Numerical modelling of aeroelastic behaviour of an airfoil in viscous incompressible flow

In this paper, the problem of the numerical approximation of a two-dimensional incompressible viscous fluid flow interacting with a flexible structure is considered. Due to high Reynolds numbers in the range 10⁴ − 10⁶ the turbulent character of the flow is considered and modelled with the aid of Reynolds equations coupled with the k − ω turbulence model. The structure motion is described by a system of ordinary differential equations for three degrees of freedom: vertical displacement, rotation and rotation of the aileron. The problem is discretized in space by the Galerkin Least-Squares stabilized finite element method and the computational domain is treated with the aid of Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian method.     

Numerical prediction of buoyancy driven micropolar fluid flow within uniformly heated eccentric annulus

In this paper, the problem of buoyancy driven micropolar fluid flow within an annulus formed between two circular concentric/eccentric tubes has been numerically investigated using Fourier spectral method. The annulus inner wall is uniformly heated and maintained at constant heat flux while the outer wall is cooled and kept at constant temperature. The full governing equations of linear momentum, angular momentum and energy have been solved to give the details of flow and thermal fields. The heat convection process in the annulus is mainly controlled by modified Rayleigh number Ra, Prandtl number Pr, radius ratio Rr, eccentricity, e and material parameters of Micropolar fluid. The material parameters are dimensionless spin gradient viscosity λ, dimensionless micro-inertia density B and dimensionless vortex viscosity D. The study considered a range of modified Ra up to 10⁵ and is carried out at three values of Pr, namely Pr = 0.1, 1.0 and 7.0, and at three values of parameter D, namely, D = 2, 4, 8 while the eccentricity is varied between −0.65 and +0.65. The radius ratio is fixed at 2.6 while the material parameters B and λ are assigned the value of 1. The effect of the controlling parameters on flow and thermal fields has been investigated with emphasis on the effect of these parameters on local and mean inner wall temperatures. The study has shown that for certain controlling parameters the steady mean temperature of inner wall of the annulus is maximum at a certain eccentricity. The study has also shown that as the parameter D increases the steady mean inner wall temperature increases. Moreover, the study has shown that as the Pr increases the mean inner wall temperature decreases.     

When is the numerical range of a nilpotent matrix circular?

The problem formulated in the title is investigated. The case of nilpotent matrices of size at most 4 allows a unitary treatment. The numerical range of a nilpotent matrix M of size at most 4 is circular if and only if the traces tr M^∗M² and tr M^∗M³ are null. The situation becomes more complicated as soon as the size is 5. The conditions under which a 5×5 nilpotent matrix has circular numerical range are thoroughly discussed.     

Performance comparison of the NWF and DC methods for implementing High-Resolution schemes in a fully coupled incompressible flow solver

This paper reports on the use of the Normalized Weighting Factor (NWF) method and the Deferred Correction (DC) approach for the implementation of High Resolution (HR) convective schemes in an implicit, fully coupled, pressure-based flow solver. Four HR schemes are realized within the framework of the NWF and DC methods and employed to solve the following three laminar flow problems: (i) lid-driven flow in a square cavity, (ii) sudden expansion in a square cavity, and (iii) flow in a planar T-junction, over three grid systems with sizes of 10⁴, 5 × 10⁴, and 3 × 10⁵ control volumes. The merit of both approaches is demonstrated by comparing the computational costs required to solve these problems using the various HR schemes on the different grid systems. Whereas previous attempts to use the NWF method in a segregated flow solver failed to produce converged solutions, current results clearly demonstrate that both methods are suitable for utilization in a coupled flow solver. In terms of CPU efficiency, there is no global and consistent superiority of any method over another even though the DC method outperformed the NWF method in two of the three test problems solved.     

