Engineering Physics Commons^™

Gravity Compensation, Carter Glover, Siyuan Zhou

Senior Project

This project focused on the design, analysis, and testing of an air-bearing gravity compensation testbed intended to simulate reduced-friction motion for space-related applications. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to evaluate airflow characteristics, pressure distribution, and bearing performance under various operating conditions. The design was refined to improve load support, stability, and airflow efficiency while maintaining manufacturability. Experimental testing and simulation results were compared to assess system performance and validate design assumptions. The completed testbed demonstrates the feasibility of using air bearings to create a low-friction environment suitable for motion testing and gravity compensation studies.

Cfd Analysis Of Hydrodynamic Cavitation Through An Orifice: Influence Of Different Inlet Pressures And Number Of Orifice Holes, Lemthong Chanphavong, Vongsavanh Chanthaboune, Keophousone Phonhalath

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is considered an energy-efficient process with high potential for utilization in many chemical processes. This study presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of cavitating flow through an orifice with a constant flow area. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, coupled with turbulence and cavitation models, are employed to capture the complex flow behaviors. The effects of inlet pressures and number of orifice-holes on cavitation behavior are investigated. Result of the numerical simulation is validated with the existing experimental data from the literature. The CFD study revealed that cavitation initiates just behind the inlet edge of the orifice …

Impact Of Weather Systems On Uav Parameters Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Saif Aljuhaishi, Yaseen K. Al-Timimi, Basim I. Wahab

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Since drones cannot fly in any kind of weather, they are not safe for time-sensitive activities. The study examines how the passage of weather systems in Iraq leads to the ban on drone flights, and how these weather conditions impact the aerodynamic forces of the drone. Hourly climate data for the study area were obtained from ECMWF ERA5 and CAMS in NetCDF format for four climate stations (Erbil, Baghdad, Rutbah, and Basrah). A ScanEagle drone was chosen for this study. The Python programming language was used to perform mathematical operations to calculate the ban on drone flights. ArcGIS 10.8 was …

Numerical Investigation Of A Diffuse Ventilation Ceiling System For Buildings With Natural And Hybrid Ventilation, Alessandro Nocente, Francesco Goia, Steinar Grynning

International Building Physics Conference 2018

The need to meet requirements, both in terms of ventilation and thermal comfort in modern buildings, has led to the development of different concepts for ventilation, among which the so-called Diffuse Ceiling Ventilation (DCV). This system makes use of the space between the ceiling slabs and the suspended ceiling as a plenum for fresh air, while the suspended ceiling itself becomes an air diffuser element. If compared to traditional solutions, this allows a higher amount of ventilation air to be injected in the room at lower speed, and a more even distribution of the fresh air within the room. Furthermore, …

Integrated Vegetation Model For Studying The Cooling Potential Of Trees In Urban Street Canyons, Lento Manickathan, Aytaç Kubilay, Thijs Defraeye, Jonas Allegrini, Dominique Derome, Jan Carmeliet

International Building Physics Conference 2018

Vegetation in cities provides natural cooling of the climate and is therefore increasingly integrated as an essential part of Urban Heat Island (UHI) mitigation strategies. In the present study, the influence of trees on the local climate in a street canyon is studied using an integrated vegetation model in OpenFOAM. Vegetation is modeled as porous medium providing the necessary source terms for the heat, mass and momentum fluxes. Additionally, a radiation model is developed to model the short-wave and long-wave radiative heat flux exchanges between vegetation and the surroundings. The study investigates the influence of transpirative and shaded cooling due …

Numerical Analysis Of The Influencing Factors On The Performance Of A Pipe-Embedded Window Operated In Summer, Sihang Jiang, Chong Shen, Xianting Li

International Building Physics Conference 2018

The pipe-embedded window is a double window structure with pipes embedded inside the cavity to adjust the temperature. The preliminary studies showed that it can significantly reduce the cooling load of buildings with natural cooling sources such as the water from cooling towers in summer. However, the research on the influencing factors of the pipeembedded window is insufficient. In this paper, the numerical calculation models are established for a pipe-embedded window and a traditional window. The influence of climatic factors, such as the natural cooling source temperature and outdoor air temperature on the thermal performance of the pipe-embedded window are …

Studying The Impact Of Local Urban Heat Islands On The Space Cooling Demand Of Buildings Using Coupled Cfd And Building Energy Simulations, Jonas Allegrini, Jan Carmeliet

International Building Physics Conference 2018

Surface as well as air temperatures are due to the urban heat island effect higher in urban compared to their surrounding rural areas. These increased temperatures have a strong impact on the building energy performance in urban environments and thermal comfort as well as health of inhabitants of these environments. At smaller scales, local heat islands are formed within urban environments, which have the same negative impacts. In this study, we investigate the influence of local heat islands on the space cooling demand of buildings. Commonly, climate information from one weather station is used for building performance simulations within a …

Numerical Analysis Of A Ground-Source Heat-Pump System In Traditional Japanese “Kyo-Machiya” Dwellings, Shun Takano, Chiemi Iba, Shuichi Hokoi

International Building Physics Conference 2018

Kyo-machiya, which is a traditional wooden dwelling in Kyoto, is generally equipped with a shallow well. The well water can be potentially utilized as a heat source with a geothermal heatpump system without incurring a high drilling cost. Hereby, more energy saving in the traditional dwelling can be realized with the heat-pump system. However, an appropriate technique to utilize geothermal heat from a shallow well has not been established yet in Japan. To promote the geothermal use, we have continued an experiment to evaluate the practicability of a simple geothermal heat-pump system installed in a shallow well since the winter …

Instrument Design Optimization With Computational Methods, Michael H. Moore

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Using Finite Element Analysis to approximate the solution of differential equations, two different instruments in experimental Hall C at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are analyzed. The time dependence of density fluctuations from the liquid hydrogen (LH2) target used in the Q_weak experiment (2011-2012) are studied with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the simulation results compared to data from the experiment. The 2.5 kW liquid hydrogen target was the highest power LH2 target in the world and the first to be designed with CFD at Jefferson Lab. The first complete magnetic field simulation of the Super High Momentum …

Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd) Modeling Of A Laboratory Scale Coal Gasifier, Kiel S. Schultheiss

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Furthering gasification technology is an essential part of advancing clean coal technologies. In order to seek insight into the appropriate operations for the formation of synthetic gas (syngas) a numerical simulation was performed to predict the phenomena of coal gasification in a laboratory scale entrained-flow coal gasifier. The mesh for the model was developed with ICEM CFD software and the chemical and physical phenomena were modeled using the fluid flow solver ANSYS FLUENT. Mesh independence was verified. The model was validated with experimental data from several studies performed on a laboratory scale gasifier.

Systematic examination of the model was performed …