COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS USING ANSYS

FLUENT
A SEMINAR REPORT

Submitted by

Aditya Karan
Roll No. 301003

Exam No. T8230002

Of

Third Year Civil Engineering

Guided by

Asst. Prof. G.A.Hinge

SINHGAD COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,

VADGAON Bk., PUNE-41

CERTIFICATE

T h i s i s t o c e r t i f y t h a t t h e S e mi n a r wo r k C O M P U T AT I ON AL
F L UI D DY N AM I C S U S I N G A NS Y S F L U EN T i s a s e mi n a r d o n e b y
A d i t ya Ka r a n u n d e r m y g u i d a nc e i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l l me n t o f t h e
r e q u i r e me n t s f o r t h e B a c h e l o r s i n E n g i n e e r i n g ( C i v i l )

SIGNATURE

SIGNATURE

Dr. Mrs. K .C. Khare

Asst. Prof. G.A.Hinge

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

Department of Civil Engineering
Sinhagad College Of Engineering;
Vadgaon, Pune-41.

SEMINAR GUIDE
Department of Civil Engineering
Sinhagad College Of Engineering;
Vadgaon, Pune-41.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I take immense pleasure in thanking Dr. Mrs. K.C. Khare , our Head of the department, for
having permitted me to carry out this seminar work.

I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my Guide, Asst. Prof. Mr.G.A.Hinge,

Sinhagad College Of Engineering Vadgaon Bk. , Pune-41
for his able guidance and useful suggestions, which helped me in completing the seminar
work, in time.

Finally, yet importantly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents
for their blessings, my friends/classmates for their help and wishes for the successful
completion of this project.

Aditya Karan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO.

TITLE

PAGE NO.

ABSTRACT

1.
2.
2.1
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
2.2.5
2.3
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
4.0
4.1
5.0

BACKGROUND-FLUIDS
6
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL 10
FLUID DYNAMICS
METHODOLOGY
10
DISCRETION METHODS
11
FINITE VOLUME METHOD
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
REYNOLDS-AVERAGED NAVIER STOKES
LARGE EDDY SIMULATION
DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATION
EXAMPLES
12
INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE.
13
INTRODUTION TO GAMBIT
14
INTRODUCTION TO FLUENT
15
GENERATING A SIMPLE 2-D MODEL
16
MODELLING OF 3-D OPEN CHANNEL MODEL 24.
MODELLING OF 2-D CAVITIES.
29

CASE STUDY
CONCLUSION OF SURGE ANALYSIS.
CONCLUSION OF THE SEMINAR
REFERENCES.

30
33
34
35

ABSTRACT:
The study of fluids is vital for our understanding of the world. Traditionally this was done through studying
fluid flow on models in something like a wind tunnel, but in the last century the field of computational fluid
dynamics has come into being. One program that is capable of modeling fluid flow is Fluent. The aim of
this project was to model a few scenarios using Fluent. The purpose of doing so was to see how accurate the
program was at modeling fluid flow in order to see if computational fluid dynamics has advanced enough to
do away with the traditional methods. A tutorial for Gambit and Fluent is included as an introduction which
illustrates the basic features of these tools will able to create their own case studies in CFD.
Computational fluid dynamics is a term used to describe a way of modeling fluids using algorithms and
numerical methods. Currently they are solved utilizing computers but early methods were completed
manually without the aid of a computer. Computational fluid dynamics are a powerful tool to model fluids,
but even with the most state of the art supercomputers and technological advances they are only an
approximation of what would occur in reality. A number of different problems in CFD are examined in
more detail.

1.0 Background - Fluids

In this section, I sketch an algebraic approach to fluids and indicate its connections to the fuller differential
approach. The intent is to introduce the fundamental equations which are solved in numerical simulations
alongside with a means of understanding the important features of these equations at the pre-calculus high
school level .In an incompressible fluid, density is constant throughout the fluid. The conservation of mass
implies that an equal volume must flow through each location, or in other words, if some fluid flows into a
volume, an equal amount of fluid must flow out. If the cross-sectional area of the flow changes, the velocity
of the flow must change to keep the volume of the flow constant

This relationship is the continuity equation or the conservation of mass. If we treat the problem with more
mathematical rigor, we can write a differential equation for the conservation of mass:

The second term represents the difference between the mass that flows into and the mass that
flows out from a point, which must balance with the first term which describes the accumulation of mass at
that point. If the fluid is incompressible, then density is constant in both location and time, so the continuity
equation becomes

We can consider the various forces which cause the fluid to flow and use conservation of energy to find a
relationship. Consider a fluid flowing through a pipe as shown below.

