COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

IN TR ODUCTION

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is predicting what will happen,

quantitatively, when fluid flows, often with complications of: -
 Simultaneous flow of heat
 Mass transfer (e.g. perspiration, dissolution)
 Phase change (e.g. melting, freezing, boiling)
 Chemical reaction (e.g. combustion, rusting)
 Mechanical movement (e.g. of pistons, fans, rudders)
by
computer modeling.

Fig. 1
.
The attraction of subject is twofold. Firstly, the desire to be able to model
physical fluid phenomena that cannot be easily simulated or measured with a physical
experiment, for example weather systems or hypersonic aerospace vehicles. Secondly,
the desire to be able to investigate physical fluid systems more cost effectively and more
rapidly than with experimental procedures.
Using CFD software you build virtual prototype of the system or device
you wish to analyze. You then apply the real world physics to the model and software
give precision data which predicts the performance of that design.

1
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

HISTO RY

The behavior of fluids has intrigued scientists for centuries. Many of

history’s top engineers and mathematicians have devoted serious effort into the study of
fluid dynamics and how fluid motion may be predicted. Most achievements were based
solely on empirical evidence (observation) and trial-and-error. Upto 1903, mathematical
and theoretical approaches to fluid dynamics had still not advanced to a point of being
capable of making substantial contribution. In 1904, Ludwig Prandtl, a German
mechanical engineer and researcher became the first to provide both a mathematical
sound and useful basis of fluid dynamics analysis. Though the analysis of fluid dynamic
was made easy by Prandtl’s discovery the equations were extremely difficult to solve in
their complete form analytically. In 1960, the advent of the high-speed digital computer
combined with the development of accurate numerical algorithms for solving physical
problems on these computers has revolutionized the way we study and practice fluid
dynamics today. It’s first success came to prominence in the 1970’s. The creation of the
CFD service industry started in 1980. The industry expanded significantly in the
1990’s.Expansion continued in the second millennium.

2
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

WHY CFD?
Still, the advent of digital computer research people were following traditional method.
*TRADITIONAL METHOD*

STEP1) DESIGN OF SYSTEM/DEVICE

Research people design and optimize some device or system which they wish to
analyse.
STEP 2) WIND TUNNEL TESTING
Testing of actually built prototype in wind tunnel to study effect of various parameters
such as pressure, velocity, temperature variation etc to improve efficiency.

Fig. 2

Wind tunnel build by Wright brother in 1900

STEP 3) ANALYSE CAUSE OF FAILURE

If one design fails to work properly, the only option is to try to determine the cause of the
problem and then start over with another prototype and see if the new design works any
better.

STEP 4) DESIGN FINALISED BY TRIAL AND ERROR

The above procedure is continued and by trial and error the best desired device or system
is developed.

The above traditional method consumes lot of time and money. To meet the demand for
quick changes in design according to need of consumer, help of computer was taken i.e.
tedious mathematical equations (which were very complex to solve manually) were
solved with the help of computer. Solving fluid dynamics problems, by computational
method is known as “COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMIMCS”

3
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

NEED OF CFD

Basically, there are three reasons to use CFD software:-

Insight
Foresight
Efficiency


 IIN
NSSIIG
GHHTT

If you have a device or system designed which is difficult to test through experimentation
CFD analysis enables you to virtually crawl inside your design. There are many
phenomenons that you can witness by CFD which are not visible by any other mean.
CFD gives you deeper understanding of your design.


 FFO
ORREESSIIG
GHHTT

 Predict
 Test
 Fix
 Test again

Because CFD is a tool for predicting what will happen over a given set of circumstances,
you can answer many questions very quickly. You give it variable, it will give outcomes.
In a short time you can predict how your design will works and get many variations in
design until you get desired results. All of this is done before physical prototyping in
testing.


 EEFFFFIICCIIEEN
NCCY
Y::--Better infrastructure design and analysis leads to shorter design
cycle, time and money are saved, product gets market faster, equipment installed
and designed in short downtime. CFD is tool for compressing the design cycle.

In short, CFD is a “DIGITAL WIND TUNNEL” which nicely and synergistically

compliments the other two approaches of pure theory and pure experiment.

4
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

CFD COMPONENTS

 Human being who states the problem

 Scientific knowledge expressed mathematically
 Computer hardware
 Computer software

5
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

MAIN STEPS IN CFD SO LU TION

BBO
OUUN
NDDA
ARRY
YCCO
ONND
DIITTIIO
ONN

Determine the boundaries of the flow field to be calculated. e.g. to study fluid flow in
cylinder of I.C.Engine, the boundary of the flow field is cylinder walls.

D
DIISSC
CRRE
ETTIISSA
ATTIIO
ONN

Apply mesh to identify individual points at which the equations will be solved. In order
for a computational solution to give as much detail as a theoretical solution, we need to
solve the equations at enough points. Therefore we divide the whole body in discrete
points. The science of applying mesh is known as “grid generation”.

