Tech Briefs





Fully Coupled Thermal FSI Analysis in Turbulent Flow

The study of 3-D turbulent non-isothermal flows in curved channels is of significant engineering importance. Applications where this type of flow is encountered include turbine housings and propulsion systems. The physics of the fluid flow is complicated because of the pressure drop and recovery in the bend and the resulting secondary flow. The high-speed and high-temperature flow can also cause large stresses in the channel structure.

In this News, we present an example of non-isothermal turbulent flow in a typical curved channel. The channel dimensions and boundary conditions are shown in the schematic above. The structure is clamped at the inlet. The fluid is modeled with FCBI-C elements and the structure with MITC4 shell elements. The hot gas at 427°C is at a Reynolds number 300,000. Next to the schematic, the predicted pressure in the fluid is shown.

The figures below show the deformations of the structure, and its thermal and plastic strains. These are the primary results sought in this analysis. Also shown is a graph of the static pressure coefficient along the inner and outer walls of the channel. The pure CFD results and experimental results [1] do not include thermal effects, which are not very large.

The type of analysis presented here (fully coupled TFSI analysis with large deformations) is primarily used to assess the integrity of the structure, but the effects of the structural deformations on the fluid flow parameters, such as the static pressure coefficient, are also of interest.

For more information on ADINA FSI, please refer to our page on fluid-structure interaction.





Deformations of the Structure



Thermal Strain and Accumulated Effective Plastic Strain



Comparison of Results


Reference

  1. Khalil I.M., Weber, H.G., Modeling of Three-Dimensional Flow in Turning Channels. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power - Transactions of the ASME 106 (3) 1984 682-691.