37

CHAPTER 4

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

In this chapter, the concept of computational fluid dynamics and the

usage of this tool for the present work are explained. The required physics for
solving the impeller by this approach is also described. The features available
in the commercial tool and its usage for solving the impeller are discussed in
detail.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has grown from a

mathematical curiosity to become an essential tool in almost every branch of
fluid dynamics, from aerospace propulsion to weather prediction. CFD is
commonly accepted as referring to the broad topic encompassing the
numerical solution, by computational methods. These governing equations,
which describe fluid flow, are the set of Navier-Stokes equation, continuity
equation and any additional conservation equations, for example, energy or
species concentrations.

Since the advent of the digital computer, CFD, as a developing

science, has received extensive attention throughout the international
community. The attraction of the subject is two fold. Firstly, there is the
desire to be able to model physical fluid phenomena that cannot be easily
simulated or measured with a physical experiment, for example, weather
systems. Secondly, there is desire to be able to investigate physical fluid
 38

systems more cost effectively and more rapidly than with experimental
procedures.

Traditional restrictions in flow analysis and design limit the

accuracy in solving and visualization of the fluid-flow problems. This applies
to both single and multi-phase flows, and is particularly true of problems that
are three dimensional in nature and involve turbulence, chemical reactions,
and/or heat and mass transfer. All these can be considered together in the
application of CFD, a powerful technique that can help to overcome many
restrictions inherent in traditional analysis.

CFD is a method for solving complex fluid flow and heat transfer
problems on a computer. CFD allows the study of problems that are too
difficult to solve using classical techniques. The flow path inside the impeller
of the centrifugal pump is intricate and this can be analyzed using CFD tool,
which provides an insight into the complex flow behavior.

4.2 CFD SIMULATIONS

The process of performing CFD simulations is split into three

components:

Pre-processing Solving Post-processing

Setting up the simulation : Pre - processing (interactive)

Solving for the flow field : Solver (non - interactive / batch process)
 39

4.2.1 Pre-processing

The pre-processor contains all the fluid flow inputs for a flow
problem. It can be seen as a user-friendly interface and a conversion of all the
input into the solver in CFD program. At this stage, quite a lot of activities are
carried out before the problem is being solved. These stages are listed below:

Geometry Definition - The region of interests, that is the

computational domain which has to be defined.

Grid generation- It is the process of dividing the domain into a

number of smaller and non-overlapping sub-domains.

Physical and chemical properties - The flow behavior in terms of

physical and chemical characteristics are to be selected.

Fluid property Definition - The fluid properties like density and

viscosity are to be defined.

Boundary conditions - All the necessary boundary conditions have

to be specified on the cell zones.

The solution of the flow problem such as temperature, velocity,

pressure etc. is defined at the nodes insides each cell. The accuracy of the
CFD solution is governed by the number of cells in the grid and is dependent
on the fineness of the grid.

4.2.2 Solution

In the numerical solution technique, there are three different streams

that form the basis of the solver. There are finite differences, finite element
and finite volume methods. The differences between them are the way in
 40

which the flow variables are approximated and the discretization processes
are done.

4.2.2.1 Finite Difference Element (FDM)

FDM describes the unknown flow variables of the flow problem by

means of point samples at node points of a grid coordinate. By FDM, the
Taylor’s expansion is usually used to generate finite differences
approximation.

4.2.2.2 Finite Element Method (FEM)

FEM uses the simple piecewise functions valid on elements to

describe the local variations of unknown flow variables. Governing equation
is precisely satisfied by the exact solution of flow variables. In FEM, residuals
are used to measure the errors.

4.2.2.3 Finite Volume Method (FVM)

FVM was originally developed as a special finite difference

formulation. The main computational commercial CFD codes packages using
the FVM approaches involves Phoenics, Fluent, Flow 3D and Star-CD.
Basically, the numerical algorithm in these CFD commercial packages
involves the formal integration of the governing equation over all the finite
control volume, the discretization process involves the substitution of a
variety of FDM types to approximate the integration equation of the flow
problem, and the solution is obtained by iterative method. Discretization in
the solver involves the approaches to solve the numerical integration of the
flow problem. Usually, two different approaches are made, one at a time.
 41

4.2.2.4 Implicit Versus Explicit Methods

Numerical solution schemes are often referred to as being explicit or

implicit. When a direct computation of the dependent variables can be made
in terms of known quantities, the computation is said to be explicit. When the
dependent variables are defined by coupled sets of equations, and either a
matrix or iterative technique is needed to obtain the solution, the numerical
method is said to be implicit.

