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Problem Specification
1. Pre-Analysis & Start-Up
2. Geometry
3. Mesh
4. Setup (Physics)
5. Solution
6. Results
7. Verification and Validation
Exercises
Problem Specification
Consider a fluid flowing across a flat plate, as illustrated above. Obtain the velocity and pressure distribution when the Reynolds
number based on the plate length is 10,000. This Reynolds number is obtained by using the following settings. The plate length is 1
m. The incoming fluid is flowing in the x-direction with a velocity of 1 m/s. The density of the fluid is 1 kg/m^3 and the viscosity is 1 x 10
^(-4) kg/(m-s). Note that these values are not necessarily physical. They have been picked to yield the desired Reynolds number.
Check your results by comparing the velocity and pressure distribution with classical boundary layer theory.
Go to Step 1: Pre-Analysis and Start-up
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When x = L,
= 0.05m. The height of the domain will be set to ten times the boundary layer thickness. Thus, the height of the
boundary will be set to 0.5m. The following figure shows the dimensions of the domain, and the boundary labels which will be used to
set the boundary conditions.
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FLUENT - Flat Plate Boundary Layer - Pre-Analysis & Start-Up - Simulation - Confluence
S t a r t >
A l l
P r o g r a m s >
06-08-2012
A n s y s
1 2 . 1 >
W o r k b e n c h
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2. Geometry
3. Mesh
4. Setup (Physics)
5. Solution
6. Results
7. Verification and Validation
Exercises
Step 2: Geometry
Care to skip the geometry and meshing steps? README
If you would prefer to skip the geometry and mesh steps, then you can download the necessary files here. Download
the "zip" file, then extract the files to your working directory. In order to load the necessary files, go to the
W o r k b e n c h ,Pthen
r (o Cj le i c ct k )P aF g i el e
>
O p e n. Lastly,
> click
" Fhere
l to
a skip
t P l a t e F l o
ahead to Step 4 of the tutorial.
Saving
It would be of best interest, to save the project at this point. Click on the "Save As.." button,
, which is located on the top of
the W o r k b e n c h .PSave
r othej project
e c as
t "FlatPlateFlow"
P a g e in your working directory. When you save in ANSYS a file and
a folder will be created. For instance if you save as "FlatPlateFlow", a "FlatPlateFlow" file and a folder called "FlatPlateFlow_files"
will appear. In order to reopen the ANSYS files in the future you will need both the ".wbpj" file and the folder. If you do not have BOTH,
you will NOT be able to access your project.
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Since we selected Fluid Flow(FLUENT), each cell of the system corresponds to a step in the process of performing CFD analysis
using FLUENT. Rename the project to "FlatPlate". We will work through each step from top down to obtain the solution to our
problem.
Analysis Type
In the P r o j e c t
Sof the
c hWorkbench
e m a window,
t i c right click on G e o m and
e tselect
r y P r o p e, asr shown
t i ebelow.
s
The properties menu will then appear to the right of the Workbench window. Under A d v a n c e
A n a l y s to
i 2D
s asTshown
y p inethe image below.
G e o ,m
change
e t the
r y
O p t
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In the P r o j e c t ,Sdouble
c h click
e mon aG te i oc m toe start
t rpreparing
y
the geometry. At this point, a new window, ANSYS
Design Modeler will be opened. You will be asked to select desired length unit. Use the default meter unit and click O K.
Creating a Sketch
Dimensions
At this point the rectangle will be properly dimensioned. Under S k e t c h i n g , select
T oDo i l mb eo nx tab,
se i use
s o the
n default
s
dimensioning tools. Dimension the geometry as shown in the following image.
) C o n c e p t
https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/SIMULATION/FLUENT+-+Flat+Plate+Boundary+Layer+-+Geometry
>
S
as shown
u r f inathecimage
e
below.
