Square

Antonio Catalano
Simulación numérica del
flujo alrededor de vehículo

May 13, 2019

1. Sommario

Square ............................................................................................................................ 0

1. Sommario .................................................................................................... 1

2. Introduction ................................................................................................. 2

3. System Model ............................................................................................. 3

3.1. Domain design ........................................................................................ 3

3.2. Dimensions and profile conditions ......................................................... 6

4. Mesh ............................................................................................................ 8

5. Results ....................................................................................................... 16

5.1. Setup configuration ............................................................................... 16

5.2. Solution configuration .......................................................................... 21

5.3. Results ................................................................................................... 26

6. Bibliografia ............................................................................................... 41

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2. Introduction

The purpose of this report is to verify the behavior of a motion fluid when it
impacts on square shaped cylinder.

Particularly, we will focus on the vortex created in behind the body when the air
flow bump into it with a constant velocity. Of course, the air flow behavior
depends on the geometry of the system and the speed of the air flow and,

consequently, from the Reynolds number. This is the reason why we are going
to study two different situation in order to compare the fluid behavior when the
fluid moves in laminar flows, with a small Reynold number (in our case it is

considered to be 𝑅𝑒 = 40); and when the fluid moves in turbulent flows, with a

relatively high Reynold number (in our case it is considered to be 𝑅𝑒 = 100).

In the first case, all the particles in the considered fluid move in an orderly way,
their trajectory create tiny layers which moves one on the other without

generating any kind of vortex. Otherwise, turbulent flow is fluid motion

characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity[1].

The first step to do, to solve this problem, is to define a proper domain of
observation, in order to use a software that can run a numerical simulation that
can help us predict the intensity of the vortexes in the area behind the body.

The software used is Ansys – Workbench, in its Fluent section, and in this report
are shown some steps we made in order to complete the simulation.

FLUID

SQUARE

𝑣(
3. System Model

First of all, it is necessary to size all the parameters of this problem and to realize
a sketch of the domain inside the software; of course, it can’t be done randomly

so following there are the observations that let us choose the value of each
parameter. All the observations are made in order to ensure truthfully results
and to reduce the simulation time.

3.1. Domain design

Firstly, we did the Design Model which let us define the geometry of the system
and to size all the surfaces. In order to do that we realized a bi-dimensional
sketch, in the XY plane, that will be converted in the surface where all the forces
are applied.

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Our problem is bi-dimensional because we are considering a cylinder which
has infinite width and the phenomenon at the edge of it don’t influence our

observation surface [2].

The system geometry establishes the creation of two different sketches: one of
them is rectangular shaped and it represent the domain of the simulation, the

other one is a square and it represent the body on which the fluid will bump into.
After that we will do a Boolean operation in order to subtract the square area
from the domain: in this way we will obtain a punched rectangle in which the air

will flow.

To do that, once both the sketches are drawn, it is possible to convert them into

surfaces through the command Surface from sketch paying attention that we
have to create two different surfaces, so we have to select Two base objects in
the specific menu.

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At this point, we have to do a Boolean subtraction between the surfaces, it can
be done through the Create section paying attention to the order of selection.

Once the Generate button is pressed, the punched rectangle will appear.

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 3.2. Dimensions and profile conditions

As previously said, the sizes of the domain are very important to ensure truthfully

results; following are shown the dimension of the model.

The first dimension to set is the edge of the square, it is decided from the start

and all the other dimensions will be set depending on it (𝐷). For example, the

base of the domain should be defined according to the fact that the simulation
has to start in a point where the fluid is not influenced by the cylinder so, it has
to be chosen big enough to respect this, but not too big in order to avoid the
calculation in unnecessary points of the domain. According to that, the distance

of the left edge of the domain from the square will be at 4,5 × 𝐷.

