Revision as of 12:26, 4 October 2013

A fluid-structure interaction benchmark in turbulent flow (FSI-PfS-1a)

Introduction

A flexible structure exposed to a fluid flow is deformed and deflected owing to the fluid forces acting on its surface. These displacements influence the flow field resulting in a coupling process between the fluid and the structure shortly denoted fluid-structure interaction (FSI). Due to its manifold forms of appearance it is a topic of major interest in many fields of engineering. Based on enhanced numerical algorithms and increased computational resources numerical simulations have become an important and valuable tool for solving this kind of problem within the last decade. Today FSI simulations complement additional experimental investigations. A long-lasting vision of the computational engineer is to completely replace or at least strongly reduce expensive experimental investigations in the foreseeable future. However, to attain this goal validated and thus reliable simulation tools are required.

The long-term objective of the present research project is the coupled simulation of big lightweight structures such as thin membranes exposed to turbulent flows (outdoor tents, awnings...). To study these complex FSI problems, a multi-physics code framework was recently developed~\citep{fsi-les-2012}. In order to assure reliable numerical simulations of complex configurations, the whole FSI code needs to be validated at first on simpler test cases with trusted reference data. In~\cite{fsi-les-2012} the verification process of the code developed is detailed. The CFD and CSD solvers were at first checked separately and then, the coupling algorithm was considered in detail based on a laminar benchmark. A 3D turbulent test case was also taken into account to prove the applicability of the newly developed coupling scheme in the context of large-eddy simulations (LES). However, owing to missing reference data a full validation was not possible. The overall goal of the present paper is to present a turbulent FSI test case supported by experimental data and numerical predictions based on the multi-physics code developed. Thus, on the one hand the current FSI methodology involving LES and shell structures undergoing large deformations is validated. On the other hand, a new turbulent FSI benchmark configuration is defined, based on the specific insights into numerical flow simulation, computational structural analysis as well as coupling issues. Hence, the present study should provide a precisely described test case to the FSI community for the technically relevant case of turbulent flows interacting with flexible structures.

The present study is mainly related to two former investigation of Turek and Hron (2006,2010) and Gomes and Lienhart (2006, 2012) on vortex-induced fluid-structure interactions. The well-known 2D purely numerical laminar benchmarks of Turek and Hron (2006,2010) developed in a collaborative research effort on FSI (DFG Forschergruppe 493) consists of an elastic cantilever plate which is clamped behind a rigid circular cylinder. Three different test cases, named FSI1, FSI2 and FSI3 are provided, complemented by additional self-contained CFD and CSD test cases to check both solvers independently. These test cases were also used to validate the solvers applied in the present study (Breuer et al, 2012). In order to close the gap of complementary experimantel and numerical data, a nominally 2D laminar experimental case was provided by~\cite{gomes2006,gomes2013} and \cite{gomes2011b}. Here, a very thin metal sheet with an additional weight at the end is attached behind a rotating circular cylinder and mounted inside a channel filled with a mixture of polyglycol and water to reach a low Reynolds number in the laminar regime. Experimental data are provided for several inflow velocities and two different swiveling motions could be identified depending on the inflow velocity. Owing to the thin metal sheet and the rear mass the accurate prediction of this case is demanding. There are also turbulent FSI benchmarks involving 2D structures: in~\cite{stab-fsi-2008} a rigid plate with a single rotational degree of freedom was mounted into a water channel and experimentally studied by particle-image velocimetry (PIV). This study also presents the first comparison between experimental data and predicted results achieved by the present code for a turbulent FSI problem. As another turbulent experimental benchmark, the investigations of~\cite{gomes2010,gomes2013} and \cite{gomes2011b} have to be cited: the same geometry as in~\cite{gomes2006} was used, but this time with water as the working fluid leading to much higher Reynolds numbers within the turbulent regime. The resulting FSI test case was found to be very challenging from the numerical point of view. Indeed, the prediction of the deformation and motion of the very thin flexible structure requires two-dimensional finite-elements. On the other hand the discretization of the extra weight mounted at the end of the thin metal sheet calls for three-dimensional volume elements. Thus for a reasonable prediction of this test case both element types have to be used concurrently and have to be coupled adequately. Additionally, the rotational degree of freedom of the front cylinder complicates the structural simulation and the grid adaptation of the flow prediction.