The work done to move the fluid from area 1 to area 2 by each force (ignoring viscosity) is given
by:Work by Pressure:

A key feature to note from the pressure equation (4) is that flow is driven by a difference in
pressure between the points, with the fluid moving from areas of higher pressure to areas of
lower pressure (favorable pressure difference).
Work by Gravity:
The mass in each section is given by

So the net work to raise the fluid from area 1 to area 2 is

Conservation of energy implies that the change in the kinetic energy of the fluid is equal to the work done
on the fluid,

Simplifying and rearranging the terms, we have the Bernoulli Equation (for a nonviscous fluid):

Viscosity is a characteristic property of a fluid that describes how the fluid reacts to stresses and strains.
Stress can be understood by considering the reaction of a fluid to a force. If we have a motionless fluid
between two parallel plates and the top plate begins to move at a constant velocity, u, then the top plate will
exert a force on the fluid. The reaction force of the fluid against the plate is called stress.

Figure Fluid velocity profile between a moving top plate and stationary bottom plate.
Strain is the deformation of a fluid under the influence of stress. Imagine a cup of water and a cup of honey
where you press against each fluid with a spoon. The water (lower viscosity) will quickly flow around the
spoon and maintain a level surface, whereas the honey (higher viscosity)
will build into a plateau which will then gradually flow back to return to a level surface. In order to address
difficult problems, or to find solutions to a family of problems, it is convenient to rewrite the Navier-Stokes
2

equations in dimensionless form. In doing so, it is necessary introduce a number of characteristic

quantities, such as
density
u characteristic velocity (such as inflow)
L characteristic length (such as the length of an object in your flow)
Viscosity
These quantities combine to give a single characteristic number, the Reynolds Number,
Re =uL/
which describes broad characteristics of the fluids flow. If the Reynolds Number is small, then the flow
will be laminar, meaning that the flow progresses in layers of the fluid with no macroscopic mixing of the
layers. If the Reynolds Number is large then the flow will be turbulent, meaning there will be a mixing of
flow layers and the creation of large eddies at the start, breaking into smaller eddies as time progress. In
between these two extremes, the flow is called transitional. These types of flow are illustrated by the
familiar example of cigarette smoke.

2.0 I ntroduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics

The equations for fluids are quite complex and can be difficult to solve, especially if the geometry of a
problem is intricate. The equations are nonlinear in the acceleration term (convection term),have
singularities for high Reynolds Numbers (which appears in the N-S equations in the form of 1\Re), and the
pressure difference terms are difficult to solve in combination with the fluids motion. By making use of
computers as a computational tool, we can solve these equations of motion in nearly any arbitrary
situation. In this particular work, Gambit is used to create the geometries and the computational grid for the
problem. This allows us to move from working with the fluid as a continuous medium to a discrete
approach. Fluent ,a finite volume solver, is used to solve the discrete Navier-Stokes equations. Some of the
results of interesting cases are given below. The computational method allows us to get results quickly (a
matter of minutes to hours depending on the complexity) and visually close to reality. These results can be
used to guide experiments and even as a substitute for preliminary testing in situations where building
prototypes might be prohibitively expensive.
Computational fluid dynamics, usually abbreviated as CFD, is a branch of fluid mechanics
that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows.
Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate the interaction of liquids and gases with
surfaces defined by boundary conditions. With high-speed supercomputers, better solutions can be achieved.
Ongoing research yields software that improves the accuracy and speed of complex simulation scenarios
such as transonic or turbulent flows. Initial validation of such software is performed using a wind tunnel
with the final validation coming in full-scale testing.

2.1Methodology
In all of these approaches the same basic procedure is followed.

During preprocessing
o The geometry (physical bounds) of the problem is defined.
o The volume occupied by the fluid is divided into discrete cells (the mesh). The mesh may be
uniform or non uniform.
o The physical modeling is defined for example, the equations of motions + enthalpy +
radiation + species conservation Boundary conditions are defined. This involves specifying
o the fluid behaviour and properties at the boundaries of the problem. For transient problems,
the initial conditions are also defined.
The simulation is started and the equations are solved iteratively as a steady-state or transient.
Finally a postprocessor is used for the analysis and visualization of the resulting solution.

