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- Title
- AUTOMATED ADAPTIVE DATA CENTER GENERATION FOR MESHLESS METHODS.
- Creator
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Mitteff, Eric, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Meshless methods have recently received much attention but are yet to reach their full potential as the required problem setup (i.e. collocation point distribution) is still significant and far from automated. The distribution of points still closely resembles the nodes of finite volume-type meshes and the free parameter, c, of the radial-basis expansion functions (RBF) still must be tailored specifically to a problem. The localized meshless collocation method investigated requires a local...
Show moreMeshless methods have recently received much attention but are yet to reach their full potential as the required problem setup (i.e. collocation point distribution) is still significant and far from automated. The distribution of points still closely resembles the nodes of finite volume-type meshes and the free parameter, c, of the radial-basis expansion functions (RBF) still must be tailored specifically to a problem. The localized meshless collocation method investigated requires a local influence region, or topology, used as the expansion medium to produce the required field derivatives. Tests have shown a regular cartesian point distribution produces optimal results, however, in order to maintain a locally cartesian point distribution a recursive quadtree scheme is herein proposed. The quadtree method allows modeling of irregular geometries and refinement of regions of interest and it lends itself for full automation, thus, reducing problem setup efforts. Furthermore, the construction of the localized expansion regions is closely tied up to the point distribution process and, hence, incorporated into the automated sequence. This also allows for the optimization of the RBF free parameter on a local basis to achieve a desired level of accuracy in the expansion. In addition, an optimized auto-segmentation process is adopted to distribute and balance the problem loads throughout a parallel computational environment while minimizing communication requirements.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001321, ucf:47032
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001321
- Title
- OSCILLATORY FLOW AS A MEANS OF ENHANCED SPECIES SEPARATION: A THREE DIMENSIONAL TIME-ACCURATE CFD ANALYSIS.
- Creator
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Crain, Jennifer, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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A fluid that contains species in the presence of a concentration gradient generates unusual phenomena when it is forced into pulsatile motion. For example, each species in the fluid has an enhanced mass transport due to pure molecular diffusion. This enhancement takes place even if there is no net total flow over a cycle of the pulsatile motion. When more than one species in dilute amounts is present in an otherwise pure fluid, called a carrier, each species is transported at a different rate...
Show moreA fluid that contains species in the presence of a concentration gradient generates unusual phenomena when it is forced into pulsatile motion. For example, each species in the fluid has an enhanced mass transport due to pure molecular diffusion. This enhancement takes place even if there is no net total flow over a cycle of the pulsatile motion. When more than one species in dilute amounts is present in an otherwise pure fluid, called a carrier, each species is transported at a different rate thereby causing a partial separation of the species. This idea traces back to hyperventilation studies done over 40 years ago and to the implementation of the technology in hospital environments to provide life-support for patients under anesthesia. However, it is only in recent years that the underlying physics of oscillatory flow as applied to mass transfer have been understood and this may lead to promising application of the technique to novel means of enhancing separation in life support applications and for detection purposes. In this thesis, results from three-dimensional time accurate studies carried out using the commercial computational fluid dynamics code FLUENT are presented. These results simulate the separation of CO2 from He in an N2 environment (carrier). The model consists of two reservoirs/mixing chambers, an oscillating piston wall, and a connecting tube. Several cases are carried out reporting on separation enhancement as a function of the Womersley number and the ratio of tidal displacement to connecting tube diameter. Unlike previous studies which were undertaken using asymptotic analysis, the present models and results incorporate full entrance effects and 3D interactions. Results of this study will be useful as a guide for the design and miniaturization of an oscillating device for species separation in further research projects at the University of Central Florida. Observations showed that a molar fraction increase occurs during the species transport in the presence of a thermal boundary layer. This was accompanied by an imposed external forced temperature condition on the surface of the cylinder to create thermal diffusion, also known as the Soret or thermal diffusion effect, which refers to the separation of mixtures in a temperature gradient as means of change on the concentration gradient of the species ratio. Calculations were performed to analyze the effect of the heat transfer on the molar fraction of the species at a specific region of the model, called the measurement point. Various mathematical models and correlations were incorporated into a MATLAB computer code that predicted the concentration of the species in an entire cycle after steady state is reached and data can be exported from FLUENT.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001095, ucf:46783
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001095
- Title
- EFFICIENT LARGE SCALE TRANSIENT HEAT CONDUCTION ANALYSIS USING A PARALLELIZED BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD.
- Creator
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Erhart, Kevin, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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A parallel domain decomposition Laplace transform Boundary Element Method, BEM, algorithm for the solution of large-scale transient heat conduction problems will be developed. This is accomplished by building on previous work by the author and including several new additions (most note-worthy is the extension to 3-D) aimed at extending the scope and improving the efficiency of this technique for large-scale problems. A Laplace transform method is utilized to avoid time marching and a Proper...
