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Numerical Approximation (numerical + approximation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Engineering	67%
Mathematics and Statistics	23%
3 Other Domains	10%

Distribution within Engineering

Numerical Methods & Algorithms	74%
Communication Technology	11%
General & Introductory Electrical & Electronics Engineering	7%

Selected Abstracts

Numerical approximation of a thermally driven interface using finite elements

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 11 2003
P. Zhao
Abstract A two-dimensional finite element model for dendritic solidification has been developed that is based on the direct solution of the energy equation over a fixed mesh. The model tracks the position of the sharp solid,liquid interface using a set of marker points placed on the interface. The simulations require calculation of the temperature gradients on both sides of the interface in the direction normal to it; at the interface the heat flux is discontinuous due to the release of latent heat during the solidification (melting) process. Two ways to calculate the temperature gradients at the interface, evaluating their interpolants at Gauss points, were proposed. Using known one- and two-dimensional solutions to stable solidification problems (the Stefan problem), it was shown that the method converges with second-order accuracy. When applied to the unstable solidification of a crystal into an undercooled liquid, it was found that the numerical solution is extremely sensitive to the mesh size and the type of approximation used to calculate the temperature gradients at the interface, i.e. different approximations and different meshes can yield different solutions. The cause of these difficulties is examined, the effect of different types of interpolation on the simulations is investigated, and the necessary criteria to ensure converged solutions are established. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Numerical approximation of the heat transfer between domains separated by thin walls

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 9 2006
Ramon Codina
Abstract In this paper, we analyse the numerical approximation of the heat transfer problem between two subdomains that we will consider filled with a fluid and separated by a thin solid wall. First of all, we state the problem in the whole domain with discontinuous physical properties. As an alternative and under certain assumptions on the separating walls, a classical Robin boundary condition between the fluid domains is obtained, thus eliminating the solid wall, and according to which the heat flux is proportional to the temperature difference between the two subdomains. Apart from discussing the relation between both approaches, we consider their numerical approximation, considering different alternatives for the first case, that is, the case in which temperatures are also computed in the solid wall. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Numerical approximation of optimal control of unsteady flows using SQP and time decomposition

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 1 2004
S. S. RavindranArticle first published online: 1 APR 200
Abstract In this paper, we present numerical approximations of optimal control of unsteady flow problems using sequential quadratic programming method (SQP) and time domain decomposition. The SQP method is considered superior due to its fast convergence and its ability to take advantage of existing numerical techniques for fluid flow problems. It iteratively solves a sequence of linear quadratic optimal control problems converging to the solution of the non-linear optimal control problem. The solution to the linear quadratic problem is characterized by the Karush,Kuhn,Tucker (KKT) optimality system which in the present context is a formidable system to solve. As a remedy various time domain decompositions, inexact SQP implementations and block iterative methods to solve the KKT systems are examined. Numerical results are presented showing the efficiency and feasibility of the algorithms. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Numerical approximation of generalized Newtonian fluids using Powell,Sabin,Heindl elements: I. theoretical estimates

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 10 2003
S.-S. Chow
Abstract In this paper we consider the numerical approximation of steady and unsteady generalized Newtonian fluid flows using divergence free finite elements generated by the Powell,Sabin,Heindl elements. We derive a priori and a posteriori finite element error estimates and prove convergence of the method of successive approximations for the steady flow case. A priori error estimates of unsteady flows are also considered. These results provide a theoretical foundation and supporting numerical studies are to be provided in Part II. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Ground-roll attenuation using a 2D time-derivative filter

GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 3 2009
Paulo E. M. Melo
ABSTRACT We present a new filtering method for the attenuation of ground-roll. The method is based on the application of a bi-dimensional filter for obtaining the time-derivative of the seismograms. Before convolving the filter with the input data matrix, the normal moveout correction is applied to the seismograms with the purpose of flattening the reflections. The method can locally attenuate the amplitude of data of low frequency (in the ground-roll and stretch normal moveout region) and enhance flat events (reflections). The filtered seismograms can reveal horizontal or sub-horizontal reflections while vertical or sub-vertical events, associated with ground-roll, are attenuated. A regular set of samples around each neighbourhood data sample of the seismogram is used to estimate the time-derivative. A numerical approximation of the derivative is computed by taking the difference between the interpolated values calculated in both the positive and the negative neighbourhood of the desired position. The coefficients of the 2D time-derivative filter are obtained by taking the difference between two filters that interpolate at positive and negative times. Numerical results that use real seismic data show that the proposed method is effective and can reveal reflections masked by the ground-roll. Another benefit of the method is that the stretch mute, normally applied after the normal moveout correction, is unnecessary. The new filtering approach provides results of outstanding quality when compared to results obtained from the conventional FK filtering method. [source]

