arXiv subjects

Dai Zhou

Publications and source records attributed to Dai Zhou.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Remember Smarter: Visual History Compressor and Hyperbolic Experience Space for Robotic Memory

Long-horizon robot policies require compact access to recent observations and reusable experience without expanding the vision-language-action (VLA) context. We introduce Remember Smarter (RS), a plug-and-play module with complementary visual-history and hyperbolic experience-memory branches. Its visual branch compresses multi-view patch histories using bidirectional spatial Mamba and causal temporal Mamba, then exposes the resulting memory to action-facing hidden states through residual cross-attention while leaving the VLM visual-token stream unchanged. Its experience branch stores successful final-layer VLM states in a Poincare VAE space, organizes them hierarchically, and asynchronously converts retrieved experience into geodesic prompt tokens without blocking action inference. When adapted to pi0, RS increases total success on LIBERO-Plus from 53.6% to 70.6% and achieves substantial performance gains in real-robot experiments designed to evaluate memory retention and experience utilization.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2025

Symmetry-breaking bifurcations and sub-harmonic lock-in of a flexible splitter plate in cylinder wake flow

This paper investigates the flow past a flexible splitter plate attached to the rear of a fixed circular cylinder at a low Reynolds number of 150. A systematic exploration of the plate length ($L/D$), flexibility coefficient ($S^{*}$), and mass ratio ($m^{*}$) reveals new laws and phenomena. The large-amplitude vibration of the structure is attributed to a resonance phenomenon induced by fluid-structure interaction. The modal decomposition indicates that resonance arises from the coupling between the first and second structural modes, where the excitation of the second structural mode plays a critical role. Due to the combined effects of added mass and periodic stiffness variations, the two modes become synchronized, oscillating at the same frequency while maintaining a fixed phase difference of $π/2$. This further results in the resonant frequency being locked at half of the second natural frequency, which is approximately three times the first natural frequency. A reduction in plate length and an increase in mass ratio are both associated with a narrower resonant locking range, while a higher mass ratio also shifts this range toward lower frequencies. A symmetry-breaking bifurcation is observed for cases with $L/D\leq3.5$, whereas for $L/D=4.0$, the flow remains in a steady state with a stationary splitter plate prior to the onset of resonance. For cases with a short flexible plate and a high mass ratio, the shortened resonance interval causes the plate to return to the symmetry-breaking stage after resonance, gradually approaching an equilibrium position determined by the flow field characteristics at high flexibility coefficients.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Wake dynamics of finite-aspect-ratio rotating circular cylinders at low Reynolds number

We perform direct numerical simulations of flows over finite-aspect-ratio rotating circular cylinders at a Reynolds number of 150 over a range of aspect ratios ($AR=2-12$) and rotation rates ($\alpha=0-5$), aiming at revealing the free-end effects on the wake dynamics and aerodynamic performance. As a direct consequence of lift generation, a pair of counter-rotating tip vortices is formed at the free ends. At low rotation rates, the finite rotating cylinder behaves like a typical bluff body that generates unsteady vortex shedding with three-dimensional modal structures. Such unsteady flows can be stabilized not only by increasing rotation rate that weakens the free shear layer, but also by decreasing aspect ratio which enhances the tip-vortex-induced downwash. A further increase of $\alpha$ triggers the onset of unsteadiness in the tip vortices. At still higher rotation rates, the C-shaped Taylor-like vortices bounded on the cylinder surface emerge from the free ends and propel towards the midspan due to the self-induced velocity by vortex-wall interaction. With increasing $\alpha$, the free-end effects penetrate to the inboard span, leading to reduced lift and elevated drag compared to the two-dimensional flows. The three-dimensional end effects can be effectively suppressed by the addition of end plates, which position the tip vortices away from the cylinder, thereby significantly improving the aerodynamic performance. This study reveals the mechanisms for the formation of three-dimensional wakes under the influence of the free ends of finite rotating cylinders. The insights obtained here can serve as a stepping stone for understanding the complex high-$Re$ flows that are more relevant to industrial applications.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Towards high-fidelity wind farm layout optimization using polynomial chaos expansion and Kriging model

