-harmonic equations are used for solving the time-harmonic problems. Instead of that, we focus on finding periodic solutions without solving the time-harmonic problems directly. The time-dependent equations can be simulated with respect to time until a time-harmonic solution is reached, but the approach suffers from poor convergence. To overcome this challenge, we follow the approach first suggested and developed for the acoustic wave equations by Bristeau, Glowinski, and Périaux. Thus, we accelerate the convergence rate by employing a controllability method. The problem is formulated as a least-squares optimization problem, which is solved with the conjugate gradient (CG) algorithm. Computation of the gradient of the functional is done directly for the discretized problem. A graph-based multigrid method is used for preconditioning the CG algorithm.

A multiphysics and multiscale software environment for modeling astrophysical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portegies Zwart, Simon; McMillan, Steve; Harfst, Stefan; Groen, Derek; Fujii, Michiko; Nualláin, Breanndán Ó.; Glebbeek, Evert; Heggie, Douglas; Lombardi, James; Hut, Piet; Angelou, Vangelis; Banerjee, Sambaran; Belkus, Houria; Fragos, Tassos; Fregeau, John; Gaburov, Evghenii; Izzard, Rob; Jurić, Mario; Justham, Stephen; Sottoriva, Andrea; Teuben, Peter; van Bever, Joris; Yaron, Ofer; Zemp, Marcel

2009-05-01

We present MUSE, a software framework for combining existing computational tools for different astrophysical domains into a single multiphysics, multiscale application. MUSE facilitates the coupling of existing codes written in different languages by providing inter-language tools and by specifying an interface between each module and the framework that represents a balance between generality and computational efficiency. This approach allows scientists to use combinations of codes to solve highly coupled problems without the need to write new codes for other domains or significantly alter their existing codes. MUSE currently incorporates the domains of stellar dynamics, stellar evolution and stellar hydrodynamics for studying generalized stellar systems. We have now reached a "Noah's Ark" milestone, with (at least) two available numerical solvers for each domain. MUSE can treat multiscale and multiphysics systems in which the time- and size-scales are well separated, like simulating the evolution of planetary systems, small stellar associations, dense stellar clusters, galaxies and galactic nuclei. In this paper we describe three examples calculated using MUSE: the merger of two galaxies, the merger of two evolving stars, and a hybrid N-body simulation. In addition, we demonstrate an implementation of MUSE on a distributed computer which may also include special-purpose hardware, such as GRAPEs or GPUs, to accelerate computations. The current MUSE code base is publicly available as open source at http://muse.li.

Study on Fluid-solid Coupling Mathematical Models and Numerical Simulation of Coal Containing Gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Gang; Hao, Meng; Jin, Hongwei

2018-02-01

Based on coal seam gas migration theory under multi-physics field coupling effect, fluid-solid coupling model of coal seam gas was build using elastic mechanics, fluid mechanics in porous medium and effective stress principle. Gas seepage behavior under different original gas pressure was simulated. Results indicated that residual gas pressure, gas pressure gradient and gas low were bigger when original gas pressure was higher. Coal permeability distribution decreased exponentially when original gas pressure was lower than critical pressure. Coal permeability decreased rapidly first and then increased slowly when original pressure was higher than critical pressure.

The thermo-vibrational convection in microgravity condition. Ground-based modelling.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zyuzgin, A. V.; Putin, G. F.; Harisov, A. F.

In 1995-2000 at orbital station "Mir" has been carried out the series of experiments with the equipment "Alice" for the studying regimes of heat transfer in the supercritical fluids under influence inertial microaccelerations. The experiments have found out existence of the thermo-vibrational and thermo-inertial convective movements in the real weightlessness[1] and controlling microgravity fields[2]. However regarding structures of thermovibrational convection the results of experiments have inconsistent character. Therefore carrying out the ground-based modeling of the given problem is actually. In this work in laboratory conditions were investigated the thermo-vibrational convective movements from the dot heat source at high-frequency vibrations of the cavity with the fluid and presence quasi-static microacceleration. As the result of ground-based modeling, the regimes of convective flows, similar observed in the space experiment are received. Evolution of the convective structures and the spatial-temporary characteristics of movements are investigated in a wide range of the problem parameters. The control criteria and its critical value are determined. The received results well coordinated to the data of space experiments and allow adding and expanding representation about thermo-vibrational effects in conditions of real weightlessness and remove the contradictions concerning structures thermo-vibrational convective flows, received at the analysis of the given orbital experiments. The research described in this publication was made possible in part by Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Administration of Perm Region, Russia, under grant 04-02-96038, and Award No. PE-009-0 of the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (CRDF). A.V. Zyuzgin, A. I. Ivanov, V. I. Polezhaev, G. F. Putin, E. B. Soboleva Convective Motions in Near-Critical Fluids under Real Zero-Gravity Conditions. Cosmic Research, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2001, pp. 175--186. A.V. Zyuzgin, G.F. Putin, N.G. Ivanova, A.V. Chudinov, A.I. Ivanov, A.V. Kalmykov, V. I. Polezhaev, V.M. Emelianov The heat convection of nearcritical fluid in the controlled microacceleration field under zero-gravity condition. Advances in Space Research, 2003, Vol. 32, No 2, pp. 205-210.

Rheological properties of a biological thermo-responsive hydrogel produced from soybean oil polymers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rheological properties of a newly developed biological thermo-hydrogel made from vegetable oil were investigated. The material named HPSO-VI is a hydrolytic product of polymerized soybean oil (PSO). HPSO-VI exhibited viscoelastic behavior above 2% (wt. %) at room temperature and viscous fluid ...

Rheological Properties of a Biological Thermo-Hydrogel Produced from Soybean Oil Polymers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rheological properties of a newly developed biological thermo-hydrogel made from vegetable oil were investigated. The material named HPSO-HG is a hydrolytic product of polymerized soybean oil (PSO). HPSO-HG exhibited viscoelastic behavior above 2% (wt.%) at room temperature and viscous fluid b...

The Integrated Plasma Simulator: A Flexible Python Framework for Coupled Multiphysics Simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foley, Samantha S; Elwasif, Wael R; Bernholdt, David E

2011-11-01

High-fidelity coupled multiphysics simulations are an increasingly important aspect of computational science. In many domains, however, there has been very limited experience with simulations of this sort, therefore research in coupled multiphysics often requires computational frameworks with significant flexibility to respond to the changing directions of the physics and mathematics. This paper presents the Integrated Plasma Simulator (IPS), a framework designed for loosely coupled simulations of fusion plasmas. The IPS provides users with a simple component architecture into which a wide range of existing plasma physics codes can be inserted as components. Simulations can take advantage of multiple levels ofmore » parallelism supported in the IPS, and can be controlled by a high-level ``driver'' component, or by other coordination mechanisms, such as an asynchronous event service. We describe the requirements and design of the framework, and how they were implemented in the Python language. We also illustrate the flexibility of the framework by providing examples of different types of simulations that utilize various features of the IPS.« less

Computational modeling of magnetic particle margination within blood flow through LAMMPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Huilin; Shen, Zhiqiang; Li, Ying

2017-11-01

We develop a multiscale and multiphysics computational method to investigate the transport of magnetic particles as drug carriers in blood flow under influence of hydrodynamic interaction and external magnetic field. A hybrid coupling method is proposed to handle red blood cell (RBC)-fluid interface (CFI) and magnetic particle-fluid interface (PFI), respectively. Immersed boundary method (IBM)-based velocity coupling is used to account for CFI, which is validated by tank-treading and tumbling behaviors of a single RBC in simple shear flow. While PFI is captured by IBM-based force coupling, which is verified through movement of a single magnetic particle under non-uniform external magnetic field and breakup of a magnetic chain in rotating magnetic field. These two components are seamlessly integrated within the LAMMPS framework, which is a highly parallelized molecular dynamics solver. In addition, we also implement a parallelized lattice Boltzmann simulator within LAMMPS to handle the fluid flow simulation. Based on the proposed method, we explore the margination behaviors of magnetic particles and magnetic chains within blood flow. We find that the external magnetic field can be used to guide the motion of these magnetic materials and promote their margination to the vascular wall region. Moreover, the scaling performance and speedup test further confirm the high efficiency and robustness of proposed computational method. Therefore, it provides an efficient way to simulate the transport of nanoparticle-based drug carriers within blood flow in a large scale. The simulation results can be applied in the design of efficient drug delivery vehicles that optimally accumulate within diseased tissue, thus providing better imaging sensitivity, therapeutic efficacy and lower toxicity.

A Spalart-Allmaras local correlation-based transition model for Thermo-fuid dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Alessandro, V.; Garbuglia, F.; Montelpare, S.; Zoppi, A.

2017-11-01

The study of innovative energy systems often involves complex fluid flows problems and the Computational Fluid-Dynamics (CFD) is one of the main tools of analysis. It is important to put in evidence that in several energy systems the flow field experiences the laminar-to-turbulent transition. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) or Large Eddy Simulation (LES) are able to predict the flow transition but they are still inapplicable to the study of real problems due to the significant computational resources requirements. Differently standard Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) approaches are not always reliable since they assume a fully turbulent regime. In order to overcome this drawback in the recent years some locally formulated transition RANS models have been developed. In this work, we present a local correlation-based transition approach adding two equations that control the laminar-toturbulent transition process -γ and \\[\\overset{}{\\mathop{{{\\operatorname{Re}}θ, \\text{t}}}} \\] - to the well-known Spalart-Allmaras (SA) turbulence model. The new model was implemented within OpenFOAM code. The energy equation is also implemented in order to evaluate the model performance in thermal-fluid dynamics applications. In all the considered cases a very good agreement between numerical and experimental data was observed.

Multiscale Multiphysics and Multidomain Models I: Basic Theory

PubMed Central

Wei, Guo-Wei

2013-01-01

This work extends our earlier two-domain formulation of a differential geometry based multiscale paradigm into a multidomain theory, which endows us the ability to simultaneously accommodate multiphysical descriptions of aqueous chemical, physical and biological systems, such as fuel cells, solar cells, nanofluidics, ion channels, viruses, RNA polymerases, molecular motors and large macromolecular complexes. The essential idea is to make use of the differential geometry theory of surfaces as a natural means to geometrically separate the macroscopic domain of solvent from the microscopic domain of solute, and dynamically couple continuum and discrete descriptions. Our main strategy is to construct energy functionals to put on an equal footing of multiphysics, including polar (i.e., electrostatic) solvation, nonpolar solvation, chemical potential, quantum mechanics, fluid mechanics, molecular mechanics, coarse grained dynamics and elastic dynamics. The variational principle is applied to the energy functionals to derive desirable governing equations, such as multidomain Laplace-Beltrami (LB) equations for macromolecular morphologies, multidomain Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation or Poisson equation for electrostatic potential, generalized Nernst-Planck (NP) equations for the dynamics of charged solvent species, generalized Navier-Stokes (NS) equation for fluid dynamics, generalized Newton's equations for molecular dynamics (MD) or coarse-grained dynamics and equation of motion for elastic dynamics. Unlike the classical PB equation, our PB equation is an integral-differential equation due to solvent-solute interactions. To illustrate the proposed formalism, we have explicitly constructed three models, a multidomain solvation model, a multidomain charge transport model and a multidomain chemo-electro-fluid-MD-elastic model. Each solute domain is equipped with distinct surface tension, pressure, dielectric function, and charge density distribution. In addition to long-range Coulombic interactions, various non-electrostatic solvent-solute interactions are considered in the present modeling. We demonstrate the consistency between the non-equilibrium charge transport model and the equilibrium solvation model by showing the systematical reduction of the former to the latter at equilibrium. This paper also offers a brief review of the field. PMID:25382892

Multiscale Multiphysics and Multidomain Models I: Basic Theory.

PubMed

Wei, Guo-Wei

2013-12-01

This work extends our earlier two-domain formulation of a differential geometry based multiscale paradigm into a multidomain theory, which endows us the ability to simultaneously accommodate multiphysical descriptions of aqueous chemical, physical and biological systems, such as fuel cells, solar cells, nanofluidics, ion channels, viruses, RNA polymerases, molecular motors and large macromolecular complexes. The essential idea is to make use of the differential geometry theory of surfaces as a natural means to geometrically separate the macroscopic domain of solvent from the microscopic domain of solute, and dynamically couple continuum and discrete descriptions. Our main strategy is to construct energy functionals to put on an equal footing of multiphysics, including polar (i.e., electrostatic) solvation, nonpolar solvation, chemical potential, quantum mechanics, fluid mechanics, molecular mechanics, coarse grained dynamics and elastic dynamics. The variational principle is applied to the energy functionals to derive desirable governing equations, such as multidomain Laplace-Beltrami (LB) equations for macromolecular morphologies, multidomain Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation or Poisson equation for electrostatic potential, generalized Nernst-Planck (NP) equations for the dynamics of charged solvent species, generalized Navier-Stokes (NS) equation for fluid dynamics, generalized Newton's equations for molecular dynamics (MD) or coarse-grained dynamics and equation of motion for elastic dynamics. Unlike the classical PB equation, our PB equation is an integral-differential equation due to solvent-solute interactions. To illustrate the proposed formalism, we have explicitly constructed three models, a multidomain solvation model, a multidomain charge transport model and a multidomain chemo-electro-fluid-MD-elastic model. Each solute domain is equipped with distinct surface tension, pressure, dielectric function, and charge density distribution. In addition to long-range Coulombic interactions, various non-electrostatic solvent-solute interactions are considered in the present modeling. We demonstrate the consistency between the non-equilibrium charge transport model and the equilibrium solvation model by showing the systematical reduction of the former to the latter at equilibrium. This paper also offers a brief review of the field.

Fluid-solid coupled simulation of the ignition transient of solid rocket motor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qiang; Liu, Peijin; He, Guoqiang

2015-05-01

The first period of the solid rocket motor operation is the ignition transient, which involves complex processes and, according to chronological sequence, can be divided into several stages, namely, igniter jet injection, propellant heating and ignition, flame spreading, chamber pressurization and solid propellant deformation. The ignition transient should be comprehensively analyzed because it significantly influences the overall performance of the solid rocket motor. A numerical approach is presented in this paper for simulating the fluid-solid interaction problems in the ignition transient of the solid rocket motor. In the proposed procedure, the time-dependent numerical solutions of the governing equations of internal compressible fluid flow are loosely coupled with those of the geometrical nonlinearity problems to determine the propellant mechanical response and deformation. The well-known Zeldovich-Novozhilov model was employed to model propellant ignition and combustion. The fluid-solid coupling interface data interpolation scheme and coupling instance for different computational agents were also reported. Finally, numerical validation was performed, and the proposed approach was applied to the ignition transient of one laboratory-scale solid rocket motor. For the application, the internal ballistics were obtained from the ground hot firing test, and comparisons were made. Results show that the integrated framework allows us to perform coupled simulations of the propellant ignition, strong unsteady internal fluid flow, and propellant mechanical response in SRMs with satisfactory stability and efficiency and presents a reliable and accurate solution to complex multi-physics problems.

Investigating the development of less-mobile porosity in realistic hyporheic zone sediments with COMSOL Multiphysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MahmoodPoorDehkordy, F.; Briggs, M. A.; Day-Lewis, F. D.; Bagtzoglou, A. C.

2017-12-01

Although hyporheic zones are often modeled at the reach scale as homogeneous "boxes" of exchange, heterogeneity caused by variations of pore sizes and connectivity is not uncommon. This heterogeneity leads to the creation of more- and less-mobile zones of hydraulic exchange that influence reactive solute transport processes. Whereas fluid sampling is generally sensitive to more-mobile zones, geoelectrical measurement is sensitive to ionic tracer dynamics in both less- and more-mobile zones. Heterogeneity in pore connectivity leads to a lag between fluid and bulk electrical conductivity (EC) resulting in a hysteresis loop, observed during tracer breakthrough tests, that contains information about the less-mobile porosity attributes of the medium. Here, we present a macro-scale model of solute transport and electrical conduction developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The model is used to simulate geoelectrical monitoring of ionic transport for bed sediments based on (1) a stochastic sand-and-cobble mixture and (2) a dune feature with strong permeability layering. In both of these disparate sediment types, hysteresis between fluid and bulk EC is observed, and depends in part on fluid flux rate through the model domain. Using the hysteresis loop, the ratio of less-mobile to mobile porosity and mass-transfer coefficient are estimated graphically. The results indicate the presence and significance of less-mobile porosity in the hyporheic zones and demonstrate the capability of the proposed model to detect heterogeneity in flow processes and estimate less-mobile zone parameters.

Fully Coupled Aero-Thermochemical-Elastic Simulations of an Eroding Graphite Nozzle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blades, E. L.; Reveles, N. D.; Nucci, M.; Maclean, M.

2017-01-01

A multiphysics simulation capability has been developed that incorporates mutual interactions between aerodynamics, structural response from aero/thermal loading, ablation/pyrolysis, heating, and surface-to-surface radiation to perform high-fidelity, fully coupled aerothermoelastic ablation simulations, which to date had been unattainable. The multiphysics framework couples CHAR (a 3-D implicit charring ablator solver), Loci/CHEM (a computational fluid dynamics solver for high-speed chemically reacting flows), and Abaqus (a nonlinear structural dynamics solver) to create a fully coupled aerothermoelastic charring ablative solver. The solvers are tightly coupled in a fully integrated fashion to resolve the effects of the ablation pyrolysis and charring process and chemistry products upon the flow field, the changes in surface geometry due to recession upon the flow field, and thermal-structural analysis of the body from the induced aerodynamic heating from the flow field. The multiphysics framework was successfully demonstrated on a solid rocket motor graphite nozzle erosion application. Comparisons were made with available experimental data that measured the throat erosion during the motor firing. The erosion data is well characterized, as the test rig was equipped with a windowed nozzle section for real-time X-ray radiography diagnostics of the instantaneous throat variations for deducing the instantaneous erosion rates. The nozzle initially undergoes a nozzle contraction due to thermal expansion before ablation effects are able to widen the throat. A series of parameters studies were conducted using the coupled simulation capability to determine the sensitivity of the nozzle erosion to different parameters. The parameter studies included the shape of the nozzle throat (flat versus rounded), the material properties, the effect of the choice of turbulence model, and the inclusion or exclusion of the mechanical thermal expansion. Overall, the predicted results match the experiment very well, and the predictions were able to bound the data within acceptable limits.

Coarse-grained component concurrency in Earth system modeling: parallelizing atmospheric radiative transfer in the GFDL AM3 model using the Flexible Modeling System coupling framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaji, V.; Benson, Rusty; Wyman, Bruce; Held, Isaac

2016-10-01

Climate models represent a large variety of processes on a variety of timescales and space scales, a canonical example of multi-physics multi-scale modeling. Current hardware trends, such as Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) and Many Integrated Core (MIC) chips, are based on, at best, marginal increases in clock speed, coupled with vast increases in concurrency, particularly at the fine grain. Multi-physics codes face particular challenges in achieving fine-grained concurrency, as different physics and dynamics components have different computational profiles, and universal solutions are hard to come by. We propose here one approach for multi-physics codes. These codes are typically structured as components interacting via software frameworks. The component structure of a typical Earth system model consists of a hierarchical and recursive tree of components, each representing a different climate process or dynamical system. This recursive structure generally encompasses a modest level of concurrency at the highest level (e.g., atmosphere and ocean on different processor sets) with serial organization underneath. We propose to extend concurrency much further by running more and more lower- and higher-level components in parallel with each other. Each component can further be parallelized on the fine grain, potentially offering a major increase in the scalability of Earth system models. We present here first results from this approach, called coarse-grained component concurrency, or CCC. Within the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Flexible Modeling System (FMS), the atmospheric radiative transfer component has been configured to run in parallel with a composite component consisting of every other atmospheric component, including the atmospheric dynamics and all other atmospheric physics components. We will explore the algorithmic challenges involved in such an approach, and present results from such simulations. Plans to achieve even greater levels of coarse-grained concurrency by extending this approach within other components, such as the ocean, will be discussed.

Development of a dynamic coupled hydro-geomechanical code and its application to induced seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miah, Md Mamun

This research describes the importance of a hydro-geomechanical coupling in the geologic sub-surface environment from fluid injection at geothermal plants, large-scale geological CO2 sequestration for climate mitigation, enhanced oil recovery, and hydraulic fracturing during wells construction in the oil and gas industries. A sequential computational code is developed to capture the multiphysics interaction behavior by linking a flow simulation code TOUGH2 and a geomechanics modeling code PyLith. Numerical formulation of each code is discussed to demonstrate their modeling capabilities. The computational framework involves sequential coupling, and solution of two sub-problems- fluid flow through fractured and porous media and reservoir geomechanics. For each time step of flow calculation, pressure field is passed to the geomechanics code to compute effective stress field and fault slips. A simplified permeability model is implemented in the code that accounts for the permeability of porous and saturated rocks subject to confining stresses. The accuracy of the TOUGH-PyLith coupled simulator is tested by simulating Terzaghi's 1D consolidation problem. The modeling capability of coupled poroelasticity is validated by benchmarking it against Mandel's problem. The code is used to simulate both quasi-static and dynamic earthquake nucleation and slip distribution on a fault from the combined effect of far field tectonic loading and fluid injection by using an appropriate fault constitutive friction model. Results from the quasi-static induced earthquake simulations show a delayed response in earthquake nucleation. This is attributed to the increased total stress in the domain and not accounting for pressure on the fault. However, this issue is resolved in the final chapter in simulating a single event earthquake dynamic rupture. Simulation results show that fluid pressure has a positive effect on slip nucleation and subsequent crack propagation. This is confirmed by running a sensitivity analysis that shows an increase in injection well distance results in delayed slip nucleation and rupture propagation on the fault.

Keeping it Together: Advanced algorithms and software for magma dynamics (and other coupled multi-physics problems)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegelman, M.; Wilson, C. R.

2011-12-01

A quantitative theory of magma production and transport is essential for understanding the dynamics of magmatic plate boundaries, intra-plate volcanism and the geochemical evolution of the planet. It also provides one of the most challenging computational problems in solid Earth science, as it requires consistent coupling of fluid and solid mechanics together with the thermodynamics of melting and reactive flows. Considerable work on these problems over the past two decades shows that small changes in assumptions of coupling (e.g. the relationship between melt fraction and solid rheology), can have profound changes on the behavior of these systems which in turn affects critical computational choices such as discretizations, solvers and preconditioners. To make progress in exploring and understanding this physically rich system requires a computational framework that allows more flexible, high-level description of multi-physics problems as well as increased flexibility in composing efficient algorithms for solution of the full non-linear coupled system. Fortunately, recent advances in available computational libraries and algorithms provide a platform for implementing such a framework. We present results from a new model building system that leverages functionality from both the FEniCS project (www.fenicsproject.org) and PETSc libraries (www.mcs.anl.gov/petsc) along with a model independent options system and gui, Spud (amcg.ese.ic.ac.uk/Spud). Key features from FEniCS include fully unstructured FEM with a wide range of elements; a high-level language (ufl) and code generation compiler (FFC) for describing the weak forms of residuals and automatic differentiation for calculation of exact and approximate jacobians. The overall strategy is to monitor/calculate residuals and jacobians for the entire non-linear system of equations within a global non-linear solve based on PETSc's SNES routines. PETSc already provides a wide range of solvers and preconditioners, from parallel sparse direct to algebraic multigrid, that can be chosen at runtime. In particular, we make extensive use of PETSc's FieldSplit block preconditioners that allow us to use optimal solvers for subproblems (such as Stokes, or advection/diffusion of temperature) as preconditioners for the full problem. Thus these routines let us reuse effective solving recipes/splittings from previous experience while monitoring the convergence of the global problem. These techniques often yield quadratic (Newton like) convergence for the work of standard Picard schemes. We will illustrate this new framework with examples from the Magma Dynamic Demonstration suite (MADDs) of well understood magma dynamics benchmark problems including stokes flow in ridge geometries, magmatic solitary waves and shear-driven melt bands. While development of this system has been driven by magma dynamics, this framework is much more general and can be used for a wide range of PDE based multi-physics models.

Computational Studies for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatterjee, Dipankar

2017-07-01

Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a well proven technology in order to access the coal lying either too deep underground, or is otherwise too costly to be extracted using the conventional mining methods. UCG product gas is commonly used as a chemical feedstock or as fuel for power generation. During the UCG process, a cavity is formed in the coal seam during its conversion to gaseous products. The cavity grows in a three-dimensional fashion as the gasification proceeds. The UCG process is indeed a result of several complex interactions of various geo-thermo-mechanical processes such as the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, chemical reactions, water influx, thermo-mechanical failure, and other geological aspects. The rate of the growth of this cavity and its shape will have a significant impact on the gas flow patterns, chemical kinetics, temperature distributions, and finally the quality of the product gas. It has been observed that there is insufficient information available in the literature to provide clear insight into these issues. It leaves us with a great opportunity to investigate and explore the UCG process, both from the experimental as well as theoretical perspectives. In the development and exploration of new research, experiment is undoubtedly very important. However, due to the excessive cost involvement with experimentation it is not always recommended for the complicated process like UCG. Recently, with the advent of the high performance computational facilities it is quite possible to make alternative experimentation numerically of many physically involved problems using certain computational tools like CFD (computational fluid dynamics). In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the underlying physical phenomena, modeling strategies have frequently been utilized for the UCG process. Keeping in view the above, the various modeling strategies commonly deployed for carrying out mathematical modeling of UCG process are described here in a concise manner. The available strategies are categorized in several groups and their salient features are discussed in order to have a good understanding of the underlying physical phenomena. This would likely to be a valuable documentation in order to understand the physical process of UCG and will pave to formulate new and involved modeling and simulation techniques for computationally modeling the UCG process.

PRELIMINARY COUPLING OF THE MONTE CARLO CODE OPENMC AND THE MULTIPHYSICS OBJECT-ORIENTED SIMULATION ENVIRONMENT (MOOSE) FOR ANALYZING DOPPLER FEEDBACK IN MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matthew Ellis; Derek Gaston; Benoit Forget

In recent years the use of Monte Carlo methods for modeling reactors has become feasible due to the increasing availability of massively parallel computer systems. One of the primary challenges yet to be fully resolved, however, is the efficient and accurate inclusion of multiphysics feedback in Monte Carlo simulations. The research in this paper presents a preliminary coupling of the open source Monte Carlo code OpenMC with the open source Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE). The coupling of OpenMC and MOOSE will be used to investigate efficient and accurate numerical methods needed to include multiphysics feedback in Monte Carlo codes.more » An investigation into the sensitivity of Doppler feedback to fuel temperature approximations using a two dimensional 17x17 PWR fuel assembly is presented in this paper. The results show a functioning multiphysics coupling between OpenMC and MOOSE. The coupling utilizes Functional Expansion Tallies to accurately and efficiently transfer pin power distributions tallied in OpenMC to unstructured finite element meshes used in MOOSE. The two dimensional PWR fuel assembly case also demonstrates that for a simplified model the pin-by-pin doppler feedback can be adequately replicated by scaling a representative pin based on pin relative powers.« less

High-temperature thermocline TES combining sensible and latent heat - CFD modeling and experimental validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavattoni, Simone A.; Geissbühler, Lukas; Barbato, Maurizio C.; Zanganeh, Giw; Haselbacher, Andreas; Steinfeld, Aldo

2017-06-01

The concept of combined sensible/latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) has been exploited to mitigate an intrinsic thermocline TES systems drawback of heat transfer fluid outflow temperature reduction during discharging. In this study, the combined sensible/latent TES prototype under investigation is constituted by a packed bed of rocks and a small amount of encapsulated phase change material (AlSi12) as sensible heat and latent heat sections respectively. The thermo-fluid dynamics behavior of the combined TES prototype was analyzed by means of a computational fluid dynamics approach. Due to the small value of the characteristic vessel-to-particles diameter ratio, the effect of radial void-fraction variation, also known as channeling, was accounted for. Both the sensible and the latent heat sections of the storage were modeled as porous media under the assumption of local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE). The commercial code ANSYS Fluent 15.0 was used to solve the model's constitutive conservation and transport equations obtaining a fairly good agreement with reference experimental measurements.

Thermo-piezo-electro-mechanical simulation of AlGaN (aluminum gallium nitride) / GaN (gallium nitride) High Electron Mobility Transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, Lorin E.

Due to the current public demand of faster, more powerful, and more reliable electronic devices, research is prolific these days in the area of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices. This is because of their usefulness in RF (radio frequency) and microwave power amplifier applications including microwave vacuum tubes, cellular and personal communications services, and widespread broadband access. Although electrical transistor research has been ongoing since its inception in 1947, the transistor itself continues to evolve and improve much in part because of the many driven researchers and scientists throughout the world who are pushing the limits of what modern electronic devices can do. The purpose of the research outlined in this paper was to better understand the mechanical stresses and strains that are present in a hybrid AlGaN (Aluminum Gallium Nitride) / GaN (Gallium Nitride) HEMT, while under electrically-active conditions. One of the main issues currently being researched in these devices is their reliability, or their consistent ability to function properly, when subjected to high-power conditions. The researchers of this mechanical study have performed a static (i.e. frequency-independent) reliability analysis using powerful multiphysics computer modeling/simulation to get a better idea of what can cause failure in these devices. Because HEMT transistors are so small (micro/nano-sized), obtaining experimental measurements of stresses and strains during the active operation of these devices is extremely challenging. Physical mechanisms that cause stress/strain in these structures include thermo-structural phenomena due to mismatch in both coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and mechanical stiffness between different materials, as well as stress/strain caused by "piezoelectric" effects (i.e. mechanical deformation caused by an electric field, and conversely voltage induced by mechanical stress) in the AlGaN and GaN device portions (both piezoelectric materials). This piezoelectric effect can be triggered by voltage applied to the device's gate contact and the existence of an HEMT-unique "two-dimensional electron gas" (2DEG) at the GaN-AlGaN interface. COMSOL Multiphysics computer software has been utilized to create a finite element (i.e. piece-by-piece) simulation to visualize both temperature and stress/strain distributions that can occur in the device, by coupling together (i.e. solving simultaneously) the thermal, electrical, structural, and piezoelectric effects inherent in the device. The 2DEG has been modeled not with the typically-used self-consistent quantum physics analytical equations, rather as a combined localized heat source* (thermal) and surface charge density* (electrical) boundary condition. Critical values of stress/strain and their respective locations in the device have been identified. Failure locations have been estimated based on the critical values of stress and strain, and compared with reports in literature. The knowledge of the overall stress/strain distribution has assisted in determining the likely device failure mechanisms and possible mitigation approaches. The contribution and interaction of individual stress mechanisms including piezoelectric effects and thermal expansion caused by device self-heating (i.e. fast-moving electrons causing heat) have been quantified. * Values taken from results of experimental studies in literature.

Numerical modeling of fluid migration in subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, Marius J.; Quinteros, Javier; Sobolev, Stephan V.

2015-04-01

It is well known that fluids play a crucial role in subduction evolution. For example, excess mechanical weakening along tectonic interfaces, due to excess fluid pressure, may enable oceanic subduction. Hence, the fluid content seems to be a critical parameter for subduction initiation. Studies have also shown a correlation between the location of slab dehydration and intermediate seismic activity. Furthermore, expelled fluids from the subduction slab affect the melting temperature, consequently, contributing to partial melting in the wedge above the downgoing plate, and resulting in chemical changes in earth interior and extensive volcanism. In summary, fluids have a great impact on tectonic processes and therefore should be incorporated into geodynamic numerical models. Here we use existing approaches to couple and solve fluid flow equations in the SLIM-3D thermo-mechanical code. SLIM-3D is a three-dimensional thermo-mechanical code capable of simulating lithospheric deformation with elasto-visco-plastic rheology. It incorporates an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian formulation, free surface, and changes in density and viscosity, due to endothermic and exothermic phase transitions. It has been successfully applied to model geodynamic processes at different tectonic settings, including subduction zones. However, although SLIM-3D already includes many features, fluid migration has not been incorporated into the model yet. To this end, we coupled solid and fluid flow assuming that fluids flow through a porous and deformable solid. Thereby, we introduce a two-phase flow into the model, in which the Stokes flow is coupled with the Darcy law for fluid flow. This system of equations becomes, however, nonlinear, because the rheology and permeability are depended on the porosity (fluid fraction of the matrix). Ultimately, the evolution of porosity is governed by the compaction pressure and the advection of the porous solid. We show the details of our implementation of the fluid flow into the existing thermo-mechanical finite element code and present first results of benchmarks (e.g. solitary wave) and experiments. We are especially interested in the coupling of subduction processes and the evolution of the magmatic arc. Thereby, we focus on the key factors controlling magma emplacement and its influence on subduction processes.

Multilevel UQ strategies for large-scale multiphysics applications: PSAAP II solar receiver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jofre, Lluis; Geraci, Gianluca; Iaccarino, Gianluca

2017-06-01

Uncertainty quantification (UQ) plays a fundamental part in building confidence in predictive science. Of particular interest is the case of modeling and simulating engineering applications where, due to the inherent complexity, many uncertainties naturally arise, e.g. domain geometry, operating conditions, errors induced by modeling assumptions, etc. In this regard, one of the pacing items, especially in high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, is the large amount of computing resources typically required to propagate incertitude through the models. Upcoming exascale supercomputers will significantly increase the available computational power. However, UQ approaches cannot entrust their applicability only on brute force Monte Carlo (MC) sampling; the large number of uncertainty sources and the presence of nonlinearities in the solution will make straightforward MC analysis unaffordable. Therefore, this work explores the multilevel MC strategy, and its extension to multi-fidelity and time convergence, to accelerate the estimation of the effect of uncertainties. The approach is described in detail, and its performance demonstrated on a radiated turbulent particle-laden flow case relevant to solar energy receivers (PSAAP II: Particle-laden turbulence in a radiation environment). Investigation funded by DoE's NNSA under PSAAP II.

MATCHED-INDEX-OF-REFRACTION FLOW FACILITY FOR FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED RESEARCH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Piyush Sabharwall; Carl Stoots; Donald M. McEligot

2014-11-01

Significant challenges face reactor designers with regard to thermal hydraulic design and associated modeling for advanced reactor concepts. Computational thermal hydraulic codes solve only a piece of the core. There is a need for a whole core dynamics system code with local resolution to investigate and understand flow behavior with all the relevant physics and thermo-mechanics. The matched index of refraction (MIR) flow facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has a unique capability to contribute to the development of validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes through the use of state-of-the-art optical measurement techniques, such as Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) andmore » Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). PIV is a non-intrusive velocity measurement technique that tracks flow by imaging the movement of small tracer particles within a fluid. At the heart of a PIV calculation is the cross correlation algorithm, which is used to estimate the displacement of particles in some small part of the image over the time span between two images. Generally, the displacement is indicated by the location of the largest peak. To quantify these measurements accurately, sophisticated processing algorithms correlate the locations of particles within the image to estimate the velocity (Ref. 1). Prior to use with reactor deign, the CFD codes have to be experimentally validated, which requires rigorous experimental measurements to produce high quality, multi-dimensional flow field data with error quantification methodologies. Computational thermal hydraulic codes solve only a piece of the core. There is a need for a whole core dynamics system code with local resolution to investigate and understand flow behavior with all the relevant physics and thermo-mechanics. Computational techniques with supporting test data may be needed to address the heat transfer from the fuel to the coolant during the transition from turbulent to laminar flow, including the possibility of an early laminarization of the flow (Refs. 2 and 3) (laminarization is caused when the coolant velocity is theoretically in the turbulent regime, but the heat transfer properties are indicative of the coolant velocity being in the laminar regime). Such studies are complicated enough that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models may not converge to the same conclusion. Thus, experimentally scaled thermal hydraulic data with uncertainties should be developed to support modeling and simulation for verification and validation activities. The fluid/solid index of refraction matching technique allows optical access in and around geometries that would otherwise be impossible while the large test section of the INL system provides better spatial and temporal resolution than comparable facilities. Benchmark data for assessing computational fluid dynamics can be acquired for external flows, internal flows, and coupled internal/external flows for better understanding of physical phenomena of interest. The core objective of this study is to describe MIR and its capabilities, and mention current development areas for uncertainty quantification, mainly the uncertainty surface method and cross-correlation method. Using these methods, it is anticipated to establish a suitable approach to quantify PIV uncertainty for experiments performed in the MIR.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Merzari, E.; Yuan, Haomin; Kraus, A.

The NEAMS program aims to develop an integrated multi-physics simulation capability “pellet-to-plant” for the design and analysis of future generations of nuclear power plants. In particular, the Reactor Product Line code suite's multi-resolution hierarchy is being designed to ultimately span the full range of length and time scales present in relevant reactor design and safety analyses, as well as scale from desktop to petaflop computing platforms. Flow-induced vibration (FIV) is widespread problem in energy systems because they rely on fluid movement for energy conversion. Vibrating structures may be damaged as fatigue or wear occurs. Given the importance of reliable componentsmore » in the nuclear industry, flow-induced vibration has long been a major concern in safety and operation of nuclear reactors. In particular, nuclear fuel rods and steam generators have been known to suffer from flow-induced vibration and related failures. Advanced reactors, such as integral Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) considered for Small Modular Reactors (SMR), often rely on innovative component designs to meet cost and safety targets. One component that is the subject of advanced designs is the steam generator, some designs of which forego the usual shell-and-tube architecture in order to fit within the primary vessel. In addition to being more cost- and space-efficient, such steam generators need to be more reliable, since failure of the primary vessel represents a potential loss of coolant and a safety concern. A significant amount of data exists on flow-induced vibration in shell-and-tube heat exchangers, and heuristic methods are available to predict their occurrence based on a set of given assumptions. In contrast, advanced designs have far less data available. Advanced modeling and simulation based on coupled structural and fluid simulations have the potential to predict flow-induced vibration in a variety of designs, reducing the need for expensive experimental programs, especially at the design stage. Over the past five years, the Reactor Product Line has developed the integrated multi-physics code suite SHARP. The goal of developing such a tool is to perform multi-physics neutronics, thermal/fluid, and structural mechanics modeling of the components inside the full reactor core or portions of it with a user-specified fidelity. In particular SHARP contains high-fidelity single-physics codes Diablo for structural mechanics and Nek5000 for fluid mechanics calculations. Both codes are state-of-the-art, highly scalable tools that have been extensively validated. These tools form a strong basis on which to build a flow-induced vibration modeling capability. In this report we discuss one-way coupled calculations performed with Nek5000 and Diablo aimed at simulating available FIV experiments in helical steam generators in the turbulent buffeting regime. In this regime one-way coupling is judged sufficient because the pressure loads do not cause substantial displacements. It is also the most common source of vibration in helical steam generators at the low flows expected in integral PWRs. The legacy data is obtained from two datasets developed at Argonne and B&W.« less

Advances in Geologic Disposal System Modeling and Application to Crystalline Rock

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mariner, Paul E.; Stein, Emily R.; Frederick, Jennifer M.

The Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Office of Fuel Cycle Technology (OFCT) is conducting research and development (R&D) on geologic disposal of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW). Two of the high priorities for UFDC disposal R&D are design concept development and disposal system modeling (DOE 2011). These priorities are directly addressed in the UFDC Generic Disposal Systems Analysis (GDSA) work package, which is charged with developing a disposal system modeling and analysis capability for evaluating disposal system performance for nuclear waste in geologic mediamore » (e.g., salt, granite, clay, and deep borehole disposal). This report describes specific GDSA activities in fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) toward the development of the enhanced disposal system modeling and analysis capability for geologic disposal of nuclear waste. The GDSA framework employs the PFLOTRAN thermal-hydrologic-chemical multi-physics code and the Dakota uncertainty sampling and propagation code. Each code is designed for massively-parallel processing in a high-performance computing (HPC) environment. Multi-physics representations in PFLOTRAN are used to simulate various coupled processes including heat flow, fluid flow, waste dissolution, radionuclide release, radionuclide decay and ingrowth, precipitation and dissolution of secondary phases, and radionuclide transport through engineered barriers and natural geologic barriers to the biosphere. Dakota is used to generate sets of representative realizations and to analyze parameter sensitivity.« less

Parallelization of TWOPORFLOW, a Cartesian Grid based Two-phase Porous Media Code for Transient Thermo-hydraulic Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trost, Nico; Jiménez, Javier; Imke, Uwe; Sanchez, Victor

2014-06-01

TWOPORFLOW is a thermo-hydraulic code based on a porous media approach to simulate single- and two-phase flow including boiling. It is under development at the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) at KIT. The code features a 3D transient solution of the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations for two inter-penetrating fluids with a semi-implicit continuous Eulerian type solver. The application domain of TWOPORFLOW includes the flow in standard porous media and in structured porous media such as micro-channels and cores of nuclear power plants. In the latter case, the fluid domain is coupled to a fuel rod model, describing the heat flow inside the solid structure. In this work, detailed profiling tools have been utilized to determine the optimization potential of TWOPORFLOW. As a result, bottle-necks were identified and reduced in the most feasible way, leading for instance to an optimization of the water-steam property computation. Furthermore, an OpenMP implementation addressing the routines in charge of inter-phase momentum-, energy- and mass-coupling delivered good performance together with a high scalability on shared memory architectures. In contrast to that, the approach for distributed memory systems was to solve sub-problems resulting by the decomposition of the initial Cartesian geometry. Thread communication for the sub-problem boundary updates was accomplished by the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard.

Solar tower cavity receiver aperture optimization based on transient optical and thermo-hydraulic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schöttl, Peter; Bern, Gregor; van Rooyen, De Wet; Heimsath, Anna; Fluri, Thomas; Nitz, Peter

2017-06-01

A transient simulation methodology for cavity receivers for Solar Tower Central Receiver Systems with molten salt as heat transfer fluid is described. Absorbed solar radiation is modeled with ray tracing and a sky discretization approach to reduce computational effort. Solar radiation re-distribution in the cavity as well as thermal radiation exchange are modeled based on view factors, which are also calculated with ray tracing. An analytical approach is used to represent convective heat transfer in the cavity. Heat transfer fluid flow is simulated with a discrete tube model, where the boundary conditions at the outer tube surface mainly depend on inputs from the previously mentioned modeling aspects. A specific focus is put on the integration of optical and thermo-hydraulic models. Furthermore, aiming point and control strategies are described, which are used during the transient performance assessment. Eventually, the developed simulation methodology is used for the optimization of the aperture opening size of a PS10-like reference scenario with cavity receiver and heliostat field. The objective function is based on the cumulative gain of one representative day. Results include optimized aperture opening size, transient receiver characteristics and benefits of the implemented aiming point strategy compared to a single aiming point approach. Future work will include annual simulations, cost assessment and optimization of a larger range of receiver parameters.

Guided self-assembly of magnetic beads for biomedical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusenbauer, Markus; Nguyen, Ha; Reichel, Franz; Exl, Lukas; Bance, Simon; Fischbacher, Johann; Özelt, Harald; Kovacs, Alexander; Brandl, Martin; Schrefl, Thomas

2014-02-01

Micromagnetic beads are widely used in biomedical applications for cell separation, drug delivery, and hyperthermia cancer treatment. Here we propose to use self-organized magnetic bead structures which accumulate on fixed magnetic seeding points to isolate circulating tumor cells. The analysis of circulating tumor cells is an emerging tool for cancer biology research and clinical cancer management including the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. Microfluidic chips for isolating circulating tumor cells use either affinity, size or density capturing methods. We combine multiphysics simulation techniques to understand the microscopic behavior of magnetic beads interacting with soft magnetic accumulation points used in lab-on-chip technologies. Our proposed chip technology offers the possibility to combine affinity and size capturing with special antibody-coated bead arrangements using a magnetic gradient field created by Neodymium Iron Boron permanent magnets. The multiscale simulation environment combines magnetic field computation, fluid dynamics and discrete particle dynamics.

Computational analysis of species transport and electrochemical characteristics of a MOLB-type SOFC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, J. J.; Chen, C. K.; Lai, D. Y.

A multi-physics model coupling electrochemical kinetics with fluid dynamics has been developed to simulate the transport phenomena in mono-block-layer built (MOLB) solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). A typical MOLB module is composed of trapezoidal flow channels, corrugated positive electrode-electrolyte-negative electrode (PEN) plates, and planar inter-connecters. The control volume-based finite difference method is employed for calculation, which is based on the conservation of mass, momentum, energy, species, and electric charge. In the porous electrodes, the flow momentum is governed by a Darcy model with constant porosity and permeability. The diffusion of reactants follows the Bruggman model. The chemistry within the plates is described via surface reactions with a fixed surface-to-volume ratio, tortuosity and average pore size. Species transports as well as the local variations of electrochemical characteristics, such as overpotential and current density distributions in the electrodes of an MOLB SOFC, are discussed in detail.

Hemodynamics of the Aortic Jet and Implications for Detection of Aortic Stenosis Murmurs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Chi; Seo, Junghee; Bakhshaee, Hani; Mittal, Rajat

2016-11-01

Cardiac auscultation with a stethoscope has served as the primary method for qualitative screening of cardiovascular conditions for over a hundred years. However, a lack of quantitative understanding of the flow mechanism(s) responsible for the generation of the murmurs, as well as the effect of intervening tissue on the propagation of these murmurs has been a significant limiting factor in the advancement of automated cardiac auscultation. In this study, a multiphysics computational modeling approach is used to investigate these issues. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) is used to explore the fluid dynamics of the jets formed at the aortic valve and the pressure fluctuations generated by the interaction of this jet with the aortic wall. Subsequently, structural wave propagation in the tissue is resolved by a high-order, linear viscoelastic wave solver in order to explore the propagation of the murmurs through a tissue-like material. The implications of these results for cardiac auscultation are discussed. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from NSF Grants IIS-1344772, CBET-1511200, and computational resource by XSEDE NSF Grant TG-CTS100002.

TerraFERMA: The Transparent Finite Element Rapid Model Assembler for multiphysics problems in Earth sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Cian R.; Spiegelman, Marc; van Keken, Peter E.

2017-02-01

We introduce and describe a new software infrastructure TerraFERMA, the Transparent Finite Element Rapid Model Assembler, for the rapid and reproducible description and solution of coupled multiphysics problems. The design of TerraFERMA is driven by two computational needs in Earth sciences. The first is the need for increased flexibility in both problem description and solution strategies for coupled problems where small changes in model assumptions can lead to dramatic changes in physical behavior. The second is the need for software and models that are more transparent so that results can be verified, reproduced, and modified in a manner such that the best ideas in computation and Earth science can be more easily shared and reused. TerraFERMA leverages three advanced open-source libraries for scientific computation that provide high-level problem description (FEniCS), composable solvers for coupled multiphysics problems (PETSc), and an options handling system (SPuD) that allows the hierarchical management of all model options. TerraFERMA integrates these libraries into an interface that organizes the scientific and computational choices required in a model into a single options file from which a custom compiled application is generated and run. Because all models share the same infrastructure, models become more reusable and reproducible, while still permitting the individual researcher considerable latitude in model construction. TerraFERMA solves partial differential equations using the finite element method. It is particularly well suited for nonlinear problems with complex coupling between components. TerraFERMA is open-source and available at http://terraferma.github.io, which includes links to documentation and example input files.

Otto Laporte Award Talk - In light of Fluid Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gharib, Morteza

2015-11-01

Fluid mechanics, in its inherent non-linear beauty, has been its own laboratory, testing our perseverance and dedication to a branch of science that, despite its perceived maturity, still has many surprises to offer. For many of us, the study of fluid flow has been our path to understanding the complexity of nature. My journey has taken me through many interesting projects including the development of new visualization tools, scrutinizing the rhythms of the human heart, observing flow vortices and studying the dynamics of soap films. But this lecture is mainly devoted to a new example of my research activities where light and flow physics interweave to display another intriguing multi-physics beauty of nature.

Computer Program for the Design and Off-Design Performance of Turbojet and Turbofan Engine Cycles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, S. J.

1978-01-01

The rapid computer program is designed to be run in a stand-alone mode or operated within a larger program. The computation is based on a simplified one-dimensional gas turbine cycle. Each component in the engine is modeled thermo-dynamically. The component efficiencies used in the thermodynamic modeling are scaled for the off-design conditions from input design point values using empirical trends which are included in the computer code. The engine cycle program is capable of producing reasonable engine performance prediction with a minimum of computer execute time. The current computer execute time on the IBM 360/67 for one Mach number, one altitude, and one power setting is about 0.1 seconds. about 0.1 seconds. The principal assumption used in the calculation is that the compressor is operated along a line of maximum adiabatic efficiency on the compressor map. The fluid properties are computed for the combustion mixture, but dissociation is not included. The procedure included in the program is only for the combustion of JP-4, methane, or hydrogen.

Development of Multi-Physics Dynamics Models for High-Frequency Large-Amplitude Structural Response Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Derkevorkian, Armen; Peterson, Lee; Kolaini, Ali R.; Hendricks, Terry J.; Nesmith, Bill J.

2016-01-01

An analytic approach is demonstrated to reveal potential pyroshock -driven dynamic effects causing power losses in the Thermo -Electric (TE) module bars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Multi -Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG). This study utilizes high- fidelity finite element analysis with SIERRA/PRESTO codes to estimate wave propagation effects due to large -amplitude suddenly -applied pyro shock loads in the MMRTG. A high fidelity model of the TE module bar was created with approximately 30 million degrees -of-freedom (DOF). First, a quasi -static preload was applied on top of the TE module bar, then transient tri- axial acceleration inputs were simultaneously applied on the preloaded module. The applied input acceleration signals were measured during MMRTG shock qualification tests performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. An explicit finite element solver in the SIERRA/PRESTO computational environment, along with a 3000 processor parallel super -computing framework at NASA -AMES, was used for the simulation. The simulation results were investigated both qualitatively and quantitatively. The predicted shock wave propagation results provide detailed structural responses throughout the TE module bar, and key insights into the dynamic response (i.e., loads, displacements, accelerations) of critical internal spring/piston compression systems, TE materials, and internal component interfaces in the MMRTG TE module bar. They also provide confidence on the viability of this high -fidelity modeling scheme to accurately predict shock wave propagation patterns within complex structures. This analytic approach is envisioned for modeling shock sensitive hardware susceptible to intense shock environments positioned near shock separation devices in modern space vehicles and systems.

Integrated Modeling and Experiments to Characterize Coupled Thermo-hydro-geomechanical-chemical processes in Hydraulic Fracturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viswanathan, H. S.; Carey, J. W.; Karra, S.; Porter, M. L.; Rougier, E.; Kang, Q.; Makedonska, N.; Hyman, J.; Jimenez Martinez, J.; Frash, L.; Chen, L.

2015-12-01

Hydraulic fracturing phenomena involve fluid-solid interactions embedded within coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes over scales from microns to tens of meters. Feedbacks between processes result in complex dynamics that must be unraveled if one is to predict and, in the case of unconventional resources, facilitate fracture propagation, fluid flow, and interfacial transport processes. The proposed work is part of a broader class of complex systems involving coupled fluid flow and fractures that are critical to subsurface energy issues, such as shale oil, geothermal, carbon sequestration, and nuclear waste disposal. We use unique LANL microfluidic and triaxial core flood experiments integrated with state-of-the-art numerical simulation to reveal the fundamental dynamics of fracture-fluid interactions to characterize the key coupled processes that impact hydrocarbon production. We are also comparing CO2-based fracturing and aqueous fluids to enhance production, greatly reduce waste water, while simultaneously sequestering CO2. We will show pore, core and reservoir scale simulations/experiments that investigate the contolling mechanisms that control hydrocarbon production.

Hall effects on unsteady MHD flow of second grade fluid through porous medium with ramped wall temperature and ramped surface concentration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

VeeraKrishna, M.; Chamkha, Ali J.

2018-05-01

The heat generation/absorption and thermo-diffusion on an unsteady free convective MHD flow of radiating and chemically reactive second grade fluid near an infinite vertical plate through a porous medium and taking the Hall current into account have been studied. Assume that the bounding plate has a ramped temperature with a ramped surface concentration and isothermal temperature with a ramped surface concentration. The analytical solutions for the governing equations are obtained by making use of the Laplace transforms technique. The velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are discussed through graphs. We also found that velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles in the case of ramped temperature with ramped surface concentrations are less than those of isothermal temperature with ramped surface concentrations. Also, the expressions of the skin friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are obtained and represented computationally through a tabular form.

Diffusion thermo effects on unsteady MHD free convection flow of a Kuvshinski fluid past a vertical porous plate in slip flow regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narsu, Sivakumar; Rushi Kumar, B.

2017-11-01

The main purpose of this work is to investigate the diffusion-thermo effects on unsteady combined convection magneto-hydromagnetic boundary layer flow of viscous electrically conducting and chemically reacting fluid over a vertical permeable radiated plate embedded in a highly porous medium. The slip flow regime is applied at the porous interface a uniform magnetic field is applied normal to the fluid flow direction which absorbs the fluid with suction that varies with time. The dimensionless governing equations are solved analytically using two terms harmonic and non-harmonic functions. The expressions for the fields of velocity, temperature and concentration are obtained. For engineering interest we also calculated the physical quantities the skin friction coefficient, Nusselt and Sherwood number are derived. The effects of various physical parameters on the flow quantities are studied through graphs and tables. For the validity, we have checked our results with previously published work and found good agreement with already existing studies.

