All issues

The article presents the results of a numerical study of the flow structure in a two-dimensional flat diffuser. A feature of diffusers is that they have a complex anisotropic turbulent flow, which occurs due to recirculation flows. The turbulent RANS models, which are based on the Boussinesq hypothesis, are not able to describe the flow in diffusers with sufficient accuracy. Because the Boussinesq hypothesis is based on isotropic turbulence. Therefore, to calculate anisotropic turbulent flows, models are used that do not use this hypothesis. One of such directions in turbulence modeling is the methods of Reynolds stresses. These methods are complex and require rather large computational resources. In this work, a relatively recently developed two-fluid turbulence model was used to study the flow in a flat diffuser. This model is developed on the basis of a two-fluid approach to the problem of turbulence. In contrast to the Reynolds approach, the two-fluid approach allows one to obtain a closed system of turbulence equations using the dynamics of two fluids. Consequently, if empirical equations are used in RANS models for closure, then in the two-fluid model the equations used are exact equations of dynamics. One of the main advantages of the two-fluid model is that it is capable of describing complex anisotropic turbulent flows. In this work, the obtained numerical results for the profiles of the longitudinal velocity, turbulent stresses in various sections of the channel, as well as the friction coefficient are compared with the known experimental data. To demonstrate the advantages of the used turbulence model, the numerical results of the Reynolds stress method EARSM are also presented. For the numerical implementation of the systems of equations of the two-fluid model, a non-stationary system of equations was used, the solution of which asymptotically approached the stationary solution. For this purpose, a finite-difference scheme was used, where the viscosity terms were approximated by the central difference implicitly, and for the convective terms, an explicit scheme against the flow of the second order of accuracy was used. The results are obtained for the Reynolds number Re = 20 000. It is shown that the two-fluid model, despite the use of a uniform computational grid without thickening near the walls, is capable of giving a more accurate solution than the rather complex Reynolds stress method with a high resolution of computational grids.

The main feature of a two-dimensional turbulent flow, constantly excited by an external force, is the appearance of an inverse energy cascade. Due to nonlinear effects, the spatial scale of the vortices created by the external force increases until the growth is stopped by the size of the cell. In the latter case, energy is accumulated at these dimensions. Under certain conditions, accumulation leads to the appearance of a system of coherent vortices. The observed vortices are of the order of the box size and, on average, are isotropic. Numerical simulation is an effective way to study such the processes. Of particular interest is the problem of studying the viscous fluid turbulence in a square cell under excitation by short-wave and long-wave static external forces. Numerical modeling was carried out with a weakly compressible fluid in a two-dimensional square cell with zero boundary conditions. The work shows how the flow characteristics are influenced by the spatial frequency of the external force and the magnitude of the viscosity of the fluid itself. An increase in the spatial frequency of the external force leads to stabilization and laminarization of the flow. At the same time, with an increased spatial frequency of the external force, a decrease in viscosity leads to the resumption of the mechanism of energy transfer along the inverse cascade due to a shift in the energy dissipation region to a region of smaller scales compared to the pump scale.

The gradual incorporation of automated vehicles into the global transport networks leads to the need to develop tools to assess the impact of this process on various aspects of traffic. This implies a more organized movement of automated vehicles which can form uniformly moving platoons. The influence of the formation and movement of these platoons on the dynamics of traffic flow is of great interest. The currently most developed traffic flow models are based on the cellular automaton approach. They are mainly developed in the direction of increasing accuracy. This inevitably leads to the complication of models, which in their modern form have significantly moved away from the original philosophy of cellular automata, which implies simplicity and schematicity of models at the level of evolution rules, leading, however, to a complex organized behavior of the system. In the present paper, a simulation model of connected automated vehicles platoon dynamics in a heterogeneous transport system is proposed, consisting of two types of agents (vehicles): human-driven and automated. The description of the temporal evolution of the system is based on modified rules 184 and 240 for elementary cellular automata. Human-driven vehicles move according to rule 184 with the addition of accidental braking, the probability of which depends on the distance to the vehicle in front. For automated vehicles, a combination of rules is used depending on the type of nearest neighbors, regardless of the distance to them, which brings non-local interaction to the model. At the same time, it is considered that a group of sequentially moving connected automated vehicles can form an organized platoon. The influence of the ratio of types of vehicles in the system on the characteristics of the traffic flow during free movement on a circular one-lane and two-lane roads, as well as in the presence of a traffic light, is studied. The simulation results show that the effect of platoon formation is significant for a freeway traffic flow; the presence of a traffic light reduces the positive effect by about half. The movement of platoons of connected automated vehicles on two-lane roads with the possibility of lane changing was also studied. It is shown that considering the types of neighboring vehicles (automated or human-driven) when changing lanes for automated vehicles has a positive effect on the characteristics of the traffic flow.

