Unsteady laminar flow around a cylinder

1. Purpose
The Purpose of CFD Lab 2 is to simulate unsteady laminar air flow around a cylinder. Students
will validate velocity a d vorticity fields obtained by simulation using experimental data (PIV results),
analyze the differences between calculated and experimental frequencies of vortex break down, and
present results in CFD Lab report.

2. Simulation Design
The problem to be solved is that of laminar flow around a cylinder. The diameter of the cylinder
is equal to 18 mm. The inlet air velocity and temperature are 0.42 m/s and 20 C correspondingly. The
conditions correspond to a PIV experiment [1]. Since the flow coming to the cylinder was uniformed in
a wind channel and the length of the cylinder is much longer than its diameter the flow can be treated
as two-dimensional.

Figure 1. Flow around a cylinder: experimental conditions and computational domain.

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 Boundary conditions need to be specified include inlet, outlet and wall. Uniform flow is speci-
fied at inlet. No-slip boundary condition will be used on the wall and constant pressure for outlet.
The computations should be started using a steady option. Perform the calculations until a vortex-
street after a cylinder appeared. This solution should be used as an initial field for the further transient
calculations. The time step should not exceed to 0.01 s.

A non-uniform structured O-type mesh with the number of divisions equal to 100 in radial and
220 in circumferential direction correspondingly. The details of mesh generation are given below.

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3. Project Schematic in Ansys Workbench

3.1. Start ANSYS Workbench

3.2. Toolbox -> Component Systems. Drag and drop Geometry, Mesh and Fluent components
and create connections between components as per below.

File > Save As. Save the workbench file.

4. Geometry

4.1. Right click Geometry and select New DesignModelerGeometry….

4.2. Select the XYPlane under the Tree Outline and click New Sketch button.

4.3. Enable the auto constraints option to pick the exact point as below. Select Sketching > Con-
straints > Auto Constraints > make sure Cursor is selected.
The geometry of the computational domain is shown in Fig.1
It is recommended to created a circular domain around a cylinder.
The diameter of the domain should be equal to 20 diameters of the cylinder.

4.4. Select Sketching > Draw > Circle. Create two circles. The cursor will show “P” when it is on
the origin point.

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4.5. Select Sketching > Dimensions > General. Set the dimensions.

4.6. Click on D1 and D2 under Details View and change them to 0.018 m and 0.36 m correspond-
ingly.

4.7. Concept > Surfaces From Sketches and select Sketch1 from the Tree Outline and hit Ap-
ply on Base Objects under Details view.

4.8. Click Generate. This will create a surface.

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4.9. Concept > Split Edges. Select the outer circle and click Apply. Make sure the Fraction is set
to 0.5. This splits the edge in half. Click Generate.

4.10. Repeat this action for the upper arc and outer arc.

4.11. Repeat the same procedure for the inner circle. So each of the inner and the outer circle
will be divided into four arcs.

4.12. Concept > Lines From Points draw lines from the domain perimeter to the perimeter
of the cylinder always starting from the outer circle domain and ending at the cylinder. Do
this by selecting the point on the domain, hold Ctrl and select the point on the cylinder. Click
Apply and then Generate. Repeat this process to create all the lines shown below.
NOTE: If you do not create your lines starting from domain and ending in cylinder you
will need to use a different bias type in the mesh generation section.

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4.13. Tools > Projection. Select all the lines you just created by holding Ctrl while se-
lecting them and then click Apply. For the Target select the surface of the domain and click
Apply. Click Generate. This splits the domain into four sections as seen below.

4.13. File > Save Project. Close window.

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5. Meshing
Create a nonuniform structured O-type mesh. The grid nodes should be concentrated near the cyl-
inder walls. A step-by-steps description of a mesh generation is given below.

5.1. Right click on Mesh and select Edit. Start Meshing.

5.2. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Face Meshing. Select all four surfaces while holding Ctrl and
click Apply in the yellow Geometry selection box.

5.3. Select the edge button.

5.4. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing. Select lines below and click Apply. Change
parameters as per below.

NOTE: The divisions must be finer toward the cylinder. If they are not fine toward the
cylinder you may need to change bias direction by changing bias type.

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5.5. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing. Select four left arcs shown below and click Apply.
Change parameters as per below.

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5.6. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing. Select right inner arc shown below and click Apply.
Change parameters as per below.

5.7. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing. Select right inner arc shown below and click Apply.
Change parameters as per below.

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5.8. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing. Select right outer arc shown below and click Apply.
Change parameters as per below.

5.9. Right click on Mesh > Insert > Sizing. Select right outer arc shown below and click Apply.
Change parameters as per below.

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5.10. Click on Generate Mesh button and click Mesh under Outline to show mesh.

5.11. Change the edge names by right clicking on the edge and selecting Create Named Se-
lection. Name left outer arcs as inlet, right outer arcs as outlet and inner arcs as wall. Your
outline should look same as the figure below.

5.12. File > Save Project. Save the project and close the window. Update Mesh on Work-
bench if necessary.

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6. Solving in Fluent
The computations should be started using a steady option. Perform the calculations until a vortex-
street after a cylinder appeared (around 1000 iterations).

