The inviscid, compressible and rotational, 2D isotropic Burgers and pressureless Euler-Coriolis fluids: Solvable models with illustrations

The coupling between dilatation and vorticity, two coexisting and fundamental processes in fluid dynamics (Wu et al., 2006, pp. 3, 6) is investigated here, in the simplest cases of inviscid 2D isotropic Burgers and pressureless Euler Coriolis fluids respectively modeled by single vortices confined in compressible, local, inertial and global, rotating, environments. The field equations are established, inductively, starting from the equations of the characteristics solved with an initial Helmholtz decomposition of the velocity fields namely a vorticity free and a divergence free part (Wu et al., 2006, Sects. 2.3.2, 2.3.3) and, deductively, by means of a canonical Hamiltonian Clebsch like formalism (Clebsch, 1857, 1859), implying two pairs of conjugate variables. Two vector valued fields are constants of the motion: the velocity field in the Burgers case and the momentum field per unit mass in the Euler Coriolis one. Taking advantage of this property, a class of solutions for the mass densities of the fluids is given by the Jacobian of their sum with respect to the actual coordinates. Implementation of the isotropy hypothesis entails a radial dependence of the velocity potentials and of the stream functions associated to the compressible and to the rotational part of the fluids and results in the cancellation of the dilatation-rotational cross terms in the Jacobian. A simple expression is obtained for all the radially symmetric Jacobians occurring in the theory. Representative examples of regular and singular solutions are shown and the competition between dilatation and vorticity is illustrated. Inspired by thermodynamical, mean field theoretical analogies, a genuine variational formula is proposed which yields unique measure solutions for the radially symmetric fluid densities investigated. We stress that this variational formula, unlike the Hopf-Lax formula, enables us to treat systems which are both compressible and rotational. Moreover in the one-dimensional case, we show for an interesting application that both variational formulas are equivalent. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On a class of mean field solutions of the Monge problem for perfect and self-interacting systems

Philippe Choquard

The Monge problem [23], [27], as reformulated by Kantorovich [19], [20] is that of the transportation, at a minimum "cost", of a given mass distribu- tion from an initial to a final position during a given time interval. It is an optimal transport problem [28, sects. 1, 2]. Following the fluid mechanical solution provided by Benamou and Brenier for quadratic cost functions [4] ,[28, sects. 5.4, 8.1] and, by analogy with the fixed end problem in Analytical Mechanics, Lagrangian formulations are needed to solve this boundary value problem in time. They are also needed to determine the Actions as time in- tegral of Lagrangians, that are measures of the "cost"of the transportations [4, proposition 1.1]. Four versions of explicit constructions of Lagrangians are proposed in section 3. They are associated to the Hamiltonians of perfect and self-interacting systems presented in section 2. These Hamiltonians are ex- pressed in function of pairs of the well known canonically conjugated Clebsch variables, namely mass densities and velocity potentials [14], [15]. The first version consists in the elimination of the velocity potentials as a function of the densities and their time derivatives by inversion of the continuity equations de- rived from given Hamiltonians. The second version consists in the elimination of the gradient of the velocity potentials from the continuity equations thanks to the introduction of vector valued applications such that their divergences give the mass densities. It turns out that, up to a sign factor, these vector elds are canonically conjugated to Euler velocity elds. The third version is a generalization in nD of Gelfand mass coordinate, a constant of the motion in 1 D [17], by the introduction of n-dimensional vector valued applications that enable to determine the mass densities as the determinant of their Jaco- bian matrices. Comparison of this set of mass coordinates with other sets of constants of the motion familiar in Fluid Dynamics is made in sub-section 3.3. Note that version two and three are identical for one-dimensional problems. The fourth version is based on the introduction of the Lagrangian coordinates that describe the characteristics of the different models and are parametrized by the former auxiliary vector fields. As illustrations, weak solutions of several models of Coulombian and Newtonian systems known in Plasma Physics and in Cosmology, respectively, with spherically symmetric boundary densities are given in section 4. However, and up to one exception given in the sub-section 3.3, calculations of the actions associated to these illustrations are not reported in this paper, nor the important analysis of the convexity-concavity properties of our Lagrangians. Lastly, and for the same models as those evoked above, a survey of past work concerning weak solutions of the Cauchy problem obeying the Hopf-Lax variational principle extended to negative time and having cor- related initial conditions is given in the Introduction as well as the derivation of the continuum fluid limit from many particle Hamiltonians.

