Matching Items (17)
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- All Subjects: CFD
- All Subjects: Renewable Energy
- Creators: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program
- Creators: Kasbaoui, Mohamed Houssem
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
Description
The purpose of this project is to determine the feasibility of a water tunnel designed to meet certain constraints. The project goals are to tailor a design for a given location, and to produce a repeatable design sizing and shape process for specified constraints. The primary design goals include a 1 m/s flow velocity in a 30cm x 30cm test section for 300 seconds. Secondary parameters, such as system height, tank height, area contraction ratio, and roof loading limits, may change depending on preference, location, or environment. The final chosen configuration is a gravity fed design with six major components: the reservoir tank, the initial duct, the contraction nozzle, the test section, the exit duct, and the variable control exit nozzle. Important sizing results include a minimum water weight of 60,000 pounds, a system height of 7.65 meters, a system length of 6 meters (not including the reservoir tank), a large shallow reservoir tank width of 12.2 meters, and height of 0.22 meters, and a control nozzle exit radius range of 5.25 cm to 5.3 cm. Computational fluid dynamic simulation further supports adherence to the design constraints but points out some potential areas for improvement in dealing with flow irregularities. These areas include the bends in the ducts, and the contraction nozzle. Despite those areas recommended for improvement, it is reasonable to conclude that the design and process fulfill the project goals.
ContributorsZykan, Brandt Davis Healy (Author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The global energy demand is expected to grow significantly in the next several decades and support for energy generation with high carbon emissions is continuing to decline. Alternative methods have gained interest, and wind energy has established itself as a viable source. Standard wind farms have limited room for growth and improvement, so wind energy has started to explore different directions. The urban environment is a potential direction for wind energy due to its proximity to the bulk of energy demand. CFD analysis has demonstrated that the presence of buildings can accelerate wind speeds between buildings and on rooftops. However, buildings generate areas of increased turbulence at their surface. The turbulence thickness and intensity vary with roof shape, building height, and building orientation. The analysis has concluded that good wind resource is possible in the urban environment in specific locations. With that, turbine selection becomes very important. A comparison has concluded that vertical axis wind turbines are more useful in the urban environment than horizontal axis wind turbines. Furthermore, building-augmented wind turbines are recommended because they are architecturally integrated into a building for the specific purpose of generating more energy. The research has concluded that large-scale generation in the urban environment is unlikely to be successful, but small-scale generation is quite viable. Continued research and investigation on urban wind energy is recommended.
ContributorsKlumpers, Ryan Scott (Author) / Calhoun, Ronald (Thesis director) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this investigation is to computationally investigate instabilities appearing in the wake of a simulated helicopter rotor. Existing data suggests further understanding of these instabilities may yield design changes to the rotor blades to reduce the acoustic signature and improve the aerodynamic efficiencies of the aircraft. Test cases of a double-bladed and single-bladed rotor have been run to investigate the causes and types of wake instabilities, as well as compare them to the short wave, long wave, and mutual inductance modes proposed by Widnall[2]. Evaluation of results revealed several perturbations appearing in both single and double-bladed wakes, the origin of which was unknown and difficult to trace. This made the computations not directly comparable to theoretical results, and drawing into question the physical flight conditions being modeled. Nonetheless, they displayed a wake structure highly sensitive to both computational and physical disturbances; thus extreme care must be taken in constructing grids and applying boundary conditions when doing wake computations to ensure results relevant to the complex and dynamic flight conditions of physical aircraft are generated.
ContributorsDrake, Nicholas Spencer (Author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Squires, Kyle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
A novel CFD algorithm called LEAP is currently being developed by the Kasbaoui Research Group (KRG) using the Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) to describe complex geometries. To validate the algorithm, this research project focused on testing the algorithm in three dimensions by simulating a sphere placed in a moving fluid. The simulation results were compared against the experimentally derived Schiller-Naumann Correlation. Over the course of 36 trials, various spatial and temporal resolutions were tested at specific Reynolds numbers between 10 and 300. It was observed that numerical errors decreased with increasing spatial and temporal resolution. This result was expected as increased resolution should give results closer to experimental values. Having shown the accuracy and robustness of this method, KRG will continue to develop this algorithm to explore more complex geometries such as aircraft engines or human lungs.
ContributorsMadden, David Jackson (Author) / Kasbaoui, Mohamed Houssem (Thesis director) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This project aims to study the relationship between model input parameters and model output accuracy of the Tool for Automation of Computational Aerodynamics of Airfoils (TACAA). The input parameters of study are Mach number and Reynolds number, and inputs are tested through three flight speed regimes and from laminar to turbulent flow. Each of these input parameters are tested for the NACA 0012 and SC-1095 airfoils to ensure that the accuracy is similar regardless of geometric complexity. The TACAA program was used to run all simulation testing, and its overall functionality is discussed. The results gathered from the preliminary testing showed that the spread of variable input data points caused data gaps in the transonic regime results, which provided motivation to conduct further testing within the transonic region for both airfoils. After collecting all TACAA results, data from wind tunnel testing was compiled to compare. The comparison showed that (1) additional testing would be necessary to fully assess the accuracy of the results for the SC-1095 airfoil and (2) TACAA is generally accurate for compressible, turbulent flows.