Optimal Control of Thermo--Fluid Phenomena in Variable Domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volkov, Oleg; Protas, Bartosz

2008-11-01

This presentation concerns our continued research on adjoint--based optimization of viscous incompressible flows (the Navier--Stokes problem) coupled with heat conduction involving change of phase (the Stefan problem), and occurring in domains with variable boundaries. This problem is motivated by optimization of advanced welding techniques used in automotive manufacturing, where the goal is to determine an optimal heat input, so as to obtain a desired shape of the weld pool surface upon solidification. We argue that computation of sensitivities (gradients) in such free--boundary problems requires the use of the shape--differential calculus as a key ingredient. We also show that, with such tools available, the computational solution of the direct and inverse (optimization) problems can in fact be achieved in a similar manner and in a comparable computational time. Our presentation will address certain mathematical and computational aspects of the method. As an illustration we will consider the two--phase Stefan problem with contact point singularities where our approach allows us to obtain a thermodynamically consistent solution.

Advanced computation for modeling fluid-solid dynamics in subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegelman, Marc; Wilson, Cian; van Keken, Peter; Kelemen, Peter; Hacker, Bradley

2014-05-01

Arc volcanism associated with subduction is generally considered to occur by a process where hydrous fluids are released from the slab, interact with the overlying mantle wedge to produce silicate rich magmas which are then transported to the arc. However, the quantitative details of fluid release, migration, melt generation and transport in the wedge remain poorly understood. In particular, there are two fundamental observations that defy quantitative modeling. The first is the location of the volcanic front with respect to intermediate depth earthquakes (e.g. 100 ± 40 km). This observation is remarkably robust yet insensitive to subduction parameters. This contrasts with new estimates on the variability of fluid release in global subduction zones which suggest a significant sensitivity of fluid release to slab thermal conditions. Reconciling these results implies some mechanism for focusing fluids and/or melts toward the wedge corner. The second observation is the global existence of thermally hot erupted basalts and andesites that, if derived from flux melting of the mantle requires sub-arc mantle temperatures of 1300 degrees C over shallow pressures of 1-2 GPa comparable to P-T estimates for the dry solidus beneath mid-ocean ridges. These observations impose significant challenges for geodynamic models of subduction zones, and in particular for those that do not include the explicit transport of fluids and melts. We present a range of high-resolution models that include a more complete description of coupled fluid and solid mechanics (allowing the fluid to interact with solid rheological variations) together with rheologically consistent solution for temperature and solid flow. We discuss how successful these interactions are at focusing both fluids and hot solids to sub-arc regions worldwide. We also evaluate the efficacy of current wet melting parameterizations in these models. When driven by buoyancy alone, fluid migrates through the mantle wedge along nearly vertical trajectories. Only interactions with the solid flow at very low values of permeability or high values of fluid viscosity can cause deviations from this path. However, in a viscous, permeable medium, additional pressure gradients are generated by volumetric deformation due to variations in fluid flux. These pressure gradients can significantly modify the fluid flow paths. At shallow depths, compaction channels form along the rheological contrast with the overriding plate while in the mantle wedge itself porosity waves concentrate the fluid. When considering multiple, distributed sources of fluid, as predicted by thermodynamic models, interaction between layers in the slab itself can also cause significant focusing. As well as permeability, rheological controls and numerical regularizations place upper and lower bounds on the length-scales over which such interactions occur further modifying the degree of focusing seen. The wide range of behaviors described here is modeled using TerraFERMA (the Transparent Finite Element Rapid Model Assembler), which harnesses the advanced computational libraries FEniCS, PETSc and SPuD to provide the a flexible computational framework for exploring coupled multi-physics problems.

ALEGRA-MHD Simulations for Magnetization of an Ellipsoidal Inclusion

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-01

diffusion has saturated. The simplicity of the interior solution lends itself well to verification of computational electromagnetic simulations...magnetic diffusion, permeability, computational electromagnetism , verification, magnetohydrodynamics 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION... electromagnetic phenomena including magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This multiphysics capability is a key feature of ALEGRA and the result of many years of

Fluid mechanics phenomena in microgravity; ASME Winter Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, Nov. 8-13, 1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siginer, Dennis A. (Editor); Weislogel, Mark M. (Editor)

1992-01-01

This paper is the first in a series of symposia presenting research activity in microgravity fluid mechanics. General topics addressed include two-phase flow and transport phenomena, thermo-capillary flow, and interfacial stability. Papers present mathmatical models of fluid dynamics in the microgravity environment. Applications suggested include space manufacturing and storage of liquids in low gravity.

Transient thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical analysis of a counter flow offset strip fin intermediate heat exchanger using an effective porous media approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urquiza, Eugenio

This work presents a comprehensive thermal hydraulic analysis of a compact heat exchanger using offset strip fins. The thermal hydraulics analysis in this work is followed by a finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the mechanical stresses experienced by an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) during steady-state operation and selected flow transients. In particular, the scenario analyzed involves a gas-to-liquid IHX operating between high pressure helium and liquid or molten salt. In order to estimate the stresses in compact heat exchangers a comprehensive thermal and hydraulic analysis is needed. Compact heat exchangers require very small flow channels and fins to achieve high heat transfer rates and thermal effectiveness. However, studying such small features computationally contributes little to the understanding of component level phenomena and requires prohibitive computational effort using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To address this issue, the analysis developed here uses an effective porous media (EPM) approach; this greatly reduces the computation time and produces results with the appropriate resolution [1]. This EPM fluid dynamics and heat transfer computational code has been named the Compact Heat Exchanger Explicit Thermal and Hydraulics (CHEETAH) code. CHEETAH solves for the two-dimensional steady-state and transient temperature and flow distributions in the IHX including the complicating effects of temperature-dependent fluid thermo-physical properties. Temperature- and pressure-dependent fluid properties are evaluated by CHEETAH and the thermal effectiveness of the IHX is also calculated. Furthermore, the temperature distribution can then be imported into a finite element analysis (FEA) code for mechanical stress analysis using the EPM methods developed earlier by the University of California, Berkeley, for global and local stress analysis [2]. These simulation tools will also allow the heat exchanger design to be improved through an iterative design process which will lead to a design with a reduced pressure drop, increased thermal effectiveness, and improved mechanical performance as it relates to creep deformation and transient thermal stresses.

Modelling heat and mass transfer in bread baking with mechanical deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolas, V.; Salagnac, P.; Glouannec, P.; Ploteau, J.-P.; Jury, V.; Boillereaux, L.

2012-11-01

In this paper, the thermo-hydric behaviour of bread during baking is studied. A numerical model has been developed with Comsol Multiphysics© software. The model takes into account the heat and mass transfers in the bread and the phenomenon of swelling. This model predicts the evolution of temperature, moisture, gas pressure and deformation in French "baguette" during baking. Local deformation is included in equations using solid phase conservation and, global deformation is calculated using a viscous mechanic model. Boundary conditions are specified with the sole temperature model and vapour pressure estimation of the oven during baking. The model results are compared with experimental data for a classic baking. Then, the model is analysed according to physical properties of bread and solicitations for a better understanding of the interactions between different mechanisms within the porous matrix.

Convection Heat and Mass Transfer in a Power Law Fluid with Non Constant Relaxation Time Past a Vertical Porous Plate in the Presence of Thermo and Thermal Diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olajuwon, B. I.; Oyelakin, I. S.

2012-12-01

The paper investigates convection heat and mass transfer in power law fluid flow with non relaxation time past a vertical porous plate in presence of a chemical reaction, heat generation, thermo diffu- sion and thermal diffusion. The non - linear partial differential equations governing the flow are transformed into ordinary differential equations using the usual similarity method. The resulting similarity equations are solved numerically using Runge-Kutta shooting method. The results are presented as velocity, temperature and concentration profiles for pseudo plastic fluids and for different values of parameters governing the prob- lem. The skin friction, heat transfer and mass transfer rates are presented numerically in tabular form. The results show that these parameters have significant effects on the flow, heat transfer and mass transfer.

Computer program for analysis of split-Stirling-cycle cryogenic coolers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, M. T.; Russo, S. C.

1983-01-01

A computer program for predicting the detailed thermodynamic performance of split-Stirling-cycle refrigerators has been developed. The mathematical model includes the refrigerator cold head, free-displacer/regenerator, gas transfer line, and provision for modeling a mechanical or thermal compressor. To allow for dynamic processes (such as aerodynamic friction and heat transfer) temperature, pressure, and mass flow rate are varied by sub-dividing the refrigerator into an appropriate number of fluid and structural control volumes. Of special importance to modeling of cryogenic coolers is the inclusion of real gas properties, and allowance for variation of thermo-physical properties such as thermal conductivities, specific heats and viscosities, with temperature and/or pressure. The resulting model, therefore, comprehensively simulates the split-cycle cooler both spatially and temporally by reflecting the effects of dynamic processes and real material properties.

Time-nonlocal kinetic equations, jerk and hyperjerk in plasmas and solar physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Nabulsi, Rami Ahmad

2018-06-01

The simulation and analysis of nonlocal effects in fluids and plasmas is an inherently complicated problem due to the massive breadth of physics required to describe the nonlocal dynamics. This is a multi-physics problem that draws upon various miscellaneous fields, such as electromagnetism and statistical mechanics. In this paper we strive to focus on one narrow but motivating mathematical way: the derivation of nonlocal plasma-fluid equations from a generalized nonlocal Liouville derivative operator motivated from Suykens's nonlocal arguments. The paper aims to provide a guideline toward modeling nonlocal effects occurring in plasma-fluid systems by means of a generalized nonlocal Boltzmann equation. The generalized nonlocal equations of fluid dynamics are derived and their implications in plasma-fluid systems are addressed, discussed and analyzed. Three main topics were discussed: Landau damping in plasma electrodynamics, ideal MHD and solar wind. A number of features were revealed, analyzed and confronted with recent research results and observations.

Multiscale fluid-structure interaction modelling to determine the mechanical stimulation of bone cells in a tissue engineered scaffold.

PubMed

Zhao, Feihu; Vaughan, Ted J; Mcnamara, Laoise M

2015-04-01

Recent studies have shown that mechanical stimulation, by means of flow perfusion and mechanical compression (or stretching), enhances osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and bone cells within biomaterial scaffolds in vitro. However, the precise mechanisms by which such stimulation enhances bone regeneration is not yet fully understood. Previous computational studies have sought to characterise the mechanical stimulation on cells within biomaterial scaffolds using either computational fluid dynamics or finite element (FE) approaches. However, the physical environment within a scaffold under perfusion is extremely complex and requires a multiscale and multiphysics approach to study the mechanical stimulation of cells. In this study, we seek to determine the mechanical stimulation of osteoblasts seeded in a biomaterial scaffold under flow perfusion and mechanical compression using multiscale modelling by two-way fluid-structure interaction and FE approaches. The mechanical stimulation, in terms of wall shear stress (WSS) and strain in osteoblasts, is quantified at different locations within the scaffold for cells of different attachment morphologies (attached, bridged). The results show that 75.4 % of scaffold surface has a WSS of 0.1-10 mPa, which indicates the likelihood of bone cell differentiation at these locations. For attached and bridged osteoblasts, the maximum strains are 397 and 177,200 με, respectively. Additionally, the results from mechanical compression show that attached cells are more stimulated (maximum strain = 22,600 με) than bridged cells (maximum strain = 10.000 με)Such information is important for understanding the biological response of osteoblasts under in vitro stimulation. Finally, a combination of perfusion and compression of a tissue engineering scaffold is suggested for osteogenic differentiation.

Comprehensive pulsed electric field (PEF) system analysis for microalgae processing.

PubMed

Buchmann, Leandro; Bloch, Robin; Mathys, Alexander

2018-06-07

Pulsed electric field (PEF) is an emerging nonthermal technique with promising applications in microalgae biorefinery concepts. In this work, the flow field in continuous PEF processing and its influencing factors were analyzed and energy input distributions in PEF treatment chambers were investigated. The results were obtained using an interdisciplinary approach that combined multiphysics simulations with ultrasonic Doppler velocity profiling (UVP) and rheological measurements of Arthrospira platensis suspensions as a case study for applications in the biobased industry. UVP enabled non-invasive validation of multiphysics simulations. A. platensis suspensions follow a non-Newtonian, shear-thinning behavior, and measurement data could be fitted with rheological functions, which were used as an input for fluid dynamics simulations. Within the present work, a comprehensive system characterization was achieved that will facilitate research in the field of PEF processing. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A Second Law Based Unstructured Finite Volume Procedure for Generalized Flow Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, Alok

1998-01-01

An unstructured finite volume procedure has been developed for steady and transient thermo-fluid dynamic analysis of fluid systems and components. The procedure is applicable for a flow network consisting of pipes and various fittings where flow is assumed to be one dimensional. It can also be used to simulate flow in a component by modeling a multi-dimensional flow using the same numerical scheme. The flow domain is discretized into a number of interconnected control volumes located arbitrarily in space. The conservation equations for each control volume account for the transport of mass, momentum and entropy from the neighboring control volumes. In addition, they also include the sources of each conserved variable and time dependent terms. The source term of entropy equation contains entropy generation due to heat transfer and fluid friction. Thermodynamic properties are computed from the equation of state of a real fluid. The system of equations is solved by a hybrid numerical method which is a combination of simultaneous Newton-Raphson and successive substitution schemes. The paper also describes the application and verification of the procedure by comparing its predictions with the analytical and numerical solution of several benchmark problems.

Physics of thermo-acoustic sound generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daschewski, M.; Boehm, R.; Prager, J.; Kreutzbruck, M.; Harrer, A.

2013-09-01

We present a generalized analytical model of thermo-acoustic sound generation based on the analysis of thermally induced energy density fluctuations and their propagation into the adjacent matter. The model provides exact analytical prediction of the sound pressure generated in fluids and solids; consequently, it can be applied to arbitrary thermal power sources such as thermophones, plasma firings, laser beams, and chemical reactions. Unlike existing approaches, our description also includes acoustic near-field effects and sound-field attenuation. Analytical results are compared with measurements of sound pressures generated by thermo-acoustic transducers in air for frequencies up to 1 MHz. The tested transducers consist of titanium and indium tin oxide coatings on quartz glass and polycarbonate substrates. The model reveals that thermo-acoustic efficiency increases linearly with the supplied thermal power and quadratically with thermal excitation frequency. Comparison of the efficiency of our thermo-acoustic transducers with those of piezoelectric-based airborne ultrasound transducers using impulse excitation showed comparable sound pressure values. The present results show that thermo-acoustic transducers can be applied as broadband, non-resonant, high-performance ultrasound sources.

Thermally tunable grating using thermo-responsive magnetic fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaibudeen, A. W.; Philip, John

2017-04-01

We report a thermally tunable grating prepared using poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. The array spacing is reversibly tuned by varying the temperature between 5 and 38 °C. Here, the ability of thermo-responsive polymer brushes to alter their conformation at an interface is exploited to control the grating spacing in nanoscale. The underlying mechanism for the temperature dependent conformational changes are studied by measuring the subtle intermolecular forces between the polymer covered interfaces. It is observed that the interparticle forces are repulsive and exponentially decaying with distance. The thermo-responsive grating is simple to use and offers a wide range of applications.

Advanced multiphysics coupling for LWR fuel performance analysis

DOE PAGES

Hales, J. D.; Tonks, M. R.; Gleicher, F. N.; ...

2015-10-01

Even the most basic nuclear fuel analysis is a multiphysics undertaking, as a credible simulation must consider at a minimum coupled heat conduction and mechanical deformation. The need for more realistic fuel modeling under a variety of conditions invariably leads to a desire to include coupling between a more complete set of the physical phenomena influencing fuel behavior, including neutronics, thermal hydraulics, and mechanisms occurring at lower length scales. This paper covers current efforts toward coupled multiphysics LWR fuel modeling in three main areas. The first area covered in this paper concerns thermomechanical coupling. The interaction of these two physics,more » particularly related to the feedback effect associated with heat transfer and mechanical contact at the fuel/clad gap, provides numerous computational challenges. An outline is provided of an effective approach used to manage the nonlinearities associated with an evolving gap in BISON, a nuclear fuel performance application. A second type of multiphysics coupling described here is that of coupling neutronics with thermomechanical LWR fuel performance. DeCART, a high-fidelity core analysis program based on the method of characteristics, has been coupled to BISON. DeCART provides sub-pin level resolution of the multigroup neutron flux, with resonance treatment, during a depletion or a fast transient simulation. Two-way coupling between these codes was achieved by mapping fission rate density and fast neutron flux fields from DeCART to BISON and the temperature field from BISON to DeCART while employing a Picard iterative algorithm. Finally, the need for multiscale coupling is considered. Fission gas production and evolution significantly impact fuel performance by causing swelling, a reduction in the thermal conductivity, and fission gas release. The mechanisms involved occur at the atomistic and grain scale and are therefore not the domain of a fuel performance code. However, it is possible to use lower length scale models such as those used in the mesoscale MARMOT code to compute average properties, e.g. swelling or thermal conductivity. These may then be used by an engineering-scale model. Examples of this type of multiscale, multiphysics modeling are shown.« less

Pervasive Restart In MOOSE-based Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Derek Gaston; Cody Permann; David Andrs

Multiphysics applications are inherently complicated. Solving for multiple, interacting physical phenomena involves the solution of multiple equations, and each equation has its own data dependencies. Feeding the correct data to these equations at exactly the right time requires extensive effort in software design. In an ideal world, multiphysics applications always run to completion and produce correct answers. Unfortunately, in reality, there can be many reasons why a simulation might fail: power outage, system failure, exceeding a runtime allotment on a supercomputer, failure of the solver to converge, etc. A failure after many hours spent computing can be a significant setbackmore » for a project. Therefore, the ability to “continue” a solve from the point of failure, rather than starting again from scratch, is an essential component of any high-quality simulation tool. This process of “continuation” is commonly termed “restart” in the computational community. While the concept of restarting an application sounds ideal, the aforementioned complexities and data dependencies present in multiphysics applications make its implementation decidedly non-trivial. A running multiphysics calculation accumulates an enormous amount of “state”: current time, solution history, material properties, status of mechanical contact, etc. This “state” data comes in many different forms, including scalar, tensor, vector, and arbitrary, application-specific data types. To be able to restart an application, you must be able to both store and retrieve this data, effectively recreating the state of the application before the failure. When utilizing the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework developed at Idaho National Laboratory, this state data is stored both internally within the framework itself (such as solution vectors and the current time) and within the applications that use the framework. In order to implement restart in MOOSE-based applications, the total state of the system (both within the framework and without) must be stored and retrieved. To this end, the MOOSE team has implemented a “pervasive” restart capability which allows any object within MOOSE (or within a MOOSE-based application) to be declared as “state” data, and handles the storage and retrieval of said data.« less

STARDUST-U experiments on fluid-dynamic conditions affecting dust mobilization during LOVAs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poggi, L. A.; Malizia, A.; Ciparisse, J. F.; Tieri, F.; Gelfusa, M.; Murari, A.; Del Papa, C.; Giovannangeli, I.; Gaudio, P.

2016-07-01

Since 2006 the Quantum Electronics and Plasma Physics (QEP) Research Group together with ENEA FusTech of Frascati have been working on dust re-suspension inside tokamaks and its potential capability to jeopardize the integrity of future fusion nuclear plants (i.e. ITER or DEMO) and to be a risk for the health of the operators. Actually, this team is working with the improved version of the "STARDUST" facility, i.e. "STARDUST-Upgrade". STARDUST-U facility has four new air inlet ports that allow the experimental replication of Loss of Vacuum Accidents (LOVAs). The experimental campaign to detect the different pressurization rates, local air velocity, temperature, have been carried out from all the ports in different accident conditions and the principal results will be analyzed and compared with the numerical simulations obtained through a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic) code. This preliminary thermo fluid-dynamic analysis of the accident is crucial for numerical model development and validation, and for the incoming experimental campaign of dust resuspension inside STARDUST-U due to well-defined accidents presented in this paper.

Fully-Implicit Reconstructed Discontinuous Galerkin Method for Stiff Multiphysics Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nourgaliev, Robert

2015-11-01

A new reconstructed Discontinuous Galerkin (rDG) method, based on orthogonal basis/test functions, is developed for fluid flows on unstructured meshes. Orthogonality of basis functions is essential for enabling robust and efficient fully-implicit Newton-Krylov based time integration. The method is designed for generic partial differential equations, including transient, hyperbolic, parabolic or elliptic operators, which are attributed to many multiphysics problems. We demonstrate the method's capabilities for solving compressible fluid-solid systems (in the low Mach number limit), with phase change (melting/solidification), as motivated by applications in Additive Manufacturing. We focus on the method's accuracy (in both space and time), as well as robustness and solvability of the system of linear equations involved in the linearization steps of Newton-based methods. The performance of the developed method is investigated for highly-stiff problems with melting/solidification, emphasizing the advantages from tight coupling of mass, momentum and energy conservation equations, as well as orthogonality of basis functions, which leads to better conditioning of the underlying (approximate) Jacobian matrices, and rapid convergence of the Krylov-based linear solver. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344, and funded by the LDRD at LLNL under project tracking code 13-SI-002.

PREFACE: 33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paoletti, Domenica; Ambrosini, Dario; Sfarra, Stefano

2015-11-01

The 33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-Fluid Dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference was organized by the Dept. of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, University of L'Aquila (Italy) and was held at the Engineering Campus of Monteluco di Roio, L'Aquila, June 22-24, 2015. The annual UIT conference, which has grown over time, came back to L'Aquila after 21 years. The scope of the conference covers a range of major topics in theoretical, numerical and experimental heat transfer and related areas, ranging from energy efficiency to nuclear plants. This year, there was an emphasis on IR thermography, which is growing in importance both in scientific research and industrial applications. 2015 is also the International Year of Light. The Organizing Committee honored this event by introducing a new section, Technical Seminars, which in this edition was mainly devoted to optical flow visualization (also the subject of three different national workshops organized in L'Aquila by UIT in 2003, 2005 and 2008). The conference was held in the recently repaired Engineering buildings, six years after the 2009 earthquake and 50 years after the beginning of the Engineering courses in L'Aquila. Despite some logistical difficulties, 92 papers were submitted by about 270 authors, on eight different topics: heat transfer and efficiency in energy systems, environmental technologies and buildings (32 papers); micro and nano scale thermo-fluid dynamics (5 papers); multi-phase fluid dynamics, heat transfer and interface phenomena (16 papers); computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer (15 papers); heat transfer in nuclear plants (6 papers); natural, forced and mixed convection (6 papers); IR thermography (4 papers); conduction and radiation (3 papers). The conference program scheduled plenary, oral and poster sessions. The three invited plenary Keynote Lectures were given by Prof. Antonio Barletta (University of Bologna, Italy), Prof. Jean-Christophe Batsale (Arts et Metiers Paris Tech, Talence, France) and Prof. Walter Grassi (University of Pisa, Italy). The two invited Technical Seminars were given by Dr. Maurizio Santini (University of Bergamo, Italy) and Prof. Giovanni Tanda (University of Genova, Italy). There were also 13 oral sessions and three poster sessions. This special issue collects the five papers presented in the plenary sessions (keynote lectures and technical seminars) plus 60 papers selected from those presented and discussed during the congress. The UIT 2015 conference has been a useful occasion to stimulate discussion, further the understanding of heat transfer and related phenomena, present the state-of-the-art of some topics, discuss emerging trends and promote collaborations. We hope this issue will maintain and extend some of these features. A special thank you is due to the Organizing and Scientific Committees, to the sponsors and to all the participants.

An interface tracking model for droplet electrocoalescence.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Erickson, Lindsay Crowl

This report describes an Early Career Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project to develop an interface tracking model for droplet electrocoalescence. Many fluid-based technologies rely on electrical fields to control the motion of droplets, e.g. microfluidic devices for high-speed droplet sorting, solution separation for chemical detectors, and purification of biodiesel fuel. Precise control over droplets is crucial to these applications. However, electric fields can induce complex and unpredictable fluid dynamics. Recent experiments (Ristenpart et al. 2009) have demonstrated that oppositely charged droplets bounce rather than coalesce in the presence of strong electric fields. A transient aqueous bridge forms betweenmore » approaching drops prior to pinch-off. This observation applies to many types of fluids, but neither theory nor experiments have been able to offer a satisfactory explanation. Analytic hydrodynamic approximations for interfaces become invalid near coalescence, and therefore detailed numerical simulations are necessary. This is a computationally challenging problem that involves tracking a moving interface and solving complex multi-physics and multi-scale dynamics, which are beyond the capabilities of most state-of-the-art simulations. An interface-tracking model for electro-coalescence can provide a new perspective to a variety of applications in which interfacial physics are coupled with electrodynamics, including electro-osmosis, fabrication of microelectronics, fuel atomization, oil dehydration, nuclear waste reprocessing and solution separation for chemical detectors. We present a conformal decomposition finite element (CDFEM) interface-tracking method for the electrohydrodynamics of two-phase flow to demonstrate electro-coalescence. CDFEM is a sharp interface method that decomposes elements along fluid-fluid boundaries and uses a level set function to represent the interface.« less

A fluid–structure interaction model to characterize bone cell stimulation in parallel-plate flow chamber systems

PubMed Central

Vaughan, T. J.; Haugh, M. G.; McNamara, L. M.

2013-01-01

Bone continuously adapts its internal structure to accommodate the functional demands of its mechanical environment and strain-induced flow of interstitial fluid is believed to be the primary mediator of mechanical stimuli to bone cells in vivo. In vitro investigations have shown that bone cells produce important biochemical signals in response to fluid flow applied using parallel-plate flow chamber (PPFC) systems. However, the exact mechanical stimulus experienced by the cells within these systems remains unclear. To fully understand this behaviour represents a most challenging multi-physics problem involving the interaction between deformable cellular structures and adjacent fluid flows. In this study, we use a fluid–structure interaction computational approach to investigate the nature of the mechanical stimulus being applied to a single osteoblast cell under fluid flow within a PPFC system. The analysis decouples the contribution of pressure and shear stress on cellular deformation and for the first time highlights that cell strain under flow is dominated by the pressure in the PPFC system rather than the applied shear stress. Furthermore, it was found that strains imparted on the cell membrane were relatively low whereas significant strain amplification occurred at the cell–substrate interface. These results suggest that strain transfer through focal attachments at the base of the cell are the primary mediators of mechanical signals to the cell under flow in a PPFC system. Such information is vital in order to correctly interpret biological responses of bone cells under in vitro stimulation and elucidate the mechanisms associated with mechanotransduction in vivo. PMID:23365189

Quinoa - Adaptive Computational Fluid Dynamics, 0.2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bakosi, Jozsef; Gonzalez, Francisco; Rogers, Brandon

Quinoa is a set of computational tools that enables research and numerical analysis in fluid dynamics. At this time it remains a test-bed to experiment with various algorithms using fully asynchronous runtime systems. Currently, Quinoa consists of the following tools: (1) Walker, a numerical integrator for systems of stochastic differential equations in time. It is a mathematical tool to analyze and design the behavior of stochastic differential equations. It allows the estimation of arbitrary coupled statistics and probability density functions and is currently used for the design of statistical moment approximations for multiple mixing materials in variable-density turbulence. (2) Inciter,more » an overdecomposition-aware finite element field solver for partial differential equations using 3D unstructured grids. Inciter is used to research asynchronous mesh-based algorithms and to experiment with coupling asynchronous to bulk-synchronous parallel code. Two planned new features of Inciter, compared to the previous release (LA-CC-16-015), to be implemented in 2017, are (a) a simple Navier-Stokes solver for ideal single-material compressible gases, and (b) solution-adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), which enables dynamically concentrating compute resources to regions with interesting physics. Using the NS-AMR problem we plan to explore how to scale such high-load-imbalance simulations, representative of large production multiphysics codes, to very large problems on very large computers using an asynchronous runtime system. (3) RNGTest, a test harness to subject random number generators to stringent statistical tests enabling quantitative ranking with respect to their quality and computational cost. (4) UnitTest, a unit test harness, running hundreds of tests per second, capable of testing serial, synchronous, and asynchronous functions. (5) MeshConv, a mesh file converter that can be used to convert 3D tetrahedron meshes from and to either of the following formats: Gmsh, (http://www.geuz.org/gmsh), Netgen, (http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/netgen-mesher), ExodusII, (http://sourceforge.net/projects/exodusii), HyperMesh, (http://www.altairhyperworks.com/product/HyperMesh).« less

Extravehicular mobility unit thermal simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hixon, C. W.; Phillips, M. A.

1973-01-01

The analytical methods, thermal model, and user's instructions for the SIM bay extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) routine are presented. This digital computer program was developed for detailed thermal performance predictions of the crewman performing a command module extravehicular activity during transearth coast. It accounts for conductive, convective, and radiative heat transfer as well as fluid flow and associated flow control components. The program is a derivative of the Apollo lunar surface EMU digital simulator. It has the operational flexibility to accept card or magnetic tape for both the input data and program logic. Output can be tabular and/or plotted and the mission simulation can be stopped and restarted at the discretion of the user. The program was developed for the NASA-JSC Univac 1108 computer system and several of the capabilities represent utilization of unique features of that system. Analytical methods used in the computer routine are based on finite difference approximations to differential heat and mass balance equations which account for temperature or time dependent thermo-physical properties.

Dry calibration of electromagnetic flowmeters based on numerical models combining multiple physical phenomena (multiphysics)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, X.; Hu, L.; Lee, K. M.; Zou, J.; Ruan, X. D.; Yang, H. Y.

2010-10-01

This paper presents a method for dry calibration of an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF). This method, which determines the voltage induced in the EMF as conductive liquid flows through a magnetic field, numerically solves a coupled set of multiphysical equations with measured boundary conditions for the magnetic, electric, and flow fields in the measuring pipe of the flowmeter. Specifically, this paper details the formulation of dry calibration and an efficient algorithm (that adaptively minimizes the number of measurements and requires only the normal component of the magnetic flux density as boundary conditions on the pipe surface to reconstruct the magnetic field involved) for computing the sensitivity of EMF. Along with an in-depth discussion on factors that could significantly affect the final precision of a dry calibrated EMF, the effects of flow disturbance on measuring errors have been experimentally studied by installing a baffle at the inflow port of the EMF. Results of the dry calibration on an actual EMF were compared against flow-rig calibration; excellent agreements (within 0.3%) between dry calibration and flow-rig tests verify the multiphysical computation of the fields and the robustness of the method. As requiring no actual flow, the dry calibration is particularly useful for calibrating large-diameter EMFs where conventional flow-rig methods are often costly and difficult to implement.

Macroscopic constitutive equations of thermo-poroviscoelasticity derived using eigenstrains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suvorov, A. P.; Selvadurai, A. P. S.

2010-10-01

Macroscopic constitutive equations for thermo-viscoelastic processes in a fully saturated porous medium are re-derived from basic principles of micromechanics applicable to solid multi-phase materials such as composites. Simple derivations of the constitutive relations and the void occupancy relationship are presented. The derivations use the notion of eigenstrain or, equivalently, eigenstress applied to the separate phases of a porous medium. Governing coupled equations for the displacement components and the fluid pressure are also obtained.

Approximations of thermoelastic and viscoelastic control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, J. A.; Liu, Z. Y.; Miller, R. E.

1990-01-01

Well-posed models and computational algorithms are developed and analyzed for control of a class of partial differential equations that describe the motions of thermo-viscoelastic structures. An abstract (state space) framework and a general well-posedness result are presented that can be applied to a large class of thermo-elastic and thermo-viscoelastic models. This state space framework is used in the development of a computational scheme to be used in the solution of a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control problem. A detailed convergence proof is provided for the viscoelastic model and several numerical results are presented to illustrate the theory and to analyze problems for which the theory is incomplete.

A Multiphysics and Multiscale Software Environment for Modeling Astrophysical Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portegies Zwart, Simon; McMillan, Steve; O'Nualláin, Breanndán; Heggie, Douglas; Lombardi, James; Hut, Piet; Banerjee, Sambaran; Belkus, Houria; Fragos, Tassos; Fregeau, John; Fuji, Michiko; Gaburov, Evghenii; Glebbeek, Evert; Groen, Derek; Harfst, Stefan; Izzard, Rob; Jurić, Mario; Justham, Stephen; Teuben, Peter; van Bever, Joris; Yaron, Ofer; Zemp, Marcel

We present MUSE, a software framework for tying together existing computational tools for different astrophysical domains into a single multiphysics, multiscale workload. MUSE facilitates the coupling of existing codes written in different languages by providing inter-language tools and by specifying an interface between each module and the framework that represents a balance between generality and computational efficiency. This approach allows scientists to use combinations of codes to solve highly-coupled problems without the need to write new codes for other domains or significantly alter their existing codes. MUSE currently incorporates the domains of stellar dynamics, stellar evolution and stellar hydrodynamics for a generalized stellar systems workload. MUSE has now reached a "Noah's Ark" milestone, with two available numerical solvers for each domain. MUSE can treat small stellar associations, galaxies and everything in between, including planetary systems, dense stellar clusters and galactic nuclei. Here we demonstrate an examples calculated with MUSE: the merger of two galaxies. In addition we demonstrate the working of MUSE on a distributed computer. The current MUSE code base is publicly available as open source at http://muse.li.

Experimentally validated multiphysics computational model of focusing and shock wave formation in an electromagnetic lithotripter.

PubMed

Fovargue, Daniel E; Mitran, Sorin; Smith, Nathan B; Sankin, Georgy N; Simmons, Walter N; Zhong, Pei

2013-08-01

A multiphysics computational model of the focusing of an acoustic pulse and subsequent shock wave formation that occurs during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is presented. In the electromagnetic lithotripter modeled in this work the focusing is achieved via a polystyrene acoustic lens. The transition of the acoustic pulse through the solid lens is modeled by the linear elasticity equations and the subsequent shock wave formation in water is modeled by the Euler equations with a Tait equation of state. Both sets of equations are solved simultaneously in subsets of a single computational domain within the BEARCLAW framework which uses a finite-volume Riemann solver approach. This model is first validated against experimental measurements with a standard (or original) lens design. The model is then used to successfully predict the effects of a lens modification in the form of an annular ring cut. A second model which includes a kidney stone simulant in the domain is also presented. Within the stone the linear elasticity equations incorporate a simple damage model.

Experimentally validated multiphysics computational model of focusing and shock wave formation in an electromagnetic lithotripter

PubMed Central

Fovargue, Daniel E.; Mitran, Sorin; Smith, Nathan B.; Sankin, Georgy N.; Simmons, Walter N.; Zhong, Pei

2013-01-01

A multiphysics computational model of the focusing of an acoustic pulse and subsequent shock wave formation that occurs during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is presented. In the electromagnetic lithotripter modeled in this work the focusing is achieved via a polystyrene acoustic lens. The transition of the acoustic pulse through the solid lens is modeled by the linear elasticity equations and the subsequent shock wave formation in water is modeled by the Euler equations with a Tait equation of state. Both sets of equations are solved simultaneously in subsets of a single computational domain within the BEARCLAW framework which uses a finite-volume Riemann solver approach. This model is first validated against experimental measurements with a standard (or original) lens design. The model is then used to successfully predict the effects of a lens modification in the form of an annular ring cut. A second model which includes a kidney stone simulant in the domain is also presented. Within the stone the linear elasticity equations incorporate a simple damage model. PMID:23927200

Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE)

ScienceCinema

None

2017-12-09

Nuclear reactor operators can expand safety margins with more precise information about how materials behave inside operating reactors. INL's new simulation platform makes such studies easier & more informative by letting researchers "plug-n-play" their mathematical models, skipping years of computer code development.

Ballistic-Failure Mechanisms in Gas Metal Arc Welds of MIL A46100 Armor-Grade Steel: A Computational Investigation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-12

distribution is unlimited. Ballistic-Failure Mechanisms in Gas Metal Arc Welds of Mil A46100 Armor-Grade Steel : A Computational Investigation The views...Welds of Mil A46100 Armor-Grade Steel : A Computational Investigation Report Title In our recent work, a multi-physics computational model for the...introduction of the sixth module in the present work in recognition of the fact that in thick steel GMAW weldments, the overall ballistic performance

Application study of magnetic fluid seal in hydraulic turbine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Z. Y.; Zhang, W.

2012-11-01

The waterpower resources of our country are abundant, and the hydroelectric power is developed, but at present the main shaft sealing device of hydraulic turbine is easy to wear and tear and the leakage is great. The magnetic fluid seal has the advantages of no contact, no wear, self-healing, long life and so on. In this paper, the magnetic fluid seal would be used in the main shaft of hydraulic turbine, the sealing structure was built the model, meshed the geometry, applied loads and solved by using MULTIPHYSICS in ANSYS software, the influence of the various sealing structural parameters such as tooth width, height, slot width, sealing gap on the sealing property were analyzed, the magnetic fluid sealing device suitable for large-diameter shaft and sealing water was designed, the sealing problem of the hydraulic turbine main shaft was solved effectively which will bring huge economic benefits.

Design and analysis of magneto rheological fluid brake for an all terrain vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

George, Luckachan K.; Tamilarasan, N.; Thirumalini, S.

2018-02-01

This work presents an optimised design for a magneto rheological fluid brake for all terrain vehicles. The actuator consists of a disk which is immersed in the magneto rheological fluid surrounded by an electromagnet. The braking torque is controlled by varying the DC current applied to the electromagnet. In the presence of a magnetic field, the magneto rheological fluid particle aligns in a chain like structure, thus increasing the viscosity. The shear stress generated causes friction in the surfaces of the rotating disk. Electromagnetic analysis of the proposed system is carried out using finite element based COMSOL multi-physics software and the amount of magnetic field generated is calculated with the help of COMSOL. The geometry is optimised and performance of the system in terms of braking torque is carried out. Proposed design reveals better performance in terms of braking torque from the existing literature.

Analytical Expressions for Thermo-Osmotic Permeability of Clays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonçalvès, J.; Ji Yu, C.; Matray, J.-M.; Tremosa, J.

2018-01-01

In this study, a new formulation for the thermo-osmotic permeability of natural pore solutions containing monovalent and divalent cations is proposed. The mathematical formulation proposed here is based on the theoretical framework supporting thermo-osmosis which relies on water structure alteration in the pore space of surface-charged materials caused by solid-fluid electrochemical interactions. The ionic content balancing the surface charge of clay minerals causes a disruption in the hydrogen bond network when more structured water is present at the clay surface. Analytical expressions based on our heuristic model are proposed and compared to the available data for NaCl solutions. It is shown that the introduction of divalent cations reduces the thermo-osmotic permeability by one third compared to the monovalent case. The analytical expressions provided here can be used to advantage for safety calculations in deep underground nuclear waste repositories.

Derivation of an Explicit Form of the Percolation-Based Effective-Medium Approximation for Thermal Conductivity of Partially Saturated Soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadeghi, Morteza; Ghanbarian, Behzad; Horton, Robert

2018-02-01

Thermal conductivity is an essential component in multiphysics models and coupled simulation of heat transfer, fluid flow, and solute transport in porous media. In the literature, various empirical, semiempirical, and physical models were developed for thermal conductivity and its estimation in partially saturated soils. Recently, Ghanbarian and Daigle (GD) proposed a theoretical model, using the percolation-based effective-medium approximation, whose parameters are physically meaningful. The original GD model implicitly formulates thermal conductivity λ as a function of volumetric water content θ. For the sake of computational efficiency in numerical calculations, in this study, we derive an explicit λ(θ) form of the GD model. We also demonstrate that some well-known empirical models, e.g., Chung-Horton, widely applied in the HYDRUS model, as well as mixing models are special cases of the GD model under specific circumstances. Comparison with experiments indicates that the GD model can accurately estimate soil thermal conductivity.

A simplified DEM-CFD approach for pebble bed reactor simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Y.; Ji, W.

In pebble bed reactors (PBR's), the pebble flow and the coolant flow are coupled with each other through coolant-pebble interactions. Approaches with different fidelities have been proposed to simulate similar phenomena. Coupled Discrete Element Method-Computational Fluid Dynamics (DEM-CFD) approaches are widely studied and applied in these problems due to its good balance between efficiency and accuracy. In this work, based on the symmetry of the PBR geometry, a simplified 3D-DEM/2D-CFD approach is proposed to speed up the DEM-CFD simulation without significant loss of accuracy. Pebble flow is simulated by a full 3-D DEM, while the coolant flow field is calculatedmore » with a 2-D CFD simulation by averaging variables along the annular direction in the cylindrical geometry. Results show that this simplification can greatly enhance the efficiency for cylindrical core, which enables further inclusion of other physics such as thermal and neutronic effect in the multi-physics simulations for PBR's. (authors)« less

Investigation of flow characteristics of a single and two-adjacent natural draft dry cooling towers under cross wind condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mekanik, Abolghasem; Soleimani, Mohsen

2007-11-01

Wind effect on natural draught cooling towers has a very complex physics. The fluid flow and temperature distribution around and in a single and two adjacent (tandem and side by side) dry-cooling towers under cross wind are studied numerically in the present work. Cross-wind can significantly reduce cooling efficiency of natural-draft dry-cooling towers, and the adjacent towers can affect the cooling efficiency of both. In this paper we will present a complex computational model involving more than 750,000 finite volume cells under precisely defined boundary condition. Since the flow is turbulent, the standard k-ɛ turbulence model is used. The numerical results are used to estimate the heat transfer between radiators of the tower and air surrounding it. The numerical simulation explained the main reason for decline of the thermo-dynamical performance of dry-cooling tower under cross wind. In this paper, the incompressible fluid flow is simulated, and the flow is assumed steady and three-dimensional.

Cardio-Surgical Thermography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiorini, A. R.; Fumero, R.; Marchesi, R.

1983-03-01

Extracorporeal circulation allows direct access inside the chest: it may be used to carry out physiological research. The thermo-chemical protection of myocardium during heart surgery, called cardioplegy, is one of the latest outstanding techniques in patient safety. Thermocardiography monitoring during the infusion of the cardioplegic solution allows continuous assessment of rapid temperature distribution changes and shows exactly the extent of myocardium involved. Using a peculiar pseudocolor digital image enhancement, it is possible to emphasize involved areas coronary flow and to model the thermo-fluid-dynamical actions of inspected heart.

Dynamic Fracture Simulations of Explosively Loaded Cylinders

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arthur, Carly W.; Goto, D. M.

2015-11-30

This report documents the modeling results of high explosive experiments investigating dynamic fracture of steel (AerMet® 100 alloy) cylinders. The experiments were conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) during 2007 to 2008 [10]. A principal objective of this study was to gain an understanding of dynamic material failure through the analysis of hydrodynamic computer code simulations. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional computational cylinder models were analyzed using the ALE3D multi-physics computer code.

A semi-analytical analysis of electro-thermo-hydrodynamic stability in dielectric nanofluids using Buongiorno's mathematical model together with more realistic boundary conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakif, Abderrahim; Boulahia, Zoubair; Sehaqui, Rachid

2018-06-01

The main aim of the present analysis is to examine the electroconvection phenomenon that takes place in a dielectric nanofluid under the influence of a perpendicularly applied alternating electric field. In this investigation, we assume that the nanofluid has a Newtonian rheological behavior and verifies the Buongiorno's mathematical model, in which the effects of thermophoretic and Brownian diffusions are incorporated explicitly in the governing equations. Moreover, the nanofluid layer is taken to be confined horizontally between two parallel plate electrodes, heated from below and cooled from above. In a fast pulse electric field, the onset of electroconvection is due principally to the buoyancy forces and the dielectrophoretic forces. Within the framework of the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation and the linear stability theory, the governing stability equations are solved semi-analytically by means of the power series method for isothermal, no-slip and non-penetrability conditions. In addition, the computational implementation with the impermeability condition implies that there exists no nanoparticles mass flux on the electrodes. On the other hand, the obtained analytical solutions are validated by comparing them to those available in the literature for the limiting case of dielectric fluids. In order to check the accuracy of our semi-analytical results obtained for the case of dielectric nanofluids, we perform further numerical and semi-analytical computations by means of the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method, the Chebyshev-Gauss-Lobatto spectral method, the Galerkin weighted residuals technique, the polynomial collocation method and the Wakif-Galerkin weighted residuals technique. In this analysis, the electro-thermo-hydrodynamic stability of the studied nanofluid is controlled through the critical AC electric Rayleigh number Rec , whose value depends on several physical parameters. Furthermore, the effects of various pertinent parameters on the electro-thermo-hydrodynamic stability of the nanofluidic system are discussed in more detail through graphical and tabular illustrations.

Security Implications of Induced Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jha, B.; Rao, A.

2016-12-01

The increase in earthquakes induced or triggered by human activities motivates us to research how a malicious entity could weaponize earthquakes to cause damage. Specifically, we explore the feasibility of controlling the location, timing and magnitude of an earthquake by activating a fault via injection and production of fluids into the subsurface. Here, we investigate the relationship between the magnitude and trigger time of an induced earthquake to the well-to-fault distance. The relationship between magnitude and distance is important to determine the farthest striking distance from which one could intentionally activate a fault to cause certain level of damage. We use our novel computational framework to model the coupled multi-physics processes of fluid flow and fault poromechanics. We use synthetic models representative of the New Madrid Seismic Zone and the San Andreas Fault Zone to assess the risk in the continental US. We fix injection and production flow rates of the wells and vary their locations. We simulate injection-induced Coulomb destabilization of faults and evolution of fault slip under quasi-static deformation. We find that the effect of distance on the magnitude and trigger time is monotonic, nonlinear, and time-dependent. Evolution of the maximum Coulomb stress on the fault provides insights into the effect of the distance on rupture nucleation and propagation. The damage potential of induced earthquakes can be maintained even at longer distances because of the balance between pressure diffusion and poroelastic stress transfer mechanisms. We conclude that computational modeling of induced earthquakes allows us to measure feasibility of weaponzing earthquakes and developing effective defense mechanisms against such attacks.

Thermophysical and Mechanical Properties of Granite and Its Effects on Borehole Stability in High Temperature and Three-Dimensional Stress

PubMed Central

Bao-lin, Liu; Hai-yan, Zhu; Chuan-liang, Yan; Zhi-jun, Li; Zhi-qiao, Wang

2014-01-01

When exploiting the deep resources, the surrounding rock readily undergoes the hole shrinkage, borehole collapse, and loss of circulation under high temperature and high pressure. A series of experiments were conducted to discuss the compressional wave velocity, triaxial strength, and permeability of granite cored from 3500 meters borehole under high temperature and three-dimensional stress. In light of the coupling of temperature, fluid, and stress, we get the thermo-fluid-solid model and governing equation. ANSYS-APDL was also used to stimulate the temperature influence on elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, uniaxial compressive strength, and permeability. In light of the results, we establish a temperature-fluid-stress model to illustrate the granite's stability. The compressional wave velocity and elastic modulus, decrease as the temperature rises, while poisson ratio and permeability of granite increase. The threshold pressure and temperature are 15 MPa and 200°C, respectively. The temperature affects the fracture pressure more than the collapse pressure, but both parameters rise with the increase of temperature. The coupling of thermo-fluid-solid, greatly impacting the borehole stability, proves to be a good method to analyze similar problems of other formations. PMID:24778592

Thermophysical and mechanical properties of granite and its effects on borehole stability in high temperature and three-dimensional stress.

PubMed

Wang, Yu; Liu, Bao-lin; Zhu, Hai-yan; Yan, Chuan-liang; Li, Zhi-jun; Wang, Zhi-qiao

2014-01-01

When exploiting the deep resources, the surrounding rock readily undergoes the hole shrinkage, borehole collapse, and loss of circulation under high temperature and high pressure. A series of experiments were conducted to discuss the compressional wave velocity, triaxial strength, and permeability of granite cored from 3500 meters borehole under high temperature and three-dimensional stress. In light of the coupling of temperature, fluid, and stress, we get the thermo-fluid-solid model and governing equation. ANSYS-APDL was also used to stimulate the temperature influence on elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, uniaxial compressive strength, and permeability. In light of the results, we establish a temperature-fluid-stress model to illustrate the granite's stability. The compressional wave velocity and elastic modulus, decrease as the temperature rises, while poisson ratio and permeability of granite increase. The threshold pressure and temperature are 15 MPa and 200 °C, respectively. The temperature affects the fracture pressure more than the collapse pressure, but both parameters rise with the increase of temperature. The coupling of thermo-fluid-solid, greatly impacting the borehole stability, proves to be a good method to analyze similar problems of other formations.

Coupling LAMMPS with Lattice Boltzmann fluid solver: theory, implementation, and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Jifu; Sinno, Talid; Diamond, Scott

2016-11-01

Studying of fluid flow coupled with solid has many applications in biological and engineering problems, e.g., blood cell transport, particulate flow, drug delivery. We present a partitioned approach to solve the coupled Multiphysics problem. The fluid motion is solved by the Lattice Boltzmann method, while the solid displacement and deformation is simulated by Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS). The coupling is achieved through the immersed boundary method so that the expensive remeshing step is eliminated. The code can model both rigid and deformable solids. The code also shows very good scaling results. It was validated with classic problems such as migration of rigid particles, ellipsoid particle's orbit in shear flow. Examples of the applications in blood flow, drug delivery, platelet adhesion and rupture are also given in the paper. NIH.

The Zero Boil-Off Tank Experiment Ground Testing and Verification of Fluid and Thermal Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chato, David J.; Kassemi, Mohammad; Kahwaji, Michel; Kieckhafer, Alexander

2016-01-01

The Zero Boil-Off Technology (ZBOT) Experiment involves performing a small scale International Space Station (ISS) experiment to study tank pressurization and pressure control in microgravity. The ZBOT experiment consists of a vacuum jacketed test tank filled with an inert fluorocarbon simulant liquid. Heaters and thermo-electric coolers are used in conjunction with an axial jet mixer flow loop to study a range of thermal conditions within the tank. The objective is to provide a high quality database of low gravity fluid motions and thermal transients which will be used to validate Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modeling. This CFD can then be used in turn to predict behavior in larger systems with cryogens. This paper will discuss the work that has been done to demonstrate that the ZBOT experiment is capable of performing the functions required to produce a meaningful and accurate results, prior to its launch to the International Space Station. Main systems discussed are expected to include the thermal control system, the optical imaging system, and the tank filling system.This work is sponsored by NASAs Human Exploration Mission Directorates Physical Sciences Research program.

Human heart conjugate cooling simulation: Unsteady thermo-fluid-stress analysis

PubMed Central

Abdoli, Abas; Dulikravich, George S.; Bajaj, Chandrajit; Stowe, David F.; Jahania, M. Salik

2015-01-01

The main objective of this work was to demonstrate computationally that realistic human hearts can be cooled much faster by performing conjugate heat transfer consisting of pumping a cold liquid through the cardiac chambers and major veins while keeping the heart submerged in cold gelatin filling a cooling container. The human heart geometry used for simulations was obtained from three-dimensional, high resolution MRI scans. Two fluid flow domains for the right (pulmonic) and left (systemic) heart circulations, and two solid domains for the heart tissue and gelatin solution were defined for multi-domain numerical simulation. Detailed unsteady temperature fields within the heart tissue were calculated during the conjugate cooling process. A linear thermoelasticity analysis was performed to assess the stresses applied on the heart due to the coolant fluid shear and normal forces and to examine the thermal stress caused by temperature variation inside the heart. It was demonstrated that a conjugate cooling effort with coolant temperature at +4°C is capable of reducing the average heart temperature from +37°C to +8°C in 25 minutes for cases in which the coolant was steadily pumped only through major heart inlet veins and cavities. PMID:25045006

Research and Development of Multiphysics Models in Support of the Conversion of the High Flux Isotope Reactor to Low Enriched Uranium Fuel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bodey, Isaac T.; Curtis, Franklin G.; Arimilli, Rao V.

The findings presented in this report are results of a five year effort led by the RRD Division of the ORNL, which is focused on research and development toward the conversion of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) fuel from high-enriched uranium (HEU) to low-enriched uranium (LEU). This report focuses on the tasks accomplished by the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) team from the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering (MABE) that provided expert support in multiphysics modeling of complex problems associated with the LEU conversion of the HFIR reactor. The COMSOL software was used as the main computationalmore » modeling tool, whereas Solidworks was also used in support of computer-aided-design (CAD) modeling of the proposed LEU fuel design. The UTK research has been governed by a statement of work (SOW), which was updated annually to clearly define the specific tasks reported herein. Ph.D. student Isaac T. Bodey has focused on heat transfer and fluid flow modeling issues and has been aided by his major professor Dr. Rao V. Arimilli. Ph.D. student Franklin G. Curtis has been focusing on modeling the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) phenomena caused by the mechanical forces acting on the fuel plates, which in turn affect the fluid flow in between the fuel plates, and ultimately the heat transfer, is also affected by the FSI changes. Franklin Curtis has been aided by his major professor Dr. Kivanc Ekici. M.Sc. student Adam R. Travis has focused two major areas of research: (1) on accurate CAD modeling of the proposed LEU plate design, and (2) reduction of the model complexity and dimensionality through interdimensional coupling of the fluid flow and heat transfer for the HFIR plate geometry. Adam Travis is also aided by his major professor, Dr. Kivanc Ekici. We must note that the UTK team, and particularly the graduate students, have been in very close collaboration with Dr. James D. Freels (ORNL technical monitor and mentor) and have benefited greatly from his leadership and expertise in COMSOL modeling of complex physical phenomena. Both UTK and ORNL teams have used COMSOL releases 3.4 through 5.0 inclusive (with particular emphasis on 3.5a, 4.3a, 4.3b, and 4.4) for most of the work described in this report, except where stated otherwise. Just as in the performance of the research, each of the respective sections has been originally authored by respective authors. Therefore, the reader will observe a contrast in writing style throughout this document.« less

Flow dynamics in bioreactors containing tissue engineering scaffolds.