Show moreA parallel domain decomposition Laplace transform Boundary Element Method, BEM, algorithm for the solution of large-scale transient heat conduction problems will be developed. This is accomplished by building on previous work by the author and including several new additions (most note-worthy is the extension to 3-D) aimed at extending the scope and improving the efficiency of this technique for large-scale problems. A Laplace transform method is utilized to avoid time marching and a Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, POD, interpolation scheme is used to improve the efficiency of the numerical Laplace inversion process. A detailed analysis of the Stehfest Transform (numerical Laplace inversion) is performed to help optimize the procedure for heat transfer problems. A domain decomposition process is described in detail and is used to significantly reduce the size of any single problem for the BEM, which greatly reduces the storage and computational burden of the BEM. The procedure is readily implemented in parallel and renders the BEM applicable to large-scale transient conduction problems on even modest computational platforms. A major benefit of the Laplace space approach described herein, is that it readily allows adaptation and integration of traditional BEM codes, as the resulting governing equations are time independent. This work includes the adaptation of two such traditional BEM codes for steady-state heat conduction, in both two and three dimensions. Verification and validation example problems are presented which show the accuracy and efficiency of the techniques. Additionally, comparisons to commercial Finite Volume Method results are shown to further prove the effectiveness.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001291, ucf:46881
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001291
- Title
- DESIGNING OF ENERGY EFFICIENT INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS USING A LOCALIZED RADIAL BASIS FUNCTION MESHLESS METHOD.
- Creator
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Huayamave, Victor, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Around the world, the energy over consumption issue has been one of the key socio-economic and political challenges, which has drastically worsened over the last few years. Over the years engineers and environmentalists have proposed several approaches to improve energy efficiency. One is to reduce energy demand by improving consumption habits and a second approach is to introduce the use of a "greener" concept by using biomaterials in a diverse and more efficient manner in engineering...
Show moreAround the world, the energy over consumption issue has been one of the key socio-economic and political challenges, which has drastically worsened over the last few years. Over the years engineers and environmentalists have proposed several approaches to improve energy efficiency. One is to reduce energy demand by improving consumption habits and a second approach is to introduce the use of a "greener" concept by using biomaterials in a diverse and more efficient manner in engineering construction to create energy efficient environments. This work will investigate the effects of using "green" stabilized earth materials to provide and enhance thermal regulation for indoor environments. This effects can be compared to what skin does to regulate body temperature in humans, animals, and plants. On this effort the thermal behavior of several biomaterials will be analyzed using a computational tool in order to test the mechanical properties of biomaterials and also several geometry configurations to minimize the energy needed for heating and cooling an environment. In this research a localized radial basis function (LRBF) meshless method, developed by the Computational Mechanics Lab (CML) at the University of Central Florida, has been implemented to test several wall geometrical configuration using known biomaterials such as clay. The advantage of using the LRBF meshless method in this particular research is based in the accuracy of the numerical method and also because it decreases computation time regardless of model complexity geometry without the need of mesh generation. This research includes a complete description of the LRBF meshless method, as well as a quantification of cooling methods that have been used by past civilizations and recent construction standards but have not been validated on scientific basis. Results are presented which will demonstrate the effectiveness of using integrated sheets of biomaterials in engineering construction to increase energy efficiency in indoor environments.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003335, ucf:48478
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003335
- Title
- CONJUGATE HEAT TRANSFER ON A GAS TURBINE BLADE.
- Creator
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Salazar, Santiago, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Clearances between gas turbine casings and rotating blades is of quite importance on turbo machines since a significant loss of efficiency can occur if the clearances are not predicted accordingly. The radial thermal growths of the blade may be over or under predicted if poor assumptions are made on calculating the metal temperatures of the surfaces exposed to the fluid. The external surface of the blade is exposed to hot gas temperatures and it is internally cooled with air coming from the...
Show moreClearances between gas turbine casings and rotating blades is of quite importance on turbo machines since a significant loss of efficiency can occur if the clearances are not predicted accordingly. The radial thermal growths of the blade may be over or under predicted if poor assumptions are made on calculating the metal temperatures of the surfaces exposed to the fluid. The external surface of the blade is exposed to hot gas temperatures and it is internally cooled with air coming from the compressor. This cold air enters the radial channels at the root of the blade and then exists at the tip. To obtain close to realistic metal temperatures on the blade, the Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) approach would be utilized in this research. The radial thermal growth of the blade would be then compared to the initial guess. This work focuses on the interaction between the external boundary conditions obtained from the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics software package CFX, the internal boundary conditions along the channels from a 1D flow solver proprietary to Siemens Energy, and the 3D metal temperatures and deformation of the blade predicted using the commercial Solid Mechanics software package ANSYS. An iterative technique to solve CHT problems is demonstrated and discussed. The results of this work help to highlight the importance of CHT in predicting metal temperatures and the implications it has in other aspect of the gas turbine design such as the tip clearances.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003398, ucf:48375
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003398
- Title
- A DIRECT COMPENSATOR PROFILE OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR INTENSITY MODULATED RADIATION TREATMENT PLANNING.