ContributorsKuang, Joyce (Co-author) / Stickel, Hannah (Co-author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Duque, Earl (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
An understanding of aerodynamics is crucial for automobile performance and efficiency. There are many types of “add-on” aerodynamic devices for cars including wings, splitters, and vortex generators. While these have been studied extensively, rear spoilers have not, and their effects are not as widely known. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel study was performed to study the effects of spoilers on vehicle aerodynamics and performance. Vehicle aerodynamics is geometry dependent, meaning what applies to one car may or may not apply on another. So, the Scion FRS was chosen as the test vehicle because it is has the “classic” sports car configuration with a long hood, short rear, and 2+2 passenger cabin while also being widely sold with a plethora of aftermarket aerodynamic modifications available. Due to computing and licensing restrictions, only a 2D CFD simulation was performed in ANSYS Fluent 19.1. A surface model of the centerline of the car was created in SolidWorks and imported into ANSYS, where the domain was created. A mesh convergence study was run to determine the optimum mesh size, and Realizable k-epsilon was the chosen physics model. The wind tunnel lacked equipment to record quantifiable data, so the wind tunnel was utilized for flow visualization on a 1/24 scale car model to compare with the CFD.
0° spoilers reduced the wake area behind the car, decreasing pressure drag but also decreasing underbody flow, causing a reduction in drag and downforce. Angled spoilers increased the wake area behind the car, increasing pressure drag but also increasing underbody flow, causing an increase in drag and downforce. Longer spoilers increased these effects compared to shorter spoilers, and short spoilers at different angles did not create significantly different effects. 0° spoilers would be best suited for cases that prioritize fuel economy or straight-line acceleration and speed due to the drag reduction, while angled spoilers would be best suited for cars requiring downforce. The angle and length of spoiler would depend on the downforce needed, which is dependent on the track.
0° spoilers reduced the wake area behind the car, decreasing pressure drag but also decreasing underbody flow, causing a reduction in drag and downforce. Angled spoilers increased the wake area behind the car, increasing pressure drag but also increasing underbody flow, causing an increase in drag and downforce. Longer spoilers increased these effects compared to shorter spoilers, and short spoilers at different angles did not create significantly different effects. 0° spoilers would be best suited for cases that prioritize fuel economy or straight-line acceleration and speed due to the drag reduction, while angled spoilers would be best suited for cars requiring downforce. The angle and length of spoiler would depend on the downforce needed, which is dependent on the track.
ContributorsNie, Alexander (Author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
As the need for environmentally friendly and renewable fuel sources rises, many are considering alternative fuel sources, such as solar power. The device explored in this report uses solar power, in theory, to heat a metal oxide, cerium oxide, to a desired temperature. At specific temperatures and pressures, a reaction between an input gas, carbon dioxide or water vapor, and the metal oxide may produce fuel in the form of hydrogen or carbon monoxide. In order to reach the temperatures required by the reaction, a filament inside a high-temperature radiant heater must be heated to the desired temperature. In addition, the system’s pressure range must be satisfied. A pressure and temperature measurement device, as well as a voltage control, must be connected to an interface with a computer in order to monitor the pressure and temperature of different parts of the system. The cerium oxide element must also be constructed and placed inside the system. The desired shape of the cerium oxide material is a tube, to allow the flow of gas through the tubes and system and to provide mechanical strength. To construct the metal oxide tubes, they need to be extruded, dried, and sintered correctly. All the manufactured elements described serve an essential purpose in the system and are discussed further in this document.
This report focuses on the manufacturing of ceria tubes, the construction of a high-temperature radiant heater filament, and the implementation of a pressure measurement device. The manufacturing of ceria tubes includes the extrusion, the drying, and the sintering of the tubes. In addition, heating element filament construction consists of spot-welding certain metals together to create a device similar to that of a light bulb filament. Different methods were considered in each of these areas, and they are described in this report. All of the explorations in this document move towards the final device, a thermochemical reactor for the production of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) from water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The results of this report indicate that there are several important manufacturing steps to create the most desirable results, in terms of tube manufacturing and heating element design. For the correct tube construction, they must be dried in a drying rack, and they must be sintered in V-groove plates. In addition, the results of the heating element manufacturing indicate that the ideal heating element filament needs to be simple in design (easily fixed), cost-effective, require little construction time, attach to the ends of the system easily, provide mechanical flexibility, and prevent the coil from touching the walls of the tube it lies in. Each aspect of the ideal elements, whether they are tubes or heating elements, is explored in this report.
