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Comparative analysis of two numerical methods for simulation of unsteady natural convection and thermal surface radiation within a differentially heated cubical cavity has been carried out. The considered domain of interest had two isothermal opposite vertical faces, while other walls are adiabatic. The walls surfaces were diffuse and gray, namely, their directional spectral emissivity and absorptance do not depend on direction or wavelength but can depend on surface temperature. For the reflected radiation we had two approaches such as: 1) the reflected radiation is diffuse, namely, an intensity of the reflected radiation in any point of the surface is uniform for all directions; 2) the reflected radiation is uniform for each surface of the considered enclosure. Mathematical models formulated both in primitive variables “velocity–pressure” and in transformed variables “vector potential functions – vorticity vector” have been performed numerically using finite volume method and finite difference methods, respectively. It should be noted that radiative heat transfer has been analyzed using the net-radiation method in Poljak approach.

Using primitive variables and finite volume method for the considered boundary-value problem we applied power-law for an approximation of convective terms and central differences for an approximation of diffusive terms. The difference motion and energy equations have been solved using iterative method of alternating directions. Definition of the pressure field associated with velocity field has been performed using SIMPLE procedure.

Using transformed variables and finite difference method for the considered boundary-value problem we applied monotonic Samarsky scheme for convective terms and central differences for diffusive terms. Parabolic equations have been solved using locally one-dimensional Samarsky scheme. Discretization of elliptic equations for vector potential functions has been conducted using symmetric approximation of the second-order derivatives. Obtained difference equation has been solved by successive over-relaxation method. Optimal value of the relaxation parameter has been found on the basis of computational experiments.

As a result we have found the similar distributions of velocity and temperature in the case of these two approaches for different values of Rayleigh number, that illustrates an operability of the used techniques. The efficiency of transformed variables with finite difference method for unsteady problems has been shown.

Reduction of the fire hazard of polymeric materials is one of the important scientific and technical problems. Since complexity of experimental procedures associated with flame spread, establishing reacting flows theoretical basics turned out to be crucial field of modern fundamental science. In order to determine parameters of flame spread over solid combustible materials numerical modelling methods have to be improved. Large amount of physical and chemical processes taking place needed to be resolved not just separately one by one but in connection with each other in gas and solid phases.

Upward flame spread over vertical solid combustible material is followed by unsteady eddy structures of gas flow in the vicinity of flame zone caused by thermal instability and natural convection forces accelerating hot combustion products. At every moment different amount of heat energy is transferred from hot gas-phase flame to solid material because of eddy flow structures. Therefore, satisfactory heat flux and eddy flow modelling are important to estimate flame spread rate.

In the current study we evaluated parameters of numerical method for flame spread over solid combustible material problem taking into account coupled nature of complex interaction between gas phase, solid material and eddy flow resulted from natural convection. We studied aspects of different approximation schemes used in differential equations integration process over space and time, of fields relaxation during iterations procedure carried out inside time step, of different time step values.

Mathematical model formulated allows to simulate flame spread over solid combustible material. Fluid dynamics is modeled by Navier – Stokes system of equations, eddy flow is described by combined turbulent model RANS–LES (DDES), turbulent combustion is resolved by modified turbulent combustion model Eddy Break-Up taking into account kinetic effects, radiation transfer is modeled by spherical harmonics method of first order approximation (P1). The equations presented are solved in OpenFOAM software.

Mathematical simulation of natural convection and surface radiation in a square air enclosure having isothermal vertical walls with a local heat source of constant temperature has been carried out. Mathematical model has been formulated on the basis of the dimensionless variables such as stream function, vorticity and temperature by using the Boussinesq approximation and diathermancy of air. Distributions of streamlines and isotherms reflecting an effect of Rayleigh number $ 10^3 \leqslant Ra \leqslant 10^6 $, surface emissivity $0 \leqslant ε < 1$, ratio between the length of heat source and the size of enclosure $0.2 \leqslant l/L \leqslant 0.6$ and dimensionless time $0 \leqslant τ \leqslant 100$ on fluid flow and heat transfer have been obtained. Correlations for the average heat transfer coefficient in dependence on $Ra$, $ε$ and $l/L$ have been ascertained.