2.2 Discretization methods

The stability of the chosen discretization is generally established numerically rather than analytically as with
simple linear problems. Special care must also be taken to ensure that the discretization handles

discontinuous solutions gracefully. The Euler equations and NavierStokes equations both admit shocks,
and contact surfaces.
Some of the discretization methods being used are:
2.2.1Finite volume method
The finite volume method (FVM) is a common approach used in CFD codes. The governing equations are
solved over discrete control volumes. Finite volume methods recast the governing partial differential
equations (typically the Navier-Stokes equations) in a conservative form, and then discretize the new
equation. This guarantees the conservation of fluxes through a particular control volume. The finite volume
equation yields governing equations in the form,

where is the vector of conserved variables, is the vector of fluxes, is the volume of the control
volume element, and
is the surface area of the control volume element.
2.2.2Finite element method
The finite element method (FEM) is used in structural analysis of solids, but is also applicable to fluids.
However, the FEM formulation requires special care to ensure a conservative solution. The FEM
formulation has been adapted for use with fluid dynamics governing equations.[citation needed] Although FEM
must be carefully formulated to be conservative, it is much more stable than the finite volume approach[4]
However, FEM can require more memory than FVM.[5]
In this method, a weighted residual equation is formed:

where
is the equation residual at an element vertex , is the conservation equation expressed on an
element basis,
is the weight factor, and
is the volume of the element.

2.2.3 Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes

Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are the oldest approach to turbulence modeling. An
ensemble version of the governing equations is solved, which introduces new apparent stresses known as
Reynolds stresses. This adds a second order tensor of unknowns for which various models can provide
different levels of closure. It is a common misconception that the RANS equations do not apply to flows
with a time-varying mean flow because these equations are 'time-averaged'. In fact, statistically unsteady (or
non-stationary) flows can equally be treated. This is sometimes referred to as URANS. There is nothing
inherent in Reynolds averaging to preclude this, but the turbulence models used to close the equations are
valid only as long as the time over which these changes in the mean occur is large compared to the time
scales of the turbulent motion containing most of the energy.
RANS models can be divided into two broad approaches:
Boussinesq hypothesis
This method involves using an algebraic equation for the Reynolds stresses which include
determining the turbulent viscosity, and depending on the level of sophistication of the model, solving
transport equations for determining the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation. Models include k-
(Launder and Spalding), Mixing Length Model (Prandtl), and Zero Equation Model (Cebeci and Smith) The
models available in this approach are often referred to by the number of transport equations associated with
the method. For example, the Mixing Length model is a "Zero Equation" model because no transport
equations are solved; the
is a "Two Equation" model because two transport equations (one for and
one for ) are solved.
Reynolds stress model (RSM)
This approach attempts to actually solve transport equations for the Reynolds stresses. This means
introduction of several transport equations for all the Reynolds stresses and hence this approach is much
more costly in CPU effort.
2.2.4 Large eddy simulation
Large eddy simulation (LES) is a technique in which the smallest scales of the flow are removed through a
filtering operation, and their effect modeled using subgrid scale models. This allows the largest and most
important scales of the turbulence to be resolved, while greatly reducing the computational cost incurred by
the smallest scales. This method requires greater computational resources than RANS methods, but is far
cheaper than DNS.
2.2.5 Direct numerical simulation
Direct numerical simulation (DNS) resolves the entire range of turbulent length scales. This marginalizes
the effect of models, but is extremely expensive. The computational cost is proportional to
intractable for flows with complex geometries or flow configurations.

. DNS is

2.3 Examples
Karman vortices: Flow around a cylinder
Karman vortices are a standard problem in fluid flows. A fluid flows around a fixed cylinder at low velocity
and vortices are seen to appear experimentally. Vortex formation is more commonly associated with
turbulent flow, while this problem is in the laminar regime.
Boundary Conditions: The cylinder has a radius of 10 cm. Air enters from the left side at a uniform velocity
of 10 cm/s to the right.
Results: A tail of vortices is seen in the wake of the cylinder (Figure 5). The problem was also solved in the
time dependent case and the tail is seen to oscillate

Figure: Karman vortices: Contours of velocity magnitude (m/

3.0 INTRODUTION TO THE SOFTWARE :

3.1Introduction To GAMBIT
Explaining how to use FLUENT cannot be done without discussing GAMBIT first. GAMBIT is an
application that is distributed along with FLUENT. As of this writing, it is owned and distributed by
ANSYS, Inc. GAMBIT is used as a tool to generate or import geometry so that it can be used as a basis for
simulations run in FLUENT. It can either build a model or import existing geometries from various other
CAD applications. With a geometry in place it generates a mesh for the surface and volume of the geometry
allowing it to be used for computational fluid dynamics.

