Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Employing 2-D Cfd & Lrb Model Around Trees To Improve Vawt Placement, David Chukwuebuka Bassey

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the placement of vertical axis wind turbines, trees are a constant presence in the vicinity. They are found to grow at different height and shape configurations. And in areas such as the Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU) campus, they serve as blockage to airflow; limiting the efficiency of installed turbines. This work sets the precedent for the validation of vegetative numerical models created for the Xcel Energy Research Development Fund (RDF) project.

Using two-dimensional (2-D) numerical simulations of porous cylinders placed in a rectangular medium of air, insight into the flow profile and distribution in the leeward side of …

Employing The Spectral Collocation Method In The Modeling Of Laminar Tube Flow Dynamics, Corey Michael Thibeault

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The spectral collocation method is a numerical approximation technique that seeks the solution of a differential equation using a finite series of infinitely differentiable basis functions. This inherently global technique enjoys an exponential rate of convergence and has proven to be extremely effective in computational fluid dynamics. This paper presents a basic review of the spectral collocation method. The derivation is driven with an example of the approximation to the solution of a 1D Helmholtz equation. A Matlab code modeling two fluid dynamics problems is then given. First, the classic two-dimensional Graetz problem is simulated and compared to an analytical …