This paper presents a wind farm layout optimization framework that integrates polynomial chaos expansion, a Kriging model, and the expected improvement algorithm. The proposed framework addresses the computational challenges associated with high-fidelity wind farm simulations by significantly reducing the number of function evaluations required for accurate annual energy production predictions. The polynomial chaos expansion-based prediction method achieves exceptional accuracy with reduced computational cost for over 96%, significantly lowering the expense of training the ensuing surrogate model. The Kriging model, combined with a genetic algorithm, is used for surrogate-based optimization, achieving comparable performance to direct optimization at a much-reduced computational cost. The integration of the expected improvement algorithm enhances the global optimization capability of the framework, allowing it to escape local optima and achieve results that are either nearly identical to or even outperform those obtained through direct optimization. The feasibility of the polynomial chaos expansion-Kriging framework is demonstrated through four case studies, including the optimization of wind farms with 8, 16, and 32 turbines using low-fidelity wake models, and a high-fidelity case using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The results show that the proposed framework is highly effective in optimizing wind farm layouts, significantly reducing computational costs while maintaining or improving the accuracy of annual energy production predictions.

math.OC↗

arXiv2025

An adaptive switch strategy for acquisition functions in Bayesian optimization of wind farm layout

Wind farm layout optimization (WFLO), which seeks to maximizing annual energy production by strategically adjusting wind turbines' location, is essential for the development of large-scale wind farms. While low-fidelity methods dominate WFLO studies, high-fidelity methods are less commonly applied due to their significant computational costs. This paper introduces a Bayesian optimization framework that leverages a novel adaptive acquisition function switching strategy to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of WFLO using high-fidelity modeling methods. The proposed switch acquisition functions strategy alternates between MSP and MES acquisition functions, dynamically balancing exploration and exploitation. By iteratively retraining the Kriging model with intermediate optimal layouts, the framework progressively refines its predictions to accelerate convergence to optimal solutions. The performance of the switch-acquisition-function-based Bayesian optimization framework is first validated using 4- and 10-dimensional Ackley benchmark functions, where it demonstrates superior optimization efficiency compared to using MSP or MES alone. The framework is then applied to WFLO problems using Gaussian wake models for three varying wind farm cases. Results show that the switch-acquisition-function-based Bayesian optimization framework outperforms traditional heuristic algorithms, achieving near-optimal annual energy output with significantly fewer calculations. Finally, the framework is extended to high-fidelity WFLO by coupling it with CFD simulations, where turbine rotors are modeled as actuator disks. The novel switch-acquisition-function-based Bayesian optimization enables more effective exploration to achieve higher annual energy production in WFLO, advancing the design of more effective wind farm layouts.

math.OC↗

arXiv2024

Effects of Thom disk on alleviating ground effects of a wall-mounted rotating cylinder

This study investigates the effects of Thom disks on alleviating ground effects by wall-mounted rotating cylinders, also known as Flettner rotors, which utilize wind energy for ship propulsion. Through three-dimensional direct numerical simulations, our findings reveal that introducing a secondary Thom disk near the ground significantly reduces the three-dimensional flow pattern induced by the ground, leading to a more uniform pressure distribution along the rotor's surface. We also explore how the vertical placement of a secondary Thom disk influences wake dynamics and aerodynamic forces. Optimal placement of the secondary disk is found at the ground, which maximizes the lift-to-drag ratio.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

High-flexibility reconstruction of small-scale motions in wall turbulence using a generalized zero-shot learning

This study proposes a novel super-resolution (or SR) framework for generating high-resolution turbulent boundary layer (TBL) flow from low-resolution inputs. The framework combines a super-resolution generative adversarial neural network (SRGAN) with down-sampling modules (DMs), integrating the residual of the continuity equation into the loss function. DMs selectively filter out components with excessive energy dissipation in low-resolution fields prior to the super-resolution process. The framework iteratively applies the SRGAN and DM procedure to fully capture the energy cascade of multi-scale flow structures, collectively termed the SRGAN-based energy cascade framework (EC-SRGAN). Despite being trained solely on turbulent channel flow data (via "zero-shot transfer"), EC-SRGAN exhibits remarkable generalization in predicting TBL small-scale velocity fields, accurately reproducing wavenumber spectra compared to DNS results. Furthermore, a super-resolution core is trained at a specific super-resolution ratio. By leveraging this pre-trained super-resolution core, EC-SRGAN efficiently reconstructs TBL fields at multiple super-resolution ratios from various levels of low-resolution inputs, showcasing strong flexibility. By learning turbulent scale invariance, EC-SRGAN demonstrates robustness across different TBL datasets. These results underscore EC-SRGAN potential for generating and predicting wall turbulence with high flexibility, offering promising applications in addressing diverse TBL-related challenges.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

An optimization framework for wind farm layout design using CFD-based Kriging model

