KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

School of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchok

MEEG 458: Computational Fluid Dynamics

Assignment IV: Cool Poster Challenge

Flow around a bluff body

Submitted to
Dr. Sailesh Chitrakar
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kathmandu University

Submitted by
Balkrishna Chaudhary Exam Roll No.: 41155
Sabal Panthee Exam Roll No: 41165
Mechanical Engineering (Hydropower)
Flow around bluff body:

ANSYS CFX has been used for flow analysis through bluff body. Geometric design has been done
using SOLIDWORK. A closed domain has been design with dimension 45× 15×10 m. A bluff
body has been assumed inside the domain. The geometry is then imported in ANSYS geometry
and meshing has been done using ANSYS mesh with number of nodes 16177 and number of
elements 61575.

Streamline flow with velocity distribution and pressure distribution has been visualized. Transient
flow has been used with total time of 3 sec and time steps of 0.003 sec. The closed loop of iteration
used is 1-5. The boundary conditions that are assumed to solve the solution are:

Inlet velocity: 5𝑚⁄𝑠

Outlet pressure: 1 atm

Fluid: Air at 25℃

 Figure 1 Streamline flow through bluff body
Figure 1 shows the streamline flow of air through bluff body where velocity changes according to
different locations around the body. The initial velocity is considered to be 5 m/s from the inlet of
domain. When air comes nearer to the body, flow seperation starts and then change in velocity is
seen. At the middle of bluff body, the velocity decreases to very lower value and at the edge the
velocity shown is maximum. Due to the presence of closed domain, it is shows that the upper and
lower region of bluff body has increased velocity. The formation of wake zone is seen and the flow
is seperated in figure 1. For the sharp edge bluff body, the seperation depends on sharp edge of
body. The wake zone then starts forming bigger as the time passes. This generates a drag force on
body. The velocity again starts decreasing when the air cross the body. The geometry of bluff body
plays a role for optimization of drag force.

Figure 2 Pressure distribution through bluff body

The pressure distribution through bluff body has been shown in figure 2. It is clear that air flows
from high pressure to low pressure zone. The front part of bluff body faces higher air pressure. At
the blockage part of bluff body, it faces very high pressure that is 101354.438 pa as shown in
figure 2. The upper and lower part of body faces low pressure nearly about 101292.203 pa
(average). The edge region faces very low pressure. As air crosses the body, it regains some
pressure but low as compared to pressure at initial region around body.

Conclusion: The flow analysis through a body using ANSYS can provide the actual phenomenon
of flow with visualization and calculation. The pressure and velocity distribution through the body
has been calculated with streamline flow visualization of air through bluff body.