CH5154 – Flow Modeling and Simulation Lab

Exercise – 1

Aim: To simulate the laminar flow in a cylindrical pipe for Newtonian fluid.

Problem Statement: Simulate laminar flow in a cylindrical pipe having 5 cm ID and 200 cm length
for Reynolds numbers of 100, 500, 1000 and 1500 for the following fluids.
A. Air with density of 1 Kg/m3 and viscosity of 10-5 Pa-s.
B. Water with density of 1000 Kg/m3 and viscosity of 10-3 Pa-s.

Software tool: ANSYS Fluent.

Plot graphs:
1. Plot the velocity variation along the length of the axis.
2. Plot the velocity profile after the hydrodynamic development zone.
3. Plot the pressure drop vs. flow rate for the above Re values. Compare the slope with the
theoretical formula.
4. Plot skin friction factor along the length of the pipe wall.

Discussion
Name: Krishna Kumar Patel
Roll No: 196507
Exercise: 1

Contents

Solution Steps 1

DesingModeler 1
Mesh (400 by 50) 3
Setup 5
Results/Plots (Water) 9

Plot of velocity along the length of the axis. 9

Plot the velocity profile after the hydrodynamic development zone. 11
Plot of skin friction factor along the length of the pipe wall. 13
Plot of Pressure drop along the length of the tube. 14
Results/Plots (Air) 16

Plot of velocity along the length of the axis. 16

Plot the velocity profile after the hydrodynamic development zone. 17
Plot of skin friction factor along the length of the pipe wall. 19
Plot of pressure drop vs. flow rate for given Re values. And slope comparison 21
Solution Steps
DesingModeler
1. Open ANSYS workbench.
2. Drag “Fluid Flow(fluent)” from the sidebar to the blank project area on the right side of the
window.
3. Doing so creates a project with 6 options. Click on “Geometry” (first option) to specify
geometry of your problem. Make sure it opens in “DesignModeler.”
4. On the left side under “tree outline”, click on “XYPlane” to select a co-ordinate system.
5. Now select “Sketching” option to draw a rectangle (geometry that our question requires).
6. Define the dimensions of rectangle by selecting “Dimensions.” Horizontal = 2m and Vertical =
0.025m. We have divided our rectangle in two axisymmetric parts.
7. Now, at the top under “Concept” drop down select “Surfaces From Sketches.”
8. It should create a subheading “SurfaceSk1” under “XYPlane” in “Tree Outline” window
section.
9. Select this option and then select the surface of rectangle. Then, select “apply” under “details
View.”
10. Do remember to “Update” your sketch every time you make changes in the sketch.
11. Now, let’s name the sides of rectangle.
12. Select “Edge Selection” tool from the navigation bar located at the top. Select on of the edges
of rectangle and the name it. Do the same for all sides. Logical names could be axis, wall, inlet,
and outlet.
13. Hit update.
14. Now close the “DesignModeler” window to return back to the project window (workbench).
15. You should see a green check mark on the right side of “Geometry” in your project. This
implies that the geometry is successfully defined (or completed).
NOTE: Numbers in the pictures represent above steps.
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Mesh (400 by 50)

1. In your project window, select and open “Mesh” for mesh generation.
2. This will load the geometry that was defined in “Geometry DesingModeler.”
3. Select “Mesh” under “Project” in a little window labelled “Outline.”
4. Now, select Edge selection tool from the top then select an edge.
5. Once edge is selected, right click on edge select insert, sizing.
6. On the left side, in “Details of Mesh” under “Definitions” select “Type” change it to “Number
of divisions.” Number of divisions vertically = 400. Also, under “Advanced” change
“Behaviour” to “Hard.”
7. Similarly, create mesh for other edges. Horizontal Number of divisions = 50.
8. Update.
9. Under “Mesh Control” click on “Face Meshing.”
10. This should create a new subheading under project«Model«Mesh with the name “Face
Meshing.”
11. Select this “Face Meshing” now select the rectangular face and “apply” face meshing.
12. update.
13. Close the “Mesh” window to return back to project window (workbench).