EPFL2010

Part load flow in radial centrifugal pumps

Olivier Braun

Centrifugal pumps are required to sustain a stable operation of the system they support under all operating conditions. Minor modifications of the surfaces defining the pump's water passage can influence the tendency to unstable system operation significantly. The action of such modifications on the flow are yet not fully understood, leading to costly trial and error approaches in the solution of instability problems. The part-load flow in centrifugal pumps is inherently time-dependent due to the interaction of the rotating impeller with the stationary diffuser (Rotor-Stator Interaction, RSI). Furthermore, adverse pressure gradients in the pump diffuser may cause flow separation, potentially inducing symmetry-breaking non-uniformities, either spatially stationary or rotating and either steady or intermittent. Rotating stall, characterized by the presence of distinct cells of flow separation on the circumference, rotating at a fraction of the impeller revolution rate, has been observed in thermal and hydraulic turbomachines. Due to its complexity, the part-load flow in radial centrifugal pumps is a major challenge for numerical flow simulation methods. The present study investigates the part-load flow in radial centrifugal pumps and pump-turbines by experimental and numerical methods, the latter using a finite volume discretization of the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation. Physical phenomena of part load flow are evidenced based on three case studies, and the ability of numerical simulation methods to reproduce part-load flow in radial centrifugal pumps qualitatively and quantitatively is assessed. A numerical study of the flow in a high specific speed radial pump-turbine using steady approaches and the hypothesis of angular periodicity between neighboring blade channels evidences the relation of sudden flow topology changes with an increase of viscous losses, impacting on the energy-discharge characteristic, and thus increasing the risk of unstable operation. When the flow rate drops below a critical threshold, the straight through-flow with flow separation zones attached to the guide vanes changes to an asymmetrical flow. Energy is drawn off the mean flow and dissipated in a large vortex-like structure. Besides flow separation in some diffuser channels, time-dependent numerical simulations of the flow in a double suction pump evidence a flow rate imbalance between both impeller sides interacting with asymmetric flow separation in the diffuser. Viscous losses increase substantially as this imbalance occurs, the resulting segment of positive slope in the energy-discharge characteristic is found for a flow rate sensibly different from measurements. Different modes of rotating stall are identified by transient pressure measurements in a low-specific-speed pump-turbine, showing 3 to 5 zones of separated flow, rotating at 0.016 to 0.028 times impeller rotation rate, depending on discharge. For operating conditions where stall with 4 cells is most pronounced, velocity is measured by Laser-Doppler methods at locations of interest. The velocity field is reconstructed with respect to the passage of stall cells by definition of a stall phase obtained from simultaneous transient pressure measurements. Time-dependent numerical simulation predicting rotating stall with 4 cells shows velocity fields that are in reasonable agreement with the measured velocity fields, but occurring at a sensibly higher flow rate than found from experiments. In consideration of the quantitative shortcomings of the numerical simulation, a novel modelling approach is proposed: Replacing the costly 3-dimensional simulation of the major part of the impeller channels by a 1-dimensional model allows a significant economy in computational resources, allowing an improved modeling for the remainder of the domain at constant computational cost. The model is validated with the challenging cases of rotating stall and impeller side flow rate imbalance. The satisfying coherence of the results with the simulation including the entire impeller channels qualifies this approach for numerous turbomachinery applications. It could also provide improved, time-dependent boundary conditions for draft tube vortex rope simulations at reasonable computational cost. Parameter studies modifying deliberately some quantities of mean flow and turbulence at the modeled boundary surfaces can be implemented in the framework of the method.

EPFL2009

On A Class Of Mean Field Solutions Of The Monge Problem For Perfect And Self-Interacting Systems

Philippe Choquard

The Monge problem (Monge 1781; Taton 1951), as reformulated by Kantorovich (2006a, 2006b) is that of the transportation at a minimum "cost" of a given mass distribution from an initial to a final position during a given time interval. It is an optimal transport problem (Villani, 2003, sects. 1, 2). Following the fluid mechanical solution provided by Benamou and Brenier (2000) for quadratic cost functions (Villani, 2003, sects. 5.4, 8.1), Lagrangian formulations are needed to solve this boundary value problem in time and to determine the Actions as time integral of Lagrangians that are measures of the "cost" of the transportations (Benamou and Brenier, 2000, prop. 1.1). Given canonical Hamilltonians of perfect and self-interacting systems expressed in function of mass densities and velocity potentials, four versions of explicit constructions of Lagrangians, with their corresponding generalized coordinates, are proposed: elimination of the velocity potentials as a function of the densities and their time derivatives by inversion of the continuity equations; elimination of the gradient of the velocity potentials from the continuity equations thanks to the introduction of vector fields such that their divergences give the mass densities; generalization in nD of Gelfand mass coordinate (1963) by the introduction of n-dimensional vector fields such that the determinant of their Jacobian matrices give the mass densities; and, last, introduction of the Lagrangian coordinates that describe the characteristics of the different models and are parametrized by the former auxiliary vector fields. Using this version, weak solutions of several models of Coulombian and Newtonian systems known in Plasma Physics and in Cosmology, with spherically symmetric boundary densities, are given as illustrations.

2010

Part load flow in radial centrifugal pumps

Olivier Braun

EPFL2009

On a class of mean field solutions of the Monge problem for perfect and self-interacting systems

Philippe Choquard

EPFL2010

The inviscid, compressible and rotational, 2D isotropic Burgers and pressureless Euler-Coriolis fluids: Solvable models with illustrations

On a class of mean fi eld solutions of the Monge problem for perfect and self-interacting systems

Part load flow in radial centrifugal pumps

On A Class Of Mean Field Solutions Of The Monge Problem For Perfect And Self-Interacting Systems

Part load flow in radial centrifugal pumps

On a class of mean fi eld solutions of the Monge problem for perfect and self-interacting systems

On A Class Of Mean Field Solutions Of The Monge Problem For Perfect And Self-Interacting Systems

On a class of mean field solutions of the Monge problem for perfect and self-interacting systems

On a class of mean field solutions of the Monge problem for perfect and self-interacting systems