The article focuses on the problem of mechanisms’ co-design for robotic systems to perform adaptive physical interaction with an unstructured environment, including physical human robot interaction. The co-design means simultaneous optimization of mechanics and control system, ensuring optimal behavior and performance of the system. Mechanics optimization refers to the search for optimal structure, geometric parameters, mass distribution among the links and their compliance; control refers to the search for motion trajectories for mechanism’s joints. The paper presents a generalized method of structural-parametric synthesis of underactuated mechanisms with closed kinematics for robotic systems for various purposes, e. g., it was previously used for the co-design of fingers’ mechanisms for anthropomorphic gripper and legs’ mechanisms for galloping robots. The method implements the concept of morphological computation of control laws due to the features of mechanical design, minimizing the control effort from the algorithmic component of the control system, which reduces the requirements for the level of technical equipment and reduces energy consumption. In this paper, the proposed method is used to optimize the structure and geometric parameters of the passive mechanism of the back support module of an industrial exosuit. Human movements are diverse and non-deterministic when compared with the movements of autonomous robots, which complicates the design of wearable robotic devices. To reduce injuries, fatigue and increase the productivity of workers, the synthesized industrial exosuit should not only compensate for loads, but also not interfere with the natural human motions. To test the developed exosuit, kinematic datasets from motion capture of an entire human body during industrial operations were used. The proposed method of structural-parametric synthesis was used to improve the ergonomics of a wearable robotic device. Verification of the synthesized mechanism was carried out using simulation: the passive module of the back is attached to two geometric primitives that move the chest and pelvis of the exosuit operator in accordance with the motion capture data. The ergonomics of the back module is quantified by the distance between the joints connecting the upper and bottom parts of the exosuit; minimizing deviation from the average value corresponds to a lesser limitation of the operator’s movement, i. e. greater ergonomics. The article provides a detailed description of the method of structural-parametric synthesis, an example of synthesis of an exosuit module and the results of simulation.

In this paper, we investigate different alternative ideas for the design of digital predistortion models for radiofrequency power amplifiers. When compared to the greedy search algorithm, these algorithms allow a faster identification of the model parameters combination while still performing reasonably well. For the subsequent implementation, different metrics of model costs and score results in the process of optimization enable us to achieve sparse selections of the model, which balance the model accuracy and model resources (according to the complexity of implementation). The results achieved in the process of simulations show that combinations obtained with explored algorithms show the best performance after a lower number of simulations.

Based on the modeling method using a mesh system, an algorithm is implemented for solving a unsteady problem with moving bodies The algorithm takes into account the movement and rotation of bodies according to a given law of motion. The algorithm is applied to analysis the flow around an infinite composed of cylinders with an elliptical cross-section, which either move across the flow or rotate with a change in the angle of attack. To simulate the flow of bodies with a sharp edge, characteristic of the profiles of gas turbine machines, an algorithm for constructing a mesh of type C with the inclusion of a certain area behind the profile is implemented. The program for modeling the flow near the profile is implemented within the framework of models of Euler equations, Navier – Stokes equations in the approximation of a thin layer with laminar viscosity and turbulent viscosity in the framework of an algebraic viscosity model. The program has also been adapted to solve the problems of internal gas dynamics of turbomachines. For this purpose, the method of setting the boundary conditions at the entrance and exit from the calculated area from the velocity to the pressure drop, as well as at the lateral boundaries from the free flow to the periodicity, was changed. This made it possible to simulate the flow of gas in the inter-blade channels of compressors and turbines of gas turbine engines. To refine the algorithm, a series of calculations of the aerodynamic parameters of several turbine cascades in various subsonic and supersonic modes and their comparison with the experiment were carried out. Calculations of turbine grating parameters were carried out within the framework of the inviscid and viscous gas model. The calculation and experiment were compared by the distribution of gas parameters near the profile, as well as by the energy losses of the flow in the cascade. Calculations have shown the applicability and correctness of the program to solve this class of problems. To test the program on the problems of external subsonic aerodynamics, calculations of the aerodynamic characteristics of an isolated airfoil in an undisturbed flow were performed. The results obtained allow us to assert the applicability of the hybrid grid method to various classes of problems of applied gas dynamics.

