Tutorial Ansys Fluent

Vortex Shedding
1. Introduction
The purpose of this workshop is to introduce different techniques for transient flow modeling.
You will study:
Selecting a suitable time step
Using custom-field-functions (CFF)
Generating Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT)
Auto-saving results during the simulation
Generating images during the simulation
Transient post-processing in CFD-Post
2. Prerequisites
This tutorial assumes that you are already familiar with the ANSYS Workbench interface and its project
workflow. This tutorial also assumes that you have completed the first workshop and that you are famil-
iar with the ANSYS Fluent tree and ribbon structure. Some steps in the setup and solution procedure
will not be shown explicitly.
3. Problem Description
The case considered here is flow around a cylinder with a Reynolds number of 100. Vortex shedding
will be observed. The workshop starts with a steady state analysis assuming that you did not anticipate
this behavior.
Release 17.0 - SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved. - Contains proprietary and confidential information
of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates. 1
Vortex Shedding
The computational domain was created in ANSYS DesignModeler and has the dimensions shown in the
table:
Name Location Dimension

Cylinder D1 2 m (dia.)
Inlet Length D2 20 m = 10 D
Outlet Length D3 30 m = 15 D
Width D4 40 m = 20 D
This workshop demonstrates iterative and non-iterative time advancement, Fast Fourier Transforms
(FFT) and animations.
4. Setup and Solution

4.1. Starting Fluent and Loading a Mesh
1. Copy the files (vortex-shedding-coarse.msh, fft-data-2000-timesteps.out, and vortex-
shedding-converged.cas/dat.gz) to your working folder.
2. Start ANSYS Fluent.
Note
This workshop shows how to set up the simulation in standalone Fluent and CFD-Post.
You can set up the simulation in Workbench as shown in the other workshops.
3. In the Fluent Launcher dialog box, select 2D under Dimension.
2 of ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
Setup and Solution
4. Ensure that Display Mesh After Reading is enabled under Display Options.
5. Click OK to open ANSYS Fluent.
Note
IF HPC licenses are available, you can select Parallel under Processing Options and
enter the number of processes.
6. Load the mesh, vortex-shedding-coarse.msh.
File Read Mesh...
4.2. Setting Up Domain

1. Scale the mesh.
Setting Up Domain Mesh Transform Scale...
a. In the Scale Mesh dialog box, select Specify Scaling Factors from the Scaling group box.
b. In the Scaling Factors group box, enter 0.5 for X and Y.
c. Click Scale.
Note
Ensure that you click Scale only once.
d. Close the Scale Mesh dialog box.
2. Check the mesh.
Vortex Shedding
Setting Up Domain Mesh Check
Note
Ensure that the minimum volume is not negative as ANSYS Fluent cannot begin a calcu-
lation when this is the case.
3. Review the mesh quality.
Setting Up Domain Mesh Quality
ANSYS Fluent will report the results of the mesh quality below the results of the mesh check in
the console.
Note
The quality of the mesh plays a significant role in the accuracy and stability of the
numerical computation. Checking the quality of your mesh is therefore an important
step in performing a robust simulation. Minimum cell orthogonality is an important
indicator of mesh quality. Values for orthogonality can vary between 0 and 1, with
lower values indicating poorer quality cells.
4. Display the mesh once scaling has been performed.
Setting Up Domain Mesh Display...
a. In the Mesh Display dialog box, click Display.
b. Close the Mesh Display dialog box.
Setup and Solution
4.3. Setting Up Physics

In the steps that follow, you will select a solver and specify physical models, material properties, and
zone conditions for your simulation using the Setting Up Physics ribbon tab.
1. In the Solver group of the Setting Up Physics ribbon tab, retain the default selection of the Steady,
Pressure-Based solver.
Setting Up Physics Solver
2. Retain the default selection of Laminar from the Model selection list in the Viscous Model dialog box.
Setting Up Physics Models Viscous...
3. Change the properties of the default material, air.
Setting Up Physics Materials Create/Edit...
In the Create/Edit Materials dialog box, the material selected is air.
a. Enter 1 for Density (kg/m3).
b. Enter 0.01 for Viscosity (kg/m-s).
c. Click Change/Create and close the Create/Edit Materials dialog box.
Note
Later, you will compare the Fluent results with those from a literature search. You have
changed to non-default values of the material properties for air to aid that comparison.
4. In the Setting Up Physics tab, click Boundaries (Zones group) and select All from the drop-down list.
Vortex Shedding
Setting Up Physics Zones Boundaries All
a. In the Boundary Conditions task page, in the Zone list, double-click in.
i. In the Velocity Inlet dialog box, enter 1 for Velocity Magnitude (m/s).
ii. Click OK to close the Velocity Inlet dialog box.
b. Retain the default boundary conditions for out, sym1, sym2, and cylinder.
4.4. Solving the Steady State Solution

