180,965 research outputs found
Simple drag prediction strategies for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle’s hull shape
No full textThe range of an AUV is dictated by its finite energy source and minimising the energy consumption is required to maximise its endurance. One option to extend the endurance is by obtaining the optimum hydrodynamic hull shape with balancing the trade-off between computational cost and fluid dynamic fidelity. An AUV hull form has been optimised to obtain low resistance hull. Hydrodynamic optimisation of hull form has been carried out by employing five parametric geometry models with a streamlined constraint. Three Genetic Algorithm optimisation procedures are applied by three simple drag predictions which are based on the potential flow method. The results highlight the effectiveness of considering the proposed hull shape optimisation procedure for the early stage of AUV hull desig
Turbulent channel flow near maximum drag reduction: simulations, experiments and mechanisms
No full textIt is well known that the drag in a turbulent flow of a polymer solution is significantly reduced compared to Newtonian flow. Here we consider this phenomenon by means of a direct numerical simulation of a turbulent channel flow. The polymers are modelled as elastic dumbbells using the FENE-P model. In the computations the polymer model is solved simultaneously with the flow equations, i.e. the polymers are deformed by the flow and in their turn influence the flow structures by exerting a polymer stress. We have studied the results of varying the polymer parameters, such as the maximum extension, the elasticity and the concentration. For the case of highly extensible polymers the results of our simulations are very close to the maximum drag reduction or Virk (1975) asymptote. Our simulation results show that at approximately maximum drag reduction the slope of the mean velocity profile is increased compared to the standard logarithmic profile in turbulent wall flows. For the r.m.s. of the streamwise velocity fluctuations we find initially an increase in magnitude which near maximum drag reduction changes to a decrease. For the velocity fluctuations in the spanwise and wall-normal directions we find a continuous decrease as a function of drag reduction. The Reynolds shear stress is strongly reduced, especially near the wall, and this is compensated by a polymer stress, which at maximum drag reduction amounts to about 40% of the total stress. These results have been compared with LDV experiments of Ptasinski et al. (2001) and the agreement, both qualitatively and quantitatively, is in most cases very good. In addition we have performed an analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy budgets. The main result is a reduction of energy transfer from the streamwise direction, where the production of turbulent kinetic energy takes place, to the other directions. A substantial part of the energy production by the mean flow is transferred directly into elastic energy of the polymers. The turbulent velocity fluctuations also contribute energy to the polymers. The elastic energy of the polymers is subsequently dissipated by polymer relaxation. We have also computed the various contributions to the pressure fluctuations and identified how these change as a function of drag reduction. Finally, we discuss some cross-correlations and various length scales. These simulation results are explained here by two mechanisms. First, as suggested by Lumley (1969) the polymers damp the cross-stream or wall-normal velocity fluctuations and suppress the bursting in the buffer layer. Secondly, the ‘shear sheltering’ mechanism acts to amplify the streamwise fluctuations in the thickened buffer layer, while reducing and decoupling the motions within and above this layer. The expression for the substantial reduction in the wall drag derived by considering the long time scales of the nonlinear fluctuations of this damped shear layer, is shown to be consistent with the experimental data of Virk et al. (1967) and Virk (1975)
Drag-free and attitude control for the GOCE satellite
No full textThe paper concerns Drag-Free and Attitude Control of the European satellite Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) during the science phase. Design has followed Embedded Model Control, where a spacecraft/environment discrete-time model becomes the realtime control core and is interfaced to actuators and sensors via tuneable feedback laws. Drag-free control implies cancelling non-gravitational forces and all torques, leaving the satellite to free fall subject only to gravity. In addition, for reasons of science, the spacecraft must be carefully aligned to the local orbital frame, retrieved from range and rate of a Global Positioning System receiver. Accurate drag-free and attitude control requires proportional and low-noise thrusting, which in turn raises the problem of propellant saving. Six-axis drag-free control is driven by accurate acceleration measurements provided by the mission payload. Their angular components must be combined with the star-tracker attitude so as to compensate accelerometer drift. Simulated results are presented and discusse