Radial basis function collocation method for the numerical solution of the two-dimensional transient nonlinear coupled Burgers’ equations

This paper examines the numerical solution of the transient nonlinear coupled Burgers’ equations by a Local Radial Basis Functions Collocation Method (LRBFCM) for large values of Reynolds number (Re) up to 10³. The LRBFCM belongs to a class of truly meshless methods which do not need any underlying mesh but works on a set of uniform or random nodes without any a priori node to node connectivity. The time discretization is performed in an explicit way and collocation with the multiquadric radial basis functions (RBFs) are used to interpolate diffusion-convection variable and its spatial derivatives on decomposed domains. Five nodded domains of influence are used in the local support. Adaptive upwind technique [1] and [54] is used for stabilization of the method for large Re in the case of mixed boundary conditions. Accuracy of the method is assessed as a function of time and space discretizations. The method is tested on two benchmark problems having Dirichlet and mixed boundary conditions. The numerical solution obtained from the LRBFCM for different value of Re is compared with analytical solution as well as other numerical methods [15], [47] and [49]. It is shown that the proposed method is efficient, accurate and stable for flow with reasonably high Reynolds numbers.     

On numerical ranges of the compressions of normal matrices

For an n × n normal matrix A, whose numerical range NR[A] is a k-polygon (k ? n), an n × (k − 1) isometry matrix P is constructed by a unit vector υ∈Cⁿ, and NR[P∗AP] is inscribed to NR[A]. In this paper, using the notations of NR[P∗AP] and some properties from projective geometry, an n × n diagonal matrix B and an n × (k − 2) isometry matrix Q are proposed such that NR[P∗AP] and NR[Q∗BQ] have as common support lines the edges of the k-polygon and share the same boundary points with the polygon. It is proved that the boundary of NR[P∗AP] is a differentiable curve and the boundary of the numerical range of a 3 × 3 matrix P∗AP is an ellipse, when the polygon is a quadrilateral.     

Effect of aligned magnetic field on the steady viscous flow past a circular cylinder

The steady viscous incompressible and slightly conducting fluid flow around a circular cylinder with an aligned magnetic field is simulated for the range of Reynolds numbers 100 ? Re ? 500 using the Hartmann number, M. The multigrid method with defect correction technique is used to achieve the second order accurate solution of complete non-linear Navier–Stokes equations. The magnetic Reynolds number is assumed to be small. It is observed that volume of the separation bubble decreases and drag coefficient increases as M is increased. We noticed that the upstream base pressure increases slightly with increase of M whereas downstream base pressure decreases with increase of M. The effect of the magnetic field on the flow is discussed with contours of streamlines, vorticity, plots of surface pressure and surface vorticity.     

Numerical analysis of flow-induced gas entrainment in roll coating

Gas entrainment by plane liquid jets which plunge into a liquid pool is analyzed by numerical simulations. The numerical model is based on the equations of incompressible newtonian fluids flow. The two-phase flow problem is described with the volume-of-fluid method. The dynamic behaviour of the interface is characterized by two similarity parameters, the capillary number Ca = uη/σ and the property number Γ = σ(ρ/η⁴g)^1/3 where u is the velocity, η the dynamic viscosity, σ the interface tension, ρ the density and g the gravitational constant. Numerical simulations are performed with the open source CFD code OpenFOAM. In the simulations the stability of the gas–liquid meniscus is tested for different sets of Ca and Γ. Critical values of Ca which indicate the beginning gas entrainment are deduced from the inspection of the simulation results. The findings of the numerical investigations agree well with corresponding experimental results.     

Large eddy simulation of a sheet/cloud cavitation on a NACA0015 hydrofoil

A single fluid model of sheet/cloud cavitation is developed and applied to a NACA0015 hydrofoil. First, a cavity formation model is set up, based on a three-dimensional (3D) non-cavitation model of Navier–Stokes equations with a large eddy simulation (LES) scheme for weakly compressible flows. A fifth-order polynomial curve is adopted to describe the relationship between density coefficient ratio and pressure coefficient when cavitation occurs. The Navier–Stokes equations including cavitation bubble clusters are solved using the finite-volume approach with time-marching scheme, and MacCormack’s explicit-corrector scheme is adopted. Simulations are carried out in a 3D field acting on a hydrofoil NACA0015 at angles of attack 4°, 8° and 20°, with cavitation numbers σ = 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0, Re = 10⁶, and a 360 × 63 × 29 meshing system. We study time-dependent sheet/cloud cavitation structures, caused by the interaction of viscous objects, such as vortices, and cavitation bubbles. At small angles of attack (4°), the sheet cavity is relatively stable just by oscillating in size at the accumulation stage; at 8° it has a tendency to break away from the upper foil section, with the cloud cavitation structure becoming apparent; at 20°, the flow separates fully from the leading edge of the hydrofoil, and the vortex cavitation occurs. Comparisons with other studies, carried out mainly in the context of flow patterns on which prior experiments and simulations were done, demonstrate the power of our model. Overall, it can snapshot the collapse of cloud cavitation, and allow a study of flow patterns and their instabilities, such as “crescent-shaped regions.”     

