We investigate the turbulent multiphase flow inside a nine-hole common rail Diesel injector during a full injection cycle of ISO 4113 diesel fuel into air by implicit large-eddy simulation (LES). The simulation includes a prescribed needle movement obtained from a one-dimensional multi-domain simulation. The injector geometry is represented by a conservative cut-element-based immersed boundary method with subcell resolution, which has been developed for the application in the context of cavitating liquid flows. We employ a barotropic two-phase two-fluid model, where all components (i.e. air, liquid diesel, gaseous diesel) are represented by a homogenous mixture approach. The cavitation model is based on a thermodynamic equilibrium assumption. Compressibility of all phases enables full resolution of collapse-induced pressure wave dynamics. The analysis of the turbulent flow field reveals that the opening and closing phase are dominated by small-scale turbulence, while in the main injection phase large vortical structures are formed in the needle volume and reach into the nozzle holes. Violent collapse events of cavitation structures are detected during the closing phase in the nozzle holes and after closing in the sac hole region. A comparison with LES results with a fixed injector needle at different lift positions shows a good agreement for large needle lifts, while the needle movement has significant effects on important flow features at low needle lifts.

We present a loosely coupled approach for the solution of fluid-structure interaction problems between a compressible flow and a deformable structure. The method is based on staggered Dirichlet-Neumann partitioning. The interface motion in the Eulerian frame is accounted for by a conservative cut-cell Immersed Boundary method. The present approach enables sub-cell resolution by considering individual cut-elements within a single fluid cell, which guarantees an accurate representation of the time-varying solid interface. The cut-cell procedure inevitably leads to non-matching interfaces, demanding for a special treatment. A Mortar method is chosen in order to obtain a conservative and consistent load transfer. We validate our method by investigating two-dimensional test cases comprising a shock-loaded rigid cylinder and a deformable panel. Moreover, the aeroelastic instability of a thin plate structure is studied with a focus on the prediction of flutter onset. Finally, we propose a three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction test case of a flexible inflated thin shell interacting with a shock wave involving large and complex structural deformations.

The conservative immersed interface method for representing complex immersed solid boundaries or phase interfaces on Cartesian grids is improved and extended to allow for the simulation of weakly compressible fluid flows through moving geometries. We demonstrate that an approximation of moving interfaces by a level-set field results in unphysical oscillations in the vicinity of sharp corners when dealing with weakly compressible fluids such as water. By introducing an exact reconstruction of the cut-cell properties directly based on a surface triangulation of the immersed boundary, we are able to recover the correct flow evolution free of numerical artifacts. The new method is based on cut-elements. It provides sub-cell resolution of the geometry and handles flows through narrow closing or opening gaps in a straightforward manner. We validate our method with canonical flows around oscillating cylinders. We demonstrate that the method allows for an accurate prediction of flows around moving obstacles in weakly compressible liquid flows with cavitation effects. In particular, we show that the cavitating flow through a closing fuel injector control valve, which is an example for a complex application with interaction of stationary and moving parts, can be predicted by the method.