F r o m
S k e t c
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O. Finally,
b j eclick
c tG se n e r a t e
.PSave
r oyour
j work
e c thus
t far
P inatheg e
Go to Step 3: Mesh
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3. Mesh
4. Setup (Physics)
5. Solution
6. Results
7. Verification and Validation
Exercises
Step 3: Mesh
In this section the geometry will be meshed with 3000 elements. That is, the field will be divided into 50 elements in the x direction and
60 elements in the y direction.
Launch Mesher
In order to begin the meshing process, go to the W o r k b e n c h
,Pthen
r (o Dj o
e cu tb l Pe a g
C. el i c k )
M e s h
Default Mesh
In this section the default mesh will be generated. In order to generate the default mesh first click on M e ,sthen
h click on U p d as
a t e
shown in the image below.
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C o n t
Edge Sizing
The desired mesh has a specific number of divisions in the x direction and a specific number of divisions in the y direction. In order to
obtain the specified number of divisions E d g e
must
S i be
z iused.
n gThe divisions in the x direction will be specified first. Now, an
E d g e
needs
S i ztoi ben inserted.
g
First, ( C l i c k )
M e s h as
C shown
o n below.
t r o l
>
S i z i n g
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o f as shown
D i vin the
i simage
i o below.
n s
o f to 50Dasi shown
v i sbelow.
i o n s
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At this point, the edge sizing in the the y direction will be specified. Follow the same procedure as for the edge sizing in the x
direction, except select only the left side instead of the top and bottom and set the number of divisions to 60. Remember to set the
B e h a tov Hi ao . rThen,
r d click U p d to
a generate
t e
the mesh with the new specifications. You should obtain the following mesh.
Fto 70
a as
c shown
t o r below. The B i a s
https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/SIMULATION/FLUENT+-+Flat+Plate+Boundary+Layer+-+Mesh
Fis defined
a c t inothis
r case to be the ratio of the longest division and
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the shortest division. That is, the last division will be seventy times longer than the length of the first division.
Now, the biasing needs to be specified for the right side of the geometry. In order to incorporate the biasing on the right side a new
E d g e
needs
S i ztoi ben implemented.
g
First, ( C l i c k )
M e s h . Then,
C o select
n t and
r o apply
l the
> leftSside
i zof ithen g
geometry. Then, change T y pto N
e u m b e r
o f and Dset iN v ui m
s ib oe nr s o f to 60.
D Next,
i v set
i sB i e oh na stov Hi ao rr d
and set B i a s toTtheysecond
p e option, as shown below.
Fto 70.
a cLastly,
t o click
r U p d to
a generate
t e
the new mesh. You should obtain the following mesh.
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N a m . eEnter
d "inlet"
S eandl click
e c Ot K
i, as
o shown
n
below.
Now, create named selections for the remaining three sides and name them according to the diagram. Once you have created all four
named selections, expand N a m e d
S eandl you
e cshould
t i see
o nthes four named selections, as shown below.
P
andr click
o jthee Uc pt d Pa at eg e P r o
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4. Setup (Physics)
5. Solution
6. Results
7. Verification and Validation
Exercises
Useful Information
Click here for the FLUENT 6.3.26 version.
Launch Fluent
Double click on S e t inuthep W o r k b e n c h
P
which
r owillj bring
e cupt the F
P L
a gU eE N T
L. When
a u the
n Fc Lh Ue rE N T
L a u n appears
c h e change
r
the options to "Double Precision", and then click O Kas shown below.The Double Precision option is
used to select the double-precision solver. In the double-precision solver, each floating point number is represented using 64 bits in
contrast to the single-precision solver which uses 32 bits. The extra bits increase not only the precision, but also the range of
magnitudes that can be represented. The downside of using double precision is that it requires more memory.