Thus, in the present study a slightly different configuration is considered to provide in a first step a less ambitious test case for the comparison between predictions and measurements focusing the investigations more to the turbulent flow regime and its coupling to a less problematic structural model. For this purpose, a fixed cylinder with a thicker rubber tail and without a rear mass is used. This should open the computation of the proposed benchmark case to a broader spectrum of codes and facilitates its adoption in the community. Strong emphasis is put on a precise description of the experimental measurements, a comprehensive discussion of the modeling in the numerical simulation (for the single field solutions as well as for the coupled problem) and the processing of the respective data to guarantee a reliable reproduction of the proposed test case with various suitable methods.

Description of the geometrical model and the test section

FSI-PfS-1a consists of a flexible thin structure with a distinct thickness clamped behind a fixed rigid non-rotating cylinder installed in a water channel (see Fig.~\ref{fig:rubber_plate_geom}). The cylinder has a diameter $D\operatorname {=} 0.022m$ . It is positioned in the middle of the experimental test section with $H_{c}=H/2\operatorname {=} 0.120m$ $H_{c}/D\approx 5.45$ , whereas the test section denotes a central part of the entire water channel (see Fig.~\ref{fig:water_channel}). Its center is located at $L_{c}\operatorname {=} 0.077m$ $(L_{c}/D\operatorname {=} 3.5)$ downstream of the inflow section. The test section has a length of $L\operatorname {=} 0.338m$ $(L/D\approx 15.36)$ , a height of $H\operatorname {=} 0.240m$ $(H/D\approx 10.91)$ and a width $W\operatorname {=} 0.180m$ $(W/D\approx 8.18)$ . The blocking ratio of the channel is about $9.2\%$ . The gravitational acceleration $g$ points in x-direction (see Fig.~\ref{fig:rubber_plate_geom}), i.e. in the experimental setup this section of the water channel is turned 90 degrees. The deformable structure used in the experiment behind the cylinder has a length $l\operatorname {=} 0.060m$ $(l/D\approx 2.72)$ and a width $w\operatorname {=} 0.177m$ $(w/D\approx 8.05)$ . Therefore, in the experiment there is a small gap of about $1.5\times 10^{-3}m$ between the side of the deformable structure and both lateral channel walls. The thickness of the plate is $h\operatorname {=} 0.0021m$ $(h/D\approx 0.09)$ . This thickness is an averaged value. The material is natural rubber and thus it is difficult to produce a perfectly homogeneous 2 mm plate. The measurements show that the thickness of the plate is between 0.002 and 0.0022 m. All parameters of the geometrical configuration of the FSI-PfS-1a benchmark are summarized in Table~\ref{tab:geom_conf_bench}.

Description of the water channel

In order to validate numerical FSI simulations based on reliable experimental data, the special research unit on FSI~\citep{for493} designed and constructed a water channel (G\"ottingen type, see Fig.~\ref{fig:water_channel}) for corresponding experiments with a special concern regarding controllable and precise boundary and working conditions \citep{gomes2006, gomes2010, gomes2011b}. The channel (\mbox{$2.8~$m$~ \times~1.3~$m$~\times~0.5~$m}, fluid volume of $0.9~$m$^3$) has a rectangular flow path and includes several rectifiers and straighteners to guarantee a uniform inflow into the test section. To allow optical flow measurement systems like Particle-Image Velocimetry, the test section is optically accessible on three sides. It possesses the same geometry as the test section described in Section~\ref{sec:Description_model}. The structure is fixed on the backplate of the test section and additionally fixed in the front glass plate. With a 24~kW axial pump a water inflow of up to \mbox{$u_{\text{max}}=6$ m/s} is possible. To prevent asymmetries the gravity force is aligned with the x-axis in main flow direction.