Numerical computation of end plate effect on Taylor vortices between rotating conical cylinders

End plate effect on Taylor vortices between rotating conical cylinders is studied by numerical method in this paper. We suppose that the inner cone rotates together with the end plate at the top and the outer one as well as the end plate at the bottom remains at rest. It is found that the instability sets in at a critical Reynolds number about Re = 80. Increase Re to about Re = 200 the first single clockwise vortex is formed near the top of the flow system. Further increase Re to about Re = 440 another clockwise vortex is formed under the first one. At about Re = 448 the third vortex is formed which rotates in counterclockwise direction between the first two vortices. With increasing of Re the process continues. Finally, a configuration is obtained with an odd number of vortices in the annulus at about Re = 700, which confirms the experimental observation. Moreover, the local extreme values of pressure and velocity are achieved at the adjacent lines between neighboring vortices or at the medium lines of vortices. The effect of gap size on vortices is also considered. It is shown that the number of vortices increases with decreasing of the gap size and the end plates play an important role in the parity of the number of the vortices.     

A finite difference solution to a two-dimensional parabolic inverse problem

In this paper, we consider the problem of finding u = u(x, y, t) and p = p(t) which satisfy u_t = u_xx + u_yy + p(t)u + ? in R × [0, T], u(x, y, 0) = f(x, y), (x, y) ∈ R = [0, 1] × [0, 1], u is known on the boundary of R and u(x^∗, y^∗, t) = E(t), 0 < t ? T, where E(t) is known and (x^∗, y^∗) is a given point of R. Through a function transformation, the nonlinear two-dimensional diffusion problem is transformed into a linear problem, and a backward Euler scheme is constructed. It is proved by the maximum principle that the scheme is uniquely solvable, unconditionally stable and convergent in L_∞ norm. The convergence orders of u and p are of O(τ + h²). The impact of initial data errors on the numerical solution is also considered. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the validity of the theoretical results.     

Inverse minimum cost flow problems under the weighted Hamming distance

Given a network N(V, A, u, c) and a feasible flow x⁰, an inverse minimum cost flow problem is to modify the cost vector as little as possible to make x⁰ form a minimum cost flow of the network. The modification can be measured by different norms. In this paper, we consider the inverse minimum cost flow problems, where the modification of the arcs is measured by the weighted Hamming distance. Both the sum-type and the bottleneck-type cases are considered. For the former, it is shown to be APX-hard due to the weighted feedback arc set problem. For the latter, we present a strongly polynomial algorithm which can be done in O(n · m²).     

On the Hermitian positive definite solutions of nonlinear matrix equation X + A∗XA = Q

Nonlinear matrix equation X^s + A∗X^−tA = Q, where A, Q are n × n complex matrices with Q Hermitian positive definite, has widely applied background. In this paper, we consider the Hermitian positive definite solutions of this matrix equation with two cases: s ? 1, 0 < t ? 1 and 0 < s ? 1, t ? 1. We derive necessary conditions and sufficient conditions for the existence of Hermitian positive definite solutions for the matrix equation and obtain some properties of the solutions. We also propose iterative methods for obtaining the extremal Hermitian positive definite solution of the matrix equation. Finally, we give some numerical examples to show the efficiency of the proposed iterative methods.     

Characterization of the trace by monotonicity inequalities

Let ?be a positive linear functional on the algebra of n × n complex matrices and p be a number greater than 1. The main result of the paper says that if for any pair A, B of positive semi-definite n × n matrices with A ? B the inequality ?(A^p) ? ?(B^p) holds true, then ?is a nonnegative scalar multiple of the trace.     

Positive definite solutions of the nonlinear matrix equation X + AXA = Q (q > 0)

In this paper, the nonlinear matrix equation X + A^∗X^qA = Q (q > 0) is investigated. Some necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of Hermitian positive definite solutions of the nonlinear matrix equations are derived. An effective iterative method to obtain the positive definite solution is presented. Some numerical results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the iterative methods.     

