Tutorial 21.

Turbo Postprocessing

Introduction: This tutorial demonstrates the turbomachinery postpro-

cessing capabilities of FLUENT.
In this example, you will read the case and data files (without doing
the calculation) and perform a number of turbomachinery-specific
postprocessing exercises. In the process, you will learn how to:
• Define the topology of a turbomachinery model
• Create surfaces for the display of 3D data
• Revolve 3D geometry to display a 360-degree image
• Report turbomachinery quantities
• Display averaged contours for turbomachinery
• Display 2D contours for turbomachinery
• Display averaged XY plots for turbomachinery

Prerequisites: This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the
menu structure in FLUENT, and that you have solved Tutorial 1.
Some steps will not be shown explicitly.

Problem Description: The problem to be considered is shown schemat-

ically in Figure 21.1. The flow of air through a centrifugal com-
pressor is simulated. The model consists of a single 3D sector of
the compressor, to take advantage of the circumferential periodic-
ity in the problem. FLUENT’s postprocessing capabilities readily
allow you to display realistic full 360-degree images of the solution
obtained.

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Turbo Postprocessing

inlet

shroud side

hub side

outlet

Figure 21.1: Problem Specification

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Preparation

1. Copy the files turbo/turbo.cas and turbo/turbo.dat from the

FLUENT documentation CD to your working directory (as de-
scribed in Tutorial 1).

2. Start the 3D version of FLUENT.

Step 1: Reading the Case and Data Files

1. Read in the case and data files (turbo.cas and turbo.dat).

File −→ Read −→Case & Data...
Once you select turbo.cas, turbo.dat will be read automatically.

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Step 2: Grid Display

Display −→Grid...

1. Under Options, select Edges.

2. Under Edge Type, select Outline.

3. Deselect all surfaces, and then click on Outline at the bottom of

the panel.

4. Click Display.

5. Use your left mouse button to rotate the view, and your middle
mouse button to zoom the view until you obtain an isometric dis-
play of the compressor duct, as shown in Figure 21.2.

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Y
X
Z

Grid Jul 31, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.2: Graphics Display of the Edges of the Compressor Mesh

Extra: You can use the right mouse button to check which zone number
corresponds to each boundary. If you click the right mouse button
on one of the boundaries displayed in the graphics window, its zone
number, name, and type will be printed in the console window. This
feature is especially useful when you have several zones of the same
type and you want to distinguish between them quickly.

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Turbo Postprocessing

Step 3: Defining the Turbomachinery Topology

In order to establish the turbomachinery-specific coordinate system used
in subsequent postprocessing functions, FLUENT requires you to define
the topology of the flow domain. Specifically, you will select boundary
zones that comprise the hub, shroud, inlet, outlet, and periodics. Note
that boundaries may consist of more than one zone. See Section 25.9.1
of the User’s Guide for more information. The topology setup that you
define will be saved to the case file when you save the current model.
Thus, if you read this case back into FLUENT, you do not need to set up
the topology again.
Define −→Turbo Topology...

1. Specify the surfaces representing the hub.

(a) Under Boundaries, keep the default selection of Hub.
(b) In the Surfaces list, select the surfaces that represent the hub
(wall-diffuser-hub, wall-hub, and wall-inlet-hub.)

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2. Specify the surfaces representing the casing.

(a) Under Boundaries, select Casing.
(b) In the Surfaces list, select wall-diffuser-shroud, wall-inlet-shroud,
and wall-shroud.

3. Specify the surfaces representing the periodic boundaries.

(a) Under Boundaries, select Theta Periodic.
(b) In the Surfaces list, select periodic.33, periodic.34, and peri-
odic.35.
Note: While Theta Periodic represents periodic boundary zones on
the circumferential boundaries of the flow passage, Theta Min
and Theta Max are wall surfaces at the minimum and maxi-
mum θ position on a circumferential boundary. There are no
such wall surfaces in this problem.

4. Specify the surface representing the Inlet (inlet).

5. Specify the surface representing the Outlet (outlet).

6. Specify the surface representing the Blade (wall-blade).

7. Click Apply to set all of the turbomachinery boundaries.

FLUENT will inform you that the turbomachinery postprocessing
functions have been activated, and the Turbo menu will appear in
FLUENT’s menu bar at the top of the console window.

Note: You can display the selected surfaces by clicking on Display at the
bottom of the panel. This is useful as a graphical check to ensure
that all relevant surfaces have been selected.