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Likewise, we need to set the distances of the other edges of the rectangle from

the square: if we choose an edge too far from the square the software will
calculate all the forces in unnecessary points, otherwise we could lose some

important information. So, the rectangle’s height (𝐻) has been chosen of

12 × 𝐷, the base will be 20 × 𝐷. The square will be in the center of the rectangle,

so the distance between it and the upper edge and the lower edge is 5,5 × 𝐷;

we have already sad that the square is 4,5 × 𝐷 far from the left edge, so it will

be 14,5 × 𝐷 far from the right edge.

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4. Mesh

In order to solve numerically the differential equations, the software needs to

split the domain in infinitesimal areas, in each one of them the all physical

characteristics will be calculated as function of the physical characteristics in

the neighboring areas. To do that we need to generate the mesh; the software
can do it automatically but, as we can see from the following image, it is

composed by irregular polygon of different shapes and dimensions.

Computationally this kind of lattice is not efficient: the simulation will take a lot of
time to execute and the results will not be trustworthy [3]. The best way to solve

differential equations is to work with rectangular shaped polygons; to achieve

this we have to draw manually the lattice.

Our mesh will be composed by rectangles of different dimensions in order to

maximize the precision of the results: the lattice will be more solid in proximity
of the points of interest, in other words in the regions in which we expect the
physically quantity changes very quickly such as the edges of the square.

Instead, we expect that the regions far from the square are interested by slow
variations of physical quantities, so having a dense lattice is unnecessary.

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For this reason, we have to split the work space in different areas, to do that we

have to return in the sketch section and modify it in order to draw the needed
lines to define the interest areas. After that we can transform those objects in
surfaces using the command’s combination Lines from Sketches and

Projection.

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A this point the domain is going to be split in 8 different areas and we are going
to update it and delete the lines just drawn using Suppress Body.

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Returning in the meshing software we can update the geometry and start

drawing the mesh. We split the set of the segments in 5 different groups: for

each group we have to choose an adequate number of divisions and an

adequate Bias, particularly for the Bias we set Behavior Hard in order to split

strictly each edge, the Bias type to choose the adequate trend and we payed
attention to the orientation of the Bias: in few cases it has been necessary to use

Invert.

The first two groups were the set of vertical segments in the upper domain, and
the one of lower domain, these two groups had to be specular so, for both of

them, we choose 50 divisions and the Bias factor of 10; as we sad they were

more solid near the square and they rarefy with the distance from it.

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The third group was the set of horizontal segments at the left of the square, for
this group we choose the same parameters of the first two groups. Otherwise,
the fourth group, the set of horizontal segments in the right of the square, has

been split in 100 divisions with a Bias factor of 10.

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The last group was the set of segments that shape the square and all the

segments in the center of each edge of the rectangle; for it the number of

divisions was 5 without any kind of Bias.

At this point we can generate the mesh using the Face Meshing command
paying attention to force the software in create only rectangles. If the mesh
sizing set was good enough, we will obtain a lattice of rectangles that is more

solid in the interesting point with dimension continuity in the segment’s joints.
Otherwise, we have to calibrate the previous parameters in order to obtain a
mesh just like the one in the following image.

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14
An important Ansys tool let us display in the Console panel a report about the

mesh quality:

The last thing to do in this section of the software is to label each edge in order
to have references in the setup section. With the Name selection command, we

can identify 5 regions:

• Entrada

• Ariba

• Abajo

• Cuadrado

• Salida.

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5. Results

At this point the domain is completely arranged, the next thing to do is to pass
all the input data to the software, after that we can lunch the simulation and

consider whether the results are trustworthy or we have to change some

parameters; the last thing to do is show all the outputs of the simulation and try
to explain the physical phenomenon from these data. These things will be done

for both the configuration of Reynolds number.

5.1.Setup configuration

In this section of the software it is possible to settle all the input of the software
and to decide which kind of simulation we are going to do.

