| 1. |
- Berg, Niclas, 1988-
(författare)
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Blood flow and cell transport in arteries and medical assist devices
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The cardiovascular system is responsible for transport of nutrients, oxygen, as well as the cells and molecules making up the immune system. Through the hemostatic system, the body maintains the integrity of the blood vessels, and prevents bleeding. The biochemical and physical processes governing the circulation interact, and take place at a large range of time and length scales - from those related to the individual cells up to the large scale flow structures. Dysfunctions of the heart or the circulatory system may have severe consequences. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is a heterogeneous group of diseases, responsible for about 50% of all death cases in the western world.Patients with severe but transient heart and/or lung disease may require the assistance of a heart-lung machine to bridge over the period required for the affected organ to recover. One such system is the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator (ECMO) circuit, consting of a blood pump, a membrane oxygenator, cannulae and tubing system. While the therapy is life-saving, it is associated with relatively frequent thromboembolic (blood clotting and/or bleeding) events. Modeling of the flow in some components of the ECMO circuit was undertaken. The flow data was used together with models for platelet activation to assess the risk for thrombus formation. The results indicated locations of elevated risk of thrombosis in the centrifugal blood pump, the ECMO cannulae and the pipe connectors. The identified locations agreed well with clinical observations. The results lead to a direct recommendation to minimize the use of tube connectors. Further study of the sensitivity of the platelet activation models to uncertainties and errors was carried out. Some recommendations for improved modeling were proposed.Arteriosclerosis develops slowly over a long period of time (years or decades). It manifests initially at some common sites; arteries of certain sizes with relatively strong flow rate, as well as near artery bifurcations and locations of strong vessel curvature. The location specificity indicates that the blood flow plays a central role in the arteriosclerotic process. Being able to predict the future development of arteriosclerotic lesion and its location for an individual patient would imply that pre-emptive actions could be taken. This idea was the foundation of some of the numerical simulations in this thesis. A stenoted patient specific renal artery was considered, and was reconstructed to a non-pathological state by removing the stenosis using different segmentation methods. We could then evaluate if common stenosis markers based on functions of time-averages of the Wall Shear-Stress (WSS) could be use as predictive parameters. It was shown that these markers are not adequate as predictive tools. Furthermore, it was shown that the sensitivity to reconstruction technique was at least of the same order as the effect of the choice of blood rheology model. The rheology of blood was further studied through detailed simulations resolving the blood plasma flow and its interaction with the red blood cells (RBC) and the platelets. A hybrid Immersed boundary-Lattice Boltzmann method was applied, and the rheological data was compared to the Quemada model. It was found that the Quemada model could underpredict the effective viscosity by as much as 50%. The same methodology was applied to study the transport of RBCs and platelets, and the influence of RBC polydispersity. An increased degree of variability in RBC volume was found, under certain circumstances, to lead to an increase of the transport of platelets to the vessel wall (margination).
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| 2. |
- Imani Jajarmi, Ramin, 1987-
(författare)
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Acoustic separation of submicron particles in gaseous flows
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The separation of submicron particles suspended in gaseous flows is a problem of great importance and is the subject of sustained research efforts. This is motivated by several challenges presented by modern science and technology requiring high separation efficiencies for submicron particles.Continuous acoustic particles separation is a novel technique based on the acoustophoresis phenomenon, in which a particle within an acoustic field is manipulated using acoustic forces on its surface. This technique has the potential to overcome some of the limitations of common techniques for the separation of submicron particles, as well as performing advanced tasks such as sorting particles according to their size or density.In this thesis, the separation of submicron solid particles suspended in air is investigated experimentally, with a focus on the effect of key design parameters (acoustic, flow, geometry) on the efficiency of the process. A simple method based on laser light scattering was also used to provide qualitative information on the particle number density as a function of position in the channel. This technique allowed to quickly investigate the effect of a wide range of parameters on the acoustic separation efficiency including the pressure amplitude, the frequency of the standing wave, the average flow velocity and the parallelism of the channel walls. The results demonstrate conclusively that acoustic manipulation is possible for submicron particles and that the acoustic force scales following the trends expected from theoretical models developed in the continuum regime. From the size of the particles used it however follows that the observed separation is the result of transition regime acoustophoresis, with a Knudsen number on the order of 0.2.
