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Chris J. Nicholls

Publications and source records attributed to Chris J. Nicholls.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Feedback control of vortex shedding using data-driven modelling

This paper details the data-driven modelling and feedback control of vortex shedding past a circular cylinder at a Reynolds number of Re = 1000. We study the effect of varying the order of the reduced model for control design purposes and demonstrate that higher orders can lead to lower suppression of vortex shedding. We use the Bode integral theorem and a frequency-domain interpretation to show that this drop in performance is, in part, due to the classical ``waterbed effect'', which increases sensitivity in frequency bands of unmodelled dynamics. Training data from 2D unsteady simulation is used to obtain linear reduced-order state-space models of the system via dynamic mode decomposition with control. Using only lift measurement, we show that at least a 4th-order model is required for an LQG controller to suppress vortex shedding, with the best performance achieved with as few as 9 modes, whilst higher-order (>14) controllers show a significant decrease in performance. We study the influence of external disturbances, noise rejection, and parameter uncertainty on controller performance. A 28.6 dB reduction in lift coefficient variance is achieved, resulting in a 26% reduction in drag. We further show that, for control design purposes with practical actuation bandwidth, the closed-loop control delivers a significant 13.7% drag reduction within 3D DDES, despite having been trained with 2D URANS and therefore argue that 2D URANS simulation is sufficient for reduced-order model generation and control design.

physics.flu-dyn↗

Flow mechanisms governing oscillation in a sonic fluidic oscillator

Two factors that influence the oscillation mechanism of a sonic fluidic oscillator are investigated: the geometry of the feedback channel connections (control ports) and the influence of flow restrictions in the oscillator outlets. Phase-averaged planar PIV measurements are performed inside the oscillator, synchronised with unsteady pressure measurements, and analysed using space-only proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The POD analysis reveals two coupled modes: a Sweeping Mode capturing lateral jet displacement and a Bending Mode capturing jet curvature during switching, the latter being the primary driver of outlet mass flux modulation. Flow separation at the control port entrances is shown to throttle the feedback flow and progressively limit oscillation strength at higher inlet flow rates. Restrictive outlet paths induce a differential back pressure that is shown to cause the jet to separate from its attachment wall and bend towards the splitter tip (`secondary separation'). The secondary separation reduces the differential outlet mass flux and introduces a flow curvature that limits the upstream propagation of the back pressure and thus shields the primary jet attachment. The consequence of these effects is that strong oscillations are sustained down to the smallest outlet apertures investigated. The principal contribution is to demonstrate that the assumed coupling between upstream jet attachment and outlet flow split is broken when the outlet aperture is reduced, with significant implications for the design of fluidic oscillators operating with downstream flow impedances.

physics.flu-dyn↗