Simulation of 3D Unsteady Multi-phase Flow

in Flushing process with fake poop of a

Siphonic Toilet
In order to predict the flush performances of siphonic toilet products before mass
production, a numerical simulation for a three-dimensional unsteady multi-phase flow
in the flushing process of a wash-down toilet is carried out by using FLUENT software.

The toilet usually consists of a water tank, a rim hole, a bowl, and a trap way. There
are two large flow paths in the toilet, which are channels for discharging water to the
rim hole through the rim and a channel for supplying water directly to the trap way
through the inverted U tube shape. Flow distribution through the two channels is a
very important factor determining the washing power of the bowl and the siphon.
When the flow rate through the rim is low or the water velocity is low, the cleaning
force of the bowl is lowered. On the other hand, when the flow rate to the bowl is
increased through the rim, it is difficult to satisfy the conditions for generating the
siphon effect on the trap way. Therefore, proper flow distribution between the two
channels of the toilet is important for optimizing the performance of the toilet.
A simple siphonic toilet

Solution

In order to predict the flush performances of siphonic toilet products before mass
production, a numerical simulation for a three-dimensional unsteady multi-phase flow
in the flushing process of a siphonic toilet is carried out by using the FLUENT software.

CAD geometry of a rim-jetted siphon bowl commercial toilet was processed and
simplified, then this geometry was appropriately discretized with ANSYS Meshing. It
was an unstructured tetrahedral mesh with a simple refinement close to the walls

The initial conditions were set similar to the normal operating conditions. The tank is
filled with water; while 0.8 liter of water partially fills the siphon and the bowl; the
remaining of the computational domain is filled with air. In the beginning, the water in
the tank flows freely to the bowl due to the gravity.

The flow inside a toilet was assumed to be a two-phase problem, air and water. The
gravitational effects are taken into account because of its importance in the operation
of the toilet. Both air and water were considered incompressible fluids. The Coriolis
phenomenon was not taken into account, it means that the toilet was located in a
position of latitude 0 degree. In this case, the flow inside a toilet was characterized in
order to obtain contours of pressure, the water volume of fraction and velocity fields.
Pressure contour on symmetry plane
Water volume fraction contour on symmetry plane
Velocity vector of air on symmetry plane

The biggest challenge is to simulate the behavior of fake poop in the toilet. We used a
combination of advanced solutions & solvers from Fluent: Dynamic Mesh or Overset
mesh, six Degree of Freedom (6DOF), User-Defined Function and Contact Detection.
Six degree of freedom (6DOF) solver computes external forces and moments (such as
aerodynamic and gravitational forces and moments) on objects that undergo rigid
body motion. Due to the complex motion of the fake poop, we need to use an UDF.
The UDF is written by the C programming language and using the
DEFINE_SDOF_PROPERTIES macro to determine the specific properties of moving
objects, including mass, moment and products of inertia.

When the water is flushed out, the fake poop will move along with the water. A
dynamic mesh solver is needed to represent the change of position of the fake poop
and it will contact with the siphon tube during movement. Contact detection solver is
used to detect if the computed mesh motion will result in contact with other
surrounding surfaces.

Customer Benefits

Reduced Cost - reduce the number of prototype before mass production

Improve reliability - the new design is tested to ensure reliable operation

Reduce time to market – shorten about 30% of the time of design and analysis
of products.