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Computational Methods - CFD Lecture 1

The document discusses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the process of creating meshes for CFD simulations. It defines CFD as using numerical methods to solve equations governing fluid flow, heat transfer, and related phenomena. It describes the importance of generating high-quality structured and unstructured meshes that properly resolve boundary layers and capture important flow features for accurate CFD results. Guidelines are provided for mesh density, quality, boundary layer meshing, and general meshing best practices.

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Morteza Khashehchi
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43 views31 pages

Computational Methods - CFD Lecture 1

The document discusses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the process of creating meshes for CFD simulations. It defines CFD as using numerical methods to solve equations governing fluid flow, heat transfer, and related phenomena. It describes the importance of generating high-quality structured and unstructured meshes that properly resolve boundary layers and capture important flow features for accurate CFD results. Guidelines are provided for mesh density, quality, boundary layer meshing, and general meshing best practices.

Uploaded by

Morteza Khashehchi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Presented

by
Dr Ceri
Computational Methods -
Morris Week 6

What is CFD?

2020
What is a computational model?
Mathematical representation of a real life system, that is able to
predict, mimic, or imitate the behaviour of the system within a
set of prescribed boundary conditions
Types of Computational Models

Structural Mechanics - FEA Fluid-Structure Interaction - FSI Fluid Dynamics - CFD

Bridge Tidal Stream Turbine Cyclist


Multiphysics
What is computational fluid dynamics?
• Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is the science of predicting fluid
flow, heat transfer, mass transfer, chemical reactions, and related
phenomena by solving the mathematical equations which govern
these processes using a numerical process

• The result of CFD analyses is relevant engineering data used in:


• Studies of new designs
• Detailed product development
• Troubleshooting
• Redesign

• CFD complements testing and experimentation


Advantages of CFD
• Relatively low cost
• Relatively inexpensive compared to experimental testing
• Time
• Can be set up in a short period of time compared to
experimental testing
• Ability to simulate real conditions
• Many flow and heat transfer processes can not be (easily)
tested, e.g. hypersonic flow, large scales,
• Ability to simulate ideal conditions
• CFD allows great control over the physical process
• Comprehensive information
• Provides a lot of useful information about the flow
Limitations of CFD
• Physical models
• Can only be as accurate as the physical models on which they
are based
• Numerical errors
• Round-off error: finite word size available on the computer
• Truncation error: approximations in numerical models
Truncation errors decrease as grid is refined
• Boundary conditions
• Accuracy is only as good as the initial/boundary conditions
• Time
• Complex models can take a long time to run
• Validation
• Always up to the user to validate results, hence accuracy is
dependent on expertise
Presented
by
Dr Ceri
Computational Methods -
Morris Week 6

Creating the Geometry

2020
Creating Geometry
• Internal Flow
• e.g. flow in a pipe or duct

• Open Channel Flow


• e.g. flow in a river or irrigation
channel

• External Flow
• e.g. flow around a vehicle or
building
Creating Geometry
• Only need the fluid not any solid parts
Internal flow
• don’t need pipe/duct
thickness

Open channel flow


• need geometry for two
fluid phases

External flow
• need to subtract object of
interest from domain
Geometry Considerations
• Are there any problems with the CAD drawing?
• Gaps between surfaces or edges
• Intersecting surfaces/edges
which should be joined
• Excessive use of points, lines or
surfaces
• Inconsistent orientation
• Surface bodies which should be
volumes
• Wrong shape
Geometry Considerations
• Can the geometry be simplified?
• Small unnecessary details
• 3D/2D
• Symmetry
• Very sharp edges rounded
Geometry Considerations
• Geometry must represent fluid region
• For external flows, the geometry of the object is removed
from the flow domain
• Domain must be large enough to prevent blockage/flow
acceleration
Presented
by
Dr Ceri
Computational Methods -
Morris Week 6

Meshing the Geometry

2020
Meshing
• What is a mesh?
• Control volumes (cells or elements) the domain is split into to
calculate the solution
• One value of each variable for each cell
• Has cells grouped into boundary zones where boundary
conditions are applied

• The mesh has a significant impact on:


• Rate of convergence (or even lack of convergence)
• Solution accuracy
• CPU time required
Terminology
• Cell = control volume into which
domain is broken up
• Node = grid point
• Cell center = center of a cell
• Edge = boundary of a face
• Face = boundary of a cell
• Zone = grouping of nodes, faces,
and cells:
• Wall boundary zone.
• Fluid cell zone
• Domain = group of node, face
and cell zones
Cell/Element shapes

Choice depends on the problem and the CFD solver capabilities


Structured mesh
• Follows a structured i,j (2D) or i,j,k
convention (3D)

• Normally quadrilateral elements (2D) or


hexahedral elements (3D)

• A structured mesh makes writing a CFD code


simpler and can be efficient with memory

• Difficult to conform it to complex shapes


Unstructured mesh
• Elements are not aligned in a regular
fashion, but irregularly across the
domain.