PubMed

Lawrence, Benjamin J; Devarapalli, Mamatha; Madihally, Sundararajan V

2009-02-15

Bioreactors are widely used in tissue engineering as a way to distribute nutrients within porous materials and provide physical stimulus required by many tissues. However, the fluid dynamics within the large porous structure are not well understood. In this study, we explored the effect of reactor geometry by using rectangular and circular reactors with three different inlet and outlet patterns. Geometries were simulated with and without the porous structure using the computational fluid dynamics software Comsol Multiphysics 3.4 and/or ANSYS CFX 11 respectively. Residence time distribution analysis using a step change of a tracer within the reactor revealed non-ideal fluid distribution characteristics within the reactors. The Brinkman equation was used to model the permeability characteristics with in the chitosan porous structure. Pore size was varied from 10 to 200 microm and the number of pores per unit area was varied from 15 to 1,500 pores/mm(2). Effect of cellular growth and tissue remodeling on flow distribution was also assessed by changing the pore size (85-10 microm) while keeping the number of pores per unit area constant. These results showed significant increase in pressure with reduction in pore size, which could limit the fluid flow and nutrient transport. However, measured pressure drop was marginally higher than the simulation results. Maximum shear stress was similar in both reactors and ranged approximately 0.2-0.3 dynes/cm(2). The simulations were validated experimentally using both a rectangular and circular bioreactor, constructed in-house. Porous structures for the experiments were formed using 0.5% chitosan solution freeze-dried at -80 degrees C, and the pressure drop across the reactor was monitored.

Computationally efficient optimization of radiation drives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimmerman, George; Swift, Damian

2017-06-01

For many applications of pulsed radiation, the temporal pulse shape is designed to induce a desired time-history of conditions. This optimization is normally performed using multi-physics simulations of the system, adjusting the shape until the desired response is induced. These simulations may be computationally intensive, and iterative forward optimization is then expensive and slow. In principle, a simulation program could be modified to adjust the radiation drive automatically until the desired instantaneous response is achieved, but this may be impracticable in a complicated multi-physics program. However, the computational time increment is typically much shorter than the time scale of changes in the desired response, so the radiation intensity can be adjusted so that the response tends toward the desired value. This relaxed in-situ optimization method can give an adequate design for a pulse shape in a single forward simulation, giving a typical gain in computational efficiency of tens to thousands. This approach was demonstrated for the design of laser pulse shapes to induce ramp loading to high pressure in target assemblies where different components had significantly different mechanical impedance, requiring careful pulse shaping. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Modeling the migration of fluids in subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegelman, M.; Wilson, C. R.; van Keken, P. E.; Hacker, B. R.

2010-12-01

Fluids play a major role in the formation of arc volcanism and the generation of continental crust. Progressive dehydration reactions in the downgoing slab release fluids to the hot overlying mantle wedge, causing flux melting and the migration of melts to the volcanic front. While the qualitative concept is well established the quantitative details of fluid release and especially that of fluid migration and generation of hydrous melting in the wedge is still poorly understood. Here we present new models of the fluid migration through the mantle wedge for subduction zones that span the spectrum of arcs worldwide. We focus on the flow of water and use an existing set of high resolution thermal and metamorphic models (van Keken et al., JGR, in review) to predict the regions of water release from the sediments, upper and lower crust, and upper most mantle. We use this water flux as input for the fluid migration calculation based on new finite element models built on advanced computational libraries (FEniCS/PETSc) for efficient and flexible solution of coupled multi-physics problems. The first generation of these models solves for the evolution of porosity and fluid-pressure/flux throughout the slab and wedge given solid flow, viscosity and thermal fields from the existing thermal models. Fluid flow in the new models depends on both permeability and the rheology of the slab-wedge system as interaction with rheological variability can induce additional pressure gradients that affect the fluid flow pathways. We will explore the sensitivity of fluid flow paths for a range of subduction zones and fluid flow parameters with emphasis on variability of the location of the volcanic arc with respect to flow paths and expected degrees of hydrous melting which can be estimated given a variety of wet-melting parameterizations (e.g. Katz et al, 2003, Kelley et al, 2010). The current models just include dehydration reactions but work continues on the next generation of models which will include both dehydration and hydration reactions as well as parameterized flux melting in a consistent reactive-flow framework. We have also begun work on re-implementing the solid-flow thermal calculations in FEniCS/PETSc which are open-source libraries in preparation for developing a fully coupled fluid-solid dynamics models for exploring subduction zone processes

Development and application of computational aerothermodynamics flowfield computer codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Venkatapathy, Ethiraj

1994-01-01

Research was performed in the area of computational modeling and application of hypersonic, high-enthalpy, thermo-chemical nonequilibrium flow (Aerothermodynamics) problems. A number of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes were developed and applied to simulate high altitude rocket-plume, the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE), hypersonic base flow for planetary probes, the single expansion ramp model (SERN) connected with the National Aerospace Plane, hypersonic drag devices, hypersonic ramp flows, ballistic range models, shock tunnel facility nozzles, transient and steady flows in the shock tunnel facility, arc-jet flows, thermochemical nonequilibrium flows around simple and complex bodies, axisymmetric ionized flows of interest to re-entry, unsteady shock induced combustion phenomena, high enthalpy pulsed facility simulations, and unsteady shock boundary layer interactions in shock tunnels. Computational modeling involved developing appropriate numerical schemes for the flows on interest and developing, applying, and validating appropriate thermochemical processes. As part of improving the accuracy of the numerical predictions, adaptive grid algorithms were explored, and a user-friendly, self-adaptive code (SAGE) was developed. Aerothermodynamic flows of interest included energy transfer due to strong radiation, and a significant level of effort was spent in developing computational codes for calculating radiation and radiation modeling. In addition, computational tools were developed and applied to predict the radiative heat flux and spectra that reach the model surface.

A novel medical image data-based multi-physics simulation platform for computational life sciences.

PubMed

Neufeld, Esra; Szczerba, Dominik; Chavannes, Nicolas; Kuster, Niels

2013-04-06

Simulating and modelling complex biological systems in computational life sciences requires specialized software tools that can perform medical image data-based modelling, jointly visualize the data and computational results, and handle large, complex, realistic and often noisy anatomical models. The required novel solvers must provide the power to model the physics, biology and physiology of living tissue within the full complexity of the human anatomy (e.g. neuronal activity, perfusion and ultrasound propagation). A multi-physics simulation platform satisfying these requirements has been developed for applications including device development and optimization, safety assessment, basic research, and treatment planning. This simulation platform consists of detailed, parametrized anatomical models, a segmentation and meshing tool, a wide range of solvers and optimizers, a framework for the rapid development of specialized and parallelized finite element method solvers, a visualization toolkit-based visualization engine, a Python scripting interface for customized applications, a coupling framework, and more. Core components are cross-platform compatible and use open formats. Several examples of applications are presented: hyperthermia cancer treatment planning, tumour growth modelling, evaluating the magneto-haemodynamic effect as a biomarker and physics-based morphing of anatomical models.

First Studies for the Development of Computational Tools for the Design of Liquid Metal Electromagnetic Pumps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maidana, Carlos O.; Nieminen, Juha E.

Liquid alloy systems have a high degree of thermal conductivity, far superior to ordinary nonmetallic liquids and inherent high densities and electrical conductivities. This results in the use of these materials for specific heat conducting and dissipation applications for the nuclear and space sectors. Uniquely, they can be used to conduct heat and electricity between nonmetallic and metallic surfaces. The motion of liquid metals in strong magnetic fields generally induces electric currents, which, while interacting with the magnetic field, produce electromagnetic forces. Electromagnetic pumps exploit the fact that liquid metals are conducting fluids capable of carrying currents, which is amore » source of electromagnetic fields useful for pumping and diagnostics. The coupling between the electromagnetics and thermo-fluid mechanical phenomena and the determination of its geometry and electrical configuration, gives rise to complex engineering magnetohydrodynamics problems. The development of tools to model, characterize, design, and build liquid metal thermomagnetic systems for space, nuclear, and industrial applications are of primordial importance and represent a cross-cutting technology that can provide unique design and development capabilities as well as a better understanding of the physics behind the magneto-hydrodynamics of liquid metals. Here, first studies for the development of computational tools for the design of liquid metal electromagnetic pumps are discussed.« less

First Studies for the Development of Computational Tools for the Design of Liquid Metal Electromagnetic Pumps

DOE PAGES

Maidana, Carlos O.; Nieminen, Juha E.

2017-02-01

Liquid alloy systems have a high degree of thermal conductivity, far superior to ordinary nonmetallic liquids and inherent high densities and electrical conductivities. This results in the use of these materials for specific heat conducting and dissipation applications for the nuclear and space sectors. Uniquely, they can be used to conduct heat and electricity between nonmetallic and metallic surfaces. The motion of liquid metals in strong magnetic fields generally induces electric currents, which, while interacting with the magnetic field, produce electromagnetic forces. Electromagnetic pumps exploit the fact that liquid metals are conducting fluids capable of carrying currents, which is amore » source of electromagnetic fields useful for pumping and diagnostics. The coupling between the electromagnetics and thermo-fluid mechanical phenomena and the determination of its geometry and electrical configuration, gives rise to complex engineering magnetohydrodynamics problems. The development of tools to model, characterize, design, and build liquid metal thermomagnetic systems for space, nuclear, and industrial applications are of primordial importance and represent a cross-cutting technology that can provide unique design and development capabilities as well as a better understanding of the physics behind the magneto-hydrodynamics of liquid metals. Here, first studies for the development of computational tools for the design of liquid metal electromagnetic pumps are discussed.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None, None

The Second SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering was held in San Diego from February 10-12, 2003. Total conference attendance was 553. This is a 23% increase in attendance over the first conference. The focus of this conference was to draw attention to the tremendous range of major computational efforts on large problems in science and engineering, to promote the interdisciplinary culture required to meet these large-scale challenges, and to encourage the training of the next generation of computational scientists. Computational Science & Engineering (CS&E) is now widely accepted, along with theory and experiment, as a crucial third modemore » of scientific investigation and engineering design. Aerospace, automotive, biological, chemical, semiconductor, and other industrial sectors now rely on simulation for technical decision support. For federal agencies also, CS&E has become an essential support for decisions on resources, transportation, and defense. CS&E is, by nature, interdisciplinary. It grows out of physical applications and it depends on computer architecture, but at its heart are powerful numerical algorithms and sophisticated computer science techniques. From an applied mathematics perspective, much of CS&E has involved analysis, but the future surely includes optimization and design, especially in the presence of uncertainty. Another mathematical frontier is the assimilation of very large data sets through such techniques as adaptive multi-resolution, automated feature search, and low-dimensional parameterization. The themes of the 2003 conference included, but were not limited to: Advanced Discretization Methods; Computational Biology and Bioinformatics; Computational Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Computational Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; Computational Electromagnetics; Computational Fluid Dynamics; Computational Medicine and Bioengineering; Computational Physics and Astrophysics; Computational Solid Mechanics and Materials; CS&E Education; Meshing and Adaptivity; Multiscale and Multiphysics Problems; Numerical Algorithms for CS&E; Discrete and Combinatorial Algorithms for CS&E; Inverse Problems; Optimal Design, Optimal Control, and Inverse Problems; Parallel and Distributed Computing; Problem-Solving Environments; Software and Wddleware Systems; Uncertainty Estimation and Sensitivity Analysis; and Visualization and Computer Graphics.« less

A multi-physics analysis for the actuation of the SSS in opal reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraro, Diego; Alberto, Patricio; Villarino, Eduardo; Doval, Alicia

2018-05-01

OPAL is a 20 MWth multi-purpose open-pool type Research Reactor located at Lucas Heights, Australia. It was designed, built and commissioned by INVAP between 2000 and 2006 and it has been operated by the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) showing a very good overall performance. On November 2016, OPAL reached 10 years of continuous operation, becoming one of the most reliable and available in its kind worldwide, with an unbeaten record of being fully operational 307 days a year. One of the enhanced safety features present in this state-of-art reactor is the availability of an independent, diverse and redundant Second Shutdown System (SSS), which consists in the drainage of the heavy water reflector contained in the Reflector Vessel. As far as high quality experimental data is available from reactor commissioning and operation stages and even from early component design validation stages, several models both regarding neutronic and thermo-hydraulic approaches have been developed during recent years using advanced calculations tools and the novel capabilities to couple them. These advanced models were developed in order to assess the capability of such codes to simulate and predict complex behaviours and develop highly detail analysis. In this framework, INVAP developed a three-dimensional CFD model that represents the detailed hydraulic behaviour of the Second Shutdown System for an actuation scenario, where the heavy water drainage 3D temporal profiles inside the Reflector Vessel can be obtained. This model was validated, comparing the computational results with experimental measurements performed in a real-size physical model built by INVAP during early OPAL design engineering stages. Furthermore, detailed 3D Serpent Monte Carlo models are also available, which have been already validated with experimental data from reactor commissioning and operating cycles. In the present work the neutronic and thermohydraulic models, available for OPAL reactor, are coupled by means of a shared unstructured mesh geometry definition of relevant zones inside the Reflector Vessel. Several scenarios, both regarding coupled and uncoupled neutronic & thermohydraulic behavior, are presented and analyzed, showing the capabilities to develop and manage advanced modelling that allows to predict multi-physics variables observed when an in-depth performance analysis of a Research Reactor like OPAL is carried out.

Multi-scale and multi-physics simulations using the multi-fluid plasma model

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-25

small The simulation uses 512 second-order elements Bz = 1.0, Te = Ti = 0.01, ui = ue = 0 ne = ni = 1.0 + e−10(x−6) 2 Baboolal, Math . and Comp. Sim. 55...DISTRIBUTION Clearance No. 17211 23 / 31 SUMMARY The blended finite element method (BFEM) is presented DG spatial discretization with explicit Runge...Kutta (i+, n) CG spatial discretization with implicit Crank-Nicolson (e−, fileds) DG captures shocks and discontinuities CG is efficient and robust for

Thermo-Hydro-Micro-Mechanical 3D Modeling of a Fault Gouge During Co-seismic Slip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papachristos, E.; Stefanou, I.; Sulem, J.; Donze, F. V.

2017-12-01

A coupled Thermo-Hydro-Micro-Mechanical (THMM) model based on the Discrete Elements method (DEM) is presented for studying the evolving fault gouge properties during pre- and co-seismic slip. Modeling the behavior of the fault gouge at the microscale is expected to improve our understanding on the various mechanisms that lead to slip weakening and finally control the transition from aseismic to seismic slip.The gouge is considered as a granular material of spherical particles [1]. Upon loading, the interactions between particles follow a frictional behavior and explicit dynamics. Using regular triangulation, a pore network is defined by the physical pore space between the particles. The network is saturated by a compressible fluid, and flow takes place following Stoke's equations. Particles' movement leads to pore deformation and thus to local pore pressure increase. Forces exerted from the fluid onto the particles are calculated using mid-step velocities. The fluid forces are then added to the contact forces resulting from the mechanical interactions before the next step.The same semi-implicit, two way iterative coupling is used for the heat-exchange through conduction.Simple tests have been performed to verify the model against analytical solutions and experimental results. Furthermore, the model was used to study the effect of temperature on the evolution of effective stress in the system and to highlight the role of thermal pressurization during seismic slip [2, 3].The analyses are expected to give grounds for enhancing the current state-of-the-art constitutive models regarding fault friction and shed light on the evolution of fault zone propertiesduring seismic slip.[1] Omid Dorostkar, Robert A Guyer, Paul A Johnson, Chris Marone, and Jan Carmeliet. On the role of fluids in stick-slip dynamics of saturated granular fault gouge using a coupled computational fluid dynamics-discrete element approach. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122(5):3689-3700, 2017.[2] James R Rice. Heating and weakening of faults during earthquake slip. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 111(B5), 2006.[3] Jean Sulem, Ioannis Stefanou, and Emmanuil Veveakis. Stability analysis of undrained adiabatic shearing of a rock layer with cosserat microstructure. Granular Matter, 13(3):261-268,2011.

An Undergraduate Course in Modeling and Simulation of Multiphysics Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortiz-Rodriguez, Estanislao; Vazquez-Arenas, Jorge; Ricardez-Sandoval, Luis A.

2010-01-01

An overview of a course on modeling and simulation offered at the Nanotechnology Engineering undergraduate program at the University of Waterloo. The motivation for having this course in the undergraduate nanotechnology curriculum, the course structure, and its learning objectives are discussed. Further, one of the computational laboratories…

Computational medical imaging and hemodynamics framework for functional analysis and assessment of cardiovascular structures.

PubMed

Wong, Kelvin K L; Wang, Defeng; Ko, Jacky K L; Mazumdar, Jagannath; Le, Thu-Thao; Ghista, Dhanjoo

2017-03-21

Cardiac dysfunction constitutes common cardiovascular health issues in the society, and has been an investigation topic of strong focus by researchers in the medical imaging community. Diagnostic modalities based on echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, chest radiography and computed tomography are common techniques that provide cardiovascular structural information to diagnose heart defects. However, functional information of cardiovascular flow, which can in fact be used to support the diagnosis of many cardiovascular diseases with a myriad of hemodynamics performance indicators, remains unexplored to its full potential. Some of these indicators constitute important cardiac functional parameters affecting the cardiovascular abnormalities. With the advancement of computer technology that facilitates high speed computational fluid dynamics, the realization of a support diagnostic platform of hemodynamics quantification and analysis can be achieved. This article reviews the state-of-the-art medical imaging and high fidelity multi-physics computational analyses that together enable reconstruction of cardiovascular structures and hemodynamic flow patterns within them, such as of the left ventricle (LV) and carotid bifurcations. The combined medical imaging and hemodynamic analysis enables us to study the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease-causing dysfunctions, such as how (1) cardiomyopathy causes left ventricular remodeling and loss of contractility leading to heart failure, and (2) modeling of LV construction and simulation of intra-LV hemodynamics can enable us to determine the optimum procedure of surgical ventriculation to restore its contractility and health This combined medical imaging and hemodynamics framework can potentially extend medical knowledge of cardiovascular defects and associated hemodynamic behavior and their surgical restoration, by means of an integrated medical image diagnostics and hemodynamic performance analysis framework.

PREFACE: Special section on Computational Fluid Dynamics—in memory of Professor Kunio Kuwahara Special section on Computational Fluid Dynamics—in memory of Professor Kunio Kuwahara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishii, Katsuya

2011-08-01

This issue includes a special section on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in memory of the late Professor Kunio Kuwahara, who passed away on 15 September 2008, at the age of 66. In this special section, five articles are included that are based on the lectures and discussions at `The 7th International Nobeyama Workshop on CFD: To the Memory of Professor Kuwahara' held in Tokyo on 23 and 24 September 2009. Professor Kuwahara started his research in fluid dynamics under Professor Imai at the University of Tokyo. His first paper was published in 1969 with the title 'Steady Viscous Flow within Circular Boundary', with Professor Imai. In this paper, he combined theoretical and numerical methods in fluid dynamics. Since that time, he made significant and seminal contributions to computational fluid dynamics. He undertook pioneering numerical studies on the vortex method in 1970s. From then to the early nineties, he developed numerical analyses on a variety of three-dimensional unsteady phenomena of incompressible and compressible fluid flows and/or complex fluid flows using his own supercomputers with academic and industrial co-workers and members of his private research institute, ICFD in Tokyo. In addition, a number of senior and young researchers of fluid mechanics around the world were invited to ICFD and the Nobeyama workshops, which were held near his villa, and they intensively discussed new frontier problems of fluid physics and fluid engineering at Professor Kuwahara's kind hospitality. At the memorial Nobeyama workshop held in 2009, 24 overseas speakers presented their papers, including the talks of Dr J P Boris (Naval Research Laboratory), Dr E S Oran (Naval Research Laboratory), Professor Z J Wang (Iowa State University), Dr M Meinke (RWTH Aachen), Professor K Ghia (University of Cincinnati), Professor U Ghia (University of Cincinnati), Professor F Hussain (University of Houston), Professor M Farge (École Normale Superieure), Professor J Y Yong (National Taiwan University), and Professor H S Kwak (Kumoh National Institute of Technology). For his contributions to CFD, Professor Kuwahara received Awards from the Japan Society of Automobile Engineers and the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1992, the Computational Mechanics Achievement Award from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1993, and the Max Planck Research Award in 1993. He received the Computational Mechanics Award from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers again in 2008. Professor Kuwahara also supported the development of the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics, whose office is located in the same building as ICFD. In the proceedings of the 6th International Nobeyama Workshop on CFD to commemorate the 60th birthday of Professor Kuwahara, Professor Jae Min Hyun of KAIST wrote 'The major professional achievement of Professor Kuwahara may be compressed into two main categories. First and foremost, Professor Kuwahara will long be recorded as the front-line pioneer in using numerical computations to tackle complex problems in fluid mechanics. ...Another important contribution of Professor Kuwahara was in the training and fostering of talented manpower of computational mechanics research.'[1] Among the various topics of the five papers in this special section are examples of Professor Kuwahara's works mentioned by Professor Hyun. The main authors of all papers have grown up in the research circle of Professor Kuwahara. All the papers demostrate the challenge of new aspects of computational fluid dynamics; a new numerical method for compressible flows, thermo-acoustic flows of helium gas in a small tube, electro-osmic flows in a micro/nano channel, MHD flows over a wavy disk, and a new extraction method of multi-object aircraft design rules. Last but not least, this special section is cordially dedicated to the late Professor Kuwahara and his family. Reference [1] Hyun J M 2005 Preface of New Developments in Computational Fluid Dynamics vol 90 Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design ed K Fujii et al (Berlin: Springer)

Spreading of a ferrofluid core in three-stream micromixer channels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Zhaomeng; Varma, V. B.; Ramanujan, R. V., E-mail: ramanujan@ntu.edu.sg

2015-05-15

Spreading of a water based ferrofluid core, cladded by a diamagnetic fluid, in three-stream micromixer channels was studied. This spreading, induced by an external magnetic field, is known as magnetofluidic spreading (MFS). MFS is useful for various novel applications where control of fluid-fluid interface is desired, such as micromixers or micro-chemical reactors. However, fundamental aspects of MFS are still unclear, and a model without correction factors is lacking. Hence, in this work, both experimental and numerical analyses were undertaken to study MFS. We show that MFS increased for higher applied magnetic fields, slower flow speed of both fluids, smaller flowmore » rate of ferrofluid relative to cladding, and higher initial magnetic particle concentration. Spreading, mainly due to connective diffusion, was observed mostly near the channel walls. Our multi-physics model, which combines magnetic and fluidic analyses, showed, for the first time, excellent agreement between theory and experiment. These results can be useful for lab-on-a-chip devices.« less

Spreading of a ferrofluid core in three-stream micromixer channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhaomeng; Varma, V. B.; Xia, Huan Ming; Wang, Z. P.; Ramanujan, R. V.

2015-05-01

Spreading of a water based ferrofluid core, cladded by a diamagnetic fluid, in three-stream micromixer channels was studied. This spreading, induced by an external magnetic field, is known as magnetofluidic spreading (MFS). MFS is useful for various novel applications where control of fluid-fluid interface is desired, such as micromixers or micro-chemical reactors. However, fundamental aspects of MFS are still unclear, and a model without correction factors is lacking. Hence, in this work, both experimental and numerical analyses were undertaken to study MFS. We show that MFS increased for higher applied magnetic fields, slower flow speed of both fluids, smaller flow rate of ferrofluid relative to cladding, and higher initial magnetic particle concentration. Spreading, mainly due to connective diffusion, was observed mostly near the channel walls. Our multi-physics model, which combines magnetic and fluidic analyses, showed, for the first time, excellent agreement between theory and experiment. These results can be useful for lab-on-a-chip devices.

Multiphysics Modeling of a Single Channel in a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Grooved Ring Fuel Element

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Tony; Emrich, William J., Jr.; Barkett, Laura A.; Mathias, Adam D.; Cassibry, Jason T.

2013-01-01

In the past, fuel rods have been used in nuclear propulsion applications. A new fuel element concept that reduces weight and increases efficiency uses a stack of grooved discs. Each fuel element is a flat disc with a hole on the interior and grooves across the top. Many grooved ring fuel elements for use in nuclear thermal propulsion systems have been modeled, and a single flow channel for each design has been analyzed. For increased efficiency, a fuel element with a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio is ideal. When grooves are shallower, i.e., they have a lower surface area, the results show that the exit temperature is higher. By coupling the physics of turbulence with those of heat transfer, the effects on the cooler gas flowing through the grooves of the thermally excited solid can be predicted. Parametric studies were done to show how a pressure drop across the axial length of the channels will affect the exit temperatures of the gas. Geometric optimization was done to show the behaviors that result from the manipulation of various parameters. Temperature profiles of the solid and gas showed that more structural optimization is needed to produce the desired results. Keywords: Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, Fuel Element, Heat Transfer, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Coupled Physics Computations, Finite Element Analysis

Solid oxide fuel cell simulation and design optimization with numerical adjoint techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, Louie C.

This dissertation reports on the application of numerical optimization techniques as applied to fuel cell simulation and design. Due to the "multi-physics" inherent in a fuel cell, which results in a highly coupled and non-linear behavior, an experimental program to analyze and improve the performance of fuel cells is extremely difficult. This program applies new optimization techniques with computational methods from the field of aerospace engineering to the fuel cell design problem. After an overview of fuel cell history, importance, and classification, a mathematical model of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) is presented. The governing equations are discretized and solved with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques including unstructured meshes, non-linear solution methods, numerical derivatives with complex variables, and sensitivity analysis with adjoint methods. Following the validation of the fuel cell model in 2-D and 3-D, the results of the sensitivity analysis are presented. The sensitivity derivative for a cost function with respect to a design variable is found with three increasingly sophisticated techniques: finite difference, direct differentiation, and adjoint. A design cycle is performed using a simple optimization method to improve the value of the implemented cost function. The results from this program could improve fuel cell performance and lessen the world's dependence on fossil fuels.

Studying the Effect of Deposition Conditions on the Performance and Reliability of MEMS Gas Sensors

PubMed Central

Sadek, Khaled; Moussa, Walied

2007-01-01

In this paper, the reliability of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based gas sensor has been investigated using Three Dimensional (3D) coupled multiphysics Finite Element (FE) analysis. The coupled field analysis involved a two-way sequential electrothermal fields coupling and a one-way sequential thermal-structural fields coupling. An automated substructuring code was developed to reduce the computational cost involved in simulating this complicated coupled multiphysics FE analysis by up to 76 percent. The substructured multiphysics model was then used to conduct a parametric study of the MEMS-based gas sensor performance in response to the variations expected in the thermal and mechanical characteristics of thin films layers composing the sensing MEMS device generated at various stages of the microfabrication process. Whenever possible, the appropriate deposition variables were correlated in the current work to the design parameters, with good accuracy, for optimum operation conditions of the gas sensor. This is used to establish a set of design rules, using linear and nonlinear empirical relations, which can be utilized in real-time at the design and development decision-making stages of similar gas sensors to enable the microfabrication of these sensors with reliable operation.

Case studies on optimization problems in MATLAB and COMSOL multiphysics by means of the livelink

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozana, Stepan; Pies, Martin; Docekal, Tomas

2016-06-01

LiveLink for COMSOL is a tool that integrates COMSOL Multiphysics with MATLAB to extend one's modeling with scripting programming in the MATLAB environment. It allows user to utilize the full power of MATLAB and its toolboxes in preprocessing, model manipulation, and post processing. At first, the head script launches COMSOL with MATLAB and defines initial value of all parameters, refers to the objective function J described in the objective function and creates and runs the defined optimization task. Once the task is launches, the COMSOL model is being called in the iteration loop (from MATLAB environment by use of API interface), changing defined optimization parameters so that the objective function is minimized, using fmincon function to find a local or global minimum of constrained linear or nonlinear multivariable function. Once the minimum is found, it returns exit flag, terminates optimization and returns the optimized values of the parameters. The cooperation with MATLAB via LiveLink enhances a powerful computational environment with complex multiphysics simulations. The paper will introduce using of the LiveLink for COMSOL for chosen case studies in the field of technical cybernetics and bioengineering.

Predicting Large Deflections of Multiplate Fuel Elements Using a Monolithic FSI Approach

DOE PAGES

Curtis, Franklin G.; Freels, James D.; Ekici, Kivanc

2017-10-26

As part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is evaluating conversion of fuel for the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) from high-enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium. Currently, multiphysics simulations that model fluid-structure interaction phenomena are being performed to ensure the safety of the reactor with the new fuel type. A monolithic solver that fully couples fluid and structural dynamics is used to model deflections in the new design. A classical experiment is chosen to validate the capabilities of the current solver and the method. Here, a single-plate simulation with various boundary conditions as well asmore » a five-plate simulation are presented. Finally, use of the monolithic solver provides stable solutions for the large deflections and the tight coupling of the fluid and structure and the maximum deflections are captured accurately.« less

A generalized transport-velocity formulation for smoothed particle hydrodynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Chi; Hu, Xiangyu Y., E-mail: xiangyu.hu@tum.de; Adams, Nikolaus A.

The standard smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method suffers from tensile instability. In fluid-dynamics simulations this instability leads to particle clumping and void regions when negative pressure occurs. In solid-dynamics simulations, it results in unphysical structure fragmentation. In this work the transport-velocity formulation of Adami et al. (2013) is generalized for providing a solution of this long-standing problem. Other than imposing a global background pressure, a variable background pressure is used to modify the particle transport velocity and eliminate the tensile instability completely. Furthermore, such a modification is localized by defining a shortened smoothing length. The generalized formulation is suitable formore » fluid and solid materials with and without free surfaces. The results of extensive numerical tests on both fluid and solid dynamics problems indicate that the new method provides a unified approach for multi-physics SPH simulations.« less

Modeling of pulsating heat pipes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Givler, Richard C.; Martinez, Mario J.

This report summarizes the results of a computer model that describes the behavior of pulsating heat pipes (PHP). The purpose of the project was to develop a highly efficient (as compared to the heat transfer capability of solid copper) thermal groundplane (TGP) using silicon carbide (SiC) as the substrate material and water as the working fluid. The objective of this project is to develop a multi-physics model for this complex phenomenon to assist with an understanding of how PHPs operate and to be able to understand how various parameters (geometry, fill ratio, materials, working fluid, etc.) affect its performance. Themore » physical processes describing a PHP are highly coupled. Understanding its operation is further complicated by the non-equilibrium nature of the interplay between evaporation/condensation, bubble growth and collapse or coalescence, and the coupled response of the multiphase fluid dynamics among the different channels. A comprehensive theory of operation and design tools for PHPs is still an unrealized task. In the following we first analyze, in some detail, a simple model that has been proposed to describe PHP behavior. Although it includes fundamental features of a PHP, it also makes some assumptions to keep the model tractable. In an effort to improve on current modeling practice, we constructed a model for a PHP using some unique features available in FLOW-3D, version 9.2-3 (Flow Science, 2007). We believe that this flow modeling software retains more of the salient features of a PHP and thus, provides a closer representation of its behavior.« less

Towards building a robust computational framework to simulate multi-physics problems - a solution technique for three-phase (gas-liquid-solid) interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lucy

In this talk, we show a robust numerical framework to model and simulate gas-liquid-solid three-phase flows. The overall algorithm adopts a non-boundary-fitted approach that avoids frequent mesh-updating procedures by defining independent meshes and explicit interfacial points to represent each phase. In this framework, we couple the immersed finite element method (IFEM) and the connectivity-free front tracking (CFFT) method that model fluid-solid and gas-liquid interactions, respectively, for the three-phase models. The CFFT is used here to simulate gas-liquid multi-fluid flows that uses explicit interfacial points to represent the gas-liquid interface and for its easy handling of interface topology changes. Instead of defining different levels simultaneously as used in level sets, an indicator function naturally couples the two methods together to represent and track each of the three phases. Several 2-D and 3-D testing cases are performed to demonstrate the robustness and capability of the coupled numerical framework in dealing with complex three-phase problems, in particular free surfaces interacting with deformable solids. The solution technique offers accuracy and stability, which provides a means to simulate various engineering applications. The author would like to acknowledge the supports from NIH/DHHS R01-2R01DC005642-10A1 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 11550110185.

Partitioned fluid-solid coupling for cardiovascular blood flow: left-ventricular fluid mechanics.

PubMed

Krittian, Sebastian; Janoske, Uwe; Oertel, Herbert; Böhlke, Thomas

2010-04-01

We present a 3D code-coupling approach which has been specialized towards cardiovascular blood flow. For the first time, the prescribed geometry movement of the cardiovascular flow model KaHMo (Karlsruhe Heart Model) has been replaced by a myocardial composite model. Deformation is driven by fluid forces and myocardial response, i.e., both its contractile and constitutive behavior. Whereas the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation (ALE) of the Navier-Stokes equations is discretized by finite volumes (FVM), the solid mechanical finite elasticity equations are discretized by a finite element (FEM) approach. Taking advantage of specialized numerical solution strategies for non-matching fluid and solid domain meshes, an iterative data-exchange guarantees the interface equilibrium of the underlying governing equations. The focus of this work is on left-ventricular fluid-structure interaction based on patient-specific magnetic resonance imaging datasets. Multi-physical phenomena are described by temporal visualization and characteristic FSI numbers. The results gained show flow patterns that are in good agreement with previous observations. A deeper understanding of cavity deformation, blood flow, and their vital interaction can help to improve surgical treatment and clinical therapy planning.

Thermal Convection on an Irradiated Target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehmedagic, Igbal; Thangam, Siva

2016-11-01

The present work involves the computational modeling of metallic targets subject to steady and high intensity heat flux. The ablation and associated fluid dynamics when metallic surfaces are exposed to high intensity laser fluence at normal atmospheric conditions is modelled. The incident energy from the laser is partly absorbed and partly reflected by the surface during ablation and subsequent vaporization of the melt. Computational findings based on effective representation and prediction of the heat transfer, melting and vaporization of the targeting material as well as plume formation and expansion are presented and discussed in the context of various ablation mechanisms, variable thermo-physical and optical properties, plume expansion and surface geometry. The energy distribution during the process between the bulk and vapor phase strongly depends on optical and thermodynamic properties of the irradiated material, radiation wavelength, and laser intensity. The relevance of the findings to various manufacturing processes as well as for the development of protective shields is discussed. Funded in part by U. S. Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ.

Energy harvesting via thermo-piezoelectric transduction within a heated capillary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monroe, J. G.; Bhandari, M.; Fairley, J.; Myers, O. J.; Shamsaei, N.; Thompson, S. M.

2017-07-01

Thermal-to-kinetic-to-electrical energy conversion is demonstrated through the use of a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) integrated within a section of an oscillating heat pipe (OHP) partially filled with water. The sealed PZT transducer was configured as a bow spring parallel to the dominant flow direction within the OHP. The bottom portion of the OHP was heated in increments of 50 W, while its top portion was actively cooled via water blocks. At ˜50 W, the internal fluid started to oscillate at ˜2-4 Hz due to the non-uniform vapor pressure generated in the OHP evaporator. Low-frequency fluid "pulses" were observed to occur across the flexed, in-line piezoelectric transducer, resulting in its deflection and measureable voltage spikes ranging between 24 and 63 mV. The OHP, while having its internal fluid enthalpy harvested, was found to still have an ultra-high thermal conductivity on-the-order of 10 kW/m K; however, its maximum operating heat load decreased due to the pressure drop introduced by the PZT material. The thermo-piezoelectric harvesting concept made possible via the thermally driven fluid oscillations within an OHP provides a passive method for combined energy harvesting and thermal management that is both scalable and portable.

Coupled modeling of a directly heated tubular solar receiver for supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle: Optical and thermal-fluid evaluation

DOE PAGES

Ortega, Jesus; Khivsara, Sagar; Christian, Joshua; ...

2016-05-30

In single phase performance and appealing thermo-physical properties supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO 2) make a good heat transfer fluid candidate for concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The development of a solar receiver capable of delivering s-CO 2 at outlet temperatures ~973 K is required in order to merge CSP and s-CO 2 Brayton cycle technologies. A coupled optical and thermal-fluid modeling effort for a tubular receiver is undertaken to evaluate the direct tubular s-CO 2 receiver’s thermal performance when exposed to a concentrated solar power input of ~0.3–0.5 MW. Ray tracing, using SolTrace, is performed to determine the heat fluxmore » profiles on the receiver and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) determines the thermal performance of the receiver under the specified heating conditions. Moreover, an in-house MATLAB code is developed to couple SolTrace and ANSYS Fluent. CFD modeling is performed using ANSYS Fluent to predict the thermal performance of the receiver by evaluating radiation and convection heat loss mechanisms. Understanding the effects of variation in heliostat aiming strategy and flow configurations on the thermal performance of the receiver was achieved through parametric analyses. Finally, a receiver thermal efficiency ~85% was predicted and the surface temperatures were observed to be within the allowable limit for the materials under consideration.« less

Coupled modeling of a directly heated tubular solar receiver for supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle: Optical and thermal-fluid evaluation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ortega, Jesus; Khivsara, Sagar; Christian, Joshua

In single phase performance and appealing thermo-physical properties supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO 2) make a good heat transfer fluid candidate for concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The development of a solar receiver capable of delivering s-CO 2 at outlet temperatures ~973 K is required in order to merge CSP and s-CO 2 Brayton cycle technologies. A coupled optical and thermal-fluid modeling effort for a tubular receiver is undertaken to evaluate the direct tubular s-CO 2 receiver’s thermal performance when exposed to a concentrated solar power input of ~0.3–0.5 MW. Ray tracing, using SolTrace, is performed to determine the heat fluxmore » profiles on the receiver and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) determines the thermal performance of the receiver under the specified heating conditions. Moreover, an in-house MATLAB code is developed to couple SolTrace and ANSYS Fluent. CFD modeling is performed using ANSYS Fluent to predict the thermal performance of the receiver by evaluating radiation and convection heat loss mechanisms. Understanding the effects of variation in heliostat aiming strategy and flow configurations on the thermal performance of the receiver was achieved through parametric analyses. Finally, a receiver thermal efficiency ~85% was predicted and the surface temperatures were observed to be within the allowable limit for the materials under consideration.« less

CPMIP: measurements of real computational performance of Earth system models in CMIP6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaji, Venkatramani; Maisonnave, Eric; Zadeh, Niki; Lawrence, Bryan N.; Biercamp, Joachim; Fladrich, Uwe; Aloisio, Giovanni; Benson, Rusty; Caubel, Arnaud; Durachta, Jeffrey; Foujols, Marie-Alice; Lister, Grenville; Mocavero, Silvia; Underwood, Seth; Wright, Garrett

2017-01-01

A climate model represents a multitude of processes on a variety of timescales and space scales: a canonical example of multi-physics multi-scale modeling. The underlying climate system is physically characterized by sensitive dependence on initial conditions, and natural stochastic variability, so very long integrations are needed to extract signals of climate change. Algorithms generally possess weak scaling and can be I/O and/or memory-bound. Such weak-scaling, I/O, and memory-bound multi-physics codes present particular challenges to computational performance. Traditional metrics of computational efficiency such as performance counters and scaling curves do not tell us enough about real sustained performance from climate models on different machines. They also do not provide a satisfactory basis for comparative information across models. codes present particular challenges to computational performance. We introduce a set of metrics that can be used for the study of computational performance of climate (and Earth system) models. These measures do not require specialized software or specific hardware counters, and should be accessible to anyone. They are independent of platform and underlying parallel programming models. We show how these metrics can be used to measure actually attained performance of Earth system models on different machines, and identify the most fruitful areas of research and development for performance engineering. codes present particular challenges to computational performance. We present results for these measures for a diverse suite of models from several modeling centers, and propose to use these measures as a basis for a CPMIP, a computational performance model intercomparison project (MIP).

Energy efficiency in industrial mixing and cooling of non-Newtonian fluid in a stirred tank reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baghli, Houda; Benyettou, Mohamed; Tchouar, Noureddine; Merah, Abdelkrim; Djafri, Mohammed

2018-05-01

This paper study the energy efficiency of the mixing and cooling of a non-Newtonian fluid manufactured on an industrial scale in a stirred tank reactor equipped with jacketed cooling side. The purpose of this study is to optimize the heat transfer to degrease the cooling time and recommend a technologic innovation to realize this purpose without altering the quality of this product. First the different production processes are analyzed. The decrease of the shear stress with time indicates that this fluid is non-Newtonian and has to be characterized. The rheological behavior of this fluid is determined by a series of viscosimetric measurements, at different shear rates (30 to 400 s-1), and at different temperatures in the range (20° C to 80 °C), representing the stress and temperature conditions recorded during production, storage and packaging cycles of this product. Experimental results show that the nature of the fluid is pseudo-plastic with flow behavior index n<1 and follow the power law model, with the influence of temperature on flow consistency index K. A thermo-dependent model is given to express this rheological parameters and viscosity of this fluid as a function of temperature, valid for the fluid temperature between 20 to 80 °C. This rheological model is used to achieve the heat transfer simulation in the industrial stirred tank with an anchor impeller mixing. Simulation results shows that the cooling time by mixing can be the quarter by reducing the stirring speed to 125 rpm, and decreasing the coolant temperature to 20°C and therefore reduce energy consumption. A technologic integration of a natural cooling thermo-siphon devise outside the process is proposed to afford a cooling fluid below 20°C.

Computation of Thermodynamic Equilibria Pertinent to Nuclear Materials in Multi-Physics Codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piro, Markus Hans Alexander

Nuclear energy plays a vital role in supporting electrical needs and fulfilling commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Research is a continuing necessity to improve the predictive capabilities of fuel behaviour in order to reduce costs and to meet increasingly stringent safety requirements by the regulator. Moreover, a renewed interest in nuclear energy has given rise to a "nuclear renaissance" and the necessity to design the next generation of reactors. In support of this goal, significant research efforts have been dedicated to the advancement of numerical modelling and computational tools in simulating various physical and chemical phenomena associated with nuclear fuel behaviour. This undertaking in effect is collecting the experience and observations of a past generation of nuclear engineers and scientists in a meaningful way for future design purposes. There is an increasing desire to integrate thermodynamic computations directly into multi-physics nuclear fuel performance and safety codes. A new equilibrium thermodynamic solver is being developed with this matter as a primary objective. This solver is intended to provide thermodynamic material properties and boundary conditions for continuum transport calculations. There are several concerns with the use of existing commercial thermodynamic codes: computational performance; limited capabilities in handling large multi-component systems of interest to the nuclear industry; convenient incorporation into other codes with quality assurance considerations; and, licensing entanglements associated with code distribution. The development of this software in this research is aimed at addressing all of these concerns. The approach taken in this work exploits fundamental principles of equilibrium thermodynamics to simplify the numerical optimization equations. In brief, the chemical potentials of all species and phases in the system are constrained by estimates of the chemical potentials of the system components at each iterative step, and the objective is to minimize the residuals of the mass balance equations. Several numerical advantages are achieved through this simplification. In particular, computational expense is reduced and the rate of convergence is enhanced. Furthermore, the software has demonstrated the ability to solve systems involving as many as 118 component elements. An early version of the code has already been integrated into the Advanced Multi-Physics (AMP) code under development by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. Keywords: Engineering, Nuclear -- 0552, Engineering, Material Science -- 0794, Chemistry, Mathematics -- 0405, Computer Science -- 0984

Fully Coupled 3D Finite Element Model of Hydraulic Fracturing in a Permeable Rock Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salimzadeh, S.; Paluszny, A.; Zimmerman, R. W.

2015-12-01

Hydraulic fracturing in permeable rock formations is a complex three-dimensional multi-physics phenomenon. Numerous analytical models of hydraulic fracturing processes have been proposed that typically simplify the physical processes, or somehow reduce the problem from three dimensions to two dimensions. Moreover, although such simplified models are able to model the growth of a single hydraulic fracture into an initially intact, homogeneous rock mass, they are generally not able to model fracturing of heterogeneous rock formations, or to account for interactions between multiple induced fractures, or between an induced fracture and pre-existing natural fractures. We have developed a numerical finite-element model for hydraulic fracturing that does not suffer from any of the limitations mentioned above. The model accounts for fluid flow within a fracture, the propagation of the fracture, and the leak-off of fluid from the fracture into the host rock. Fluid flow through the permeable rock matrix is modelled using Darcy's law, and is coupled with the laminar flow within the fracture. Fractures are discretely modelled in the three-dimensional mesh. Growth of a fracture is modelled using the concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), with the onset and direction of growth based on stress intensity factors that are computed for arbitrary tetrahedral meshes. The model has been verified against several analytical solutions available in the literature for plane-strain (2D) and penny-shaped (3D) fractures, for various regimes of domination: viscosity, toughness, storage and leak-off. The interaction of the hydraulically driven fracture with pre-existing fractures and other fluid-driven fractures in terms of fluid leak-off, stress interaction and fracture arrest is investigated and the results are presented. Finally, some preliminary results are presented regarding the interaction of a hydraulically-induced fracture with a set of pre-existing natural fractures.

Impact of irrigation flow rate and intrapericardial fluid on cooled-tip epicardial radiofrequency ablation.

PubMed

Aryana, Arash; O'Neill, Padraig Gearoid; Pujara, Deep K; Singh, Steve K; Bowers, Mark R; Allen, Shelley L; d'Avila, André

2016-08-01

The optimal irrigation flow rate (IFR) during epicardial radiofrequency (RF) ablation has not been established. This study specifically examined the impact of IFR and intrapericardial fluid (IPF) accumulation during epicardial RF ablation. Altogether, 452 ex vivo RF applications (10 g for 60 seconds) delivered to the epicardial surface of bovine myocardium using 3 open-irrigated ablation catheters (ThermoCool SmartTouch, ThermoCool SmartTouch-SF, and FlexAbility) and 50 in vivo RF applications delivered (ThermoCool SmartTouch-SF) in 4 healthy adult swine in the presence or absence of IPF were examined. Ex vivo, RF was delivered at low (≤3 mL/min), reduced (5-7 mL/min), and high (≥10 mL/min) IFRs using intermediate (25-35 W) and high (35-45 W) power. In vivo, applications were delivered (at 9.3 ± 2.2 g for 60 seconds at 39 W) using reduced (5 mL/min) and high (15 mL/min) IFRs. Ex vivo, surface lesion diameter inversely correlated with IFR, whereas maximum lesion diameter and depth did not differ. While steam pops occurred more frequently at low IFR using high power (ThermoCool SmartTouch and ThermoCool SmartTouch-SF), tissue disruption was rare and did not vary with IFR. In vivo, charring/steam pop was not detected. Although there were no discernible differences in lesion size with IFR, surface lesion diameter, maximum diameter, depth, and volume were all smaller in the presence of IPF at both IFRs. Cooled-tip epicardial RF ablation created using reduced IFRs (5-7 mL/min) yields lesion sizes similar to those created using high IFRs (≥10 mL/min) without an increase in steam pop/tissue disruption, whereas the presence of IPF significantly reduces the lesion size. Copyright © 2016 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Micro-Bending of AISI 304 Sheet Metal Using a Low Power Nanosecond Laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paramasivan, K.; Das, Sandip; Marimuthu, Sundar; Misra, Dipten

2018-06-01

The aim of this experimental study is to identify and characterize the response related to the effects of process parameters in terms of bending angle for micro-bending of AISI 304 sheet using a low power Nd:YVO4 laser source. Numerical simulation is also carried out through a coupled thermo-mechanical formulation with finite element method using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS. The developed numerical simulation indicates that bending is caused by temperature gradient mechanism in the present investigation involving laser micro-bending. The results of experiment indicate that bending angle increases with laser power, number of irradiations, and decreases with increase in scanning speed. Moreover, average bending angle increases with number of laser passes and edge effect, defined in terms of relative variation of bending angle (RBAV), decreases monotonically with the number of laser scans. The substrate is damaged over a width of about 80 μm due to the high temperatures experienced during laser forming at a low scanning speed.

MODELLING OF FUEL BEHAVIOUR DURING LOSS-OF-COOLANT ACCIDENTS USING THE BISON CODE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pastore, G.; Novascone, S. R.; Williamson, R. L.

2015-09-01

This work presents recent developments to extend the BISON code to enable fuel performance analysis during LOCAs. This newly developed capability accounts for the main physical phenomena involved, as well as the interactions among them and with the global fuel rod thermo-mechanical analysis. Specifically, new multiphysics models are incorporated in the code to describe (1) transient fission gas behaviour, (2) rapid steam-cladding oxidation, (3) Zircaloy solid-solid phase transition, (4) hydrogen generation and transport through the cladding, and (5) Zircaloy high-temperature non-linear mechanical behaviour and failure. Basic model characteristics are described, and a demonstration BISON analysis of a LWR fuel rodmore » undergoing a LOCA accident is presented. Also, as a first step of validation, the code with the new capability is applied to the simulation of experiments investigating cladding behaviour under LOCA conditions. The comparison of the results with the available experimental data of cladding failure due to burst is presented.« less

Time-dependent computational studies of flames in microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oran, Elaine S.; Kailasanath, K.

1989-01-01

The research performed at the Center for Reactive Flow and Dynamical Systems in the Laboratory for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics, at the Naval Research Laboratory, in support of the NASA Microgravity Science and Applications Program is described. The primary focus was on investigating fundamental questions concerning the propagation and extinction of premixed flames in Earth gravity and in microgravity environments. The approach was to use detailed time-dependent, multispecies, numerical models as tools to simulate flames in different gravity environments. The models include a detailed chemical kinetics mechanism consisting of elementary reactions among the eight reactive species involved in hydrogen combustion, coupled to algorithms for convection, thermal conduction, viscosity, molecular and thermal diffusion, and external forces. The external force, gravity, can be put in any direction relative to flame propagation and can have a range of values. A combination of one-dimensional and two-dimensional simulations was used to investigate the effects of curvature and dilution on ignition and propagation of flames, to help resolve fundamental questions on the existence of flammability limits when there are no external losses or buoyancy forces in the system, to understand the mechanism leading to cellular instability, and to study the effects of gravity on the transition to cellular structure. A flame in a microgravity environment can be extinguished without external losses, and the mechanism leading to cellular structure is not preferential diffusion but a thermo-diffusive instability. The simulations have also lead to a better understanding of the interactions between buoyancy forces and the processes leading to thermo-diffusive instability.

Parallel Monte Carlo transport modeling in the context of a time-dependent, three-dimensional multi-physics code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Procassini, R.J.

1997-12-31

The fine-scale, multi-space resolution that is envisioned for accurate simulations of complex weapons systems in three spatial dimensions implies flop-rate and memory-storage requirements that will only be obtained in the near future through the use of parallel computational techniques. Since the Monte Carlo transport models in these simulations usually stress both of these computational resources, they are prime candidates for parallelization. The MONACO Monte Carlo transport package, which is currently under development at LLNL, will utilize two types of parallelism within the context of a multi-physics design code: decomposition of the spatial domain across processors (spatial parallelism) and distribution ofmore » particles in a given spatial subdomain across additional processors (particle parallelism). This implementation of the package will utilize explicit data communication between domains (message passing). Such a parallel implementation of a Monte Carlo transport model will result in non-deterministic communication patterns. The communication of particles between subdomains during a Monte Carlo time step may require a significant level of effort to achieve a high parallel efficiency.« less

Numerical modeling of fluid and electrical currents through geometries based on synchrotron X-ray tomographic images of reservoir rocks using Avizo and COMSOL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bird, M. B.; Butler, S. L.; Hawkes, C. D.; Kotzer, T.

2014-12-01

The use of numerical simulations to model physical processes occurring within subvolumes of rock samples that have been characterized using advanced 3D imaging techniques is becoming increasingly common. Not only do these simulations allow for the determination of macroscopic properties like hydraulic permeability and electrical formation factor, but they also allow the user to visualize processes taking place at the pore scale and they allow for multiple different processes to be simulated on the same geometry. Most efforts to date have used specialized research software for the purpose of simulations. In this contribution, we outline the steps taken to use commercial software Avizo to transform a 3D synchrotron X-ray-derived tomographic image of a rock core sample to an STL (STereoLithography) file which can be imported into the commercial multiphysics modeling package COMSOL. We demonstrate that the use of COMSOL to perform fluid and electrical current flow simulations through the pore spaces. The permeability and electrical formation factor of the sample are calculated and compared with laboratory-derived values and benchmark calculations. Although the simulation domains that we were able to model on a desk top computer were significantly smaller than representative elementary volumes, and we were able to establish Kozeny-Carman and Archie's Law trends on which laboratory measurements and previous benchmark solutions fall. The rock core samples include a Fountainebleau sandstone used for benchmarking and a marly dolostone sampled from a well in the Weyburn oil field of southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. Such carbonates are known to have complicated pore structures compared with sandstones, yet we are able to calculate reasonable macroscopic properties. We discuss the computing resources required.

Development of the US3D Code for Advanced Compressible and Reacting Flow Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Candler, Graham V.; Johnson, Heath B.; Nompelis, Ioannis; Subbareddy, Pramod K.; Drayna, Travis W.; Gidzak, Vladimyr; Barnhardt, Michael D.