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| 3. |
- Alenius, Emma, 1983-
(författare)
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CFD of Duct Acoustics for Turbocharger Applications
- 2010
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The search for quieter internal combustion engines drives the quest for a better understanding of the acoustic properties of engine duct components. In this work the main focus is the turbocharger compressor and a discussion of turbocharger acoustics and earlier work within the area is presented, giving an insight into its sound generating mechanisms and the damping effect it has on pressure pulses, i.e. incoming waves. However, despite the fact that turbo-charging was developed during the first part of the 20th century, there is not much research results available within the area of centrifugal compressor acoustics. To improve the understanding of the acoustics of engine duct components, methods based on compressible Large Eddy Simulation (LES) are explored. With these methods it is possible to capture both the complex flow, with sound generating mechanisms, and acoustic - flow interactions. It is also possible to get a detailed insight into some phenomena by access to variables and/or areas where it is difficult to perform measurements. In order to develop these methods the linear scattering of low frequency waves by an orifice plate have been studied, using an acoustic two-port model. This simple geometry was chosen since the flow has several of the characteristics seen in a compressor, like unsteady separation, vortex generation and shock waves at high Mach numbers. Furthermore the orifice plate is in itself interesting in engine applications, where constrictions are present in the ducts. The results have been compared to measurements with good agreement and the sensitivity to different parameters has been studied, showing an expected dependence on inlet Mach number and difficulties to simultaneously keep the amplitude low enough for linearity and high enough to suppress flow noise with the short times series available in LES. During the development of new engines the industry uses 1D engine CFD tools. These tools are developed to give performance data, but sometimes also the acoustic pulsations are studied. The duct components are modelled and the turbocharger is often modelled with a map, representing its fluid mechanical properties measured under steady state conditions. An aim in this work has been to study the limitations of the models available in the commercial software GT-Power. The scattering of incoming waves was simulated and the results were compared to measurements, showing a large discrepancy for the compressor and a significant discrepancy for the orifice plate.
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| 4. |
- Alenius, Emma, 1983-
(författare)
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Flow Duct Acoustics : An LES Approach
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The search for quieter internal combustion engines drives the quest for a better understanding of the acoustic properties of engine duct components. Simulations are an important tool for enhanced understanding; they give insight into the flow-acoustic interaction in components where it is difficult to perform measurements. In this work the acoustics is obtained directly from a compressible Large Eddy Simulation (LES). With this method complex flow phenomena can be captured, as well as sound generation and acoustic scattering.The aim of the research is enhanced understanding of the acoustics of engine gas exchange components, such as the turbocharger compressor.In order to investigate methods appropriate for such studies, a simple constriction, in the form of an orifice plate, is considered. The flow through this geometry is expected to have several of the important characteristics that generate and scatter sound in more complex components, such as an unsteady shear layer, vortex generation, strong recirculation zones, pressure fluctuations at the plate, and at higher flow speeds shock waves.The sensitivity of the scattering to numerical parameters, and flow noise suppression methods, is investigated. The most efficient method for reducing noise in the result is averaging, both in time and space. Additionally, non-linear effects were found to appear when the amplitude of the acoustic velocity fluctuations became larger than around 1~\% of the mean velocity, in the orifice.The main goal of the thesis has been to enhance the understanding of the flow and acoustics of a thick orifice plate, with a jet Mach number of 0.4 to 1.2. Additionally, we evaluate different methods for analysis of the data, whereby better insight into the problem is gained. The scattering of incoming waves is compared to measurements with in general good agreement. Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) is used in order to find significant frequencies in the flow and their corresponding flow structures, showing strong axisymmetric flow structures at frequencies where a tonal sound is generated and incoming waves are amplified.The main mechanisms for generating plane wave sound are identified as a fluctuating mass flow at the orifice openings and a fluctuating force at the plate sides, for subsonic jets. This study is to the author's knowledge the first numerical investigation concerning both sound generation and scattering, as well as coupling sound to a detailed study of the flow.With decomposition techniques a deeper insight into the flow is reached. It is shown that a feedback mechanism inside the orifice leads to the generation of strong coherent axisymmetric fluctuations, which in turn generate a tonal sound.