A parallel, adaptive finite element scheme for modeling chemotactic biological systems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2009
Benjamin S. Kirk
Abstract This paper considers the numerical approximation of complex spatial patterns and rapidly evolving transients in chemotactic biological systems using parallel adaptive multiscale schemes and algorithms. Transport processes in such biological systems are typically modeled by coupled systems of nonlinear reaction,diffusion equations. For example, a model of this form has been proposed for studying chemotaxis in bacteria colonies. In the present study, we develop a variational formulation for this model leading to an approximate finite element scheme with adaptive time stepping and local adaptive mesh refinement/coarsening algorithms. The parallel adaptive solution algorithm is presented in detail and applied to investigate the effect of chemotaxis in spot formation behind concentric advancing concentrations fronts. Numerical results concerning the accuracy, efficiency, and performance of the algorithm are also presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Comparison of two wave element methods for the Helmholtz problem

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2009
T. Huttunen
Abstract In comparison with low-order finite element methods (FEMs), the use of oscillatory basis functions has been shown to reduce the computational complexity associated with the numerical approximation of Helmholtz problems at high wave numbers. We compare two different wave element methods for the 2D Helmholtz problems. The methods chosen for this study are the partition of unity FEM (PUFEM) and the ultra-weak variational formulation (UWVF). In both methods, the local approximation of wave field is computed using a set of plane waves for constructing the basis functions. However, the methods are based on different variational formulations; the PUFEM basis also includes a polynomial component, whereas the UWVF basis consists purely of plane waves. As model problems we investigate propagating and evanescent wave modes in a duct with rigid walls and singular eigenmodes in an L-shaped domain. Results show a good performance of both methods for the modes in the duct, but only a satisfactory accuracy was obtained in the case of the singular field. On the other hand, both the methods can suffer from the ill-conditioning of the resulting matrix system. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

On the optimum support size in meshfree methods: A variational adaptivity approach with maximum-entropy approximants

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 7 2010
Adrian Rosolen
Abstract We present a method for the automatic adaption of the support size of meshfree basis functions in the context of the numerical approximation of boundary value problems stemming from a minimum principle. The method is based on a variational approach, and the central idea is that the variational principle selects both the discretized physical fields and the discretization parameters, here those defining the support size of each basis function. We consider local maximum-entropy approximation schemes, which exhibit smooth basis functions with respect to both space and the discretization parameters (the node location and the locality parameters). We illustrate by the Poisson, linear and non-linear elasticity problems the effectivity of the method, which produces very accurate solutions with very coarse discretizations and finds unexpected patterns of the support size of the shape functions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Analysis and implementation issues for the numerical approximation of parabolic equations with random coefficients

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 6-7 2009
F. Nobile
Abstract We consider the problem of numerically approximating statistical moments of the solution of a time-dependent linear parabolic partial differential equation (PDE), whose coefficients and/or forcing terms are spatially correlated random fields. The stochastic coefficients of the PDE are approximated by truncated Karhunen,Loève expansions driven by a finite number of uncorrelated random variables. After approximating the stochastic coefficients, the original stochastic PDE turns into a new deterministic parametric PDE of the same type, the dimension of the parameter set being equal to the number of random variables introduced. After proving that the solution of the parametric PDE problem is analytic with respect to the parameters, we consider global polynomial approximations based on tensor product, total degree or sparse polynomial spaces and constructed by either a Stochastic Galerkin or a Stochastic Collocation approach. We derive convergence rates for the different cases and present numerical results that show how these approaches are a valid alternative to the more traditional Monte Carlo Method for this class of problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

A numerical approximation of the thermal coupling of fluids and solids

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 11 2009
Javier Principe
Abstract In this article we analyze the problem of the thermal coupling of fluids and solids through a common interface. We state the global thermal problem in the whole domain, including the fluid part and the solid part. This global thermal problem presents discontinuous physical properties that depend on the solution of auxiliary problems on each part of the domain (a fluid flow problem and a solid state problem). We present a domain decomposition strategy to iteratively solve problems posed in both subdomains and discuss some implementation aspects of the algorithm. This domain decomposition framework is also used to revisit the use of wall function approaches used in this context. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Numerical approximation of the heat transfer between domains separated by thin walls

