A technology-centric approach
As a small team of specialists, at Upstream CFD we prefer to focus on our core areas of expertise, rather than make unrealistic claims to cover the entire breadth of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Aeroacoustics (CAA) sub-disciplines. This technology-centric approach is highly valued by our clients, since it places the quality and added value of project results in the foreground and enables fruitful collaboration with partners from the wider CFD / CAA community. The latter is further enhanced by our community involvement in the popular open-source CFD software, OpenFOAM®.
Our specialist expertise, gained from 15 years of academic research and industrial consulting, is concentrated in the following areas:
- High-fidelity turbulence modelling
- Simulation of aeroacoustic sources and sound wave propagation
- Robust and accurate numerical methods
- Adaptive mesh refinement
- Adjoint optimisation
- High-performance computing
Rather than focus on individual application areas, we seek to apply these technologies in a wide range of industrial sectors. This works best in a collaborative framework, whereby our CFD / CAA method expertise is combined with application expertise contributed by the client. In this manner, our team has gathered experience with method development and industrial consulting projects in the following fields:
- Aerospace (airframe, propulsion)
- Automotive applications (internal and external flows)
- Atmospheric boundary layer flow
- Motorsport
- Process industries
- Rail transport
- Wind energy
If you would like to learn more about how our expertise and associated services apply to your specific application, please contact us.
Publications
In the framework of previous affiliations, the Upstream CFD team have contributed to numerous national and EU-funded research projects over the years. This R&D work has resulted in over 90 scientific publications, a selection of which is outlined below:
PhD theses:
- C. Mockett (2009): A comprehensive study of detached-eddy simulation. PhD thesis, TU-Berlin. http://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-2305 [PDF]
- N. Schönwald (2010): Effiziente Simulation der Schallausbreitung in anwendungsnahen Triebwerkskonfigurationen. PhD thesis, TU-Berlin. http://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-2619 [PDF]
- F. Kramer (2012): Numerische Untersuchungen zur Reduktion des turbulenten Reibungswiderstands durch aktiv und passiv oszillierende Wandstrukturen. PhD thesis, TU-Berlin. http://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-3408 [PDF]
- T. Knacke (2015): Numerische Simulation des Geräusches massiv abgelöster Strömung bei großer Reynoldszahl und kleiner Machzahl. PhD thesis, TU-Berlin. http://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-4292 [PDF]
High-fidelity turbulence modelling:
- M. Fuchs, F. Le Chuiton, C. Mockett, J. Sesterhenn, F. Thiele (2015): Detached-Eddy Simulation of separated wake flow around complex helicopter fuselage configuration. In: Progress in Hybrid RANS-LES Modelling, Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design 130, pp. 131-140, Springer.
- C. Mockett, M. Fuchs, A. Garbaruk, M. Shur, P. Spalart, M. Strelets, F. Thiele, A. Travin (2015): Two non-zonal approaches to accelerate RANS to LES transition of free shear layers in DES. In: Progress in Hybrid RANS-LES Modelling, Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design 130, pp. 187-201, Springer.
- M. Fuchs, C. Mockett, J. Sesterhenn, F. Thiele (2015): Assessment of novel DES approach with enhanced SGS modelling for prediction of separated flow over a delta wing. 22nd AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference, Dallas / Texas, AIAA-2015-3433.
- C. Mockett, W. Haase, D. Schwamborn (Eds.) (2018): Go4Hybrid: Grey Area Mitigation for Hybrid RANS-LES Methods – Results of the 7th Framework Research Project Go4Hybrid, Funded by the European Union, 2013-2015. In: Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design 134, Springer.
Source-resolving aeroacoustics:
- M. Fuchs, D. Fischer, C. Mockett, F. Kramer, T. Knacke, J. Sesterhenn, F. Thiele (2017): Assessment of different meshing strategies for low Mach number noise prediction of a rudimentary landing gear. 23rd AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference, Denver / Colorado, AIAA-2017-3020.
- M. Fuchs, L. Fliessbach, C. Mockett, F. Kramer, T. Knacke, F. Thiele (2019): Aeroacoustic prediction of three-element high-lift airfoil using a grey-area enhanced DES model. To be presented at the 25th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference, Delft / The Netherlands.
Numerical methods:
- T. Knacke (2013): Potential effects of Rhie & Chow type interpolations in airframe noise simulations. In book: VKI LS 2013-03, Edition: 1, Chapter: Accurate and efficient aeroacoustic prediction approaches for airframe noise.