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- 2019 (4) (remove)
Turbomachinery plays an important role in many cases of energy generation or conversion. Therefore, turbomachinery is a promising approaching point for optimization in order to increase the efficiency of energy use. In recent years, the use of automated optimization strategies in combination with numerical simulation has become increasingly popular in many fields of engineering. The complex interactions between fluid and solid mechanics encountered in turbomachines on the one hand and the high computational expense needed to calculate the performance on the other hand, have, however, prevented a widespread use of these techniques in this field of engineering. The objective of this work was the development of a strategy for efficient metamodel based optimization of centrifugal compressor impellers. In this context, the main focus is the reduction of the required numerical expense. The central idea followed in this research was the incorporation of preliminary information acquired from low-fidelity computation methods and empirical correlations into the sampling process to identify promising regions of the parameter space. This information was then used to concentrate the numerically expensive high-fidelity computations of the fluid dynamic and structure mechanic performance of the impeller in these regions while still maintaining a good coverage of the whole parameter space. The development of the optimization strategy can be divided into three main tasks. Firstly, the available preliminary information had to be researched and rated. This research identified loss models based on one dimensional flow physics and empirical correlations as the best suited method to predict the aerodynamic performance. The loss models were calibrated using available performance data to obtain a high prediction quality. As no sufficiently exact models for the prediction of the mechanical loading of the impellercould be identified, a metamodel based on finite element computations was chosen for this estimation. The second task was the development of a sampling method which concentrates samples in regions of the parameter space where high quality designs are predicted by the preliminary information while maintaining a good overall coverage. As available methods like rejection sampling or Markov-chain Monte-Carlo methods did not meet the requirements in terms of sample distribution and input correlation, a new multi-fidelity sampling method called “Filtered Sampling“has been developed. The last task was the development of an automated computational workflow. This workflow encompasses geometry parametrization, geometry generation, grid generation and computation of the aerodynamic performance and the structure mechanic loading. Special emphasis was put into the development of a geometry parametrization strategy based on fluid mechanic considerations to prevent the generation of physically inexpedient designs. Finally, the optimization strategy, which utilizes the previously developed tools, was successfully employed to carry out three optimization tasks. The efficiency of the method was proven by the first and second testcase where an existing compressor design was optimized by the presented method. The results were comparable to optimizations which did not take preliminary information into account, while the required computational expense cloud be halved. In the third testcase, the method was applied to generate a new impeller design. In contrast to the previous examples, this optimization featuredlargervariationsoftheimpellerdesigns. Therefore, theapplicability of the method to parameter spaces with significantly varying designs could be proven, too.
In recent years the demand on dynamic analyses of existing structures in civil engineering has remarkably increased. These analyses are mainly based on numerical models. Accordingly, the generated results depend on the quality of the used models. Therefore it is very important that the models describe the considered systems such that the behaviour of the physical structure is realistically represented. As any model is based on assumptions, there is always a certain degree of uncertainty present in the results of a simulation based on the respective numerical model. To minimise these uncertainties in the prediction of the response of a structure to a certain loading, it has become common practice to update or calibrate the parameters of a numerical model based on observations of the structural behaviour of the respective existing system.
The determination of the behaviour of an existing structure requires experimental investigations. If the numerical analyses concern the dynamic response of a structure it is sensible to direct the experimental investigations towards the identification of the dynamic structural behaviour which is determined by the modal parameters of the system. In consequence, several methods for the experimental identification of modal parameters have been developed since the 1980ies.
Due to various technical restraints in civil engineering which limit the possibilities to excitate a structure with economically reasonable effort, several methods have been developed that allow a modal identification form tests with an ambient excitation. The approach of identifying modal parameters only from measurements of the structural response without precise knowledge of the excitation is known as output-only or operational modal analysis.
Since operational modal analysis (OMA) can be considered as a link between numerical modelling and simulation on the one hand and the dynamic behaviour of an existing structure on the other hand, the respective algorithms connect both the concepts of structural dynamics and mathematical tools applied within the processing of experimental data. Accordingly, the related theoretical topics are revised after an introduction into the topic.