A staggered conservative scheme for every Froude number in rapidly varied shallow water flows

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 12 2003
G. S. Stelling Professor
Abstract This paper proposes a numerical technique that in essence is based upon the classical staggered grids and implicit numerical integration schemes, but that can be applied to problems that include rapidly varied flows as well. Rapidly varied flows occur, for instance, in hydraulic jumps and bores. Inundation of dry land implies sudden flow transitions due to obstacles such as road banks. Near such transitions the grid resolution is often low compared to the gradients of the bathymetry. In combination with the local invalidity of the hydrostatic pressure assumption, conservation properties become crucial. The scheme described here, combines the efficiency of staggered grids with conservation properties so as to ensure accurate results for rapidly varied flows, as well as in expansions as in contractions. In flow expansions, a numerical approximation is applied that is consistent with the momentum principle. In flow contractions, a numerical approximation is applied that is consistent with the Bernoulli equation. Both approximations are consistent with the shallow water equations, so under sufficiently smooth conditions they converge to the same solution. The resulting method is very efficient for the simulation of large-scale inundations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Numerical approximation of generalized Newtonian fluids using Powell,Sabin,Heindl elements: I. theoretical estimates

Models of non-smooth switches in electrical systems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CIRCUIT THEORY AND APPLICATIONS, Issue 3 2005
Christoph Glocker
Abstract Idealized modelling of diodes, relays and switches in the framework of linear complementarity is introduced. Within the charge approach, the classical electromechanical analogy is extended to passively and actively switching components in electrical circuits. The associated branch relations are expressed in terms of set-valued functions, which allow to formulate the circuit's dynamic behaviour as a differential inclusion. This approach is demonstrated by the example of the DC,DC buck converter. A difference scheme, known in mechanics as time stepping, is applied for numerical approximation of the evolution problem. The discretized inclusions are formulated as a linear complementarity problem in standard form, which implicitly takes care of all switching events by its solution. State reduction, which requires manipulation of the set-valued branch relations in order to obtain a minimal model, is performed on the example of the buck converter. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Numerical modelling of anisotropy and eddy current effects in ferromagnetic laminations using a co-energy formulation

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NUMERICAL MODELLING: ELECTRONIC NETWORKS, DEVICES AND FIELDS, Issue 5 2001
L. R. Dupré
Abstract The paper deals with a numerical model for the evaluation of electromagnetic fields in one steel lamination under the influence of a rotating magnetic flux, taking into account anisotropy effects. For this purpose a detailed material model, described by a differential permeability tensor, is included in the macroscopic electromagnetic field calculations in one lamination. Here, by geometrical and physical considerations, the governing Maxwell equations are reduced to a system of parabolic PDEs for the components of the magnetic field vector, under appropriate boundary and initial conditions. We present a suitable numerical approximation based upon a finite element,finite difference method, which properly takes into account the material characteristics. The study leads to a more realistic numerical modelling of the electromagnetic phenomena inside electric and magnetic conducting laminations due to anisotropy effects. Numerical results are compared with those from simplified analytical formulae. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Semi-analytical calculation for sensitivities of the method of moments impedance and excitation matrices

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RF AND MICROWAVE COMPUTER-AIDED ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2007
Ezzeldin A. Soliman
Abstract A novel method is presented in this article for calculating the sensitivities of the impedance and excitation matrices of the method of moments. The proposed method evaluates the required derivatives with respect to a design variable semi-analytically. It is demonstrated that one matrices' fill is enough to achieve the required sensitivities. Two such fills would be necessary to obtain similar results using the conventional finite-difference approximation method. A microstrip patch antenna example is used to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. By comparing its results with those obtained using finite-difference numerical approximation, a high degree of agreement is observed. The accuracy of the numerical approximation is found to be sensitive to the selected value of perturbation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2007. [source]

A new reconstruction of multivariate normal orthant probabilities

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES B (STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY), Issue 1 2008
Peter Craig
Summary., A new method is introduced for geometrically reconstructing orthant probabilities for non-singular multivariate normal distributions. Orthant probabilities are expressed in terms of those for auto-regressive sequences and an efficient method is developed for numerical approximation of the latter. The approach allows more efficient accurate evaluation of the multivariate normal cumulative distribution function than previously, for many situations where the original distribution arises from a graphical model. An implementation is available as a package for the statistical software R and an application is given to multivariate probit models. [source]