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| 5. |
- Bodin, Olle
(författare)
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Simulations of compressible flows associatedwith internal combustion engines
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Vehicles with internal combustion (IC) engines fueled by hydrocarbon compoundshave been used for more than 100 years for ground transportation.During these years and in particular the last decade, the environmental aspectsof IC engines have become a major political and research topic. Followingthis interest, the emissions of pollutants such as NOx, CO2 and unburnedhydrocarbons (UHC) from IC engines have been reduced considerably.Yet, there is still a clear need and possibility to improve engine efficiencywhile further reducing emissions of pollutants. The maximum efficiency ofIC engines used in passenger cars is no more than 40% and considerably lessthan that under part load conditions. One way to improve engine efficiencyis to utilize the energy of the exhaust gases to turbocharge the engine. Whileturbocharging is by no means a new concept, its design and integration intothe gas exchange system has been of low priority in the power train designprocess. One expects that the rapidly increasing interest in efficient passengercar engines would mean that the use of turbo technology will become morewidespread.The flow in the IC-engine intake manifold determines the flow in the cylinderprior and during the combustion. Similarly, the flow in the exhaust manifolddetermines the flow into the turbine, and thereby the efficiency of theturbocharging system.In order to reduce NOx emissions, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is used.As this process transport exhaust gases into the cylinder, its efficiency is dependenton the gas exchange system in general. The losses in the gas exchangesystem are also an issue related to engine efficiency. These aspects have beenaddressed up to now rather superficially. One has been interested in globalaspects (e.g. pressure drop, turbine efficiency) under steady state conditions.In this thesis, the flow in the exhaust port and close to the valve as wellas in the exhaust manifold is studied. Since the flow in the port can be transonic,we study first the numerical modeling of such a flow in a more simplegeometry, namely a bump placed in a wind tunnel. Large-Eddy Simulationsof internal transonic flow have been carried out. The results show that transonicflow in general is very sensitive to small disturbances in the boundaryconditions. Flow in the wind tunnel case is always highly unsteady in the transonicflow regime with self excited shock oscillations and associated with that also unsteady boundary-layer separation. The interaction between separationzone and shock dynamics was carried out by one-, and two-point correlationsas well as dynamic mode decomposition (DMD). A clear connection betweenseparation bubble dynamics and shock oscillation was found. To investigatesensitivity to periodic disturbances the outlet pressure in the wind tunnel casewas varied periodically at rather low amplitude. These low amplitude oscillationscaused hysteretic behavior in the mean shock position and appearance ofshocks of widely different patterns.The study of a model exhaust port shows that at realistic pressure ratios,the flow is transonic in the exhaust port. Furthermore, two pairs of vortexstructures are created downstream of the valve plate by the wake behind thevalve stem and by inertial forces and the pressure gradient in the port. Thesestructures dissipate rather quickly. The impact of these structures and thechoking effect caused by the shock on realistic IC engine performance remainsto be studied in the future.The flow in a heavy-duty exhaust manifold was studied under steady andengine-like boundary conditions. At all conditions, significantly unsteady flowis generated in the manifold and at the inlets to the turbine and EGR cooler.The inflow to the turbine is dominated by a combination of the blow-downpulse coming from one cylinder, and the scavenging pulse from another at thefiring frequency.
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| 6. |
- Fjällman, Johan, 1982-
(författare)
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Large Eddy Simulations of Complex Flows in IC-Engine's Exhaust Manifold and Turbine
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis deals with the flow in pipe bends and radial turbines geometries that are commonly found in an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). The development phase of internal combustion engines relies more and more on simulations as an important complement to experiments. This is partly because of the reduction in development cost and the shortening of the development time. This is one of the reasons for the need of more accurate and predictive simulations. By using more complex computational methods the accuracy and predictive capabilities are increased. The disadvantage of using more sophisticated tools is that the computational time is increasing, making such tools less attractive for standard design purposes. Hence, one of the goals of the work has been to contribute to assess and improve the predictive capability of the simpler methods used by the industry.By comparing results from experiments, Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computations, and Large Eddy Simulations (LES) the accuracy of the different computational methods can be established. The advantages of using LES over RANS for the flows under consideration stems from the unsteadiness of the flow in the engine manifold. When such unsteadiness overlaps the natural turbulence the model lacks a rational foundation. The thesis considers the effect of the cyclic flow on the chosen numerical models. The LES calculations have proven to be able to predict the mean field and the fluctuations very well when compared to the experimental data. Also the effects of pulsatile exhaust flow on the performance of the turbine of a turbocharging system is assessed. Both steady and pulsating inlet conditions are considered for the turbine case, where the latter is a more realistic representation of the real flow situation inside the exhaust manifold and turbine. The results have been analysed using different methods: single point Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT), probe line means and statistics, area and volume based Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD).