Nowadays, active development of 4th generation nuclear reactors with liquid metal coolants takes place. Therefore, simulation of their elements and units in 3D modelling software are relevant. The thermal-hydraulic analysis of reactor units with liquid metal coolant is recognized as one of the most important directions of the complex of interconnected tasks on reactor unit parameters justification. The complexity of getting necessary information about operating conditions of reactor equipment with liquid-metal coolant on the base of experimental investigations requires the involvement of numerical simulation. The domestic CFD code FlowVision has been used as a research tool. FlowVision software has a certificate of the Scientific and Engineering Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety for the nuclear reactor safety simulations. Previously it has been proved that this simulation code had been successfully used for modelling processes in nuclear reactors with sodium coolant. Since at the moment the nuclear industry considers plants with lead-bismuth coolant as promising reactors, it is necessary to justify the FlowVision code suitability also for modeling the flow of such coolant, which is the goal of this work. The paper presents the results of lead-bismuth eutectic flow numerical simulation in the heat exchange tube bundle of NPP steam generator. The convergence studies on a grid and step have been carried out, turbulence model has been selected, hydraulic resistance coefficients of lattices have been determined and simulations with and without $k_\theta^{}$-$e_\theta^{}$ model are compared within the framework of fluid dynamics and heat exchange modeling in the heat-exchange tube bundle. According to the results of the study, it was found that the results of the calculation using the $k_\theta^{}$-$e_\theta^{}$ turbulence model are more precisely consistent with the correlations. A cross-verification with STAR-CCM+ software has been performed as an additional verification on the accuracy of the results, the results obtained are within the error limits of the correlations used for comparison.

The article presented the computational algorithm developed to study chemical processes in the internal flows of a multicomponent gas under the influence of laser radiation. The mathematical model is the gas dynamics’ equations with chemical reactions at low Mach numbers. It takes into account dissipative terms that describe the dynamics of a viscous heat-conducting medium with diffusion, chemical reactions and energy supply by laser radiation. This mathematical model is characterized by the presence of several very different time and spatial scales. The computational algorithm is based on a splitting scheme by physical processes. Each time integration step is divided into the following blocks: solving the equations of chemical kinetics, solving the equation for the radiation intensity, solving the convection-diffusion equations, calculating the dynamic component of pressure and calculating the correction of the velocity vector. The solution of a stiff system of chemical kinetics equations is carried out using a specialized explicit second-order accuracy scheme or a plug-in RADAU5 module. Numerical Rusanov flows and a WENO scheme of an increased order of approximation are used to find convective terms in the equations. The code based on the obtained algorithm has been developed using MPI parallel computing technology. The developed code is used to calculate the pyrolysis of ethane with radical reactions. The superequilibrium concentrations’ formation of radicals in the reactor volume is studied in detail. Numerical simulation of the reaction gas flow in a flat tube with laser radiation supply is carried out, which is in demand for the interpretation of experimental results. It is shown that laser radiation significantly increases the conversion of ethane and yields of target products at short lengths closer to the entrance to the reaction zone. Reducing the effective length of the reaction zone allows us to offer new solutions in the design of ethane conversion reactors into valuable hydrocarbons. The developed algorithm and program will find their application in the creation of new technologies of laser thermochemistry.

The aim of research is to develop software system for solving gas dynamic problem in multiply connected integration domains of regular shape by high-performance computing system. Comparison of the various technologies of parallel computing has been done. The program complex is implemented using multithreaded parallel systems to organize both multi-core and massively parallel calculation. The comparison of numerical results with known model problems solutions has been done. Research of performance of different computing platforms has been done.

Статья представляет собой пример компьютерного моделирования в области инженерной механики. Численным методом находятся поля скорости в гидроциклоне, которые недоступны прямому измерению. Рассматривается численное моделирование трехмерной гидродинамики на основе k-ε RNG модели турбулентности в гидроциклоне со встроенным инжектором, содержащим 5 тангенциально направленных сопла. Показано, что направление движения инжектируемой жидкости зависит от расхода жидкости через инжектор. Расчеты показывают в соответствии с экспериментами, что зависимость сплит-параметра от расхода инжектируемой жидкости имеет немонотонный характер, связанный с отношением мощности основного потока и инжектируемой жидкости.