TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
PULCHOWK CAMPUS

A
Report on
Introduction to CFD using ANSYS

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Onyx Dhakal Neeraj Adhikari
076BME026 Department of Mechanical
Engineering
Introduction:

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
governing mathematical equations.

 Conservation of mass
 Conservation of momentum
 Conservation of energy
 Conservation of species
 Effects of body forces

The results of CFD analyses are relevant in:

 Conceptual studies of new designs

 Detailed product development
 Troubleshooting
 Redesign

For this report, we are using ANSYS Fluent to perform fluid simulations and to obtain the
results.
Q1. Visit the following web site and download ANSYS Student 2019 R2 and install it on
your own computer.
 I have downloaded the latest version of ANSYS which at this time is 2021 R2 by following
the link given in the exercise_1.pdf file.

Q2. Download the first ANSYS Fluent tutorial from Google Classroom (Code) and study
it carefully. If there are any unclear parts, steps that you could not follow, steps in
which ANSYS did not behave in the way described in the tutorial or if you notice any
mistakes or typos, take notes about them and submit them as an answer to this
question.
 Everything was clear and I did not notice any mistakes

Q3.
A. Solve the tutorial problem using air with the following properties defined in
Fluent’s database 𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 1.225 kg/m3, 𝜇𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 1.7894 × 10−5 Pa⋅s
 Using 𝐻 = 0.1 m, determine 𝑈𝑖𝑛 that will give 𝑅𝑒 = 25.
 Provide the graph showing the pressure variation along the channel
centerline. Calculate the dimensional Δ𝑝.
 Calculate the non-dimensional Δ𝑝∗ and check whether it matches with the
one calculated above.

 Given,
Density (ρ𝑎𝑖𝑟) = 1.225 kg/m3
Viscosity (μ𝑎𝑖𝑟) = 1.7894 X 10-4 Pa.s
Channel height(H) = 0.1m
Reynolds number (Re) = 25
Inlet velocity(𝑈𝑖𝑛) = ?
Rearranging the formula to calculate Reynold’s number, we get,
ℜ∗μ
𝑈𝑖𝑛 =
ρ∗H
Putting the given values in the above equation,
 𝑈𝑖𝑛 = 3.651*10-3m/s

From ANSYS fluent, graph of static pressure versus position is given as:

Δ𝑝 ≈ 8.1 × 10-5 Pa
(−5 )
Δp 8.1× 10
Δ𝑝* = 2 = = 9.915
( ρ ×(Uin) )/2 (1.225 ×0.003652 )/2

The value of Δ𝑝* is similar to the value we obtained in tutorial 1.

B. This time use glycerin (a very viscous liquid) with the following properties
defined in Fluent’s database 𝜌𝑔𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛 = 1259.9 kg/m3, 𝜇𝑔𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛 = 0.799 Pa⋅s
  Using 𝐻 = 0.1 m, determine 𝑈𝑖𝑛 that will give 𝑅𝑒 = 25.
 Provide the graph showing the pressure variation along the channel
centerline. Calculate the dimensional Δ𝑝.
 Calculate the non-dimensional Δ𝑝* and check whether it matches with
the one calculated above.

 Given,
Density (𝜌𝑔𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛) = 1259.9 kg/m3
Viscosity (𝜇𝑔𝑙𝑦𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛) = 0.799 Pa.s
Channel height(H) = 0.1 m
Reynolds number (Re) = 25
Inlet velocity(𝑈𝑖𝑛) = ?
Rearranging the formula to calculate Reynold’s number, we get,
ℜ∗μ
𝑈𝑖𝑛 =
ρ∗H
Putting the given values in the above equation,
𝑈𝑖𝑛 = 0.1585 m/s

From ANSYS fluent, graph of static pressure versus position is given as:
 Δ𝑝 ≈ 1.58 × 102 Pa
Δp 1.58 ×10(2)
Δ𝑝* = 2 = = 9.98
( ρ ×(Uin) )/2 (1259.9 ×0.15852 )/2

The value of Δ𝑝* is similar to the value we obtained in tutorial 1.

C. Comment of your findings. What is the advantage of using nondimensional

parameters instead of dimensional ones?
 The advantages of using nondimensional parameters instead of dimensional
ones is that they allow scientists/engineers to reduce the number of experiments
required to explore a given phenomenon and they provide scaling laws allowing
experiments to be performed on small, cheap scale models which can then be
extended to full-size applications.

D. Why is similitude and dimensional analysis more critical for experimental

studies compared to CFD simulations?
 Dimensional analysis is a method for reducing the number and complexity of
experimental variables that affect a given physical phenomena. It is very useful
for planning, presentation, and interpretation of experimental data.
Similitude can be used to predict the performance of a new design based on data
from an existing, similar design.
Q4. Let’s add a second inlet to the channel problem of the first tutorial as follows.

The 2-D geometry as shown above was generated and quadrilateral mesh was formed out of
the geometry and using fluent various graphs were plotted.

 Contour plot of velocity magnitude. Discuss the flow physics you see in the plot
  After observing, velocity of down inlet was fond greater than the left inlet. After mixing
the fluid velocity attains maximum value and then decreases gradually. The velocity near
the walls is lower than at the center.

 Contour plot of the static pressure. Discuss the flow physics you see in the plot.

 Using the color index which is located to the left of contour plot of static pressure, we
can observe that the pressure at the bottom inlet is higher than at the top inlet. In fact,
the pressure at the walls of second inlet is maximum and the outlet pressure seems to
be decreasing than the inlet pressure.
•Contour plot of the stream function. What information does this plot tell us?

 This plot gives us the volumetric flow rate of fluid along the channel.

 𝑢 velocity plot along the main channel centerline. Discuss what happens physically in
different parts of the plot.

 From this graph, we see that the velocity of the fluid at the left inlet is about 0.025m/s
which gradually increases after it meets the fluid from bottom inlet and its velocity
increases to a maximum of about 0.145m/s and becomes stable at a velocity of about
0.11m/s.
•Pressure plot along the main channel centerline. Discuss what happens physically in
different parts of the plot.

 The static pressure at the beginning is the highest and goes on decreasing until its value
reaches zero at the outlet. As the fluid flows along the channel, the pressure decreases
until the fluid from the primary channel encounters the fluid from bottom channel.
From the graph we can see that there is a slight increase in pressure when the fluids
from both of those channels meet and again the static pressure goes on decreasing until
it reaches a minimum value at the outlet.
•𝑢 profile plot at the outlet. What is the maximum speed? What should be the maximum
speed of the analytical fully developed profile?

 The maximum speed at outlet is 0.113m/s and it occurs at the middle of the outlet.