Wind farm layout optimization (WFLO) seeks to alleviate the wake loss and maximize wind farm power output efficiency, and is a crucial process in the design of wind energy projects.Since the optimization algorithms typically require thousands of numerical evaluations of the wake effects, conventional WFLO studies are usually carried out with the low-fidelity analytical wake models.In this paper, we develop an optimization framework for wind farm layout design using CFD-based Kriging model to maximize the annual energy production (AEP) of wind farms. This surrogate-based optimization (SBO) framework uses latin hypercube sampling to generate a group of wind farm layout samples, based on which CFD simulations are carried out to obtain the corresponding AEPs.This wind farm layout dataset is used to train the Kriging model, which is then integrated with an optimizer based on genetic algorithm (GA). As the optimization progresses, the intermediate optimal layout designs are again fed into the dataset.Such adaptive update of wind farm layout dataset continues until the algorithm converges.To evaluate the performance of the proposed SBO framework, we apply it to three representative wind farm cases.Compared to the conventional staggered layout, the optimized wind farm produces significantly higher total AEP.In particular, the SBO framework requires significantly smaller number of CFD calls to yield the optimal layouts that generates almost the same AEP with the direct CFD-GA method.Further analysis on the velocity fields show that the optimization framework attempts to locate the downstream turbines away from the the wakes of upstream ones.The proposed CFD-based surrogate model provides a more accurate and flexible alternative to the conventional analytical-wake-model-based methods in WFLO tasks, and has the potential to be used for designing efficient wind farm projects.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Aerodynamic performance enhancement and noise reduction for Darrieus vertical axis wind turbines: V-shaped blades and trailing-edge serrations

The Darrieus vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are one of the mainstream devices for wind energy utilization in the urban areas. The market's pursuit of high wind energy conversion efficiency promotes the research on improving the wind turbine power coefficient while reducing noise. This paper makes further investigation on the aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of a small VAWT with V-shaped blades and trailing-edge serrations. The feasibility of utilizing the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes SST k-omega turbulence model and the FW-H method is verified against experiments. The studied V-shaped blades can effectively improve the power performance of VAWT over a wide range of tip speed ratios under normal wind speed conditions, and the trailing-edge serrations will also slightly increase the power output of V-bladed VAWT at the optimal tip speed ratio. The power coefficient of the V-bladed wind turbine with trailing-edge serrations is about 28.3% higher than that of the original turbine. In addition, a dumbbell-shaped noise directivity distribution was first discovered in the VAWT compared with the traditional elliptical distribution. The V-bladed VAWT generated less low-frequency noise and the trailing-edge serrations realized the expected noise reduction effect. Practically, this study proposes a feasible solution for the design of high-efficiency and low-noise wind turbines.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Aerodynamic characterization of two tandem wind turbines under yaw misalignment control using actuator line model

Yaw control has proven to be promising in alleviating the wake effects that plague the efficiency of wind farms. In this work, the actuator line modeling (ALM) method is adopted to simulate the flows over two tandem turbines distanced by $3 - 7$ rotor diameters, with the yaw angle of the upstream rotor varying from $γ_1=0^{\circ}$ to $50^{\circ}$. The aim is to provide a comprehensive aerodynamic characterization of a simple wind farm under yaw misalignment. With increasing yaw angle, the power generated by the downstream rotor increases, compensating the power loss in the upstream rotor, and resulting in higher total power of the two turbines than that without yaw control. The maximum power output is achieved as the upstream wake of the yawed rotor is redirected away from the downstream rotor plane. Behind the downstream rotor, the secondary steering phenomenon is observed, where the wake is also redirected from the centerline. The use of the actuator line model also reveal unsteady aerodynamic characteristics that can not be captured by lower-fidelity models. For the upstream rotor, the yaw misalignment results in time-varying change in the local angle of attack on the blade, giving rise to unsteady loading. The downstream rotor is partially submerged in the deflected wake incurred by the yawed upstream rotor. As the blade revolves into and out of the wake deficit, the blade experiences cyclic loading, leading to even stronger fluctuations in the aerodynamic loads than the upstream rotor. These analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of the yaw control effects on the two tandem rotors from the perspectives of aerodynamic performance, wake profiles, and unsteady characteristics. The insights gained from the study can aid the design of collective yaw control strategies of wind farms, and lay the foundation for assessing the fatigue damage associated with yaw misalignment.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Reynolds number effects on the bistable flows over a wavy circular cylinder

