All you need is time to generalise the Goman-Khrabrov dynamic stall model

Dynamic stall on airfoils negatively impacts their aerodynamic performance and can lead to structural damage. Accurate prediction and modelling of the dynamic stall loads are crucial for a more robust design of wings and blades that operate under unsteady conditions susceptible to dynamic stall and for widening the range of operation of these lifting surfaces. Many dynamic stall models rely on empirical parameters that need to be obtained from experimental or numerical data which limits their generalisability. Mere, we introduce physically derived time scales to replace the empirical parameters in the Goman-Khrabrov dynamic stall model. The physics-based time constants correspond to the dynamic stall delay and the decay of post-stall load fluctuations. The dynamic stall delay is largely independent of the type of motion, the Reynolds number and the airfoil geometry, and is described as a function of a normalised instantaneous pitch rate. The post-stall decay is independent of the motion kinematics and is related to the Strouhal number of the post-stall vortex shedding. The general validity of our physics-based time constants is demonstrated using three sets of experimental dynamic stall data covering various airfoil profiles, Reynolds numbers varying from 75 000 to 1 000 000, and sinusoidal and ramp-up pitching motions. The use of physics-based time constants generalises the Goman-Khrabrov dynamic stall model and extends its range of application.

A new concept of modular kinematics to design ultra-high precision flexure-based robots

Reymond Clavel, Murielle Richard

This work deals with the kinematic conception and the mechanical design of ultra-high precision robots, which are at present costly to develop, both in time and money. The aim of this paper is thus to introduce a new modular concept of kinematics which allows to significantly reduce the time-to-market and a new double-stage flexure-based pivot. Regarding the modular concept of kinematics, this ‘robotic Lego’ consists in a finite number of building bricks allowing to rapidly design a high precision machine and to easily modify its mobility. The realised mock-up of a 4-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) robot, transformable into a 5-DOF one, validates this concept and the mechanical design of its bricks. Flexure hinges are used to achieve the aimed sub-micrometer precision; however, existing flexure-based rotary joints are not able to fulfil the requirements of some applications, as they present a too low angular stroke and a parasitic motion of their centre of rotation. Thus, this paper also introduces a new double-stage pivot based on blades working in torsion; experiments performed on a prototype allow to validate its principle and the simulation model used for its development.

2010

Effect of antecedent conditions and fixed rock fragment coverage on soil erosion dynamics through multiple rainfall events

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Seifeddine Jomaa

The effect of antecedent conditions and specific rock fragment coverage on precipitation-driven soil erosion dynamics through multiple rainfall events was investigated using a pair of 6-m × 1-m flumes with 2.2% slope. Four sequential experiments – denoted E1, E2, E3 and E4, involved 2-h precipitation (rates of 28, 74, 74 and 28 mm h-1, respectively) and 22 h without rainfall – were conducted. In each experiment, one flume was bare while the other had 40% rock fragment coverage. The soil was hand-cultivated and smoothed before the first event (E1) only, and left untouched subsequently. Sediment yields at the flume exit reached steady-state conditions over time scales that increased with sediment size. Experiments were designed such that both steady and non-steady effluent sediment yields were reached at the conclusion of E1. Results from subsequent experiments showed that short-time soil erosion was dependent on whether steady-state erosion was achieved during the preceding event, although consistent steady-state effluent sediment yields were reached for each sediment size class. Steady-state erosion rates were, however, dependent on the rainfall intensity and its duration. If steady-state sediment yields were reached for a particular size class, that class’s effluent sediment yield peaked rapidly in the next rainfall event. The early peak was followed by a gradual decline to the steady-state condition. On the other hand, for size classes in which steady state was not reached at the end of the rainfall event (i.e., E1), in the following event (E2), the sediment yields for those classes increased gradually to steady state, i.e., the sharp peak was not observed. The effect of rock fragment cover (40%) on the soil surface was also found to be significant in terms of the time to reach steady state, i.e., their presence reduced the time for steady conditions to be attained. Effluent sediment yields for the bare and rock fragment-covered flumes (E1) showed steady conditions were reached for the latter, in contrast to the former. We used the Hairsine-Rose (H-R) model to simulate the experimental data as it explicitly models soil particle size classes. Experiments E1 and E2 involved soil compaction by raindrops, and in this case the model predictions were found to be unsatisfactory. However, compaction was effectively completed by the end of experiment E2, and the model provided reasonable predictions for experiments E3 and E4.

Elsevier Science Bv2013

Numerical approximation of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations with an application to the flow past a square cylinder

Francesco Casalegno

The goal of this project is to numerically solve the Navier-Stokes equations by using different numerical methods with particular emphasis on solving the problem of the flow past a square cylinder. In particular, we use the finite element method based on P2/P1 elements for the velocity and pressure fields for the spatial approximation, while the backward Euler method (with semi-implicit treatment of the nonlinear term) for the time discretization. We firstly test the numerical schemes on a benchmark problem with known exact solution. Then, we discuss in detail the advantages, in terms of computational costs, in using the algebraic Chorin-Temam method with additional implementation improvements. We finally investigate the problem of the two-dimensional flow past a square cylinder, focusing our attention on the range 0.1-300 for the Reynolds number (Re). We describe the two different regimes associated to the steady and the unsteady flows and we remark as the latter is in fact due to a Hopf bifurcation of the system. We also discuss the relation between the Strouhal and Reynolds numbers concluding that the Strouhal number attains its maximum value in the range 169-170 for the Reynolds number. In particular, a cubic model is proposed, showing very good matching with observed data and a better fitting than other models available in literature.

2013

Effect of antecedent conditions and fixed rock fragment coverage on soil erosion dynamics through multiple rainfall events

David Andrew Barry, Alessandro Brovelli, Seifeddine Jomaa

Elsevier Science Bv2013