Several OMA methods have been developed over the last decades. The most established algorithms are presented here and their application is illustrated by means of both a small numerical and an experimental example. Since experimentally obtained results always underly manifold influences, an appropriate postprocessing of the results is necessary for a respective quality assessment. This quality assessment does not only require respective indicators but should also include the quantification of uncertainties.
One special feature in modal testing is that it is common to instrument the structure in different sensor setups to improve the spacial resolution of identified mode shapes. The modal information identified from tests in several setups needs to be merged a posteriori. Algorithms to cope with this problem are also presented.
Due to the fact that the amount of data generated in modal tests can become very large, manual processing can become extremely expensive or even impossible, for example in the case of a long-term continuous structural monitoring. In these situations an automated analysis and postprocessing are essential. Descriptions of respective methodologies are therefore also included in this work.
Every structural system in civil engineering is unique and so also every identification of modal parameters has its specific challenges. Some aspects that can be faced in practical applications of operational modal analysis are presented and discussed in a chapter that is dedicated specific problems that an analyst may have to overcome. Case studies of systems with very close modes, with limited accessibility as well as the application of different OMA methods are described and discussed. In this context the focus is put on several types of uncertainty that may occur in the multiple stages of an operational modal analysis. In literature only very specific uncertainties at certain stages of the analysis are addressed. Here, the topic of uncertainties has been considered in a broader sense and approaches for treating respective problems are suggested.
Eventually, it is concluded that the methodologies of operatinal modal analysis and related technical solutions have been well-engineered already. However, as in any discipline that includes experiments, a certain degree of uncertainty always remains in the results. From these conclusions has been derived a demand for further research and development that should be directed towards the minimisation of these uncertainties and to a respective optimisation of the steps and corresponding parameters included in an operational modal analysis.
Matrix-free voxel-based finite element method for materials with heterogeneous microstructures
(2019)
Modern image detection techniques such as micro computer tomography
(μCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provide us with high resolution images of the microstructure of materials in a non-invasive and convenient way. They form the basis for the geometrical models of high-resolution analysis, so called image-based analysis.
However especially in 3D, discretizations of these models reach easily the size of 100 Mill. degrees of freedoms and require extensive hardware resources in terms of main memory and computing power to solve the numerical model. Consequently, the focus of this work is to combine and adapt numerical solution methods to reduce the memory demand first and then the computation time and therewith enable an execution of the image-based analysis on modern computer desktops. Hence, the numerical model is a straightforward grid discretization of the voxel-based (pixels with a third dimension) geometry which omits the boundary detection algorithms and allows reduced storage of the finite element data structure and a matrix-free solution algorithm.
This in turn reduce the effort of almost all applied grid-based solution techniques and results in memory efficient and numerically stable algorithms for the microstructural models. Two variants of the matrix-free algorithm are presented. The efficient iterative solution method of conjugate gradients is used with matrix-free applicable preconditioners such as the Jacobi and the especially suited multigrid method. The jagged material boundaries of the voxel-based mesh are smoothed through embedded boundary elements which contain different material information at the integration point and are integrated sub-cell wise though without additional boundary detection. The efficiency of the matrix-free methods can be retained.
Since the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, the high emission of gaseous wastes into the atmosphere from the usage of fossil fuels has caused a general increase in temperatures globally. To combat the environmental imbalance, there is an increase in the demand for renewable energy sources. Dams play a major role in the generation of “green" energy. However, these structures require frequent and strict monitoring to ensure safe and efficient operation. To tackle the challenges faced in the application of convention dam monitoring techniques, this work proposes the inverse analysis of numerical models to identify damaged regions in the dam. Using a dynamic coupled hydro-mechanical Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) model and a global optimization strategy, damage (crack) in the dam is identified. By employing seismic waves to probe the dam structure, a more detailed information on the distribution of heterogeneous materials and damaged regions are obtained by the application of the Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) method. The FWI is based on a local optimization strategy and thus it is highly dependent on the starting model. A variety of data acquisition setups are investigated, and an optimal setup is proposed. The effect of different starting models and noise in the measured data on the damage identification is considered. Combining the non-dependence of a starting model of the global optimization strategy based dynamic coupled hydro-mechanical XFEM method and the detailed output of the local optimization strategy based FWI method, an enhanced Full Waveform Inversion is proposed for the structural analysis of dams.