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Setup
1. Open “setup.”
2. This will open the “Setup” window. On the left, under “Tree” select general. Under “Task
Page” click on “Check” to check for mesh validation check.
3. Set other options to
• Type = pressure based
• Velocity Formulation = Absolute
• Time = Steady
• 2D Space = Axisymmetric
4. Now, select “Models.”
• Select “Viscous - Laminar”
5. Now, select “Materials.”
• Add “water-liquid” using “Fluent Database.” Adjust density = 1000 km/m3
• and Viscosity = 0.01 kg/m-s
6. Now, select “Cell Zone Conditions.” Double click on “Surface_body” and change material to
“water-liquid.”
7. Now, select “Boundary Conditions.” Set boundary conditions to
• Inlet velocity = 0.01 m/s (for Re = 500).
• Outlet pressure = 0 gauge pressure (Pascal).
• Wall - Stationary, No slip condition.
8. Now, click on “Solution Methods” under “Solution.” And set
• Scheme = SIMPLE
• Gradient = Least Squares Cell Based
• Pressure = Second Order
• Momentum = Second Order Upwind
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9. Now, click on “Solution Initialization.” Set “Initialisation methods” to “Standard
Initialization.” At the end, click on “Initialize.”
10. Now, click on “Run Calculation.” Set Number of iterations = 500.
11. Click on “Calculate.”
12. This should produce results.
13. Results can be investigated by clicking on “Results.”
14. The result generated is half since we chose half rectangle. We can mimic the other half of the
rectangle by clicking on “View” and selecting Mirroring about axis.
15. Various results are shown in the snapshots-below.

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Results/Plots (Water)
Fluid: Water
Density: 1000 k/m3
Viscosity: 10-3 Pa-s
Plot of velocity along the length of the axis.
Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.

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Plot the velocity profile after the hydrodynamic development

zone.
Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.
The velocity profile, after hydrodynamic development zone, is parabolic in accordance with
theoretical predictions.

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Plot of skin friction factor along the length of the pipe wall.
Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.
Skin Factor is maximum at the entry of duct.

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Plot of Pressure drop along the length of the tube.

Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.

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Results/Plots (Air)
Fluid: Air
Density: 1000 k/m3
Viscosity: 10-3 Pa-s
Plot of velocity along the length of the axis.
Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.

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Plot the velocity profile after the hydrodynamic development

zone.
Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.

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Plot of skin friction factor along the length of the pipe wall.
Plots are arranged in increasing order of Re number from 100, 500, 1000, and 1500.
Skin Factor is maximum at the entrance.

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Plot of pressure drop vs. flow rate for given Re values. And
slope comparison
Slope of pressure drop curve (as calculated by CFD) is 11979 whereas 13038 when calculated by
Hagen-Poiseuille equation. This difference in pressure drop calculation may be attributed to
followings:
• Truncation errors
• Discretization error
• Iterative convergence error and others.
Equations used are
ρDV
Re =
μ

32LμV
ΔP =
D2

CFD and Theretically calculated Pressure Drop against Flow Rate

0.8

0.7
CFD
Theoretical
0.6
Pressure Drop

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-5
Flow Rate (m3 /s) 10

Equations of linear fitting

y = 13038x − 4 . 9412 × 10−17⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯(Theoretical)
y = 11979x − 0 . 033095⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯(CFD)

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CFD and Theoretical Pressure Drop against Flow Rate
0.6
Theoretical
CFD
0.5

0.4
Pressure Drop

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-4
Flow Rate (m3 /s) 10

Equations obtained by linear fitting

y = 859 . 54x − 0 . 012089⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯(CFD)
y = 130 . 38x − 3 . 00822 × 10−18⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯(Theoretical)
Slope of pressure drop curve (as calculated by CFD) is 859.54 whereas 130.38 when calculated by
Hagen-Poiseuille equation.
Pressure Drop Data Tabulated for Water and Air

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Water Data Table

CFD Pressure Theoretical

Re Velocity Flow rate (m3/s)
Drop Pressure Drop
100 0.002 3.92699082E-06 0.031644529 0.0512

500 0.01 1.96349541E-05 0.18612191 0.256

1000 0.02 3.92699082E-05 0.41978002 0.512

1500 0.03 5.89048623E-05 0.68840676 0.768

Air Data Table

CFD Pressure Theoretical

Re Velocity Flow rate (m3/s)
Drop Pressure Drop
100 0.02 3.92699082E-05 0.028371169 0.00512

500 0.1 1.96349541E-04 0.15082607 0.0256

1000 0.2 3.92699082E-04 0.31838206 0.0512

1500 0.3 5.89048623E-04 0.50043666 0.0768

End of the document

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