In General panel we can adjust the mesh we did to the simulation parameter, a
very useful command is the Scale command, where we can choose the effective
dimension of the problem scaling all the dimensions. Moreover, from that same
panel, we can set the solver up choosing if the simulation we are going to launch
is pressure-based or density-based; if we are going to study the transient or the
steady state, and so on. Here we can also decide to add, in the force field, the
gravity acceleration.

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In our case we choose to do a simulation pressure-based, in a planar 2D space

and we firstly choose to study the steady state without considering the gravity.
Moreover, we did a scale change choosing to transform the unit of
measurement from meters to centimeters.

The next panel in the software is the Models panel, inside it you can choose
which mathematic model the software has to use for each physical

phenomenon. We focused our simulation only on the viscosity simulation, and

in it we choose to run the simulation with laminar fluid according to the Reynolds
number we are going to use. With the second Reynolds number the flow will be
turbulent, those models are more complicated, and they require to solve more
equations[4].

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After that we have to decide the material the objects in question are made of,

the software has a specific panel for that: we set up the fluid with constant

density of 1 𝑘𝑔/𝑚6 and viscosity of 1 𝑘𝑔/𝑚 ∙ 𝑠.

Regarding the solid materials, the only body in the system is the cylinder, for

this body it is not important to specify any material because it only effect the
thermic behavior of the system, but it is not important for us right now because
we already set OFF in the Energy models.

The main section here is the panel that let us set up the boundary conditions,
for each zone of the domain we have to decide its function, the fluid velocity and
so on:

- Salida: it is a pressure outlet zone, in this area we want to study the

pressure in this edge. Moreover, we have to consider that there could

be a backflow current, so we set the Backflow direction specification

method as From neighboring cell;

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- Entrada: it is a velocity inlet zone, the air enters in the domain from this
edge and we have to set up the velocity of it. To calculate the velocity,
we have to consider the Reynolds number [5]:

𝜌𝑣𝐿 𝜇
𝑅𝑒 = = 40 → 𝑣 = 𝑅𝑒 × = 2000 𝑚/𝑠
𝜇 𝜌𝐿

From this value we can easily understand that it is too big to imagine a
real situation with those values: we should have Drag and Lift forces too
big to be true; for that reason, it is better to study the problem in a
dimensionless way.

- Cuadrado: it is a wall zone, in this panel we have to specify that the

square doesn’t move with the aerodynamic force;

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- Salida and Abajo: to set these zones we have to consider that the fluid
doesn’t have any vertical velocity because we set:

𝜕𝑈
= 𝑣@ = 0
𝜕𝑦

this can be done only if the problem has a vertical symmetry, for that

reason those two zones are set as Simmetry.

Reference values is the last panel in this section, in it you can set the last
parameters such as velocity, temperature, density and so on. The software,

anyway, set the defaults parameters according to the previously inputs.

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5.2.Solution configuration

The problem in exam is pression-based and, to solve it, differential

equations that couple pression and velocity quantities should be resolved.

The software approaches this solution with a numerical method based on
the iteration method. In other words, the software looks for a random but

possible solution and, with some calculation, refresh this temporary solution
with a better one; this cycle is repeated over and over until the numerical

solution is close enough to the real one [6].

In our case the algorithm the software uses to refresh the previous solution
is the least square approximation and the quantity of pressure and velocity
are calculated as second order function.

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Moreover, the software let us choose the under-relaxation factors which

calibrate the update of the previous solutions:

𝑝CDE = 𝑝C + 𝛼H Δ𝑝
A CDE
𝑣 = 𝑣 C + 𝛼J Δ𝑣

If 𝛼H e 𝛼J are too high, solutions fluctuate too much and could never reach

a trustworthy value; instead, if they are too low it could take too much to
reach the final solution [7]. For this reason, it is very important to set up well
these two parameters; the software guide suggest us to choose two values
that respect this equation:

𝛼H + 𝛼J = 1

Anyway, we choose to set them with the default values:

𝛼H = 0.3
K
𝛼J = 0.7

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Moreover, thought the Monitor panel we choose to de-flag the option that

establish the residual convergence.