2015-01-01

Aerothermodynamics and hypersonic flows involve complex multi-disciplinary physics, including finite-rate gas-phase kinetics, finite-rate internal energy relaxation, gas-surface interactions with finite-rate oxidation and sublimation, transition to turbulence, large-scale unsteadiness, shock-boundary layer interactions, fluid-structure interactions, and thermal protection system ablation and thermal response. Many of the flows have a large range of length and time scales, requiring large computational grids, implicit time integration, and large solution run times. The University of Minnesota NASA US3D code was designed for the simulation of these complex, highly-coupled flows. It has many of the features of the well-established DPLR code, but uses unstructured grids and has many advanced numerical capabilities and physical models for multi-physics problems. The main capabilities of the code are described, the physical modeling approaches are discussed, the different types of numerical flux functions and time integration approaches are outlined, and the parallelization strategy is overviewed. Comparisons between US3D and the NASA DPLR code are presented, and several advanced simulations are presented to illustrate some of novel features of the code.

Status and future of MUSE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harfst, S.; Portegies Zwart, S.; McMillan, S.

2008-12-01

We present MUSE, a software framework for combining existing computational tools from different astrophysical domains into a single multi-physics, multi-scale application. MUSE facilitates the coupling of existing codes written in different languages by providing inter-language tools and by specifying an interface between each module and the framework that represents a balance between generality and computational efficiency. This approach allows scientists to use combinations of codes to solve highly-coupled problems without the need to write new codes for other domains or significantly alter their existing codes. MUSE currently incorporates the domains of stellar dynamics, stellar evolution and stellar hydrodynamics for studying generalized stellar systems. We have now reached a ``Noah's Ark'' milestone, with (at least) two available numerical solvers for each domain. MUSE can treat multi-scale and multi-physics systems in which the time- and size-scales are well separated, like simulating the evolution of planetary systems, small stellar associations, dense stellar clusters, galaxies and galactic nuclei. In this paper we describe two examples calculated using MUSE: the merger of two galaxies and an N-body simulation with live stellar evolution. In addition, we demonstrate an implementation of MUSE on a distributed computer which may also include special-purpose hardware, such as GRAPEs or GPUs, to accelerate computations. The current MUSE code base is publicly available as open source at http://muse.li.

Combustion characteristics and turbulence modeling of swirling reacting flow in solid fuel ramjet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musa, Omer; Xiong, Chen; Changsheng, Zhou

2017-10-01

This paper reviews the historical studies have been done on the solid-fuel ramjet engine and difficulties associated with numerical modeling of swirling flow with combustible gases. A literature survey about works related to numerical and experimental investigations on solid-fuel ramjet as well as using swirling flow and different numerical approaches has been provided. An overview of turbulence modeling of swirling flow and the behavior of turbulence at streamline curvature and system rotation are presented. A new and simple curvature/correction factor is proposed in order to reduce the programming complexity of SST-CC turbulence model. Finally, numerical and experimental investigations on the impact of swirling flow on SFRJ have been carried out. For that regard, a multi-physics coupling code is developed to solve the problems of multi-physics coupling of fluid mechanics, solid pyrolysis, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics. The connected-pipe test facility is used to carry out the experiments. The results showed a positive impact of swirling flow on SFRJ along with, three correlations are proposed.

Multi-Physics Modeling of Molten Salt Transport in Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM) Electrolysis and Recycling of Magnesium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Powell, Adam; Pati, Soobhankar

2012-03-11

Solid Oxide Membrane (SOM) Electrolysis is a new energy-efficient zero-emissions process for producing high-purity magnesium and high-purity oxygen directly from industrial-grade MgO. SOM Recycling combines SOM electrolysis with electrorefining, continuously and efficiently producing high-purity magnesium from low-purity partially oxidized scrap. In both processes, electrolysis and/or electrorefining take place in the crucible, where raw material is continuously fed into the molten salt electrolyte, producing magnesium vapor at the cathode and oxygen at the inert anode inside the SOM. This paper describes a three-dimensional multi-physics finite-element model of ionic current, fluid flow driven by argon bubbling and thermal buoyancy, and heat andmore » mass transport in the crucible. The model predicts the effects of stirring on the anode boundary layer and its time scale of formation, and the effect of natural convection at the outer wall. MOxST has developed this model as a tool for scale-up design of these closely-related processes.« less

The fluid mechanics of scleral buckling surgery for the repair of retinal detachment.

PubMed

Foster, William Joseph; Dowla, Nadia; Joshi, Saurabh Y; Nikolaou, Michael

2010-01-01

Scleral buckling is a common surgical technique used to treat retinal detachments that involves suturing a radial or circumferential silicone element on the sclera. Although this procedure has been performed since the 1960s, and there is a reasonable experimental model of retinal detachment, there is still debate as to how this surgery facilitates the re-attachment of the retina. Finite element calculations using the COMSOL Multiphysics system are utilized to explain the influence of the scleral buckle on the flow of sub-retinal fluid in a physical model of retinal detachment. We found that, by coupling fluid mechanics with structural mechanics, laminar fluid flow and the Bernoulli effect are necessary for a physically consistent explanation of retinal reattachment. Improved fluid outflow and retinal reattachment are found with low fluid viscosity and rapid eye movements. A simulation of saccadic eye movements was more effective in removing sub-retinal fluid than slower, reading speed, eye movements in removing subretinal fluid. The results of our simulations allow us to explain the physical principles behind scleral buckling surgery and provide insight that can be utilized clinically. In particular, we find that rapid eye movements facilitate more rapid retinal reattachment. This is contradictory to the conventional wisdom of attempting to minimize eye movements.

Statistical Analysis Tools for Learning in Engineering Laboratories.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maher, Carolyn A.

1990-01-01

Described are engineering programs that have used automated data acquisition systems to implement data collection and analyze experiments. Applications include a biochemical engineering laboratory, heat transfer performance, engineering materials testing, mechanical system reliability, statistical control laboratory, thermo-fluid laboratory, and a…

Thermo-optical interactions in a dye-microcavity photon Bose-Einstein condensate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaeian, Hadiseh; Schedensack, Mira; Bartels, Clara; Peterseim, Daniel; Weitz, Martin

2017-11-01

Superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation are usually considered as two closely related phenomena. Indeed, in most macroscopic quantum systems, like liquid helium, ultracold atomic Bose gases, and exciton-polaritons, condensation and superfluidity occur in parallel. In photon Bose-Einstein condensates realized in the dye microcavity system, thermalization does not occur by direct interaction of the condensate particles as in the above described systems, i.e. photon-photon interactions, but by absorption and re-emission processes on the dye molecules, which act as a heat reservoir. Currently, there is no experimental evidence for superfluidity in the dye microcavity system, though effective photon interactions have been observed from thermo-optic effects in the dye medium. In this work, we theoretically investigate the implications of effective thermo-optic photon interactions, a temporally delayed and spatially non-local effect, on the photon condensate, and derive the resulting Bogoliubov excitation spectrum. The calculations suggest a linear photon dispersion at low momenta, fulfilling the Landau’s criterion of superfluidity. We envision that the temporally delayed and long-range nature of the thermo-optic photon interaction offer perspectives for novel quantum fluid phenomena.

Nucleation and growth of Y2O3 nanoparticles in a RF-ICTP reactor: a discrete sectional study based on CFD simulation supported with experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhamale, G. D.; Tak, A. K.; Mathe, V. L.; Ghorui, S.

2018-06-01

Synthesis of yttria (Y2O3) nanoparticles in an atmospheric pressure radiofrequency inductively coupled thermal plasma (RF-ICTP) reactor has been investigated using the discrete-sectional (DS) model of particle nucleation and growth with argon as the plasma gas. Thermal and fluid dynamic information necessary for the investigation have been extracted through rigorous computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study of the system with coupled electromagnetic equations under the extended field approach. The theoretical framework has been benchmarked against published data first, and then applied to investigate the nucleation and growth process of yttrium oxide nanoparticles in the plasma reactor using the discrete-sectional (DS) model. While a variety of nucleation and growth mechanisms are suggested in literature, the study finds that the theory of homogeneous nucleation fits well with the features observed experimentally. Significant influences of the feed rate and quench rate on the distribution of particles sizes are observed. Theoretically obtained size distribution of the particles agrees well with that observed in the experiment. Different thermo-fluid dynamic environments with varied quench rates, encountered by the propagating vapor front inside the reactor under different operating conditions are found to be primarily responsible for variations in the width of the size distribution.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simunovic, Srdjan; Piro, Markus H.A.

Thermochimica is a software library that determines a unique combination of phases and their compositions at thermochemical equilibrium. Thermochimica can be used for stand-alone calculations or it can be directly coupled to other codes. This release of the software does not have a graphical user interface (GUI) and it can be executed from the command line or from an Application Programming Interface (API). Also, it is not intended for thermodynamic model development or for constructing phase diagrams. The main purpose of the software is to be directly coupled with a multi-physics code to provide material properties and boundary conditions formore » various physical phenomena. Significant research efforts have been dedicated to enhance computational performance through advanced algorithm development, such as improved estimation techniques and non-linear solvers. Various useful parameters can be provided as output from Thermochimica, such as: determination of which phases are stable at equilibrium, the mass of solution species and phases at equilibrium, mole fractions of solution phase constituents, thermochemical activities (which are related to partial pressures for gaseous species), chemical potentials of solution species and phases, and integral Gibbs energy (referenced relative to standard state). The overall goal is to provide an open source computational tool to enhance the predictive capability of multi-physics codes without significantly impeding computational performance.« less

Magnetic fluid control for viscous loss reduction of high-speed MRF brakes and clutches with well-defined fail-safe behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güth, Dirk; Schamoni, Markus; Maas, Jürgen

2013-09-01

No-load losses within brakes and clutches based on magnetorheological fluids are unavoidable and represent a major barrier towards their wide-spread commercial adoption. Completely torque free rotation is not yet possible due to persistent fluid contact within the shear gap. In this paper, a novel concept is presented that facilitates the controlled movement of the magnetorheological fluid from an active, torque-transmitting region into an inactive region of the shear gap. This concept enables complete decoupling of the fluid engaging surfaces such that viscous drag torque can be eliminated. In order to achieve the desired effect, motion in the magnetorheological fluid is induced by magnetic forces acting on the fluid, which requires an appropriate magnetic circuit design. In this investigation, we propose a methodology to determine suitable magnetic circuit designs with well-defined fail-safe behavior. The magnetically induced motion of magnetorheological fluids is modeled by the use of the Kelvin body force, and a multi-physics domain simulation is performed to elucidate various transitions between an engaged and disengaged operating mode. The modeling approach is validated by captured high-speed video frames which show the induced motion of the magnetorheological fluid due to the magnetic field. Finally, measurements performed with a prototype actuator prove that the induced viscous drag torque can be reduced significantly by the proposed magnetic fluid control methodology.

Multidimensional Multiphysics Simulation of TRISO Particle Fuel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

J. D. Hales; R. L. Williamson; S. R. Novascone

2013-11-01

Multidimensional multiphysics analysis of TRISO-coated particle fuel using the BISON finite-element based nuclear fuels code is described. The governing equations and material models applicable to particle fuel and implemented in BISON are outlined. Code verification based on a recent IAEA benchmarking exercise is described, and excellant comparisons are reported. Multiple TRISO-coated particles of increasing geometric complexity are considered. It is shown that the code's ability to perform large-scale parallel computations permits application to complex 3D phenomena while very efficient solutions for either 1D spherically symmetric or 2D axisymmetric geometries are straightforward. Additionally, the flexibility to easily include new physical andmore » material models and uncomplicated ability to couple to lower length scale simulations makes BISON a powerful tool for simulation of coated-particle fuel. Future code development activities and potential applications are identified.« less

Distributed and Lumped Parameter Models for the Characterization of High Throughput Bioreactors

PubMed Central

Conoscenti, Gioacchino; Cutrì, Elena; Tuan, Rocky S.; Raimondi, Manuela T.; Gottardi, Riccardo

2016-01-01

Next generation bioreactors are being developed to generate multiple human cell-based tissue analogs within the same fluidic system, to better recapitulate the complexity and interconnection of human physiology [1, 2]. The effective development of these devices requires a solid understanding of their interconnected fluidics, to predict the transport of nutrients and waste through the constructs and improve the design accordingly. In this work, we focus on a specific model of bioreactor, with multiple input/outputs, aimed at generating osteochondral constructs, i.e., a biphasic construct in which one side is cartilaginous in nature, while the other is osseous. We next develop a general computational approach to model the microfluidics of a multi-chamber, interconnected system that may be applied to human-on-chip devices. This objective requires overcoming several challenges at the level of computational modeling. The main one consists of addressing the multi-physics nature of the problem that combines free flow in channels with hindered flow in porous media. Fluid dynamics is also coupled with advection-diffusion-reaction equations that model the transport of biomolecules throughout the system and their interaction with living tissues and C constructs. Ultimately, we aim at providing a predictive approach useful for the general organ-on-chip community. To this end, we have developed a lumped parameter approach that allows us to analyze the behavior of multi-unit bioreactor systems with modest computational effort, provided that the behavior of a single unit can be fully characterized. PMID:27669413

Distributed and Lumped Parameter Models for the Characterization of High Throughput Bioreactors.

PubMed

Iannetti, Laura; D'Urso, Giovanna; Conoscenti, Gioacchino; Cutrì, Elena; Tuan, Rocky S; Raimondi, Manuela T; Gottardi, Riccardo; Zunino, Paolo

Next generation bioreactors are being developed to generate multiple human cell-based tissue analogs within the same fluidic system, to better recapitulate the complexity and interconnection of human physiology [1, 2]. The effective development of these devices requires a solid understanding of their interconnected fluidics, to predict the transport of nutrients and waste through the constructs and improve the design accordingly. In this work, we focus on a specific model of bioreactor, with multiple input/outputs, aimed at generating osteochondral constructs, i.e., a biphasic construct in which one side is cartilaginous in nature, while the other is osseous. We next develop a general computational approach to model the microfluidics of a multi-chamber, interconnected system that may be applied to human-on-chip devices. This objective requires overcoming several challenges at the level of computational modeling. The main one consists of addressing the multi-physics nature of the problem that combines free flow in channels with hindered flow in porous media. Fluid dynamics is also coupled with advection-diffusion-reaction equations that model the transport of biomolecules throughout the system and their interaction with living tissues and C constructs. Ultimately, we aim at providing a predictive approach useful for the general organ-on-chip community. To this end, we have developed a lumped parameter approach that allows us to analyze the behavior of multi-unit bioreactor systems with modest computational effort, provided that the behavior of a single unit can be fully characterized.

Thermo-Electric-Magnetic Hydrodynamics in Solidification: In Situ Observations and Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fautrelle, Y.; Wang, J.; Salloum-Abou-Jaoude, G.; Abou-Khalil, L.; Reinhart, G.; Li, X.; Ren, Z. M.; Nguyen-Thi, H.

2018-02-01

Solidification of liquid metals contains all the ingredients for the development of the thermo-electric (TE) effect, namely liquid-solid interface and temperature gradients. The combination of TE currents with a superimposed magnetic field gives rise to thermo-electromagnetic (TEM) volume forces acting on both liquid and solid. This results in the generation of fluid flows, which considerably modifies the morphology of the solidification front as well as that of the mushy zone. TEM forces also act on the solid and cause both fragmentation of dendrite branches and a movement of equiaxed grains in suspension. These phenomena have already been unveiled by post-mortem analysis of samples, but they can be analyzed in more detail by using x-ray in situ and real-time observations. Here, we present conclusive evidence of all the aforementioned effects thanks to in situ observations of Al-Cu alloy solidification under static magnetic field.

Numerical calculation of thermo-mechanical problems at large strains based on complex step derivative approximation of tangent stiffness matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balzani, Daniel; Gandhi, Ashutosh; Tanaka, Masato; Schröder, Jörg

2015-05-01

In this paper a robust approximation scheme for the numerical calculation of tangent stiffness matrices is presented in the context of nonlinear thermo-mechanical finite element problems and its performance is analyzed. The scheme extends the approach proposed in Kim et al. (Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 200:403-413, 2011) and Tanaka et al. (Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 269:454-470, 2014 and bases on applying the complex-step-derivative approximation to the linearizations of the weak forms of the balance of linear momentum and the balance of energy. By incorporating consistent perturbations along the imaginary axis to the displacement as well as thermal degrees of freedom, we demonstrate that numerical tangent stiffness matrices can be obtained with accuracy up to computer precision leading to quadratically converging schemes. The main advantage of this approach is that contrary to the classical forward difference scheme no round-off errors due to floating-point arithmetics exist within the calculation of the tangent stiffness. This enables arbitrarily small perturbation values and therefore leads to robust schemes even when choosing small values. An efficient algorithmic treatment is presented which enables a straightforward implementation of the method in any standard finite-element program. By means of thermo-elastic and thermo-elastoplastic boundary value problems at finite strains the performance of the proposed approach is analyzed.

Increased Thermal Conductivity in Metal-Organic Heat Carrier Nanofluids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nandasiri, Manjula I.; Liu, Jian; McGrail, B. Peter

2016-06-15

Metal organic heat carriers (MOHCs) are recently developed nanofluids containing metal organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles dispersed in various base fluids including refrigerants (R245Fa) and methanol. MOHCs utilize the MOF properties to improve the thermo-physical properties of base fluids. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of MOHCs containing nanoMIL-101(Cr) and graphene oxide (GO) in an effort to improve the thermo-physical properties of various base fluids. MOHC containing MIL-101(Cr)/GO nanocomposites showed enhanced surface area, porosity, and nitrogen adsorption compared with the intrinsic nano MIL-101(Cr) and the properties depend on the amount of GO added. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) confirmed the preservedmore » crystallinity of MIL-101(Cr) in all nanocomposites with the absence of any unreacted GO. Scanning electron microscopy images confirmed the presence of near spherical MIL-101(Cr) nanoparticles in the range of 40-80 nm in diameter. MOHC nanofluids containing MIL-101(Cr)/GO in methanol exhibited significant enhancement in the thermal conductivity (by approxi-mately 50%) relative to that of the intrinsic nano MIL-101(Cr) in methanol. The thermal conductivity of base fluid (methanol) was enhanced by about 20 %. The enhancement in the thermal conductivity of nanoMIL-101(Cr) MOHCs due to graphene oxide functionalization is explained using a classical Maxwell model.« less

On the concept of the interactive information and simulation system for gas dynamics and multiphysics problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bessonov, O.; Silvestrov, P.

2017-02-01

This paper describes the general idea and the first implementation of the Interactive information and simulation system - an integrated environment that combines computational modules for modeling the aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of re-entry space vehicles with the large collection of different information materials on this topic. The internal organization and the composition of the system are described and illustrated. Examples of the computational and information output are presented. The system has the unified implementation for Windows and Linux operation systems and can be deployed on any modern high-performance personal computer.

Fracture Mechanics Modelling of an In Situ Concrete Spalling Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siren, Topias; Uotinen, Lauri; Rinne, Mikael; Shen, Baotang

2015-07-01

During the operation of nuclear waste disposal facilities, some sprayed concrete reinforced underground spaces will be in use for approximately 100 years. During this time of use, the local stress regime will be altered by the radioactive decay heat. The change in the stress state will impose high demands on sprayed concrete, as it may suffer stress damage or lose its adhesion to the rock surface. It is also unclear what kind of support pressure the sprayed concrete layer will apply to the rock. To investigate this, an in situ experiment is planned in the ONKALO underground rock characterization facility at Olkiluoto, Finland. A vertical experimental hole will be concreted, and the surrounding rock mass will be instrumented with heat sources, in order to simulate an increase in the surrounding stress field. The experiment is instrumented with an acoustic emission system for the observation of rock failure and temperature, as well as strain gauges to observe the thermo-mechanical interactive behaviour of the concrete and rock at several levels, in both rock and concrete. A thermo-mechanical fracture mechanics study is necessary for the prediction of the damage before the experiment, in order to plan the experiment and instrumentation, and for generating a proper prediction/outcome study due to the special nature of the in situ experiment. The prediction of acoustic emission patterns is made by Fracod 2D and the model later compared to the actual observed acoustic emissions. The fracture mechanics model will be compared to a COMSOL Multiphysics 3D model to study the geometrical effects along the hole axis.

Biofouling and microbial corrosion problem in the thermo-fluid heat exchanger and cooling water system of a nuclear test reactor.

PubMed

Rao, T S; Kora, Aruna Jyothi; Chandramohan, P; Panigrahi, B S; Narasimhan, S V

2009-10-01

This article discusses aspects of biofouling and corrosion in the thermo-fluid heat exchanger (TFHX) and in the cooling water system of a nuclear test reactor. During inspection, it was observed that >90% of the TFHX tube bundle was clogged with thick fouling deposits. Both X-ray diffraction and Mossbauer analyses of the fouling deposit demonstrated iron corrosion products. The exterior of the tubercle showed the presence of a calcium and magnesium carbonate mixture along with iron oxides. Raman spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of calcium carbonate scale in the calcite phase. The interior of the tubercle contained significant iron sulphide, magnetite and iron-oxy-hydroxide. A microbiological assay showed a considerable population of iron oxidizing bacteria and sulphate reducing bacteria (10(5) to 10(6) cfu g(-1) of deposit). As the temperature of the TFHX is in the range of 45-50 degrees C, the microbiota isolated/assayed from the fouling deposit are designated as thermo-tolerant bacteria. The mean corrosion rate of the CS coupons exposed online was approximately 2.0 mpy and the microbial counts of various corrosion causing bacteria were in the range 10(3) to 10(5) cfu ml(-1) in the cooling water and 10(6) to 10(8) cfu ml(-1) in the biofilm.

Characteristics of temperature rise in variable inductor employing magnetorheological fluid driven by a high-frequency pulsed voltage source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Ho-Young; Kang, In Man, E-mail: imkang@ee.knu.ac.kr; Shon, Chae-Hwa

2015-05-07

A variable inductor with magnetorheological (MR) fluid has been successfully applied to power electronics applications; however, its thermal characteristics have not been investigated. To evaluate the performance of the variable inductor with respect to temperature, we measured the characteristics of temperature rise and developed a numerical analysis technique. The characteristics of temperature rise were determined experimentally and verified numerically by adopting a multiphysics analysis technique. In order to accurately estimate the temperature distribution in a variable inductor with an MR fluid-gap, the thermal solver should import the heat source from the electromagnetic solver to solve the eddy current problem. Tomore » improve accuracy, the B–H curves of the MR fluid under operating temperature were obtained using the magnetic property measurement system. In addition, the Steinmetz equation was applied to evaluate the core loss in a ferrite core. The predicted temperature rise for a variable inductor showed good agreement with the experimental data and the developed numerical technique can be employed to design a variable inductor with a high-frequency pulsed voltage source.« less

A thermo-fluid analysis in magnetic hyperthermia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iordana, Astefanoaei; Ioan, Dumitru; Alexandra, Stancu; Horia, Chiriac

2014-04-01

In the last years, hyperthermia induced by the heating of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in an alternating magnetic field received considerable attention in cancer therapy. The thermal effects could be automatically controlled by using MNPs with selective magnetic absorption properties. In this paper, we analyze the temperature field determined by the heating of MNPs, injected in a malignant tissue, subjected to an alternating magnetic field. The main parameters which have a strong influence on temperature field are analyzed. The temperature evolution within healthy and tumor tissues are analyzed by finite element method (FEM) simulations in a thermo-fluid model. The cooling effect produced by blood flow in blood vessels from the tumor is considered. A thermal analysis is conducted under different distributions of MNP injection sites. The interdependence between the optimum dose of the nanoparticles and various types of tumors is investigated in order to understand their thermal effect on hyperthermia therapy. The control of the temperature field in the tumor and healthy tissues is an important step in the healing treatment.

Analytical Solution and Physics of a Propellant Damping Device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, H. Q.; Peugeot, John

2011-01-01

NASA design teams have been investigating options for "detuning" Ares I to prevent oscillations originating in the vehicle solid-rocket main stage from synching up with the natural resonance of the rest of the vehicle. An experimental work started at NASA MSFC center in 2008 using a damping device showed great promise in damping the vibration level of an 8 resonant tank. However, the mechanisms of the vibration damping were not well understood and there were many unknowns such as the physics, scalability, technology readiness level (TRL), and applicability for the Ares I vehicle. The objectives of this study are to understand the physics of intriguing slosh damping observed in the experiments, to further validate a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software in propellant sloshing against experiments with water, and to study the applicability and efficiency of the slosh damper to a full scale propellant tank and to cryogenic fluids. First a 2D fluid-structure interaction model is built to model the system resonance of liquid sloshing and structure vibration. A damper is then added into the above model to simulate experimentally observed system damping phenomena. Qualitative agreement is found. An analytical solution is then derived from the Newtonian dynamics for the thrust oscillation damper frequency, and a slave mass concept is introduced in deriving the damper and tank interaction dynamics. The paper will elucidate the fundamental physics behind the LOX damper success from the derivation of the above analytical equation of the lumped Newtonian dynamics. Discussion of simulation results using high fidelity multi-phase, multi-physics, fully coupled CFD structure interaction model will show why the LOX damper is unique and superior compared to other proposed mitigation techniques.

A hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for modeling fluid-structure interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheldon, Jason P.; Miller, Scott T.; Pitt, Jonathan S.

2016-12-01

This work presents a novel application of the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) finite element method to the multi-physics simulation of coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems. Recent applications of the HDG method have primarily been for single-physics problems including both solids and fluids, which are necessary building blocks for FSI modeling. Utilizing these established models, HDG formulations for linear elastostatics, a nonlinear elastodynamic model, and arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian Navier-Stokes are derived. The elasticity formulations are written in a Lagrangian reference frame, with the nonlinear formulation restricted to hyperelastic materials. With these individual solid and fluid formulations, the remaining challenge in FSI modeling is coupling together their disparate mathematics on the fluid-solid interface. This coupling is presented, along with the resultant HDG FSI formulation. Verification of the component models, through the method of manufactured solutions, is performed and each model is shown to converge at the expected rate. The individual components, along with the complete FSI model, are then compared to the benchmark problems proposed by Turek and Hron [1]. The solutions from the HDG formulation presented in this work trend towards the benchmark as the spatial polynomial order and the temporal order of integration are increased.

A simplified computational fluid-dynamic approach to the oxidizer injector design in hybrid rockets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Martino, Giuseppe D.; Malgieri, Paolo; Carmicino, Carmine; Savino, Raffaele

2016-12-01

Fuel regression rate in hybrid rockets is non-negligibly affected by the oxidizer injection pattern. In this paper a simplified computational approach developed in an attempt to optimize the oxidizer injector design is discussed. Numerical simulations of the thermo-fluid-dynamic field in a hybrid rocket are carried out, with a commercial solver, to investigate into several injection configurations with the aim of increasing the fuel regression rate and minimizing the consumption unevenness, but still favoring the establishment of flow recirculation at the motor head end, which is generated with an axial nozzle injector and has been demonstrated to promote combustion stability, and both larger efficiency and regression rate. All the computations have been performed on the configuration of a lab-scale hybrid rocket motor available at the propulsion laboratory of the University of Naples with typical operating conditions. After a preliminary comparison between the two baseline limiting cases of an axial subsonic nozzle injector and a uniform injection through the prechamber, a parametric analysis has been carried out by varying the oxidizer jet flow divergence angle, as well as the grain port diameter and the oxidizer mass flux to study the effect of the flow divergence on heat transfer distribution over the fuel surface. Some experimental firing test data are presented, and, under the hypothesis that fuel regression rate and surface heat flux are proportional, the measured fuel consumption axial profiles are compared with the predicted surface heat flux showing fairly good agreement, which allowed validating the employed design approach. Finally an optimized injector design is proposed.

Integrated Experimental and Computational Study of Hydraulic Fracturing and the Use of Alternative Fracking Fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viswanathan, H.; Carey, J. W.; Karra, S.; Porter, M. L.; Rougier, E.; Zhang, D.; Makedonska, N.; Middleton, R. S.; Currier, R.; Gupta, R.; Lei, Z.; Kang, Q.; O'Malley, D.; Hyman, J.

2014-12-01

Shale gas is an unconventional fossil energy resource that is already having a profound impact on US energy independence and is projected to last for at least 100 years. Production of methane and other hydrocarbons from low permeability shale involves hydrofracturing of rock, establishing fracture connectivity, and multiphase fluid-flow and reaction processes all of which are poorly understood. The result is inefficient extraction with many environmental concerns. A science-based capability is required to quantify the governing mesoscale fluid-solid interactions, including microstructural control of fracture patterns and the interaction of engineered fluids with hydrocarbon flow. These interactions depend on coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes over scales from microns to tens of meters. Determining the key mechanisms in subsurface THMC systems has been impeded due to the lack of sophisticated experimental methods to measure fracture aperture and connectivity, multiphase permeability, and chemical exchange capacities at the high temperature, pressure, and stresses present in the subsurface. This project uses innovative high-pressure microfluidic and triaxial core flood experiments on shale to explore fracture-permeability relations and the extraction of hydrocarbon. These data are integrated with simulations including lattice Boltzmann modeling of pore-scale processes, finite-element/discrete element models of fracture development in the near-well environment, discrete-fracture modeling of the reservoir, and system-scale models to assess the economics of alternative fracturing fluids. The ultimate goal is to make the necessary measurements to develop models that can be used to determine the reservoir operating conditions necessary to gain a degree of control over fracture generation, fluid flow, and interfacial processes over a range of subsurface conditions.

Estimation of elastic moduli of graphene monolayer in lattice statics approach at nonzero temperature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zubko, I. Yu., E-mail: zoubko@list.ru; Kochurov, V. I.

2015-10-27

For the aim of the crystal temperature control the computational-statistical approach to studying thermo-mechanical properties for finite sized crystals is presented. The approach is based on the combination of the high-performance computational techniques and statistical analysis of the crystal response on external thermo-mechanical actions for specimens with the statistically small amount of atoms (for instance, nanoparticles). The heat motion of atoms is imitated in the statics approach by including the independent degrees of freedom for atoms connected with their oscillations. We obtained that under heating, graphene material response is nonsymmetric.

Direct modeling for computational fluid dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Kun

2015-06-01

All fluid dynamic equations are valid under their modeling scales, such as the particle mean free path and mean collision time scale of the Boltzmann equation and the hydrodynamic scale of the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations. The current computational fluid dynamics (CFD) focuses on the numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDEs), and its aim is to get the accurate solution of these governing equations. Under such a CFD practice, it is hard to develop a unified scheme that covers flow physics from kinetic to hydrodynamic scales continuously because there is no such governing equation which could make a smooth transition from the Boltzmann to the NS modeling. The study of fluid dynamics needs to go beyond the traditional numerical partial differential equations. The emerging engineering applications, such as air-vehicle design for near-space flight and flow and heat transfer in micro-devices, do require further expansion of the concept of gas dynamics to a larger domain of physical reality, rather than the traditional distinguishable governing equations. At the current stage, the non-equilibrium flow physics has not yet been well explored or clearly understood due to the lack of appropriate tools. Unfortunately, under the current numerical PDE approach, it is hard to develop such a meaningful tool due to the absence of valid PDEs. In order to construct multiscale and multiphysics simulation methods similar to the modeling process of constructing the Boltzmann or the NS governing equations, the development of a numerical algorithm should be based on the first principle of physical modeling. In this paper, instead of following the traditional numerical PDE path, we introduce direct modeling as a principle for CFD algorithm development. Since all computations are conducted in a discretized space with limited cell resolution, the flow physics to be modeled has to be done in the mesh size and time step scales. Here, the CFD is more or less a direct construction of discrete numerical evolution equations, where the mesh size and time step will play dynamic roles in the modeling process. With the variation of the ratio between mesh size and local particle mean free path, the scheme will capture flow physics from the kinetic particle transport and collision to the hydrodynamic wave propagation. Based on the direct modeling, a continuous dynamics of flow motion will be captured in the unified gas-kinetic scheme. This scheme can be faithfully used to study the unexplored non-equilibrium flow physics in the transition regime.

Modeling chemical vapor deposition of silicon dioxide in microreactors at atmospheric pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konakov, S. A.; Krzhizhanovskaya, V. V.

2015-01-01

We developed a multiphysics mathematical model for simulation of silicon dioxide Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and oxygen mixture in a microreactor at atmospheric pressure. Microfluidics is a promising technology with numerous applications in chemical synthesis due to its high heat and mass transfer efficiency and well-controlled flow parameters. Experimental studies of CVD microreactor technology are slow and expensive. Analytical solution of the governing equations is impossible due to the complexity of intertwined non-linear physical and chemical processes. Computer simulation is the most effective tool for design and optimization of microreactors. Our computational fluid dynamics model employs mass, momentum and energy balance equations for a laminar transient flow of a chemically reacting gas mixture at low Reynolds number. Simulation results show the influence of microreactor configuration and process parameters on SiO2 deposition rate and uniformity. We simulated three microreactors with the central channel diameter of 5, 10, 20 micrometers, varying gas flow rate in the range of 5-100 microliters per hour and temperature in the range of 300-800 °C. For each microchannel diameter we found an optimal set of process parameters providing the best quality of deposited material. The model will be used for optimization of the microreactor configuration and technological parameters to facilitate the experimental stage of this research.

Textural versus electrostatic exclusion-enrichment effects in the effective chemical transport within the cortical bone: a numerical investigation.

PubMed

Lemaire, T; Kaiser, J; Naili, S; Sansalone, V

2013-11-01

Interstitial fluid within bone tissue is known to govern the remodelling signals' expression. Bone fluid flow is generated by skeleton deformation during the daily activities. Due to the presence of charged surfaces in the bone porous matrix, the electrochemical phenomena occurring in the vicinity of mechanosensitive bone cells, the osteocytes, are key elements in the cellular communication. In this study, a multiscale model of interstitial fluid transport within bone tissues is proposed. Based on an asymptotic homogenization method, our modelling takes into account the physicochemical properties of bone tissue. Thanks to this multiphysical approach, the transport of nutrients and waste between the blood vessels and the bone cells can be quantified to better understand the mechanotransduction of bone remodelling. In particular, it is shown that the electrochemical tortuosity may have stronger implications in the mass transport within the bone than the purely morphological one. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Deep Learning Fluid Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barati Farimani, Amir; Gomes, Joseph; Pande, Vijay

2017-11-01

We have developed a new data-driven model paradigm for the rapid inference and solution of the constitutive equations of fluid mechanic by deep learning models. Using generative adversarial networks (GAN), we train models for the direct generation of solutions to steady state heat conduction and incompressible fluid flow without knowledge of the underlying governing equations. Rather than using artificial neural networks to approximate the solution of the constitutive equations, GANs can directly generate the solutions to these equations conditional upon an arbitrary set of boundary conditions. Both models predict temperature, velocity and pressure fields with great test accuracy (>99.5%). The application of our framework for inferring and generating the solutions of partial differential equations can be applied to any physical phenomena and can be used to learn directly from experiments where the underlying physical model is complex or unknown. We also have shown that our framework can be used to couple multiple physics simultaneously, making it amenable to tackle multi-physics problems.

Using discrete multi-physics for detailed exploration of hydrodynamics in an in vitro colon system.

PubMed

Alexiadis, A; Stamatopoulos, K; Wen, W; Batchelor, H K; Bakalis, S; Barigou, M; Simmons, M J H

2017-02-01

We developed a mathematical model that describes the motion of viscous fluids in the partially-filled colon caused by the periodic contractions of flexible walls (peristalsis). In-vitro data are used to validate the model. The model is then used to identify two fundamental mechanisms of mass transport: the surfing mode and the pouring mode. The first mechanism is faster, but only involves the surface of the liquid. The second mechanism causes deeper mixing, and appears to be the main transport mechanism. Based on the gained understanding, we propose a series of measures that can improve the reliability of in-vitro models. The tracer in PET-like experiments, in particular, should not be injected in the first pocket, and its viscosity should be as close as possible to that of the fluid. If these conditions are not met, the dynamics of the tracer and the fluid diverge, compromising the accuracy of the in-vitro data. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coupling molecular dynamics with lattice Boltzmann method based on the immersed boundary method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Jifu; Sinno, Talid; Diamond, Scott

2017-11-01

The study of viscous fluid flow coupled with rigid or deformable solids has many applications in biological and engineering problems, e.g., blood cell transport, drug delivery, and particulate flow. We developed a partitioned approach to solve this coupled Multiphysics problem. The fluid motion was solved by Palabos (Parallel Lattice Boltzmann Solver), while the solid displacement and deformation was simulated by LAMMPS (Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator). The coupling was achieved through the immersed boundary method (IBM). The code modeled both rigid and deformable solids exposed to flow. The code was validated with the classic problem of rigid ellipsoid particle orbit in shear flow, blood cell stretching test and effective blood viscosity, and demonstrated essentially linear scaling over 16 cores. An example of the fluid-solid coupling was given for flexible filaments (drug carriers) transport in a flowing blood cell suspensions, highlighting the advantages and capabilities of the developed code. NIH 1U01HL131053-01A1.

Comprehensive preclinical evaluation of a multi-physics model of liver tumor radiofrequency ablation.

PubMed

Audigier, Chloé; Mansi, Tommaso; Delingette, Hervé; Rapaka, Saikiran; Passerini, Tiziano; Mihalef, Viorel; Jolly, Marie-Pierre; Pop, Raoul; Diana, Michele; Soler, Luc; Kamen, Ali; Comaniciu, Dorin; Ayache, Nicholas

2017-09-01

We aim at developing a framework for the validation of a subject-specific multi-physics model of liver tumor radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The RFA computation becomes subject specific after several levels of personalization: geometrical and biophysical (hemodynamics, heat transfer and an extended cellular necrosis model). We present a comprehensive experimental setup combining multimodal, pre- and postoperative anatomical and functional images, as well as the interventional monitoring of intra-operative signals: the temperature and delivered power. To exploit this dataset, an efficient processing pipeline is introduced, which copes with image noise, variable resolution and anisotropy. The validation study includes twelve ablations from five healthy pig livers: a mean point-to-mesh error between predicted and actual ablation extent of 5.3 ± 3.6 mm is achieved. This enables an end-to-end preclinical validation framework that considers the available dataset.

Multiphysics Model of Palladium Hydride Isotope Exchange Accounting for Higher Dimensionality

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gharagozloo, Patricia E.; Eliassi, Mehdi; Bon, Bradley Luis

2015-03-01

This report summarizes computational model developm ent and simulations results for a series of isotope exchange dynamics experiments i ncluding long and thin isothermal beds similar to the Foltz and Melius beds and a lar ger non-isothermal experiment on the NENG7 test bed. The multiphysics 2D axi-symmetr ic model simulates the temperature and pressure dependent exchange reactio n kinetics, pressure and isotope dependent stoichiometry, heat generation from the r eaction, reacting gas flow through porous media, and non-uniformities in the bed perme ability. The new model is now able to replicate the curved reaction front and asy mmetry of themore » exit gas mass fractions over time. The improved understanding of the exchange process and its dependence on the non-uniform bed properties and te mperatures in these larger systems is critical to the future design of such sy stems.« less

Contactless ultrasonic energy transfer for wireless systems: acoustic-piezoelectric structure interaction modeling and performance enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahab, S.; Erturk, A.

2014-12-01

There are several applications of wireless electronic components with little or no ambient energy available to harvest, yet wireless battery charging for such systems is still of great interest. Example applications range from biomedical implants to sensors located in hazardous environments. Energy transfer based on the propagation of acoustic waves at ultrasonic frequencies is a recently explored alternative that offers increased transmitter-receiver distance, reduced loss and the elimination of electromagnetic fields. As this research area receives growing attention, there is an increased need for fully coupled model development to quantify the energy transfer characteristics, with a focus on the transmitter, receiver, medium, geometric and material parameters. We present multiphysics modeling and case studies of the contactless ultrasonic energy transfer for wireless electronic components submerged in fluid. The source is a pulsating sphere, and the receiver is a piezoelectric bar operating in the 33-mode of piezoelectricity with a fundamental resonance frequency above the audible frequency range. The goal is to quantify the electrical power delivered to the load (connected to the receiver) in terms of the source strength. Both the analytical and finite element models have been developed for the resulting acoustic-piezoelectric structure interaction problem. Resistive and resistive-inductive electrical loading cases are presented, and optimality conditions are discussed. Broadband power transfer is achieved by optimal resistive-reactive load tuning for performance enhancement and frequency-wise robustness. Significant enhancement of the power output is reported due to the use of a hard piezoelectric receiver (PZT-8) instead of a soft counterpart (PZT-5H) as a result of reduced material damping. The analytical multiphysics modeling approach given in this work can be used to predict and optimize the coupled system dynamics with very good accuracy and dramatically improved computational efficiency compared to the use of commercial finite element packages.

Numerical simulation of weakly ionized hypersonic flow over reentry capsules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scalabrin, Leonardo C.

The mathematical and numerical formulation employed in the development of a new multi-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code for the simulation of weakly ionized hypersonic flows in thermo-chemical non-equilibrium over reentry configurations is presented. The flow is modeled using the Navier-Stokes equations modified to include finite-rate chemistry and relaxation rates to compute the energy transfer between different energy modes. The set of equations is solved numerically by discretizing the flowfield using unstructured grids made of any mixture of quadrilaterals and triangles in two-dimensions or hexahedra, tetrahedra, prisms and pyramids in three-dimensions. The partial differential equations are integrated on such grids using the finite volume approach. The fluxes across grid faces are calculated using a modified form of the Steger-Warming Flux Vector Splitting scheme that has low numerical dissipation inside boundary layers. The higher order extension of inviscid fluxes in structured grids is generalized in this work to be used in unstructured grids. Steady state solutions are obtained by integrating the solution over time implicitly. The resulting sparse linear system is solved by using a point implicit or by a line implicit method in which a tridiagonal matrix is assembled by using lines of cells that are formed starting at the wall. An algorithm that assembles these lines using completely general unstructured grids is developed. The code is parallelized to allow simulation of computationally demanding problems. The numerical code is successfully employed in the simulation of several hypersonic entry flows over space capsules as part of its validation process. Important quantities for the aerothermodynamics design of capsules such as aerodynamic coefficients and heat transfer rates are compared to available experimental and flight test data and other numerical results yielding very good agreement. A sensitivity analysis of predicted radiative heating of a space capsule to several thermo-chemical non-equilibrium models is also performed.

Strengthening Capstone Skills in STEM Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eppes, Tom A.; Milanovic, Ivana; Sweitzer, H. Fredrick

2012-01-01

In this article we describe a curricular strategy that improves the full range of skillsets critical to capstone success. Improved Capstone (ICap) was developed and implemented across the thermo-fluids topical area in the undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Technology Program at the University of Hartford. ICap experiential courses sequentially…

electromagnetics, eddy current, computer codes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gartling, David

TORO Version 4 is designed for finite element analysis of steady, transient and time-harmonic, multi-dimensional, quasi-static problems in electromagnetics. The code allows simulation of electrostatic fields, steady current flows, magnetostatics and eddy current problems in plane or axisymmetric, two-dimensional geometries. TORO is easily coupled to heat conduction and solid mechanics codes to allow multi-physics simulations to be performed.

A short note on the use of the red-black tree in Cartesian adaptive mesh refinement algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasbestan, Jaber J.; Senocak, Inanc

2017-12-01

Mesh adaptivity is an indispensable capability to tackle multiphysics problems with large disparity in time and length scales. With the availability of powerful supercomputers, there is a pressing need to extend time-proven computational techniques to extreme-scale problems. Cartesian adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is one such method that enables simulation of multiscale, multiphysics problems. AMR is based on construction of octrees. Originally, an explicit tree data structure was used to generate and manipulate an adaptive Cartesian mesh. At least eight pointers are required in an explicit approach to construct an octree. Parent-child relationships are then used to traverse the tree. An explicit octree, however, is expensive in terms of memory usage and the time it takes to traverse the tree to access a specific node. For these reasons, implicit pointerless methods have been pioneered within the computer graphics community, motivated by applications requiring interactivity and realistic three dimensional visualization. Lewiner et al. [1] provides a concise review of pointerless approaches to generate an octree. Use of a hash table and Z-order curve are two key concepts in pointerless methods that we briefly discuss next.

A coupled chemo-thermo-hygro-mechanical model of concrete at high temperature and failure analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xikui; Li, Rongtao; Schrefler, B. A.

2006-06-01

A hierarchical mathematical model for analyses of coupled chemo-thermo-hygro-mechanical behaviour in concretes at high temperature is presented. The concretes are modelled as unsaturated deforming reactive porous media filled with two immiscible pore fluids, i.e. the gas mixture and the liquid mixture, in immiscible-miscible levels. The thermo-induced desalination process is particularly integrated into the model. The chemical effects of both the desalination and the dehydration processes on the material damage and the degradation of the material strength are taken into account. The mathematical model consists of a set of coupled, partial differential equations governing the mass balance of the dry air, the mass balance of the water species, the mass balance of the matrix components dissolved in the liquid phases, the enthalpy (energy) balance and momentum balance of the whole medium mixture. The governing equations, the state equations for the model and the constitutive laws used in the model are given. A mixed weak form for the finite element solution procedure is formulated for the numerical simulation of chemo-thermo-hygro-mechanical behaviours. Special considerations are given to spatial discretization of hyperbolic equation with non-self-adjoint operator nature. Numerical results demonstrate the performance and the effectiveness of the proposed model and its numerical procedure in reproducing coupled chemo-thermo-hygro-mechanical behaviour in concretes subjected to fire and thermal radiation.

Macroscopic constitutive equations of thermo-poroelasticity derived using eigenstrain-eigenstress approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suvorov, Alexander P.; Selvadurai, A. P. S.

2011-06-01

Macroscopic constitutive equations for thermoelastic processes in a fluid-saturated porous medium are re-derived using the notion of eigenstrain or, equivalently, eigenstress. The eigenstrain-stress approach is frequently used in micromechanics of solid multi-phase materials, such as composites. Simple derivations of the stress-strain constitutive relations and the void occupancy relationship are presented for both fully saturated and partially saturated porous media. Governing coupled equations for the displacement components and the fluid pressure are also obtained.

Critical Elements in Produced Fluids from Nevada and Utah

DOE Data Explorer

Simmons, Stuart

2017-07-27

Critical elements and related analytical data for produced fluids from geothermal fields in Nevada and Utah, Sevier thermal belt hot springs, Utah, and Uinta basin oil-gas wells, Utah are reported. Analytical results include pH, major species, trace elements, transition metals, other metals, metalloids and REEs. Gas samples were collected and analyzed from Beowawe, Dixie Valley, Roosevelt Hot Springs, and Thermo. Helium gases and helium isotopes were analyzed on samples collected at Patua, San Emido and two wells in the Uinta basin.

Discrete fracture modeling of multiphase flow and hydrocarbon production in fractured shale or low permeability reservoirs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Y.; Settgast, R. R.; Fu, P.; Tompson, A. F. B.; Morris, J.; Ryerson, F. J.

2016-12-01

It has long been recognized that multiphase flow and transport in fractured porous media is very important for various subsurface applications. Hydrocarbon fluid flow and production from hydraulically fractured shale reservoirs is an important and complicated example of multiphase flow in fractured formations. The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is able to create extensive fracture networks in low permeability shale rocks, leading to increased formation permeability and enhanced hydrocarbon production. However, unconventional wells experience a much faster production decline than conventional hydrocarbon recovery. Maintaining sustainable and economically viable shale gas/oil production requires additional wells and re-fracturing. Excessive fracturing fluid loss during hydraulic fracturing operations may also drive up operation costs and raise potential environmental concerns. Understanding and modeling processes that contribute to decreasing productivity and fracturing fluid loss represent a critical component for unconventional hydrocarbon recovery analysis. Towards this effort we develop a discrete fracture model (DFM) in GEOS (LLNL multi-physics computational code) to simulate multiphase flow and transfer in hydraulically fractured reservoirs. The DFM model is able to explicitly account for both individual fractures and their surrounding rocks, therefore allowing for an accurate prediction of impacts of fracture-matrix interactions on hydrocarbon production. We apply the DFM model to simulate three-phase (water, oil, and gas) flow behaviors in fractured shale rocks as a result of different hydraulic stimulation scenarios. Numerical results show that multiphase flow behaviors at the fracture-matrix interface play a major role in controlling both hydrocarbon production and fracturing fluid recovery rates. The DFM model developed in this study will be coupled with the existing hydro-fracture model to provide a fully integrated geomechanical and reservoir simulation capability for an accurate prediction and assessment of hydrocarbon production and hydraulic fracturing performance. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Modeling coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical processes including plastic deformation in geological porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelkar, S.; Karra, S.; Pawar, R. J.; Zyvoloski, G.

2012-12-01

There has been an increasing interest in the recent years in developing computational tools for analyzing coupled thermal, hydrological and mechanical (THM) processes that occur in geological porous media. This is mainly due to their importance in applications including carbon sequestration, enhanced geothermal systems, oil and gas production from unconventional sources, degradation of Arctic permafrost, and nuclear waste isolation. Large changes in pressures, temperatures and saturation can result due to injection/withdrawal of fluids or emplaced heat sources. These can potentially lead to large changes in the fluid flow and mechanical behavior of the formation, including shear and tensile failure on pre-existing or induced fractures and the associated permeability changes. Due to this, plastic deformation and large changes in material properties such as permeability and porosity can be expected to play an important role in these processes. We describe a general purpose computational code FEHM that has been developed for the purpose of modeling coupled THM processes during multi-phase fluid flow and transport in fractured porous media. The code uses a continuum mechanics approach, based on control volume - finite element method. It is designed to address spatial scales on the order of tens of centimeters to tens of kilometers. While large deformations are important in many situations, we have adapted the small strain formulation as useful insight can be obtained in many problems of practical interest with this approach while remaining computationally manageable. Nonlinearities in the equations and the material properties are handled using a full Jacobian Newton-Raphson technique. Stress-strain relationships are assumed to follow linear elastic/plastic behavior. The code incorporates several plasticity models such as von Mises, Drucker-Prager, and also a large suite of models for coupling flow and mechanical deformation via permeability and stresses/deformations. In this work we present several example applications of such models.

Thermoelectricity in Heterogeneous Nanofluidic Channels.

PubMed

Li, Long; Wang, Qinggong

2018-05-01

Ionic fluids are essential to energy conversion, water desalination, drug delivery, and lab-on-a-chip devices. Ionic transport in nanoscale confinements and complex physical fields still remain elusive. Here, a nanofluidic system is developed using nanochannels of heterogeneous surface properties to investigate transport properties of ions under different temperatures. Steady ionic currents are observed under symmetric temperature gradients, which is equivalent to generating electricity using waste heat (e.g., electronic chips and solar panels). The currents increase linearly with temperature gradient and nonlinearly with channel size. Contributions to ion motion from temperatures and channel properties are evaluated for this phenomenon. The findings provide insights into the study of confined ionic fluids in multiphysical fields, and suggest applications in thermal energy conversion, temperature sensors, and chip-level thermal management. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Variations on the Zilch Cycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Binder, P.-M.; Tanoue, C. K. S.

2013-01-01

Thermo dynamic cycles in introductory physics courses are usually made up from a small number of permutations of isothermal, adiabatic, and constant-pressure and volume quasistatic strokes, with the working fluid usually being an ideal gas. Among them we find the Carnot, Stirling, Otto, Diesel, and Joule-Brayton cycles; in more advanced courses,…

Coupled Heat Transfer and Fluid Dynamics Modeling of InSb Solidification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barvinschi, Paul; Barvinschi, Floricica

2011-10-01

A method for the directional solidification of melted InSb in a silica ampoule is presented and solved with COMSOL Multiphysics. The configuration and initial boundary settings of the model resemble those used in a de-wetting vertical Bridgman configuration [1]. A slightly modified version of the method presented by Voller and Prakash [2] is used to account for solidification of the liquid phase, including convection and conduction heat transfer with mushy region phase change. Axial-symmetric numerical simulations of temperature and velocity fields, under normal gravity, are carried out using different thermal conditions.

GOMA 6.0 :

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schunk, Peter Randall; Rao, Rekha Ranjana; Chen, Ken S

Goma 6.0 is a finite element program which excels in analyses of multiphysical processes, particularly those involving the major branches of mechanics (viz. fluid/solid mechanics, energy transport and chemical species transport). Goma is based on a full-Newton-coupled algorithm which allows for simultaneous solution of the governing principles, making the code ideally suited for problems involving closely coupled bulk mechanics and interfacial phenomena. Example applications include, but are not limited to, coating and polymer processing flows, super-alloy processing, welding/soldering, electrochemical processes, and solid-network or solution film drying. This document serves as a users guide and reference.

Improving Coolant Effectiveness through Drill Design Optimization in Gundrilling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woon, K. S.; Tnay, G. L.; Rahman, M.

2018-05-01

Effective coolant application is essential to prevent thermo-mechanical failures of gun drills. This paper presents a novel study that enhances coolant effectiveness in evacuating chips from the cutting zone using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method. Drag coefficients and transport behaviour over a wide range of Reynold numbers were first established through a series of vertical drop tests. With these, a CFD model was then developed and calibrated with a set of horizontal drilling tests. Using this CFD model, critical drill geometries that lead to poor chip evacuation including the nose grind contour, coolant hole configuration and shoulder dub-off angle in commercial gun drills are identified. From this study, a new design that consists a 20° inner edge, 15° outer edge, 0° shoulder dub-off and kidney-shaped coolant channel is proposed and experimentally proven to be more superior than all other commercial designs.

