De Nayer, Guillaume

The study focuses on the combination of two numerical approaches that are typically not used together in this manner. The first is a well-established partitioned fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulation methodology relying on a finite-volume fluid solver for curvilinear, block-structured, body-fitted grids written in the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation, and a finite-element solver for the structural analysis. The second approach is an immersed boundary (IB) method employing a continuous and direct forcing strategy. The IB method, often applied to Cartesian grids, is also referred to as an approach to simulate fluid-structure interactions. In this study, both methods are combined to exploit their respective advantages in simulating a complex flow problem. The coupled FSI problem involves the interaction of a thin, flexible structure deforming under the dynamic load of a wind gust (task 1). The gust itself is generated by an artificial wind gust generator, which includes a paddle that partially obstructs the wind tunnel's outlet, thereby defining an FSI problem of its own (task 2). For task 1, the classical partitioned ALE approach is employed, while the IB method is more appropriate for task 2. Using available experimental measurement data for both the fluid flow and the structural deformation, the combined simulation framework is first validated for the case without gust. In a second step, the more challenging FSI problem of discrete gusts impacting the T-structure is thoroughly analyzed and the predicted data are compared with the available measurement data. For both cases without and with gusts, a very good agreement between simulation and experiment is achieved, which justifies the chosen approach.

In the scope of the dtec.bw project hpc.bw, innovative HPC hardware resources were procured to investigate their performance for HSU-relevant compute-intensive software. Benchmarks for different software packages were conducted, and respective results are reported and documented in the following, considering the Intel Xeon architecture used in the HPC cluster HSUper, AMD EPYC 7763 and ARM FX700.

The paper focuses on fluid–structure interactions (FSI) between a turbulent, gusty fluid flow, and a membrane structure. Lightweight structures are particularly vulnerable to wind gusts and can be completely destroyed by them, making it essential to develop and evaluate numerical simulation methods suited for these types of problems. In this study, a thin-walled membrane in the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid (hypar) is analyzed as a real-scale example. The membrane structure is subjected to discrete wind gusts of varying strength from two different directions. A partitioned FSI approach is employed, utilizing a finite-volume flow solver based on the large-eddy simulation technique and a finite-element solver developed for shell and membrane structures. A recently proposed source-term formulation enables the injection of discrete wind gusts within the fluid domain in front of the structure. In a step-by-step analysis, first the fluid flow around the structure, initially assumed to be rigid, is investigated, including a grid sensitivity analysis. This is followed by examining the two-way coupled FSI system, taking the flexibility of the membrane into account. Finally, the study aims to assess the impact of wind gusts on the resulting deformations and the induced stresses in the tensile material, with a particular focus on the influence of different wind directions.

The paper is a follow-up of the recent study on the assessment of discrete wind gust parameters impacting a flexible lightweight structure as a first step towards the evaluation of the worst-case scenario caused by strong wind gusts (JWEIA 231, 105207, 2022). The present study goes beyond by suggesting an optimization framework which allows to determine the worst-case scenario automatically. For this purpose, a stochastic response surface algorithm with a surrogate model based on radial basis functions is chosen. The algorithm relies on costly evaluations of the objective function, which consist of CPU-time intensive fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) high-fidelity simulations including the pre- and post-processing of the results. Besides the parallelization of the coupled FSI solver, a parallel version of the optimization algorithm allows to carry out several costly evaluations simultaneously. The Metric Stochastic Response Surface algorithm determines the worst case fast. Then, it continues to explore the optimization space to ensure that the global extremum is reached. A sensitivity study on relevant parameters of the optimization algorithm is conducted. Typically, for the present FSI setup, an optimization run takes one week with 6 evaluations in parallel to compute 100 different configurations. The worst case is found after about one third of the evaluations. The increase of parallel evaluations drastically reduces the wall-clock time, but the worst case is found later after half of the evaluations. This later finding is due to the parallel nature of the algorithm. Finally, the various sources of uncertainties that arise throughout the entire procedure are assessed and discussed.

The paper is a step towards the evaluation of the worst-case scenario caused by strong wind gusts impacting civil engineering air-inflated lightweight structures. These extreme events with short durations but high strengths are responsible for short-term highly instantaneous loads endangering the structural integrity. A generic test case is defined including a discrete wind gust model, the approaching turbulent boundary layer and a flexible structure. The simulation framework relies on a partitioned solver for FSI. To save CPU-time, a part of the investigations is conducted for the rigid case as a physical meta-model. The particularly critical cases were examined for the flexible structure. Under varying system parameters (gust strength, length and position) the objective functions (forces, deflections, inner stresses) are evaluated. The worst case occurs for maximal gust strength and length, when the gust hits the membrane at half height. Furthermore, the effect of the superposition of the gust with background turbulence is analyzed for two scenarios. The gust is first superimposed to different inflow turbulences of the same intensity leading to non-negligible deviations of forces and deflections. Second, the level of the turbulence intensity is increased showing only a minor effect on the structure not generating a new worst case.

The paper addresses the simulation of turbulent wind gusts hitting rigid and flexible structures. The purpose is to show that such kind of complex fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems can be simulated by high-fidelity numerical techniques with reasonable computational effort. The main ingredients required for this objective are an efficient method to inject wind gusts within the computational domain by the application of a recently developed source-term formulation, an equally effective method to prescribe the incoming turbulent flow and last but not least a reliable FSI simulation methodology to predict coupled problems based on a partitioned solution approach combining an LES fluid solver with a FEM/IGA solver for the structure. The present application is concerned with a rigid and a membranous hemisphere installed in a turbulent boundary layer and impacted by wind gusts of different strength. The methodology suggested allows to inject the gusts in close vicinity of the object of interest, which is typically well resolved. Therefore, the launch and transport of the wind gust can be realized without visible numerical dissipation and without large computational effort. The effect of the gusts on the flow field, the resulting forces on the structure and the corresponding deformations in case of the flexible structure are analyzed in detail. A comparison between the rigid and the flexible case makes it possible to work out the direct reaction of the deformations on the force histories during the impact. Furthermore, in case of the flexible structure the temporal relationships between local or global force developments and the local deformations are evaluated. Such predictions pinpoint the areas of high stresses and strains, where the material is susceptible to failure.

The objective of the present paper is to revisit two well-known wind gust injection methods in a consistent manner and to assess their performance based on different application cases. These are the field velocity method (FVM) and the split velocity method (SVM). For this purpose, both methods are consistently derived pointing out the link to the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian formulation and the geometric conservation law. Furthermore, the differences between FVM and SVM are worked out and the advantages and disadvantages are compared. Based on a well-known test case considering a vertical gust hitting a plate and a newly developed case taking additionally a horizontal gust into account, the methods are evaluated and the deviations resulting from the disregard of the feedback effect in FVM are assessed. The results show that the deviations between the predictions by FVM and SVM are more pronounced for the horizontal gust justifying the introduction of this new test case. The main reason is that the additional source term in SVM responsible for the feedback effect of the surrounding flow on the gust itself nearly vanishes for the vertical gust, whereas it has a significant impact on the flow field and the resulting drag and lift coefficients for the horizontal gust. Furthermore, the correct formulation of the viscous stress tensor relying on the total velocity as done in case of SVM plays an important role, but is found to be negligible for the chosen Reynolds number of the present test cases. The study reveals that SVM is capable of delivering physical results in contradiction to FVM. It paves the way for investigating further complex gust configurations (e.g., inclined gusts) and practical applications towards coupled fluid–structure interaction simulations of engineering structures impacted by wind gusts.