M&AE 423/523: Intermediate Fluid Dynamics

Spring 2004

Course Description: This is the second course in fluid dynamics in the M&AE cur-
riculum. The course considers, at a more advanced level, the
equations that govern the motion of fluids and their solution. In
addition, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is introduced to
students through the extensive use of the commercial package
FLUENT that is integrated throughout the course. M&AE 523
has an additional credit that is associated with a design project
that is submitted at the end of the semester.

Instructor: Professor Collins, 246 Upson Hall, phone: 255-0379, E-mail:

LC246@cornell.edu

FLUENT Instructor: Professor Bhaskaran, 284C Grumman Hall, phone: 255-0390,

E-mail: RB88@cornell.edu

Teaching Assistant: Jeremy Weinstein, E-mail: JFW23@cornell.edu

Goals: Reinforce the principles behind the conservation equations.

Review the mathematics required to solve the equations.
Solve “case studies” that include: pipe flow, compressible flow in
converging/diverging nozzles, boundary layers, boundary layer
separation, flow over an airfoil.
Use FLUENT to solve related, but more advanced problems
(e.g., two-dimensional nozzle, complex flows over airfoils).
Analyze numerical error in CFD calculations.
Introduce turbulence models in CFD packages.

Upon completion, Understand the derivation and physical meaning of the conser-
students should: vation equations.
Understand how to simplify the equations.
Be able to derive analytical solutions to simplified problems.
Understand how to use the solution for design purposes.
Understand the underlying models in FLUENT.
Be able to apply FLUENT to solve a range of problems.
Understand numerical errors and the limitations of CFD.

Required Textbook: R. Bhaskaran & L. R. Collins, Lecture Notes, 2003.

Other Textbooks: I. G. Currie, Fundamental Mechanics of Fluids, Second Edition,
Marcel Dekker, 2002.
J. D. Anderson Jr., Computational Fluid Dynamics, The Basics
with Applications, McGraw Hill, 1995.
H. Schlichting, Boundary-Layer Theory, McGraw Hill, 1955.

Lecture: M, W, F 1:25 PM – 2:15 PM, 111 Upson

T 1:25 PM – 2:15 PM, 471 Rhodes

Office Hours: Collins: T 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM; W, R 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Bhaskaran: W 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM; R 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Weinstein: R 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Grading Policy: The course grade will be determined in the following manner:
Homework 50% (25%)
Prelim Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%
Final Project — (25%)
[Note: grades in parentheses are for M&AE 523]

Homework: There will be a homework assignment nearly every week that

will be collected for grading purposes. Details about due dates
will be included with each assignment. Homework assignments
that are turned in late may not be counted; if an extenuating
circumstance arises, see the Instructor before the deadline.

FLUENT: The department owns 60 FLUENT licenses that you can access
in 471 Rhodes during the day (when another class is not using
the room) and Sunday—Thursday 7:00–10:00 PM. In addition,
ACCEL in Carpenter hall and the CIT Lab in B7 Upson
have FLUENT. An online FLUENT tutorial can be found at:
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/fluent/index.htm.

Exams: One Prelim and a Final are scheduled for this course. Exams
are generally open book and notes. The tentative schedule is:
Prelim Exam: March 18, 2003, 7:00 PM
Final Exam: May 13, 2003, 12:00 – 2:30 PM

Feedback: Please feel free to speak with me personally antime if you have
any questions, comments or concerns. We will ask you to sub-
mit anonymous surveys periodically to help us assess the effec-
tiveness of different elements of the course as well as to solicit
suggestions for improvement.

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 TOPICAL OUTLINE

1. Mathematical Preliminaries

(a) Coordinate systems

(b) Scalars, vectors and tensors
(c) Derivatives, gradients and divergence
(d) Indicial notation

2. Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

(a) Numerical discretization and convergence

(b) Introduction to FLUENT

3. Conservation Laws

(a) Mass
(b) Linear momentum
(c) Energy

4. Dimensional Analysis

(a) Fundamental units

(b) Characteristic scales
(c) Dimensionless transport equations
(d) Similarity

5. Incompressible Flow “Case Studies”

(a) Flow in a pipe (laminar and turbulent)

(b) Flat plate boundary layer
(c) Boundary layer separation
(d) Stagnation flow

6. Compressible Flow “Case Studies”

(a) Speed of sound

(b) Isentropic flow with area changes
(c) Shock wave (normal and oblique)
(d) Ideal flow over an airfoil

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7. CFD Applications

(a) Flow over an airfoil

(b) Flow over a backward facing step

8. Computational Fluid Dynamics

(a) Finite volume methods in CFD

(b) Convection and diffusion
(c) Pressure solvers
(d) Numerical accuracy and stability

9. Turbulence

(a) Average equations

(b) Closure problem
(c) k–
family of models