Modeling of Compressible Fluid Problems with OpenFOAM Using Dynamic Mesh Technology

Abstract

Computational simulation of phenomena that are present in internal combustion engines is a suitable design tool for energetic efficiency optimization. OpenFOAM capabilities as computational code need to be extended to approach more complex problems that appear in the modelling of thermodynamic engine cycles. The present work reports the development and testing of a new application for Open-FOAM that enables the use of a compressible fluid solver with dynamic mesh technology. Both features are essential to model internal combustion engines. Therefore, the implementation in OpenFOAM suite of a topological mesh adaptation technique known as layering is presented. The layering technique is added to the diffusion based mesh movement among others, in the mesh dynamics capabilities of Open- FOAM. This approach is used in the compressible solver called rhoPimpleDyMFoamMC to solve fluid problems where the energy transfer on moving domains is carried out. The new computational tool is used to solve several problems with different boundary conditions in a closed piston-cylinder system. A detailed analysis of the accuracy and convergence of the pressure-velocity-energy coupling is achieved and the results are compared with theoretical change of state equations.