© 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Many of the challenges encountered in computational analysis of wind turbines and turbomachinery are being addressed by the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) and Space–Time (ST) Variational Multiscale (VMS) methods and isogeometric discretization. The computational challenges include turbulent rotational flows, complex geometries, moving boundaries and interfaces, such as the rotor motion, and the fluid–structure interaction (FSI), such as the FSI between the wind turbine blade and the air. The core computational methods are the ALE-VMS and ST-VMS methods. These are supplemented with special methods like the Slip Interface (SI) method and ST Isogeometric Analysis with NURBS basis functions in time. We describe the core and special methods and present, as examples of challenging computations performed, computational analysis of horizontal- and vertical-axis wind turbines and flow-driven string dynamics in pumps.

© 2020, The Author(s). We present computational flow analysis of a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) that has been proposed to also serve as a tsunami shelter. In addition to the three-blade rotor, the turbine has four support columns at the periphery. The columns support the turbine rotor and the shelter. Computational challenges encountered in flow analysis of wind turbines in general include accurate representation of the turbine geometry, multiscale unsteady flow, and moving-boundary flow associated with the rotor motion. The tsunami-shelter VAWT, because of its rather high geometric complexity, poses the additional challenge of reaching high accuracy in turbine-geometry representation and flow solution when the geometry is so complex. We address the challenges with a space–time (ST) computational method that integrates three special ST methods around the core, ST Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, and mesh generation and improvement methods. The three special methods are the ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) method, ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA), and the ST/NURBS Mesh Update Method (STNMUM). The ST-discretization feature of the integrated method provides higher-order accuracy compared to standard discretization methods. The VMS feature addresses the computational challenges associated with the multiscale nature of the unsteady flow. The moving-mesh feature of the ST framework enables high-resolution computation near the blades. The ST-SI enables moving-mesh computation of the spinning rotor. The mesh covering the rotor spins with it, and the SI between the spinning mesh and the rest of the mesh accurately connects the two sides of the solution. The ST-IGA enables more accurate representation of the blade and other turbine geometries and increased accuracy in the flow solution. The STNMUM enables exact representation of the mesh rotation. A general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method makes it easier to deal with the complex turbine geometry. The quality of the mesh generated with this method is improved with a mesh relaxation method based on fiber-reinforced hyperelasticity and optimized zero-stress state. We present computations for the 2D and 3D cases. The computations show the effectiveness of our ST and mesh generation and relaxation methods in flow analysis of the tsunami-shelter VAWT.

© 2019, The Author(s). Many of the computational challenges encountered in turbocharger-turbine flow analysis have been addressed by an integrated set of space–time (ST) computational methods. The core computational method is the ST variational multiscale (ST-VMS) method. The ST framework provides higher-order accuracy in general, and the VMS feature of the ST-VMS addresses the computational challenges associated with the multiscale nature of the unsteady flow. The moving-mesh feature of the ST framework enables high-resolution computation near the rotor surface. The ST slip interface (ST-SI) method enables moving-mesh computation of the spinning rotor. The mesh covering the rotor spins with it, and the SI between the spinning mesh and the rest of the mesh accurately connects the two sides of the solution. The ST Isogeometric Analysis enables more accurate representation of the turbine geometry and increased accuracy in the flow solution. The ST/NURBS Mesh Update Method enables exact representation of the mesh rotation. A general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method makes it easier to deal with the complex geometries involved. An SI also provides mesh generation flexibility in a general context by accurately connecting the two sides of the solution computed over nonmatching meshes, and that is enabling the use of nonmatching NURBS meshes in the computations. The computational analysis needs to cover a full intake/exhaust cycle, which is much longer than the turbine rotation cycle because of high rotation speeds, and the long duration required is an additional computational challenge. As one way of addressing that challenge, we propose here to calculate the turbine efficiency for the intake/exhaust cycle by interpolation from the efficiencies associated with a set of steady-inflow computations at different flow rates. The efficiencies obtained from the computations with time-dependent and steady-inflow representations of the intake/exhaust cycle compare well. This demonstrates that predicting the turbine performance from a set of steady-inflow computations is a good way of addressing the challenge associated with the multiple time scales.