In the steps that follow, you will set up and run the calculation, using the Solving ribbon tab.
1. Create a point surface to monitor the air velocity.
Postprocessing Surface Create Point...
a. In the Point Surface dialog box, enter 2 for x0 and 1 for y0, respectively.
Setup and Solution
b. Enable Point Tool to check the location of the point on the mesh.
c. Enter monitor-pt for New Surface Name.
d. Click Create.
e. Clear the selection of Point Tool, and close the Point Surface dialog box.
2. Create a surface report definition to monitor the velocity at the point.
Solving Reports Definitions New Surface Report Vertex Average...
a. In the Surface Report Definition dialog box, enter vertex-avg-vel for the Name.
b. Under the Create group, enable Report File and Report Plot.
c. Select Velocity... and Y Velocity from the Field Variable drop-down lists.
d. Select monitor-pt from the Surfaces selection list.
e. Click OK to save the surface report definition and close the Surface Report Definition dialog box.
Vortex Shedding
3. Initialize the flow field using the Initialization group of the Solving ribbon tab.
Solving Initialization
a. Select Standard for Method.
b. Click Options....
i. In the Solution Initialization task page that opens, select in from the Compute from drop-
down list.
ii. Click Initialize.
4. Save the case and data files as 09_Vortex_Shedding-init.cas/dat.gz.
Setup and Solution
File Write Case & Data...
Note
Adding the .gz extension will compress the case and data files, reducing hard disk usage.
Fluent can read in these compressed files. You do not need to manually uncompress
them.
5. Calculate the solution.
Solving Run Calculation
a. Enter 400 for No. of Iterations.
b. Click Calculate.
Note
You have tried to solve this vortex-shedding problem in a steady-state manner. You can
see from the monitors that the solution is not converging, and the monitor shows a
regular periodic behavior.
6. Display velocity vectors.
Postprocessing Graphics Vectors Edit...
a. In the Vectors dialog box, retain the default settings and click Display.
Note
Since this is a 2D simulation, you do not need to select any surface.
Vortex Shedding
As you can see from the vectors, the steady state solution is asymmetric, which is not physical.
b. Close the Vectors dialog box.
7. Save the case and data files (09_Vortex_Shedding-steady.cas/dat.gz).
4.5. Solving the Transient Solution

To obtain a more realistic solution to this problem, you will solve it again, but in a transient (time de-
pendent) manner.
1. Change the Time option to Transient.
Setting Up Physics Solver
2. Change the pressure-velocity coupling scheme.
Solving Solution Methods...
Note
For the transient scheme, the default pressure-velocity coupling (SIMPLE) may require
more iterations to converge than other available choices.
Setup and Solution
a. In the Solution Methods task page, select PISO from the Scheme drop-down list.
b. Select Bounded Second Order Implicit from the Transient Formulation drop-down list.
3. Change the under-relaxtion factors.
Solving Controls Controls...
Vortex Shedding
a. In the Solution Controls task page, enter 0.7 for Pressure.
b. Retain the default settings for the rest.
4. Change the surface monitor definition.
Solution Report Plots vertex-avg-vel-rplot Edit...
Setup and Solution
a. In the Edit Report Plot dialog box, select time-step from the drop-down list below Get Data Every.
b. This sets the X-Axis Label selection to flow-time.
c. Click OK to set and close the Edit Report Plot dialog box.
5. Edit the residuals monitor.
Solving Reports Residuals...
Vortex Shedding
a. In the Residual Monitors dialog box, enter 100 for Iterations to Plot.
Note
This will make the residuals scroll across the plot, making it easier to see the current
time step.
b. Click OK to close the Residual Monitors dialog box.
6. Save the case and data files, as 09_Vortex_Shedding-transient.cas/dat.gz.
7. Start the calculation.
Note
There are different ways to identify a suitable time step size for this problem.
One way is to do a hand-calculation to see how long it takes for the flow to pass through
a typical grid cell. Run using this value for the time-step, and check that convergence
occurs in less that 20 iterations per time step.
Another approach is to determine the characteristic response of the system. By perform-