Modified Laser and Thermos cell calculations on microcomputers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shapiro, A.; Huria, H.C.

1987-01-01

In the course of designing and operating nuclear reactors, many fuel pin cell calculations are required to obtain homogenized cell cross sections as a function of burnup. In the interest of convenience and cost, it would be very desirable to be able to make such calculations on microcomputers. In addition, such a microcomputer code would be very helpful for educational course work in reactor computations. To establish the feasibility of making detailed cell calculations on a microcomputer, a mainframe cell code was compiled and run on a microcomputer. The computer code Laser, originally written in Fortran IV for the IBM-7090more » class of mainframe computers, is a cylindrical, one-dimensional, multigroup lattice cell program that includes burnup. It is based on the MUFT code for epithermal and fast group calculations, and Thermos for the thermal calculations. There are 50 fast and epithermal groups and 35 thermal groups. Resonances are calculated assuming a homogeneous system and then corrected for self-shielding, Dancoff, and Doppler by self-shielding factors. The Laser code was converted to run on a microcomputer. In addition, the Thermos portion of Laser was extracted and compiled separately to have available a stand alone thermal code.« less

Enrichment of magnetic particles using temperature and magnetic field gradients induced by benchtop fabricated micro-electromagnets.

PubMed

Hosseini, A; Philpott, D N; Soleymani, L

2017-11-21

The active transport of analytes inside biosensing systems is important for reducing the response time and enhancing the limit-of-detection of these systems. Due to the ease of functionalization with bio-recognition agents and manipulation with magnetic fields, magnetic particles are widely used for active and directed transport of biological analytes. On-chip active electromagnets are ideally suited for manipulating magnetic particles in an automated and miniaturized fashion inside biosensing systems. Unfortunately, the magnetic force exerted by these devices decays rapidly as we move away from the device edges, and increasing the generated force to the levels necessary for particle manipulation requires a parallel increase in the applied current and the resultant Joule heating. In this paper, we designed a study to understand the combined role of thermal and magnetic forces on the movement of magnetic particles in order to extend the interaction distance of on-chip magnetic devices beyond the device edges. For this purpose, we used a rapid prototyping method to create an active/passive on-chip electromagnet with a micro/nano-structured active layer and a patterned ferromagnetic passive layer. We demonstrated that the measured terminal velocities of particles positioned near the electromagnet edge (∼5.5 μm) closely reflect the values obtained by multi-physics modelling. Interestingly, we observed a two orders of magnitude deviation between the experimental and modelling results for the terminal velocities of particles far from the electromagnet edge (∼55.5 μm). Heat modelling of the system using experimentally-measured thermal gradients indicates that this discrepancy is related to the enhanced fluid movement caused by thermal forces. This study enables the rational design of thermo-magnetic systems for thermally driving and magnetically capturing particles that are positioned at distances tens to hundreds of microns away from the edges of on-chip magnetic devices.

Engineered Structured Sorbents for the Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapor from Manned Spacecraft Atmospheres: Applications and Modeling 2007/2008

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knox, James C.; Howard, David F.; Perry, Jay L.

2007-01-01

In NASA s Vision for Space Exploration, humans will once again travel beyond the confines of earth s gravity, this time to remain there for extended periods. These forays will place unprecedented demands on launch systems. They must not only blast out of earth s gravity well as during the Apollo moon missions, but also launch the supplies needed to sustain a larger crew over much longer periods. Thus all spacecraft systems, including those for the separation of metabolic carbon dioxide and water from a crewed vehicle, must be minimized with respect to mass, power, and volume. Emphasis is also placed on system robustness both to minimize replacement parts and ensure crew safety when a quick return to earth is not possible. This paper describes efforts to improve on typical packed beds of sorbent pellets by making use of structured sorbents and alternate bed configurations to improve system efficiency and reliability. The development efforts described offer a complimentary approach combining testing of subscale systems and multiphysics computer simulations to characterize the regenerative heating substrates and evaluation of engineered structured sorbent geometries. Mass transfer, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics are included in the transient simulations.

Multi-physics 3D computational study of leaflet thrombus formation following surgical and transcatheter aortic valve replacement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vahidkhah, Koohyar; Abbasi, Mostafa; Barakat, Mohammed; Dvir, Danny; Azadani, Ali

2017-11-01

An increasingly recognized complication following surgical/transcatheter aortic valve replacement is thrombosis or blood clot formation on replacement valve leaflets. A predisposing factor in thrombus formation on biomaterial surfaces of a bioprosthetic heart valve is blood stasis. Longer residence time of blood provides an opportunity for platelets and agonists to accumulate to critical concentrations that leads to platelet activation and then thrombosis. In this study, we have developed a fluid-solid interaction (FSI) modeling approach, to quantify blood stasis on the leaflets of bioprosthetic aortic valves with different design operating in a patient-specific geometry. We have validated our FSI model against experimental measurements of valve opening/closing as well as in-vitro particle image velocimetry. We have also embedded in our method a model for transport of platelets and agonists (ADP, TxA2, and thrombin) and their interactions that result in platelets activation and adhesion to biomaterial bioprosthetic surfaces. We have provided quantitative evidence for the correlation between long residence of blood on bioprosthetic aortic valve leaflets and formation of high thrombogenicity risk regions on the leaflets that are characterized by accumulation of activated platelet.

RELAP-7 Closure Correlations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zou, Ling; Berry, R. A.; Martineau, R. C.

The RELAP-7 code is the next generation nuclear reactor system safety analysis code being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The code is based on the INL’s modern scientific software development framework, MOOSE (Multi-Physics Object Oriented Simulation Environment). The overall design goal of RELAP-7 is to take advantage of the previous thirty years of advancements in computer architecture, software design, numerical integration methods, and physical models. The end result will be a reactor systems analysis capability that retains and improves upon RELAP5’s and TRACE’s capabilities and extends their analysis capabilities for all reactor system simulation scenarios. The RELAP-7 codemore » utilizes the well-posed 7-equation two-phase flow model for compressible two-phase flow. Closure models used in the TRACE code has been reviewed and selected to reflect the progress made during the past decades and provide a basis for the colure correlations implemented in the RELAP-7 code. This document provides a summary on the closure correlations that are currently implemented in the RELAP-7 code. The closure correlations include sub-grid models that describe interactions between the fluids and the flow channel, and interactions between the two phases.« less

3D optimization of a polymer MOEMS for active focusing of VCSEL beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abada, S.; Camps, T.; Reig, B.; Doucet, JB; Daran, E.; Bardinal, V.

2014-05-01

We report on the optimized design of a polymer-based actuator that can be directly integrated on a VCSEL for vertical beam scanning. Its operation principle is based on the vertical displacement of a SU-8 membrane including a polymer microlens. Under an applied thermal gradient, the membrane is shifted vertically due to thermal expansion in the actuation arms induced by Joule effect. This leads to a modification of microlens position and thus to a vertical scan of the laser beam. Membrane vertical displacements as high as 8μm for only 3V applied were recently experimentally obtained. To explain these performances, we developed a comprehensive tri-dimensional thermo-mechanical model that takes into account SU-8 material properties and precise MOEMS geometry. Out-of-plane mechanical coefficients and thermal conductivity were thus integrated in our 3D model (COMSOL Multiphysics). Vertical displacements extracted from these data for different actuation powers were successfully compared to experimental values, validating this modelling tool. Thereby, it was exploited to increase MOEMS electrothermal performance by a factor higher than 5.

Isolation of bacterial strains able to degrade biphenyl, diphenyl ether and the heat transfer fluid used in thermo-solar plants.

PubMed

Blanco-Moreno, Rafael; Sáez, Lara P; Luque-Almagro, Víctor M; Roldán, M Dolores; Moreno-Vivián, Conrado

2017-03-25

Thermo-solar plants use eutectic mixtures of diphenyl ether (DE) and biphenyl (BP) as heat transfer fluid (HTF). Potential losses of HTF may contaminate soils and bioremediation is an attractive tool for its treatment. DE- or BP-degrading bacteria are known, but up to now bacteria able to degrade HTF mixture have not been described. Here, five bacterial strains which are able to grow with HTF or its separate components DE and BP as sole carbon sources have been isolated, either from soils exposed to HTF or from rhizospheric soils of plants growing near a thermo-solar plant. The organisms were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing as Achromobacter piechaudii strain BioC1, Pseudomonas plecoglossicida strain 6.1, Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains HBD1 and HBD3, and Pseudomonas oleovorans strain HBD2. Activity of 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase (BphC), a key enzyme of the biphenyl upper degradation pathway, was detected in all isolates. Pseudomonas strains almost completely degraded 2000ppm HTF after 5-day culture, and even tolerated and grew in the presence of 150,000ppm HTF, being suitable candidates for in situ soil bioremediation. Degradation of both components of HTF is of particular interest since in the DE-degrader Sphingomonas sp. SS3, growth on DE or benzoate was strongly inhibited by addition of BP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling the Migration of Fluids in Subduction Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, C. R.; Spiegelman, M.; Van Keken, P. E.; Vrijmoed, J. C.; Hacker, B. R.

2011-12-01

Fluids play a major role in the formation of arc volcanism and the generation of continental crust. Progressive dehydration reactions in the downgoing slab release fluids to the hot overlying mantle wedge, causing flux melting and the migration of melts to the volcanic front. While the qualitative concept is well established, the quantitative details of fluid release and especially that of fluid migration and generation of hydrous melting in the wedge is still poorly understood. Here we present new models of the fluid migration through the mantle wedge for subduction zones. We use an existing set of high resolution metamorphic models (van Keken et al, 2010) to predict the regions of water release from the sediments, upper and lower crust, and upper most mantle. We use this water flux as input for the fluid migration calculation based on new finite element models built on advanced computational libraries (FEniCS/PETSc) for efficient and flexible solution of coupled multi-physics problems. The first generation of one-way coupled models solves for the evolution of porosity and fluid-pressure/flux throughout the slab and wedge given solid flow, viscosity and thermal fields from separate solutions to the incompressible Stokes and energy equations in the mantle wedge. These solutions are verified by comparing to previous benchmark studies (van Keken et al, 2008) and global suites of thermal subduction models (Syracuse et al, 2010). Fluid flow depends on both permeability and the rheology of the slab-wedge system as interaction with rheological variability can induce additional pressure gradients that affect the fluid flow pathways. These non-linearities have been shown to explain laboratory-scale observations of melt band orientation in labratory experiments and numerical simulations of melt localization in shear bands (Katz et al 2006). Our second generation of models dispense with the pre-calculation of incompressible mantle flow and fully couple the now compressible system of mantle and fluid flow equations, introducing complex feedbacks between the rheology, temperature, permeability, strain rate and porosity. Using idealized subduction zone geometries we investigate the effects of this non-linearity and explore the sensitivity of fluid flow paths for a range of fluid flow parameters with emphasis on variability of the location of the volcanic arc with respect to flow paths. We also estimate the expected degrees of hydrous melting using a variety of wet-melting parameterizations (e.g., Katz et al, 2003, Kelley et al, 2010). The current models only include dehydration reactions but work continues on the next generation of models which will include both dehydration and hydration reactions as well as parameterized flux melting in a consistent reactive-flow framework.

Embedding Entrepreneurial Thinking into Fluids-related Courses: Small Changes Lead to Positive Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carnasciali, Maria-Isabel

2017-11-01

Many fluid dynamics instructors have embraced student-centered learning pedagogies (Active & Collaborative Learning (ACL) and Problem/Project Based Learning (PBL)) to promote learning and increase student engagement. A growing effort in engineering education calls to equip students with entrepreneurial skills needed to drive innovation. The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) defines entrepreneurial mindset based on three key attributes: curiosity, connections, and creating value. Elements of ACL and PBL have been used to embed Entrepreneurial Thinking concepts into two fluids-related subjects: 1) an introductory thermal-fluid systems course, and 2) thermo-fluids laboratory. Assessment of students' work reveal an improvement in student learning. Course Evaluations and Surveys indicate an increased perceived-value of course content. Training and development made possible through funding from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network and the Bucknall Excellence in Teaching Award.

Verification of fluid-structure-interaction algorithms through the method of manufactured solutions for actuator-line applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vijayakumar, Ganesh; Sprague, Michael

2017-11-01

Demonstrating expected convergence rates with spatial- and temporal-grid refinement is the ``gold standard'' of code and algorithm verification. However, the lack of analytical solutions and generating manufactured solutions presents challenges for verifying codes for complex systems. The application of the method of manufactured solutions (MMS) for verification for coupled multi-physics phenomena like fluid-structure interaction (FSI) has only seen recent investigation. While many FSI algorithms for aeroelastic phenomena have focused on boundary-resolved CFD simulations, the actuator-line representation of the structure is widely used for FSI simulations in wind-energy research. In this work, we demonstrate the verification of an FSI algorithm using MMS for actuator-line CFD simulations with a simplified structural model. We use a manufactured solution for the fluid velocity field and the displacement of the SMD system. We demonstrate the convergence of both the fluid and structural solver to second-order accuracy with grid and time-step refinement. This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Wind Energy Technologies Office, under Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Analytical approach to entropy generation and heat transfer in CNT-nanofluid dynamics through a ciliated porous medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbar, Noreen Sher; Shoaib, M.; Tripathi, Dharmendra; Bhushan, Shashi; Bég, O. Anwar

2018-04-01

The transportation of biological and industrial nanofluids by natural propulsion like cilia movement and self-generated contraction-relaxation of flexible walls has significant applications in numerous emerging technologies. Inspired by multi-disciplinary progress and innovation in this direction, a thermo-fluid mechanical model is proposed to study the entropy generation and convective heat transfer of nanofluids fabricated by the dispersion of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) nanoparticles in water as the base fluid. The regime studied comprises heat transfer and steady, viscous, incompressible flow, induced by metachronal wave propulsion due to beating cilia, through a cylindrical tube containing a sparse (i.e., high permeability) homogenous porous medium. The flow is of the creeping type and is restricted under the low Reynolds number and long wavelength approximations. Slip effects at the wall are incorporated and the generalized Darcy drag-force model is utilized to mimic porous media effects. Cilia boundary conditions for velocity components are employed to determine analytical solutions to the resulting non-dimensionalized boundary value problem. The influence of pertinent physical parameters on temperature, axial velocity, pressure rise and pressure gradient, entropy generation function, Bejan number and stream-line distributions are computed numerically. A comparative study between SWCNT-nanofluids and pure water is also computed. The computations demonstrate that axial flow is accelerated with increasing slip parameter and Darcy number and is greater for SWCNT-nanofluids than for pure water. Furthermore the size of the bolus for SWCNT-nanofluids is larger than that of the pure water. The study is applicable in designing and fabricating nanoscale and microfluidics devices, artificial cilia and biomimetic micro-pumps.

Analytical approach to entropy generation and heat transfer in CNT-nanofluid dynamics through a ciliated porous medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbar, Noreen Sher; Shoaib, M.; Tripathi, Dharmendra; Bhushan, Shashi; Bég, O. Anwar

2018-03-01

The transportation of biological and industrial nanofluids by natural propulsion like cilia movement and self-generated contraction-relaxation of flexible walls has significant applications in numerous emerging technologies. Inspired by multi-disciplinary progress and innovation in this direction, a thermo-fluid mechanical model is proposed to study the entropy generation and convective heat transfer of nanofluids fabricated by the dispersion of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) nanoparticles in water as the base fluid. The regime studied comprises heat transfer and steady, viscous, incompressible flow, induced by metachronal wave propulsion due to beating cilia, through a cylindrical tube containing a sparse (i.e., high permeability) homogenous porous medium. The flow is of the creeping type and is restricted under the low Reynolds number and long wavelength approximations. Slip effects at the wall are incorporated and the generalized Darcy drag-force model is utilized to mimic porous media effects. Cilia boundary conditions for velocity components are employed to determine analytical solutions to the resulting non-dimensionalized boundary value problem. The influence of pertinent physical parameters on temperature, axial velocity, pressure rise and pressure gradient, entropy generation function, Bejan number and stream-line distributions are computed numerically. A comparative study between SWCNT-nanofluids and pure water is also computed. The computations demonstrate that axial flow is accelerated with increasing slip parameter and Darcy number and is greater for SWCNT-nanofluids than for pure water. Furthermore the size of the bolus for SWCNT-nanofluids is larger than that of the pure water. The study is applicable in designing and fabricating nanoscale and microfluidics devices, artificial cilia and biomimetic micro-pumps.

Experimental and numerical studies on laser-based powder deposition of slurry erosion resistant materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balu, Prabu

Slurry erosion (the removal of material caused by the randomly moving high velocity liquid-solid particle mixture) is a serious issue in crude oil drilling, mining, turbines, rocket nozzles, pumps, and boiler tubes that causes excessive downtime and high operating costs as a result of premature part failure. The goal of this research is to enhance the service life of high-value components subjected to slurry erosion by utilizing the concept of functionally graded metal-ceramic composite material (FGMCCM) in which the favorable properties of metal (toughness, ductility, etc.) and ceramic (hardness) are tailored smoothly to improve erosion resistance. Among the potential manufacturing processes, such as the laser-based powder deposition (LBPD), the plasma transferred arc (PTA), and the thermal spray the LBPD process offers good composition and microstructure control with a high deposition rate in producing the FGMCCM. This research focuses on the development of nickel-tungsten carbide (Ni-WC) based FGMCCM using the LBPD process for applications the above mentioned. The LBPD of Ni-WC involves the introduction of Ni and WC powder particle by an inert gas into the laser-formed molten pool at the substrate via nozzles. The LBPD of Ni-WC includes complex multi-physical interactions between the laser beam, Ni-WC powder, substrate, and carrier and shielding gases that are governed by a number of process variables such as laser power, scanning speed, and powder flow rate. In order to develop the best Ni-WC based slurry erosion resistant material using the LBPD process, the following challenges associated with the fabrication and the performance evaluation need to be addressed: 1) flow behavior of the Ni-WC powder and its interaction with the laser, 2) the effect of the process variables, the material compositions, and the thermo-physical properties on thermal cycles, temperature gradient, cooling rate, and residual stress formation within the material and the subsequent cracking issue, and 3) the effect of composition and composition gradient of Ni and WC on the slurry erosion resistance over a wide range of erosion conditions. This thesis presents a set of numerical and experimental methods in order to address the challenges mentioned above. A three-dimensional (3-D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based powder flow model and three vision based techniques were developed in order to visualize the process of feeding the Ni-WC powder in the LBPD process. The results provide the guidelines for efficiently feeding the Ni-WC composite powder into the laser-formed molten pool. The finite element (FE) based experimentally verified 3-D thermal and thermo-mechanical models are developed in order to understand the thermal and stress evolutions in Ni-WC composite material during the LBPD process. The models address the effect of the process variables, preheating temperature, and different mass fractions of WC in Ni on thermal cycles and stress distributions within the deposited material. The slurry erosion behavior of the single and multilayered deposits of Ni-WC composite material produced by the LBPD process is investigated using an accelerated slurry erosion testing machine and a 3-D FE dynamic model. The verified model is used to identify the appropriate composition and composition gradient of Ni-WC composite material required to achieve erosion resistance over a wide range of erosion conditions.

Multi-scale and Multi-physics Numerical Methods for Modeling Transport in Mesoscopic Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-13

function and wide band Fast multipole methods for Hankel waves. (2) a new linear scaling discontinuous Galerkin density functional theory, which provide a...inflow boundary condition for Wigner quantum transport equations. Also, a book titled "Computational Methods for Electromagnetic Phenomena...equationsin layered media with FMM for Bessel functions , Science China Mathematics, (12 2013): 2561. doi: TOTAL: 6 Number of Papers published in peer

Endovascular Electrodes for Electrical Stimulation of Blood Vessels for Vasoconstriction - a Finite Element Simulation Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kezurer, Noa; Farah, Nairouz; Mandel, Yossi

2016-08-01

Hemorrhagic shock accounts for 30-40 percent of trauma mortality, as bleeding may sometimes be hard to control. Application of short electrical pulses on blood vessels was recently shown to elicit robust vasoconstriction and reduction of blood loss following vascular injury. In this study we present a novel approach for vasoconstriction based on endovascular application of electrical pulses for situations where access to the vessel is limited. In addition to ease of access, we hypothesize that this novel approach will result in a localized and efficient vasoconstriction. Using computer modeling (COMSOL Multiphysics, Electric Currents Module), we studied the effect of endovascular pulsed electrical treatment on abdominal aorta of pigs, and compared the efficiency of different electrodes configurations on the electric field amplitude, homogeneity and locality when applied on a blood vessel wall. Results reveal that the optimal configuration is the endovascular approach where four electrodes are used, spaced 13 mm apart. Furthermore, computer based temperature investigations (bio-heat model, COMSOL Multiphysics) show that the maximum expected temperature rise is of 1.2 degrees; highlighting the safety of the four endovascular electrodes configuration. These results can aid in planning the application of endovascular pulsed electrical treatment as an efficient and safe vasoconstriction approach.

Progress Towards a Rad-Hydro Code for Modern Computing Architectures LA-UR-10-02825

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wohlbier, J. G.; Lowrie, R. B.; Bergen, B.; Calef, M.

2010-11-01

We are entering an era of high performance computing where data movement is the overwhelming bottleneck to scalable performance, as opposed to the speed of floating-point operations per processor. All multi-core hardware paradigms, whether heterogeneous or homogeneous, be it the Cell processor, GPGPU, or multi-core x86, share this common trait. In multi-physics applications such as inertial confinement fusion or astrophysics, one may be solving multi-material hydrodynamics with tabular equation of state data lookups, radiation transport, nuclear reactions, and charged particle transport in a single time cycle. The algorithms are intensely data dependent, e.g., EOS, opacity, nuclear data, and multi-core hardware memory restrictions are forcing code developers to rethink code and algorithm design. For the past two years LANL has been funding a small effort referred to as Multi-Physics on Multi-Core to explore ideas for code design as pertaining to inertial confinement fusion and astrophysics applications. The near term goals of this project are to have a multi-material radiation hydrodynamics capability, with tabular equation of state lookups, on cartesian and curvilinear block structured meshes. In the longer term we plan to add fully implicit multi-group radiation diffusion and material heat conduction, and block structured AMR. We will report on our progress to date.

Endovascular Electrodes for Electrical Stimulation of Blood Vessels for Vasoconstriction – a Finite Element Simulation Study

PubMed Central

Kezurer, Noa; Farah, Nairouz; Mandel, Yossi

2016-01-01

Hemorrhagic shock accounts for 30–40 percent of trauma mortality, as bleeding may sometimes be hard to control. Application of short electrical pulses on blood vessels was recently shown to elicit robust vasoconstriction and reduction of blood loss following vascular injury. In this study we present a novel approach for vasoconstriction based on endovascular application of electrical pulses for situations where access to the vessel is limited. In addition to ease of access, we hypothesize that this novel approach will result in a localized and efficient vasoconstriction. Using computer modeling (COMSOL Multiphysics, Electric Currents Module), we studied the effect of endovascular pulsed electrical treatment on abdominal aorta of pigs, and compared the efficiency of different electrodes configurations on the electric field amplitude, homogeneity and locality when applied on a blood vessel wall. Results reveal that the optimal configuration is the endovascular approach where four electrodes are used, spaced 13 mm apart. Furthermore, computer based temperature investigations (bio-heat model, COMSOL Multiphysics) show that the maximum expected temperature rise is of 1.2 degrees; highlighting the safety of the four endovascular electrodes configuration. These results can aid in planning the application of endovascular pulsed electrical treatment as an efficient and safe vasoconstriction approach. PMID:27534438

Soret and Dufour effects on MHD peristaltic flow of Prandtl fluid in a rotating channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayat, Tasawar; Zahir, Hina; Tanveer, Anum; Alsaedi, Ahmed

2018-03-01

An analysis has been arranged to study the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) peristaltic flow of Prandtl fluid in a channel with flexible walls. Both fluid and channel are in a state of solid body rotation. Simultaneous effects of heat and mass transfer with thermal-diffusion (Soret) and diffusion-thermo (Dufour) effects are considered. Convective conditions for heat and mass transfer in the formulation are adopted. Ordinary differential systems using low Reynolds number and long wavelength approximation are obtained. Resulting equations have been solved numerically. The discussion of axial and secondary velocities, temperature, concentration and heat transfer coefficient with respect to emerging parameters embedded in the flow model is presented after sketching plots.

A self-taught artificial agent for multi-physics computational model personalization.

PubMed

Neumann, Dominik; Mansi, Tommaso; Itu, Lucian; Georgescu, Bogdan; Kayvanpour, Elham; Sedaghat-Hamedani, Farbod; Amr, Ali; Haas, Jan; Katus, Hugo; Meder, Benjamin; Steidl, Stefan; Hornegger, Joachim; Comaniciu, Dorin

2016-12-01

Personalization is the process of fitting a model to patient data, a critical step towards application of multi-physics computational models in clinical practice. Designing robust personalization algorithms is often a tedious, time-consuming, model- and data-specific process. We propose to use artificial intelligence concepts to learn this task, inspired by how human experts manually perform it. The problem is reformulated in terms of reinforcement learning. In an off-line phase, Vito, our self-taught artificial agent, learns a representative decision process model through exploration of the computational model: it learns how the model behaves under change of parameters. The agent then automatically learns an optimal strategy for on-line personalization. The algorithm is model-independent; applying it to a new model requires only adjusting few hyper-parameters of the agent and defining the observations to match. The full knowledge of the model itself is not required. Vito was tested in a synthetic scenario, showing that it could learn how to optimize cost functions generically. Then Vito was applied to the inverse problem of cardiac electrophysiology and the personalization of a whole-body circulation model. The obtained results suggested that Vito could achieve equivalent, if not better goodness of fit than standard methods, while being more robust (up to 11% higher success rates) and with faster (up to seven times) convergence rate. Our artificial intelligence approach could thus make personalization algorithms generalizable and self-adaptable to any patient and any model. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Dynamic implicit 3D adaptive mesh refinement for non-equilibrium radiation diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philip, B.; Wang, Z.; Berrill, M. A.; Birke, M.; Pernice, M.

2014-04-01

The time dependent non-equilibrium radiation diffusion equations are important for solving the transport of energy through radiation in optically thick regimes and find applications in several fields including astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion. The associated initial boundary value problems that are encountered often exhibit a wide range of scales in space and time and are extremely challenging to solve. To efficiently and accurately simulate these systems we describe our research on combining techniques that will also find use more broadly for long term time integration of nonlinear multi-physics systems: implicit time integration for efficient long term time integration of stiff multi-physics systems, local control theory based step size control to minimize the required global number of time steps while controlling accuracy, dynamic 3D adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) to minimize memory and computational costs, Jacobian Free Newton-Krylov methods on AMR grids for efficient nonlinear solution, and optimal multilevel preconditioner components that provide level independent solver convergence.

Jali - Unstructured Mesh Infrastructure for Multi-Physics Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garimella, Rao V; Berndt, Markus; Coon, Ethan

2017-04-13

Jali is a parallel unstructured mesh infrastructure library designed for use by multi-physics simulations. It supports 2D and 3D arbitrary polyhedral meshes distributed over hundreds to thousands of nodes. Jali can read write Exodus II meshes along with fields and sets on the mesh and support for other formats is partially implemented or is (https://github.com/MeshToolkit/MSTK), an open source general purpose unstructured mesh infrastructure library from Los Alamos National Laboratory. While it has been made to work with other mesh frameworks such as MOAB and STKmesh in the past, support for maintaining the interface to these frameworks has been suspended formore » now. Jali supports distributed as well as on-node parallelism. Support of on-node parallelism is through direct use of the the mesh in multi-threaded constructs or through the use of "tiles" which are submeshes or sub-partitions of a partition destined for a compute node.« less

PREFACE: 32nd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2014-11-01

The annual Conference of the ''Unione Italiana di Termofluidodinamica'' (UIT) aims to promote cooperation in the field of heat transfer and thermal sciences by bringing together scientists and engineers working in related areas. The 32nd UIT Conference was held in Pisa, from the 23rd to the 25th of June, 2014 in the buildings of the School of Engineering, just a few months after the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first Institution of the School of Engineering at the University of Pisa. The response was very good, with more than 100 participants and 80 high-quality contributions from 208 authors on seven different heat transfer related topics: Heat transfer and efficiency in energy systems, environmental technologies, and buildings (25 papers); Micro and nano scale thermo-fluid dynamics (9 papers); Multi-phase fluid dynamics, heat transfer and interface phenomena (14 papers); Computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer (10 papers); Heat transfer in nuclear plants (8 papers); Natural, forced and mixed convection (10 papers) and Conduction and radiation (4 papers). To encourage the debate, the Conference Program scheduled 16 oral sessions (44 papers), three ample poster sessions (36 papers) and four invited lectures given by experts in the various fields both from Industry and from University. Keynote Lectures were given by Dr. Roberto Parri (ENEL, Italy), Prof. Peter Stephan (TU Darmstadt, Germany), Prof. Bruno Panella (Politecnico di Torino), and Prof. Sara Rainieri (Universit;aacute; di Parma). This special volume collects a selection of the scientific contributions discussed during this conference. A total of 46 contributions, two keynote lectures and 44 papers both from oral and poster sessions, have been selected for publication in this special issue, after a second accurate revision process. These works give a good overview of the state of the art of Italian research in the field of Heat Transfer related topics at the date. The editors of the volume would like to sincerely thank the authors for presenting their works at the conference and in this special issue. Special thanks are also due to the Scientific Committee, to all the reviewers, and to all the authors for their accurate revision process of each paper for this special issue. Special thanks go to the Organizing Committee, chaired by Prof. Paolo Di Marco. Walter Grassi (Chairman of the Scientific Committee), Alessandro Franco, Nicola Forgione, Daniele Testi - Editors of the Special Issue

Stability characteristics of compressible boundary layers over thermo-mechanically compliant walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dettenrieder, Fabian; Bodony, Daniel

2017-11-01

Transition prediction at hypersonic flight conditions continues to be a challenge and results in conservative safety factors that increase vehicle weight. The weight and thus cost reduction of the outer skin panels promises significant impact; however, fluid-structure interaction due to unsteady perturbations in the laminar boundary layer regime has not been systematically studied at conditions relevant for reusable, hypersonic flight. In this talk, we develop and apply convective and global stability analyses for compressible boundary layers over thermo-mechanically compliant panels. This compliance is shown to change the convective stability of the boundary layer modes, with both stabilization and destabilization observed. Finite panel lengths are shown to affect the global stability properties of the boundary layer.

Fluid flow inside and outside an evaporating sessile drop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchenna, C.; Aitsaada, M.; Chikh, S.; Tadrist, L.

2017-11-01

The sessile drop evaporation is a phenomena which is extensively studied in the literature, but the governing effects are far from being well understood especially those involving movements taking place in both liquid and gas phases. The present work numerically studies the flow within and around an evaporating sessile drop. The flow is induced by the strong mass loss at contact line, the thermo-capillary effect and the buoyancy effect in the surrounding air. The results showed that buoyancy-induced flow in gas phase weakly influences thermo-capillarity-induced flow in the liquid phase. Buoyancy effect can strongly modify the temperature distribution at liquid-gas interface and thus the overall evaporation rate of the drop when the substrate is heated.

Fully-Implicit Orthogonal Reconstructed Discontinuous Galerkin for Fluid Dynamics with Phase Change

DOE PAGES

Nourgaliev, R.; Luo, H.; Weston, B.; ...

2015-11-11

A new reconstructed Discontinuous Galerkin (rDG) method, based on orthogonal basis/test functions, is developed for fluid flows on unstructured meshes. Orthogonality of basis functions is essential for enabling robust and efficient fully-implicit Newton-Krylov based time integration. The method is designed for generic partial differential equations, including transient, hyperbolic, parabolic or elliptic operators, which are attributed to many multiphysics problems. We demonstrate the method’s capabilities for solving compressible fluid-solid systems (in the low Mach number limit), with phase change (melting/solidification), as motivated by applications in Additive Manufacturing (AM). We focus on the method’s accuracy (in both space and time), as wellmore » as robustness and solvability of the system of linear equations involved in the linearization steps of Newton-based methods. The performance of the developed method is investigated for highly-stiff problems with melting/solidification, emphasizing the advantages from tight coupling of mass, momentum and energy conservation equations, as well as orthogonality of basis functions, which leads to better conditioning of the underlying (approximate) Jacobian matrices, and rapid convergence of the Krylov-based linear solver.« less

VERAIn

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simunovic, Srdjan

2015-02-16

CASL's modeling and simulation technology, the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA), incorporates coupled physics and science-based models, state-of-the-art numerical methods, modern computational science, integrated uncertainty quantification (UQ) and validation against data from operating pressurized water reactors (PWRs), single-effect experiments, and integral tests. The computational simulation component of VERA is the VERA Core Simulator (VERA-CS). The core simulator is the specific collection of multi-physics computer codes used to model and deplete a LWR core over multiple cycles. The core simulator has a single common input file that drives all of the different physics codes. The parser code, VERAIn, converts VERAmore » Input into an XML file that is used as input to different VERA codes.« less

Fluid flow induced by periodic temperature oscillation over a flat plate: Comparisons with the classical Stokes problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pal, Debashis; Chakraborty, Suman

2015-05-01

We delineate the dynamics of temporally and spatially periodic flow over a flat plate originating out of periodic thermoviscous expansion of the fluid, as a consequence of a thermal wave applied on the plate wall. We identify two appropriate length scales, namely, the wavelength of the temperature wave and the thermal penetration depth, so as to bring out the complex thermo-physical interaction between the fluid and the solid boundaries. Our results reveal that the entire thermal fluctuation and the subsequent thermoviscous actuation remain confined within a "thermo-viscous boundary layer." Based on the length scales and the analytical solution for the temperature field, we demarcate three different layers, namely, the wall layer (which is further sub-divided into various sub-layers, based on the temperature field), the intermediate layer, and the outer layer. We show that the interactions between the pressure oscillation and temperature-dependent viscosity yield a unidirectional time-averaged (mean) flow within the wall layer opposite to the direction of motion of the thermal wave. We also obtain appropriate scalings for the time-averaged velocity, which we further substantiate by full scale numerical simulations. Our analysis may constitute a new design basis for simultaneous control of the net throughput and mixing over a solid boundary, by the judicious employment of a traveling temperature wave.

Mathematical Modeling of the Effect of Roll Diameter on the Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of Twin Roll Cast AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Strips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadadzadeh, Amir; Wells, Mary

Although the Twin Roll Casting (TRC) process has been used in the aluminum sheet production industry for more than 60 years, the usage of this process to fabricate magnesium sheets is still at its early stages. Similar to other manufacturing processes, the development of the TRC process for magnesium alloys has followed a typical route of preliminary studies using a laboratory-scale facility, followed by pilot-scale testing and most recently attempting to use an industrial-scale twin roll caster. A powerful tool to understand and quantify the trends of the processing conditions and effects of scaling up from a laboratory size TRC machine to an industrial scale one is develop a mathematical model of the process. This can elucidate the coupled fluid-thermo-mechanical behavior of the cast strip during the solidification and then deformation stages of the process. In the present study a Thermal-Fluid-Stress model has been developed for TRC of AZ31 magnesium alloy for three roll diameters by employing the FEM commercial package ALSIM. The roll diameters were chosen as 355mm, 600mm and 1150mm. The effect of casting speed for each diameter was studied in terms of fluid flow, thermal history and stress-strain evolution in the cast strip in the roll bite region.

Simulation of air admission in a propeller hydroturbine during transient events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolle, J.; Morissette, J.-F.

2016-11-01

In this study, multiphysic simulations are carried out in order to model fluid loading and structural stresses on propeller blades during startup and runaway. It is found that air admission plays an important role during these transient events and that biphasic simulations are therefore required. At the speed no load regime, a large air pocket with vertical free surface forms in the centre of the runner displacing the water flow near the shroud. This significantly affects the torque developed on the blades and thus structural loading. The resulting pressures are applied to a quasi-static structural model and good agreement is obtained with experimental strain gauge data.

Vibration energy harvesting in a small channel fluid flow using piezoelectric transducer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hassan, Md. Mehedi, E-mail: buetmehedi10@gmail.com; Hossain, Md. Yeam, E-mail: yeamhossain@gmail.com; Mazumder, Rakib, E-mail: rakibmazumder46075@gmail.com

2016-07-12

This work is aimed at developing a way to harvest energy from a fluid stream with the application of piezoelectric transducers in a small channel. In this COMSOL Multiphysics based simulation study, it is attempted to harvest energy from the abundant renewable source of energy available in the form of kinetic energy of naturally occurring flow of fluids. The strategy involves harnessing energy from a fluid-actuator through generation of couples, eddies and vortices, resulting from the stagnation and separation of flow around a semi-circular bluff-body attached to a cantilever beam containing a piezoceramic layer. Fluctuation of fluidic pressure impulse onmore » the beam due to vortex shedding and varying lift forces causes the flexible cantilever beam to oscillate in the direction normal to the fluid flow in a periodic manner. The periodic application and release of a mechanical strain upon the beam effected a generation of electric potential within the piezoelectric layer, thus enabling extraction of electrical energy from the kinetic energy of the fluid. The piezoelectric material properties and transducer design are kept unchanged throughout the study, whereas the configuration is tested with different fluids and varying flow characteristics. The size and geometry of the obstructing entity are systematically varied to closely inspect the output from different iterations and for finding the optimum design parameters. The intermittent changes in the generated forces and subsequent variation in the strain on the beam are also monitored to find definitive relationship with the electrical energy output.« less

On the Onset of Thermocapillary Convection in a Liquid bridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, Kedar

Thermo capillary convection refers to motion driven by the application of a temperature gradient along the interface. The temperature gradient may be large enough to cause oscillations in the basic state of the fluid. The vast majority of the liquid bridge investigations performed aboard on the sounding rockets or the space shuttles [1, 2] focused on the float zone processes because the process has been regarded as a candidate for the space based manufacturing of semiconductor materials. Although the buoyancy effect is avoided in the floating zone techniques during space operation, it experiences surface tension driven convection initiated by the temperature gradient along the free surface of the zone [3]. The appearance of the oscillatory thermo capillary convection couples with the solidification processes leads to the striations and results into the degradation of the crystals [4, 5]. The half zone consists of the liquid bridge held between two solid, planar end walls across which a temperature gradient is applied. Thus the basic state of thermo capillary convection consists of a single toroidal roll with the surface motion directed downwards from the hot upper disc to the cold lower one. Bennacer et al [6] studied how different axial profiles of the heat flux affect the flow patterns and transition from ax symmetric steady to ax symmetric oscillatory flow. The three dimensional instability of liquid bridges located between isothermal differentially heated disks were studied by several authors [7-14]. The interface deformation caused by the gravity jitters depends on the volume of the liquid bridge and cause changes in the physical properties of the liquid, which ultimately influence the basic state of the fluid [15-16]. The paper discusses Marangoni convection in a liquid bridge subject to g-jitters in a micro gravity environment. The parametric excitement of the liquid bridge with surface tension variation along with the free surface is considered. We will follow the method of Shukla [17] for Boussinesq flow to model the convective instability in an axisymmetric flow in the liquid bridge. The surface deformation caused by g-jitters and its effects on the onset of oscillatory flow will be examined. References: [1] Grodzka, P.G. and Bannister, T.C., Heat flow and convection demonstration experiments abord Appolo 14, Science (Washington, D.C.), Vol.176, May 1972, pp. 506-508. [2] Bannister, T C., etal, NASA, TMX-64772, 1973. [3] Shukla, K.N. Hydrodynamics of Diffusive Processes, Applied Mechanics Review, Vol.54, No.5, 2001, pp. 391-404. [4] Chen, G., Lizee, A., Roux, B.,, Bifurcation analysis of the thermo capillary convection in cylindrical liquid bridge, J Crystal growth, Vol. 180, 1997, pp.638-647. [5] Imaishi, N., Yasuhiro, S., Akiyama, Y and Yoda, S., Numerical simulation of oscillatory Marangoni flow in half zone liquid bridge of low Prandtl number fluid, J., Crystal Growth, Vol. 230, 2001, pp. 164-171. [6] Bennacer, R., Mohamad, A.A., Leonardi, E., The effect o heat flux distribution on thermo capillary convection in a sideheated liquid bridge, Numer. Heat transfer, Part A, vol. 41, 2002, pp. 657-671. [7] Kuhlmann, H C., Rath, H J., Hydrodynamic instabilities in Cylindrical thermocapillary liquid bridges, J Fluid Mech., Vol. 247,1993, pp. 247-274. [8] Wanshura, M., Shevtsova, V M, Kuhlmann, H C and Rath, H J., Convective instability in thermocapillary liquid bridges, Phys. Fluids, Vol. 7, 1995, pp. 912-925. [9] Kasperski, G., Batoul, A., Labrosse, G., Up to the unsteadiness of axisymmetric thermocapillary low in a laterally heated liquid bridge, Phys. Fluids, Vol. 12, 2000, pp. 103-119. [10] Lappa, M., Savino, R., Monti, R., Three dimensional numerical simulation of Marangoni instabilities in non cylindrical liquid bridges in microgravity, Int. J Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 44, 2001, pp. 1983-2003 [11] Zeng, Z, Mizuseki, H., Simamura, K., Fukud, T. Higashino, K, Kawaazoe, Y., Three dimensional oscillatory thermocapillary convection in liquid bridgeunder microgravity, Int. J heat Mass Transf., Vol. 44, 2001, pp. 3765-3774. [12] Kamotani, Y., Wang, L, Hatta, S., Wang, A., Yoda, S., Free surface heat loss effect on Oscillatory thermocapillary flow in a liquid bridges of high Prandtl number fluids, Int. J heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 46, 2003, pp. 3211-3220.

Multi-physics simulations of space weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gombosi, Tamas; Toth, Gabor; Sokolov, Igor; de Zeeuw, Darren; van der Holst, Bart; Cohen, Ofer; Glocer, Alex; Manchester, Ward, IV; Ridley, Aaron

Presently magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models represent the "workhorse" technology for simulating the space environment from the solar corona to the ionosphere. While these models are very successful in describing many important phenomena, they are based on a low-order moment approximation of the phase-space distribution function. In the last decade our group at the Center for Space Environment Modeling (CSEM) has developed the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) that efficiently couples together different models describing the interacting regions of the space environment. Many of these domain models (such as the global solar corona, the inner heliosphere or the global magnetosphere) are based on MHD and are represented by our multiphysics code, BATS-R-US. BATS-R-US can solve the equations of "standard" ideal MHD, but it can also go beyond this first approximation. It can solve resistive MHD, Hall MHD, semi-relativistic MHD (that keeps the displacement current), multispecies (different ion species have different continuity equations) and multifluid (all ion species have separate continuity, momentum and energy equations) MHD. Recently we added two-fluid Hall MHD (solving the electron and ion energy equations separately) and are working on extended magnetohydrodynamics with anisotropic pressures. This talk will show the effects of added physics and compare space weather simulation results to "standard" ideal MHD.

ThermoBuild: Online Method Made Available for Accessing NASA Glenn Thermodynamic Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McBride, Bonnie; Zehe, Michael J.

2004-01-01

The new Web site program "ThermoBuild" allows users to easily access and use the NASA Glenn Thermodynamic Database of over 2000 solid, liquid, and gaseous species. A convenient periodic table allows users to "build" the molecules of interest and designate the temperature range over which thermodynamic functions are to be displayed. ThermoBuild also allows users to build custom databases for use with NASA's Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) program or other programs that require the NASA format for thermodynamic properties. The NASA Glenn Research Center has long been a leader in the compilation and dissemination of up-to-date thermodynamic data, primarily for use with the NASA CEA program, but increasingly for use with other computer programs.

THERMOS. 30-Group ENDF/B Scattered Kernels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McCrosson, F.J.; Finch, D.R.

1973-12-01

These data are 30-group THERMOS thermal scattering kernels for P0 to P5 Legendre orders for every temperature of every material from s(alpha,beta) data stored in the ENDF/B library. These scattering kernels were generated using the FLANGE2 computer code. To test the kernels, the integral properties of each set of kernels were determined by a precision integration of the diffusion length equation and compared to experimental measurements of these properties. In general, the agreement was very good. Details of the methods used and results obtained are contained in the reference. The scattering kernels are organized into a two volume magnetic tapemore » library from which they may be retrieved easily for use in any 30-group THERMOS library.« less

Micromorphic approach for gradient-extended thermo-elastic-plastic solids in the logarithmic strain space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldakheel, Fadi

2017-11-01

The coupled thermo-mechanical strain gradient plasticity theory that accounts for microstructure-based size effects is outlined within this work. It extends the recent work of Miehe et al. (Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 268:704-734, 2014) to account for thermal effects at finite strains. From the computational viewpoint, the finite element design of the coupled problem is not straightforward and requires additional strategies due to the difficulties near the elastic-plastic boundaries. To simplify the finite element formulation, we extend it toward the micromorphic approach to gradient thermo-plasticity model in the logarithmic strain space. The key point is the introduction of dual local-global field variables via a penalty method, where only the global fields are restricted by boundary conditions. Hence, the problem of restricting the gradient variable to the plastic domain is relaxed, which makes the formulation very attractive for finite element implementation as discussed in Forest (J Eng Mech 135:117-131, 2009) and Miehe et al. (Philos Trans R Soc A Math Phys Eng Sci 374:20150170, 2016).

Uncertainty quantification of crustal scale thermo-chemical properties in Southeast Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mather, B.; Moresi, L. N.; Rayner, P. J.

2017-12-01

The thermo-chemical properties of the crust are essential to understanding the mechanical and thermal state of the lithosphere. The uncertainties associated with these parameters are connected to the available geophysical observations and a priori information to constrain the objective function. Often, it is computationally efficient to reduce the parameter space by mapping large portions of the crust into lithologies that have assumed homogeneity. However, the boundaries of these lithologies are, in themselves, uncertain and should also be included in the inverse problem. We assimilate geological uncertainties from an a priori geological model of Southeast Australia with geophysical uncertainties from S-wave tomography and 174 heat flow observations within an adjoint inversion framework. This reduces the computational cost of inverting high dimensional probability spaces, compared to probabilistic inversion techniques that operate in the `forward' mode, but at the sacrifice of uncertainty and covariance information. We overcome this restriction using a sensitivity analysis, that perturbs our observations and a priori information within their probability distributions, to estimate the posterior uncertainty of thermo-chemical parameters in the crust.

Advances in High-Fidelity Multi-Physics Simulation Techniques

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

predictor - corrector method is used to advance the solution in time. 33 x (m) y (m ) 0 1 2 3.00001 0 1 2 3 4 5 40 x 50 Grid 3 Figure 17: Typical...Unclassified c . THIS PAGE Unclassified 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT: SAR 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 60 Datta Gaitonde 19b. TELEPHONE...advanced parallel computing platforms. The motivation to develop high-fidelity algorithms derives from considerations in various areas of current

Wide-field Imaging System and Rapid Direction of Optical Zoom (WOZ)

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-25

commercial software packages: SolidWorks, COMSOL Multiphysics, and ZEMAX optical design. SolidWorks is a computer aided design package, which as a live...interface to COMSOL. COMSOL is a finite element analysis/partial differential equation solver. ZEMAX is an optical design package. Both COMSOL and... ZEMAX have live interfaces to MatLab. Our initial investigations have enabled a model in SolidWorks to be updated in COMSOL, an FEA calculation

Combined inverse-forward artificial neural networks for fast and accurate estimation of the diffusion coefficients of cartilage based on multi-physics models.

PubMed

Arbabi, Vahid; Pouran, Behdad; Weinans, Harrie; Zadpoor, Amir A

2016-09-06

Analytical and numerical methods have been used to extract essential engineering parameters such as elastic modulus, Poisson׳s ratio, permeability and diffusion coefficient from experimental data in various types of biological tissues. The major limitation associated with analytical techniques is that they are often only applicable to problems with simplified assumptions. Numerical multi-physics methods, on the other hand, enable minimizing the simplified assumptions but require substantial computational expertise, which is not always available. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that combines inverse and forward artificial neural networks (ANNs) which enables fast and accurate estimation of the diffusion coefficient of cartilage without any need for computational modeling. In this approach, an inverse ANN is trained using our multi-zone biphasic-solute finite-bath computational model of diffusion in cartilage to estimate the diffusion coefficient of the various zones of cartilage given the concentration-time curves. Robust estimation of the diffusion coefficients, however, requires introducing certain levels of stochastic variations during the training process. Determining the required level of stochastic variation is performed by coupling the inverse ANN with a forward ANN that receives the diffusion coefficient as input and returns the concentration-time curve as output. Combined together, forward-inverse ANNs enable computationally inexperienced users to obtain accurate and fast estimation of the diffusion coefficients of cartilage zones. The diffusion coefficients estimated using the proposed approach are compared with those determined using direct scanning of the parameter space as the optimization approach. It has been shown that both approaches yield comparable results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design and performance of a vacuum-bottle solid-state calorimeter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bracken, D.S.; Biddle, R.; Cech, R.

1997-11-01

EG and G Mound Applied Technologies calorimetry personnel have developed a small, thermos-bottle solid-state calorimeter, which is now undergoing performance testing at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The thermos-bottle solid-state calorimeter is an evaluation prototype for characterizing the heat output of small heat standards and other homogeneous heat sources. The current maximum sample size is 3.5 in. long with a diameter of 0.8 in. The overall size of the thermos bottle and thermoelectric cooling device is 9.25 in. high by 3.75 in. diameter and less than 3 lb. Coupling this unit with compact electronics and a laptop computer makes this calorimetermore » easily hand carried by a single individual. This compactness was achieved by servo controlling the reference temperature below room temperature and replacing the water bath used in conventional calorimeter design with the thermos-bottle insulator. Other design features will also be discussed. The performance of the calorimeter will be presented.« less

Use of Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) for Teaching and Performing Senior Design Projects at the Educational Institutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, A. K.; Hedayat, A.

2015-01-01

This paper describes the experience of the authors in using the Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) in teaching Design of Thermal Systems class at University of Alabama in Huntsville. GFSSP is a finite volume based thermo-fluid system network analysis code, developed at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, and is extensively used in NASA, Department of Defense, and aerospace industries for propulsion system design, analysis, and performance evaluation. The educational version of GFSSP is freely available to all US higher education institutions. The main purpose of the paper is to illustrate the utilization of this user-friendly code for the thermal systems design and fluid engineering courses and to encourage the instructors to utilize the code for the class assignments as well as senior design projects.

Multiscale and Multiphysics Modeling of Additive Manufacturing of Advanced Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, Frank; Newkirk, Joseph; Fan, Zhiqiang; Sparks, Todd; Chen, Xueyang; Fletcher, Kenneth; Zhang, Jingwei; Zhang, Yunlu; Kumar, Kannan Suresh; Karnati, Sreekar

2015-01-01

The objective of this proposed project is to research and develop a prediction tool for advanced additive manufacturing (AAM) processes for advanced materials and develop experimental methods to provide fundamental properties and establish validation data. Aircraft structures and engines demand materials that are stronger, useable at much higher temperatures, provide less acoustic transmission, and enable more aeroelastic tailoring than those currently used. Significant improvements in properties can only be achieved by processing the materials under nonequilibrium conditions, such as AAM processes. AAM processes encompass a class of processes that use a focused heat source to create a melt pool on a substrate. Examples include Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication and Direct Metal Deposition. These types of additive processes enable fabrication of parts directly from CAD drawings. To achieve the desired material properties and geometries of the final structure, assessing the impact of process parameters and predicting optimized conditions with numerical modeling as an effective prediction tool is necessary. The targets for the processing are multiple and at different spatial scales, and the physical phenomena associated occur in multiphysics and multiscale. In this project, the research work has been developed to model AAM processes in a multiscale and multiphysics approach. A macroscale model was developed to investigate the residual stresses and distortion in AAM processes. A sequentially coupled, thermomechanical, finite element model was developed and validated experimentally. The results showed the temperature distribution, residual stress, and deformation within the formed deposits and substrates. A mesoscale model was developed to include heat transfer, phase change with mushy zone, incompressible free surface flow, solute redistribution, and surface tension. Because of excessive computing time needed, a parallel computing approach was also tested. In addition, after investigating various methods, a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Model (SPH Model) was developed to model wire feeding process. Its computational efficiency and simple architecture makes it more robust and flexible than other models. More research on material properties may be needed to realistically model the AAM processes. A microscale model was developed to investigate heterogeneous nucleation, dendritic grain growth, epitaxial growth of columnar grains, columnar-to-equiaxed transition, grain transport in melt, and other properties. The orientations of the columnar grains were almost perpendicular to the laser motion's direction. Compared to the similar studies in the literature, the multiple grain morphology modeling result is in the same order of magnitude as optical morphologies in the experiment. Experimental work was conducted to validate different models. An infrared camera was incorporated as a process monitoring and validating tool to identify the solidus and mushy zones during deposition. The images were successfully processed to identify these regions. This research project has investigated multiscale and multiphysics of the complex AAM processes thus leading to advanced understanding of these processes. The project has also developed several modeling tools and experimental validation tools that will be very critical in the future of AAM process qualification and certification.