Mathematical simulation of unsteady natural convection and thermal surface radiation within a rotating square enclosure was performed. The considered domain of interest had two isothermal opposite walls subjected to constant low and high temperatures, while other walls are adiabatic. The walls were diffuse and gray. The considered cavity rotated with constant angular velocity relative to the axis that was perpendicular to the cavity and crossed the cavity in the center. Mathematical model, formulated in dimensionless transformed variables “stream function – vorticity” using the Boussinesq approximation and diathermic approach for the medium, was performed numerically using the finite difference method. The vorticity dispersion equation and energy equation were solved using locally one-dimensional Samarskii scheme. The diffusive terms were approximated by central differences, while the convective terms were approximated using monotonic Samarskii scheme. The difference equations were solved by the Thomas algorithm. The approximated Poisson equation for the stream function was solved by successive over-relaxation method. Optimal value of the relaxation parameter was found on the basis of computational experiments. Radiative heat transfer was analyzed using the net-radiation method in Poljak approach. The developed computational code was tested using the grid independence analysis and experimental and numerical results for the model problem.

Numerical analysis of unsteady natural convection and thermal surface radiation within the rotating enclosure was performed for the following parameters: Ra = 10³–10⁶, Ta = 0–10⁵, Pr = 0.7, ε = 0–0.9. All distributions were obtained for the twentieth complete revolution when one can find the periodic behavior of flow and heat transfer. As a result we revealed that at low angular velocity the convective flow can intensify but the following growth of angular velocity leads to suppression of the convective flow. The radiative Nusselt number changes weakly with the Taylor number.

In this paper, a time-dependent natural convective heat transfer in a closed square cavity filled with non- Newtonian fluid was considered in the presence of an isothermal energy source located on the lower wall of the region under consideration. The vertical boundaries were kept at constant low temperature, while the horizontal walls were completely insulated. The behavior of a non-Newtonian fluid was described by the Ostwald de Ville power law. The process under study was described by transient partial differential equations using dimensionless non-primitive variables “stream function – vorticity – temperature”. This method allows excluding the pressure field from the number of unknown parameters, while the non-dimensionalization allows generalizing the obtained results to a variety of physical formulations. The considered mathematical model with the corresponding boundary conditions was solved on the basis of the finite difference method. The algebraic equation for the stream function was solved by the method of successive lower relaxation. Discrete analogs of the vorticity equation and energy equation were solved by the Thomas algorithm. The developed numerical algorithm was tested in detail on a class of model problems and good agreement with other authors was achieved. Also during the study, the mesh sensitivity analysis was performed that allows choosing the optimal mesh.

As a result of numerical simulation of unsteady natural convection of a non-Newtonian power-law fluid in a closed square cavity with a local isothermal energy source, the influence of governing parameters was analyzed including the impact of the Rayleigh number in the range 104–106, power-law index $n = 0.6–1.4$, and also the position of the heating element on the flow structure and heat transfer performance inside the cavity. The analysis was carried out on the basis of the obtained distributions of streamlines and isotherms in the cavity, as well as on the basis of the dependences of the average Nusselt number. As a result, it was established that pseudoplastic fluids $(n < 1)$ intensify heat removal from the heater surface. The increase in the Rayleigh number and the central location of the heating element also correspond to the effective cooling of the heat source.

Mathematical simulation on unsteady natural convection in a closed porous cylindrical cavity having finite thickness heat-conducting solid walls in conditions of convective heat exchange with an environment has been carried out. A boundary-value problem of mathematical physics formulated in dimensionless variables such as stream function and temperature on the basis of Darcy–Boussinesq model has been solved by finite difference method. Effect of a porous medium permeability 10^–5≤Da<∞, ratio between a solid wall thickness and the inner radius of a cylinder 0.1≤h/L≤0.3, a thermal conductivity ratio 1≤λ_1,2≤20 and a dimensionless time on both local distributions of isolines and isotherms and integral complexes reflecting an intensity of convective flow and heat transfer has been analyzed in detail.

Numerical analysis of the effects of the local heat source shape on transient natural convection in a square enclosure has been carried out. The local heat source has rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal shape. The boundary value problem formulated in the dimensionless variables such as stream function, vorticity and temperature by using the Boussinesq approximation has been solved by means of finite difference method. Distributions of streamlines and isotherms and time dependences for the average Nusselt number along the heat source surface in a wide range of governing parameters have been obtained.