In computational fluid dynamics, the governing equations are

nonlinear, and the number of unknown variables is typically very large. Under
these conditions implicitly formulated equations are almost always solved
using iterative techniques.

Iterations are used to advance a solution through a sequence of steps

from a starting state to a final, converged state. This is true whether the
solution sought is either one step in a transient problem or a final steady-state
result. In either case, the iteration steps resemble a time-like process. Of
course, the iteration steps usually do not correspond to a realistic time-
dependent behavior. In fact, it is this aspect of an implicit method that makes
it attractive for steady-state computations, because the number of iterations
required for a solution is often much smaller than the number of time steps
needed for an accurate transient that asymptotically approaches steady
conditions.

On the other hand, it is also this "distorted transient" feature that

leads to the question, "What are the consequences of using an implicit versus
an explicit solution method for a time-dependent problem?" The answer to
this question has two parts. The first part has to do with numerical stability
and the second part with numerical accuracy.
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4.2.2.5 Stability

A numerical solution method is said to be stable if it does not magnify

the errors that appear in the course of numerical solution process. For
temporal problems, stability guarantees that the method produces a bounded
solution whenever the solution of the exact equation is bounded. For iterative
methods, a stable method is one that does not diverge. Stability can be
difficult to investigate, especially when boundary conditions and non-
linearities are present. For this reason, it is common to investigate the stability
of a method for linear problems with constant coefficients without boundary
conditions. Experience shows that the results obtained in this way can often
be applied to more complex problems but there are notable exceptions. The
most widely used approach to studying stability of numerical schemes is the
von Neumann's method. However, when solving complicated, non-linear and
coupled equations with complicated boundary conditions, there are few
stability results so we may have to rely on experience and intuition. Many
solution schemes require that the time step be smaller than a certain limit or
that under-relaxation be used.

4.2.2.6 Accuracy

Numerical solutions of fluid flow and heat transfer problems are only
approximate solutions. In addition to the errors that might be introduced in the
course of the development of the solution algorithm, in programming or
setting up the boundary conditions, numerical solutions always include three
kinds of systematic errors:

Modeling errors, which are defined as the difference between the

actual flow and the exact solution of the mathematical model;
 43

Discretization errors, defined as the difference between the exact

solution of the conservation equations and the exact solution of the algebraic
system of equations obtained by discretizing these equations.

Iteration errors, defined as the difference between the iterative and

exact solutions of the algebraic equations systems. Iteration errors are often
called convergence errors However, the term convergence is used not only in
conjunction with error reduction in iterative solution methods, but is also
(quite appropriately) often associated with the convergence of numerical
solutions towards a grid-independent solution, in which case it is closely
linked to discretization error.

It is important to be aware of the existence of these errors, and even

more to try to distinguish one from another. Various errors may cancel each
other, so that sometimes a solution obtained on a coarse grid may agree better
with the experiment than a solution on a finer grid - which, by definition,
should be more accurate.

Modeling errors depend on the assumptions made in deriving the

transport equations for the variables. They may be considered negligible when
laminar flows are investigated, since the Navier-Stokes equations represent a
sufficiently accurate model of the flow. However, for turbulent flows, two-
phase flows, combustion etc., the modeling errors may be very large - the
exact solution of the model equations may be qualitatively wrong. Modeling
errors are also introduced by simplifying the geometry of the solution domain,
by simplifying boundary conditions etc. These errors are not known a priori;
they can only be evaluated by comparing solutions in which the discretization
and convergence errors are negligible with accurate experimental data or with
data obtained by more accurate models (e.g. data from direct simulation of
turbulence, etc.). It is essential to control and estimate the convergence and
 44

discretization errors before the models of physical phenomena (like

turbulence models) can be judged.

As mentioned above that discretization approximations introduce

errors which decrease as the grid is refined, and that the order of the
approximation is a measure of accuracy. However, on a given grid, methods
of the same order may produce solution errors which differ by as much as an
order of magnitude. This is because the order only tells us the rate at which
the error decreases as the mesh spacing is reduced - it gives no information
about the error on a single grid.