Control of Thermal Convection in Layered Fluids Using Magnetic fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramachandran, N.; Leslie, F. W.

2003-01-01

Immiscible fluid layers are found in a host of applications ranging from materials processing, for example the use of encapsulants in float zone crystal growth technique and a buffer layer in industrial Czochralski growth of crystals to prevent Marangoni convection, to heat transfer phenomena in day-to-day processes like the presence of air pockets in heat exchangers. In the microgravity and space processing realm, the exploration of other planets requires the development of enabling technologies in several fronts. The reduction in the gravity level poses unique challenges for fluid handling and heat transfer applications. The present work investigates the efficacy of controlling thermal convective flow using magnetic fluids and magnetic fields. The setup is a two-layer immiscible liquids system with one of the fluids being a diluted ferrofluid (super paramagnetic nano particles dispersed in carrier fluid). Using an external magnetic field one can essentially dial in a volumetric force - gravity level, on the magnetic fluid and thereby affect the system thermo-fluid behavior. The paper will describe the experimental and numerical modeling approach to the problem and discuss results obtained to date.

Novel design and fabrication of a geometrical obstacle-embedded micromixer with notched wall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Shih-Jeh; Hsu, Hsiang-Chen; Feng, Wen-Jui

2014-09-01

A microfluidic embedded MEMS mixer with a Y-junction type channel and cylindrical obstructions was designed and fabricated for improving the fluid mixing mechanism under low Reynolds number (\\mathit{Re}) condition. The flow field was simulated numerically by software (COMSOL multiphysics®) first. The design was then realized through casting the device in PDMS by lithographed SU-8 photo-resistive mold on silicon wafer. Parametric experimental studies were conducted for optimal design. Two different fluids were pumped into the two legs of the Y-junction channel, and the fluids were broken-up by an embedded cylindrical obstacle in the middle of the tapered micro-channel. The chaotic convection took place in the mixing channel behind the embedded cylindrical obstacles. The flow motion was observed under CCD camera and analyzed by grey level. The developed micromixer in this study can enhance the fluid mixing by the interaction of diffusion and convection for wide range of Reynolds numbers (0.01 < \\mathit{Re} < 100). Experimental results showed that the mixing index reached the required value at 0.1 within 0.024 seconds when the inlet fluid velocity is 0.499 m/s (i.e., at 1200 µl/min flow rate) for merely four cylindrical obstacles. A shorter mixing distance can be accomplished compared to the current devices reported due to faster mixing and shorter mixing time.

A geometrical multi-scale numerical method for coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical problems in photovoltaic laminates.

PubMed

Lenarda, P; Paggi, M

A comprehensive computational framework based on the finite element method for the simulation of coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical problems in photovoltaic laminates is herein proposed. While the thermo-mechanical problem takes place in the three-dimensional space of the laminate, moisture diffusion occurs in a two-dimensional domain represented by the polymeric layers and by the vertical channel cracks in the solar cells. Therefore, a geometrical multi-scale solution strategy is pursued by solving the partial differential equations governing heat transfer and thermo-elasticity in the three-dimensional space, and the partial differential equation for moisture diffusion in the two dimensional domains. By exploiting a staggered scheme, the thermo-mechanical problem is solved first via a fully implicit solution scheme in space and time, with a specific treatment of the polymeric layers as zero-thickness interfaces whose constitutive response is governed by a novel thermo-visco-elastic cohesive zone model based on fractional calculus. Temperature and relative displacements along the domains where moisture diffusion takes place are then projected to the finite element model of diffusion, coupled with the thermo-mechanical problem by the temperature and crack opening dependent diffusion coefficient. The application of the proposed method to photovoltaic modules pinpoints two important physical aspects: (i) moisture diffusion in humidity freeze tests with a temperature dependent diffusivity is a much slower process than in the case of a constant diffusion coefficient; (ii) channel cracks through Silicon solar cells significantly enhance moisture diffusion and electric degradation, as confirmed by experimental tests.

General linear methods and friends: Toward efficient solutions of multiphysics problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandu, Adrian

2017-07-01

Time dependent multiphysics partial differential equations are of great practical importance as they model diverse phenomena that appear in mechanical and chemical engineering, aeronautics, astrophysics, meteorology and oceanography, financial modeling, environmental sciences, etc. There is no single best time discretization for the complex multiphysics systems of practical interest. We discuss "multimethod" approaches that combine different time steps and discretizations using the rigourous frameworks provided by Partitioned General Linear Methods and Generalize-structure Additive Runge Kutta Methods..

Thermal Analysis of Nanofluids Using Modeling and Molecular Dynamics Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Namboori, P. K. Krishnan; Vasavi, C. S.; Gopal, K. Varun; Gopakumar, Deepa; Ramachandran, K. I.; Narayanan, B. Sabarish

2010-10-01

Nanofluids are nanotechnology-based heat transfer fluids obtained by suspending nanometer-sized particles in conventional heat transfer fluids in a stable manner. In many of the physical phenomena such as boiling and properties such as latent heat, thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient, there is significant change on addition of nanoparticles. These exceptional qualities of Nanofluids mainly depend on the atomic level mechanisms, which in turn govern all mechanical properties like strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, compressibility etc. Control over the fundamental thermo physical properties of the working medium will help to understand these unique phenomena of nanofluids to a great extent. Macroscopic modeling approaches, which are based on conventional relations of thermodynamics, have been proved to be incompetent to explain this difference. Atomistic `modeling and simulation' has been emerged out as an efficient alternative for this. The enhancement of thermal conductivity of water by suspending nanoparticle inclusions has been experimented and proved to be an effective method of enhancing convective heat dissipation. This work mainly deals with characterization of the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Nano particle sized aluminium oxide; copper oxide and titanium dioxide have been taken in this work for the analysis of thermal conductivity. The effect of thermal conductivity on parameters like volume concentration of the fluid, nature of particle material and size of the particle has been computationally formulated. It has been found that there is an increase in effective thermal conductivity of the fluid by the addition of nanomaterials ascertaining an improvement in the heat transfer behavior of nanofluids. This facilitates the reduction in size of such heat transfer systems (radiators) and lead to increased energy and fuel efficiency, lower pollution and improved reliability.

Multi-Fluid Simulations of a Coupled Ionosphere-Magnetosphere System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gombosi, T. I.; Glocer, A.; Toth, G.; Ridley, A. J.; Sokolov, I. V.; de Zeeuw, D. L.

2008-05-01

In the last decade we have developed the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) that efficiently couples together different models describing the interacting regions of the space environment. Many of these domain models (such as the global solar corona, the inner heliosphere or the global magnetosphere) are based on MHD and are represented by our multiphysics code, BATS-R-US. BATS-R-US can solve the equations of "standard" ideal MHD, but it can also go beyond this first approximation. It can solve resistive MHD, Hall MHD, semi-relativistic MHD (that keeps the displacement current), multispecies (different ion species have different continuity equations) and multifluid (all ion species have separate continuity, momentum and energy equations) MHD. Recently we added two-fluid Hall MHD (solving the electron and ion energy equations separately) and are working on an extended magnetohydrodynamics model with anisotropic pressures. Ionosheric outflow can be a significant contributor to the plasma population of the magnetosphere during active geomagnetic conditions. This talk will present preliminary results of our simulations when we couple a new field- aligned multi-fluid polar wind code to the Ionosphere Electrodynamics (IE), and Global Magnetosphere (GM) components of the SWMF. We use multi-species and multi-fluid MHD to track the resulting plasma composition in the magnetosphere.

Discontinuous Galerkin method for multicomponent chemically reacting flows and combustion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Yu; Ihme, Matthias

2014-08-01

This paper presents the development of a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for application to chemically reacting flows in subsonic and supersonic regimes under the consideration of variable thermo-viscous-diffusive transport properties, detailed and stiff reaction chemistry, and shock capturing. A hybrid-flux formulation is developed for treatment of the convective fluxes, combining a conservative Riemann-solver and an extended double-flux scheme. A computationally efficient splitting scheme is proposed, in which advection and diffusion operators are solved in the weak form, and the chemically stiff substep is advanced in the strong form using a time-implicit scheme. The discretization of the viscous-diffusive transport terms follows the second form of Bassi and Rebay, and the WENO-based limiter due to Zhong and Shu is extended to multicomponent systems. Boundary conditions are developed for subsonic and supersonic flow conditions, and the algorithm is coupled to thermochemical libraries to account for detailed reaction chemistry and complex transport. The resulting DG method is applied to a series of test cases of increasing physico-chemical complexity. Beginning with one- and two-dimensional multispecies advection and shock-fluid interaction problems, computational efficiency, convergence, and conservation properties are demonstrated. This study is followed by considering a series of detonation and supersonic combustion problems to investigate the convergence-rate and the shock-capturing capability in the presence of one- and multistep reaction chemistry. The DG algorithm is then applied to diffusion-controlled deflagration problems. By examining convergence properties for polynomial order and spatial resolution, and comparing these with second-order finite-volume solutions, it is shown that optimal convergence is achieved and that polynomial refinement provides advantages in better resolving the localized flame structure and complex flow-field features associated with multidimensional and hydrodynamic/thermo-diffusive instabilities in deflagration and detonation systems. Comparisons with standard third- and fifth-order WENO schemes are presented to illustrate the benefit of the DG scheme for application to detonation and multispecies flow/shock-interaction problems.

Self-organization of hydrothermal outflow and recharge in young oceanic crust: Constraints from open-top porous convection analog experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mittelstaedt, E. L.; Olive, J. A. L.; Barreyre, T.

2016-12-01

Hydrothermal circulation at the axis of mid-ocean ridges has a profound effect on chemical and biological processes in the deep ocean, and influences the thermo-mechanical state of young oceanic lithosphere. Yet, the geometry of fluid pathways beneath the seafloor and its relation to spatial gradients in crustal permeability remain enigmatic. Here we present new laboratory models of hydrothermal circulation aimed at constraining the self-organization of porous convection cells in homogeneous as well as highly heterogeneous crust analogs. Oceanic crust analogs of known permeability are constructed using uniform glass spheres and 3-D printed plastics with a network of mutually perpendicular tubes. These materials are saturated with corn syrup-water mixtures and heated at their base by a resistive silicone strip heater to initiate thermal convection. A layer of pure fluid (i.e., an analog ocean) overlies the porous medium and allows an "open-top" boundary condition. Areas of fluid discharge from the crust into the ocean are identified by illuminating microscopic glass particles carried by the fluid, using laser sheets. Using particle image velocimetry, we estimate fluid discharge rates as well as the location and extent of fluid recharge. Thermo-couples distributed throughout the crust provide insights into the geometry of convection cells at depth, and enable estimates of convective heat flux, which can be compared to the heat supplied at the base of the system. Preliminary results indicate that in homogeneous crust, convection is largely confined to the narrow slot overlying the heat source. Regularly spaced discharge zones appear focused while recharge areas appear diffuse, and qualitatively resemble the along-axis distribution of hydrothermal fields at oceanic spreading centers. By varying the permeability of the crustal analogs, the viscosity of the convecting fluid, and the imposed basal temperature, our experiments span Rayleigh numbers between 10 and 10,000. This allows us to precisely map the conditions of convection initiation, and test scaling relations between the Nusselt and Rayleigh numbers. Finally, we investigate how these scalings and convection geometry change when a slot of high-permeability material (i.e., an analog fault) is introduced in the middle of the porous domain.

Computer Simulation and Modeling of CO2 Removal Systems for Exploration 2013-2014

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coker, R.; Knox, J.; Gomez, C.

2015-01-01

The Atmosphere Revitalization Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) project was initiated in September of 2011 as part of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program. Under the ARREM project and the follow-on Life Support Systems (LSS) project, testing of sub-scale and full-scale systems has been combined with multiphysics computer simulations for evaluation and optimization of subsystem approaches. In particular, this paper will describes the testing and 1-D modeling of the combined water desiccant and carbon dioxide sorbent subsystems of the carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA). The goal is a full system predictive model of CDRA to guide system optimization and development.

Modeling Hybridization Kinetics of Gene Probes in a DNA Biochip Using FEMLAB

PubMed Central

Munir, Ahsan; Waseem, Hassan; Williams, Maggie R.; Stedtfeld, Robert D.; Gulari, Erdogan; Tiedje, James M.; Hashsham, Syed A.

2017-01-01

Microfluidic DNA biochips capable of detecting specific DNA sequences are useful in medical diagnostics, drug discovery, food safety monitoring and agriculture. They are used as miniaturized platforms for analysis of nucleic acids-based biomarkers. Binding kinetics between immobilized single stranded DNA on the surface and its complementary strand present in the sample are of interest. To achieve optimal sensitivity with minimum sample size and rapid hybridization, ability to predict the kinetics of hybridization based on the thermodynamic characteristics of the probe is crucial. In this study, a computer aided numerical model for the design and optimization of a flow-through biochip was developed using a finite element technique packaged software tool (FEMLAB; package included in COMSOL Multiphysics) to simulate the transport of DNA through a microfluidic chamber to the reaction surface. The model accounts for fluid flow, convection and diffusion in the channel and on the reaction surface. Concentration, association rate constant, dissociation rate constant, recirculation flow rate, and temperature were key parameters affecting the rate of hybridization. The model predicted the kinetic profile and signal intensities of eighteen 20-mer probes targeting vancomycin resistance genes (VRGs). Predicted signal intensities and hybridization kinetics strongly correlated with experimental data in the biochip (R2 = 0.8131). PMID:28555058

Modeling Hybridization Kinetics of Gene Probes in a DNA Biochip Using FEMLAB.

PubMed

Munir, Ahsan; Waseem, Hassan; Williams, Maggie R; Stedtfeld, Robert D; Gulari, Erdogan; Tiedje, James M; Hashsham, Syed A

2017-05-29

Microfluidic DNA biochips capable of detecting specific DNA sequences are useful in medical diagnostics, drug discovery, food safety monitoring and agriculture. They are used as miniaturized platforms for analysis of nucleic acids-based biomarkers. Binding kinetics between immobilized single stranded DNA on the surface and its complementary strand present in the sample are of interest. To achieve optimal sensitivity with minimum sample size and rapid hybridization, ability to predict the kinetics of hybridization based on the thermodynamic characteristics of the probe is crucial. In this study, a computer aided numerical model for the design and optimization of a flow-through biochip was developed using a finite element technique packaged software tool (FEMLAB; package included in COMSOL Multiphysics) to simulate the transport of DNA through a microfluidic chamber to the reaction surface. The model accounts for fluid flow, convection and diffusion in the channel and on the reaction surface. Concentration, association rate constant, dissociation rate constant, recirculation flow rate, and temperature were key parameters affecting the rate of hybridization. The model predicted the kinetic profile and signal intensities of eighteen 20-mer probes targeting vancomycin resistance genes (VRGs). Predicted signal intensities and hybridization kinetics strongly correlated with experimental data in the biochip (R² = 0.8131).

Optimization of coupled multiphysics methodology for safety analysis of pebble bed modular reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mkhabela, Peter Tshepo

The research conducted within the framework of this PhD thesis is devoted to the high-fidelity multi-physics (based on neutronics/thermal-hydraulics coupling) analysis of Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR), which is a High Temperature Reactor (HTR). The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) will be a HTR design. The core design and safety analysis methods are considerably less developed and mature for HTR analysis than those currently used for Light Water Reactors (LWRs). Compared to LWRs, the HTR transient analysis is more demanding since it requires proper treatment of both slower and much longer transients (of time scale in hours and days) and fast and short transients (of time scale in minutes and seconds). There is limited operation and experimental data available for HTRs for validation of coupled multi-physics methodologies. This PhD work developed and verified reliable high fidelity coupled multi-physics models subsequently implemented in robust, efficient, and accurate computational tools to analyse the neutronics and thermal-hydraulic behaviour for design optimization and safety evaluation of PBMR concept The study provided a contribution to a greater accuracy of neutronics calculations by including the feedback from thermal hydraulics driven temperature calculation and various multi-physics effects that can influence it. Consideration of the feedback due to the influence of leakage was taken into account by development and implementation of improved buckling feedback models. Modifications were made in the calculation procedure to ensure that the xenon depletion models were accurate for proper interpolation from cross section tables. To achieve this, the NEM/THERMIX coupled code system was developed to create the system that is efficient and stable over the duration of transient calculations that last over several tens of hours. Another achievement of the PhD thesis was development and demonstration of full-physics, three-dimensional safety analysis methodology for the PBMR to provide reference solutions. Investigation of different aspects of the coupled methodology and development of efficient kinetics treatment for the PBMR were carried out, which accounts for all feedback phenomena in an efficient manner. The OECD/NEA PBMR-400 coupled code benchmark was used as a test matrix for the proposed investigations. The integrated thermal-hydraulics and neutronics (multi-physics) methods were extended to enable modeling of a wider range of transients pertinent to the PBMR. First, the effect of the spatial mapping schemes (spatial coupling) was studied and quantified for different types of transients, which resulted in implementation of improved mapping methodology based on user defined criteria. The second aspect that was studied and optimized is the temporal coupling and meshing schemes between the neutronics and thermal-hydraulics time step selection algorithms. The coupled code convergence was achieved supplemented by application of methods to accelerate it. Finally, the modeling of all feedback phenomena in PBMRs was investigated and a novel treatment of cross-section dependencies was introduced for improving the representation of cross-section variations. The added benefit was that in the process of studying and improving the coupled multi-physics methodology more insight was gained into the physics and dynamics of PBMR, which will help also to optimize the PBMR design and improve its safety. One unique contribution of the PhD research is the investigation of the importance of the correct representation of the three-dimensional (3-D) effects in the PBMR analysis. The performed studies demonstrated that explicit 3-D modeling of control rod movement is superior and removes the errors associated with the grey curtain (2-D homogenized) approximation.

A Multiphysics Finite Element and Peridynamics Model of Dielectric Breakdown

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

A method for simulating dielectric breakdown in solid materials is presented that couples electro-quasi-statics, the adiabatic heat equation, and...temperatures or high strains. The Kelvin force computation used in the method is verified against a 1-D solution and the linearization scheme used to treat the...plane problems, a 2-D composite capacitor with a conductive flaw, and a 3-D point–plane problem. The results show that the method is capable of

Experiments on fragmentation and thermo-chemical exchanges during planetary core formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wacheul, Jean-Baptiste; Le Bars, Michael

2018-03-01

The initial thermo-chemical state of telluric planets was largely controlled by mixing following the collision of differentiated proto-planets. Up to now, most models of planet formation simply assume that the iron core of the impactors immediately broke up to form an "iron rain" within a large-scale magma ocean, leading to the rapid equilibration of the whole metal with the whole mantle. Only recent studies have focused on resolving the fluid mechanics of the problem, with the aim to define more relevant diffusion-advection models of thermal and chemical exchanges within and between the two fluids. Furthermore, the influence of the viscosity ratio on this dynamical process is generally neglected, whilst it is known to play a role in the breakup of the initial iron diapirs and in the shape of the resulting droplets. Here we report the results of analog laboratory experiments matching the dynamical regime of the geophysical configuration. High speed video recording allows us to describe and characterize the fluid dynamics of the system, and temperature measurements allow us to quantify the diffusive exchanges integrated during the fall of the liquid metal. We find that the early representation of this flow as an iron rain is far from the experimental results. The equilibration coefficient at a given depth depends both on the initial size of the metal diapir and on the viscosity of the ambient fluid, whereas the falling speed is only controlled by the initial size. Various scalings for the diffusive exchanges coming from the literature are tested. We find good agreement with the turbulent thermal model developed by Deguen et al. (2014).

Study of fluid behaviour under gravity compensated by a magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatain, D.; Beysens, D.; Madet, K.; Nikolayev, V.; Mailfert, A.

2006-09-01

Fluids, and especially cryogenic fluids like hydrogen and oxygen, are widely used in space technology for propulsion and cooling. The knowledge of fluid behaviour during the acceleration variation and under reduced gravity is necessary for an efficient management of fluids in space. Such a management also rises fundamental questions about thermo-hydrodynamics and phase change once buoyancy forces are cancelled. For security reasons, it is nearly impossible to use the classical microgravity means to experiment with such cryofluids. However, it is possible to counterbalance gravity by using the paramagnetic (O2) or diamagnetic (H2) properties of fluids. By applying a magnetic field gradient on these materials, a volume force is created that is able to impose to the fluid a varying effective gravity, including microgravity. We have set up a magnetic levitation facility for H2 in which numerous experiments have been performed. A new facility for O2 is under construction. It will enable fast change in the effective gravity by quenching down the magnetic field. The facilities and some particularly representative experimental results are presented.

Nasal delivery of analgesic ketorolac tromethamine thermo- and ion-sensitive in situ hydrogels.

PubMed

Li, Xin; Du, Lina; Chen, Xu; Ge, Pingju; Wang, Yu; Fu, Yangmu; Sun, Haiyan; Jiang, Qingwei; Jin, Yiguang

2015-07-15

Ketorolac tromethamine (KT) was potent to treat moderate to moderately severe pains. However, KT solutions for nasal delivery lost quickly from the nasal route. Thermo- and ion-sensitive in-situ hydrogels (ISGs) are appropriate for nasal drug delivery because the intranasal temperature maintains ∼37 °C and nasal fluids consist of plentiful cations. In this study, a novel nasal thermo- and ion-sensitive ISG of KT was prepared with thermo-sensitive poloxamer 407 (P407) and ion-sensitive deacetylated gellan gum (DGG). The optimal formulation of the KT ISG consisted of 3% (w/v) DGG and 18% (w/v) P407 and its viscosity was up to 7.63 Pas at 37 °C. Furthermore, penetration enhancers and bacterial inhibitors were added and their fractions in the ISG were optimized based on transmucosal efficiencies and toxicity on toad pili. Sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin of 2.5% (w/v) and chlorobutanol of 0.5% (w/v) were chosen as the penetration enhancer and the bacterial inhibitor, respectively. The Fick's diffusion and dissolution of KT could drive it continuous release from the dually sensitive ISG according to the in vitro investigation. Two methods, writhing frequencies induced by acetic acid and latency time of tails retracting from hot water, were used to evaluate the pharmacodynamics of the KT ISG on the mouse models. The writhing frequencies significantly decreased and the latency time of tail retracting was obviously prolonged (p<0.05) for the KT ISG compared to the control. The thermo- and ion-sensitive KT ISG had appropriate gelation temperature, sustained drug release, improved intranasal absorption, obvious pharmacodynamic effect, and negligible nasal ciliotoxicity. It is a promising intranasal analgesic formulation. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

BRISC is a developmental prototype for a nextgeneration “systems-level” integrated performance and safety code (IPSC) for nuclear reactors. Its development served to demonstrate how a lightweight multi-physics coupling approach can be used to tightly couple the physics models in several different physics codes (written in a variety of languages) into one integrated package for simulating accident scenarios in a liquid sodium cooled “burner” nuclear reactor. For example, the RIO Fluid Flow and Heat transfer code developed at Sandia (SNL: Chris Moen, Dept. 08005) is used in BRISC to model fluid flow and heat transfer, as well as conduction heat transfermore » in solids. Because BRISC is a prototype, its most practical application is as a foundation or starting point for developing a true production code. The sub-codes and the associated models and correlations currently employed within BRISC were chosen to cover the required application space and demonstrate feasibility, but were not optimized or validated against experimental data within the context of their use in BRISC.« less

Modeling and simulation of multiphase multicomponent multiphysics porous media flows in the context of chemical enhanced oil recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutta, Sourav; Daripa, Prabir; Fluids Team

2015-11-01

One of the most important methods of chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) involves the use of complex flooding schemes comprising of various layers of fluids mixed with suitable amounts of polymer or surfactant or both. The fluid flow is characterized by the spontaneous formation of complex viscous fingering patterns which is considered detrimental to oil recovery. Here we numerically study the physics of such EOR processes using a modern, hybrid method based on a combination of a discontinuous, multiscale finite element formulation and the method of characteristics. We investigate the effect of different types of heterogeneity on the fingering mechanism of these complex multiphase flows and determine the impact on oil recovery. We also study the effect of surfactants on the dynamics of the flow via reduction of capillary forces and increase in relative permeabilities. Supported by the grant NPRP 08-777-1-141 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).

Anatomy of a fumarolic system inferred from a multiphysics approach.

PubMed

Gresse, Marceau; Vandemeulebrouck, Jean; Byrdina, Svetlana; Chiodini, Giovanni; Roux, Philippe; Rinaldi, Antonio Pio; Wathelet, Marc; Ricci, Tullio; Letort, Jean; Petrillo, Zaccaria; Tuccimei, Paola; Lucchetti, Carlo; Sciarra, Alessandra

2018-05-15

Fumaroles are a common manifestation of volcanic activity that are associated with large emissions of gases into the atmosphere. These gases originate from the magma, and they can provide indirect and unique insights into magmatic processes. Therefore, they are extensively used to monitor and forecast eruptive activity. During their ascent, the magmatic gases interact with the rock and hydrothermal fluids, which modify their geochemical compositions. These interactions can complicate our understanding of the real volcanic dynamics and remain poorly considered. Here, we present the first complete imagery of a fumarolic plumbing system using three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography and new acoustic noise localization. We delineate a gas reservoir that feeds the fumaroles through distinct channels. Based on this geometry, a thermodynamic model reveals that near-surface mixing between gas and condensed steam explains the distinct geochemical compositions of fumaroles that originate from the same source. Such modeling of fluid interactions will allow for the simulation of dynamic processes of magmatic degassing, which is crucial to the monitoring of volcanic unrest.

Numerical and Experimental Investigations of Humping Phenomena in Laser Micro Welding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otto, Andreas; Patschger, Andreas; Seiler, Michael

The Humping effect is a phenomenon which is observed approximately since 50 years in various welding procedures and is characterized by droplets due to a pile-up of the melt pool. It occurs within a broad range of process parameters. Particularly during micro welding, humping effect is critical due to typically high feed rates. In the past, essentially two approaches (fluid-dynamic approach of streaming melt within the molten pool and the Plateau-Rayleigh instability of a liquid jet) were discussed in order to explain the occurrence of the humping effect. But none of both can fully explain all observed effects. For this reason, experimental studies in micro welding of thin metal foils were performed in order to determine the influence of process parameters on the occurrence of humping effects. The experimental observations were compared with results from numerical multi-physical simulations (incorporating beam propagation, incoupling, heat transfer, fluid dynamics etc.) to provide a deeper understanding of the causes for hump formation.

Multiphysics and multiscale modelling, data-model fusion and integration of organ physiology in the clinic: ventricular cardiac mechanics.

PubMed

Chabiniok, Radomir; Wang, Vicky Y; Hadjicharalambous, Myrianthi; Asner, Liya; Lee, Jack; Sermesant, Maxime; Kuhl, Ellen; Young, Alistair A; Moireau, Philippe; Nash, Martyn P; Chapelle, Dominique; Nordsletten, David A

2016-04-06

With heart and cardiovascular diseases continually challenging healthcare systems worldwide, translating basic research on cardiac (patho)physiology into clinical care is essential. Exacerbating this already extensive challenge is the complexity of the heart, relying on its hierarchical structure and function to maintain cardiovascular flow. Computational modelling has been proposed and actively pursued as a tool for accelerating research and translation. Allowing exploration of the relationships between physics, multiscale mechanisms and function, computational modelling provides a platform for improving our understanding of the heart. Further integration of experimental and clinical data through data assimilation and parameter estimation techniques is bringing computational models closer to use in routine clinical practice. This article reviews developments in computational cardiac modelling and how their integration with medical imaging data is providing new pathways for translational cardiac modelling.

Thermo-Mechanical Effect on Poly Crystalline Boron Nitride Tool Life During Friction Stir Welding (Dwell Period)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almoussawi, M.; Smith, A. J.

2018-05-01

Poly Crystalline Boron Nitride (PCBN) tool wear during the friction stir welding of high melting alloys is an obstacle to commercialize the process. This work simulates the friction stir welding process and tool wear during the plunge/dwell period of 14.8 mm EH46 thick plate steel. The Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model was used for simulation and the wear of the tool is estimated from temperatures and shear stress profile on the tool surface. Two sets of tool rotational speeds were applied including 120 and 200 RPM. Seven plunge/dwell samples were prepared using PCBN FSW tool, six thermocouples were also embedded around each plunge/dwell case in order to record the temperatures during the welding process. Infinite focus microscopy technique was used to create macrographs for each case. The CFD result has been shown that a shear layer around the tool shoulder and probe-side denoted as thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ) was formed and its size increase with tool rotational speed increase. Maximum peak temperature was also found to increase with tool rotational speed increase. PCBN tool wear under shoulder was found to increase with tool rotational speed increase as a result of tool's binder softening after reaching to a peak temperature exceeds 1250 °C. Tool wear also found to increase at probe-side bottom as a result of high shear stress associated with the decrease in the tool rotational speed. The amount of BN particles revealed by SEM in the TMAZ were compared with the CFD model.

Experimental and numerical study of heterogeneous pressure-temperature-induced lethal and sublethal injury of Lactococcus lactis in a medium scale high-pressure autoclave.

PubMed

Kilimann, K V; Kitsubun, P; Delgado, A; Gänzle, M G; Chapleau, N; Le Bail, A; Hartmann, C

2006-07-05

The present contribution is dedicated to experimental and theoretical assessment of microbiological process heterogeneities of the high-pressure (HP) inactivation of Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris MG 1363. The inactivation kinetics are determined in dependence of pressure, process time, temperature and absence or presence of co-solutes in the buffer system namely 4 M sodium chloride and 1.5 M sucrose. The kinetic analysis is carried out in a 0.1-L autoclave in order to minimise thermal and convective effects. Upon these data, a deterministic inactivation model is formulated with the logistic equation. Its independent variables represent the counts of viable cells (viable but injured) and of the stress-resistant cells (viable and not injured). This model is then coupled to a thermo-fluiddynamical simulation method, high-pressure computer fluid dynamics technique (HP-CFD), which yields spatiotemporal temperature and flow fields occurring during the HP application inside any considered autoclave. Besides the thermo-fluiddynamic quantities, the coupled model predicts also the spatiotemporal distribution of both viable (VC) and stress-resistant cell counts (SRC). In order to assess the process non-uniformity of the microbial inactivation in a 3.3-L autoclave experimentally, microbial samples are placed at two distinct locations and are exposed to various process conditions. It can be shown with both, experimental and theoretical models that thermal heterogeneities induce process non-uniformities of more than one decimal power in the counts of the viable cells at the end of the treatment. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of FAST.Farm: A New Multiphysics Engineering Tool for Wind Farm Design and Analysis: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jonkman, Jason; Annoni, Jennifer; Hayman, Greg

2017-01-01

This paper presents the development of FAST.Farm, a new multiphysics tool applicable to engineering problems in research and industry involving wind farm performance and cost optimization that is needed to address the current underperformance, failures, and expenses plaguing the wind industry. Achieving wind cost-of-energy targets - which requires improvements in wind farm performance and reliability, together with reduced uncertainty and expenditures - has been eluded by the complicated nature of the wind farm design problem, especially the sophisticated interaction between atmospheric phenomena and wake dynamics and array effects. FAST.Farm aims to balance the need for accurate modeling of the relevantmore » physics for predicting power performance and loads while maintaining low computational cost to support a highly iterative and probabilistic design process and system-wide optimization. FAST.Farm makes use of FAST to model the aero-hydro-servo-elastics of distinct turbines in the wind farm, and it is based on some of the principles of the Dynamic Wake Meandering (DWM) model, but avoids many of the limitations of existing DWM implementations.« less

Physics-based multiscale coupling for full core nuclear reactor simulation

DOE PAGES

Gaston, Derek R.; Permann, Cody J.; Peterson, John W.; ...

2015-10-01

Numerical simulation of nuclear reactors is a key technology in the quest for improvements in efficiency, safety, and reliability of both existing and future reactor designs. Historically, simulation of an entire reactor was accomplished by linking together multiple existing codes that each simulated a subset of the relevant multiphysics phenomena. Recent advances in the MOOSE (Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment) framework have enabled a new approach: multiple domain-specific applications, all built on the same software framework, are efficiently linked to create a cohesive application. This is accomplished with a flexible coupling capability that allows for a variety of different datamore » exchanges to occur simultaneously on high performance parallel computational hardware. Examples based on the KAIST-3A benchmark core, as well as a simplified Westinghouse AP-1000 configuration, demonstrate the power of this new framework for tackling—in a coupled, multiscale manner—crucial reactor phenomena such as CRUD-induced power shift and fuel shuffle. 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-SA license« less

Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

The Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) software library developed at Idaho National Laboratory is a tool. MOOSE, like other tools, doesn't actually complete a task. Instead, MOOSE seeks to reduce the effort required to create engineering simulation applications. MOOSE itself is a software library: a blank canvas upon which you write equations and then MOOSE can help you solve them. MOOSE is comparable to a spreadsheet application. A spreadsheet, by itself, doesn't do anything. Only once equations are entered into it will a spreadsheet application compute anything. Such is the same for MOOSE. An engineer or scientist can utilizemore » the equation solvers within MOOSE to solve equations related to their area of study. For instance, a geomechanical scientist can input equations related to water flow in underground reservoirs and MOOSE can solve those equations to give the scientist an idea of how water could move over time. An engineer might input equations related to the forces in steel beams in order to understand the load bearing capacity of a bridge. Because MOOSE is a blank canvas it can be useful in many scientific and engineering pursuits.« less

Thermo-Gas-Dynamic Model of Afterburning in Explosions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuhl, A L; Ferguson, R E; Bell, J B

2003-07-27

A theoretical model of afterburning in explosions created by turbulent mixing of the detonation products from fuel-rich charges with air is described. It contains three key elements: (i) a thermodynamic-equilibrium description of the fluids (fuel, air, and products), (ii) a multi-component gas-dynamic treatment of the flow field, and (iii) a sub-grid model of molecular processes of mixing, combustion and equilibration.

3D modelling of squeeze flow of unidirectional and fabric composite inserts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghnatios, Chady; Abisset-Chavanne, Emmanuelle; Chinesta, Francisco; Keunings, Roland

2016-10-01

The enhanced design flexibility provided to the thermo-forming of thermoplastic materials arises from the use of both continuous and discontinuous thermoplastic prepregs. Discontinuous prepregs are patches used to locally strengthen the part. In this paper, we propose a new modelling approach for suspensions involving composite patches that uses theoretical concepts related to discontinuous fibres suspensions, transversally isotropic fluids and extended dumbbell models.

Reversible thermo-pneumatic valves on centrifugal microfluidic platforms.

PubMed

Aeinehvand, Mohammad Mahdi; Ibrahim, Fatimah; Harun, Sulaiman Wadi; Kazemzadeh, Amin; Rothan, Hussin A; Yusof, Rohana; Madou, Marc

2015-08-21

Centrifugal microfluidic systems utilize a conventional spindle motor to automate parallel biochemical assays on a single microfluidic disk. The integration of complex, sequential microfluidic procedures on these platforms relies on robust valving techniques that allow for the precise control and manipulation of fluid flow. The ability of valves to consistently return to their former conditions after each actuation plays a significant role in the real-time manipulation of fluidic operations. In this paper, we introduce an active valving technique that operates based on the deflection of a latex film with the potential for real-time flow manipulation in a wide range of operational spinning speeds. The reversible thermo-pneumatic valve (RTPV) seals or reopens an inlet when a trapped air volume is heated or cooled, respectively. The RTPV is a gas-impermeable valve composed of an air chamber enclosed by a latex membrane and a specially designed liquid transition chamber that enables the efficient usage of the applied thermal energy. Inputting thermo-pneumatic (TP) energy into the air chamber deflects the membrane into the liquid transition chamber against an inlet, sealing it and thus preventing fluid flow. From this point, a centrifugal pressure higher than the induced TP pressure in the air chamber reopens the fluid pathway. The behaviour of this newly introduced reversible valving system on a microfluidic disk is studied experimentally and theoretically over a range of rotational frequencies from 700 RPM to 2500 RPM. Furthermore, adding a physical component (e.g., a hemispherical rubber element) to induce initial flow resistance shifts the operational range of rotational frequencies of the RTPV to more than 6000 RPM. An analytical solution for the cooling of a heated RTPV on a spinning disk is also presented, which highlights the need for the future development of time-programmable RTPVs. Moreover, the reversibility and gas impermeability of the RTPV in the microfluidic networks are validated on a microfluidic disk designed for performing liquid circulation. Finally, an array of RTPVs is integrated into a microfluidic cartridge to enable sequential aliquoting for the conversion of dengue virus RNA to cDNA and the preparation of PCR reaction mixtures.

The State of Stress Beyond the Borehole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, P. A.; Coblentz, D. D.; Maceira, M.; Delorey, A. A.; Guyer, R. A.

2015-12-01

The state of stress controls all in-situ reservoir activities and yet we lack the quantitative means to measure it. This problem is important in light of the fact that the subsurface provides more than 80 percent of the energy used in the United States and serves as a reservoir for geological carbon sequestration, used fuel disposition, and nuclear waste storage. Adaptive control of subsurface fractures and fluid flow is a crosscutting challenge being addressed by the new Department of Energy SubTER Initiative that has the potential to transform subsurface energy production and waste storage strategies. Our methodology to address the above mentioned matter is based on a novel Advance Multi-Physics Tomographic (AMT) approach for determining the state of stress, thereby facilitating our ability to monitor and control subsurface geomechanical processes. We developed the AMT algorithm for deriving state-of-stress from integrated density and seismic velocity models and demonstrate the feasibility by applying the AMT approach to synthetic data sets to assess accuracy and resolution of the method as a function of the quality and type of geophysical data. With this method we can produce regional- to basin-scale maps of the background state of stress and identify regions where stresses are changing. Our approach is based on our major advances in the joint inversion of gravity and seismic data to obtain the elastic properties for the subsurface; and coupling afterwards the output from this joint-inversion with theoretical model such that strain (and subsequently) stress can be computed. Ultimately we will obtain the differential state of stress over time to identify and monitor critically stressed faults and evolving regions within the reservoir, and relate them to anthropogenic activities such as fluid/gas injection.

An experimental test plan for the characterization of molten salt thermochemical properties in heat transport systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pattrick Calderoni

2010-09-01

Molten salts are considered within the Very High Temperature Reactor program as heat transfer media because of their intrinsically favorable thermo-physical properties at temperatures starting from 300 C and extending up to 1200 C. In this context two main applications of molten salt are considered, both involving fluoride-based materials: as primary coolants for a heterogeneous fuel reactor core and as secondary heat transport medium to a helium power cycle for electricity generation or other processing plants, such as hydrogen production. The reference design concept here considered is the Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR), which is a large passively safe reactormore » that uses solid graphite-matrix coated-particle fuel (similar to that used in gas-cooled reactors) and a molten salt primary and secondary coolant with peak temperatures between 700 and 1000 C, depending upon the application. However, the considerations included in this report apply to any high temperature system employing fluoride salts as heat transfer fluid, including intermediate heat exchangers for gas-cooled reactor concepts and homogenous molten salt concepts, and extending also to fast reactors, accelerator-driven systems and fusion energy systems. The purpose of this report is to identify the technical issues related to the thermo-physical and thermo-chemical properties of the molten salts that would require experimental characterization in order to proceed with a credible design of heat transfer systems and their subsequent safety evaluation and licensing. In particular, the report outlines an experimental R&D test plan that would have to be incorporated as part of the design and operation of an engineering scaled facility aimed at validating molten salt heat transfer components, such as Intermediate Heat Exchangers. This report builds on a previous review of thermo-physical properties and thermo-chemical characteristics of candidate molten salt coolants that was generated as part of the same project [1]. However, this work focuses on two materials: the LiF-BeF2 eutectic (67 and 33 mol%, respectively, also known as flibe) as primary coolant and the LiF-NaF-KF eutectic (46.5, 11.5, and 52 mol%, respectively, also known as flinak) as secondary heat transport fluid. At first common issues are identified, involving the preparation and purification of the materials as well as the development of suitable diagnostics. Than issues specific to each material and its application are considered, with focus on the compatibility with structural materials and the extension of the existing properties database.« less

Processing of polyphenolic composites with supercritical fluid anti-solvent technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurniawansyah, Firman; Mammucari, Raffaella; Foster, Neil R.

2017-05-01

Polyphenols have been developed, primarily exploiting their robust antioxidant properties, for medical and food applications. In spite of their advantages, polyphenolic compounds have drawbacks from their natural characteristics of being poorly soluble in aqueous solutions, thermo-labile and low oral bioavailaibility. In this article, strategy of processing with supercritical fluid (SCF) anti-solvent to improve the shortcomings is overviewed. Information obtained from the existing studies commonly confirms SCF technology applicability to produce composites of polyphenols with various morphology, size distributions and crystallinity. The application of SCF technology also enables to develop polyphenolic composites for alternative drug delivery such as in the pulmonary administrations.

A liquid metal-based structurally embedded vascular antenna: I. Concept and multiphysical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartl, D. J.; Frank, G. J.; Huff, G. H.; Baur, J. W.

2017-02-01

This work proposes a new concept for a reconfigurable structurally embedded vascular antenna (SEVA). The work builds on ongoing research of structurally embedded microvascular systems in laminated structures for thermal transport and self-healing and on studies of non-toxic liquid metals for reconfigurable electronics. In the example design, liquid metal-filled channels in a laminated composite act as radiating elements for a high-power planar zig-zag wire log periodic dipole antenna. Flow of liquid metal through the channels is used to limit the temperature of the composite in which the antenna is embedded. A multiphysics engineering model of the transmitting antenna is formulated that couples the electromagnetic, fluid, thermal, and mechanical responses. In part 1 of this two-part work, it is shown that the liquid metal antenna is highly reconfigurable in terms of its electromagnetic response and that dissipated thermal energy generated during high power operation can be offset by the action of circulating or cyclically replacing the liquid metal such that heat is continuously removed from the system. In fact, the SEVA can potentially outperform traditional copper-based antennas in high-power operational configurations. The coupled engineering model is implemented in an automated framework and a design of experiment study is performed to quantify first-order design trade-offs in this multifunctional structure. More rigorous design optimization is addressed in part 2.

Multiscale Multiphysics Caprock Seal Analysis: A Case Study of the Farnsworth Unit, Texas, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heath, J. E.; Dewers, T. A.; Mozley, P.

2015-12-01

Caprock sealing behavior depends on coupled processes that operate over a variety of length and time scales. Capillary sealing behavior depends on nanoscale pore throats and interfacial fluid properties. Larger-scale sedimentary architecture, fractures, and faults may govern properties of potential "seal-bypass" systems. We present the multiscale multiphysics investigation of sealing integrity of the caprock system that overlies the Morrow Sandstone reservoir, Farnsworth Unit, Texas. The Morrow Sandstone is the target injection unit for an on-going combined enhanced oil recovery-CO2 storage project by the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP). Methods include small-to-large scale measurement techniques, including: focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy; laser scanning confocal microscopy; electron and optical petrography; core examinations of sedimentary architecture and fractures; geomechanical testing; and a noble gas profile through sealing lithologies into the reservoir, as preserved from fresh core. The combined data set is used as part of a performance assessment methodology. The authors gratefully acknowledge the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory for sponsoring this project through the SWP under Award No. DE-FC26-05NT42591. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Adaptive Implicit Non-Equilibrium Radiation Diffusion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Philip, Bobby; Wang, Zhen; Berrill, Mark A

2013-01-01

We describe methods for accurate and efficient long term time integra- tion of non-equilibrium radiation diffusion systems: implicit time integration for effi- cient long term time integration of stiff multiphysics systems, local control theory based step size control to minimize the required global number of time steps while control- ling accuracy, dynamic 3D adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) to minimize memory and computational costs, Jacobian Free Newton-Krylov methods on AMR grids for efficient nonlinear solution, and optimal multilevel preconditioner components that provide level independent solver convergence.

Modeling of Revitalization of Atmospheric Water

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coker, Robert; Knox, Jim

2014-01-01

The Atmosphere Revitalization Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) project was initiated in September of 2011 as part of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program. Under the ARREM project, testing of sub-scale and full-scale systems has been combined with multiphysics computer simulations for evaluation and optimization of subsystem approaches. In particular, this paper describes the testing and modeling of the water desiccant subsystem of the carbon dioxide removal assembly (CDRA). The goal is a full system predictive model of CDRA to guide system optimization and development.

Hot 'nough for ya?: Controls and Constraints on modeling flux melting in subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegelman, M.; Wilson, C. R.; van Keken, P.; Kelemen, P. B.; Hacker, B. R.

2012-12-01

The qualitative concept of flux-melting in subduction zones is well established. Progressive dehydration reactions in the down-going slab release fluids to the hot overlying mantle wedge, causing flux melting and the migration of melts to the volcanic front. However, the quantitative details of fluid release, migration, melt generation and transport in the wedge remain poorly understood. In particular, there are two fundamental observations that defy quantitative modeling. The first is the location of the volcanic front with respect to intermediate depth earthquake (e.g. ˜ 100±40 km; England et al., 2004, Syracuse and Abers, 2006) which is remarkably robust yet insensitive to subduction parameters. This is particularly surprising given new estimates on the variability of fluid release in global subduction zones (e.g. van Keken et al. 2011) which show great sensitivity of fluid release to slab thermal conditions. Reconciling these results implies some robust mechanism for focusing fluids/melts toward the wedge corner. The second observation is the global existence of thermally hot erupted basalts and andesites that, if derived from flux melting of the mantle requires sub-arc mantle temperatures of ˜ 1300° C over shallow pressures of 1-2 GPa which are not that different from mid-ocean ridge conditions. These thermodynamic constraints are also implicit in recent parameterizations of wet melting (e.g. Kelley et al, 2010) which tend to produce significant amounts of melt only near the dry solidus. These observations impose significant challenges for geodynamic models of subduction zones, and in particular for those that don't include the explicit transport of fluids and melts. We present new high-resolution model results that suggest that a more complete description of coupled fluid/solid mechanics (allowing the fluid to interact with solid rheological variations) together with rheologically consistent solutions for temperature and solid flow, may provide the required ingredients that allow for robust focusing of both fluids and hot solids to the sub-arc regions. We demonstrate coupled fluid/solid flow models for simplified geometries to understand the basic processes, as well as for more geologically relevant models from a range of observed arc geometries. We will also evaluate the efficacy of current wet melting parameterizations in these models. All of these models have been built using new modeling software we have been developing that allows unprecedented flexibility in the composition and solution of coupled multi-physics problems. Dubbed TerraFERMA (the transparent Finite Element Rapid Model Assembler...no relation to the convection code TERRA), this new software leverages several advanced computational libraries (FEniCS/PETSc/Spud) to make it significantly easier to construct and explore a wide range of models of varying complexity. Subduction zones provide an ideal application area for understanding the role of different degrees of coupling of fluid and solid dynamics and their relation to observations.

Biomimetic DNA emulsions: specific, thermo-reversible and adjustable binding from a liquid-like DNA layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pontani, Lea-Laetitia; Feng, Lang; Dreyfus, Remi; Seeman, Nadrian; Chaikin, Paul; Brujic, Jasna

2013-03-01

We develop micron-sized emulsions coated with specific DNA sequences and complementary sticky ends. The emulsions are stabilized with phospholipids on which the DNA strands are grafted through biotin-streptavidin interactions, which allows the DNA to diffuse freely on the surface. We produce two complementary emulsions: one is functionalized with S sticky ends and dyed with red streptavidin, the other displays the complementary S' sticky ends and green streptavidin. Mixing those emulsions reveals specific adhesion between them due to the short-range S-S' hybridization. As expected this interaction is thermo-reversible: the red-green adhesive droplets dissociate upon heating and reassemble after cooling. Here the fluid phospholipids layer also leads to diffusive adhesion patches, which allows the bound droplets to rearrange throughout the packing structure. We quantify the adhesion strength between two droplets and build a theoretical framework that captures the observed trends through parameters such as the size of the droplets, the DNA surface density, the various DNA constructs or the temperature. This colloidal-scale, specific, thermo-reversible biomimetic emulsion offers a new versatile and powerful tool for the development of complex self-assembled materials.

Performance assessment and optimization of an irreversible nano-scale Stirling engine cycle operating with Maxwell-Boltzmann gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadi, Mohammad H.; Ahmadi, Mohammad-Ali; Pourfayaz, Fathollah

2015-09-01

Developing new technologies like nano-technology improves the performance of the energy industries. Consequently, emerging new groups of thermal cycles in nano-scale can revolutionize the energy systems' future. This paper presents a thermo-dynamical study of a nano-scale irreversible Stirling engine cycle with the aim of optimizing the performance of the Stirling engine cycle. In the Stirling engine cycle the working fluid is an Ideal Maxwell-Boltzmann gas. Moreover, two different strategies are proposed for a multi-objective optimization issue, and the outcomes of each strategy are evaluated separately. The first strategy is proposed to maximize the ecological coefficient of performance (ECOP), the dimensionless ecological function (ecf) and the dimensionless thermo-economic objective function ( F . Furthermore, the second strategy is suggested to maximize the thermal efficiency ( η), the dimensionless ecological function (ecf) and the dimensionless thermo-economic objective function ( F). All the strategies in the present work are executed via a multi-objective evolutionary algorithms based on NSGA∥ method. Finally, to achieve the final answer in each strategy, three well-known decision makers are executed. Lastly, deviations of the outcomes gained in each strategy and each decision maker are evaluated separately.

Thermo-osmosis in Membrane Systems: A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barragán, V. María; Kjelstrup, Signe

2017-06-01

We give a first review of experimental results for a phenomenon little explored in the literature, namely thermal osmosis or thermo-osmosis. Such systems are now getting increased attention because of their ability to use waste heat for separation purposes. We show that this volume transport of a solution or a pure liquid caused by a temperature difference across a membrane can be understood as a property of the membrane system, i. e. the membrane with its adjacent solutions. We present experimental values found in the literature of thermo-osmotic coefficients of neutral and hydrophobic as well as charged and hydrophilic membranes, with water and other permeant fluids as well as electrolyte solutions. We propose that the coefficient can be qualitatively explained by a formula that contains the entropy of adsorption of permeant into the membrane, the hydraulic permeability, and a factor that depends on the interface resistance to heat transfer. A variation in the entropy of adsorption with hydrophobic/hydrophilic membranes and structure breaking/structure making cations could then explain the sign of the permeant flux. Systematic experiments in the field are lacking and we propose an experimental program to mend this situation.

Modeling and simulation challenges pursued by the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turinsky, Paul J., E-mail: turinsky@ncsu.edu; Kothe, Douglas B., E-mail: kothe@ornl.gov

The Consortium for the Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), the first Energy Innovation Hub of the Department of Energy, was established in 2010 with the goal of providing modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities that support and accelerate the improvement of nuclear energy's economic competitiveness and the reduction of spent nuclear fuel volume per unit energy, and all while assuring nuclear safety. To accomplish this requires advances in M&S capabilities in radiation transport, thermal-hydraulics, fuel performance and corrosion chemistry. To focus CASL's R&D, industry challenge problems have been defined, which equate with long standing issues of the nuclear powermore » industry that M&S can assist in addressing. To date CASL has developed a multi-physics “core simulator” based upon pin-resolved radiation transport and subchannel (within fuel assembly) thermal-hydraulics, capitalizing on the capabilities of high performance computing. CASL's fuel performance M&S capability can also be optionally integrated into the core simulator, yielding a coupled multi-physics capability with untapped predictive potential. Material models have been developed to enhance predictive capabilities of fuel clad creep and growth, along with deeper understanding of zirconium alloy clad oxidation and hydrogen pickup. Understanding of corrosion chemistry (e.g., CRUD formation) has evolved at all scales: micro, meso and macro. CFD R&D has focused on improvement in closure models for subcooled boiling and bubbly flow, and the formulation of robust numerical solution algorithms. For multiphysics integration, several iterative acceleration methods have been assessed, illuminating areas where further research is needed. Finally, uncertainty quantification and data assimilation techniques, based upon sampling approaches, have been made more feasible for practicing nuclear engineers via R&D on dimensional reduction and biased sampling. Industry adoption of CASL's evolving M&S capabilities, which is in progress, will assist in addressing long-standing and future operational and safety challenges of the nuclear industry. - Highlights: • Complexity of physics based modeling of light water reactor cores being addressed. • Capability developed to help address problems that have challenged the nuclear power industry. • Simulation capabilities that take advantage of high performance computing developed.« less

FEM and Multiphysics Applications at NASA/GSFC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loughlin, James

2004-01-01

FEM software available to the Mechanical Systems Analysis and Simulation Branch at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) include: 1) MSC/Nastran; 2) Abaqus; 3) Ansys/Multiphysics; 4) COSMOS/M; 5) 'Home-grown' programs; 6) Pre/post processors such as Patran and FEMAP. This viewgraph presentation provides additional information on MSC/Nastran and Ansys/Multiphysics, and includes screen shots of analyzed equipment, including the Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe, a micro-mirror, a MEMS tunable filter, and a micro-shutter array. The presentation also includes information on the verification of results.

A mathematical model for predicting photo-induced voltage and photostriction of PLZT with coupled multi-physics fields and its application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, J. H.; Wang, X. J.; Wang, J.

