Computational Fluid Dynamics

(CFD)

Lecture 1
Introduction

Dr. Faisal Rehman

 Course Information
❑ Course No. ChE-437
❑ Credit hour: 2
❑ Marks Distribution:
• Mid Term: 30%
• Final Term: 40%
• Sessional: 30% (Quizzes, assignment)
❑ Recommended Books:
1. C Hirsch, Numerical Computation of Internal and External Flows, Vol. 1 and 2,
John Wiley: 1990
2. J H Ferziger and M Peric, Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics, Springer:
2002.
3. Ferziger, J., and M. Peric, Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics, Third Ed.,
Springer: 2001
 Overview: Fluid Mechanics
Study of fluid behavior (liquids, gases, blood, and plasmas) at rest
and in motion
Study of fluid mechanics is ultimately the study of the response of
a fluid to applied forces, subject to certain constraints such as
continuity, or mass conservation, momentum and energy
conservation, and constitutive functions including the relationship
between shear stress and rate of strain.

Mechanics Kinetics

Static Dynamic
Kinematics
 Cont…
❑ Fluids essential to life
• Human body 95% water
• Earth surface is 2/3 water
• Atmosphere extends to 17km above the earth’s surface

❑ History shaped by Fluid Mechanics

• Geomorphology
• Human migration and civilization
• Modern scientific and mathematical theories and methods
• warfare
 History
❑ Sailing ships with oars and irrigation systems were both known in
prehistoric times (roughly dates from 2.5 million years ago to 1,200
B.C)
❑ Archimedes (285-212 B.C.) formulated the laws of buoyancy and
applied them to floating and submerged bodies, deriving a form of
the differential calculus as part of the analysis.
❑ Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) derived the equation of conservation
of mass in one-dimensional steady flow. Leonardo was an excellent
experimentalist, and his notes contain accurate descriptions of
waves, jets, hydraulic jumps, eddy formation, and both low-drag
(streamlined) and high-drag (parachute) designs.
❑ A Frenchman, Edme Mariotte (1620-1684), built the first wind
tunnel and tested models in it.
 History
❑ In 1687, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) postulated his laws of motion and
the law of viscosity of the linear fluids now called Newtonian.
❑ Euler developed both the differential equations of motion and their
integrated form, now called the Bernoulli equation.
❑ William Froude (1810-1879) and his son Robert (1846- 1924)
developed laws of model testing, Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919) proposed
the technique of dimensional analysis, and Osborne Reynolds (1842-
1912) published the classic pipe experiment in 1883 which showed the
importance of the dimensionless Reynolds number named after him.
❑ Navier (1785-1836) and Stokes (1819-1903) had successfully added the
newtonian viscous terms to the governing equations of motion.
❑ In 1904, a German engineer, Ludwig Prandtl (1875-1953), pointed out
that fluid flows with small viscosity (water and air flows) can be
divided into a thin viscous layer, or boundary layer, near solid surfaces
and interfaces, patched onto a nearly inviscid outer layer, where the
Euler and Bernoulli equations apply.
 History
❑ Earliest numerical solution: for flow past a cylinder (1933)
• Thom A. 1933, “The flow past circular cylinders at low speeds” Proc. R.
Soc. Lond. A141: 651–669

❑ Kawaguti obtains a solution for flow around a cylinder in 1953,

by using a mechanical desk calculator, working 20 hours per
week for 18 months
• Mitutosi Kawaguti, 1953, “Numerical Solution of the Navier-Stokes
Equations for the Flow around a Circular Cylinder at Reynolds Number
40” J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 8, pp. 747-757 (1953).
 History
❑ During the 1960’s, the theoretical division at Los Alamos
contributed many numerical methods that are still in use today,
such as;
• Particle-in-cell (PIC) (To solve PD eq.)
• Marker-and-cell method (MAC) ( to discretize a fluid flow design domain
• Vorticity streamfunction method (To solve two-dimensional flow)
• Arbitrary Langrangian-Eulerian (ALE) (finite element formulation in
which the computational system is not a prior fixed in space)
• k-ε Turbulence model (to simulate mean flow characteristics for turbulent
flow conditions)
❑ During the 1970’s, a group working under D. Brian Spalding at
Imperial College London, develop;
• Parabolic flow codes (GENMIX)
• Vorticity streamfunction based codes
• The SIMPLE algorithm and the TEACH code
• Upwind differencing
• “Eddy breakup” and “presumed pdf” combustion models
 History: 1980s &1990s
❑ Previously CFD was performed using academic, research, and in-
house codes (When wanted to perform a CFD calculation, one
had to write a program).
❑ This is the period during which most commercial CFD codes
originated that are available today:
• Fluent (UK and US)
• Fidap (US)
• Polyflow (Belgium)
• Pheonix (UK)
• Star CD (UK)
• Ansys/CFX (UK)
• Flow 3d (US)
 What is CFD?
Fluid dynamics is the science of fluid in motion.
Fluid flow is commonly studied in one of three ways:
• Experimental fluid dynamics
• Theoretical fluid dynamics
• Numerically: Computationally fluid dynamics (CFD)

