Alessandro Anderlini

University of Pisa | UNIPI · Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering

The article expands on the ongoing assessment of the reduced-order model proposed by some of the authors for the geometric definition and noncavitating performance evaluation of mixed-flow centrifugal turbopumps. The most significant predictions of the model are compared with URANS (Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) simulations of the non-c...

The article expands on the ongoing assessment of the reduced order model proposed by some of the authors for the geometric definition and noncavitating performance evaluation in the preliminary design and parametric optimization of mixed-flow centrifugal turbopumps. Some of the dynamically most significant predictions of the model are compared with...

The present work illustrates the numerical validation of the reduced-order model recently developed by some of the authors for the performance prediction and geometry definition of mixed-flow turbopumps with splitter-bladed impellers. The computed performance of the reference turbopump with its unsplitted impeller closely matches the experimental r...

A stochastic sensitivity analysis and calibration of the cavitation model parameters in the URANS simulations of a configuration representative of high-pressure injectors for automotive applications is carried out. A popular homogeneous-flow cavitation model is considered, in which the mass transfer due to cavitation is given by the Schnerr–Sauer m...

The work focuses on the calibration of cavitation model parameters for the numerical simulation of three-phase injector flows. Cavitation is modeled through a transport equation for the void fraction closed by the Schnerr-Sauer relation. The vaporization and condensation factors contained in this model are considered for calibration against experim...

The article expands on the ongoing assessment of the reduced order model proposed by some of the authors for the geometric definition and noncavitating performance evaluation in the preliminary design and parametric optimization of mixed-flow centrifugal turbopumps. Some of the dynamically most significant predictions of the model are compared with...

The heliocentric orbital dynamics of a spacecraft propelled by a solar sail is affected by some uncertainty sources, including possible inaccuracies in the measurement of the sail film optical properties. Moreover, the solar radiation pressure, which is responsible for the solar sail propulsive acceleration generation, is not time-constant and is s...

The working principle of the Electric Solar Wind Sail, an innovative propellantless propulsion system proposed in 2004, is based on the electrostatic interaction between a spinning grid of tethers, kept at a high positive potential, and the incoming ions from the solar wind. Similar to the well-known solar sail concept, the E-sail could simplify th...

A stochastic analysis of the cavitation model parameter sensitivity is carried out for internal flows relevant to injector configurations. Stochastic methodologies, namely generalized polynomial chaos and stochastic collocation, are used to obtain continuous response surfaces of the quantities of interest in the parameter space starting from a limi...

The Electric Solar Wind Sail (E-sail) is a propellantless propulsion system that generates thrust by exploiting the interaction between a grid of tethers, kept at a high electric potential, and the charged particles of the solar wind. Such an advanced propulsion system allows innovative and exotic mission scenarios to be envisaged, including non-Ke...

The work focuses on numerical simulation of the cavitating flow inside high-pressure injectors. Cavitation is modeled through a transport equation for the void fraction closed by the Schnerr-Sauer relation, containing four free parameters. As for turbulence, the URANS equations are considered, together with two different closure models. The sensiti...