Efficient Universal Portfolios for Past-Dependent Target Classes

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2003
Jason E. Cross
We present a new universal portfolio algorithm that achieves almost the same level of wealth as could be achieved by knowing stock prices ahead of time. Specifically the algorithm tracks the best in hindsight wealth achievable within target classes of linearly parameterized portfolio sequences. The target classes considered are more general than the standard constant rebalanced portfolio class and permit portfolio sequences to exhibit a continuous form of dependence on past prices or other side information. A primary advantage of the algorithm is that it is easily computable in a polynomial number of steps by way of simple closed-form expressions. This provides an edge over other universal algorithms that require both an exponential number of computations and numerical approximation. [source]

A neural network-based approach to determine FDTD eigenfunctions in quantum devices

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 9 2009
Antonio Soriano
Abstract This article combines a Neural Network (NN) algorithm with the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) technique to estimate the eigenfunctions in quantum devices. A NN based on the Least Mean Squares (LMS) algorithm is combined with the FDTD technique to provide a first approach to the confined states in quantum wires. The proposed technique is in good agreement with analytical results and is more efficient than FDTD combined with the Fourier Transform. This technique is used to calculate a numerical approximation to the eigenfunctions associated to quantum wire potentials. The performance and convergence of the proposed technique are also presented in this article. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 2017,2022, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24562 [source]

A new investigation of the extended Krylov subspace method for matrix function evaluations

NUMERICAL LINEAR ALGEBRA WITH APPLICATIONS, Issue 4 2010
L. Knizhnerman
Abstract For large square matrices A and functions f, the numerical approximation of the action of f(A) to a vector v has received considerable attention in the last two decades. In this paper we investigate theextended Krylov subspace method, a technique that was recently proposed to approximate f(A)v for A symmetric. We provide a new theoretical analysis of the method, which improves the original result for A symmetric, and gives a new estimate for A nonsymmetric. Numerical experiments confirm that the new error estimates correctly capture the linear asymptotic convergence rate of the approximation. By using recent algorithmic improvements, we also show that the method is computationally competitive with respect to other enhancement techniques. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Maximum norm error bounds of ADI and compact ADI methods for solving parabolic equations

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 1 2010
Hong-Lin Liao
Abstract Alternating direction implicit (ADI) schemes are computationally efficient and widely utilized for numerical approximation of the multidimensional parabolic equations. By using the discrete energy method, it is shown that the ADI solution is unconditionally convergent with the convergence order of two in the maximum norm. Considering an asymptotic expansion of the difference solution, we obtain a fourth-order, in both time and space, approximation by one Richardson extrapolation. Extension of our technique to the higher-order compact ADI schemes also yields the maximum norm error estimate of the discrete solution. And by one extrapolation, we obtain a sixth order accurate approximation when the time step is proportional to the squares of the spatial size. An numerical example is presented to support our theoretical results. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2010 [source]

Application of Richardson extrapolation to the numerical solution of partial differential equations

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 4 2009
Clarence Burg
Abstract Richardson extrapolation is a methodology for improving the order of accuracy of numerical solutions that involve the use of a discretization size h. By combining the results from numerical solutions using a sequence of related discretization sizes, the leading order error terms can be methodically removed, resulting in higher order accurate results. Richardson extrapolation is commonly used within the numerical approximation of partial differential equations to improve certain predictive quantities such as the drag or lift of an airfoil, once these quantities are calculated on a sequence of meshes, but it is not widely used to determine the numerical solution of partial differential equations. Within this article, Richardson extrapolation is applied directly to the solution algorithm used within existing numerical solvers of partial differential equations to increase the order of accuracy of the numerical result without referring to the details of the methodology or its implementation within the numerical code. Only the order of accuracy of the existing solver and certain interpolations required to pass information between the mesh levels are needed to improve the order of accuracy and the overall solution accuracy. Using the proposed methodology, Richardson extrapolation is used to increase the order of accuracy of numerical solutions of the linear heat and wave equations and of the nonlinear St. Venant equations in one-dimension. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009 [source]

Numerical solution to a linearized KdV equation on unbounded domain

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 2 2008
Chunxiong Zheng
Abstract Exact absorbing boundary conditions for a linearized KdV equation are derived in this paper. Applying these boundary conditions at artificial boundary points yields an initial-boundary value problem defined only on a finite interval. A dual-Petrov-Galerkin scheme is proposed for numerical approximation. Fast evaluation method is developed to deal with convolutions involved in the exact absorbing boundary conditions. In the end, some numerical tests are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.© 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2008 [source]

Method of lines with boundary elements for 1-D transient diffusion-reaction problems