Flexible conformable hydrophobized surfaces for turbulent flow drag reduction
No full textSpreadsheets and images. Spreadsheet of physical dimensions of sample surface features and corresponding SEM and/or confocal microscope images. Spreadsheet of Gaussian fitting to velocity profiles. Spreadsheet showing calculations of drag coefficients
Superhydrophobic surfaces and their potential application to hydrodynamic drag reduction
No full textSuperhydrophobic surfaces appear frequently in the natural world, for example allowing insects to respire underwater and plants, such as the lotus leaf, to have self-cleaning properties. Attempts to mimic these superhydrophobic surfaces have been successful on nano- and micro-scales, with increased efficiency of water flowing through micro-channels when the walls are superhydrophobic. This thesis is focused on the proposed use of superhydrophobic surfaces to reduce drag on a much larger scale, applicable to small water craft such as canoes and yachts. The potential for drag reduction using superhydrophobic surfaces arises from the ability of such surfaces to retain an air-layer or plastron on the surface. The presence of a plastron results in slip and reduced shear at the surface, producing a drag reduction. This potential drag reduction is explored through numerical simulations and experimental testing. Computational Fluid Dynamics is used to explore the effect of slip on flow separation and viscous drag, allowing the potential drag reduction mechanisms to be explored. A range of superhydrophobic surfaces have been developed and characterised based on their roughness, contact angle and ability to retain a plastron. Confocal microscopy is used to generate the first high resolution 3D images of the air-water interface on a superhydrophobic surface over a large area. These images confirm the presence of a plastron on the surfaces and help contribute to the understanding of optimal design of superhydrophobic surfaces. These surfaces are explored experimentally in a towing tank with a repeatability of better than 1%. Refinement of the surface design leads to the presence of a plastron producing a relative drag reduction of up to 3% for hydrophobic sand, up to 10% for hydrophobic ridges and up to 15% for a hydrophobic mesh. Overall, superhydrophobic surfaces are shown to be capable of producing a relative drag reduction when a plastron is retained on the surface, although with the penalty of increased roughness-induced drag component. The drag reduction is shown to be linked to both the structure of the surface, and the quality and thickness of the plastron. It is demonstrated that it is difficult to retain a plastron over long immersion periods and manufacturing constraints currently limit applicability
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Impact of Variable Atmospheric and Oceanic Form Drag on Simulations of Arctic Sea Ice
No full textOver Arctic sea ice, pressure ridges and floe and melt pond edges all introduce discrete obstructions to the flow of air or water past the ice and are a source of form drag. In current climate models form drag is only accounted for by tuning the air–ice and ice–ocean drag coefficients, that is, by effectively altering the roughness length in a surface drag parameterization. The existing approach of the skin drag parameter tuning is poorly constrained by observations and fails to describe correctly the physics associated with the air–ice and ocean–ice drag. Here, the authors combine recent theoretical developments to deduce the total neutral form drag coefficients from properties of the ice cover such as ice concentration, vertical extent and area of the ridges, freeboard and floe draft, and the size of floes and melt ponds. The drag coefficients are incorporated into the Los Alamos Sea Ice Model (CICE) and show the influence of the new drag parameterization on the motion and state of the ice cover, with the most noticeable being a depletion of sea ice over the west boundary of the Arctic Ocean and over the Beaufort Sea. The new parameterization allows the drag coefficients to be coupled to the sea ice state and therefore to evolve spatially and temporally. It is found that the range of values predicted for the drag coefficients agree with the range of values measured in several regions of the Arctic. Finally, the implications of the new form drag formulation for the spinup or spindown of the Arctic Ocean are discussed
Change in drag, apparent slip and optimum air layer thickness for laminar flow over an idealised superhydrophobic surface