During the simulation it is possible to let the software show on screen the
simulation feedback in which we can obtain information about the

approximation level we get.

In this particular case the software will show us information about differential

equation’s residuals, one for the conservation of mass equation and two
from the movement equations. These residuals are the difference between
theoretical value and the one achieved through the numerical simulation. In

an abstract situation these residuals should became zero, in the real

situation, if all the simulation parameters are good, they became very little
and constant.

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Moreover, the software can display the trend of some values and how they

change during the iterations. This can be very useful to supervise the
convergence of the solutions. In our case we choose to show the trend of
the Area Weighted Average of pressure as Surface report. The software will

show a pressure feedback as weighted average of the pressure in each

element of the mesh.

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The number of iterations we did was affected by these plots: it was incremented

until all the quantities settle in a fixed value. After that point increasing the
number of iterations would be useless because it wouldn’t change the result
obtained in that moment.

Before launching the simulation, it is necessary to define the initializing

parameters taking into account that they will affect the convergence process.
Using the Standard initialization, we ensure that the velocity and pressure

parameters are constant in the beginning: we can verify that using the Contour
plot of static pressure and velocity. Otherwise, with the Hybrid initialization, the
software uses an inner algorithm to calculate the beginning values of velocity

and pressure. According to these facts, the initialization has been set as
Standard.

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5.3.Results

After almost 400 iterations the Drag coefficient settled on a fixed value and

the residuals join to a solution, at this point, in the Results section it is

possible to show in the Console window the value of the forces applied on
the cylinder. From these data it results that the drag coefficient is about

1,964, instead the lift force is nearly zero.

The final thing to is show the simulation results through graphical methods.
From the Contours section we can plot the trend of some important quantity:

• Velocity magnitude:

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 As we can see, the system has a horizontal symmetry; this is
QR
agreement that we set the derivate Q@ = 0.

The velocity magnitude increases very quickly when the fluid bump
into the cylinder, this phenomenon can be explained with the Venturi

effect: when a fluid flows through a constricted section, the speed

increases[8].

• Stream function:

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 From this graph we can observe the path of the particles and it is quite

evident that, right after the cylinder there is an aerodynamic shadow

zone[9].

• Static pressure:

As we can see, when the fluid reaches the cylinder there is a region
in which the pressure increases. In this plot we can see again a

horizontal symmetry due to the fact that the forces on the upper and
the lower edges of the cylinder are equal and opposite, so summing
them, they cancel themselves.

Moreover, we can use XY-plots and Vectors to have graphical feedback from

the software, so we plotted:

• Velocity magnitude;

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• Pressure on the edges of the cylinder

• Pressure on arriba and abajo

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 • Dinamic pressure, it depends from the velocity squared so the
trend is quite similar[10].

Finally, Ansys gives us the chance to realize animations of the physical

phenomenon through the option Pathlines. For example, selecting one of

the edges, it is possible to show the movement of the particles, follow their
path and give them different colors according to their velocities.

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After this simulation it is interesting to show what changes using a bigger

velocity and setting a Reynold number of 100. To modify it we can choose

to modify one of the parameters used to determine it:

𝜌𝑣𝐿
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇

In this case we choose to modify the fluid speed that will be:

𝜇
𝑣 = 𝑅𝑒 × = 5000 𝑚/𝑠
𝜌𝐿

As we can see, it is bigger than the previous one due to the proportionality
between these two quantities.

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In order to use the geometry used for the previous simulation, we can create

another equal one using the Duplicate command. At this point we have to
modify the velocity parameter in the Boundary Conditions and launch again
the simulation.

As we can see from the following image, in this case the residuals do not

converge to zero as before, they became bigger and bigger; a similar thing
happens to the drag and lift coefficients, they fluctuate with the iterations.
From these considerations we can imagine we will never reach a fixed
solution. In fact, as we will see, the solution will be time-variant.