ing a literature search, you can determine that the Strouhal number will be approximately
0.165 at this Reynolds number. From this, you can predict the period of the oscillation:
Setup and Solution
For each oscillation cycle, you will aim to solve 60 time steps, Hence you will run
the solver using a time step size of 0.1s.
a. Click Advanced....
b. In the Run Calculation task page, enter 0.1 for Time Step Size (s).
c. Enter 120 for Number of Time Steps.
d. Enable Extrapolate Variables.
Note
The Extrapolate Variables option will speed up convergence. Without this option,
each time step would start with the solution at the previous time step. This option
Vortex Shedding
provides a better starting point for the new time step, based on how the solution
is changing with time. Notice that, as the solver runs, convergence is attained in
5-10 iterations at each time step.
e. Click Calculate.
Note
Do not click on any option in the Calculate dialog box that appears.
8. Save the transient case and data files.
Note
If you add the string %t to the filename (09_Vortex_Shedding-transient-%t.gz),

then Fluent will append the current time value to the filename. This file just contains
the results at the current time step. If you require interim results as the solution pro-
gresses, use the Autosave feature prior to running the model.
Although you now have simulated a couple of oscillations, in order to obtain a true
representation of the vortex shedding, you need to simulate many more cycles. With
each cycle, the starting position converges with time until eventually all cycles are
identical.
Setup and Solution
It will take many cycles to achieve this, so you are provided with case and data files that
have already been converged (simulation time of 84 seconds). You will then run this for
a further couple of cycles to extract the details of the fluctuating flow patterns.
4.6. Using the Non Iterative Time Advancement Method

1. You can run for 720 more time steps, or read the supplied case and data file, 09_Vortex_Shedding_Con-
verged.cas/dat.gz.
2. Enable the Non Iterative Time Advancement Method (NITA).
Solving Solution Methods...
Vortex Shedding
a. In the Solution Methods task page, enable Non-Iterative Time Advancement.
Note
NITA is an algorithm used to speed up the transient solution process. NITA runs
about twice as fast as the iterative time advancement (ITA) scheme.
b. From the Scheme drop-down list select Fractional Step.
Note
Two sub-types of NITA schemes are available:
PISO (NITA/PISO)
Fractional Step method (NITA/FSM). Computationally, this is about 20% cheaper

than NITA/PISO on a per time-step basis.
3. Define custom field functions.
User-Defined Field Functions Custom...
Note
One of the ways of quantifying the wake vortices is through the use of the Q-Criterion.
The formula for this is below. It is not a standard quantity computed by Fluent for lam-
inar flows, however since the formula is known, you can ask Fluent to compute it at
each grid cell.
a. In the Custom Field Function Calculator dialog box, select Derivatives... and dX-Velocity/dx from
the Field Functions drop-down lists.
b. Click Select.
c. Click the X button.
d. Retaining the selection of Derivatives..., select dY-Velocity/dy from the Field Functions drop-down
lists, and click Select.
e. Click the button.
f. Select dX-Velocity/dy and click Select.
g. Click the X button.
Setup and Solution
h. Select dY-Velocity/dx and click Select.
i. Enter q-criterion for New Function Name and click Define.
j. Close the Custom Field Function Calculator dialog box.
4. Save interim results.
Solving Activities Autosave...
Note
Unless specifically requested, Fluent will not save interim results during a transient
simulation. It is possible, however, to save the results data every (n) time steps to disk.
This will give a collection of files that can be post-processed at a later date, either using
Fluent or CFD-Post. However, having to load in a large number of files can be time
consuming.
Vortex Shedding
a. In the Autosave dialog box, enter 5 forSave Data File Every (Time Steps).
b. Enter 09_Vortex_Shedding-transient-detail.gz for File Name.
c. Retain the selection of time-step from the Append File Name with drop-down list.
Note
The file name will be appended with the current time step.
d. Click OK to close the Autosave dialog box.
5. Save every other image.
Solving Activities Create Solution Animations
Note
One alternative to saving interim results is to extract the required result (like an image
from which to build an animation) from Fluent during the solution process. Since all the
data is in memory at that instant, this is very quick to perform.
Setup and Solution
a. In the Solution Animation dialog box, enter 1 for Animation Sequences.
b. Enter 2 for Every.
c. Select Time Step from the When drop-down list.
d. Click Define....
i. In the Animation Sequence dialog box that opens, enter 3 for Window and click Set next to
it.
ii. Select Contours from the list of Display Type.
Vortex Shedding
A. In the Contours dialog box, enable Filled and disable Auto Range from the list of Options.
B. Select Custom Field Functions... and q-criterion from the Contours of drop-down lists.
C. Enter 0.1 for Min and 1.25 for Max, respectively.
D. Click Display and close the Contours dialog box.
Zoom in to set the display.
iii. Click OK to close the Animation Sequence dialog box.
e. Close the Solution Animation dialog box.
6. Save the case and data files, as 09_Vortex_Shedding-NITA.cas/dat.gz.
7. Start the calculation.
a. Enter 0.05 for Time Step Size (s).
b. Enter 240 for No. of Time Steps.
Note
This corresponds to roughly 2 periods.
Setup and Solution
c. Click Calculate.
Note
Do not click on any option in the Calculate dialog box that appears.
8. Run the animation.
Postprocessing Animation Solution Playback...
a. In the Playback dialog box, click the play button to review the animation.
b. You can select MPEG from the Write/Record drop-down list and click Write to save the animation.
The Animation Playback tool can also be used to generate a sequence of picture frames.
Note
If you are running Fluent in Workbench, the the .mpeg file from the animation se-
quence is written in the Workbench project directory.
a. To locate the file in Workbench, select Files in the Workbench View menu.
View Files
b. Locate the file sequence-1.mpeg in the list of Files.
c. Right-click on sequence-1.mpeg and select Open Containing Folder from the