Errors due to iterative solution and round-off are easier to control. The
ultimate goal is to obtain desired accuracy with least effort, or the maximum
accuracy with the available resources.

4.2.2.7 Conservation

Since the equations to be solved are conservation laws, the numerical

scheme should also - on both a local and a global basis - respect these laws.
This means that, at steady state and in the absence of sources, the amount of a
conserved quantity leaving a closed volume is equal to the amount entering
that volume. If the strong conservation form of equations and a finite volume
method are used, this is guaranteed for each individual control volume and for
the solution domain as a whole. Other discretization methods can be made
conservative if care is taken in the choice of approximations. The treatment of
sources or sink terms should be consistent so that the total source or sink in
the domain is equal to the net flux of the conserved quantity through the
boundaries.

This is an important property of the solution method, since it

imposes a constraint on the solution error. If the conservation of mass,
 45

momentum and energy are insured, the error can only improperly distribute
these quantities over the solution domain. Non-conservative schemes can
produce artificial sources and sinks, changing the balance both locally and
globally. However, non-conservative schemes can be consistent and stable
and therefore lead to correct solutions in the limit of very fine grids. The
errors due to non-conservation are in most cases appreciable only on
relatively coarse grids.

The problem is that it is difficult to know on which grid are these

errors small enough. Conservative schemes are preferred in solution
approach.

4.2.2.8 Boundedness

Numerical solutions should lie within proper bounds. Physically non-

negative quantities (like density, kinetic energy of turbulence) must always be
positive; other quantities, such as concentration, must lie between 0% and
100%. In the absence of sources, some equations (e.g. the heat equation for
the temperature when no heat sources are present) require that the minimum
and maximum values of the variable be found on the boundaries of the
domain.

These conditions should be inherited by the numerical

approximation. Boundedness is difficult to guarantee. Some first order
schemes guarantee this property. All higher-order schemes can produce
unbounded solutions; fortunately, this usually happens only on grids that are
too coarse, so a solution with undershoots and overshoots is usually an
indication that the errors in the solution are large and the grid needs some
refinement (at least locally). The problem is that schemes prone to producing
unbounded solutions may have stability and convergence problems.
 46

4.2.2.9 Realizability

Models of phenomena which are too complex to treat directly (for

example, turbulence, combustion, or multiphase flow) should be designed to
guarantee physically realistic solutions. This is not a numerical issue per se
but models that are not realizable may result in unphysical solutions or cause
numerical methods to diverge.

4.2.2.10 Consistency

The discretization should become exact as the grid spacing tends to zero. The
difference between the discretized equation and the exact one is called the
truncation error. It is usually estimated by replacing all the nodal values in the
discrete approximation by a Taylor series expansion about a single point.

As a result one recovers the original differential equation plus a

remainder, which represents the truncation error. For a method to be
consistent, the truncation error must become zero when the mesh spacing At
t 0 and/or x 0. Truncation error is usually proportional to a power of
the grid spacing xi and/or the time step t. If the most important term is
proportional to ( x)n or ( t) n . It is called as nth-order approximation; n > 0
is required for consistency. Ideally, all terms should be discretized with
approximations of the same order of accuracy; however, some terms (e.g.
convective terms in high Reynolds number flows or diffusive terms in low
Reynolds number flows) may be dominant in a particular flow and it may be
reasonable to treat them with more accuracy than the others.

Some discretization methods lead to truncation errors which are

functions of the ratio of xi to t or vice versa. In such a case the consistency
requirement is only conditionally fulfilled: xi and t must be reduced in a
way that allows the appropriate ratio to go to zero. Even if the approximations
 47

are consistent, it does not necessarily mean that the solution of the discretized
equation system will become the exact solution of the differential equation in
the limit of small step size. For this to happen, the solution method has to be
stable.

4.2.2.11 Convergence

When running a well-posed CFD simulation, there are many factors

that govern the decision to declare the solution done. Residual reports, force
monitors, and overall balances are just a few of the factors that can be used to
make this judgment call. More important than the measuring devices is what
is to be achieved by running the simulation in the first place. For example,
deep convergence is required if it is an aerodynamic problem and want to get
accurate predictions of lift and drag coefficients. Rough convergence is
acceptable for simple flow problems.