2016-02-01

The primary purpose of this paper is to propose a mathematical model of PLZT ceramic with coupled multi-physics fields, e.g. thermal, electric, mechanical and light field. To this end, the coupling relationships of multi-physics fields and the mechanism of some effects resulting in the photostrictive effect are analyzed theoretically, based on which a mathematical model considering coupled multi-physics fields is established. According to the analysis and experimental results, the mathematical model can explain the hysteresis phenomenon and the variation trend of the photo-induced voltage very well and is in agreement with the experimental curves. In addition, the PLZT bimorph is applied as an energy transducer for a photovoltaic-electrostatic hybrid actuated micromirror, and the relation of the rotation angle and the photo-induced voltage is discussed based on the novel photostrictive mathematical model.

Grid Effects on LES Thermo-Acoustic Limit-Cycle of a Full Annular Aeronautical Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Pierre; Gicquel, Laurent Y. M.; Staffelbach, Gabriel; Poinsot, Thierry

Recent developments in large scale computer architectures allow Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to be considered for the prediction of turbulent reacting flows in geometries encountered in industry. To do so, various difficulties must be overcome and the first one is to ensure that proper meshes can be used for LES. Indeed, the quality of meshes is known to be a critical factor in LES of reacting flows. This issue becomes even more crucial when LES is used to compute large configurations such as full annular combustion chambers. Various analysis of mesh effects on LES results have been published before but all are limited to single-sector computational domains. However, real annular gas-turbine engines contain ten to twenty of such sectors and LES must also be used in such full chambers for the study of ignition or azimuthal thermo-acoustic interactions. Instabilities (mostly azimuthal modes involving the full annular geometry) remain a critical issue to aeronautical or power-generation industries and LES seems to be a promising path to properly apprehend such complex unsteady couplings. Based on these observations, mesh effects on LES in a full annular gas-turbine combustion chamber (including its casing) is studied here in the context of its azimuthal thermo-acoustic response. To do so, a fully compressible, multi-species reacting LES is used on two meshes yielding two fully unsteady turbulent reacting predictions of the same configuration. The two tetrahedra meshes contain respectively 38 and 93 millions cells. Limit-cycles as obtained by the two LES are gauged against each other for various flow quantities such as mean velocity profiles, flame position and temperature fields. The thermo-acoustic limit-cycles are observed to be relatively indepedent of the grid resolution which comforts the use of LES tools to provide insights and understanding of the mechanisms triggering the coupling between the system acoustic eigenmodes and combustion.

Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurnis, M.; Kellogg, L. H.; Bloxham, J.; Hager, B. H.; Spiegelman, M.; Willett, S.; Wysession, M. E.; Aivazis, M.

2004-12-01

Solid earth geophysicists have a long tradition of writing scientific software to address a wide range of problems. In particular, computer simulations came into wide use in geophysics during the decade after the plate tectonic revolution. Solution schemes and numerical algorithms that developed in other areas of science, most notably engineering, fluid mechanics, and physics, were adapted with considerable success to geophysics. This software has largely been the product of individual efforts and although this approach has proven successful, its strength for solving problems of interest is now starting to show its limitations as we try to share codes and algorithms or when we want to recombine codes in novel ways to produce new science. With funding from the NSF, the US community has embarked on a Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG) that will develop, support, and disseminate community-accessible software for the greater geodynamics community from model developers to end-users. The software is being developed for problems involving mantle and core dynamics, crustal and earthquake dynamics, magma migration, seismology, and other related topics. With a high level of community participation, CIG is leveraging state-of-the-art scientific computing into a suite of open-source tools and codes. The infrastructure that we are now starting to develop will consist of: (a) a coordinated effort to develop reusable, well-documented and open-source geodynamics software; (b) the basic building blocks - an infrastructure layer - of software by which state-of-the-art modeling codes can be quickly assembled; (c) extension of existing software frameworks to interlink multiple codes and data through a superstructure layer; (d) strategic partnerships with the larger world of computational science and geoinformatics; and (e) specialized training and workshops for both the geodynamics and broader Earth science communities. The CIG initiative has already started to leverage and develop long-term strategic partnerships with open source development efforts within the larger thrusts of scientific computing and geoinformatics. These strategic partnerships are essential as the frontier has moved into multi-scale and multi-physics problems in which many investigators now want to use simulation software for data interpretation, data assimilation, and hypothesis testing.

Computational study of 3-D hot-spot initiation in shocked insensitive high-explosive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najjar, F. M.; Howard, W. M.; Fried, L. E.; Manaa, M. R.; Nichols, A., III; Levesque, G.

2012-03-01

High-explosive (HE) material consists of large-sized grains with micron-sized embedded impurities and pores. Under various mechanical/thermal insults, these pores collapse generating hightemperature regions leading to ignition. A hydrodynamic study has been performed to investigate the mechanisms of pore collapse and hot spot initiation in TATB crystals, employing a multiphysics code, ALE3D, coupled to the chemistry module, Cheetah. This computational study includes reactive dynamics. Two-dimensional high-resolution large-scale meso-scale simulations have been performed. The parameter space is systematically studied by considering various shock strengths, pore diameters and multiple pore configurations. Preliminary 3-D simulations are undertaken to quantify the 3-D dynamics.

Institutional Computing: Final Report Quantum Effects on Cosmology: Probing Physics Beyond the Standard Model with Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paris, Mark W.

The current one-year project allocation (w17 burst) supports the continuation of research performed in the two-year Institutional Computing allocation (w14 bigbangnucleosynthesis). The project has supported development and production runs resulting in several publications[1, 2, 3, 4] in peer-review journals and talks. Most signi cantly, we have recently achieved a signi cant improvement in code performance. This improvement was essential to the prospect of making further progress on this heretofore unsolved multiphysics problem that lies at the intersection of nuclear and particle theory and the kinetic theory of energy transport in a system with internal (quantum) degrees of freedom.

GEOS. User Tutorials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Pengchen; Settgast, Randolph R.; Johnson, Scott M.

2014-12-17

GEOS is a massively parallel, multi-physics simulation application utilizing high performance computing (HPC) to address subsurface reservoir stimulation activities with the goal of optimizing current operations and evaluating innovative stimulation methods. GEOS enables coupling of di erent solvers associated with the various physical processes occurring during reservoir stimulation in unique and sophisticated ways, adapted to various geologic settings, materials and stimulation methods. Developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as a part of a Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Strategic Initiative (SI) project, GEOS represents the culmination of a multi-year ongoing code development and improvement e ort that hasmore » leveraged existing code capabilities and sta expertise to design new computational geosciences software.« less

Off-diagonal Jacobian support for Nodal BCs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peterson, John W.; Andrs, David; Gaston, Derek R.

In this brief note, we describe the implementation of o-diagonal Jacobian computations for nodal boundary conditions in the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) [1] framework. There are presently a number of applications [2{5] based on the MOOSE framework that solve complicated physical systems of partial dierential equations whose boundary conditions are often highly nonlinear. Accurately computing the on- and o-diagonal Jacobian and preconditioner entries associated to these constraints is crucial for enabling ecient numerical solvers in these applications. Two key ingredients are required for properly specifying the Jacobian contributions of nonlinear nodal boundary conditions in MOOSE and nite elementmore » codes in general: 1. The ability to zero out entire Jacobian matrix rows after \

High-potential Working Fluids for Next Generation Binary Cycle Geothermal Power Plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zia, Jalal; Sevincer, Edip; Chen, Huijuan

2013-06-29

A thermo-economic model has been built and validated for prediction of project economics of Enhanced Geothermal Projects. The thermo-economic model calculates and iteratively optimizes the LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) for a prospective EGS (Enhanced Geothermal) site. It takes into account the local subsurface temperature gradient, the cost of drilling and reservoir creation, stimulation and power plant configuration. It calculates and optimizes the power plant configuration vs. well depth. Thus outputs from the model include optimal well depth and power plant configuration for the lowest LCOE. The main focus of this final report was to experimentally validate the thermodynamic propertiesmore » that formed the basis of the thermo-economic model built in Phase 2, and thus build confidence that the predictions of the model could be used reliably for process downselection and preliminary design at a given set of geothermal (and/or waste heat) boundary conditions. The fluid and cycle downselected was based on a new proprietary fluid from a vendor in a supercritical ORC cycle at a resource condition of 200°C inlet temperature. The team devised and executed a series of experiments to prove the suitability of the new fluid in realistic ORC cycle conditions. Furthermore, the team performed a preliminary design study for a MW-scale turbo expander that would be used for a supercritical ORC cycle with this new fluid. The following summarizes the main findings in the investigative campaign that was undertaken: 1. Chemical compatibility of the new fluid with common seal/gasket/Oring materials was found to be problematic. Neoprene, Viton, and silicone materials were found to be incompatible, suffering chemical decomposition, swelling and/or compression set issues. Of the materials tested, only TEFLON was found to be compatible under actual ORC temperature and pressure conditions. 2. Thermal stability of the new fluid at 200°C and 40 bar was found to be acceptable after 399 hours of exposure?only 3% of the initial charge degraded into by products. The main degradation products being an isomer and a dimer. 3. In a comparative experiment between R245fa and the new fluid under subcritical conditions, it was found that the new fluid operated at 1 bar lower than R245fa for the same power output, which was also predicted in the Aspen HSYSY model. As a drop-in replacement fluid for R245fa, this new fluid was found to be at least as good as R245fa in terms of performance and stability. Further optimization of the subcritical cycle may lead to a significant improvement in performance for the new fluid. 4. For supercritical conditions, the experiment found a good match between the measured and model predicted state point property data and duties from the energy balance. The largest percent differences occurred with densities and evaporator duty (see Figure 78). It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the state point model was experimentally validated with a realistic ORC system. 5. The team also undertook a preliminary turbo-expander design study for a supercritical ORC cycle with the new working fluid. Variants of radial and axial turbo expander geometries went through preliminary design and rough costing. It was found that at 15MWe or higher power rating, a multi-stage axial turbine is most suitable providing the best performance and cost. However, at lower power ratings in the 5MWe range, the expander technology to be chosen depends on the application of the power block. For EGS power blocks, it is most optimal to use multi-stage axial machines. In conclusion, the predictions of the LCOE model that showed a supercritical cycle based on the new fluid to be most advantageous for geothermal power production at a resource temperature of ~ 200C have been experimentally validated. It was found that the cycle based on the new fluid is lower in LCOE and higher in net power output (for the same boundary conditions). The project, therefore has found a new optimal configuration for low temperature geothermal power production in the form of a supercritical ORC cycle based on a new vendor fluid.« less

Rectified motion in an asymmetrically structured channel due to induced-charge electrokinetic and thermo-kinetic phenomena

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sugioka, Hideyuki, E-mail: hsugioka@shinshu-u.ac.jp

2016-02-15

It would be advantageous to move fluid by the gradient of random thermal noises that are omnipresent in the natural world. To achieve this motion, we propose a rectifier that uses a thermal noise along with induced-charge electroosmosis and electrophoresis (ICEO and ICEP) around a metal post cylinder in an asymmetrically structured channel and numerically examine its rectification performance. By the boundary element method combined with the thin double layer approximation, we find that rectified motion occurs in the asymmetrically structured channel due to ICEO and ICEP. Further, by thermodynamical and equivalent circuit methods, we discuss a thermal voltage thatmore » drives a rectifier consisting of a fluidic channel of an electrolyte and an impedance as a noise source. Our calculations show that fluid can be moved in the asymmetrically structured channel by the fluctuation of electric fields due to a thermal noise only when there is a temperature difference. In addition, our simple noise argument provides a different perspective for the thermo-kinetic phenomena (around a metal post) which was predicted based on the electrolyte Seebeck effect in our previous paper [H. Sugioka, “Nonlinear thermokinetic phenomena due to the Seebeck effect,” Langmuir 30, 8621 (2014)].« less

Synthesis and thermo-physical properties of deep eutectic solvent-based graphene nanofluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Y. K.; Osama, M.; Rashmi, W.; Shahbaz, K.; Khalid, M.; Mjalli, F. S.; Farid, M. M.

2016-02-01

This study introduces a new class of heat transfer fluids by dispersing functionalised graphene oxide nanoparticles (GNPs) in ammonium and phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) without the aid of a surfactant. Different molar ratios of salts and hydrogen bond donors (HBD) were used to synthesise DESs for the preparation of different concentrations of graphene nanofluids (GNFs). The concentrations of GNPs were 0.01 wt%, 0.02 wt% and 0.05 wt %. Homogeneous and stable suspensions of nanofluids were obtained by high speed homogenisation and an ultrasonication process. The stability of the GNFs was determined through visual observation for 4 weeks followed by a centrifugal process (5000-20 000 rpm) for 30 min in addition to zeta potential studies. Dispersion of the GNPs in DES was observed using an optical microscope. The synthesised DES-based GNFs showed no particle agglomeration and formation of sediments in the nanofluids. Thermo-physical properties such as thermal conductivity and specific heat of the nanofluids were also investigated in this research. The highest thermal conductivity enhancement of 177% was observed. The findings of this research provide a new class of engineered fluid for heat transfer applications as a function of temperature, type and composition DESs as well as the GNPs concentration.

Synthesis and thermo-physical properties of deep eutectic solvent-based graphene nanofluids.

PubMed

Fang, Y K; Osama, M; Rashmi, W; Shahbaz, K; Khalid, M; Mjalli, F S; Farid, M M

2016-02-19

This study introduces a new class of heat transfer fluids by dispersing functionalised graphene oxide nanoparticles (GNPs) in ammonium and phosphonium-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) without the aid of a surfactant. Different molar ratios of salts and hydrogen bond donors (HBD) were used to synthesise DESs for the preparation of different concentrations of graphene nanofluids (GNFs). The concentrations of GNPs were 0.01 wt%, 0.02 wt% and 0.05 wt %. Homogeneous and stable suspensions of nanofluids were obtained by high speed homogenisation and an ultrasonication process. The stability of the GNFs was determined through visual observation for 4 weeks followed by a centrifugal process (5000-20,000 rpm) for 30 min in addition to zeta potential studies. Dispersion of the GNPs in DES was observed using an optical microscope. The synthesised DES-based GNFs showed no particle agglomeration and formation of sediments in the nanofluids. Thermo-physical properties such as thermal conductivity and specific heat of the nanofluids were also investigated in this research. The highest thermal conductivity enhancement of 177% was observed. The findings of this research provide a new class of engineered fluid for heat transfer applications as a function of temperature, type and composition DESs as well as the GNPs concentration.

Offshore wellbore stability analysis based on fully coupled poro-thermo-elastic theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Wenke; Deng, Jingen; Yu, Baohua; Liu, Wei; Tan, Qiang

2017-03-01

Drilling-induced tensile fractures are usually caused when the weight of mud is too high, and the effective tangential stress becomes tensile. It is thus hard to explain why tensile fractures are distributed along the lower part of a hole in an offshore exploration well when the mud weight is low. According to analysis, the reason could be the thermal effect, which cannot be ignored because of the drilling fluid and the cooling action of sea water during circulation. A heat transfer model is set up to obtain the temperature distribution of the wellbore and its formation by the finite difference method. Then, fully coupled poro-thermo-elastic theory is used to study the pore pressure and effective stress around the wellbore. By comparing it with both poroelastic and elastic models, it is indicated that the poroelastic effect is dominant at the beginning of circulation and inhibits tensile fractures from forming; then, the thermal effect becomes more important and decreases the effective tangential stress with the passing of time, so the drilling fluid and the cooling effect of sea water can cause tensile fractures to happen. Meanwhile, tensile fractures are shallow and not likely to lead to mud leakage with lower mud weight, which agrees with the actual drilling process. On the other hand, the fluid cooling effect could increase the strength of the rock and reduce the likelihood of shear failure, which would be beneficial for wellbore stability. So, the thermal effect cannot be neglected in offshore wellbore stability analysis, and mud weight and borehole exposure time should be controlled in the case of mud loss.

Application of an enriched FEM technique in thermo-mechanical contact problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khoei, A. R.; Bahmani, B.

2018-02-01

In this paper, an enriched FEM technique is employed for thermo-mechanical contact problem based on the extended finite element method. A fully coupled thermo-mechanical contact formulation is presented in the framework of X-FEM technique that takes into account the deformable continuum mechanics and the transient heat transfer analysis. The Coulomb frictional law is applied for the mechanical contact problem and a pressure dependent thermal contact model is employed through an explicit formulation in the weak form of X-FEM method. The equilibrium equations are discretized by the Newmark time splitting method and the final set of non-linear equations are solved based on the Newton-Raphson method using a staggered algorithm. Finally, in order to illustrate the capability of the proposed computational model several numerical examples are solved and the results are compared with those reported in literature.

Effective scheme for partitioning covalent bonds in density-functional embedding theory: From molecules to extended covalent systems.

PubMed

Huang, Chen; Muñoz-García, Ana Belén; Pavone, Michele

2016-12-28

Density-functional embedding theory provides a general way to perform multi-physics quantum mechanics simulations of large-scale materials by dividing the total system's electron density into a cluster's density and its environment's density. It is then possible to compute the accurate local electronic structures and energetics of the embedded cluster with high-level methods, meanwhile retaining a low-level description of the environment. The prerequisite step in the density-functional embedding theory is the cluster definition. In covalent systems, cutting across the covalent bonds that connect the cluster and its environment leads to dangling bonds (unpaired electrons). These represent a major obstacle for the application of density-functional embedding theory to study extended covalent systems. In this work, we developed a simple scheme to define the cluster in covalent systems. Instead of cutting covalent bonds, we directly split the boundary atoms for maintaining the valency of the cluster. With this new covalent embedding scheme, we compute the dehydrogenation energies of several different molecules, as well as the binding energy of a cobalt atom on graphene. Well localized cluster densities are observed, which can facilitate the use of localized basis sets in high-level calculations. The results are found to converge faster with the embedding method than the other multi-physics approach ONIOM. This work paves the way to perform the density-functional embedding simulations of heterogeneous systems in which different types of chemical bonds are present.

Modelling of the physico-chemical behaviour of clay minerals with a thermo-kinetic model taking into account particles morphology in compacted material.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sali, D.; Fritz, B.; Clément, C.; Michau, N.

2003-04-01

Modelling of fluid-mineral interactions is largely used in Earth Sciences studies to better understand the involved physicochemical processes and their long-term effect on the materials behaviour. Numerical models simplify the processes but try to preserve their main characteristics. Therefore the modelling results strongly depend on the data quality describing initial physicochemical conditions for rock materials, fluids and gases, and on the realistic way of processes representations. The current geo-chemical models do not well take into account rock porosity and permeability and the particle morphology of clay minerals. In compacted materials like those considered as barriers in waste repositories, low permeability rocks like mudstones or compacted powders will be used : they contain mainly fine particles and the geochemical models used for predicting their interactions with fluids tend to misjudge their surface areas, which are fundamental parameters in kinetic modelling. The purpose of this study was to improve how to take into account the particles morphology in the thermo-kinetic code KINDIS and the reactive transport code KIRMAT. A new function was integrated in these codes, considering the reaction surface area as a volume depending parameter and the calculated evolution of the mass balance in the system was coupled with the evolution of reactive surface areas. We made application exercises for numerical validation of these new versions of the codes and the results were compared with those of the pre-existing thermo-kinetic code KINDIS. Several points are highlighted. Taking into account reactive surface area evolution during simulation modifies the predicted mass transfers related to fluid-minerals interactions. Different secondary mineral phases are also observed during modelling. The evolution of the reactive surface parameter helps to solve the competition effects between different phases present in the system which are all able to fix the chemical elements mobilised by the water-minerals interaction processes. To validate our model we simulated the compacted bentonite (MX80) studied for engineered barriers for radioactive waste confinement and mainly composed of Na-Ca-montmorillonite. The study of particles morphology and reactive surfaces evolutions reveals that aqueous ions have a complex behaviour, especially when competitions between various mineral phases occur. In that case, our model predicts a preferential precipitation of finest particles, favouring smectites instead of zeolites. This work is a part of a PhD Thesis supported by Andra, the French Radioactive Waste Management Agency.

THM modelling of hydrothermal circulation in deep geothermal reservoirs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magnenet, Vincent; Fond, Christophe; Schmittbuhl, Jean; Genter, Albert

2014-05-01

Numerous models have been developped for describing deep geothermal reservoirs. Using the opensource finite element software ASTER developped by EDF R&D, we carried out 2D simulations of the hydrothermal circulation in the deep geothermal reservoir of Soultz-sous-Forêts. The model is based on the effective description of Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) coupling at large scale. Such a model has a fourfold interest: a) the physical integration of laboratory measurements (rock physics), well logging, well head parameters, geological description, and geophysics field measurements; b) the construction of a direct model mechanically based for geophysical inversion: fluid flow, fluid pressure, temperature profile, seismicity monitoring, deformation of the ground surface (INSAR/GPS) related to reservoir modification, gravity or electromagnetic geophysical measurements; c) the sensitivity analysis of the parameters involved in the hydrothermal circulation and identification of the dominant ones; d) the development of a decision tool for drilling planning, stimulation and exploitation. In our model, we introduced extended Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical coupling including not only poro-elastic behavior but also the sensitivity of the fluid density, viscosity, and heat capacity to temperature and pressure. The behavior of solid rock grains is assumed to be thermo-elastic and linear. Hydraulic and thermal phenomena are governed by Darcy and Fourier laws respectively, and most rock properties (like the specific heat at constant stress csσ(T), or the thermal conductivity Λ(T,φ)) are assumed to depend on the temperature T and/or porosity φ. The radioactivity of the rocks is taken into account through a heat source term appearing in the balance equation of enthalpy. To characterize as precisely as possible the convective movement of water and the associated heat flow, water properties (specific mass ρw(T,pw), specific enthalpy hmw(T,pw) dynamic viscosity μw(T), thermal dilation αw(T), and specific heat cwp(T)) are assumed to depend on pressure and/or temperature. The entire set of material properties is extracted from references dealing with investigations at Soultz-sous-Forêts when existing. The reservoir is described at large scale (about 10 km in width and 5 km in height) and it is assumed that the medium is homogenous, porous, and saturated with a single-phase fluid (considering homogenized effective porous and/or fractured layers, neglecting the details of the fracture networks). We performed a feasability study and show that a large scale convection regime is possible using realistic parameters. The size of the convection cell (2.8km) are shown to be compatible with field observations.

Finite Element Modeling of Non-linear Coupled Interacting Fault System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, H. L.; Zhang, J.; Wyborn, D.

2009-04-01

PANDAS - Parallel Adaptive static/dynamic Nonlinear Deformation Analysis System - a novel supercomputer simulation tool is developed for simulating the highly non-linear coupled geomechanical-fluid flow-thermal systems involving heterogeneously fractured geomaterials. PANDAS includes the following key components: Pandas/Pre, ESyS_Crustal, Pandas/Thermo, Pandas/Fluid and Pandas/Post as detailed in the following: • Pandas/Pre is developed to visualise the microseismicity events recorded during the hydraulic stimulation process to further evaluate the fracture location and evolution and geological setting of a certain reservoir, and then generate the mesh by it and/or other commercial graphics software (such as Patran) for the further finite element analysis of various cases; The Delaunay algorithm is applied as a suitable method for mesh generation using such a point set; • ESyS_Crustal is a finite element code developed for the interacting fault system simulation, which employs the adaptive static/dynamic algorithm to simulate the dynamics and evolution of interacting fault systems and processes that are relevant on short to mediate time scales in which several dynamic phenomena related with stick-slip instability along the faults need to be taken into account, i.e. (a). slow quasi-static stress accumulation, (b) rapid dynamic rupture, (c) wave propagation and (d) corresponding stress redistribution due to the energy release along the multiple fault boundaries; those are needed to better describe ruputure/microseimicity/earthquake related phenomena with applications in earthquake forecasting, hazard quantification, exploration, and environmental problems. It has been verified with various available experimental results[1-3]; • Pandas/Thermo is a finite element method based module for the thermal analysis of the fractured porous media; the temperature distribution is calculated from the heat transfer induced by the thermal boundary conditions without/with the coupled fluid effects and the geomechanical energy conversion for the pure/coupled thermal analysis. • Pandas/Fluid is a finite element method based module for simulating the fluid flow in the fractured porous media; the fluid flow velocity and pressure are calculated from energy equilibrium equations without/together with the coupling effects of the thermal and solid rock deformation for an independent/coupled fluid flow analysis; • Pandas/Post is to visualise the simulation results through the integration of VTK and/or Patran. All the above modules can be used independently/together to simulate individual/coupled phenomena (such as interacting fault system dynamics, heat flow and fluid flow) without/with coupling effects. PANDAS has been applied to the following issues: • visualisation of the microseismic events to monitor and determine where/how the underground rupture proceeds during a hydraulic stimulation, to generate the mesh using the recorded data for determining the domain of the ruptured zone and to evaluate the material parameters (i.e. the permeability) for the further numerical analysis; • interacting fault system simulation to determine the relevant complicated dynamic rupture process. • geomechanical-fluid flow coupling analysis to investigate the interactions between fluid flow and deformation in the fractured porous media under different loading conditions. • thermo-fluid flow coupling analysis of a fractured geothermal reservoir system. PANDAS will be further developed for a multiscale simulation of multiphase dynamic behaviour for a certain fractured geothermal reservoir. More details and additional application examples will be given during the presentation. References [1] Xing, H. L., Makinouchi, A. and Mora, P. (2007). Finite element modeling of interacting fault system, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 163, 106-121.doi:10.1016/j.pepi.2007.05.006 [2] Xing, H. L., Mora, P., Makinouchi, A. (2006). An unified friction description and its application to simulation of frictional instability using finite element method. Philosophy Magazine, 86, 3453-3475 [3] Xing, H. L., Mora, P.(2006). Construction of an intraplate fault system model of South Australia, and simulation tool for the iSERVO institute seed project.. Pure and Applied Geophysics. 163, 2297-2316. DOI 10.1007/s00024-006-0127-x

Coupled Thermo-Mechanical Analyses of Dynamically Loaded Rubber Cylinders

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Arthur R.; Chen, Tzi-Kang

2000-01-01

A procedure that models coupled thermo-mechanical deformations of viscoelastic rubber cylinders by employing the ABAQUS finite element code is described. Computational simulations of hysteretic heating are presented for several tall and short rubber cylinders both with and without a steel disk at their centers. The cylinders are compressed axially and are then cyclically loaded about the compressed state. The non-uniform hysteretic heating of the rubber cylinders containing a steel disk is presented. The analyses performed suggest that the coupling procedure should be considered for further development as a design tool for rubber degradation studies.

Heuristic optimization of a continuous flow point-of-use UV-LED disinfection reactor using computational fluid dynamics.

PubMed

Jenny, Richard M; Jasper, Micah N; Simmons, Otto D; Shatalov, Max; Ducoste, Joel J

2015-10-15

Alternative disinfection sources such as ultraviolet light (UV) are being pursued to inactivate pathogenic microorganisms such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia, while simultaneously reducing the risk of exposure to carcinogenic disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water. UV-LEDs offer a UV disinfecting source that do not contain mercury, have the potential for long lifetimes, are robust, and have a high degree of design flexibility. However, the increased flexibility in design options will add a substantial level of complexity when developing a UV-LED reactor, particularly with regards to reactor shape, size, spatial orientation of light, and germicidal emission wavelength. Anticipating that LEDs are the future of UV disinfection, new methods are needed for designing such reactors. In this research study, the evaluation of a new design paradigm using a point-of-use UV-LED disinfection reactor has been performed. ModeFrontier, a numerical optimization platform, was coupled with COMSOL Multi-physics, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package, to generate an optimized UV-LED continuous flow reactor. Three optimality conditions were considered: 1) single objective analysis minimizing input supply power while achieving at least (2.0) log10 inactivation of Escherichia coli ATCC 11229; and 2) two multi-objective analyses (one of which maximized the log10 inactivation of E. coli ATCC 11229 and minimized the supply power). All tests were completed at a flow rate of 109 mL/min and 92% UVT (measured at 254 nm). The numerical solution for the first objective was validated experimentally using biodosimetry. The optimal design predictions displayed good agreement with the experimental data and contained several non-intuitive features, particularly with the UV-LED spatial arrangement, where the lights were unevenly populated throughout the reactor. The optimal designs may not have been developed from experienced designers due to the increased degrees of freedom offered by using UV-LEDs. The results of this study revealed that the coupled optimization routine with CFD was effective at significantly decreasing the engineer's design decision space and finding a potentially near-optimal UV-LED reactor solution. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Geomechanical Analysis of Underground Coal Gasification Reactor Cool Down for Subsequent CO2 Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarhosis, Vasilis; Yang, Dongmin; Kempka, Thomas; Sheng, Yong

2013-04-01

Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an efficient method for the conversion of conventionally unmineable coal resources into energy and feedstock. If the UCG process is combined with the subsequent storage of process CO2 in the former UCG reactors, a near-zero carbon emission energy source can be realised. This study aims to present the development of a computational model to simulate the cooling process of UCG reactors in abandonment to decrease the initial high temperature of more than 400 °C to a level where extensive CO2 volume expansion due to temperature changes can be significantly reduced during the time of CO2 injection. Furthermore, we predict the cool down temperature conditions with and without water flushing. A state of the art coupled thermal-mechanical model was developed using the finite element software ABAQUS to predict the cavity growth and the resulting surface subsidence. In addition, the multi-physics computational software COMSOL was employed to simulate the cavity cool down process which is of uttermost relevance for CO2 storage in the former UCG reactors. For that purpose, we simulated fluid flow, thermal conduction as well as thermal convection processes between fluid (water and CO2) and solid represented by coal and surrounding rocks. Material properties for rocks and coal were obtained from extant literature sources and geomechanical testings which were carried out on samples derived from a prospective demonstration site in Bulgaria. The analysis of results showed that the numerical models developed allowed for the determination of the UCG reactor growth, roof spalling, surface subsidence and heat propagation during the UCG process and the subsequent CO2 storage. It is anticipated that the results of this study can support optimisation of the preparation procedure for CO2 storage in former UCG reactors. The proposed scheme was discussed so far, but not validated by a coupled numerical analysis and if proved to be applicable it could provide a significant optimisation of the UCG process by means of CO2 storage efficiency. The proposed coupled UCG-CCS scheme allows for meeting EU targets for greenhouse gas emissions and increases the coal yield otherwise impossible to exploit.

The effect of a realistic thermal diffusivity on numerical model of a subducting slab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maierova, P.; Steinle-Neumann, G.; Cadek, O.

2010-12-01

A number of numerical studies of subducting slab assume simplified (constant or only depth-dependent) models of thermal conductivity. The available mineral physics data indicate, however, that thermal diffusivity is strongly temperature- and pressure-dependent and may also vary among different mantle materials. In the present study, we examine the influence of realistic thermal properties of mantle materials on the thermal state of the upper mantle and the dynamics of subducting slabs. On the basis of the data published in mineral physics literature we compile analytical relationships that approximate the pressure and temperature dependence of thermal diffusivity for major mineral phases of the mantle (olivine, wadsleyite, ringwoodite, garnet, clinopyroxenes, stishovite and perovskite). We propose a simplified composition of mineral assemblages predominating in the subducting slab and the surrounding mantle (pyrolite, mid-ocean ridge basalt, harzburgite) and we estimate their thermal diffusivity using the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds. The resulting complex formula for the diffusivity of each aggregate is then approximated by a simpler analytical relationship that is used in our numerical model as an input parameter. For the numerical modeling we use the Elmer software (open source finite element software for multiphysical problems, see http://www.csc.fi/english/pages/elmer). We set up a 2D Cartesian thermo-mechanical steady-state model of a subducting slab. The model is partly kinematic as the flow is driven by a boundary condition on velocity that is prescribed on the top of the subducting lithospheric plate. Reology of the material is non-linear and is coupled with the thermal equation. Using the realistic relationship for thermal diffusivity of mantle materials, we compute the thermal and flow fields for different input velocity and age of the subducting plate and we compare the results against the models assuming a constant thermal diffusivity. The importance of the realistic description of thermal properties in models of subducted slabs is discussed.

Review of thermo-physical properties, wetting and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids and their applicability in industrial quench heat treatment

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The success of quenching process during industrial heat treatment mainly depends on the heat transfer characteristics of the quenching medium. In the case of quenching, the scope for redesigning the system or operational parameters for enhancing the heat transfer is very much limited and the emphasis should be on designing quench media with enhanced heat transfer characteristics. Recent studies on nanofluids have shown that these fluids offer improved wetting and heat transfer characteristics. Further water-based nanofluids are environment friendly as compared to mineral oil quench media. These potential advantages have led to the development of nanofluid-based quench media for heat treatment practices. In this article, thermo-physical properties, wetting and boiling heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids are reviewed and discussed. The unique thermal and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids would be extremely useful for exploiting them as quench media for industrial heat treatment. PMID:21711877

Review of thermo-physical properties, wetting and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids and their applicability in industrial quench heat treatment.

PubMed

Ramesh, Gopalan; Prabhu, Narayan Kotekar

2011-04-14

The success of quenching process during industrial heat treatment mainly depends on the heat transfer characteristics of the quenching medium. In the case of quenching, the scope for redesigning the system or operational parameters for enhancing the heat transfer is very much limited and the emphasis should be on designing quench media with enhanced heat transfer characteristics. Recent studies on nanofluids have shown that these fluids offer improved wetting and heat transfer characteristics. Further water-based nanofluids are environment friendly as compared to mineral oil quench media. These potential advantages have led to the development of nanofluid-based quench media for heat treatment practices. In this article, thermo-physical properties, wetting and boiling heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids are reviewed and discussed. The unique thermal and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids would be extremely useful for exploiting them as quench media for industrial heat treatment.

Capture of Geothermal Heat as Chemical Energy

DOE PAGES

Jody, Bassam J.; Petchsingto, Tawatchai; Doctor, Richard D.; ...

2015-12-11

In this paper, fluids that undergo endothermic reactions were evaluated as potential chemical energy carriers of heat from geothermal reservoirs for power generation. Their performance was compared with that of H 2O and CO 2. The results show that (a) chemical energy carriers can produce more power from geothermal reservoirs than water and CO 2 and (b) working fluids should not be selected solely on the basis of their specific thermo-physical properties but rather on the basis of the rate of exergy (ideal power) they can deliver. Finally, this article discusses the results of the evaluation of two chemical energymore » carrier systems: ammonia and methanol/water mixtures.« less

Pumped Fluid Loop Heat Rejection and Recovery Systems for Thermal Control of the Mars Science Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhandari, Pradeep; Birur, Gajanana; Prina, Mauro; Ramirez, Brenda; Paris, Anthony; Novak, Keith; Pauken, Michael

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the heat rejection and heat recovery system for thermal control of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The MSL mission will use mechanically pumped fluid loop based architecture for thermal control of the spacecraft and rover. The architecture is designed to harness waste heat from an Multi Mission Radioisotope Thermo-electric Generator (MMRTG) during Mars surface operations for thermal control during cold conditions and also reject heat during the cruise aspect of the mission. There are several test that are being conducted that will insure the safety of this concept. This architecture can be used during any future interplanetary missions utilizing radioisotope power systems for power generation.

Integration of Advanced Probabilistic Analysis Techniques with Multi-Physics Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cetiner, Mustafa Sacit; none,; Flanagan, George F.

2014-07-30

An integrated simulation platform that couples probabilistic analysis-based tools with model-based simulation tools can provide valuable insights for reactive and proactive responses to plant operating conditions. The objective of this work is to demonstrate the benefits of a partial implementation of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) Detailed Framework Specification through the coupling of advanced PRA capabilities and accurate multi-physics plant models. Coupling a probabilistic model with a multi-physics model will aid in design, operations, and safety by providing a more accurate understanding of plant behavior. This represents the first attempt at actually integrating these two typesmore » of analyses for a control system used for operations, on a faster than real-time basis. This report documents the development of the basic communication capability to exchange data with the probabilistic model using Reliability Workbench (RWB) and the multi-physics model using Dymola. The communication pathways from injecting a fault (i.e., failing a component) to the probabilistic and multi-physics models were successfully completed. This first version was tested with prototypic models represented in both RWB and Modelica. First, a simple event tree/fault tree (ET/FT) model was created to develop the software code to implement the communication capabilities between the dynamic-link library (dll) and RWB. A program, written in C#, successfully communicates faults to the probabilistic model through the dll. A systems model of the Advanced Liquid-Metal Reactor–Power Reactor Inherently Safe Module (ALMR-PRISM) design developed under another DOE project was upgraded using Dymola to include proper interfaces to allow data exchange with the control application (ConApp). A program, written in C+, successfully communicates faults to the multi-physics model. The results of the example simulation were successfully plotted.« less

Hybrid transport and diffusion modeling using electron thermal transport Monte Carlo SNB in DRACO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chenhall, Jeffrey; Moses, Gregory

2017-10-01

The iSNB (implicit Schurtz Nicolai Busquet) multigroup diffusion electron thermal transport method is adapted into an Electron Thermal Transport Monte Carlo (ETTMC) transport method to better model angular and long mean free path non-local effects. Previously, the ETTMC model had been implemented in the 2D DRACO multiphysics code and found to produce consistent results with the iSNB method. Current work is focused on a hybridization of the computationally slower but higher fidelity ETTMC transport method with the computationally faster iSNB diffusion method in order to maximize computational efficiency. Furthermore, effects on the energy distribution of the heat flux divergence are studied. Work to date on the hybrid method will be presented. This work was supported by Sandia National Laboratories and the Univ. of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics.

MOOSE: A parallel computational framework for coupled systems of nonlinear equations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Derek Gaston; Chris Newman; Glen Hansen

Systems of coupled, nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) often arise in simulation of nuclear processes. MOOSE: Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment, a parallel computational framework targeted at the solution of such systems, is presented. As opposed to traditional data-flow oriented computational frameworks, MOOSE is instead founded on the mathematical principle of Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) solution methods. Utilizing the mathematical structure present in JFNK, physics expressions are modularized into `Kernels,'' allowing for rapid production of new simulation tools. In addition, systems are solved implicitly and fully coupled, employing physics based preconditioning, which provides great flexibility even with large variance in timemore » scales. A summary of the mathematics, an overview of the structure of MOOSE, and several representative solutions from applications built on the framework are presented.« less

Thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical processes in fractured-porous media: Benchmarks and examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolditz, O.; Shao, H.; Görke, U.; Kalbacher, T.; Bauer, S.; McDermott, C. I.; Wang, W.

2012-12-01

The book comprises an assembly of benchmarks and examples for porous media mechanics collected over the last twenty years. Analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes is essential to many applications in environmental engineering, such as geological waste deposition, geothermal energy utilisation, carbon capture and storage, water resources management, hydrology, even climate change. In order to assess the feasibility as well as the safety of geotechnical applications, process-based modelling is the only tool to put numbers, i.e. to quantify future scenarios. This charges a huge responsibility concerning the reliability of computational tools. Benchmarking is an appropriate methodology to verify the quality of modelling tools based on best practices. Moreover, benchmarking and code comparison foster community efforts. The benchmark book is part of the OpenGeoSys initiative - an open source project to share knowledge and experience in environmental analysis and scientific computation.

An Approximate Dissipation Function for Large Strain Rubber Thermo-Mechanical Analyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Arthur R.; Chen, Tzi-Kang

2003-01-01

Mechanically induced viscoelastic dissipation is difficult to compute. When the constitutive model is defined by history integrals, the formula for dissipation is a double convolution integral. Since double convolution integrals are difficult to approximate, coupled thermo-mechanical analyses of highly viscous rubber-like materials cannot be made with most commercial finite element software. In this study, we present a method to approximate the dissipation for history integral constitutive models that represent Maxwell-like materials without approximating the double convolution integral. The method requires that the total stress can be separated into elastic and viscous components, and that the relaxation form of the constitutive law is defined with a Prony series. Numerical data is provided to demonstrate the limitations of this approximate method for determining dissipation. Rubber cylinders with imbedded steel disks and with an imbedded steel ball are dynamically loaded, and the nonuniform heating within the cylinders is computed.

A three-dimensional non-isothermal model for a membraneless direct methanol redox fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Lin; Yuan, Xianxia; Jiang, Fangming

2018-05-01

In the membraneless direct methanol redox fuel cell (DMRFC), three-dimensional electrodes contribute to the reduction of methanol crossover and the open separator design lowers the system cost and extends its service life. In order to better understand the mechanisms of this configuration and further optimize its performance, the development of a three-dimensional numerical model is reported in this work. The governing equations of the multi-physics field are solved based on computational fluid dynamics methodology, and the influence of the CO2 gas is taken into consideration through the effective diffusivities. The numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data, and the deviation observed for cases of large current density may be related to the single-phase assumption made. The three-dimensional electrode is found to be effective in controlling methanol crossover in its multi-layer structure, while it also increases the flow resistance for the discharging products. It is found that the current density distribution is affected by both the electronic conductivity and the concentration of reactants, and the temperature rise can be primarily attributed to the current density distribution. The sensitivity and reliability of the model are analyzed through the investigation of the effects of cell parameters, including porosity values of gas diffusion layers and catalyst layers, methanol concentration and CO2 volume fraction, on the polarization characteristics.

Efficient solvers for coupled models in respiratory mechanics.

PubMed

Verdugo, Francesc; Roth, Christian J; Yoshihara, Lena; Wall, Wolfgang A

2017-02-01

We present efficient preconditioners for one of the most physiologically relevant pulmonary models currently available. Our underlying motivation is to enable the efficient simulation of such a lung model on high-performance computing platforms in order to assess mechanical ventilation strategies and contributing to design more protective patient-specific ventilation treatments. The system of linear equations to be solved using the proposed preconditioners is essentially the monolithic system arising in fluid-structure interaction (FSI) extended by additional algebraic constraints. The introduction of these constraints leads to a saddle point problem that cannot be solved with usual FSI preconditioners available in the literature. The key ingredient in this work is to use the idea of the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations (SIMPLE) for getting rid of the saddle point structure, resulting in a standard FSI problem that can be treated with available techniques. The numerical examples show that the resulting preconditioners approach the optimal performance of multigrid methods, even though the lung model is a complex multiphysics problem. Moreover, the preconditioners are robust enough to deal with physiologically relevant simulations involving complex real-world patient-specific lung geometries. The same approach is applicable to other challenging biomedical applications where coupling between flow and tissue deformations is modeled with additional algebraic constraints. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Detailed Multi-dimensional Modeling of Direct Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Tseronis, K; Fragkopoulos, I S; Bonis, I; Theodoropoulos, C

2016-06-01

Fuel flexibility is a significant advantage of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and can be attributed to their high operating temperature. Here we consider a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell setup in which a separate fuel reformer is not required. We construct a multidimensional, detailed model of a planar solid oxide fuel cell, where mass transport in the fuel channel is modeled using the Stefan-Maxwell model, whereas the mass transport within the porous electrodes is simulated using the Dusty-Gas model. The resulting highly nonlinear model is built into COMSOL Multiphysics, a commercial computational fluid dynamics software, and is validated against experimental data from the literature. A number of parametric studies is performed to obtain insights on the direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell system behavior and efficiency, to aid the design procedure. It is shown that internal reforming results in temperature drop close to the inlet and that the direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell performance can be enhanced by increasing the operating temperature. It is also observed that decreases in the inlet temperature result in smoother temperature profiles and in the formation of reduced thermal gradients. Furthermore, the direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell performance was found to be affected by the thickness of the electrochemically-active anode catalyst layer, although not always substantially, due to the counter-balancing behavior of the activation and ohmic overpotentials.

Multi-Scale Multi-Physics Modeling of Matrix Transport Properties in Fractured Shale Reservoirs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehmani, A.; Prodanovic, M.

2014-12-01

Understanding the shale matrix flow behavior is imperative in successful reservoir development for hydrocarbon production and carbon storage. Without a predictive model, significant uncertainties in flowback from the formation, the communication between the fracture and matrix as well as proper fracturing practice will ensue. Informed by SEM images, we develop deterministic network models that couple pores from multiple scales and their respective fluid physics. The models are used to investigate sorption hysteresis as an affordable way of inferring the nanoscale pore structure in core scale. In addition, restricted diffusion as a function of pore shape, pore-throat size ratios and network connectivity is computed to make correct interpretation of the 2D NMR maps possible. Our novel pore network models have the ability to match sorption hysteresis measurements without any tuning parameters. The results clarify a common misconception of linking type 3 nitrogen hysteresis curves to only the shale pore shape and show promising sensitivty for nanopore structre inference in core scale. The results on restricted diffusion shed light on the importance of including shape factors in 2D NMR interpretations. A priori "weighting factors" as a function of pore-throat and throat-length ratio are presented and the effect of network connectivity on diffusion is quantitatively assessed. We are currently working on verifying our models with experimental data gathered from the Eagleford formation.

Characteristics of temporal evolution of particle density and electron temperature in helicon discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiong; Cheng, Mousen; Guo, Dawei; Wang, Moge; Li, Xiaokang

2017-10-01

On the basis of considering electrochemical reactions and collision relations in detail, a direct numerical simulation model of a helicon plasma discharge with three-dimensional two-fluid equations was employed to study the characteristics of the temporal evolution of particle density and electron temperature. With the assumption of weak ionization, the Maxwell equations coupled with the plasma parameters were directly solved in the whole computational domain. All of the partial differential equations were solved by the finite element solver in COMSOL MultiphysicsTM with a fully coupled method. In this work, the numerical cases were calculated with an Ar working medium and a Shoji-type antenna. The numerical results indicate that there exist two distinct modes of temporal evolution of the electron and ground atom density, which can be explained by the ion pumping effect. The evolution of the electron temperature is controlled by two schemes: electromagnetic wave heating and particle collision cooling. The high RF power results in a high peak electron temperature while the high gas pressure leads to a low steady temperature. In addition, an OES experiment using nine Ar I lines was conducted using a modified CR model to verify the validity of the results by simulation, showing that the trends of temporal evolution of electron density and temperature are well consistent with the numerically simulated ones.

Gas transfer model to design a ventilator for neonatal total liquid ventilation.

PubMed

Bonfanti, Mirko; Cammi, Antonio; Bagnoli, Paola

2015-12-01

The study was aimed to optimize the gas transfer in an innovative ventilator for neonatal Total Liquid Ventilation (TLV) that integrates the pumping and oxygenation functions in a non-volumetric pulsatile device made of parallel flat silicone membranes. A computational approach was adopted to evaluate oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) exchanges between the liquid perfluorocarbon (PFC) and the oxygenating gas, as a function of the geometrical parameter of the device. A 2D semi-empirical model was implemented to this purpose using Comsol Multiphysics to study both the fluid dynamics and the gas exchange in the ventilator. Experimental gas exchanges measured with a preliminary prototype were compared to the simulation outcomes to prove the model reliability. Different device configurations were modeled to identify the optimal design able to guarantee the desired gas transfer. Good agreement between experimental and simulation outcomes was obtained, validating the model. The optimal configuration, able to achieve the desired gas exchange (ΔpCO2 = 16.5 mmHg and ΔpO2 = 69 mmHg), is a device comprising 40 modules, 300 mm in length (total exchange area = 2.28 m(2)). With this configuration gas transfer performance is satisfactory for all the simulated settings, proving good adaptability of the device. Copyright © 2015 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The importance of Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical couplings and microstructure to strain localization in 3D continua with application to seismic faults. Part II: Numerical implementation and post-bifurcation analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rattez, Hadrien; Stefanou, Ioannis; Sulem, Jean; Veveakis, Manolis; Poulet, Thomas

2018-06-01

In this paper we study the phenomenon of localization of deformation in fault gouges during seismic slip. This process is of key importance to understand frictional heating and energy budget during an earthquake. A infinite layer of fault gouge is modeled as a Cosserat continuum taking into account Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) couplings. The theoretical aspects of the problem are presented in the companion paper (Rattez et al., 2017a), together with a linear stability analysis to determine the conditions of localization and estimate the shear band thickness. In this Part II of the study, we investigate the post-bifurcation evolution of the system by integrating numerically the full system of non-linear equations using the method of Finite Elements. The problem is formulated in the framework of Cosserat theory. It enables to introduce information about the microstructure of the material in the constitutive equations and to regularize the mathematical problem in the post-localization regime. We emphasize the influence of the size of the microstructure and of the softening law on the material response and the strain localization process. The weakening effect of pore fluid thermal pressurization induced by shear heating is examined and quantified. It enhances the weakening process and contributes to the narrowing of shear band thickness. Moreover, due to THM couplings an apparent rate-dependency is observed, even for rate-independent material behavior. Finally, comparisons show that when the perturbed field of shear deformation dominates, the estimation of the shear band thickness obtained from linear stability analysis differs from the one obtained from the finite element computations, demonstrating the importance of post-localization numerical simulations.

Convective heat transfer in MHD slip flow over a stretching surface in the presence of carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ul Haq, Rizwan; Nadeem, Sohail; Khan, Z. H.; Noor, N. F. M.

2015-01-01

In the present study, thermal conductivity and viscosity of both single-wall and multiple-wall Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) within the base fluids (water, engine oil and ethylene glycol) of similar volume have been investigated when the fluid is flowing over a stretching surface. The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and viscous dissipation effects are also incorporated in the present phenomena. Experimental data consists of thermo-physical properties of each base fluid and CNT have been considered. The mathematical model has been constructed and by employing similarity transformation, system of partial differential equations is rehabilitated into the system of non-linear ordinary differential equations. The results of local skin friction and local Nusselt number are plotted for each base fluid by considering both Single Wall Carbon Nanotube (SWCNT) and Multiple-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT). The behavior of fluid flow for water based-SWCNT and MWCNT are analyzed through streamlines. Concluding remarks have been developed on behalf of the whole analysis and it is found that engine oil-based CNT have higher skin friction and heat transfer rate as compared to water and ethylene glycol-based CNT.

Finite element solutions of free convective Casson fluid flow past a vertically inclined plate submitted in magnetic field in presence of heat and mass transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raju, R. Srinivasa; Reddy, B. Mahesh; Reddy, G. Jithender

2017-09-01

The aim of this research work is to study the influence of thermal radiation on steady magnetohydrodynamic-free convective Casson fluid flow of an optically thick fluid over an inclined vertical plate with heat and mass transfer. Combined phenomenon of heat and mass transfer is considered. Numerical solutions in general form are obtained by using the finite element method. The sum of thermal and mechanical parts is expressed as velocity of fluid. Corresponding limiting solutions are also reduced from the general solutions. It is found that the obtained numerical solutions satisfy all imposed initial and boundary conditions and reduce to some known solutions from the literature as special cases. Numerical results for the controlling flow parameters are drawn graphically and discussed in detail. In some special cases, the obtained numerical results are compared and found to be in good agreement with the previously published results which are available in literature. Applications of this study includes laminar magneto-aerodynamics, materials processing and magnetohydrodynamic propulsion thermo-fluid dynamics, etc.

Unified treatment of microscopic boundary conditions and efficient algorithms for estimating tangent operators of the homogenized behavior in the computational homogenization method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Van-Dung; Wu, Ling; Noels, Ludovic

2017-03-01

This work provides a unified treatment of arbitrary kinds of microscopic boundary conditions usually considered in the multi-scale computational homogenization method for nonlinear multi-physics problems. An efficient procedure is developed to enforce the multi-point linear constraints arising from the microscopic boundary condition either by the direct constraint elimination or by the Lagrange multiplier elimination methods. The macroscopic tangent operators are computed in an efficient way from a multiple right hand sides linear system whose left hand side matrix is the stiffness matrix of the microscopic linearized system at the converged solution. The number of vectors at the right hand side is equal to the number of the macroscopic kinematic variables used to formulate the microscopic boundary condition. As the resolution of the microscopic linearized system often follows a direct factorization procedure, the computation of the macroscopic tangent operators is then performed using this factorized matrix at a reduced computational time.

Prediction of the Lorentz Force Detuning and pressure sensitivity for a Pillbox cavity

DOE PAGES

Parise, M.

2018-05-18

The Lorentz Force Detuning (LFD) and the pressure sensitivity are two critical concerns during the design of a Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity resonator. The mechanical deformation of the bare Niobium cavity walls, due to the electromagnetic fields and fluctuation of the external pressure in the Helium bath, can dynamically and statically detune the frequency of the cavity and can cause beam phase errors. The frequency shift can be compensated by additional RF power, that is required to maintain the accelerating gradient, or by sophisticated tuning mechanisms and control-compensation algorithms. Passive stiffening is one of the simplest and most effectivemore » tools that can be used during the early design phase, capable of satisfying the Radio Frequency (RF) requisites. This approach requires several multiphysics simulations as well as a deep mechanical and RF knowledge of the phenomena involved. In this paper, is presented a new numerical model for a pillbox cavity that can predict the frequency shifts caused by the LFD and external pressure. This method allows to greatly reduce the computational effort, which is necessary to meet the RF requirements and to keep track of the frequency shifts without using the time consuming multiphysics simulations.« less

Prediction of the Lorentz Force Detuning and pressure sensitivity for a Pillbox cavity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parise, M.

The Lorentz Force Detuning (LFD) and the pressure sensitivity are two critical concerns during the design of a Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity resonator. The mechanical deformation of the bare Niobium cavity walls, due to the electromagnetic fields and fluctuation of the external pressure in the Helium bath, can dynamically and statically detune the frequency of the cavity and can cause beam phase errors. The frequency shift can be compensated by additional RF power, that is required to maintain the accelerating gradient, or by sophisticated tuning mechanisms and control-compensation algorithms. Passive stiffening is one of the simplest and most effectivemore » tools that can be used during the early design phase, capable of satisfying the Radio Frequency (RF) requisites. This approach requires several multiphysics simulations as well as a deep mechanical and RF knowledge of the phenomena involved. In this paper, is presented a new numerical model for a pillbox cavity that can predict the frequency shifts caused by the LFD and external pressure. This method allows to greatly reduce the computational effort, which is necessary to meet the RF requirements and to keep track of the frequency shifts without using the time consuming multiphysics simulations.« less

Prediction of the Lorentz Force Detuning and pressure sensitivity for a Pillbox cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parise, M.