6.1. Right click Setup and select Edit.

6.2. Under options check Double Precision and click OK.

6.3. Setup > General > Solver. Choose options shown below.

6.4. Setup > Models >Viscous (Laminar) (double click). Select parameters as per below and
click OK.
Setup > Materials > Fluid > air (double click). Define the Density and Viscosity for air at 20ºC
and click Change/Create. Close the dialog box when finished.

Boundary conditions will be “inlet”, “outlet”, and “wall”. Uniform flow is specified at inlet. The x-
component of the velocity at the inlet of the computational domain should be set equal to 0.42 m/s.
The y-velocity is equal zero. For outlet, zero pressure is defined. No-slip boundary condition will
be used on the “wall”.

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6.5. Setup > Boundary Conditions > inlet (double click). Change parameters as per below and
click OK.

6.6. Setup > Boundary Conditions > outlet (double click) or click Edit…. Change parameters as
per below and click OK. Laminar flow

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6.7. Setup > Boundary Conditions > wall (double Click) Change parameters as per below and
click OK. No need to change for laminar cases.

6.8. Setup > Boundary Conditions > Operating Condition…. Check the operating pressure (it
should be equal to 1atmosphere) and click OK.
6.9. Solution > Solution Methods. Check the parameters are set as on the figure below.

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6.10. Solution > Monitors > Residual. Change convergence criterion to 1e-6 for all three
equations click OK.
6.11. Solution > Solution Initialization. Change parameters as per below and click
Initialize.

6.12. Solution > Run calculation. Change number of iterations to 1000 and click Calcu-
late.
The steady solution should be used as an initial field for the further transient calculations.
6.13. Setup > General > Solver. Choose Transient option as shown below.

Define the monitoring points at the distance of 1÷5 caliber downstream of the cylinder.

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6.14. Monitors>Report Plots. Click New. Change the parameters equal to those are set on
the figure below. Click New.

6.15. New>Surface Report>Area-Weighted Average. Click New. Change the parameters

equal to those are set on the figure below.

6.16. Click New Surface and set a monitoring point in a trace after a cylinder. The distance
should be in the range of 1-5 caliber.

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6.17. Choose New Surface> Point> Select Point with Mouse or Set the Coordinates.
Then click Create.

Note! The coordinates in your case may differ from the example.

You can use the right button of the mouse or change the settings as following:

6.18. A new point will appear in Surface Report Definition. Choose it and click OK.

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6.19. It will appear in Report Plots

6.20. Solution > Run calculation. Change the time step to 0.01 s, number of step to 50 and
number of iterations per step to 50 and click Calculate.

Examine the monitoring point graph and decide whether more time steps are requaired.
Note: Finally, you should obtain a periodic curve with a stabilized amplitude and period.
After that, you can stop the calculations.
6.21. File > Save > Picture. Save the graph you obtained in a monitoring point.

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7. Results post-processing
 Save a movie of transient vortex breakdown. (the instructions for animation are given below )

Pictures to be presented:
 Convergence history (Residuals)
 Instant flow fields after the cylinder.
 Instant vorticity fields after the cylinder.
 3 snapshots of animations for vorticity and velocity.

Data to be reported:
 Time period and Strouhal number of vortex break down.

Questions to be answered:
 Compare the velocity fields obtained by numerical simulation and PIV (See Fig. 2). What is
similar and what differ? Try to fine the reasons.
 Compare the vorticity fields obtained by numerical simulation and PIV(See Fig. 3). Instant
flow fields after the cylinder.
 Compare Strouhal numbers obtained by numerical simulation and by experimental study (See
Figure 3).

This section shows how to create a movie and prepare vorticity field figures.

7.1. Vorticity field

7.1.1. Graphs > Contours. Choose the options and change the range as suggested below.

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7.2. Animation instructions
7.2.1. Solution > Calculation Activities>Solution Animation. Change the options as per below.
Check that you choose a contour that corresponds to vorticity field. Click Close.

7.2.2. Now you can see your animation settings in Solution Animation list.

7.2.3. Solution > Run calculation. Set the number of steps and click Calculate.

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7.2.4. After calculation complete go to Results > Animations>Solution Animation Playback.

7.2.5. Choose Contours of Vorticity Magnitude

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7.2.6. Click Play button in Playback Window

7.2.7. Change the Write/Record Format to MPEG. Click Write to Save animation file.

7.2.8. Don’t forget to save the monitoring point graph! File>Save Picture.Save

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The experimental data for comparison.

Figure 2. An instantaneous field of velocity. Experimental (PIV) data.

Figure 3. An instantaneous field of vorticity. Experimental (PIV) data.

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 Figure 4. Evaluation of Strouhal number.

References
1. Phoenix News. Educational Use of PHOENICS in St Petersburg by Ekaterina E. Kita-
nina.
2. POLIS description / Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS
http://www.itp.nsc.ru/piv/piv.htm
3. Schlichting G. Boundary layer theory. М.: Nauka, – 712 с.
4. P.K. Chang. Separation of Flow. – М.: Mir, 1972.– 300 с.

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