Figure : Gambit 2.4.6 General User Interface

3.2Introduction To FLUENT
FLUENT is a Flow Modeling Software owned by and distributed by ANSYS, Inc. It is used to model
fluid flow within a defined geometry using the principles of computational fluid dynamics. Unlike
GAMBIT, which it is shipped with, it utilizes a multi window pane system for displaying various
configuration menus and grids instead of a single window with several embedded sub-windows restricted
within the space of the parent window. FLUENT is able to read geometries generated in GAMBIT and
model fluid flow within them. It can model various scenarios using computational fluid dynamics, including
compressible and incompressible flow, multiphase flow, combustion, and heat transfer.

3.3Generating a Simple 2-dimensional Model with a Single Circle in the Center

In order to generate the model to be simulated, first one must open up GAMBIT. The geometry can either
be imported from another source or built within the program. In this test the geometry was created within
GAMBIT. I then selected solver and choose Fluent 5/6. This configures the program to generate a file that
will be compatible with the version of FLUENT being used. Next I went to Geometry, select Face, and then
select Create Face. Since the geometry is rather simple, composed of a circle within a rectangle, there was
no need to create 6 the vertexes individually. First, I created a rectangle with an x value of 8 and a y value of
4 and a circle with a radius of 1. Both objects will be created with their center being the origin (Figure 3). In
order to place the objects fully within the first quadrant I used the move command. Since they are halfway
in both the positive x and y axis they must be moved 4 in the x direction and 2 in the y. Next the two
geometries need to be consolidated into one. This was done by using the subtract command where one must
select the rectangle and subtract the circle from it. After the operation is completed only one face appeared
up in the menu.

With the geometry created, it was now time to generate a mesh. I selected mesh, then face, and finally mesh
faces. Leave the defaults except for the spacing. Spacing determines how far node points are away from
each other and consequently how many are created. The spacing was done in the same units as the geometry
used. At the default spacing of 1, a single node is created for every unit of 1.
For a side that measures at 4 there would be 4 node points. I inputted the desired spacing to get the optimal
resolution. For the first preliminary tests spacing of 0.5, 0.25, and 0.1 were used, but later tests used 0.1,
0.05, and 0.01. After the mesh was exported I went back and replace the spacing for the mesh with a
different one if the resolution isn't accurate enough. When the mesh was generated it looked like a grid that
changes shape as it becomes closer to the circle.

Figure : Mesh generated at 0.01 resolution

Next the boundary types needed to be defined. Not every wall of the geometry serves the same purpose, so
it was important to determine how Fluent was going to interpret them. For example in this geometry water
needs to enter from the left and exit through the right while going around the circle in the middle. On its
own Fluent can't determine that is what the user wants, so at this point, inlets, outflows, and walls need to be
defined. In order to do this, I selected Zones then Boundary Types. From the drop down menu I selected the
left edge. This can be determined by selecting an edge and clicking the arrow that points to the right which
will move the label to the right options list. The edge will be highlighted on the geometry. When the correct
edge was selected, I went to the Entity drop down menu and selected velocity_inlet.
I called the edge velocity_inlet to label it for further reference. I repeated the steps for the right edge which
was the outflow. The two remaining walls of the rectangle were designated and labeled as wall. Lastly the
inner circle should be defined as a wall, but it was labeled circle so it could be accessed separately from the
other walls.
This was important when reading the forces acting on different elements of the geometry. Now that the
mesh has been generated and the boundary types defined, I saved the file and exported as a mesh with the
2D option selected as the model is only utilizing the x and y dimensions.

The file was then opened in Fluent. It presented a list of options, 2d, 2ddp, 3d, and 3ddp. I selected 2d since
the geometry generated in GAMBIT was 2-dimensional. Next I selected File then Read and then Case in
order to import the file from GAMBIT, which ended with a .msh file extension. Before doing anything else
in Fluent I checked that there were no errors in the geometry. This was done by selecting Grid then Check.
Although it was not essential to do this step, doing so will prevent one from running a simulation on faulty
geometry, which, considering the nature of how the program uses memory, may cause the program to lock
up and the computer to run rather slow as it prints out a series of error messages. Please note that this did

not catch all possible mistakes. In one test I accidentally labeled the inside circle as the wall where the fluid
outflows.
In this case it did not notify me of the mistake as the program will assume that was intended.
I preceded by selecting Display the Grid. A new configuration window asking for criteria to be determined
opened up but the defaults were all that was needed so I just selected Display. This opened up a new
window displaying the model created in GAMBIT.