2018-05-01

The Lorentz Force Detuning (LFD) and the pressure sensitivity are two critical concerns during the design of a Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity resonator. The mechanical deformation of the bare Niobium cavity walls, due to the electromagnetic fields and fluctuation of the external pressure in the Helium bath, can dynamically and statically detune the frequency of the cavity and can cause beam phase errors. The frequency shift can be compensated by additional RF power, that is required to maintain the accelerating gradient, or by sophisticated tuning mechanisms and control-compensation algorithms. Passive stiffening is one of the simplest and most effective tools that can be used during the early design phase, capable of satisfying the Radio Frequency (RF) requisites. This approach requires several multiphysics simulations as well as a deep mechanical and RF knowledge of the phenomena involved. In this paper, is presented a new numerical model for a pillbox cavity that can predict the frequency shifts caused by the LFD and external pressure. This method allows to greatly reduce the computational effort, which is necessary to meet the RF requirements and to keep track of the frequency shifts without using the time consuming multiphysics simulations.

Unstructured LES of Reacting Multiphase Flows in Realistic Gas Turbine Combustors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ham, Frank; Apte, Sourabh; Iaccarino, Gianluca; Wu, Xiao-Hua; Herrmann, Marcus; Constantinescu, George; Mahesh, Krishnan; Moin, Parviz

2003-01-01

As part of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) program, an accurate and robust simulation tool is being developed to perform high-fidelity LES studies of multiphase, multiscale turbulent reacting flows in aircraft gas turbine combustor configurations using hybrid unstructured grids. In the combustor, pressurized gas from the upstream compressor is reacted with atomized liquid fuel to produce the combustion products that drive the downstream turbine. The Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach is used to simulate the combustor because of its demonstrated superiority over RANS in predicting turbulent mixing, which is central to combustion. This paper summarizes the accomplishments of the combustor group over the past year, concentrating mainly on the two major milestones achieved this year: 1) Large scale simulation: A major rewrite and redesign of the flagship unstructured LES code has allowed the group to perform large eddy simulations of the complete combustor geometry (all 18 injectors) with over 100 million control volumes; 2) Multi-physics simulation in complex geometry: The first multi-physics simulations including fuel spray breakup, coalescence, evaporation, and combustion are now being performed in a single periodic sector (1/18th) of an actual Pratt & Whitney combustor geometry.

Prediction of the Lorentz Force Detuning and Pressure Sensitivity for a Pillbox Cavity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parise, M.

2018-04-23

The Lorentz Force Detuning (LFD) and the pressure sensitivity are two critical concerns during the design of a Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity resonator. The mechanical deformation of the bare Niobium cavity walls, due to the electromagnetic fields and fluctuation of the external pressure in the Helium bath, can dynamically and statically detune the frequency of the cavity and can cause beam phase errors. The frequency shift can be compensated by additional RF power, that is required to maintain the accelerating gradient, or by sophisticated tuning mechanisms and control-compensation algorithms. Passive stiffening is one of the simplest and most effectivemore » tools that can be used during the early design phase, capable of satisfying the Radio Frequency (RF) requisites. This approach requires several multiphysics simulations as well as a deep mechanical and RF knowledge of the phenomena involved. In this paper, is presented a new numerical model for a pillbox cavity that can predict the frequency shifts caused by the LFD and external pressure. This method allows to greatly reduce the computational effort, which is necessary to meet the RF requirements and to keep track of the frequency shifts without using the time consuming multiphysics simulations.« less

A novel multiphysic model for simulation of swelling equilibrium of ionized thermal-stimulus responsive hydrogels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hua; Wang, Xiaogui; Yan, Guoping; Lam, K. Y.; Cheng, Sixue; Zou, Tao; Zhuo, Renxi

2005-03-01

In this paper, a novel multiphysic mathematical model is developed for simulation of swelling equilibrium of ionized temperature sensitive hydrogels with the volume phase transition, and it is termed the multi-effect-coupling thermal-stimulus (MECtherm) model. This model consists of the steady-state Nernst-Planck equation, Poisson equation and swelling equilibrium governing equation based on the Flory's mean field theory, in which two types of polymer-solvent interaction parameters, as the functions of temperature and polymer-network volume fraction, are specified with or without consideration of the hydrogen bond interaction. In order to examine the MECtherm model consisting of nonlinear partial differential equations, a meshless Hermite-Cloud method is used for numerical solution of one-dimensional swelling equilibrium of thermal-stimulus responsive hydrogels immersed in a bathing solution. The computed results are in very good agreements with experimental data for the variation of volume swelling ratio with temperature. The influences of the salt concentration and initial fixed-charge density are discussed in detail on the variations of volume swelling ratio of hydrogels, mobile ion concentrations and electric potential of both interior hydrogels and exterior bathing solution.

Validation and Calibration of Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics Multiscale Multiphysics Models - Subcooled Flow Boiling Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anh Bui; Nam Dinh; Brian Williams

In addition to validation data plan, development of advanced techniques for calibration and validation of complex multiscale, multiphysics nuclear reactor simulation codes are a main objective of the CASL VUQ plan. Advanced modeling of LWR systems normally involves a range of physico-chemical models describing multiple interacting phenomena, such as thermal hydraulics, reactor physics, coolant chemistry, etc., which occur over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. To a large extent, the accuracy of (and uncertainty in) overall model predictions is determined by the correctness of various sub-models, which are not conservation-laws based, but empirically derived from measurement data. Suchmore » sub-models normally require extensive calibration before the models can be applied to analysis of real reactor problems. This work demonstrates a case study of calibration of a common model of subcooled flow boiling, which is an important multiscale, multiphysics phenomenon in LWR thermal hydraulics. The calibration process is based on a new strategy of model-data integration, in which, all sub-models are simultaneously analyzed and calibrated using multiple sets of data of different types. Specifically, both data on large-scale distributions of void fraction and fluid temperature and data on small-scale physics of wall evaporation were simultaneously used in this work’s calibration. In a departure from traditional (or common-sense) practice of tuning/calibrating complex models, a modern calibration technique based on statistical modeling and Bayesian inference was employed, which allowed simultaneous calibration of multiple sub-models (and related parameters) using different datasets. Quality of data (relevancy, scalability, and uncertainty) could be taken into consideration in the calibration process. This work presents a step forward in the development and realization of the “CIPS Validation Data Plan” at the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of LWRs to enable quantitative assessment of the CASL modeling of Crud-Induced Power Shift (CIPS) phenomenon, in particular, and the CASL advanced predictive capabilities, in general. This report is prepared for the Department of Energy’s Consortium for Advanced Simulation of LWRs program’s VUQ Focus Area.« less

Design and Electro-Thermo-Mechanical Behavior Analysis of Au/Si₃N₄ Bimorph Microcantilevers for Static Mode Sensing.

PubMed

Kang, Seok-Won; Fragala, Joe; Kim, Su-Ho; Banerjee, Debjyoti

2017-11-01

This paper presents a design optimization method based on theoretical analysis and numerical calculations, using a commercial multi-physics solver (e.g., ANSYS and ESI CFD-ACE+), for a 3D continuous model, to analyze the bending characteristics of an electrically heated bimorph microcantilever. The results from the theoretical calculation and numerical analysis are compared with those measured using a CCD camera and magnification lenses for a chip level microcantilever array fabricated in this study. The bimorph microcantilevers are thermally actuated by joule heating generated by a 0.4 μm thin-film Au heater deposited on 0.6 μm Si₃N₄ microcantilevers. The initial deflections caused by residual stress resulting from the thermal bonding of two metallic layers with different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) are additionally considered, to find the exact deflected position. The numerically calculated total deflections caused by electrical actuation show differences of 10%, on average, with experimental measurements in the operating current region (i.e., ~25 mA) to prevent deterioration by overheating. Bimorph microcantilevers are promising components for use in various MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) sensing applications, and their deflection characteristics in static mode sensing are essential for detecting changes in thermal stress on the surface of microcantilevers.

Design and Electro-Thermo-Mechanical Behavior Analysis of Au/Si3N4 Bimorph Microcantilevers for Static Mode Sensing

PubMed Central

Kim, Su-Ho; Banerjee, Debjyoti

2017-01-01

This paper presents a design optimization method based on theoretical analysis and numerical calculations, using a commercial multi-physics solver (e.g., ANSYS and ESI CFD-ACE+), for a 3D continuous model, to analyze the bending characteristics of an electrically heated bimorph microcantilever. The results from the theoretical calculation and numerical analysis are compared with those measured using a CCD camera and magnification lenses for a chip level microcantilever array fabricated in this study. The bimorph microcantilevers are thermally actuated by joule heating generated by a 0.4 μm thin-film Au heater deposited on 0.6 μm Si3N4 microcantilevers. The initial deflections caused by residual stress resulting from the thermal bonding of two metallic layers with different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) are additionally considered, to find the exact deflected position. The numerically calculated total deflections caused by electrical actuation show differences of 10%, on average, with experimental measurements in the operating current region (i.e., ~25 mA) to prevent deterioration by overheating. Bimorph microcantilevers are promising components for use in various MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) sensing applications, and their deflection characteristics in static mode sensing are essential for detecting changes in thermal stress on the surface of microcantilevers. PMID:29104265

Advanced semi-active engine and transmission mounts: tools for modelling, analysis, design, and tuning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farjoud, Alireza; Taylor, Russell; Schumann, Eric; Schlangen, Timothy

2014-02-01

This paper is focused on modelling, design, and testing of semi-active magneto-rheological (MR) engine and transmission mounts used in the automotive industry. The purpose is to develop a complete analysis, synthesis, design, and tuning tool that reduces the need for expensive and time-consuming laboratory and field tests. A detailed mathematical model of such devices is developed using multi-physics modelling techniques for physical systems with various energy domains. The model includes all major features of an MR mount including fluid dynamics, fluid track, elastic components, decoupler, rate-dip, gas-charged chamber, MR fluid rheology, magnetic circuit, electronic driver, and control algorithm. Conventional passive hydraulic mounts can also be studied using the same mathematical model. The model is validated using standard experimental procedures. It is used for design and parametric study of mounts; effects of various geometric and material parameters on dynamic response of mounts can be studied. Additionally, this model can be used to test various control strategies to obtain best vibration isolation performance by tuning control parameters. Another benefit of this work is that nonlinear interactions between sub-components of the mount can be observed and investigated. This is not possible by using simplified linear models currently available.

Multiphysics Application Coupling Toolkit

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, Michael T.

2013-12-02

This particular consortium implementation of the software integration infrastructure will, in large part, refactor portions of the Rocstar multiphysics infrastructure. Development of this infrastructure originated at the University of Illinois DOE ASCI Center for Simulation of Advanced Rockets (CSAR) to support the center's massively parallel multiphysics simulation application, Rocstar, and has continued at IllinoisRocstar, a small company formed near the end of the University-based program. IllinoisRocstar is now licensing these new developments as free, open source, in hopes to help improve their own and others' access to infrastructure which can be readily utilized in developing coupled or composite software systems;more » with particular attention to more rapid production and utilization of multiphysics applications in the HPC environment. There are two major pieces to the consortium implementation, the Application Component Toolkit (ACT), and the Multiphysics Application Coupling Toolkit (MPACT). The current development focus is the ACT, which is (will be) the substrate for MPACT. The ACT itself is built up from the components described in the technical approach. In particular, the ACT has the following major components: 1.The Component Object Manager (COM): The COM package provides encapsulation of user applications, and their data. COM also provides the inter-component function call mechanism. 2.The System Integration Manager (SIM): The SIM package provides constructs and mechanisms for orchestrating composite systems of multiply integrated pieces.« less

A closer look at the physical and optical properties of gold nanostars: an experimental and computational study

DOE PAGES

Tsoulos, T. V.; Han, L.; Weir, J.; ...

2017-02-22

A combined experimental and computational study was carried out to design a semi-empirical method to determine the volume, surface area, and extinction coefficients of gold nanostars. The values obtained were confirmed by reconstructing the nanostar 3D topography through high-tilt TEM tomography and introducing the finite elements in COMSOL Multiphysics through which we have also calculated the morphology-dependent extinction coefficient. We have, for the first time, modeled the heat losses of a real, experimentally synthesized nanostar, and found the plasmon resonances to be in excellent agreement with those obtained experimentally. Furthermore, we believe that our approach could substantially improve the applicabilitymore » of this remarkable nanomaterial.« less

A closer look at the physical and optical properties of gold nanostars: an experimental and computational study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tsoulos, T. V.; Han, L.; Weir, J.

A combined experimental and computational study was carried out to design a semi-empirical method to determine the volume, surface area, and extinction coefficients of gold nanostars. The values obtained were confirmed by reconstructing the nanostar 3D topography through high-tilt TEM tomography and introducing the finite elements in COMSOL Multiphysics through which we have also calculated the morphology-dependent extinction coefficient. We have, for the first time, modeled the heat losses of a real, experimentally synthesized nanostar, and found the plasmon resonances to be in excellent agreement with those obtained experimentally. Furthermore, we believe that our approach could substantially improve the applicabilitymore » of this remarkable nanomaterial.« less

Block recursive LU preconditioners for the thermally coupled incompressible inductionless MHD problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badia, Santiago; Martín, Alberto F.; Planas, Ramon

2014-10-01

The thermally coupled incompressible inductionless magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) problem models the flow of an electrically charged fluid under the influence of an external electromagnetic field with thermal coupling. This system of partial differential equations is strongly coupled and highly nonlinear for real cases of interest. Therefore, fully implicit time integration schemes are very desirable in order to capture the different physical scales of the problem at hand. However, solving the multiphysics linear systems of equations resulting from such algorithms is a very challenging task which requires efficient and scalable preconditioners. In this work, a new family of recursive block LU preconditioners is designed and tested for solving the thermally coupled inductionless MHD equations. These preconditioners are obtained after splitting the fully coupled matrix into one-physics problems for every variable (velocity, pressure, current density, electric potential and temperature) that can be optimally solved, e.g., using preconditioned domain decomposition algorithms. The main idea is to arrange the original matrix into an (arbitrary) 2 × 2 block matrix, and consider an LU preconditioner obtained by approximating the corresponding Schur complement. For every one of the diagonal blocks in the LU preconditioner, if it involves more than one type of unknowns, we proceed the same way in a recursive fashion. This approach is stated in an abstract way, and can be straightforwardly applied to other multiphysics problems. Further, we precisely explain a flexible and general software design for the code implementation of this type of preconditioners.

Ultrasonic power transfer from a spherical acoustic wave source to a free-free piezoelectric receiver: Modeling and experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shahab, S.; Gray, M.; Erturk, A., E-mail: alper.erturk@me.gatech.edu

2015-03-14

Contactless powering of small electronic components has lately received growing attention for wireless applications in which battery replacement or tethered charging is undesired or simply impossible, and ambient energy harvesting is not a viable solution. As an alternative to well-studied methods of contactless energy transfer, such as the inductive coupling method, the use of ultrasonic waves transmitted and received by piezoelectric devices enables larger power transmission distances, which is critical especially for deep-implanted electronic devices. Moreover, energy transfer by means of acoustic waves is well suited in situations where no electromagnetic fields are allowed. The limited literature of ultrasonic acousticmore » energy transfer is mainly centered on proof-of-concept experiments demonstrating the feasibility of this method, lacking experimentally validated modeling efforts for the resulting multiphysics problem that couples the source and receiver dynamics with domain acoustics. In this work, we present fully coupled analytical, numerical, and experimental multiphysics investigations for ultrasonic acoustic energy transfer from a spherical wave source to a piezoelectric receiver bar that operates in the 33-mode of piezoelectricity. The fluid-loaded piezoelectric receiver under free-free mechanical boundary conditions is shunted to an electrical load for quantifying the electrical power output for a given acoustic source strength of the transmitter. The analytical acoustic-piezoelectric structure interaction modeling framework is validated experimentally, and the effects of system parameters are reported along with optimal electrical loading and frequency conditions of the receiver.« less

Three-dimensional multi-physics coupled simulation of ignition transient in a dual pulse solid rocket motor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yingkun; Chen, Xiong; Xu, Jinsheng; Zhou, Changsheng; Musa, Omer

2018-05-01

In this paper, numerical investigation of ignition transient in a dual pulse solid rocket motor has been conducted. An in-house code has been developed in order to solve multi-physics governing equations, including unsteady compressible flow, heat conduction and structural dynamic. The simplified numerical models for solid propellant ignition and combustion have been added. The conventional serial staggered algorithm is adopted to simulate the fluid structure interaction problems in a loosely-coupled manner. The accuracy of the coupling procedure is validated by the behavior of a cantilever panel subjected to a shock wave. Then, the detailed flow field development, flame propagation characteristics, pressure evolution in the combustion chamber, and the structural response of metal diaphragm are analyzed carefully. The burst-time and burst-pressure of the metal diaphragm are also obtained. The individual effects of the igniter's mass flow rate, metal diaphragm thickness and diameter on the ignition transient have been systemically compared. The numerical results show that the evolution of the flow field in the combustion chamber, the temperature distribution on the propellant surface and the pressure loading on the metal diaphragm surface present a strong three-dimensional behavior during the initial ignition stage. The rupture of metal diaphragm is not only related to the magnitude of pressure loading on the diaphragm surface, but also to the history of pressure loading. The metal diaphragm thickness and diameter have a significant effect on the burst-time and burst-pressure of metal diaphragm.

Magnetic Microspheres and Tissue Model Studies for Therapeutical Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramachandran, N.; Mazuruk, K.

2003-01-01

Hyperthermia is a well known cancer therapy and consists of heating a tumor region to the elevated temperatures in the range of 40-45 C for an extended period of time (2-8 hours). This leads to thermal inactivation of cell regulatory and growth processes with resulting widespread necrosis, carbonization and coagulation. Moreover, heat boosts the tumor response to other treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Of particular importance is careful control of generated heat in the treated region and keeping it localized. Higher heating, to about 56 C can lead to tissue thermo-ablation. With accurate temperature control, hyperthermia has the advantage of having minimal side effects. Several heating techniques are utilized for this purpose, such as whole body hyperthermia, radio-frequency (RF) hyperthermia, ultrasound technique, inductive microwave antenna hyperthermia, inductive needles (thermoseeds), and magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH).MFH offers many advantages as targeting capability by applying magnets. However, this technology still suffers significant inefficiencies due to lack of thermal control. This paper will provide a review of the topic and outline the ongoing work in this area. The main emphasis is in devising ways to overcome the technical difficulty in hyperthermia breast therapy of achieving a uniform therapeutic temperature over the required region of the body and holding it steady for an extended period (2-3 hours). The basic shortcomings of the presently utilized heating methods stem from the non-uniform thermal properties of the tissue and the point heating characteristics of the techniques without any thermal control. Our approach is to develop a novel class of magnetic fluids, which have inherent thermoregulating properties. We have identified a few magnetic alloys which can serve as suitable nano to micron-size particle material. The objective is to synthesize, characterize and evaluate the efficacy of Thermo Regulating Magnetic Fluids (TRMF) for hyperthermia therapy. The development of a tissue model and testing the fluid dynamics of particle motion, settling, distribution in the tissue matrix and heat generation will be discussed.

Thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling in long-term sedimentary rock response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makhnenko, R. Y.; Podladchikov, Y.

2017-12-01

Storage of nuclear waste or CO2 affects the state of stress and pore pressure in the subsurface and may induce large thermal gradients in the rock formations. In general, the associated coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical effect on long-term rock deformation and fluid flow have to be studied. Principles behind mathematical models for poroviscoelastic response are reviewed, and poroviscous model parameter, the bulk viscosity, is included in the constitutive equations. Time-dependent response (creep) of fluid-filled sedimentary rocks is experimentally quantified at isotropic stress states. Three poroelastic parameters are measured by drained, undrained, and unjacketed geomechanical tests for quartz-rich Berea sandstone, calcite-rich Apulian limestone, and clay-rich Jurassic shale. The bulk viscosity is calculated from the measurements of pore pressure growth under undrained conditions, which requires time scales 104 s. The bulk viscosity is reported to be on the order of 1015 Pa•s for the sandstone, limestone, and shale. It is found to be decreasing with the increase of pore pressure despite corresponding decrease in the effective stress. Additionally, increase of temperature (from 24 ºC to 40 ºC) enhances creep, where the most pronounced effect is reported for the shale with bulk viscosity decrease by a factor of 3. Viscous compaction of fluid-filled porous media allows a generation of a special type of fluid flow instability that leads to formation of high-porosity, high-permeability domains that are able to self-propagate upwards due to interplay between buoyancy and viscous resistance of the deforming porous matrix. This instability is known as "porosity wave" and its formation is possible under conditions applicable to deep CO2 storage in reservoirs and explains creation of high-porosity channels and chimneys. The reported experiments show that the formation of high-permeability pathways is most likely to occur in low-permeable clay-rich materials (caprock representatives) at elevated temperatures.

An agent-based model of leukocyte transendothelial migration during atherogenesis.

PubMed

Bhui, Rita; Hayenga, Heather N

2017-05-01

A vast amount of work has been dedicated to the effects of hemodynamics and cytokines on leukocyte adhesion and trans-endothelial migration (TEM) and subsequent accumulation of leukocyte-derived foam cells in the artery wall. However, a comprehensive mechanobiological model to capture these spatiotemporal events and predict the growth and remodeling of an atherosclerotic artery is still lacking. Here, we present a multiscale model of leukocyte TEM and plaque evolution in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. The approach integrates cellular behaviors via agent-based modeling (ABM) and hemodynamic effects via computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this computational framework, the ABM implements the diffusion kinetics of key biological proteins, namely Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Tissue Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α), Interlukin-10 (IL-10) and Interlukin-1 beta (IL-1β), to predict chemotactic driven leukocyte migration into and within the artery wall. The ABM also considers wall shear stress (WSS) dependent leukocyte TEM and compensatory arterial remodeling obeying Glagov's phenomenon. Interestingly, using fully developed steady blood flow does not result in a representative number of leukocyte TEM as compared to pulsatile flow, whereas passing WSS at peak systole of the pulsatile flow waveform does. Moreover, using the model, we have found leukocyte TEM increases monotonically with decreases in luminal volume. At critical plaque shapes the WSS changes rapidly resulting in sudden increases in leukocyte TEM suggesting lumen volumes that will give rise to rapid plaque growth rates if left untreated. Overall this multi-scale and multi-physics approach appropriately captures and integrates the spatiotemporal events occurring at the cellular level in order to predict leukocyte transmigration and plaque evolution.

An agent-based model of leukocyte transendothelial migration during atherogenesis

PubMed Central

Bhui, Rita; Hayenga, Heather N.

2017-01-01

A vast amount of work has been dedicated to the effects of hemodynamics and cytokines on leukocyte adhesion and trans-endothelial migration (TEM) and subsequent accumulation of leukocyte-derived foam cells in the artery wall. However, a comprehensive mechanobiological model to capture these spatiotemporal events and predict the growth and remodeling of an atherosclerotic artery is still lacking. Here, we present a multiscale model of leukocyte TEM and plaque evolution in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. The approach integrates cellular behaviors via agent-based modeling (ABM) and hemodynamic effects via computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In this computational framework, the ABM implements the diffusion kinetics of key biological proteins, namely Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Tissue Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α), Interlukin-10 (IL-10) and Interlukin-1 beta (IL-1β), to predict chemotactic driven leukocyte migration into and within the artery wall. The ABM also considers wall shear stress (WSS) dependent leukocyte TEM and compensatory arterial remodeling obeying Glagov’s phenomenon. Interestingly, using fully developed steady blood flow does not result in a representative number of leukocyte TEM as compared to pulsatile flow, whereas passing WSS at peak systole of the pulsatile flow waveform does. Moreover, using the model, we have found leukocyte TEM increases monotonically with decreases in luminal volume. At critical plaque shapes the WSS changes rapidly resulting in sudden increases in leukocyte TEM suggesting lumen volumes that will give rise to rapid plaque growth rates if left untreated. Overall this multi-scale and multi-physics approach appropriately captures and integrates the spatiotemporal events occurring at the cellular level in order to predict leukocyte transmigration and plaque evolution. PMID:28542193

OpenCMISS: a multi-physics & multi-scale computational infrastructure for the VPH/Physiome project.

PubMed

Bradley, Chris; Bowery, Andy; Britten, Randall; Budelmann, Vincent; Camara, Oscar; Christie, Richard; Cookson, Andrew; Frangi, Alejandro F; Gamage, Thiranja Babarenda; Heidlauf, Thomas; Krittian, Sebastian; Ladd, David; Little, Caton; Mithraratne, Kumar; Nash, Martyn; Nickerson, David; Nielsen, Poul; Nordbø, Oyvind; Omholt, Stig; Pashaei, Ali; Paterson, David; Rajagopal, Vijayaraghavan; Reeve, Adam; Röhrle, Oliver; Safaei, Soroush; Sebastián, Rafael; Steghöfer, Martin; Wu, Tim; Yu, Ting; Zhang, Heye; Hunter, Peter

2011-10-01

The VPH/Physiome Project is developing the model encoding standards CellML (cellml.org) and FieldML (fieldml.org) as well as web-accessible model repositories based on these standards (models.physiome.org). Freely available open source computational modelling software is also being developed to solve the partial differential equations described by the models and to visualise results. The OpenCMISS code (opencmiss.org), described here, has been developed by the authors over the last six years to replace the CMISS code that has supported a number of organ system Physiome projects. OpenCMISS is designed to encompass multiple sets of physical equations and to link subcellular and tissue-level biophysical processes into organ-level processes. In the Heart Physiome project, for example, the large deformation mechanics of the myocardial wall need to be coupled to both ventricular flow and embedded coronary flow, and the reaction-diffusion equations that govern the propagation of electrical waves through myocardial tissue need to be coupled with equations that describe the ion channel currents that flow through the cardiac cell membranes. In this paper we discuss the design principles and distributed memory architecture behind the OpenCMISS code. We also discuss the design of the interfaces that link the sets of physical equations across common boundaries (such as fluid-structure coupling), or between spatial fields over the same domain (such as coupled electromechanics), and the concepts behind CellML and FieldML that are embodied in the OpenCMISS data structures. We show how all of these provide a flexible infrastructure for combining models developed across the VPH/Physiome community. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of a plasma photonic crystal using a multi-fluid plasma model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, W. R.; Shumlak, U.; Wang, B.; Righetti, F.; Cappelli, M. A.; Miller, S. T.

2017-10-01

Plasma photonic crystals have the potential to significantly expand the capabilities of current microwave filtering and switching technologies by providing high speed (μs) control of energy band-gap/pass characteristics in the GHz through low THz range. While photonic crystals consisting of dielectric, semiconductor, and metallic matrices have seen thousands of articles published over the last several decades, plasma-based photonic crystals remain a relatively unexplored field. Numerical modeling efforts so far have largely used the standard methods of analysis for photonic crystals (the Plane Wave Expansion Method, Finite Difference Time Domain, and ANSYS finite element electromagnetic code HFSS), none of which capture nonlinear plasma-radiation interactions. In this study, a 5N-moment multi-fluid plasma model is implemented using University of Washington's WARPXM finite element multi-physics code. A two-dimensional plasma-vacuum photonic crystal is simulated and its behavior is characterized through the generation of dispersion diagrams and transmission spectra. These results are compared with theory, experimental data, and ANSYS HFSS simulation results. This research is supported by a Grant from United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Influence of wire-coil inserts on the thermo-hydraulic performance of a flat-plate solar collector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrero Martín, R.; García, A.; Pérez-García, J.

2012-11-01

Enhancement techniques can be applied to flat-plate liquid solar collectors towards more compact and efficient designs. For the typical operating mass flow rates in flat-plate solar collectors, the most suitable technique is inserted devices. Based on previous studies from the authors, wire coils were selected for enhancing heat transfer. This type of inserted device provides better results in laminar, transitional and low turbulence fluid flow regimes. To test the enhanced solar collector and compare with a standard one, an experimental side-by-side solar collector test bed was designed and constructed. The testing set up was fully designed following the requirements of EN12975-2 and allow us to accomplish performance tests under the same operating conditions (mass flow rate, inlet fluid temperature and weather conditions). This work presents the thermal efficiency curves of a commercial and an enhanced solar collector, for the standardized mass flow rate per unit of absorber area of 0.02 kg/sm2 (in useful engineering units 144 kg/h for water as working fluid and 2 m2 flat-plate solar collector of absorber area). The enhanced collector was modified inserting spiral wire coils of dimensionless pitch p/D = 1 and wire-diameter e/D = 0.0717. The friction factor per tube has been computed from the overall pressure drop tests across the solar collectors. The thermal efficiency curves of both solar collectors, a standard and an enhanced collector, are presented. The enhanced solar collector increases the thermal efficiency by 15%. To account for the overall enhancement a modified performance evaluation criterion (R3m) is proposed. The maximum value encountered reaches 1.105 which represents an increase in useful power of 10.5% for the same pumping power consumption.

A 3D thermal model to analyze the temperature changes of digits during cold stress and predict the danger of frostbite in human fingers.

PubMed

Fallahi, Amir; Reza Salimpour, Mohammad; Shirani, Ebrahim

2017-04-01

The existing computational models of frostbite injury are limited to one and two dimensional schemes. In this study, a coupled thermo-fluid model is applied to simulate a finger exposed to cold weather. The spatial variability of finger-tip temperature is compared to experimental ones to validate the model. A semi-realistic 3D model for tissue and blood vessels is used to analyze the transient heat transfer through the finger. The effect of heat conduction, metabolic heat generation, heat transport by blood perfusion, heat exchange between tissues and large vessels are considered in energy balance equations. The current model was then tested in different temperatures and air speeds to predict the danger of frostbite in humans for different gloves. Two prevalent gloves which are commonly used in cold climate are considered for investigation. The endurance time and the fraction of necrotic tissues are two main factors suggested for obtaining the response of digit tissues to different environmental conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical coupled Numerical modeling of Injection-induced seismicity on a pre-existing fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jongchan; Archer, Rosalind

2017-04-01

In terms of energy development (oil, gas and geothermal field) and environmental improvement (carbon dioxide sequestration), fluid injection into subsurface has been dramatically increased. As a side effect of these operations, a number of injection-induced seismic activities have also significantly risen. It is known that the main causes of induced seismicity are changes in local shear and normal stresses and pore pressure as well. This mechanism leads to increase in the probability of earthquake occurrence on permeable pre-existing fault zones predominantly. In this 2D fully coupled THM geothermal reservoir numerical simulation of injection-induced seismicity, we investigate the thermal, hydraulic and mechanical behavior of the fracture zone, considering a variety of 1) fault permeability, 2) injection rate and 3) injection temperature to identify major contributing parameters to induced seismic activity. We also calculate spatiotemporal variation of the Coulomb stress which is a combination of shear stress, normal stress and pore pressure and lastly forecast the seismicity rate on the fault zone by computing the seismic prediction model of Dieterich (1994).

Numerical simulation of stress distribution in Inconel 718 components realized by metal injection molding during supercritical debinding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agne, Aboubakry; Barrière, Thierry

2018-05-01

Metal injection molding (MIM) is a process combining advantages of thermoplastic injection molding and powder metallurgy process in order to manufacture components with complex and near net-shape geometries. The debinding of a green component can be performed in two steps, first by using solvent debinding in order to extract the organic part of the binder and then by thermal degradation of the rest of the binder. A shorter and innovative method for extracting an organic binder involves the use of supercritical fluid instead of a regular solvent. The debinding via a supercritical fluid was recently investigated to extract organic binders contained in components obtained by Metal Injection Molding. It consists to put the component in an enclosure subjected to high pressure and temperature. The supercritical fluid has various properties depending on these two conditions, e.g., density and viscosity. The high-pressure combined with the high temperature during the process affect the component structure. Three mechanisms contributing to the deformation of the component can been differentiated: thermal expansion, binder extraction and supercritical fluid effect on the outer surfaces of the component. If one supposes that, the deformation due to binder extraction is negligible, thermal expansion and the fluid effect are probably the main mechanisms that can produce several stress. A finite-element model, which couples fluid-structures interaction and structural mechanics, has been developed and performed on the Comsol Multiphysics® finite-element software platform allowed to estimate the stress distribution during the supercritical debinding of MIM component composed of Inconel 718 powders, polypropylene, polyethylene glycol and stearic acid as binder. The proposed numerical simulations allow the estimation of the stress distribution with respect to the processing parameters for MIM components during the supercritical debinding process using a stationary solver.

Compatibility tests between Jarytherm DBT synthetic oil and solid materials from wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fasquelle, Thomas; Falcoz, Quentin; Neveu, Pierre; Flamant, Gilles; Walker, Jérémie

2016-05-01

Direct thermocline thermal energy storage is the cheapest sensible thermal energy storage configuration. Indeed, a thermocline tank consists in one tank instead of two and reduces costs. Thermocline thermal energy storages are often filled with cheap solid materials which could react with the heat transfer fluid in the case of incompatibility. PROMES laboratory is building a pilot-scale parabolic trough solar loop including a direct thermocline thermal energy storage system. The working fluid will be a synthetic oil, the Jarytherm® DBT, and the thermal energy storage tank will be filled with stabilized solid materials elaborated from vitrified wastes. Compatibility tests have been conducted in order to check on one hand if the thermo-mechanical properties and life time of the energy storage medium are not affected by the contact with oil and, on the other hand, if the thermal oil performances are not degraded by the solid filler. These experiments consisted in putting in contact the oil and the solid materials in small tanks. In order to discriminate the solid materials tested in the shortest time, accelerating aging conditions at 330 °C for 500 hours were used. The measurements consisted in X-Ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy for the solids, and thermo-physical and chemical properties measurements for the oil. Regarding the solid samples, their crystalline structure did not change during the test, but it is difficult to conclude about their elementary composition and they seem to absorb oil. While thermal properties still makes Jarytherm® DBT a good heat transfer fluid after the accelerated aging tests, this study results in differentiating most compatible materials. Thus according to our study, Jarytherm® DBT can be used in direct thermocline thermal energy storage applications when compatibility of the solid material has been demonstrated.

Thermo-fluid-dynamics of natural convection around a heated vertical plate with a critical assessment of the standard similarity theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guha, Abhijit; Nayek, Subhajit

2017-10-01

A compulsory element of all textbooks on natural convection has been a detailed similarity analysis for laminar natural convection on a heated semi-infinite vertical plate and a routinely used boundary condition for such analysis is u = 0 at x = 0. The same boundary condition continues to be assumed in related theoretical analyses, even in recent publications. The present work examines the consequence of this long-held assumption, which appears to have never been questioned in the literature, on the fluid dynamics and heat transfer characteristics. The assessment has been made here by solving the Navier-Stokes equations numerically with two boundary conditions—one with constrained velocity at x = 0 to mimic the similarity analysis and the other with no such constraints simulating the case of a heated vertical plate in an infinite expanse of the quiescent fluid medium. It is found that the fluid flow field given by the similarity theory is drastically different from that given by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with unconstrained velocity. This also reflects on the Nusselt number, the prediction of the CFD simulations with unconstrained velocity being quite close to the experimentally measured values at all Grashof and Prandtl numbers (this is the first time theoretically computed values of the average Nusselt number N u ¯ are found to be so close to the experimental values). The difference of the Nusselt number (Δ N u ¯ ) predicted by the similarity theory and that by the CFD simulations (as well as the measured values), both computed with a high degree of precision, can be very significant, particularly at low Grashof numbers and at Prandtl numbers far removed from unity. Computations show that within the range of investigations (104 ≤ GrL ≤ 108, 0.01 ≤ Pr ≤ 100), the maximum value of Δ N u ¯ may be of the order 50%. Thus, for quantitative predictions, the available theory (i.e., similarity analysis) can be rather inadequate. With the help of the CFD simulations, the details of the fluid dynamics, particularly the physics of fluid entrainment, are thoroughly studied. It is shown that the relative proportions of the fluid entrainment from the bottom, top, and side of the vertical plate depend on the size of the region of interest (ROI). As the size of the ROI is made large, most of the entrained fluid comes from the bottom, a little bit from the top and almost no fluid enters from the side; the nature of entrainment is opposite in the similarity analysis for which all the fluid enters from the side and no fluid enters either from the bottom or the top. The two sets of CFD simulations establish, in particular, the conclusion that it is the inappropriateness of the age-old boundary condition u = 0 at x = 0, and not the boundary layer approximation, that is the principal cause for the vulnerability of the standard similarity analyses (and integral theories) for natural convection. The CFD solutions further demonstrate the effects of finite length and finite thickness of the plate on the flow field and the shape of the buoyant jet. The different boundary conditions on the two sides of the vertical plate and the presence of its finite thickness make the buoyant jet bend over the top edge of the plate and make the evolution of entrainment from the two sides of the free buoyant jet different. The entrainment velocity from the two sides, however, equilibrates at a certain distance above the plate. The asymmetry in the velocity and temperature fields above the plate decreases more rapidly when Pr is smaller and GrL is greater. It is shown that sufficiently above the plate, the distributions of axial velocity and temperature in the buoyant jet tend to be symmetric with respect to an axis that seems to pass through the vertical mid-plane of the plate, i.e., the jet tends to lose its history of origination.

Simulation of propagation of the HPM in the low-pressure argon plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhigang, LI; Zhongcai, YUAN; Jiachun, WANG; Jiaming, SHI

2018-02-01

The propagation of the high-power microwave (HPM) with a frequency of 6 GHz in the low-pressure argon plasma was studied by the method of fluid approximation. The two-dimensional transmission model was built based on the wave equation, the electron drift-diffusion equations and the heavy species transport equations, which were solved by means of COMSOL Multiphysics software. The simulation results showed that the propagation characteristic of the HPM was closely related to the average electron density of the plasma. The attenuation of the transmitted wave increased nonlinearly with the electron density. Specifically, the growth of the attenuation slowed down as the electron density increased uniformly. In addition, the concrete transmission process of the HPM wave in the low-pressure argon plasma was given.

Mesh-free data transfer algorithms for partitioned multiphysics problems: Conservation, accuracy, and parallelism

DOE PAGES

Slattery, Stuart R.

2015-12-02

In this study we analyze and extend mesh-free algorithms for three-dimensional data transfer problems in partitioned multiphysics simulations. We first provide a direct comparison between a mesh-based weighted residual method using the common-refinement scheme and two mesh-free algorithms leveraging compactly supported radial basis functions: one using a spline interpolation and one using a moving least square reconstruction. Through the comparison we assess both the conservation and accuracy of the data transfer obtained from each of the methods. We do so for a varying set of geometries with and without curvature and sharp features and for functions with and without smoothnessmore » and with varying gradients. Our results show that the mesh-based and mesh-free algorithms are complementary with cases where each was demonstrated to perform better than the other. We then focus on the mesh-free methods by developing a set of algorithms to parallelize them based on sparse linear algebra techniques. This includes a discussion of fast parallel radius searching in point clouds and restructuring the interpolation algorithms to leverage data structures and linear algebra services designed for large distributed computing environments. The scalability of our new algorithms is demonstrated on a leadership class computing facility using a set of basic scaling studies. Finally, these scaling studies show that for problems with reasonable load balance, our new algorithms for both spline interpolation and moving least square reconstruction demonstrate both strong and weak scalability using more than 100,000 MPI processes with billions of degrees of freedom in the data transfer operation.« less

Aerosol transport simulations in indoor and outdoor environments using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landazuri, Andrea C.

This dissertation focuses on aerosol transport modeling in occupational environments and mining sites in Arizona using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The impacts of human exposure in both environments are explored with the emphasis on turbulence, wind speed, wind direction and particle sizes. Final emissions simulations involved the digitalization process of available elevation contour plots of one of the mining sites to account for realistic topographical features. The digital elevation map (DEM) of one of the sites was imported to COMSOL MULTIPHYSICSRTM for subsequent turbulence and particle simulations. Simulation results that include realistic topography show considerable deviations of wind direction. Inter-element correlation results using metal and metalloid size resolved concentration data using a Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) under given wind speeds and directions provided guidance on groups of metals that coexist throughout mining activities. Groups between Fe-Mg, Cr-Fe, Al-Sc, Sc-Fe, and Mg-Al are strongly correlated for unrestricted wind directions and speeds, suggesting that the source may be of soil origin (e.g. ore and tailings); also, groups of elements where Cu is present, in the coarse fraction range, may come from mechanical action mining activities and saltation phenomenon. Besides, MOUDI data under low wind speeds (<2 m/s) and at night showed a strong correlation for 1 mum particles between the groups: Sc-Be-Mg, Cr-Al, Cu-Mn, Cd-Pb-Be, Cd-Cr, Cu-Pb, Pb-Cd, As-Cd-Pb. The As-Cd-Pb correlates strongly in almost all ranges of particle sizes. When restricted low wind speeds were imposed more groups of elements are evident and this may be justified with the fact that at lower speeds particles are more likely to settle. When linking these results with CFD simulations and Pb-isotope results it is concluded that the source of elements found in association with Pb in the fine fraction come from the ore that is subsequently processed in the smelter site, whereas the source of elements associated to Pb in the coarse fraction is of different origin. CFD simulation results will not only provide realistic and quantifiable information in terms of potential deleterious effects, but also that the application of CFD represents an important contribution to actual dispersion modeling studies; therefore, Computational Fluid Dynamics can be used as a source apportionment tool to identify areas that have an effect over specific sampling points and susceptible regions under certain meteorological conditions, and these conclusions can be supported with inter-element correlation matrices and lead isotope analysis, especially since there is limited access to the mining sites. Additional results concluded that grid adaption is a powerful tool that allows to refine specific regions that require lots of detail and therefore better resolve flow detail, provides higher number of locations with monotonic convergence than the manual grids, and requires the least computational effort. CFD simulations were approached using the k-epsilon model, with the aid of computer aided engineering software: ANSYSRTM and COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS RTM. The success of aerosol transport simulations depends on a good simulation of the turbulent flow. A lot of attention was placed on investigating and choosing the best models in terms of convergence, independence and computational effort. This dissertation also includes preliminary studies of transient discrete phase, eulerian and species transport modeling, importance of saltation of particles, information on CFD methods, and strategies for future directions that should be taken.

Integration of topological modification within the modeling of multi-physics systems: Application to a Pogo-stick

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdeljabbar Kharrat, Nourhene; Plateaux, Régis; Miladi Chaabane, Mariem; Choley, Jean-Yves; Karra, Chafik; Haddar, Mohamed

2018-05-01

The present work tackles the modeling of multi-physics systems applying a topological approach while proceeding with a new methodology using a topological modification to the structure of systems. Then the comparison with the Magos' methodology is made. Their common ground is the use of connectivity within systems. The comparison and analysis of the different types of modeling show the importance of the topological methodology through the integration of the topological modification to the topological structure of a multi-physics system. In order to validate this methodology, the case of Pogo-stick is studied. The first step consists in generating a topological graph of the system. Then the connectivity step takes into account the contact with the ground. During the last step of this research; the MGS language (Modeling of General System) is used to model the system through equations. Finally, the results are compared to those obtained by MODELICA. Therefore, this proposed methodology may be generalized to model multi-physics systems that can be considered as a set of local elements.

Computational Modeling of Arc-Slag Interaction in DC Furnaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, Quinn G.

2017-02-01

The plasma arc is central to the operation of the direct-current arc furnace, a unit operation commonly used in high-temperature processing of both primary ores and recycled metals. The arc is a high-velocity, high-temperature jet of ionized gas created and sustained by interactions among the thermal, momentum, and electromagnetic fields resulting from the passage of electric current. In addition to being the primary source of thermal energy, the arc jet also couples mechanically with the bath of molten process material within the furnace, causing substantial splashing and stirring in the region in which it impinges. The arc's interaction with the molten bath inside the furnace is studied through use of a multiphase, multiphysics computational magnetohydrodynamic model developed in the OpenFOAM® framework. Results from the computational solver are compared with empirical correlations that account for arc-slag interaction effects.

Computational and Experimental Evaluations of a Novel Thermo-Brachytherapy Seed for Treatment of Solid Tumors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warrell, Gregory R.

Hyperthermia has long been known as a radiation therapy sensitizer of high potential; however successful delivery of this modality and integrating it with radiation have often proved technically difficult. We present the dual-modality thermobrachytherapy (TB) seed, based on the ubiquitous low dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy permanent implant, as a simple and effective combination of hyperthermia and radiation therapy. Heat is generated from a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic core within the seed, which produces Joule heating by eddy currents. A strategically-selected Curie temperature provides thermal self-regulation. In order to obtain a uniform and sufficiently high temperature distribution, additional hyperthermia-only (HT-only) seeds are proposed to be used in vacant spots within the needles used to implant the TB seeds; this permits a high seed density without the use of additional needles. Experimental and computational studies were done both to optimize the design of the TB and HT-only seeds and to quantitatively assess their ability to heat and irradiate defined, patient-specific targets. Experiments were performed with seed-sized ferromagnetic samples in tissue-mimicking phantoms heated by an industrial induction heater. The magnetic and thermal properties of the seeds were studied computationally in the finite element analysis (FEA) solver COMSOL Multiphysics, modelling realistic patient-specific seed distributions. These distributions were derived from LDR permanent prostate implants previously conducted at our institution; various modifications of the seeds' design were studied. The calculated temperature distributions were analyzed by generating temperature-volume histograms, which were used to quantify coverage and temperature homogeneity for a range of blood perfusion rates, as well as for a range of seed Curie temperatures and thermal power production rates. The impact of the interseed attenuation and scatter (ISA) effect on radiation dose distributions of this seed was also quantified by Monte Carlo studies in the software package MCNP5. Experimental and computational analyses agree that the proposed seeds may heat a defined target with safe and attainable seed spacing and magnetic field parameters. These studies also point to the use of a ferrite-based ferrimagnetic core within the seeds, a design that would deliver hyperthermia of acceptable quality even for the high rate of blood perfusion in prostate tissue. The loss of radiation coverage due to the ISA effect of distributions of TB and HT-only seeds may be rectified by slightly increasing the prescribed dose in standard dose superposition-based treatment planning software. A systematic approach of combining LDR prostate brachytherapy with hyperthermia is thus described, and its ability to provide sufficient and uniform temperature distributions in realistic patient-specific implants evaluated. Potential improvements to the previously reported TB seed design are discussed based on quantitative evaluation of its operation and performance.

Experimental investigation and CFD analysis on cross flow in the core of PMR200

DOE PAGES

Lee, Jeong -Hun; Yoon, Su -Jong; Cho, Hyoung -Kyu; ...

2015-04-16

The Prismatic Modular Reactor (PMR) is one of the major Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) concepts, which consists of hexagonal prismatic fuel blocks and reflector blocks made of nuclear gradegraphite. However, the shape of the graphite blocks could be easily changed by neutron damage duringthe reactor operation and the shape change can create gaps between the blocks inducing the bypass flow.In the VHTR core, two types of gaps, a vertical gap and a horizontal gap which are called bypass gap and cross gap, respectively, can be formed. The cross gap complicates the flow field in the reactor core by connectingmore » the coolant channel to the bypass gap and it could lead to a loss of effective coolant flow in the fuel blocks. Thus, a cross flow experimental facility was constructed to investigate the cross flow phenomena in the core of the VHTR and a series of experiments were carried out under varying flow rates and gap sizes. The results of the experiments were compared with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis results in order to verify its prediction capability for the cross flow phenomena. Fairly good agreement was seen between experimental results and CFD predictions and the local characteristics of the cross flow was discussed in detail. Based on the calculation results, pressure loss coefficient across the cross gap was evaluated, which is necessary for the thermo-fluid analysis of the VHTR core using a lumped parameter code.« less

Numerical Modeling of Self-Pressurization and Pressure Control by Thermodynamic Vent System in a Cryogenic Tank

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Majumdar, Alok; Valenzuela, Juan; LeClair, Andre; Moder, Jeff

2015-01-01

This paper presents a numerical model of a system-level test bed - the multipurpose hydrogen test bed (MHTB) using Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP). MHTB is representative in size and shape of a fully integrated space transportation vehicle liquid hydrogen (LH2) propellant tank and was tested at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to generate data for cryogenic storage. GFSSP is a finite volume based network flow analysis software developed at MSFC and used for thermo-fluid analysis of propulsion systems. GFSSP has been used to model the self-pressurization and ullage pressure control by Thermodynamic Vent System (TVS). A TVS typically includes a Joule-Thompson (J-T) expansion device, a two-phase heat exchanger, and a mixing pump and spray to extract thermal energy from the tank without significant loss of liquid propellant. Two GFSSP models (Self-Pressurization & TVS) were separately developed and tested and then integrated to simulate the entire system. Self-Pressurization model consists of multiple ullage nodes, propellant node and solid nodes; it computes the heat transfer through Multi-Layer Insulation blankets and calculates heat and mass transfer between ullage and liquid propellant and ullage and tank wall. TVS model calculates the flow through J-T valve, heat exchanger and spray and vent systems. Two models are integrated by exchanging data through User Subroutines of both models. The integrated models results have been compared with MHTB test data of 50% fill level. Satisfactory comparison was observed between test and numerical predictions.

Multiphase Modeling of Bottom-Stirred Ladle for Prediction of Slag-Steel Interface and Estimation of Desulfurization Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Umesh; Anapagaddi, Ravikiran; Mangal, Saurabh; Padmanabhan, Kuppuswamy Anantha; Singh, Amarendra Kumar

2016-06-01

Ladle furnace is a key unit in which various phenomena such as deoxidation, desulfurization, inclusion removal, and homogenization of alloy composition and temperature take place. Therefore, the processes present in the ladle play an important role in determining the quality of steel. Prediction of flow behavior of the phases present in the ladle furnace is needed to understand the phenomena that take place there and accordingly control the process parameters. In this study, first a mathematical model is developed to analyze the transient three-phase flow present. Argon gas bottom-stirred ladle with off-centered plugs has been used in this study. Volume of fluid method is used in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to capture the behavior of slag, steel, and argon interfaces. The results are validated with data from literature. Eye opening and slag-steel interfacial area are calculated for different operating conditions and are compared with experimental and simulated results cited in literature. Desulfurization rate is then predicted using chemical kinetic equations, interfacial area, calculated from CFD model, and thermodynamic data, obtained from the Thermo-Calc software. Using the model, it is demonstrated that the double plug purging is more suitable than the single plug purging for the same level of total flow. The advantage is more distinct at higher flow rates as it leads higher interfacial area, needed for desulfurization and smaller eye openings (lower oxygen/nitrogen pickup).

A numerically efficient damping model for acoustic resonances in microfluidic cavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hahn, P., E-mail: hahnp@ethz.ch; Dual, J.

Bulk acoustic wave devices are typically operated in a resonant state to achieve enhanced acoustic amplitudes and high acoustofluidic forces for the manipulation of microparticles. Among other loss mechanisms related to the structural parts of acoustofluidic devices, damping in the fluidic cavity is a crucial factor that limits the attainable acoustic amplitudes. In the analytical part of this study, we quantify all relevant loss mechanisms related to the fluid inside acoustofluidic micro-devices. Subsequently, a numerical analysis of the time-harmonic visco-acoustic and thermo-visco-acoustic equations is carried out to verify the analytical results for 2D and 3D examples. The damping results aremore » fitted into the framework of classical linear acoustics to set up a numerically efficient device model. For this purpose, all damping effects are combined into an acoustofluidic loss factor. Since some components of the acoustofluidic loss factor depend on the acoustic mode shape in the fluid cavity, we propose a two-step simulation procedure. In the first step, the loss factors are deduced from the simulated mode shape. Subsequently, a second simulation is invoked, taking all losses into account. Owing to its computational efficiency, the presented numerical device model is of great relevance for the simulation of acoustofluidic particle manipulation by means of acoustic radiation forces or acoustic streaming. For the first time, accurate 3D simulations of realistic micro-devices for the quantitative prediction of pressure amplitudes and the related acoustofluidic forces become feasible.« less

A Computational Framework for Efficient Low Temperature Plasma Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Abhishek Kumar; Venkattraman, Ayyaswamy

2016-10-01

Over the past years, scientific computing has emerged as an essential tool for the investigation and prediction of low temperature plasmas (LTP) applications which includes electronics, nanomaterial synthesis, metamaterials etc. To further explore the LTP behavior with greater fidelity, we present a computational toolbox developed to perform LTP simulations. This framework will allow us to enhance our understanding of multiscale plasma phenomenon using high performance computing tools mainly based on OpenFOAM FVM distribution. Although aimed at microplasma simulations, the modular framework is able to perform multiscale, multiphysics simulations of physical systems comprises of LTP. Some salient introductory features are capability to perform parallel, 3D simulations of LTP applications on unstructured meshes. Performance of the solver is tested based on numerical results assessing accuracy and efficiency of benchmarks for problems in microdischarge devices. Numerical simulation of microplasma reactor at atmospheric pressure with hemispherical dielectric coated electrodes will be discussed and hence, provide an overview of applicability and future scope of this framework.