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 4 2006
P.A. Ramachandran
Abstract Time-dependent differential equations can be solved using the concept of method of lines (MOL) together with the boundary element (BE) representation for the spatial linear part of the equation. The BE method alleviates the need for spatial discretization and casts the problem in an integral format. Hence errors associated with the numerical approximation of the spatial derivatives are totally eliminated. An element level local cubic approximation is used for the variable at each time step to facilitate the time marching and the nonlinear terms are represented in a semi-implicit manner by a local linearization at each time step. The accuracy of the method has been illustrated on a number of test problems of engineering significance. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2006 [source]

Refined mixed finite element method for the elasticity problem in a polygonal domain

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 3 2002
M. Farhloul
Abstract The purpose of this article is to study a mixed formulation of the elasticity problem in plane polygonal domains and its numerical approximation. In this mixed formulation the strain tensor is introduced as a new unknown and its symmetry is relaxed by a Lagrange multiplier, which is nothing else than the rotation. Because of the corner points, the displacement field is not regular in general in the vicinity of the vertices but belongs to some weighted Sobolev space. Using this information, appropriate refinement rules are imposed on the family of triangulations in order to recapture optimal error estimates. Moreover, uniform error estimates in the Lamé coefficient , are obtained for , large. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 323,339, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/num.10009 [source]

Optimal search on spatial paths with recall, Part II: Computational procedures and examples

PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2000
Mitchell Harwitz
Search; spatial search; spatial economics Abstract. This is the second part of a two-part analysis of optimal spatial search begun in Harwitz et al. (1998). In the present article, two explicit computational procedures are developed for the optimal spatial search problem studied in Part I. The first uses reservation prices with continuous known distributions of prices and is illustrated for three stores. The second does not use reservation prices but assumes known discrete distributions. It is a numerical approximation to the first and also a tool for examining examples with larger numbers of stores. [source]

Stability analysis of the Crank,Nicholson method for variable coefficient diffusion equation

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2007
Charles Tadjeran
Abstract The Crank,Nicholson method is a widely used method to obtain numerical approximations to the diffusion equation due to its accuracy and unconditional stability. When the diffusion coefficient is not a constant, the general approach is to obtain a discretization for the PDE in the same manner as the case for constant coefficients. In this paper, we show that the manner of this discretization may impact the stability of the resulting method and could lead to instability of the numerical solution. It is shown that the classical Crank,Nicholson method will fail to be unconditionally stable if the diffusion coefficient is computed at the time gridpoints instead of at the midpoints of the temporal subinterval. A numerical example is presented and compared with the exact analytical solution to examine its divergence. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Improved accuracy for the Helmholtz equation in unbounded domains

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 15 2004
Eli Turkel
Abstract Based on properties of the Helmholtz equation, we derive a new equation for an auxiliary variable. This reduces much of the oscillations of the solution leading to more accurate numerical approximations to the original unknown. Computations confirm the improved accuracy of the new models in both two and three dimensions. This also improves the accuracy when one wants the solution at neighbouring wavenumbers by using an expansion in k. We examine the accuracy for both waveguide and scattering problems as a function of k, h and the forcing mode l. The use of local absorbing boundary conditions is also examined as well as the location of the outer surface as functions of k. Connections with parabolic approximations are analysed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Inviscid, laminar and turbulent opposed flows

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 11 2004
Ersel Korusoy
Abstract This paper attempts to reproduce numerically previous experimental findings with opposed flows and extends their range to quantify the effects of upstream pipes and nozzles with inviscid, laminar and turbulent flows. The choice of conservation equations, boundary conditions, algorithms for their solution, the degree of grid dependence, numerical diffusion and the validity of numerical approximations are justified with supporting calculations where necessary. The results of all calculations on the stagnation plane show maximum strain rates close to the annular exit from the nozzles and pipes for lower separations and it can be expected that corresponding reacting flows will tend to extinguish in this region with the extinction moving towards the axis. With laminar flows, the maximum strain rate increased with Reynolds number and the maximum values were generally greater than with inviscid flows and smaller than with turbulent flows. With large separations, the strain rates varied less and this explains some results with reacting flows where the extinction appeared to begin on the axis. The turbulent-flow calculations allowed comparison of three common variants of a two-equation first-moment closure. They provided reasonable and useful indications of strain rates but none correctly represented the rms of velocity fluctuations on the axis and close to the stagnation plane. As expected, those designed to deal with this problem produced results in better agreement with experiment but were still imperfect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]