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Step 4: Isosurface Creation

To display results in a 3D model, you will need surfaces on which the data
can be displayed. FLUENT creates surfaces for all boundary zones auto-
matically. In a general application, you may want to define additional
surfaces for the purpose of viewing results. FLUENT’s turbo postprocess-
ing capabilities allow you to define more complex surfaces, specific to the
application and the particular topology that you defined. In this step,
you will create surfaces of iso-meridional (marching along the stream-
wise direction) and spanwise (distance between the hub and the shroud)
coordinates in the compressor.
Surface −→Iso-Surface...

1. Create surfaces of constant meridional coordinate.

(a) In the Surface of Constant drop-down lists, select Grid... and

Meridional Coordinate.
(b) Enter 0.2 under Iso-Values.
(c) Enter meridional-0.2 under New Surface Name.

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(d) Click Create.

Note: The iso-values you enter for these turbo-specific sur-
faces are expressed as a percentage of the entire domain
(i.e., you just defined a surface of meridional coordinate
equal to 20% of the path along the duct).
(e) Repeat the steps above to define surfaces of meridional coor-
dinates equal to 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8.

2. Create surfaces of constant spanwise coordinate.

(a) In the Surface of Constant drop-down lists, select Grid... and

Spanwise Coordinate
(b) Enter 0.25 under Iso-Values.
(c) Enter spanwise-0.25 under New Surface Name.
(d) Click Create.
(e) Repeat the steps above to define surfaces of spanwise coordi-
nates equal to 0.5 and 0.75.

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Step 5: Contours

1. Plot filled contours of pressure on the meridional isosurfaces (Fig-

ure 21.3).
Display −→Contours...

(a) Under Options, select Filled.

(b) Select Pressure... and Static Pressure in the Contours Of drop-
down lists.
(c) In the Surfaces list, select inlet, meridional-0.2, meridional-0.4,
meridional-0.6, meridional-0.8, and outlet.
(d) Under Options, select Draw Grid, and keep the current settings
in the Grid Display panel.

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 Turbo Postprocessing

(e) Click Display in the Contours panel.

(f) Rotate and zoom the display using the left and middle mouse
buttons, respectively, to obtain the view shown in Figure 21.3.

1.84e+00

1.73e+00

1.62e+00

1.50e+00

1.39e+00

1.28e+00

1.17e+00

1.06e+00

9.44e-01

8.32e-01 Y

7.20e-01 X Z

Contours of Static Pressure (atm) Jul 27, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.3: Filled Contours of Pressure on the Meridional Isosurfaces

In Figure 21.3, you can observe the buildup of static pressure along
the duct.

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2. Plot filled contours of Mach number (Figure 21.4).

(a) Select Velocity... and Mach Number in the Contours Of drop-
down lists.
(b) Click Display.

1.04e+00

9.35e-01

8.35e-01

7.34e-01

6.34e-01

5.33e-01

4.33e-01

3.32e-01

2.32e-01

1.31e-01 Y

3.05e-02 X Z

Contours of Mach Number Jul 27, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.4: Filled Contours of Mach Number on the Meridional Isosur-

faces

In Figure 21.4, you can observe locations at which the flow becomes
slightly supersonic, about halfway through the duct.

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3. Plot filled contours of Mach number on the spanwise isosurfaces

(Figure 21.5).
(a) In the Surfaces list, deselect all surfaces, and then select spanwise-
0.25, spanwise-0.5, and spanwise-0.75.
(b) Click Display.

1.04e+00

9.35e-01

8.35e-01

7.34e-01

6.34e-01

5.33e-01

4.33e-01

3.32e-01

2.32e-01

1.31e-01
Y
X
3.05e-02
Z

Contours of Mach Number Jul 27, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.5: Filled Contours of Mach Number on the Spanwise Isosur-

faces

The display in Figure 21.5 allows you to further study the variation
of the Mach number inside the duct. You may want to explore using
different combinations of surfaces to display the same or additional
variables.

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4. Display a 360-degree image of the Mach number contours on the

0.5 spanwise isosurface (Figure 21.6).
(a) Redisplay the contours, just on the 0.5 spanwise isosurface.
i. In the Surfaces list, deselect spanwise-0.25 and spanwise-
0.75.
ii. Click Display.
(b) Display the full 360-degree geometry.
Display −→Views...

i. Set Periodic Repeats to 20.

ii. Click Apply.
The display will be updated to show the entire geometry.

