Other Research Projects

Turbulent heat transfer in pipes. This research project starts as a collaboration with the ISE Research Group at the UC3M, in the context of technological problems that arise in the tubes of heat receivers in Solar Power Tower (SPT) plants. The temperature difference between the heated and adiabatic walls of these tubes results in non-negligible density differences between the hot and cold sides, and modify the turbulent transport of heat and momentum inside the pipe. As a consequence, standard eddy diffusivity models for RANS simulations do not work, and a secondary flow of second kind develops in the flow.
This project was the main focus of the PhD Thesis of A. Antoranz, and was awarded with the «Premio Fundación SENER» to the best thesis in engineering during 2017.

Variable density mixing layers: non-reactive and reactive. This research is part of the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 project, SCORE (contract # CSD2010-00011), that aims at the development of advanced and sustainable combustion systems. In colaboration with the Fluid Mechanics Department of the UC3M, we aim at analyzing the effect that the Lewis number has on the flame temperature of turbulent diffusion flames in a canonical configuration: a turbulent mixing layer. DNS are performed using a massively parallel solver of the Navier-Stokes equations in the low-Mach number approximation, to analyze the effect that preferential diffusion has on the temperate of the flame. As a stepping stone in the project, we have also simulated and analized non-reactive turbulent mixing layers between streams of different densities.
This project was the main focus of the PhD Thesis of A. Almagro.

Stratified flows Stably-stratified turbulent wall flows are receiving a growing interest due to their relevance in environmental engineering and geophysical applications. The atmospheric boundary layer is typically stably stratified at night while oceanic flows are almost always stably stratified. Topics of current research in these flows are, among others, the quantification of mixing, the dynamics of strongly stratified turbulence and the structure and the modeling of stable boundary layers. UW and UCSD are involved in this research effort, which has been funded by ARO (W911NF-08-1-0155).

Flow separation The separation of a turbulent boundary layer from a gently curving surface is a process of primary concern in numerous engineering components and applications. A few examples are highly loaded aircraft wings, fuselages at high incidence or low-pressure turbine blades. In all these cases presence or absence of flow separation can have a decisive influence on the ability of the device to perform effectively and safely. DNS and LES can be used to understand and predict these behaviors.

Related Publications
  1. Effects of differential diffusion on nonpremixed-flame temperature
    Almagro, Flores, Vera, Liñan, Sánchez, Williams. Proc. Comb. Inst., 37, 1757-1766 (2018) [link]
  2. Extended proper orthogonal decomposition of non-homogeneous thermal fields in a turbulent pipe flow.
    Antoranz, Ianiro, Flores & García-Villalba. Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer., 118, 1264-1275 (2018) [link]
  3. A numerical study of a variable-density low-speed turbulent mixing layer.
    Almagro, García-Villalba & Flores. J. Fluid Mech., 830, 596-601 (2017) [link]
  4. On the dynamics of turbulence near a free-surface
    Flores, Riley & Horner-Devine. J. Fluid Mech., 821, 248-265 (2017) [link]
  5. Influence of the secondary motions on pollutant mixing in a meandering open channel flow.
    Moncho-Esteve, Folke, García-Villalba & Palau-Salvador. Environ. Fluid Mech., 17, 695-714 (2017) [link]
  6. Heat transfer and thermal stresses in a circular tube with a non-uniform heat flux.
    Marugán-Cruz, O. Flores, D. Santana & García-Villalba. Int. J. Heat Mass TRansfer, 96, 256-266 (2016) [link]
  7. Numerical simulation of heat transfer in a pipe with non-homogeneous thermal boundary conditions
    Antoranz, Gonzalo, Flores & García-Villalba. Int. J. Heat and Fluid Flow, 55, 45-51 (2015) [link]
  8. Forced Convection Heat Transfer from a Finite-Height Cylinder
    García-Villalba, Palau-Salvador & Rodi. Flow, Turb. and Comb., 93, 1, 171-187(2014) [link]
  9. Experimental and large eddy simulation study of the flow developed by a sequence of lateral obstacles
    Brevis, García-Villalba & Nińo. Env. Fluid Mech., 14, 4, 873-893 (2014) [link]
  10. Turbulence modification by stable stratification in channel flow
    García-Villalba & del Álamo. Phys Fluids, 23, 045104 (2011). [link]
  11. Analysis of turbulence collapse in the stable stratified surface layer using Direct Numerical Simulation Flores & Riley. Boundary-Layer Meteorol, 139 pp 241-259 (2011). [link] [pdf]
  12. Large eddy simulation of separated flow over a three-dimensional axisymmetric hill
    García-Villalba, Li, Rodi & Leschziner. J Fluid Mech, 627, 55-96 (2009). [link]