Journal of Hydrodynamics 

About: Journal of Hydrodynamics is an academic journal published by Elsevier BV. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Turbulence & Vortex. It has an ISSN identifier of 1001-6058. Over the lifetime, 2409 publications have been published receiving 28599 citations. The journal is also known as: Journal of hydrodynamics / B & Shui donglixue yanjiu yu jinzhan.

A review of cavitation in hydraulic machinery

Abstract: This paper mainly summarizes the recent progresses for the cavitation study in the hydraulic machinery including turbo-pumps, hydro turbines, etc.. Especially, the newly developed numerical methods for simulating cavitating turbulent flows and the achievements with regard to the complicated flow features revealed by using advanced optical techniques as well as cavitation simulation are introduced so as to make a better understanding of the cavitating flow mechanism for hydraulic machinery. Since cavitation instabilities are also vital issue and rather harmful for the operation safety of hydro machines, we present the 1-D analysis method, which is identified to be very useful for engineering applications regarding the cavitating flows in inducers, turbine draft tubes, etc. Though both cavitation and hydraulic machinery are extensively discussed in literatures, one should be aware that a few problems still remains and are open for solution, such as the comprehensive understanding of cavitating turbulent flows especially inside hydro turbines, the unneglectable discrepancies between the numerical and experimental data, etc.. To further promote the study of cavitation in hydraulic machinery, some advanced topics such as a Density-Based solver suitable for highly compressible cavitating turbulent flows, a virtual cavitation tunnel, etc. are addressed for the future works.

Third generation of vortex identification methods: Omega and Liutex/Rortex based systems

Abstract: A vortex is intuitively recognized as the rotational/swirling motion of fluids, but a rigorous and universally-accepted definition is still not available. Vorticity tube/filament has been regarded equivalent to a vortex since Helmholtz proposed the concepts of vorticity tube/filament in 1858 and the vorticity-based methods can be categorized as the first generation of vortex identification methods. During the last three decades, a lot of vortex identification methods, including Q, Δ, λ2 and λci criteria, have been proposed to overcome the problems associated with the vorticity-based methods. Most of these criteria are based on the Cauchy-Stokes decomposition and/or eigenvalues of the velocity gradient tensor and can be considered as the second generation of vortex identification methods. Starting from 2014, the Vortex and Turbulence Research Team at the University of Texas at Arlington (the UTA team) focus on the development of a new generation of vortex identification methods. The first fruit of this effort, a new omega (Ω) vortex identification method, which defined a vortex as a connected region where the vorticity overtakes the deformation, was published in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, a Liutex (previously called Rortex) vector was proposed to provide a mathematical definition of the local rigid rotation part of the fluid motion, including both the local rotational axis and the rotational strength. Liutex/Rortex is a new physical quantity with scalar, vector and tensor forms exactly representing the local rigid rotation of fluids. Meanwhile, a decomposition of the vorticity to a rotational part namely Liutex/Rortex and an anti-symmetric shear part (RS decomposition) was introduced in 2018, and a universal decomposition of the velocity gradient tensor to a rotation part (R) and a non-rotation part (NR) was also given in 2018 as a counterpart of the traditional Cauchy-Stokes decomposition. Later in early 2019, a Liutex/Rortex based Omega method called Omega-Liutex, which combines the respective advantages of both Liutex/Rortex and Omega methods, was developed. And a latest objective Omega method, which is still under development, is also briefly introduced. These advances are classified as the third generation of vortex identification methods in the current paper. To elaborate the advantages of the third-generation methods, six core issues for vortex definition and identification have been raised, including: (1) the absolute strength, (2) the relative strength, (3) the rotational axis, (4) the vortex core center location, (5) the vortex core size, (6) the vortex boundary. The new third generation of vortex identification methods can provide reasonable answers to these questions, while other vortex identification methods fail to answer all questions except for the approximation of vortex boundaries. The purpose of the current paper is to summarize the main ideas and methods of the third generation of vortex identification methods rather than to conduct a comprehensive review on the historical development of vortex identification methods.

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics and its applications in fluid-structure interactions

Abstract: In ocean engineering, the applications are usually related to a free surface which brings so many interesting physical phenomena (e.g. water waves, impacts, splashing jets, etc.). To model these complex free surface flows is a tough and challenging task for most computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers which work in the Eulerian framework. As a Lagrangian and meshless method, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) offers a convenient tracking for different complex boundaries and a straightforward satisfaction for different boundary conditions. Therefore SPH is robust in modeling complex hydrodynamic problems characterized by free surface boundaries, multiphase interfaces or material discontinuities. Along with the rapid development of the SPH theory, related numerical techniques and high-performance computing technologies, SPH has not only attracted much attention in the academic community, but also gradually gained wide applications in industrial circles. This paper is dedicated to a review of the recent developments of SPH method and its typical applications in fluid-structure interactions in ocean engineering. Different numerical techniques for improving numerical accuracy, satisfying different boundary conditions, improving computational efficiency, suppressing pressure fluctuations and preventing the tensile instability, etc., are introduced. In the numerical results, various typical fluid-structure interaction problems or multiphase problems in ocean engineering are described, modeled and validated. The prospective developments of SPH in ocean engineering are also discussed.

Three-dimensional large eddy simulation and vorticity analysis of unsteady cavitating flow around a twisted hydrofoil

Abstract: Large Eddy Simulation (LES) was coupled with a mass transfer cavitation model to predict unsteady 3-D turbulent cavitating flows around a twisted hydrofoil. The wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity (WALE) model was used to give the Sub-Grid Scale (SGS) stress term. The predicted 3-D cavitation evolutions, including the cavity growth, break-off and collapse downstream, and the shedding cycle as well as its frequency agree fairly well with experimental results. The mechanism for the interactions between the cavitation and the vortices was discussed based on the analysis of the vorticity transport equation related to the vortex stretching, volumetric expansion/contraction and baroclinic torque terms along the hydrofoil mid-plane. The vortical flow analysis demonstrates that cavitation promotes the vortex production and the flow unsteadiness. In non-cavitation conditions, the streamline smoothly passes along the upper wall of the hydrofoil with no boundary layer separation and the boundary layer is thin and attached to the foil except at the trailing edge. With decreasing cavitation number, the present case has σ = 1.07, and the attached sheet cavitation becomes highly unsteady, with periodic growth and break-off to form the cavitation cloud. The expansion due to cavitation induces boundary layer separation and significantly increases the vorticity magnitude at the cavity interface. A detailed analysis using the vorticity transport equation shows that the cavitation accelerates the vortex stretching and dilatation and increases the baroclinic torque as the major source of vorticity generation. Examination of the flow field shows that the vortex dilatation and baroclinic torque terms increase in the cavitating case to the same magnitude as the vortex stretching term, while for the non-cavitating case these two terms are zero.

Neural network modeling for estimation of scour depth around bridge piers

Abstract: It is essential to predict the scour depth around bridge piers for hydraulic engineers involved in the economical design of bridge pier foundation. Conventional investigations have long been of the opinion that empirical scour prediction equations based on laboratory data over predict scour depths. In this article, the Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPN) was applied to predict the scour depth in order to overcome the problem of exclusive and the nonlinear relationships. The observations obtained from thirteen states in USA was verified by the present model. From the comparison with conventional experimental methods, it can be found that the scour depth around bridge piers can be efficiently predicted using the BPN.