Mechanical Engineering Dept.

HITEC 1
A CFD analysis of flow around a disc

The 2014
conference of the
International
Sports Engineering
Association

2
Mechanical Engineering Dept. HITEC
 Objectives
Abstract.

 Introduction & Literature Review.
 Geometry with dimensions.

 Setup the CFD Problem.
 Meshing, No. of Cells,
 Grid Independence Study.

 What are the boundary conditions of the problem used in the simulation
model and why they were selected?

 What type of numerical models are used?

 What is the convergence criteria?

 Pressure and Velocity contours.
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 Briefly describe the parameters selected.


 Abstract

Frisbee utilise rotating disc projectiles.


 used ANSYS-Fluent 19.2
 The study initially compared experimental and CFD data of flow around a
simple non-rotating parametric disc, with a thickness
 to diameter ratio of 0.1.
 Aerodynamic coefficients and surface flow visualisations were compared.
 Three models within ANSYS-Fluent gave steady converged solutions;
 Unrealistic aerodynamic coefficients and was discounted.
 Simulating the flow around a disc .
 Mostly due to its more accurate simulations of the parametric disc. The results
were used to further examine the flow.

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 Introduction & Literature Review

Rotating disc projectiles are utilised in a number of sports including, discus, disc golf
and ultimate Frisbee.

 These projectiles rely on their aerodynamic characteristics and an applied spin rate
to achieve a stabilised flight path.
 A variety of disc profiles are used in these sporting applications, particularly so in
disc golf, where during one game the competitor can use multiple discs in three
distinct styles.
 exploring the influence of geometrical variations on the disc’s aerodynamic
characteristics.
 This work aims to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS-Fluent,
alongside experimental data, to examine the flow over a disc.

 The comparison was used to determine the most suitable ANSYS-Fluent CFD model
for the analysis of disc aerodynamics.
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 Introduction & Literature Review

 The first of the two discs is a simple parametric geometry, with the thickness to
diameter ratio (t/d) of 0.1.
 Despite all sporting disc projectiles stabilising in flight due to an imparted spin
rate, previous experimental studies have first examined non-rotating discs before
considering the rotating case.
 This study will also examine non-rotating discs with the broader aim of continuing
to the rotating case in future.

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 Geometry

 The geometry of the simple parametric disc was created within pre-
processing software Gambit.
 The thickness
 of the disc, t, was 0.02 m and the diameter, d, 0.2 m, giving a t/d of 0.1.
 The cross-section of the Floater disc is shown in Fig.

200 mm

20 mm
It is considered in 2d as per paper and its t/d = 0.1...

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 Setup the CFD Problem

 2D compressible Flow
 Modelling
 Transient Flow

 Solver: 2D Density Based
 Viscous Flow
 CFD
 Model: k-€ (two-equation) model was used

 Fluid: air, ideal gas
 The standard k-€ model was the most suitable for the aerodynamic
study of sports Frisbee

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 Mesh generation

 The mesh generation process was identical for both the parametric and
Floater disc.
 The pre-processing software was used to create a flow domain and apply the
initial boundary mesh.
 The disc was placed 1.5 m from the inlet of a domain, 1 m x 1.4 m x 5 m,
see Fig. 2.
 A structured boundary mesh was applied to the disc and domain with a
0.001 m and 0.08 m node spacing, respectively.

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 Continued...
Mesh refinement level 2

NODES = 130116
Improving poor quality cells.
QUADS = 129112
Considering worst 0.100000% of cells.
 Identified 16190 cell(s) (out of 32278), 50.158002%, with orthogonal quality below 0.999512
 Mesh Quality: Minimum Orthogonal Quality = 9.99998e-01 cell 11164 on zone 8 (ID: 11165 on
partition: 0) at location ( 1.50000e+00 5.10003e-01)
 Maximum Aspect Ratio = 7.86992e+03 cell 5823 on zone 8 (ID: 5824 on partition: 0) at
location ( 3.73821e-01 5.10003e-01)
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 Continued...

Mesh refinement level 3

NODES = 292008
QUADS = 290502

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 Continued....
Mesh refinement level 4

NODES = 518456
Mesh Quality: QUADS = 516448
Minimum Orthogonal Quality = 9.99971e-01 cell 178624 on zone 8 (ID: 178625 on partition: 0) at
location ( 1.50000e+00 5.10001e-01)
Maximum Aspect Ratio
= 7.86992e+03 cell 96307 on zone 8 (ID: 96308 on partition: 0) at location ( 5.16463e-01
5.10004e-01)
Improving poor quality cells.
Considering worst 0.100000% of cells.
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Identified 235451 cell(s) (out of 516448), 45.590456%, with orthogonal quality below 0.999512.
 Simulation

 Simulations were run on ANSYS-Fluent 19.2.

 Inlet velocity was 27.5 ms-1
 Hydraulic diameter (0.1 m), to correspond as closely as possible with the experimental
conditions.
 Simulations were run with a variety of steady models and near wall treatments.

 Second-order descritization was used.
 Convergence was monitored by examining the residuals as well as force on the disc and
flow velocity at 3 downstream points. The simulations were deemed converged when the
residuals were sufficiently reduced and stable and the force and velocity monitors were
stable.

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 Numerical model

 Pressure velocity logarithm:

Numerical simulations were performed on ansys 19.2 were simple pressure-
velocity algorithm was obtained

 Cfd scheme used:

First order UDS was used because the of low computational power of my pc

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 Convergence

 I have given the 2000 itrations

 The convergence was achieved at 1100 itrations

 10-4 was used for x axis

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 Pressure and velocity contours

Velocity contour...

Pressure contour...

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 Parameters selected
 Thickness to diameter ratio
 Attack angle of 0 degrees
 front view was examined
 Frisbee is diametric shape and to convert it into 2d a rectangular shape was
achieved
 structured mesh was constructed for the rectangular shape

 Velocity was given from inlet at 27.5 m/s

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 Results and discussion
 A variety of steady models were studied at a range of angle of attack, 0.
 The standard k-€ ,realise k-€ and standard k-w
 models were robust, resulting in consistent and converged simulations.
 The SST k-w and the Reynolds Stress Model would converge satisfactorily, and
were included in the study.
 The Reynolds Stress Model is very sensitive to mesh construction and is best suited
to fully structured meshes,
 The problems encountered with the SST k-w model would suggest it was predicting
strong separation and unsteady flow.
 Further comparison between experiment and CFD was also made for the 0 angle
of attack case by looking at the flow on the disc surface.
The lack of a direct experimental comparison for the Floater disc means that the choice of the
most suitable turbulence model for a CFD study of disc aerodynamics is mostly governed by the
results for the parametric disc.
 The conclusion is therefore that the k-€ is most suitable for this and future CFD studies.

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 Continued...
Results

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 Continued...

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 Continued...

This shows that even at 0 degree the pressure at the end of upper side is more
that will help in giving the Frisbee longer flight time
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  The study shows that CFD can be used as a tool for examining flow over sports disc
projectiles.
 It has also shown the importance of comparing experimental data, theoretical
understanding and CFD results in order to ensure the most suitable CFD model is chosen
 It was found that the standard k-€

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