The wake of wavy cylinder has been shown to exhibit bistability. Depending on the initial condition, the final state of the wake can either develop into a steady flow (state I), or periodic shedding (state II). In this paper, we perform direct numerical simulations to reveal the Reynolds number effects on these two wake states. With increasing Reynolds number, the steady vortical structures in state I wake sways back and forth in the spanwise direction, resulting in low-frequency fluctuations in drag forces, but not in lift. For state II, the increase in Reynolds number is associated with the emergence of another spectral peak in the lift coefficient. The secondary frequency is associated with highly three-dimensional vortical structures in the wake. For both states, the wakes transition to turblent flows at higher Reynolds numbers, with the development of small-scale vortices. We further study the streamwise gust flows over the wavy cylinder. The time-varying inflow velocity results in a wide range of instantaneous Reynolds number spanning from the absolutely unstable flow regime to the bistable regime. Depending on the period of the inflow velocity variation, the wake perturbations grown at the absolutely unstable flow regime can be damped out in state I wake, or grow large enough to trigger the transition state II, resulting in loss of flow control efficacy. The above analyses reveal novel flow physics of the bistable states at unexplored Reynolds numbers, and showcase the complex transition behavior between the two states in unsteady flows. The insights gained from this study improve the understanding of the wake dynamics of the wavy cylinder.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

End boundary effects on wakes dynamics of inclined circular cylinders

We perform direct numerical simulations to characterize the three-dimensional wake dynamics of long inclined circular cylinders with inhomogeneous end boundary conditions. Three Reynolds numbers, $\Rey=100$, 200 and 300 are considered to reveal the roles of the intrinsic secondary instabilities and the extrinsic end boundary effects in shaping the three-dimensional flows. At $\Rey=100$, the end boundary effects are felt over the entire cylinder span by inducing oblique vortex shedding, which is associated with stronger spanwise flow in the wake than a parallel shedding. The Strouhal number of the oblique shedding is related to that of the parallel shedding of straight cylinder by the cosine law, considering the combined inclination angle and oblique angle. At $\Rey=200$, the intrinsic secondary instability results in large-scale vortex dislocation, precluding the propagation of the end boundary effects towards further span. Nevertheless, for the inclined cases, oblique shedding is still observed within limited span from the upstream end boundary. The oblique vortices are related to the two-dimensional flow at $\Rey=200$ from the viewpoint of cosine law. Further along the span, the oblique vortices destabilizes with the formation of small-scale vortices, and the flow transitions to the typical mode A* wake. At $\Rey=300$, the highly three-dimensional flow near the end boundary creates disturbances that travel along the cylinder span, creating vortex dislocations for cases with low inclination angles. For high inclination angle, oblique vortex shedding is again observed over the cylinder span, and is not disrupted by vortex dislocations of either intrinsic or extrinsic causes.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Turbulence suppression by streamwise-varying wall rotation in pipe flow

Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of turbulent pipe flow subjected to streamwise-varying wall rotation are performed. This control method is able to achieve drag reduction and even relaminarize the flow under certain control parameters at low Reynolds number. Two control parameters, which are velocity amplitude and wavelength, are considered. An annular boundary layer, called Spatial Stokes Layer (SSL), is formed by the wall rotation. Based on the thickness of SSL, two types of drag reduction scenarios are identified. When the thickness is low, the SSL acts as a spacer layer, obstructing the impact of fluids against the wall and hence reducing the shear stress. The flow structures in the outer layer are less affected and are stretched in streamwise direction due to the increased velocity gradient. Within the SSL, the turbulence intensity diminishes dramatically. When the thickness is large, a streamwise wavy pattern of near-wall low-speed streaks is formed. The orientation of streaks is found to lag behind the direction of local mean velocity in phase and conform to the direction of local resultant shear stress. The streamwise scale of near-wall flow structures is significantly reduced, resulting in the disruption of downstream development of flow structures and hence leading to the drag reduction. Besides, it is found that it requires both large enough thickness of SSL and velocity amplitude to relaminarize the turbulence. The relaminarization mechanism is that the annular SSL can continuously absorb energy from wall-normal stress due to the rotation effect, thereby the turbulence self-sustaining process could not be maintained. For the relaminarization cases, the laminar state is stable to even extremely large perturbations, which possibly makes laminar state the only fixed point for the whole system.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Bistability in the wake of a wavy cylinder

We investigate the wake dynamics of an optimally designed wavy cylinder that completely suppresses the Kármán vortex shedding. Such a wavy cylinder is forced to oscillate with a sinusoidal motion in the crossflow direction. Examination of the lift force spectrum reveals that a critical forcing frequency exists, below which the flow control effectiveness of the wavy cylinder is retained, and beyond which the inherent vortex shedding resurrects. Moreover, the resurrected unsteady vortex shedding can persist even without sustained forcing, leading to the loss of control efficacy. This suggests that in addition to the steady state developed from uniform initial condition, an oscillatory state exists in the wake of wavy cylinder if the initial state is sufficiently perturbed. The discovery of the bistable states calls for examination of the flow control effectiveness of the wavy cylinder in more complicated inflow conditions.

physics.flu-dyn↗