- Creator
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Erhart, Kevin, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Radiation therapy accounts for treatment of over one million cancer patients each year in the United States alone, and its use will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Recently, many important advancements have been developed that greatly improve the outcomes and effectiveness of this treatment technique, the most notable being Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a sophisticated treatment technique where the radiation dose is conformed to the tumor volume, thereby...
Show moreRadiation therapy accounts for treatment of over one million cancer patients each year in the United States alone, and its use will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. Recently, many important advancements have been developed that greatly improve the outcomes and effectiveness of this treatment technique, the most notable being Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a sophisticated treatment technique where the radiation dose is conformed to the tumor volume, thereby sparing nearby healthy tissue from excessive radiation dose. While IMRT is a valuable tool in the planning of radiation treatments, it is not without its difficulties. This research has created, developed, and tested an innovative approach to IMRT treatment planning, coined Direct Compensator Profile Optimization (DCPO), which is shown to eliminate many of the difficulties typically associated with IMRT planning and delivery using solid compensator based treatment. The major innovation of this technique is that it is a direct delivery parameter optimization approach which has adopted a parameterized surface representation using Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBs) to replace the conventional beamlet weight optimization approach. This new approach brings with it three key advantages: 1) a reduced number of parameters to optimize, reducing the difficulty of numerical optimization; 2) the ability to ensure complete equivalence of planned and actual manufactured compensators; and 3) direct inclusion of delivery device effects during planning with no performance penalties, eliminating the degrading fluence-to-delivery parameter conversion process. Detailed research into the affects of the DCPO approach on IMRT planning has been completed and a thorough analysis of the developments is provided herein. This research includes a complete description of the DCPO surface representation scheme, inverse planning process, as well as quantification of the manufacturing constraint control procedure. Results are presented which demonstrate the performance and innovation offered by this new approach and show that the resulting compensator shapes can be manufactured to nearly 100 percent of the designed shape.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- Identifier
- CFE0002800, ucf:48099
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002800
- Title
- Risk Management in Reservoir Operations in the Context of Undefined Competitive Consumption.
- Creator
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Salami, Yunus, Nnadi, Fidelia, Wang, Dingbao, Chopra, Manoj, Rowney, Alexander, Divo, Eduardo, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Dams and reservoirs with multiple purposes require effective management to fully realize their purposes and maximize efficiency. For instance, a reservoir intended mainly for the purposes of flood control and hydropower generation may result in a system with primary objectives that conflict with each other. This is because higher hydraulic heads are required to achieve the hydropower generation objective while relatively lower reservoir levels are required to fulfill flood control objectives....
Show moreDams and reservoirs with multiple purposes require effective management to fully realize their purposes and maximize efficiency. For instance, a reservoir intended mainly for the purposes of flood control and hydropower generation may result in a system with primary objectives that conflict with each other. This is because higher hydraulic heads are required to achieve the hydropower generation objective while relatively lower reservoir levels are required to fulfill flood control objectives. Protracted imbalances between these two could increase the susceptibility of the system to risks of water shortage or flood, depending on inflow volumes and operational policy effectiveness. The magnitudes of these risks can become even more pronounced when upstream use of the river is unregulated and uncoordinated so that upstream consumptions and releases are arbitrary. As a result, safe operational practices and risk management alternatives must be structured after an improved understanding of historical and anticipated inflows, actual and speculative upstream uses, and the overall hydrology of catchments upstream of the reservoir. One of such systems with an almost yearly occurrence of floods and shortages due to both natural and anthropogenic factors is the dual reservoir system of Kainji and Jebba in Nigeria. To analyze and manage these risks, a methodology that combines a stochastic and deterministic approach was employed. Using methods outlined by Box and Jenkins (1976), autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were developed for forecasting Niger river inflows at Kainji reservoir based on twenty-seven-year-long historical inflow data (1970-1996). These were then validated using seven-year inflow records (1997-2003). The model with the best correlation was a seasonal multiplicative ARIMA (2,1,1)x(2,1,2)12 model. Supplementary validation of this model was done with discharge rating curves developed for the inlet of the reservoir using in situ inflows and satellite altimetry data. By comparing net inflow volumes with storage deficit, flood and shortage risk factors at the reservoir were determined based on (a) actual inflows, (b) forecasted inflows (up to 2015), and (c) simulated scenarios depicting undefined competitive upstream consumption. Calculated high-risk years matched actual flood years again suggesting the reliability of the model. Monte Carlo simulations were then used to prescribe safe outflows and storage allocations in order to reduce futuristic risk factors. The theoretical safety levels achieved indicated risk factors below threshold values and showed that this methodology is a powerful tool for estimating and managing flood and shortage risks in reservoirs with undefined competitive upstream consumption.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004593, ucf:49193
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004593