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To solve this kind of problems we have to modify some setting we previous
set: in the General panel, for example, we have to set the problem as
Transient; in the Solution Method panel, we set a Second Order Implicit
approximation for the time function.

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Consequently, from now on, we will consider the time as a physical quantity

we have to consider, to do that we define a time interval Δ𝑇. The quantity

report trends can be shown as function of iterations or as function of the time

steps to best evaluate their evolution in time. In this particular case, we set
the report in order to plot the drag and lift coefficients with the time steps
and the pressure average with the number of iterations.

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Before running the simulation, from the Run calculation panel, we set a very

little Δ𝑇 = 1 𝑚𝑠 and, for each one of them, we establish that the software has

to do 200 iterations.

At this point, we launch the simulation and we verify whether this number of
iterations is enough to let the simulation convergence, but they are not
enough.

A more efficient way to set those two parameters is using the Courant

number, it is a dimensionless number that comes from the equation:

Δ𝑇 𝑢W → 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙

CU = 𝑢W × K
Δ𝑥W Δ𝑥W → 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙

35
This number gives back an information about the flow in each cell: it

compares the distance made by a particle with the dimension of the cell; in

order to have a good simulation it should be almost 1.

In order to have an evaluation of this number we can display it with a Contour

plot: Cell Convective Courant number. With the parameters firstly set this
number is very big, that means that each particle does a distance very big

in comparison with the dimension of the cell.

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To calculate an adequate Δ𝑇 we can use the following equation:

Δ𝑇(
Δ𝑇 = = 6 × 10gh 𝑠
max(𝐶f )

With this new set the residuals are three orders of magnitude littler and the

simulation reach to a solution faster, in fact we reduced the number of

iterations from 200 to 30. The product between the number of iterations for

each time step and the number of timesteps we want to consider gives us
the total number of iterations the software has to do.

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Launching the simulation, we can plot again the drag and lift coefficient; for
a Transient problem, the permanent capacity is reached when the physical

quantities fluctuate between a fixed maximum and a fixed minimum. In our

case the drag coefficient fluctuates around the value of 1,7; otherwise, the

lift coefficient fluctuates between −0,3 and 0,3 with a null average value.

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These results can be verified through the theoretical values shown following.

An important tool we can use on Ansys is the possibility to export a file video

in which is shown the evolution of a physical quantity during the time.

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40
6. Bibliografia

[1] Zbigniew O., William S. P. (March 2011); Concepts of relative

velocity.
[2] Zagarola, M. V. and Smits, A. J., "Experiments in High Reynolds
Number Turbulent Pipe Flow." AIAA paper #96-0654, 34th AIAA
Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, Nevada, January 15–18,
1996.

[3] Abbott, Ira H., and Von Doenhoff, Albert E.: Theory of Wing
Sections. Sections 1.2 and 1.3
[4] L. Gan, N. G. Ly, and G. P. Steven, Text. Res. J., 65, 660 (1995).
[5] Jermy M., "Fluid Mechanics A Course Reader," Mechanical
Engineering Dept., University of Canterbury, 2005, pp. d5.10.

[6] Amritkar, Amit; de Sturler, Eric; Świrydowicz, Katarzyna; Tafti,

Danesh; Ahuja, Kapil (2015). "Recycling Krylov subspaces for
CFD applications and a new hybrid recycling solver".
[7] Higham, Nicholas J. (1996). Accuracy and Stability of Numerical
Algorithms. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
[8] Acheson, D. J. (1990). Elementary Fluid Dynamics. Clarendon
Press.
[9] Chanson, H. (2009). Applied Hydrodynamics: An Introduction to
Ideal and Real Fluid Flows. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group,
Leiden, The Netherlands.
[10] Avila, K.; Moxey, D.; de Lozar, A.; Avila, M.; Barkley, D.; Hof, B.
(July 2011). "The Onset of Turbulence in Pipe Flow".
[11] L. J. Clancy (1975), Aerodynamics, Pitman Publishing Limited,
London.

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