A Collaboration-based Approach to CFD Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification (VUQ) Using Data from a Laminar Helium Plume

An effective approach to the model VUQ process by means of direct collaboration between computationalist and experimental data analyst is proposed. An analysis of data from a laminar helium plume experiment provides a demonstration of the proposed collaboration process. Consistency analysis serves a central role in the collaboration. It takes the data and uncertainties from both analyst and computationalist and provides an objective and quantifiable measure of agreement between the two. Despite the simplicity of the laminar helium system and the computational model, certain phenomena brought to light in the collaboration process make it difficult to find quantitative agreement in the data. These phenomena include the unsteady behavior of air flow in an open room, and the presence of helium permeation to the region near the plume. Important sources of error in the simulation include uncertainty in the room temperature (295.15 to 305.15 K), uncertainty in the helium inlet velocity (0.1215 ms\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\frac {m}{s}$\end{document} to 0.1415 ms\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\frac {m}{s}$\end{document}), and uncertainty in local helium permeation (0 % to 3 % by mass.) The collaboration process allows for a better understanding of the phenomena affecting the plume and the relative sensitivies of the system to these phenomena.