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The mesh that was created earlier has 3,000 elements(50 x 60). Note that in FLUENT elements are called cells. The output states
that there are 3,000 cells, which is a good sign. Next, FLUENT will be asked to check the mesh for errors. In order to carry out the
mesh checking procedure ( C l i c k )
M eassshown
h in> the image
C h ebelow.
c k
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Dwindow
i s pto lopen,
a yas shown below. Note that the N a m e d
S ecreated
l e c t i o
M o u and
s ethen B
moving
u t the
t omouse
n in
L e f t toHtheaL no dw eC r o rR n i eg rh t
M o and
u sdrag
e a box
B uanywhere
t t o from
n the L o w e r
C o r n e r
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R i g h t to the
H a n d
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C o
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In this section the various solver properties will be specified in order to obtain the proper solution for the flat plate boundary layer flow.
First, the Energy Model parameters will be specified. In order to open the Energy Model Options M o d e l s
>
E n e,r g y as shown in the following image.
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B o u n d a r y
C oasnshown
d i int the
i ofollowing
n s image.
>
i n l e t
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>
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E d
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I n l e
First, ( C l i c k )
B o u n d a r y
C o as
n shown
d i t ini the
o image
n s below.
>
o u t l e t
>
E d i t . . .
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The B o u n d a r y
C oshould
n d have
i t been
i o automatically
n
T y pset
e to w a, as
l lshown in the image below.
C oto ns dy imt m
i , oas
e nshown
t r T
y below.
y p e
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Go to Step 5: Solution
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5. Solution
6. Results
7. Verification & Validation
Exercises
Useful Information
Click here for the FLUENT 6.3.26 version.
Step 5: Solution
Second Order Scheme
A second-order discretization scheme will be used to approximate the solution. In order to implement the second order scheme click
on S o l u t i o n thenMclick
e on
t hM oo dms e nandt select
u mS e c o n d
O r as
d shown
e r inUthepimage
w i below.
n d
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FLUENT reports a residual for each governing equation being solved. The residual is a measure of how well the current solution
satisfies the discrete form of each governing equation. We'll iterate the solution until the residual for each equation falls below 1e-6. In
order to specify the residual criteria ( C l i c k )
M o n i t o r s , as>shown
R inethes image
i d ubelow.
a l s
>
E d i t . . .
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6. Results
7. Verification & Validation
Exercises
Useful Information
Click here for the FLUENT 6.3 version.
Step 6: Results
Velocity Vectors
One can plot vectors in the entire domain, or on selected surfaces. Here, the vectors will be plotted for the entire domain. First, click
on G r a p h i c s
& . Next,
A ndouble
i m click
a toni Vo en cs twhich
o r isslocated under G r a p . Then,
h i cclick
s on D i s pin lthea y
V e c tmenu.
o r You
s should obtain, the following output.
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>
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Now, click P l . oThet plot of the x component of the velocity as a function of distance along the o u t now
l eappears.
t
S o menu.
l u t Next,
i o close
n the
X CY u Pr vl oe ts
S o menu.
l u t i o n
X Y
Now, the range of the y axis will be truncated, as we are not interested in far field velocity. Furthermore, the grid lines will be turned on.
In order to implement these two changes. First click A x ein the
s S o l u t i o nmenu.
X Next,
Y select
P l Yo fort A x , ideselect
s
A u t o
R a n, select
g e M a j o r , select
R u Ml ie ns o r . Then,
R usetl Me si n i m
to 0uand
mset M a x i m
to 0.12.
u mYour A x e s
S o l u t i o nmenu,
X should
Y
Plookl exactly
o t like the image below.
S o l umenu.
t i Now,
o n select
X XY for AP xl and
oi st select M a j o r and
R Mu il ne os r , R u l
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<
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Pressure Coefficients
In this section we will create contour plots for the pressure coefficients. Before we begin, we must first set the reference values for
velocity. In order to do so, first click on R e f e r e n cthen
e setVC a ol m
u p
e u
s t toei n f ,l as
r e shown
ot m below.
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Next, click on G r a p h i c s
a n , then
d double
A n click
i m on
a Ct o
i on nt ,soas ushown
r s below.
