Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lecture 1 - Introduction To CFD Applied Computational Fluid Dynamics
Lecture 1 - Introduction To CFD Applied Computational Fluid Dynamics
Fluid dynamics
Fluid dynamics is the science of fluid motion.
Fluid flow is commonly studied in one of three ways:
Experimental fluid dynamics.
Theoretical fluid dynamics.
Numerically: computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
Antiquity
10
1930s to 1950s
Earliest numerical solution: for flow past a cylinder (1933).
A.Thom, The Flow Past Circular Cylinders at Low Speeds, Proc. Royal
Society, A141, pp. 651-666, London, 1933
11
During the 1960s the theoretical division at Los Alamos contributed many numerical
methods that are still in use today, such as the following methods:
Particle-In-Cell (PIC).
Marker-and-Cell (MAC).
Vorticity-Streamfunction Methods.
Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE).
k- turbulence model.
During the 1970s a group working under D. Brian Spalding, at Imperial College, London,
develop:
Parabolic flow codes (GENMIX).
Vorticity-Streamfunction based codes.
The SIMPLE algorithm and the TEACH code.
The form of the k- equations that are used today.
Upwind differencing.
Eddy break-up and presumed pdf combustion models.
In 1980 Suhas V. Patankar publishes Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, probably the
most influential book on CFD to date.
12
13
14
Filling
Nozzle
Bottle
15
16
Discretization
Domain is discretized into a finite set of control volumes
or cells. The discretized domain is called the grid or the mesh.
General conservation (transport) equations for mass, momentum,
energy, etc., are discretized into algebraic equations.
All equations are solved to render flow field.
dV V dA dA S dV
t V
A
A
V
unsteady
convection
Eqn.
continuity
x-mom.
y-mom.
energy
diffusion
1
u
v
h
generation
control
volume
Fluid region of
pipe flow
discretized into
finite set of
control volumes
(mesh).
17
tetrahedron
hexahedron
pyramid
triangle
arbitrary polyhedron
prism or wedge
quadrilateral
18
19
tet mesh
hex mesh
wedge mesh
Hybrid mesh for an
IC engine valve port
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
CD
FD
17.4
1 2
0.11
v A
0.5 *1.225 * 25 * 2.91
2
29
Is flow turbulent?
Is flow unsteady?
Are there compressibility effects?
Are there 3D effects?
Are boundary conditions correct?
Is grid adequate?
Can grid be adapted to improve results?
Does solution change significantly with adaption, or is the solution
grid independent?
Does boundary resolution need to be improved?
30
Applications of CFD
Applications of CFD are numerous!
Flow and heat transfer in industrial processes (boilers, heat
exchangers, combustion equipment, pumps, blowers, piping, etc.).
Aerodynamics of ground vehicles, aircraft, missiles.
Film coating, thermoforming in material processing applications.
Flow and heat transfer in propulsion and power generation systems.
Ventilation, heating, and cooling flows in buildings.
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for integrated circuit
manufacturing.
Heat transfer for electronics packaging applications.
And many, many more!
31
Advantages of CFD
Relatively low cost.
Using physical experiments and tests to get essential engineering data
for design can be expensive.
CFD simulations are relatively inexpensive, and costs are likely to
decrease as computers become more powerful.
Speed.
CFD simulations can be executed in a short period of time.
Quick turnaround means engineering data can be introduced early in
the design process.
32
Comprehensive information.
Experiments only permit data to be extracted at a limited number of
locations in the system (e.g. pressure and temperature probes, heat
flux gauges, LDV, etc.).
CFD allows the analyst to examine a large number of locations in the
region of interest, and yields a comprehensive set of flow
parameters for examination.
33
Limitations of CFD
Physical models.
CFD solutions rely upon physical models of real world processes
(e.g. turbulence, compressibility, chemistry, multiphase flow, etc.).
The CFD solutions can only be as accurate as the physical models
on which they are based.
Numerical errors.
Solving equations on a computer invariably introduces numerical
errors.
Round-off error: due to finite word size available on the computer.
Round-off errors will always exist (though they can be small in most
cases).
Truncation error: due to approximations in the numerical models.
Truncation errors will go to zero as the grid is refined. Mesh
refinement is one way to deal with truncation error.
34
Computational
Domain
Computational
Domain
Uniform Inlet
Profile
poor
better
35
Summary
CFD is a method to numerically calculate heat transfer and fluid
flow.
Currently, its main application is as an engineering method, to
provide data that is complementary to theoretical and
experimental data. This is mainly the domain of commercially
available codes and in-house codes at large companies.
CFD can also be used for purely scientific studies, e.g. into the
fundamentals of turbulence. This is more common in academic
institutions and government research laboratories. Codes are
usually developed to specifically study a certain problem.
36