FP6 Marie Curie Research & Training Network (2004-2007)

The collaborative research project FLUISTCOM is one of the first Marie Curie Research and Training Networks funded by the European commission within the 6th Framework Programme. Of relative small size (6 partners: CERFACS, CIMNE, DLR, Queen's University of Belfast, SIEMENS and University of Twente, from 5 countries) FLUISTCOM belongs to the engineering panel and represents an initiative to strengthen the fundamental scientific work in the multi-disciplinary engineering field of fluid-structure interaction for turbulent combustion systems.  Within FLUISTCOM methods of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are coupled to simulation tools of Computational Structures Dynamics (CSD).

Objectives

The underlying work is motivated by the recent push towards leaner combustion technologies and reduced emissions which has led to the appearance of combustion instabilities in many combustion systems. In general, the problem of fluid-structure coupling is not limited to stationary gas turbines for energy production, but applies to any combustion system such as aero engines or rocket boosters.

The research activities in FLUISTCOM are towards improved understanding of transient combustion and its coupling with combustion wall vibration. The objective is to come to well-validated models of transient combustion and wall vibration. This can lead to design rules of combustors that are extremely robust even in combustion oscillatory situations.
Research especially on the correlation between vibration amplitudes of the structure and the acoustic pressure amplitudes are not known in the field of combustor design. In particular issues related to the highly safety critical range of high-frequency oscillations (above 700 Hz) is not much understood.

Methodology

In order to address these central design issues for a robust combustor liner a detailed investigation of the fluid/structure interaction must be carried out. Within FLUISTCOM detailed studies of the fluid structure interaction are performed in a lab scale test rig. Both experimental measurements and numerical calculations are carried out to determine the correlation between acoustic pressure oscillations on the one side and liner vibrations on the other side. Since reliability concern not only mechanical but also thermal loading the lab scale must also comprise experimental and numerical analysis concerning conjugate heat transfer of fluid/structure interaction.
Special development of codes focuses on the interaction of fluid dynamics and the structure vibration. New interfaces between numerical combustion codes, thermo-acoustic codes on the one hand and Finite Element codes for mechanical stress and solid vibrations on the other hand will be developed. The integrated/coupled analysis is a prerequisite for a stable/robust structural mechanical design.