Figure : Materials Window

Figure : Boundary Conditions and Velocity Inlet Windows

From this point the fluid needed to be defined. This is done by opening up the Materials
window Which is located in the Define menu. By default Air is listed, but in this test water
was used instead. I added water by clicking on the Database button. Another configuration
window opened up, which listed various materials. I scrolled down to the bottom and selected
Water. There were two entries for water so of the two I picked the one indicating liquid
instead of vapor. After clicking Copy and water appeared in the main materials window. In
some of the tests the viscosity of Water was changed from the default. For these tests the
viscosity value was changed by typing in a new value and clicking Change/Create.
After defining the materials the boundary conditions needed to be defined. I opened the menu
by clicking Define and then Boundary Conditions. Then, I selected fluid in the Zone list and
then fluid in the Type list before pressing the Set... button on the bottom. In the drop down
menu that says 'air', I selected it and changed it to water. This tells Fluent that it will use
water as the fluid for the simulation. I then pressed okay and exited out of the subwindow. At
this point I returned to the Materials window and deleted air from the list of available
materials so that there won't be any confusion, but this was not necessary. I went back to the
Boundary Conditions window and selected the item velocity_inlet in both panes and pressed
set... again.

For the Velocity Specification Method, I changed from the default option in the drop down
menu to Components then changed the X-Velocity to 0.001 as that value was be used in this
test. Then I pressed OK and exited out of the Boundary Conditions window. At this point the
solution needed to be initialized. To do this I went into the Solve menu, pressed Initialize and
then Initialize... which opened up a window titled Solution Initialization. In the new window I
clicked on the drop down menu and selected velocity_inlet as where it will compute from.
For the X Velocity I inputted the same number used before which was 0.001 m/s. I then
clicked Init and closed the window.
At this point all conditions were satisfied to run the simulation. From the Solve menu I
clicked Monitors and then Residual. This window set the parameters of the simulation. For
this test the default options were left alone. I check the radio button next to the Plot option
then pressed OK. In order to run the simulation I clicked Solve then Iterate to open the Iterate
window. For number of iterations I typed 1000 and then pressed Iterate. The second window

that displayed the geometry was replaced with a plot with new points being added as time
went. The number of iterations were also be tracked in the main window. Depending on the
resolution running the solution varied in terms of length. In a few circumstances the
simulation may ended before it could finish all 1000
iterations. This meant the solution had converged and the main window indicated that
convergence had been found. In some tests it stopped computing the solution before
convergence was found because the computer ran out of memory to run the operation. In
other tests the solution did not converge after 1000, which prompted me to go back and run
further iterations to see if it converged with more. In the case that they still did not converge,
I compared the earlier solution with the one generated after further iterations. After I
compared the two, I determined whether or not they are close enough to pick a solution.
Since the simulation completed, it was necessary to interpret the results. I did this by clicking
Display, then Contours to open up the Contours configuration window. This displayed the
results of the simulation in contours over the geometry based on the defined parameters that
were being measured. I checked the Filled radio button and then switch the options in the
drop down menus to say Pressure. Clicking Display changed the second plot window into a
contour graph overlaid on top of the geometry. I then checked whether or not the distribution
of pressure forces makes sense using prior knowledge of fluid flow, using the color key on
the right to determine what color means what value. Red represented a higher pressure while
blue indicated low pressure. To see what the actual forces are on specific parts of the
geometry, I clicked Report and then Forces. Under Wall Zone I selected the entries for Wall
and Circle as those are the objects that were being measured in this test. The entry for Force
Vector indicated the direction of the measurement, meaning value of 1 for X and 0 for Y
measured forces in just the x direction. By switching the values and it measured in the y
direction. Since the fluid flow was going horizontally there were minimal forces in the y
direction. I checked the forces in the y direction to verify that was indeed the case. Pressing
Print displayed the pressure, viscous, and total forces for each zone along with the
corresponding coefficients.

3.4Modelling Of 3D Open Channel Flow :

The Problem is that we have a open Channel whose cross section is 2m in width and 2m in
height and the length of the channel is 6m. There is a obstruction in the mid way of the
channel whose dimensions are 0.5*0.5*2 m.
The Geometry of the open channel is as created in GAMBIT.