The reason that solution convergence is an issue with all CFD

software is due to the iterative nature of the solution procedures used. In
particular, iteration is necessary to handle the non-linearity of the equations
that govern fluid flow, heat transfer, and related processes. For any given
conservation equation, an approximate solution is obtained at each iteration
that results in a small imbalance in the conservation statement. During the
course of the iterative solution algorithm, the imbalance in each cell is a
small, non-zero value that, under normal circumstances, decreases as the
solution progresses. This imbalance is called the residual. The total residual
for each variable across the entire solution domain is the sum of the absolute
values of the individual cell residuals. This total residual is often scaled so
that the residuals of different variables can be compared or combined. Scaling
factors are taken from the bulk flow quantities or from the error at the start of
the calculation.
 48

The convergence criteria are pre-set conditions on the residuals that

indicate that a certain level of convergence has been achieved. For example, a
criterion that the scaled residual for the x-momentum drop to 0.001 indicates
that the overall error in this variable is about three orders of magnitude less
than the bulk x-momentum in the system. Variations on this definition exist
for certain variables or solver techniques, but a common thread for all is that
as the net residual declines, so does the error in the solution.

Unfortunately, the reduction in residuals is not the only indicator of

convergence. A truly converged solution is one that is no longer changing
with successive iteration. If the residuals for all problem variables fall below
the convergence criteria but are still in decline, the solution is still changing,
to a greater or lesser degree. A better indicator occurs when the residuals
flatten in a traditional residual plot (of residual value vs. iteration). This point,
sometimes referred to as convergence at the level of machine accuracy, takes
time to reach, however, and may be beyond the needs. For this reason,
alternative tools such as reports of forces, heat balances, or mass balances can
be used instead.

4.2.3 Post-Processing

The CFD package provides the data visualisation tools to visualise

the results of the flow problem. This includes – vectors plots, domain
geometry and grid display, line and shaded counter plots, particle tracking etc.
Recent facilities are aided with animation for dynamic result display and they
also have data export facilities for further manipulation external to the code.

Determining the convergence, whether the solution is consistent and

stable for all range of flow variables, is important.
 49

Convergence is a property of a numerical method to produce a

solution that approaches the exact solution by which the grid spacing and
control volume size are reduced to a specific value or to zero value.

Consistency is to produce the system of algebraic equations that can

be equivalent to the original governing equation.

Stability associates with the damping of errors as a numerical

method proceeds. If a technique chosen is not stable, even the round-off error
in the initial data can lead to wild oscillations or divergence.

4.3 BASIC EQUATIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS

In an inertial frame of reference the flow of an isothermal

Newtonian fluid is described by the continuity equation

∂ρ
+ ∇.(ρ v ) = 0
∂t
(4.1)

and by the Navier-Stokes equation

∂v 1 v
+ v.∇ v = − ∇p + v∇ 2 v + ∇∇.v + F (4.2)
∂t ρ 3

With ρ the density, v the velocity vector, t the time, p the pressure, v the
kinematic viscosity, and F an external force.

A number of assumptions can be made for the flow in hydraulic

pumps:
 50

1) Mach-numbers are usually small enough to justify the

2
assumption of incompressible flow (Ma << 1). The continuity
equation (4.1) then reduces to

∇.v = 0 (4.3)

2) This means that viscous forces can be neglected when compared

to inertia forces, except in boundary layers and wakes. With this
assumption, the Navier-Stokes equation (4.2) for the main flow
reduces to

∂v 1
+ v.∇v = - ∇p + F (4.4)
∂t ρ

3) The final assumption which can be made in case of hydraulic

pumps is the flow being irrotational,

∇×v = 0 (4.5)

4) Vorticity is generated by viscous shear forces or non-

conservative external forces. Thus, in the absence of non-
conservative forces and viscous effects confined to thin (and
attached) boundary layers and wakes, the core of the flow can be
assumed irrotational, provided that the incoming fluid is free of
rotation. A velocity potential φ can now be defined as

v = ∇φ (4.6)

which can be substituted into equation (4.3) to obtain the

Laplace equation

∇ 2φ = 0 (4.7)
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Potential is solved from the above equation. The Navier-Stokes

equation in this case with irrotational flow and force of gravity reduces to
unsteady Bernoulli’s equation,

∂φ 1 P
+ v . v + + gZ = c( t ) (4.8)
∂t 2 ρ

Bernoulli’s equation in steady state is,

1 p
v.v + + gZ = 0 (4.9)
2 ρ

Potential theory shows the simplification of the complex flow

physics in to the solvable form analytically that is used for the calculation.
The need of commercial tool is understood from the simplification made in
the equation, as it neglects the viscous effects and related phenomena. By
introducing the viscous effect with the turbulence models improves the
solution accuracy in the commercial solvers.