SSO
OLLU
UTTIIO
ONN

After solving equation with help of computer we get solution i.e. we get clear picture of
effect of various parameters such as temperature, pressure, velocity etc. on the designed
system/device, so that, accordingly designer can make changes in design.

Fig. 3

ABOVE PHOTO SHOWS MESH ON RIGHT SIDE AND SOLUTION ON LEFT SIDE

(COLOR CODE:-Here, red color indicates maximum pressure and blue color indicates minimum
pressure zone and green, yellow colors indicate intermediate pressure value)

6
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

CASE STUDY OF AIR FILTER SIMULATION

NEEDS OF CUSTOMER:-
 Air filter should fit in confined space
 Design should be economical and simple

Fig. 4
PURPOSE OF SIMULATION:-As the customer wants a filter which will fit in
confined space,the bend is provided.We want to study the effect of this bend on filter
performance.
STEPS IN CFD SOLUTION:

o PRE PROCESSING
o SOLVING
o POST PROCESSING

A. PRE PROCESSING :-
1) CAD
2) MESH
3) BOUNDRY CONDITIONS

7
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

1) CAD:-Air filter geometry is created in following steps

 Volumes are created as geometric shape using volume generating tools
and then moved at desired location
 First we specify the filter section
 Then two straight sections of duct leading into and out of filter
 Then the expansion duct which connects the elbow section to filter is
created
 Then converging section connecting the outlet duct is created
 Outlet duct is created and moved to desired location
 Then top face of elbow section is created by sweeping the two arcs then
sweeping that face downward to form volume of elbow section
 The inlet is formed by sweeping the end face of elbow, forward
 The final geometry is created

Fig. 5

8
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

2) MESHING:-Mesh divides the entire volume into many smaller volumes.

For air filter we have chosen unstructured hexahedral mesh.
To build mesh, we start from-
 By specifying the mesh density at edge of inlet section
 Then you get face mesh and you start sweeping it through the
inlet duct and elbow section.
 Finally, the mesh is created
.

Fig. 6

3) Boundary Conditions:-
We need to specify the known parameters at inlet and outlet
Sections such as-
 Velocity at inlet
 Pressure at outlet which is ambient
 Type of fluid which is air and its properties

9
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

B. SOLVING : Governing (Navier-Stokes) Equations of Fluid Dynamics

1. General; Compressible and Viscous:

Continuity

∂ρ/∂t + ∂(ρu)/∂x + ∂(ρv)/∂y + ∂(ρw)/∂z = 0

∂ρ/∂t + ∂(ρui)/∂xi = 0

Momentum

ρ[∂u/∂t + u∂u/∂x + v∂u/∂y + w∂u/∂z] = ρBx - ∂p/∂x - (2/3)∂/∂x[μ(∂u/∂x + ∂v/∂y

+ ∂w/∂z)] + 2∂/∂x(μ∂u/∂x) + ∂/∂y[μ(∂u/∂y + ∂v/∂x)] + ∂/∂z[μ(∂u/∂z + ∂w/∂x)]

ρ[∂v/∂t + u∂v/∂x + v∂v/∂y + w∂v/∂z] = ρBy - ∂p/∂y - (2/3)∂/∂y[μ(∂u/∂x + ∂v/∂y

+ ∂w/∂z)] + 2∂/∂y(μ∂v/∂y) + ∂/∂z[μ(∂v/∂z + ∂w/∂y)] + ∂/∂x[μ(∂v/∂x + ∂u/∂y)]

ρ[∂w/∂t + u∂w/∂x + v∂w/∂y + w∂w/∂z] = ρBz - ∂p/∂z - (2/3)∂/∂z[μ(∂u/∂x + ∂v/∂y

+ ∂w/∂z)] + 2∂/∂z(μ∂w/∂z) + ∂/∂x[μ(∂w/∂x + ∂u/∂z)] + ∂/∂y[μ(∂w/∂y + ∂v/∂z)]

∂(ρvi)/∂t + ∂(ρvivj)/∂xj = ρBi - ∂p/∂xi - ∂/∂xi [2/3μ(∂vj/∂xj)] + ∂/∂xj [μ(∂vi/∂xj +

∂vj/∂xi)]

2. Incompressible and Viscous:

Continuity

∂u/∂x + ∂v/∂y + ∂w/∂z = 0

∂vi/∂xi = 0

Momentum

ρ[∂u/∂t + u∂u/∂x + v∂u/∂y + w∂u/∂z] = ρBx - ∂p/∂x + μ[∂2u/∂x2 + ∂2u/∂y2 +

∂2u/∂z2]
ρ[∂v/∂t + u∂v/∂x + v∂v/∂y + w∂v/∂z] = ρBy - ∂p/∂y + μ[∂2v/∂x2 + ∂2v/∂y2 +
∂2v/∂z2]
ρ[∂w/∂t + u∂w/∂x + v∂w/∂y + w∂w/∂z] = ρBz - ∂p/∂z + μ[∂2w/∂x2 + ∂2w/∂y2 +
∂2w/∂z2 ]