context menu.
d. The folder which opens shows the file sequence-1.mpeg. The .mpeg file can be
played in Windows Media Player or similar programs.
c. Close the Playback dialog box after checking the animation.
9. Check the FFT plot.
Postprocessing Plots FFT...
a. In the Fourier Transform dialog box, select Magnitude from the Y Axis Function drop-down list.
Vortex Shedding
b. Select Strouhal Number from the X Axis Function drop-down list.
c. Click Load Input File... and select the file fft-data-2000-timesteps.out.
d. Click Axes....
i. In the Axes - Fourier Transform dialog box, select X from the Axis list.
ii. Clear Auto Range from the list of Options.
iii. In the Range group box, enter 0.05 for Minimum and 1 for Maximum, respectively.
iv. Click Apply and close the Axes - Fourier Transform dialog box.
e. Click Plot FFT and close the Fourier Transform dialog box.
Setup and Solution
Note
The peak Strouhal number is 0.171, which is close to the value of 0.165 that was
suggested by the literature search. To extract the exact peak value from this graph,
enable Write FFT to File and click Write FFT. Then look at the text file on disk.
The second peak is a harmonic as the input signal is not perfectly sinusoidal.
10. Exit Fluent.
File Close Fluent
4.7. Displaying Results in CFD-Post

1. Start CFD-Post.
2. Create an animation.
Note
Animations done in CFD-Post can be based on all the data files already saved. Thus, you
can create animations of anything after the calculation is finished.
File Load Results...
Vortex Shedding
a. In the Load Results File dialog box, select the data file from the last time step.
b. Select Load Complete history as: and A single case from the Run history and multi-configuration
options group box.
c. Click Open.
3. Draw velocity vectors.
a. Click the vector button in the toolbar.
b. Retain the default name Vector 1, in the Insert Vector dialog box, and click OK.
c. In Details of Vector 1, select symmetry 1 from the Locations drop-down list.
d. Click Apply.
e. Click on the Z axis of the triad to align the view
Setup and Solution
4. Create an animation.
a. Open the Timestep Selector dialog box by clicking on the Timestep Selector icon on the
toolbar.
b. In the Timestep Selector dialog box, click on the Animate timesteps icon .
i. In the Animation dialog box that opens, click the Pay button , for a quick animation of all
the saved steps.
Note
To save the animation file, enable Save Movie, enter a name next to it and
then click Pay .
ii. Close the Animation dialog box after viewing the animation.
Vortex Shedding
c. Close the Timestep Selector dialog box.
Note
If you want, you can save the state file (09_Vortex_Shedding.cst) in your working
directory.
File Save State As....
The state file stores all the post-processing settings you have created. The next time
you start CFD-Post, you can go to File Load State... and it will automatically load all
the results files and recreate all the graphics objects and views you have created during
this session.
You will also be asked if you would like to save the animation state 09_Vortex_Shed-
ding.can file.
5. Close CFD-Post.
5. Summary
In this workshop you were interested in calculating flow around a cylinder, and assessing the vortex
shedding frequency. You checked with FFT analysis that the predicted frequency is in good agreement
with results from literature.
This workshop has shown the basic steps that are applied in all CFD simulations:
Setting boundary conditions and solver settings
Running steady and transient models
Using iterative and non-iterative time advancement schemes
Post-processing the results, both in Fluent and CFD-Post for transient cases
6. Further Improvements
If you would like to experiment further with this example, you could check:
Mesh independence
Check that results do not depend on mesh
Re-run simulations with finer mesh(es)
Generated in meshing application
From adaptive meshing in Fluent
Reynolds number effects