In the case of viscous flow k- model is taken into account.

Belonging to the family of eddy-viscosity models, this is one of the most
prominent turbulence prediction tools implemented in many general purpose
CFD codes. It has proven to be stable and numerically robust having a well
established predictive capability. The k- model introduces two new variables
into the system of conservation equations. The values of k and are directly
calculated from the differential transport equations for the turbulence kinetic
energy (k) and turbulence dissipation rate ( ).

4.4 COMPUTATIONAL DOMAIN AND BOUNDARY

CONDITIONS
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A typical pump consists of inlet pipe, the impeller, the discharge

region and exit pipe. Different types of conditions apply at its boundaries:

Inlet and outlet surfaces: Possible inlet and outlet boundary

conditions are following;

Inlet Boundary Condition

Normal Speed Inlet:

The magnitude of the inlet velocity is specified and the direction is

taken to be normal to the boundary. The direction constraint requires that the
flow direction is parallel to the boundary surface normal, which is calculated
at each element face on the inlet boundary.

Cartesian Velocity Components:

The boundary velocity components are specified, with a non-zero

resultant into the domain.

UInlet = Ui+Vj+Wk (4.10)

U, V, W are the velocity component in x, y and z directions.

Cylindrical Velocity Components:

In this case the velocity boundary condition is specified in a local

cylindrical coordinate system. Only the axial direction of the local coordinate
system needs to be given and the components of velocity in the r, theta and z
directions are automatically transformed by the Solver into Cartesian velocity
components.

UInlet = Ur, rˆ+ U , ˆ+Uz, zˆ (4.11)

 53

Ur, U , Uz are the velocity components in r, and z directions.

And the solver will compute the rotation matrix which transforms these
components from the cylindrical components to the Cartesian components
such that the boundary condition is the same as if Cartesian components were
specified.

Total Pressure

The Total Pressure, , is specified at an inlet boundary condition and the

Solver computes the static pressure needed to properly close the boundary
condition. For rotating frames of reference one usually specifies the stationary
frame total pressure instead.

The direction constraint for the Normal To Boundary option is the

same as that for the Normal Speed Inlet option. Alternatively, the direction
vector can be specified explicitly in terms of its three components. In both
cases, the boundary mass flow is an implicit result of the flow simulation.

Mass Flow Rate

The boundary mass flow rate is specified along with a direction

component. If the flow direction is specified as normal to the boundary, a
uniform mass influx is assumed to exist over the entire boundary. Also, if the
flow direction is set using Cartesian or cylindrical components, the
component normal to the boundary condition is ignored and, again, a uniform
mass influx is assumed. The mass influx is calculated using:

ρU = m / s dA (4.12)

where s dA is the integrated boundary surface area at a given

mesh resolution. The area varies with mesh resolution because the
 54

resolution determines how well resolved the boundary surfaces are. The value
of is held constant over the entire boundary surface.

Outlet Boundary Condition

Static Pressure (Uniform)

Relative Static Pressure is specified over the outlet boundary:

Pstatic, Outlet = Pspecified (4.13)

Normal Speed

The magnitude of the outlet velocity is specified and the direction is

taken to be normal to the boundary at mesh resolution.

Cartesian Velocity Components

The boundary velocity components are specified, with a non-zero

resultant out of the domain.

Uoutlet = Ui+Vj+Wk (4.14)

Average Static Pressure: Overall

The Outlet Relative Static Pressure is constrained such that the average
is the specified value:

P spec = 1/A s PndA (4.15)

where the integral is over the entire outlet boundary surface.

 55

To enforce this condition, pressure at each boundary integration point

is set as:

Pip = Pspec avg + (Pnode – Pnode avg) (4.16)

So, the integration point pressure in this case is set to the specified
value plus the difference between the local nodal value and the average outlet
boundary pressure. In this way the exit boundary condition pressure profile
can float, but the average value is constrained to the specified value.