This report focuses on the manufacturing of ceria tubes, the construction of a high-temperature radiant heater filament, and the implementation of a pressure measurement device. The manufacturing of ceria tubes includes the extrusion, the drying, and the sintering of the tubes. In addition, heating element filament construction consists of spot-welding certain metals together to create a device similar to that of a light bulb filament. Different methods were considered in each of these areas, and they are described in this report. All of the explorations in this document move towards the final device, a thermochemical reactor for the production of hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) from water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The results of this report indicate that there are several important manufacturing steps to create the most desirable results, in terms of tube manufacturing and heating element design. For the correct tube construction, they must be dried in a drying rack, and they must be sintered in V-groove plates. In addition, the results of the heating element manufacturing indicate that the ideal heating element filament needs to be simple in design (easily fixed), cost-effective, require little construction time, attach to the ends of the system easily, provide mechanical flexibility, and prevent the coil from touching the walls of the tube it lies in. Each aspect of the ideal elements, whether they are tubes or heating elements, is explored in this report.
ContributorsCaron, Danielle (Author) / Milcarek, Ryan (Thesis director) / Ermanoski, Ivan (Committee member) / Stechel, Ellen (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Ensuring that people across the globe have enough water and electricity are two large issues that continue to grow. This study performs a test on whether using solar photovoltaic modules to shade water can potentially help diminish the issues of water and power. Using the setup of a PV module shading water, a stand-alone PV module, and unshaded water, it was found that shading water can reduce evaporation and lower PV module operating temperature at the same time. Using averaged data from two days of testing, the volume per unit surface area of water that evaporated per hour was 0.319 cm3/cm2 less for the shaded water compared to the unshaded water. The evaporation rates found in the experiment are compared to those of Lake Mead to see the amount of water lost on a large scale. For the operating temperature of the PV module, the module used for shading had a consistently lower temperature than the stand-alone module. On the first day, the shading module had an average temperature 5.1 C lower than the stand-alone module average temperature. On day two, the shading module had an average temperature 3.4 C lower than the stand-alone module average temperature. Using average temperatures between the two days from 10:30am and 4:45pm, the average daily temperature of the panel used for shading was 4.5C less than the temperature of the stand-alone panel. These results prove water shading by solar PV modules to be effective in reducing evaporation and lowering module operating temperature. Last, suggestions for future studies are discussed, such as performance analysis of the PV modules in this setting, economic analysis of using PV modules as shading, and the isolation of the different factors of evaporation (temperature, wind speed, and humidity).
ContributorsLee, John C (Author) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis director) / Roedel, Ronald (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In this paper, the effectiveness and practical applications of cooling a computer's CPU using mineral oil is investigated. A computer processor or CPU may be immersed along with other electronics in mineral oil and still be operational. The mineral oil acts as a dielectric and prevents shorts in the electronics while also being thermally conductive and cooling the CPU. A simple comparison of a flat plate immersed in air versus mineral oil is considered using analytical natural convection correlations. The result of this comparison indicates that the plate cooled by natural convection in air would operate at 98.41[°C] while the plate cooled by mineral oil would operate at 32.20 [°C]. Next, CFD in ANSYS Fluent was used to conduct simulation with forced convection representing a CPU fan driving fluid flow to cool the CPU. A comparison is made between cooling done with air and mineral oil. The results of the CFD simulation results indicate that using mineral oil as a substitute to air as the cooling fluid reduced the CPU operating temperature by sixty degrees Celsius. The use of mineral oil as a cooling fluid for a consumer computer has valid thermal benefits, but the practical challenges of the method will likely prevent widespread adoption.
ContributorsTichacek, Louis Joseph (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis director) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
With the growth of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry for metal components, there is an
economic pressure for improved AM processes to overcome the shortcomings of current AM technologies (i.e., limited deposition rates, surface roughness, etc.). Unfortunately, the development of these processes can be time and capital-intensive due to the large number of input parameters and the sensitivity of the process’s outputs to said inputs. There consequently has been a strong push to develop computational design tools (such
as CFD models) which can decrease the time and cost of AM technology developments. However, many of the developments that have been made to simulate AM through CFD have done so on custom CFD packages (as opposed to commercially available packages), which increases the barrier to entry of employing computational design tools. For that reason, this paper has demonstrated a method for simulating fused deposition modeling using a commercially available CFD package (Fluent). The results from this implementation are qualitatively promising when compared to samples produced by existing metal AM
processes, however additional work is needed to validate the model more rigorously and to reduce the computational cost. Finally, the developed model was used to perform a parameter sweep, thereby demonstrating a use case of the tool to help in parameter optimization.
ContributorsWeissman, Eric (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis director) / Clarke, Amanda (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School for Engineering of Matter,Transport & Enrgy (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05