Introduction to CFD

Computational Fluid Dynamics

CFD is the science of predicting fluid flow, heat and mass

transfer, chemical reactions and related phenomena by solving
numerically the set of mathematical equations:
conservation mass
conservation of momentum
conservation of energy
conservation of species
Then…
From the mid 1970s,the complex mathematics required to
generalize the algorithms began to understood.

CFD solvers began to appear In the early 1980s and required

very powerful computers, as well as in-depth knowledge of fluid
dynamics, and large amounts of time to set up simulations.

Recent advances in computing power, together with powerful

graphics results much less labour,reducing time and hence, cost
Now…
Computational Fluid Dynamics is an industrial design
tool ,helping to reduce design time scales and improve
processes throughout the engineering world.

CFD provides cost effective and accurate alternate to

scale model testing, with variations in the simulations
performed quickly.
Properties of Fluids
Density
Viscosity
Temperature
Pressure
Specific volume
Specific weight
Specific gravity
 Density
Density is the mass per unit volume of a fluid. In other
words, it is the ratio between mass (m) and volume (V)
of a fluid.
Density is denoted by the symbol ‘ρ’. Its unit is kg/m3.

In general, density of a fluid decreases with increase in

temperature. It increases with increase in pressure.
The ideal gas equation is given by:

The above equation is used to find the density of any fluid, if the pressure (P)
and temperature (T) are known.

Note: The density of standard liquid (water) is 1000 kg/m3.

 Viscosity
Viscosity is the fluid property that determines the
amount of resistance of the fluid to shear stress. It is
the property of the fluid due to which the fluid offers
resistance to flow of one layer of the fluid over another
adjacent layer.

In a liquid, viscosity decreases with increase in

temperature. In a gas, viscosity increases with increase
in temperature.
 Temperature:
It is the property that determines the degree of hotness
or coldness or the level of heat intensity of a fluid.
Temperature is measured by using temperature
scales.There are 3 commonly used temperature scales.
They are
Celsius (or centigrade) scale
Fahrenheit scale
Kelvin scale (or absolute temperature scale)
 Pressure

Pressure of a fluid is the force per unit area of the

fluid. In other words, it is the ratio of force on a fluid to
the area of the fluid held perpendicular to the
direction of the force.
Pressure is denoted by the letter ‘P’. Its unit is N/m2
 Specific Weight:
Specific weight is the weight possessed by unit volume
of a fluid. It is denoted by ‘w’. Its unit is N/m3.
Specific weight varies from place to place due to the
change of acceleration due to gravity (g).
 Specific Volume
Specific volume is the volume of a fluid (V) occupied
per unit mass (m). It is the reciprocal of density.
Specific volume is denoted by the symbol ‘v’. Its unit is
m3/kg.
 Specific Gravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of specific weight of the
given fluid to the specific weight of standard fluid. It is
denoted by the letter ‘S’. It has no unit.
Applications…
Automobile
Aerospace
Marine
Biomedical
Military
Civil
Chemical
ANSYS Fluent
ANSYS Fluent is the state of the art computer program for
modeling fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical reactions in
complex geometries.
ANSYS FLUENT provides complete mesh flexibility, including
the ability to solve your flow problems using unstructured
meshes that can be generated about complex geometries with
relative ease.
Supported mesh types include 2D triangular/quadrilateral, 3D
tetrahedral/hexahedral/pyramid/wedge/polyhedral, and mixed
(hybrid) meshes.
CFD Methodology
CFD can be used to determine the performance of a component at
design stage, or it can be used to analyze difficulties with using
an existing component and leads to its improved design.
The process of performing CFD simulation is split into four
stages:
 Creating the geometry/mesh
 Defining the physics of the model
 Solving the CFD problem
 Visualizing the results
Planning CFD analysis with
FLUENT
 Define the modelling goals.
 Create the model geometry and mesh.
 Set up the solver and physical models.
 Compute and monitor the solution.
 Examine and save the results.
 Revise the model
Define the modeling goals
 What results are you looking for, and how will they be
used?
 What are your modelling options?
 What physical models will need to be included in your
analysis?
 What simplifying assumptions do you have to make?
 What degree of accuracy is required?
 How quickly do you need the results?
Create the model geometry and
mesh
Set up the solver and physical
models
 Define material properties
Fluid
Solid
Mixture
 Prescribe operating conditions.
 Prescribe boundary conditions at all boundary zones.
 Provide an initial solution.
 Set up solver controls.
 Set up convergence monitors.
 Initialize the flow field.
Compute and monitor the solution
 Number of iterations are usually required to reach a
converged solution.
 Convergence is reached when:
Changes in solution variables from one iteration to the
next are negligible.
 Residuals provide a mechanism to help monitor this trend
 The accuracy of a converged solution is dependent upon:
Appropriateness and accuracy of physical models.
Mesh resolution and independence.
Problem setup.
Examine and save the results
Visualization tools can be used to answer such questions
as:
 What is the overall flow pattern?
 Is there separation?
 Where do shocks, shear layers, and so on form?
Numerical reporting tools can be used to calculate the
following quantitative results:
 Forces and moments
 Average heat transfer coefficients
 Surface and volume integrated quantities