• Indices i,j,k are replaced by node Unstructured Triangular 2D mesh


numbers.

• Unstructured meshes can model complex


and irregular domains often encountered
when solving real world problems

3D unstructured Tetrahedral mesh


Unstructured mesh
• For unstructured grids:
• The cells are arranged in an arbitrary fashion
• No constraints on cell layout
• There is some memory and CPU overhead

Ansys Workbench can produce unstructured meshes


Mesh Density
• Mesh density should be high enough to capture all relevant flow
features, e.g. near boundaries, separated flow regions, wakes
• To ensure the CFD results are mesh independent, the mesh density
should be increased until the changes in the results are negligible
Mesh Density

• If mesh is not fine enough some


important details could be missed

• Mesh does not need to be the


same density throughout the
domain
Mesh Quality
• For the same cell count, hexahedral meshes will
give more accurate solutions

• In boundary layers: quad, hex, and prism/wedge


cells are preferred over tri’s, tets, or pyramids.

• Some measures of quality:


o Skewness
o Smoothness (change in size)
o Aspect ratio
Skewness
• Based on equilateral volume:

• Above definition applies to tris and tets only

• Other definitions of skewness exist

Range of skewness
Smoothness and aspect ratio
• Change in size should be gradual (smooth)

• Aspect ratio = ratio of the largest edge length to the shortest


edge. Ideal = 1 for an equilateral triangle/quad

Ideally, the maximum change in


grid spacing should be <20%
Mesh Quality Analysis in Ansys

• Shows number of cells against a quality measure (mesh metrics)


• E.g. Skewness, orthogonal quality…
• Ideal value is either 0 or 1
• Clicking on each bar displays cells with selected metric value in
Graphics window
Boundary layer mesh
• For flows over walls/solid surfaces, there is always a thin
boundary layer that develops over the body surface as a result
of fluid flow.

• The velocity changes from its value outside the boundary layer
to zero at the wall; so very large changes in ∂u/ ∂y

• To capture the boundary layer near the wall we usually employ


a finer mesh close to boundaries to capture the large changes in
velocity gradients
y u(y)

Solid surface
Boundary layer meshes

Road car

2D wing (aerofoil)

Aircraft body

Pipe/channel

Inside the boundary layer, viscous effects are important, whereas


outside of it such effects are negligible. Cells outside boundary layer can
be larger; this is OK as no significant flow changes/gradients occurring.
Some Ansys Global Mesh Controls
• Sizing
o Max / Min size
- Controls minimum and maximum cell size
o Max face size
- Controls maximum size of cell faces on surfaces
o Growth Rate
- Controls increase in edge length from one cell to the next
• Advanced size Function
o Curvature
- Alters cell density based on curvature of edges/faces
o Proximity
- Alters cell density based on distance
- between two edges/faces
• Defeaturing - Removes details smaller than a set tolerance
Some Ansys Local Mesh Controls

• Body sizing

• Face sizing

• Edge sizing
o Element size / Number of divisions
o Bias
Inflation
• If global settings used, all boundaries are inflated
• If local settings, only specified boundary

• Layer of structured cells (usually in a boundary layer)


Some meshing tips
• How many mesh points to use? As few as possible that do the job. There
should be sufficient number of mesh points to show all the flow features.

• Although improvements have been made in the automatic production of


meshes, the human still guides the process and judges the result.

• Good news! There are grid adaptation algorithms. You provide a starter mesh
and then as the run proceeds the CFD package alters the mesh by adding (or
removing) and moving cells to obtain a better result.

• Bad news – grid adaptation algorithms can be difficult to use

• Try to show that your results are independent of mesh size (grid
independence).
General points
• More cells can give higher accuracy, but increased memory/CPU time. Is it worth
it?

• Only cluster high number of cells where needed, e.g. near boundaries, in wakes..…

• Some major sources of errors with meshes:


• Mesh too coarse
• High skewness
• Large jumps in volumes between adjacent cells
• Large aspect ratios
• Inadequate boundary layer mesh

• When a mesh has been created, the boundaries need to be identified so boundary
conditions can later be specified. In Ansys meshing this is done by creating Named
Selections.

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