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LEARNING
OUTCOMES
CFD SIMUATION ACTIVITY

1. Familiarize with CFD simulation in ANSYS Fluent.

2. Perform two-dimensional CFD simulation for Couette flow.

3. Visualize and analyse the results/solution.

 Figure 1

LAUNCH ANSYS
ANSYS WORKBENCH

1. Launch ANSYS Workbench from your computer.

Check the list of components under the toolbox menu on the

left pane – (See Figure 1).
If the toolbox is empty, check your license validity.
Figure 2

2. Select Fluid Flow (Fluent) and drag the package to Project Schematic
Pane (See Figure 2):

Note that Fluid Flow (CFX) is an analogous program for

solving fluid problem using another solver namely CFX.
For KIL3002, Fluent will be used as the solver.
CONSTRUCT
FLUID/CALCULATION DOMAIN
DESIGN MODELER
Figure 1

1. In the properties, set the analysis type to 2D.

Right click on Geometry and click Properties.

On the right pane, select 2D for the Analysis Type (See Figure 1).

2. The DesignModeler package will be used to construct the

geometry:

Right click on Geometry.

Select New DesignModeler.
The DesignModeler window will pop out.
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER
FLUID DOMAIN

1. Press on any plane (e.g., XYplane) to view the Figure 1

coordinate system.

Try shifting to different planar views using the triad

at the right bottom of screen.

2. To sketch, click on XYPlane (Figure 1) to sketch

in the plane and create a new sketch by clicking
the icon at the toolbar menu.
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER
UNITS AND MODELING TOOLS
Figure 1

1. Under Units at the toolbar, choose

Figure 2
millimeter.

2. Click Sketching tab. Click Settings –

Grid – Tick Show in 2D. Change
major grid spacing to 5 mm. Then
from the toolbox, choose Draw and
Rectangle and draw in the Graphics
pane. Click generate.
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER Figure 1
DIMENSIONS
Figure 2
1. The sketching of the rectangle is shown in
Figure 1.

2. Expand Dimensions, select Horizontal or

Vertical to define the length and height. Click
the two points to set the dimensions. (Figure
Figure 3
2)

3. Assign dimensions of 10 mm for the length

and 1 mm for the height. (Figure 3)
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER
SURFACE FROM SKETCH
Figure 1

1. The sketches are just lines. Take note that

FLUENT compute the fluid domain and therefore
surface must be generated for fluid flow (volume Figure 2

for 3D).

2. Click Concept and select Surfaces from

Sketches. (Figure 1)

3. Under Details View, choose Sketch 1 (Figure 2) as

Base Objects and click Apply. Click Generate.
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER
SURFACE FROM SKETCH
The highlighted object (in grey) implies that a surface is generated to the sketch.
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER
NAMING THE BOUNDARY
Figure 2

Figure 1
1. Name the boundary after completing the fluid domain
sketching for convenience in defining the boundary
conditions.

2. Depending on the sketch, different tools (Figure 1) can

be used to select the point, edge, line or surface. In this
activity, for 2-D sketching, lines will be chosen and
named. Click the line selector and click on the line to be
named. Right click and select Named Selection (Figure
2).
GEOMETRY – DESIGN MODELER
NAMING THE BOUNDARY
Figure 1

1. Based on the Couette flow system, name the ‘Inlet’,

‘Outlet’, upper boundary as ‘Movingwall’ and bottom
boundary as ‘Stationarywall’.

2. Once completed, exit the DesignModeler window

and head back to the workbench.
MESHING Figure 2
GRID GENERATION

1. In the workbench, right click on Mesh and

Figure 1
select Update. (Figure 1)

2. Once it is updated, double click on Mesh to

launch the meshing window. (Figure 2)
MESHING Figure 3
GRID GENERATION Figure 1

1. The automatic mesh should appear (Figure 2).

To view the mesh, click Mesh on the left
Project pane (Figure 1).

Figure 2
2. The number of elements in the meshing can be
monitored in the left pane of Details of
“Mesh’’ under Statistics. (Figure 3)
 Figure 1
MESHING
MESH REFINEMENT

1. To perform uniform mesh refinement, go to Figure 2

Defaults and change the element size to 0.05 mm.

Click the Update or Generate icon to

Figure 3
generate the change. Check the number of
element to see the changes.
MESHING Figure 1

INFLATION – MESHING TECHNIQUE

1. To perform mesh refinement near the pipe wall,

mesh refinement tool called Inflation can be used.

2. Right click on Mesh in the left Project pane and

click Insert. Choose inflation.
 Figure 1
MESHING
INFLATION – MESHING TECHNIQUE

1. Select the surface as Geometry. (Figure 1)

Figure 2

2. Select the top and bottom (walls) as

Boundary.