A new off-step high order approximation for the solution of three-space dimensional nonlinear wave equations

In this paper, we propose a new high accuracy numerical method of O(k² + k²h² + h⁴) based on off-step discretization for the solution of 3-space dimensional non-linear wave equation of the form u_tt = A(x,y,z,t)u_xx + B(x,y,z,t)u_yy + C(x,y,z,t)u_zz + g(x,y,z,t,u,u_x,u_y,u_z,u_t), 0 < x,y,z < 1,t > 0 subject to given appropriate initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions, where k > 0 and h > 0 are mesh sizes in time and space directions respectively. We use only seven evaluations of the function g as compared to nine evaluations of the same function discussed in  and . We describe the derivation procedure in details of the algorithm. The proposed numerical algorithm is directly applicable to wave equation in polar coordinates and we do not require any fictitious points to discretize the differential equation. The proposed method when applied to a telegraphic equation is also shown to be unconditionally stable. Comparative numerical results are provided to justify the usefulness of the proposed method.     

Batch delivery scheduling with batch delivery cost on a single machine

We consider a scheduling problem in which n independent and simultaneously available jobs are to be processed on a single machine. The jobs are delivered in batches and the delivery date of a batch equals the completion time of the last job in the batch. The delivery cost depends on the number of deliveries. The objective is to minimize the sum of the total weighted flow time and delivery cost. We first show that the problem is strongly NP-hard. Then we show that, if the number of batches is B, the problem remains strongly NP-hard when B ? U for a variable U ? 2 or B ? U for any constant U ? 2. For the case of B ? U, we present a dynamic programming algorithm that runs in pseudo-polynomial time for any constant U ? 2. Furthermore, optimal algorithms are provided for two special cases: (i) jobs have a linear precedence constraint, and (ii) jobs satisfy the agreeable ratio assumption, which is valid, for example, when all the weights or all the processing times are equal.     

On extended RKN integrators for multidimensional perturbed oscillators with applications

Recently, Fang and Ming [Y.L. Fang, Q.H. Ming, Embedded pair of extended Runge-Kutta-Nyström type methods for perturbed oscillators, Appl. Math. Modelling 34 (2010) 2665-2675] constructed an embedded pair of extended Runge-Kutta-Nyström type methods for perturbed oscillators based on the order conditions of extended Runge-Kutta-Nyström type methods proposed by Yang et al. [H.L. Yang, X.Y. Wu, X. You, Y.L. Fang, Extended RKN-type methods for numerical integration of perturbed oscillators, Comput. Phys. Commun. 180 (2009) 1777-1794]. The authors applied their embedded pair to one-dimensional and two-dimensional problems in numerical experiments. However, the extended Runge-Kutta-Nyström type methods by Yang et al. are designed for one-dimensional perturbed oscillators or systems of perturbed oscillators with a diagonal and positive semi-definite matrix M and a function f(y). For multidimensional perturbed oscillators y″ + My = f(y) with M ∈ R^m×m, a symmetric positive semi-definite matrix, the order conditions of the extended RKN-type methods must be reanalyzed. In this paper, the order conditions for the multidimensional perturbed oscillators are stated and accordingly Fang et al.’s ERKN method of order five for systems of perturbed oscillators is reconsidered. The numerical experiments of the fifth order ERKN method for multidimensional perturbed oscillators are accompanied in comparison with some existing well-known methods in the scientific literature.     

Modeling fully developed laminar flow in a helical duct with rectangular cross section and finite pitch

The mass and momentum transport equations are written in an orthogonal coordinate system using Germano’s transformation to model a laminar flow in a helical duct with a rectangular cross section and finite pitch. The system of governing equations are discretized and solved by the finite-volume numerical method. The three dimensional domain is reduced to a two dimensional slab of cells, orthogonal to the main flow direction, enforcing the fully developed state for 2π/(τ · d_h) >> 1 where τ and d_h representing the duct’s centerline torsion and its hydraulic diameter. This approximation and the use of an orthogonal grid allow a great simplification on the numerical procedure. Comparisons of the numerical solution against experimental data are drawn to assess the accuracy of the approximation.