A promising method of increasing precipitation in arid climates is the method of creating a vertical high-temperature jet seeded by hygroscopic aerosol. Such an installation makes it possible to create artificial clouds with the possibility of precipitation formation in a cloudless atmosphere, unlike traditional methods of artificial precipitation enhancement, which provide for increasing the efficiency of precipitation formation only in natural clouds by seeding them with nuclei of crystallization and condensation. To increase the power of the jet, calcium chloride, carbamide, salt in the form of a coarse aerosol, as well as NaCl/TiO₂ core/shell novel nanopowder, which is capable of condensing much more water vapor than the listed types of aerosols, are added. Dispersed inclusions in the jet are also centers of crystallization and condensation in the created cloud to increase the possibility of precipitation. To simulate convective flows in the atmosphere, a mathematical model of FlowVision large-scale atmospheric flows is used, the solution of the equations of motion, energy and mass transfer is carried out in relative variables. The statement of the problem is divided into two parts: the initial jet model and the FlowVision large-scale atmospheric model. The lower region, where the initial high-speed jet flows, is calculated using a compressible formulation with the solution of the energy equation with respect to the total enthalpy. This division of the problem into two separate subdomains is necessary in order to correctly carry out the numerical calculation of the initial turbulent jet at high velocity (M > 0.3). The main mathematical dependencies of the model are given. Numerical experiments were carried out using the presented model, experimental data from field tests of the installation for creating artificial clouds were taken for the initial data. A good agreement with the experiment is obtained: in 55% of the calculations carried out, the value of the vertical velocity at a height of 400 m (more than 2 m/s) and the height of the jet rise (more than 600 m) is within an deviation of 30% of the experimental characteristics, and in 30% of the calculations it is completely consistent with the experiment. The results of numerical simulation allow evaluating the possibility of using the high-speed jet method to stimulate artificial updrafts and to create precipitation. The calculations were carried out using FlowVision CFD software on SUSU Tornado supercomputer.

Comparative analysis of two models of porous medium (Dacry and Brinkman) on an example of mathematical simulation of transient natural convection in a porous vertical cylindrical cavity with heat-conducting shell of finite thickness in conditions of convective cooling from an environment has been carried out. The boundary-value problem of mathematical physics formulated in dimensionless variables such as stream function, vorticity and temperature has been solved by implicit finite difference method. The presented verification results validate used numerical approach and also confirm that the solution is not dependent on the mesh size. Features of the conjugate heat transfer problems with considered models of porous medium have been determined.

Represented study considers numerical simulation of corium cooling driven by natural convection within a horizontal hemicylindrical cavity, boundaries of which are assumed isothermal. Corium is a melt of ceramic fuel of a nuclear reactor and oxides of construction materials.

Corium cooling is a process occurring during severe accident associated with core melt. According to invessel retention conception, the accident may be restrained and localized, if the corium is contained within the vessel, only if it is cooled externally. This conception has a clear advantage over the melt trap, it can be implemented at already operating nuclear power plants. Thereby proper numerical analysis of the corium cooling has become such a relevant area of studies.

In the research, we assume the corium is contained within a horizontal semitube. The corium initially has temperature of the walls. In spite of reactor shutdown, the corium still generates heat owing to radioactive decays, and the amount of heat released decreases with time accordingly to Way–Wigner formula. The system of equations in Boussinesq approximation including momentum equation, continuity equation and energy equation, describes the natural convection within the cavity. Convective flows are taken to be laminar and two-dimensional.

The boundary-value problem of mathematical physics is formulated using the non-dimensional nonprimitive variables «stream function – vorticity». The obtained differential equations are solved numerically using the finite difference method and locally one-dimensional Samarskii scheme for the equations of parabolic type.

As a result of the present research, we have obtained the time behavior of mean Nusselt number at top and bottom walls for Rayleigh number ranged from 10³ to 10⁶. These mentioned dependences have been analyzed for various dimensionless operation periods before the accident. Investigations have been performed using streamlines and isotherms as well as time dependences for convective flow and heat transfer rates.