Design of an optimised wheel profile for rail vehicles operating on two track gauges

This paper sets out an optimum synthesis methodology for wheel profiles of railway vehicles in order to secure good dynamic behaviour with different track configurations. Specifically, the optimisation process has been applied to the case of rail wheelsets mounted on double gauge bogies, that move over two different gauges, which also have different types of rail: the Iberian gauge (1668 mm) and the UIC gauge (1435 mm). Optimisation is performed using Genetic Algorithms and traditional optimisation methods in a complementary way. The objective function used is based on an ideal equivalent conicity curve which ensures good stability on straight sections and also proper negotiation of curves. To this end the curve is constructed in such a way that it is constant with a low value for small lateral wheelset displacements (with regard to stability), and increases as the displacements increase (to facilitate negotiation of curved sections). Using this kind of ideal conicity curve also enables a wheel profile to be secured where the contact points have a larger distribution over the active contact areas, making wear more homogeneous and reducing stresses. The result is a wheel profile with a conicity that is closer to the target conicity for both gauges studied, producing better curve negotiation while maintaining good stability on straight sections of track. The paper shows the resultant wheel profile, the contact curves it produces, and a number of dynamic analyses demonstrating better dynamic behaviour of the synthesised wheel on curved sections with respect to the original wheel.

An Atomistic-Continuum Hybrid Simulation Of Fluid Flows Over Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Recent experiments have found that slip length could be as large as on the order of 1 mu m for fluid flows over superhydrophobic surfaces. Superhydrophobic surfaces can be achieved by patterning roughness on hydrophobic surfaces. In the present paper, an atomistic-continuum hybrid approach is developed to simulate the Couette flows over superhydrophobic surfaces, in which a molecular dynamics simulation is used in a small region near the superhydrophobic surface where the continuum assumption is not valid and the Navier-Stokes equations are used in a large region for bulk flows where the continuum assumption does hold. These two descriptions are coupled using the dynamic coupling model in the overlap region to ensure momentum continuity. The hybrid simulation predicts a superhydrophobic state with large slip lengths, which cannot be obtained by molecular dynamics simulation alone.

Space-time correlations of fluctuating velocities in turbulent shear flows

Space-time correlations or Eulerian two-point two-time correlations of fluctuating velocities are analytically and numerically investigated in turbulent shear flows. An elliptic model for the space-time correlations in the inertial range is developed from the similarity assumptions on the isocorrelation contours: they share a uniform preference direction and a constant aspect ratio. The similarity assumptions are justified using the Kolmogorov similarity hypotheses and verified using the direct numerical simulation DNS of turbulent channel flows. The model relates the space-time correlations to the space correlations via the convection and sweeping characteristic velocities. The analytical expressions for the convection and sweeping velocities are derived from the Navier-Stokes equations for homogeneous turbulent shear flows, where the convection velocity is represented by the mean velocity and the sweeping velocity is the sum of the random sweeping velocity and the shearinduced velocity. This suggests that unlike Taylor’s model where the convection velocity is dominating and Kraichnan and Tennekes’ model where the random sweeping velocity is dominating, the decorrelation time scales of the space-time correlations in turbulent shear flows are determined by the convection velocity, the random sweeping velocity, and the shear-induced velocity. This model predicts a universal form of the spacetime correlations with the two characteristic velocities. The DNS of turbulent channel flows supports the prediction: the correlation functions exhibit a fair good collapse, when plotted against the normalized space and time separations defined by the elliptic model.

Large-eddy simulation of flows past a flapping airfoil using immersed boundary method

The numerical simulation of flows past flapping foils at moderate Reynolds numbers presents two challenges to computational fluid dynamics: turbulent flows and moving boundaries. The direct forcing immersed boundary (IB) method has been devel- oped to simulate laminar flows. However, its performance in simulating turbulent flows and transitional flows with moving boundaries has not been fully evaluated. In the present work, we use the IB method to simulate fully developed turbulent channel flows and transitional flows past a stationary/plunging SD7003 airfoil. To suppress the non-physical force oscillations in the plunging case, we use the smoothed discrete delta function for interpolation in the IB method. The results of the present work demonstrate that the IB method can be used to simulate turbulent flows and transitional flows with moving boundaries.