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. We present computational analysis of flow-driven string dynamics in a pump and the related residence time calculation. The objective in the study is to understand how the strings carried by a fluid interact with the pump surfaces, including the blades, and get stuck on or around those surfaces. The residence time calculations help us to have a simplified but quick understanding of the string behavior. The core computational method is the Space-Time Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, and the other key methods are the ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA), ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) method, ST/NURBS Mesh Update Method (STNMUM), a general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method for complex geometries, and a one-way-dependence model for the string dynamics. The ST-IGA with NURBS basis functions in space is used in both fluid mechanics and string structural dynamics. The ST framework provides higher-order accuracy. The VMS feature of the ST-VMS addresses the computational challenges associated with the turbulent nature of the unsteady flow, and the moving-mesh feature of the ST framework enables high-resolution computation near the rotor surface. The ST-SI enables moving-mesh computation of the spinning rotor. The mesh covering the rotor spins with it, and the SI between the spinning mesh and the rest of the mesh accurately connects the two sides of the solution. The ST-IGA enables more accurate representation of the pump geometry and increased accuracy in the flow solution. The IGA discretization also enables increased accuracy in the structural dynamics solution, as well as smoothness in the string shape and fluid dynamics forces computed on the string. The STNMUM enables exact representation of the mesh rotation. The general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method makes it easier to deal with the complex geometry. With the one-way-dependence model, we compute the influence of the flow on the string dynamics, while avoiding the formidable task of computing the influence of the string on the flow, which we expect to be small.

© 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Spatial discretization with NURBS meshes is increasingly being used in computational analysis, including computational flow analysis with complex geometries. In flow analysis, compared to standard discretization methods, isogeometric discretization provides more accurate representation of the solid surfaces and increased accuracy in the flow solution. The Space-Time Computational Analysis (STCA), where the core method is the ST Variational Multiscale method, is increasingly relying on the ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA) as one of its key components, quite often also with IGA basis functions in time. The ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) and ST Topology Change methods are two other key components of the STCA, and complementary nature of all these ST methods makes the STCA powerful and practical. To make the ST-IGA use, and in a wider context the IGA use, even more practical in computational flow analysis with complex geometries, NURBS volume mesh generation needs to be easier and more automated. To that end, we present a general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method. The method is based on multi-block-structured mesh generation with existing techniques, projection of that mesh to a NURBS mesh made of patches that correspond to the blocks, and recovery of the original model surfaces to the extent they are suitable for accurate and robust fluid mechanics computations. It is expected to retain the refinement distribution and element quality of the multi-block-structured mesh that we start with. The flexibility of discretization with the general-purpose mesh generation is supplemented with the ST-SI method, which allows, without loss of accuracy, C−1 continuity between NURBS patches and thus removes the matching requirement between the patches. We present mesh-quality performance studies for 2D and 3D meshes, including those for complex models, and test computation for a turbocharger turbine and exhaust manifold. These demonstrate that the general-purpose mesh generation method proposed makes the IGA use in computational flow analysis even more practical.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd The Space–Time Computational Analysis (STCA) with key components that include the ST Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method and ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA) is being increasingly used in fluid mechanics computations with complex geometries. In such computations, the ST-VMS serves as the core method, complemented by the ST-IGA, and sometimes by additional key components, such as the ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) method. To make the ST-IGA use, and in a wider context the IGA use, even more practical in fluid mechanics computations, NURBS volume mesh generation needs to be easier and as automated as possible. To that end, we present a general-purpose NURBS mesh generation method. The method is based on multi-block structured mesh generation with existing techniques, projection of that mesh to a NURBS mesh made of patches that correspond to the blocks, and recovery of the original model surfaces to the extent they are suitable for accurate and robust fluid mechanics computations. It is expected to retain the refinement distribution and element quality of the multi-block structured mesh that we start with. The flexibility of discretization with the general-purpose mesh generation is supplemented with the ST-SI method, which allows, without loss of accuracy, C−1 continuity between NURBS patches and thus removes the matching requirement between the patches. We present a test computation for a turbocharger turbine and exhaust manifold, which demonstrates that the general-purpose mesh generation method proposed makes the IGA use in fluid mechanics computations even more practical.

© 2016 We focus on turbocharger computational flow analysis with a method that possesses higher accuracy in spatial and temporal representations. In the method we have developed for this purpose, we use a combination of (i) the Space–Time Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, which is a stabilized formulation that also serves as a turbulence model, (ii) the ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) method, which maintains high-resolution representation of the boundary layers near spinning solid surfaces by allowing in a consistent fashion slip at the interface between the mesh covering a spinning surface and the mesh covering the rest of the domain, and (iii) the Isogeometric Analysis (IGA), where we use NURBS basis functions in space and time. The basis functions are spatially higher-order in all representations, and temporally higher-order in representation of the solid-surface and mesh motions. The ST nature of the method gives us higher-order accuracy in the flow solver, and when combined with temporally higher-order basis functions, a more accurate representation of the surface motion, and a mesh motion consistent with that. The spatially higher-order basis functions give us again higher-order accuracy in the flow solver, a more accurate, in some parts exact, representation of the surface geometry, and better representation in evaluating the second-order spatial derivatives. Using NURBS basis functions with a complex geometry is not trivial, however, once we generate the mesh, the computational efficiency is substantially increased. We focus on the turbine part of a turbocharger, but our method can also be applied to the compressor part and thus can be extended to the full turbocharger.