No full textAnalytic results are derived for the apparent slip length, the change in drag and the optimum air layer thickness of laminar channel and pipe flow over an idealised superhydrophobic surface, i.e. a gas layer of constant thickness retained on a wall. For a simple Couette flow the gas layer always has a drag reducing effect, and the apparent slip length is positive, assuming that there is a favourable viscosity contrast between liquid and gas. In pressure-driven pipe and channel flow blockage limits the drag reduction caused by the lubricating effects of the gas layer; thus an optimum gas layer thickness can be derived. The values for the change in drag and the apparent slip length are strongly affected by the assumptions made for the flow in the gas phase. The standard assumptions of a constant shear rate in the gas layer or an equal pressure gradient in the gas layer and liquid layer give considerably higher values for the drag reduction and the apparent slip length than an alternative assumption of a vanishing mass flow rate in the gas layer. Similarly, a minimum viscosity contrast of four must be exceeded to achieve drag reduction under the zero mass flow rate assumption whereas the drag can be reduced for a viscosity contrast greater than unity under the conventional assumptions. Thus, traditional formulae from lubrication theory lead to an overestimation of the optimum slip length and drag reduction when applied to superhydrophobic surfaces, where the gas is trapped
An aerostable drag-sail device for the deorbit and disposal of sub-tonne, low earth orbit spacecraft
No full textThere is an increasing amount of debris in low Earth orbit arising from the
disintegration and collision of old spacecraft which have not been removed from
orbit. A ‘bolt-on’ deorbit device to be attached to new spacecraft is therefore
proposed, which would deploy an aerostable drag sail at end-of-life. This drag sail
would interact with the rarefied atmospheric gases and plasma present at altitudes of
up to 1,000 km and thus denude energy from the orbit, causing it to become lower
and lower until final re-entry of the host becomes inevitable. At this point the drag
sail would collapse and both the host and the deorbit device would be destroyed by
aerothermodynamic forces.
This work develops the deorbit device concept by demonstrating that aerostable drag
enhancement is an effective and competitive deorbit mechanism. This is done by:
• Calculating the aerodynamic, solar radiation pressure and gravitational
influences on the deployed drag sail and using them to model the
performance of the device.
• Using the results of that modelling to identify the optimum shape, size and
deployment conditions of the drag sail.
• Further calculating the structural strength required to resist the aerodynamic
loads until the desired collapse altitude.
• And finally by using that information to assemble a conceptual design which
demonstrates the practicability of the system
Strategies for in-orbit calibration of drag-free control systems
No full textDrag-Free Satellites (DFS) are a class of scientific satellite missions designed for research on fundamental physics as well as geodesy. They consist, basically, of a small inner satellite (test mass) located in a cavity inside a larger satellite, the normal one. The Drag-Free Attitude Control System (DFACS) is the most complex technology on-board these satellites. This key technology allows the residual accelerations on experiments on board the satellites to be significantly reduced. In order to achieve this very low disturbance environment (for some missions < 10(-14) g) the drag-free control system has to be optimized. This optimization process is required because of uncertainties in system parameters that demand a robustness of the control system. This paper will present approaches for in-orbit calibration of drag-free control systems. The discussion includes modeling, with scale factors and cross couplings, possible excitation signals, comparison of different parameter identification/estimation methods as well as simulation results. (c) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved
Comparative computational analysis of drag-reducing devices for tractor-trailers
No full textConstant rise in fuel price in recent times has caused manufacturers of heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) to turn to efficient aerodynamic design of trucks, wagons, tractors as well as trailers.
The comparative analysis in this study compares the coefficient of drag of the following four aerodynamic configurations of a tractor-trailer combination:
1. Semi-trailer with no devices.
2. Semi-trailer with cab roof fairing.
3. Semi-trailer with the proposed rolling pin device.
4. Semi-trailer with the proposed rolling pin device and the cab roof fairing.
The overall coefficient of drag for the tractor-trailer combination for the above four configurations is computed and compared along with that of individual critical surfaces to analyse the effect of two major drag-reducing devices, the cab roof fairing and the momentum injection rolling pin. The pressure distribution in the flow field around the vehicle is studied to understand the flow mechanisms involved in the reduction in overall drag
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