You can investigate other flow patterns by changing the Reynolds number.
For lower Reynolds numbers, steady state, laminar analysis is possible.
References
For increasing Reynolds numbers, unsteady transitional turbulent models (k-kl-omega, Transition
SST) have to be considered
For Reynolds numbers above 3.5106, the standard or SST k-omega turbulence models would be
used
7. References
Braza, M., Chassaing, P., and Minh, H.H., Numerical Study and Physical Analysis of the Pressure and Ve-
locity Fields in the Near Wake of a Circular Cylinder, J. Fluid Mech., 165:79-130, 1986.
Coutanceau, M. and Defaye, J.R., Circular Cylinder Wake Configurations - A Flow Visualization Survey,
Appl. Mech. Rev., 44(6), June 1991.
Williamson, C.H.K,Vortex Dynamics in The Cylinder Wake, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mechanics 1996. 28:447-
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Vortex Shedding

You will study:

Selecting a suitable time step

Using custom-field-functions (CFF)

Generating Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT)

Auto-saving results during the simulation

Generating images during the simulation

Transient post-processing in CFD-Post

Name Location Dimension

4. Setup and Solution

2. Start ANSYS Fluent.

3. In the Fluent Launcher dialog box, select 2D under Dimension.

5. Click OK to open ANSYS Fluent.

6. Load the mesh, vortex-shedding-coarse.msh.

File Read Mesh...

4.2. Setting Up Domain

Setting Up Domain Mesh Transform Scale...

b. In the Scaling Factors group box, enter 0.5 for X and Y.

Ensure that you click Scale only once.

d. Close the Scale Mesh dialog box.

2. Check the mesh.

Setting Up Domain Mesh Check

3. Review the mesh quality.

Setting Up Domain Mesh Quality

4. Display the mesh once scaling has been performed.

Setting Up Domain Mesh Display...

a. In the Mesh Display dialog box, click Display.

b. Close the Mesh Display dialog box.

4.3. Setting Up Physics

Setting Up Physics Solver

Setting Up Physics Models Viscous...

3. Change the properties of the default material, air.

Setting Up Physics Materials Create/Edit...

In the Create/Edit Materials dialog box, the material selected is air.

a. Enter 1 for Density (kg/m3).

b. Enter 0.01 for Viscosity (kg/m-s).

c. Click Change/Create and close the Create/Edit Materials dialog box.

Setting Up Physics Zones Boundaries All

ii. Click OK to close the Velocity Inlet dialog box.

4.4. Solving the Steady State Solution

1. Create a point surface to monitor the air velocity.

Postprocessing Surface Create Point...

c. Enter monitor-pt for New Surface Name.

2. Create a surface report definition to monitor the velocity at the point.

Solving Reports Definitions New Surface Report Vertex Average...

d. Select monitor-pt from the Surfaces selection list.

a. Select Standard for Method.

ii. Click Initialize.

4. Save the case and data files as 09_Vortex_Shedding-init.cas/dat.gz.

File Write Case & Data...

5. Calculate the solution.

Solving Run Calculation

a. Enter 400 for No. of Iterations.

6. Display velocity vectors.

Postprocessing Graphics Vectors Edit...

Since this is a 2D simulation, you do not need to select any surface.

b. Close the Vectors dialog box.

7. Save the case and data files (09_Vortex_Shedding-steady.cas/dat.gz).

File Write Case & Data...

4.5. Solving the Transient Solution

1. Change the Time option to Transient.

Setting Up Physics Solver

2. Change the pressure-velocity coupling scheme.