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| 7. |
- Renberg, Ulrica, 1973-
(författare)
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1D engine simulation of a turbocharged SI engine with CFD computation on components
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Techniques that can increase the SI- engine efficiency while keeping the emissions very low is to reduce the engine displacement volume combined with a charging system. Advanced systems are needed for an effective boosting of the engine and today 1D engine simulation tools are often used for their optimization. This thesis concerns 1D engine simulation of a turbocharged SI engine and the introduction of CFD computations on components as a way to assess inaccuracies in the 1D model. 1D engine simulations have been performed on a turbocharged SI engine and the results have been validated by on-engine measurements in test cell. The operating points considered have been in the engine’s low speed and load region, with the turbocharger’s waste-gate closed. The instantaneous on-engine turbine efficiency was calculated for two different turbochargers based on high frequency measurements in test cell. Unfortunately the instantaneous mass flow rates and temperatures directly upstream and downstream of the turbine could not be measured and simulated values from the calibrated engine model were used. The on-engine turbine efficiency was compared with the efficiency computed by the 1D code using steady flow data to describe the turbine performance. The results show that the on-engine turbine efficiency shows a hysteretic effect over the exhaust pulse so that the discrepancy between measured and quasi-steady values increases for decreasing mass flow rate after a pulse peak. Flow modeling in pipe geometries that can be representative to those of an exhaust manifold, single bent pipes and double bent pipes and also the outer runners of an exhaust manifold, have been computed in both 1D and 3D under steady and pulsating flow conditions. The results have been compared in terms of pressure losses. The results show that calculated pressure gradient for a straight pipe under steady flow is similar using either 1D or 3D computations. The calculated pressure drop over a bend is clearly higher1D engine simulations of turbocharged engines are difficult to using 1D computations compared to 3D computations, both for steady and pulsating flow. Also, the slow decay of the secondary flow structure that develops over a bend, gives a higher pressure gradient in the 3D calculations compared to the 1D calculation in the straight pipe parts downstream of a bend.
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| 8. |
- Sakowitz, Alexander, 1980-
(författare)
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Computation and Analysis of EGR Mixing in Internal Combustion Engine Manifolds
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with turbulent mixing processes occurring in internal combustion engines, when applying exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). EGR is a very efficient way to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in internal combustion engines. Exhaust gases are recirculated and mixed with the fresh intake air, reducing the oxygen con- centration of the combustion gas and thus the peak combustion temperatures. This temperature decrease results in a reduction of NOx emissions. When applying EGR, one is often faced with non-uniform distribution of exhaust among and inside the cylinders, deteriorating the emission performance. The mixing of exhaust gases and air is governed by the flow in the engine intake manifold, which is characterized by unsteadiness due to turbulence and engine pulsations. Moreover, the density cannot be assumed to be constant due to the presence of large temperature variations.Different flow cases having these characteristics are computed by compressible Large Eddy Simulations (LES). First, the stationary flows in two T-junction type geometries are investigated. The method is validated by comparison with experimental data and the accuracy of the simulations is confirmed by grid sensitivity studies. The flow structures and the unsteady flow modes are described for a range of mass flow ratios between the main and the branch inlet. A comparison to RANS computations showed qualitatively different flow fields.Thereafter, pulsating inflow conditions are prescribed on the branch inlet in or- der to mimic the large pulsations occurring in the EGR loop. The flow modes are investigated using Dynamical Mode Decomposition (DMD).After having established the simulation tool, the flow in a six-cylinder engine is simulated. The flow is studied by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and DMD. The mixing quality is studied in terms of cylinder-to-cylinder non-uniformity and temporal and spatial variances. It was found that cycle-averaging of the concentration may give misleading results. A sensitivity study with respect to changes in the boundary conditions showed that the EGR pulsations, have large influence on the results. This could also be shown by POD of the concentration field showing the significance of the pulses for the maldistribution of exhaust gases.Finally, the flow in an intake manifold of a four-cylinder engine is investigated in terms of EGR distribution. For this geometry, pipe bends upstream of the EGR inlet were found to be responsible for the maldistribution.