CFD is the science of predicting fluid flow, heat transfer,

mass transfer, chemical reactions, and related phenomena by
using the mathematical equations, which govern these
process using a numerical approach.
 Introduction
❑ Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the calculations of
properties of a flowing fluid.
❑ We are interested in the forces (pressure, stress etc.) acting on
surface (e.g., for airplane, we are interested in the lift, drag,
power, pressure distribution etc.)
❑ We would like to determine the velocity field (e.g., for race car,
we are interested in the local flow streamline, so we can design
for less drag).
❑ We are interested in knowing the temperature distribution (e.g.,
Heat transfer in the vicinity of a computer chip)
 Advantages
❑ Relatively low cost: CFD simulations are relatively
inexpensive, and costs are like to decrease as computers become
more powerful.
❑ Speed: CFD simulations can be executed in a short period of
time.
❑ Ability to simulate real conditions: CFD provides the ability
to theoretically simulate any physical condition and provides
the ability to isolate specific phenomenon for study.
❑ Comprehensive information: CFD allows the analyst to
examine numerous locations in the region of interest and yields
a comprehensive set of flow parameters for examination.
 Limitations
❑ CFD solutions can only be as accurate as the physical models
on which they are based.
❑ Solving equations on a computer invariably introduces
numerical errors.
• Round-off error: due to the word size available on the computer. This
errors always exist (though they can be small in most cases)
• Truncation error: due to the approximations in the numerical model.
This error will go to zero as the grid is refined. Mesh refinement is one
way to deal with truncation error.
❑ Boundary conditions: as with physical models, the accuracy of
CFD solution is only as good as the initial/boundary conditions
provided to the numerical model.
 Purpose & Aim
❑ Main purpose is simulation-based design instead of “build & test”
hence saving a lot of time since it enables easy repetitions.
❑ Ais is to simulate the physical fluid phenomena that are difficult
for experiments
• Full scale simulation (e.g., ships and airplanes)
• Environmental effects (wind etc.)
• Hazards (e.g., radiations, pollutions etc.)
• Physics (e.g., planetary boundary layer, stellar evolution)

Testing in wind tunnel

 How it works?
❑ Analysis begins with a mathematical model of a physical problem.
❑ Conservation of matter, momentum, and energy must be satisfied
throughout the region of interest. (continuity, momentum equation
and energy equation).
❑ Fluid properties are modeled empirically.
❑ Simplifying assumptions are made in order to make the problem
traceable (e.g., steady state, incompressible, inviscid, two-
dimensional).
❑ Appropriate initial/boundary conditions are provided for the
problem.
❑ CFD applies numerical method called discretization to develop
approximations of the governing equations of fluid mechanics in
the fluid region of interest.
❑ The solution is post processed to extract quantities of interest (e.g.,
lift, drag, heat transfer, pressure loss etc.).
 Experiments vs Simulations
❑ The results of a CFD simulation are not always 100% reliable.
• The input data may involve too much guessing or imprecision.
• The mathematical model of the problem at hand may be
inadequate.

❑ The reliability of CFD simulations is greater

• For laminar flows than the turbulent ones.
• For single phase flows than for multi phase flows.
• For chemically inert systems than for reactive flows.

❑ CFD is a highly intradisciplinary research area which lies at the

interface of physics, applied mathematics and computer science.
 CFD Applications: Aerospace
❑ Combustor
❑ External aerodynamics
❑ Propulsion
❑ Missile systems
 CFD Applications: Automobiles
❑ Air handling system
❑ Engine cooling
❑ External aerodynamics
❑ Combustion chamber
❑ Passenger comfort
 CFD Applications: Process Engineering
❑ Reactor design
❑ Heat exchanger
❑ Mixers
❑ Compressor/Diffuser
❑ Pumps
 CFD Applications: HVAC
❑ Air flow around buildings
❑ Burner design
❑ Environmental control system
❑ Heating system design
❑ Room flow distribution
 CFD Applications: Electronics
❑ Component level flow and cooling
❑ Electronic chip cooling
❑ Magnetic storage devices
❑ Telecommunication equipment
 CFD Applications: Sports
❑ Ball
❑ Car racing
❑ Bicycle racing
❑ Swimming
 CFD Applications: Biomedical

❑ Blood flow through arteries

❑ Heart pump
❑ Tumor
 Governing Equations
➢ Assumptions ➢ Conservation Laws
▪ Incompressible flow ▪ Conservation of mass (Continuity
equation
▪ Unsteady flow ▪ Conservation of momentum (NS
equation)
▪ Newtonian fluid ▪ Conservation of energy (Energy
equation)
▪ Single phase ▪ Conservation of species (Diffusion
equation
▪ Constant properties

▪ Laminar flow
Governing Equations
 Conclusions
❑ CFD is a method to numerically calculate the fluid flow and
heat transfer
❑ Currently its main application is an engineering method, to
provide data that is complimentary to theoretical and
experimental data. This is mainly the domain of
commercially available codes and in-house codes for large
industries.
❑ CFD can also be used for purely research studies.
 Discretization Methods
Discretization method
for NS Equation

Finite difference Finite volume Finite element

method method method