Note: This step demonstrates a typical view-manipulation

task. See Tutorial 20 for further examples of postpro-
cessing features.

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1.04e+00

9.35e-01

8.35e-01

7.34e-01

6.34e-01

5.33e-01

4.33e-01

3.32e-01

2.32e-01

1.31e-01
Y
3.05e-02 X
Z

Contours of Mach Number Jul 27, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.6: Filled Contours of Mach Number on the 0.5 Spanwise Iso
Surface

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Step 6: Reporting Turbo Quantities

The turbomachinery report gives you some tabulated information specific
to the application and the defined topology. See Section 25.9.2 of the
User’s Guide for details.
Turbo −→Report...

1. Under Averages, keep the default of Mass-Weighted.

2. Click Compute.

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Step 7: Averaged Contours

Turbo averaged contours are generated as projections of the values of a
variable averaged in the circumferential direction and visualized on an r-
z plane.

1. Turn off the periodic repeats.

Display −→Views...

(a) In the Views panel, enter 0 in the Periodic Repeats field.

(b) Click Apply.

2. Display filled contours of averaged static pressure (Figure 21.7).

Turbo −→Averaged Contours...

(a) In the Contours Of drop-down lists, select Pressure... and

Static Pressure.
(b) Click Display.

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1.80e+00

1.72e+00

1.63e+00

1.54e+00

1.45e+00

1.36e+00

1.28e+00

1.19e+00

1.10e+00

1.01e+00 Y
Z X
9.24e-01

Averaged Turbo Contour - pressure (atm) (atm) Aug 13, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.7: Filled Contours of Averaged Static Pressure

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Step 8: 2D Contours
In postprocessing a turbomachinery solution, it is often desirable to dis-
play contours on constant pitchwise, spanwise, or meridional coordi-
nates, and then project these contours onto a plane. This permits easier
evaluation of the contours, especially for surfaces that are highly three-
dimensional. FLUENT allows you to display contours in this fashion
using the Turbo 2D Contours panel.

1. Display 2D contours of Mach number.

Turbo −→2D Contours...

(a) Under Surface of Constant, keep the default selection of Pitch-

wise Value.
(b) In the Contours Of drop-down lists, select Velocity... and Mach
Number.
(c) Under Fractional Distance, enter 0.25.
(d) Under Projection Direction, select Radial.

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(e) Click Display.

(f) Use your mouse to obtain the view shown in Figure 21.8.

8.30e-01

7.63e-01

6.95e-01

6.28e-01

5.61e-01

4.94e-01

4.26e-01

3.59e-01

2.92e-01

2.25e-01
Y
1.57e-01
XZ

2D Turbo Contour - mach-number Jul 27, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.8: 2D Contours of Mach Number on Surface of Pitchwise Value

0.25.

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Step 9: Averaged XY Plots

In addition to displaying data on different combinations of complex 3D
and flattened surfaces, FLUENT’s turbo postprocessing capabilities allow
you to display XY plots of averaged variables, relevant to the specific
topology of a turbomachinery problem. In particular, you will be able to
plot circumferentially-averaged values of variables as a function of either
the spanwise coordinate or the meridional coordinate.

1. Plot temperature as a function of the meridional coordinate.

Turbo −→Averaged XY Plot...

(a) In the Y Axis Function drop-down lists, select Temperature...

and Static Temperature.
(b) In the X Axis Function drop-down list, select Meridional Dis-
tance.
(c) Under Fractional Distance, enter 0.9.
(d) Click Plot.

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3.60e+02

3.50e+02

3.40e+02

3.30e+02

temperature 3.20e+02
(k)
3.10e+02

3.00e+02

2.90e+02

2.80e+02
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Y Meridional Distance
X Z

Averaged XY - temperature (k) Jul 27, 2001

FLUENT 6.0 (3d, coupled imp, rke)

Figure 21.9: Averaged XY Plot of Static Temperature on Spanwise Sur-

face of 0.9 Isovalue

Summary: This tutorial has demonstrated the use of some of the turbo-
machinery-specific postprocessing features of FLUENT. These fea-
tures can be accessed once you have defined the topology of the
problem. More extensive general-purpose postprocessing features
are demonstrated in Tutorial 20. See also the “Graphics and Vi-
sualization” and “Alphanumeric Reporting” chapters in the User’s
Guide.

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