ρ[∂vi/∂t + ∂(vivj)/∂xj] = ρBi - ∂p/∂xi + ∂/∂xj [μ∂vi/∂xj]

10
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

C. POST PROCESSING
(RESULTS)
1) Velocity vectors: their is undesired recirculation forming in filter section

Fig. 7
2) Contours of velocity: there is localized flow at one side of filter due to bend

Fig. 8

11
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

3) Path lines:-This 3D of flow pattern helps in confirming the recirculation what we saw
in velocity vectors

Fig. 9

4)Animation of Pressure:-shows the pressure distribution over the filter surface

Fig. 10

12
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

The results shows that the bend causes an unacceptable flow distribution at inlet section
of filet

Fig. 11
Remedy:-we have to add an appropriate plate at inlet section of filter , so that the flow
can be straightened at filter (localized flow can be avoided)

Fig. 12

13
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

APPLICATIONS

1) Automotive:-
#Aerodynamics #Exhaust systems #Noise prediction
# Air bag inflators # Fan design # Valves
# Air handling units # Filters # Blowers
# Fuel cell # Pumps # Brake cooling
# Fuel Tanks # Underhood/Underbody # Valves
# Tires # Compressors
2) Aerospace and Defense:-
#Anti-Icing #Combustors #Seals
#External Aerodynamics #Tanks #Fuel Sloshing
# Inlets and Nozzles #Instrumentation #Missile Systems
3) Power Generation:-
## BBooiilleerrss ## Burners ## Combustor
## Duct flows ## Hydropower ## Incinerators
## Silencers ## Turbo machinery ## Windboxes
44)) N
Nuucclleeaarr PPoow
weerr::--
## Advanced Pressurized Reactor
## Accurate Modeling of Reactor Geometry
## New Technique for Nuclear Waste Disposal
## Turbomachinery

A
ALLSSO
O,, C
CFFD
DBBA
ASSEED
DAAPPPPLLIIC
CAAT
TIIO
ONNSS IIN
NCCLLU
UDDE
ESS FFO
OLLLLO
OWWIIN
NGG FFIIE
ELLD
D::--
## CCIIV
VIILL EEN
NGGIIN
NEEEER
RIIN
NGG
## PPO
OLLY
YMMEER
R
## SSPPO
ORRTTSS
## G
GLLA
ASSSS A
ANND
DMMA
ANNY
YMMO
ORREE…
…………
…………
…………
…………
…!!!!!!

14
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

ADVA NTAGES

 SIMULATION CLOSER TO REAL LIFE

By using CFD methods, many flow problems can actually be simulated in conditions
close to real-life than can be reproduced in a wind tunnel.

 SAVE MILLION OF RUPEES

Analyze multiple models at the same time. View and compare data results with
visualization images to identify components or problem areas affecting optimal
aerodynamics performance. Thus by using CFD the effect of change in shape and size of
a particular object can be studied before actually manufacturing that particular object.
Hence millions of rupees are saved during research

 TRANSPORTABLE WIND TUNNEL

Unlike the wind tunnel, which is generally, a heavy , unwieldy device, a computer
program (say in form of floppy disk) is something you can carry around in your hand. Or
better a yet source program is the memory of given computer can be accessed remotely
by people on terminals that can be thousands of miles away from the computer itself. A
computer program is therefore a readily transportable tool, a transportable wind tunnel.

 ACCELERATE YOUR DESIGN PROCESS

Perform test earlier in the design cycle and bring product to market faster.

 VISUALIZATION
Enhance communications among team members by utilizing state-of-art, visualization
and collaboration tools.

15
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

LIMITAT IONS

GUESS WORK
The input data may involve too much guess work or imprecision
COMPUTER POWER
The available computer power for high numerical accuracy may
sometimes become hurdle in ongoing research.
The reliability is greater
-for laminar flow rather than turbulent ones
-for single-phase flows rather than multiphase flows
-for chemically inert materials rather than chemically reactive.
-for single chemical reactions rather than multiple ones
-for simple fluids rather than those of complex composition.

FUTUR E

There would be a dramatic change and shortening of the design process in each and every
field right from engineering to medical.
Within a few years, it is to be expected surgeons will conduct operations, which
may affect the flow of fluids within the human body (blood, urine, air, the fluid within
the brain) only after their probable effects have been predicted by CFD methods.

16
 COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

CONCLUSION

CFD is a new “third dimension” in fluid dynamics, equally sharing the stage with the
other dimensions of pure theory and pure experiments. i.e. CFD enables the user to get a
3-dimensional virtual reality not only visually but supported by computations which
otherwise would be very complex to solve. It has reduced research time to nearly about
one-fourth of previous time. Also it allow to study the various aspects of very complex
and huge applications like aero plane, rocket, submarine etc on computer without
physically testing them in wind tunnel (which is impossible). Hence it save millions of
rupees in design aspect and also increases the performance of the various fluid related
appliances.

In future, with more efficient and developed computer technology CFD will become the
basic necessity of industries.

17