The volume of open channel is created in GAMBIT as per the size given in the problem.
Now we will create the obstruction as the V2 of size 0.5*0.5*2

Fig showing V2

Then we will translate this volume to the center of the open channel using MOVE option in
the GAMBIT tool bar. After the translation we will do the subtraction of the 2 volumes using
the Boolean operations option from the tool bar. Then it will look like this below fig.

Fig Subtracted Volumes.

Now we will mesh the volume using the mesh volume command in the tool bar. This
command helps in meshing whole of the volume. We will mesh the whole volume using
Hex/wedge cells of 0.1 resoution. Following fig. Shows that

Fig Showing meshing of the volume.

Now we will apply boundary conditions over the Face 3 as velocity_inlet and will save the
face as Vin. And Face 4 as the Pressure_outlet and wil save it as PO for our convenience.
Now we will save the file and go to the export option in the file option on the task bar above
and export the mesh so that we can use that mesh for the analysis in FLUENT.
Open fluent and select read case in file option and read the mesh file we have saved before
and open it in fluent and check the grid and the define the models. Define phases, materials,
operating conditions, boundary conditions. Give the velocities as well as the volume fraction
in the definition of the conditions. Now execute the commands and iterate with suitable
amount of steps. And we find out the results in the form of contours as shown in the figures
below.

Volume fraction contours

Contours of absolute pressure.

Contours of Turbulent Kinetic Energy.

3.5 Modelling Of 2D cavities :

We modeled 2D cavities in fluent whose different contours are shown as follows.

Contours of absolute pressure

Contours of Velocity Magnitude

Contours of turbulent kinetic energy

3.6 Modelling of a cylinder in moving air :

Here are some contour diagrams which were the results of numerical modeling in FLUENT :

Fig : Contours of Absolute pressure.

Fig : Contours of Velocity Magnitude.

Fig : Contours of Turbulent kinetic energy.

4.0 CASE STUDY:

To perform surge analysis on the model of the KUMBHE hydroelectric power plant.
The Problem states that:
Its a part of a hydraulic power plant.
Surge tank of height 100.5m
Penstock Of length 392.3 m inclined at 58.90o
First we create the geometry in the Gambit mesh it and Export it to fluent .Then we define the
conditions operating as well as boundary. Define the phases, materials and viscous model.
Then we initialize the solver time and then iterate the commands and we get the results.

Meshed geometry created in GAMBIT

Contours of volume fraction.

Contours of volume fraction when the water outlet is closed.

Settling of water in the surge tank.

4.1 Conclusion of the surge analysis:

The conclusion of surge analysis was that the surge tank given in this project is enough to
take all kinds of change in pressure. As the surge was found out to be 40.88 m.

5.0 Conclusion
Computational Fluid Dynamics for all its advances over the past few decades is still nothing
but an approximation and these tests seemed to only reinforce the notion. As the resolution
changes there drag coefficient and overall model changes. Even at a high .01 resolution the
program didn't seem to have settled on a concrete value and one would have reason to believe
that further tests at even higher resolutions would show a change in the model. Furthermore,
due to limitations of computer hardware the higher levels of resolution cannot be computed
without running out of memory. This is especially true considering the simulations run in this
experiment can be considered relatively simple compared to modeling of real life applications
and scenarios. The circumstances may be different if the tests were run in a completely 64 bit
environment, but that was not available for use at the time of conducting the experiment.
If given more time and materials the next logical step would be to devise an experiment with
conditions that can be replicated in both the program and in real life. This would be done
using a wind tunnel or water tank where the fluid flow can be measured along with the forces.
The same conditions would be created in Gambit and simulated in Fluent. In addition, this
would require the 64 bit installation of Fluent on a computer with more than three gigabytes
of random access memory. Only then would one be able to get a good grasp of how accurate
the program is at running simulations.
Eventually it would seem that computational fluid dynamics would advance to the point that
nobody would ever need to conduct actual simulations such as running a wind tunnel.

References
"ANSYS FLUENT Flow Modeling Software." Welcome to ANSYS, Inc. - Corporate
Homepage. Web. 4 Sept. 2009. <http://www.ansys.com/products/fluid-dynamics/fluent/>.
"A Brief History of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) from Fluent." CFD Flow
Modeling Software & Solutions from Fluent. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.fluent.com/about/cfdhistory.htm>.
"Reynolds Number." Engineering ToolBox. Web. 9 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/reynolds-number-d_237.html>.
"Reynolds Number." NASA - Title...Web. 03 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/BGH/reynolds.html>. 26
Computational Fluid Dyanmics By Anderson.