Figure 3
3. Select the Inflation Option as Total
Thickness and input: (Figure 2)

• Number of layers = 10

• Growth rate = 1.2

• Total thickness = 0.05 mm

4. Click Update icon and the mesh look like in

Figure 3.
SOLVER
FLUENT SOLVER
Figure 1

Figure 2
1. Exit the Meshing window and return to workbench.

• Update Setup if necessary.

2. Double click on Solution. (Figure 1)

3. Beginning with the General setup, pressure-based

solver, absolute velocity formulation and planar 2D
Space will be the default. These are the commonly
used solver setting. For Couette flow, steady
simulation will be performed. Hence, select Steady
under the Time.

4. Click Check and Quality to check for errors.

SOLVER
MODELS
Figure 1

1. Double click on the Models on left pane. Laminar will be

the default. For Couette flow, the flow is assumed to be
laminar.

2. For simulation of turbulent flow, click Viscous and click

Edit, then select the turbulence model. Commonly used
turbulence model is the k-epsilon (2 Eqn) model.
 Figure 1
SOLVER
MATERIALS

1. Double click on the Materials on left pane. Then double

click on air under Fluid. Click Fluent Database.

2. Select the fluid type: Fluid in Couette flow example is

Figure 2
water.

• Choose water-liquid and click Copy.

SOLVER
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS Figure 1

1. Double click on the ‘Boundary Conditions’ on left pane. The named

boundary should appear in the boundary conditions list.

2. Double click on each of the boundary conditions to check or edit its

default setting. Change can also be made at the ‘Type’ scroll down
list. Set the boundary conditions as:

• Inlet: Pressure inlet.

• Outlet: Pressure outlet.

• Movingwall: Moving wall, Speed (m/s): 0.05

• Stationarywall: Stationary wall.

SOLVER
METHODS
Figure 1

1. Under the solution, double click on Methods.

2. Choose SIMPLE algorithm for Pressure-Velocity Coupling Scheme.

3. Choose Second Order Upwind for Momentum

4. Leave other setting as the default.

Notes

For a beginner simulator, the solution methods setting are based on

try and error. If required result are not achieved, the solution methods
setting can be modified again until the required solution are obtained.
SOLVER Figure 1
MONITORS

1. To set the convergence criteria, expand

Monitors and double click on Residual.
Figure 2

2. The convergence criteria for each equations can

be set. Set 0.000001 as the convergence criteria
for each equations. This is the commonly used
value.
 Figure 1
SOLVER
INITIALIZATION

1. An Initialization should be performed before

starting the calculation. Figure 2

2. Select Hybrid Initialization and click Initialize

(Figure 2). Any previous calculations (if any) will reset
and the new iteration will begin.
SOLVER
RUN CALCULATIONS Figure 1

1. To begin the calculation, click Run Calculation.

2. Set the Number of Iterations to be 1000. Take note that

this value vary depending on the system and flow cases.

3. Click Calculate to start the calculation/iteration. The

calculation will stop when all equations reached the
convergence criteria or when the number of iterations has
reached the set value (1000). Take note it is important to
meet the convergence criteria. Hence, if the convergence
criteria is not met at the set number of iterations, the
calculation can be repeated, and the number of iterations
can be increased.
POST PROCESSOR
Figure 1
PLOT VELOCITY PROFILE GRAPH

1. The simulation results can be plotted from the Fluent

solver. Click XY plot under results. (Figure 1) Figure 2

2. To plot the x-velocity vs the y-axis, follow the input

in Figure 2 and select outlet as the surface. (Figure 2)
POST PROCESSOR
PLOT VELOCITY PROFILE GRAPH

Figure 1

The velocity profile shows that the x-

velocity is increasing towards the top
in which the top wall is moving at
0.05 m/s.
POST PROCESSOR
VISUALIZE SIMULATION RESULTS

Figure 1
1. The post-processor in Figure 1 will be used to
visualized the results (vector plot) as it is more
sophisticated with more advanced visualization
tools. Double click on Results to launch the post-
processor.
POST PROCESSOR Notes
VISUALIZE VELOCITY VECTORS
Only vector component such as velocity can
be plotted using vector plot. For pressure
1. There are various tools to visualize the simulation results. which is not a vector, can be visualized using
contour plot.
Take note that 3D visualization is only applicable for 3D
simulation while animation is only applicable for Figure 1
transient simulation.

2. To plot the velocity vector, select the vector plot tool and
name the plot: Velocity vector.

3. Select the Locations as where do you want the see the vectors
and select Variable as Velocity. (Figure 1). Then click apply.
POST PROCESSOR
VISUALIZE VELOCITY VECTORS Figure 1

1. The vector plot will be be visualized. Take note that the

velocity magnitude is represented by the color and length
of the arrow. The velocity at the top layer is 0.05 m/s which
is equal to the velocity of the moving wall due to no slip
conditions.

2. Explore the Color, Symbol, Render and View tab to

modify the plot. Click Defaults if you need to reset the
setting.