.C
Next,
o select
e f fF i i cl il ee nd t
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It is of interest to compare the numerical skin friction coefficient profile to the skin friction coefficient profile obtained from the Blasius
solution. In order to plot the theoretical results, first click here to download the necessary file. Save the file to your working directory.
Next, go to the S o l u t i o nmenuXand
Y clickP L l oo at d and
F iselect
l e the
. .file. that you just downloaded, B l a s i u s. S k i n .
Lastly, click P l in
o the
t S o l u t i o nmenu.
X You
Y should
P l then
o tobtain the following figure.
Drag
Now, we will obtain the drag on the plate. First, click on R e p then
o rclick
t on R e s u l t
R, aseshown
p o inr the
t following
s . . . image.
Rmenu.
e pYou
o should
r t sthen obtain the following output in the
In the case here, the density, viscosity and area all have values of 1. Thus, the equation above reduces to the following equation.
The results from ANSYS FLUENT agree with the theory here since the drag coefficient is approximately twice the value of the drag.
Now, save your work in the FLUENT window, then close the FLUENT window.
Go to Step 7: Verification & Validation
See and rate the complete Learning Module
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Refine Mesh
Let's repeat the solution on a finer mesh. For the finer mesh, we will increase the total number of elements(cells) by a factor of four. In
order to accomplish this, we double the number of divisions on each section. Instead of modifying the project that was just created,
we will duplicate it and modify the duplicate. In the W o r k b e n c h
P
rightr click
o j one Mc et sthen
Ph click
a g De u p l as
i c a t e
shown below.
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P r
FLUENT - Flat Plate Boundary Layer - Verification & Validation - Simulation - Confluence
06-08-2012
.PUnder
r oF j l e a c t t P lP a a t g,eright
e (click
m on
e Fs lh u i2 d)
F l o
Now, wait a few minutes for FLUENT to obtain the solution for the refined mesh. After FLUENT obtains the solution, save your project.
Convergence
In order to launch FLUENT double click on the S o l u oft the
i o"Laminar
n
Pipe Flow (mesh 2)" project in the W o r k b e n c h
P a .gThe
e new mesh has significantly more cells, thus it is likely that the solution did not converge to the tolerances we have
previously set. Therefore, we will iterate the solution further, to make sure that the solution converges. In order to do so click on R u n
C a l c u , lseta Nt ui om nb e r
o f to 1000
I t and
e rclick
a tC i ao l nc s,uasl shown
a t below.
e
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Exercises
Under Construction!!!!!
Exercises
Simulate the laminar boundary layer over a at plate using FLUENT for a Reynolds number
where
Change the value of the coefficient of viscosity from the tutorial example to get
, keeping all other parameters the same.
After changing the coefficient of viscosity rerun the solver for the mesh that was created in Step 3.
Exercise 1
While developing boundary-layer theory, Prandtl made the following key arguments about the boundary-layer ow to simplify the
Navier-Stokes equations:
i.
ii. Steamwise velocity gradients Transverse velocity gradients; for instance,
Since we are solving the Navier-Stokes equations, we can use the FLUENT solution to check the validity of the above two essential
features of boundary layers. Consider the solution at x = 0.5 and x = 0.7 and make plots of appropriate proles to check the validity of
these two features. Make one gure to illustrate each feature. Choose the upper limit of your abscissa (vertical axis) such that you can
clearly see the variation within the boundary layer (the ow outside the boundary layer is not very interesting in this case).
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Exercise 2
For the FLUENT solution, plot the u-velocity proles (y vs. u) at x=0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 in the same gure. Briey comment on the change
in the velocity prole with x.
Exercise 3
Prandtl's student Blasius deduced that the velocity proles in a at plate boundary layer obey the similarity principle i.e. if rescaled
accordingly, they should collapse to a single curve. Re-plot the proles from exercise 2 in terms of the Blasius variables
in a different gure. Also plot the corresponding values from the Blasius solution in this gure. How well does the
FLUENT solution obey the similarity principle?
Return To Problem Specification
See and rate the complete Learning Module
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