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| 9. |
- Sakowitz, Alexander, 1980-
(författare)
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On the Computation of Turbulent Mixing Processes with Application to EGR in IC-engines
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with turbulent mixing processes occuring in internal combustion engines, when applying exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). EGR is a very efficient way to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in internal combustion engines. Exhaust gases are recirculated and mixed with the intake air of the engine, thus reducing the oxygen concentration of the combustion gas and the maximum combustion tempera- ture. This temperature decrease results in a reduction of NOx emissions, since NOx is produced at high temperatures.The issue of NOx reduction is of high importance for current engine development (particularly for heavy-duty engines), since NOx is the main cause for smog formation and subject to increasingly stronger emission legislation. One of the practical problems when applying EGR is the non-uniformity of the mixture among and inside the cylinders deteriorating the engine and emission performance.The aim of this work is to develop and assess methods suited for the computation of turbulent mixing processes in engine conditions. More specifically, RANS and LES computations are considered. The flow structures responsible for the mixing are analyzed for two different T-junctions and a six-cylinder Scania engine-manifold. Shortcomings and advantages of the applied mixing models are explained.The main results are, that commonly applied scalar flux models for the RANS framework do not predict correct scalar flux directions. In stationary flow, the applied k-ε-model in combination with a gradient-diffusion-model gives too small mixing rates as compared to LES and experiments. Furthermore, the LES computations of the T-junctions show, that Dean vortices occuring due to the curvature of the flow are broken up and dissipated only a few diameters downstream of the junction. The RANS computations do not predict this break-up, giving fundamentally different flow structures and mixing distributions. In pulsating flow, a resonance between the natural stabilities and the pulsation frequency is found by LES results, which could not be predicted by RANS.Computations of the flow in a Scania intake manifold with generic boundary con- ditions indicate, that inlet pulsations are important for the mixing process and that the smoothing effect of URANS is not adequate for accurate mixing computations. LES, on the other hand, is more promising, since it is able to capture the physics of pulsating flows much better.
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| 10. |
- Semlitsch, Bernhard, 1985-
(författare)
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Large Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Compressible Jets
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Acoustic noise pollution is an environmental aggressor in everyday life. Aero- dynamically generated noise annoys and was linked with health issues. It may be caused by high-speed turbulent free flows (e.g. aircraft jet exhausts), by airflow interacting with solid surfaces (e.g. fan noise, wind turbine noise), or it may arise within a confined flow environment (e.g. air ventilation systems, refrigeration systems). Hence, reducing the acoustic noise levels would result in a better life quality, where a systematic approach to decrease the acoustic noise radiation is required to guarantee optimal results. Computational predic- tion methods able to provide all the required flow quantities with the desired temporal and spatial resolutions are perfectly suited in such application areas, when supplementing restricted experimental investigations.This thesis focuses on the use of numerical methodologies in compressible flow applications to understand aerodynamically noise generation mechanisms and to assess technologies used to suppress it. Robust and fast steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) based formulations are employed for the optimal design process, while the high fidelity Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach is utilized to reveal the detailed flow physics and to investigate the acoustic noise production mechanisms. The employment of fast methods on a wide range of cases represents a brute-force strategy used to scrutinize the optimization parameter space and to provide general behavioral trends. This in combination with accurate simulations performed for particular condi- tions of interest becomes a very powerful approach. Advance post-processing techniques (i.e. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and Dynamic Mode Decomposition) have been employed to analyze the intricate, highly turbulent flows.The impact of using fluidic injection inside a convergent-divergent nozzle for acoustic noise suppression is analyzed, first using steady-state RANS simulations. More than 250 cases are investigated for the optimal injection location and angle, amount of injected flow and operating conditions. Based on a-priori established criteria, a few optimal candidate solutions are detected from which one geometrical configuration is selected for being thoroughly investigated by using detailed LES calculations. This allows analyzing the unsteady shock pattern movement and the flow structures resulting with fluidic injec- tion. When investigating external fluidic injection configurations, some lead to a high amplitude shock associated noise, so-called screech tones. Such unsteady phenomena can be captured and explained only by using unsteady simulations. Another complex flow scenario demonstrated using LES is that of a high ve- locity jet ejected into a confined convergent-divergent ejector (i.e. a jet pump).The standing wave pattern developed in the confined channel and captured by LES, significantly alters the acoustic noise production. Steady-state methods failed to predict such events.The unsteady highly resolved simulations proved to be essential for analyzing flow and acoustics phenomena in complex problems. This becomes a very powerful approach when is used together with steady-state, low time-consuming formulations and when complemented with experimental measurements.
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