Impeller blade surfaces: At the impeller blade surfaces (both high

pressure and suction side) the Neumann boundary condition takes the form

∂φ
= (Ω × r ) . n (4.17)
∂n

where is the rotational velocity of the impeller and n is the outward unit
normal vector.

At boundaries, which do not move, normal velocity components vanish

∂φ
= 0 (4.18)
∂n

The flow region of interest is divided into non-overlapping

sub-domains so as to have greater ease in creating a good mesh for
complex 3D geometries, considerable reduction of computing time and
greater accuracy in results.

The analysis of the impeller flow passage is done using software

packages. The flow passage is modeled, meshed and analyzed in different
software packages. The pressure and velocity distributions in the flow passage
is the desired output with which comparisons and inferences can be made in
 56

order to achieve the goal of redesigning the passage to increase the efficiency
of the pump.

4.5 USAGE OF COMMERCIAL PACKAGE

4.5.1 Modeling

The impeller has five flow passages and six vanes. The flow in
all the five flow passages are considered to be uniform, and only one
flow
passage is considered for analysis. The flow passage is modeled in
Pro/ENGINEER- 2001 as shown in Figure 4.1. The flow passage is
modeled in mm. The passage is modeled along with a part of the eye
to depict the existing inlet passage. The model has an axial entry and
radial exit with a converging flow path. The vane profile has four radii
of curvature. The model is then converted into STEP file which will
then be exported for meshing and analysis.

(a) Impeller (b) Impeller Fluid Domain

Figure 4.1 Pro E Model
 57

4.5.2 Discretization

Meshing is dividing the whole model into smaller cells by choosing

an appropriate element size and type. The STEP file is imported into
GAMBIT. The solver is to be selected in GAMBIT to give the appropriate
boundary conditions. The solver selected is Fluent 5/6. The volume is then
meshed using the mesh tool with tetrahedral elements as shown in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2 Discretized Fluid Domain

4.5.3 Solution

Fluent 6.1 is a software package in which the analysis of fluid flows,

heat related problems and other turbulent flow problems are analyzed to
obtain pressure, velocity, temperature and other distributions. The solver
selected for the impeller analysis is a segregated type, which provides
flexibility in solution procedure. The implicit cell based gradient with
absolute velocity formulation is followed.

The viscous k- (k-Epsilon) two equation model with standard wall

function which solves the continuity and the momentum equation is chosen
for the purpose of capturing the kinetic energy and the dissipative energy
 58

effects encountered in the turbo machine. Here k represents the kinetic energy
and represents the dissipative energy.

The working fluid is chosen from the database and copied. The
material chosen is water with constant default density and constant default
viscosity corresponding to single phase, single species flow. As the pumping
system is operating in atmosphere, the operating pressure is set as 101325 Pa.

The boundary conditions reflect the physics of the prevalent

conditions. The conditions specified play a critical role in determining the
final output.

The boundary conditions are specified as follows.

• Flow - material – water-liquid

• Motion type - moving reference frame with rotational

speed (rad/s)

• Inlet - pressure inlet

• Outlet - velocity inlet (negative value is specified

to signify outward flow)

• Wall - stationary wall

Before solving the problem, the solution parameters have to be set.

First the solver controls are set to the default under relaxation values for
pressure, density, momentum and body forces. First order upwind criteria are
maintained to achieve convergence faster.

The solution has to be initialized to eliminate any garbage values.

The residual monitors are set, and the convergence criteria for continuity,
x-velocity, y-velocity, z-velocity, k and are set at third decimal convergence
of 0.001.
 59

The grid has to be adapted for attaining faster convergence. Usage

of k- viscous model necessitates two types of adaptation namely boundary
adaptation and Y+/Y* adaptation. Adaptation increases the number of cells
and adapts the cells adjacent to the walls.

The problem is now ready to be iterated and the number of iterations

is specified and the reporting interval is set as one so as to monitor the trend
every time. The iteration continues till the convergence criteria in all the six
parameters namely continuity, x, y, z velocity, k and are attained. The plot
of the convergence can be viewed simultaneously by activating the display
window.

The output of the solution can be viewed as projected areas, surface

integrals etc. For better understanding, area-weighted average of parameters
like pressure and velocity are taken.

The mass flow rate and volume flow rate can also be obtained. The
whole results can also be viewed graphically in the graphic display window.
The display can be in the mode of contours or vectors. The display will be self
explanatory as different ranges of pressure and velocity will support a
different color.

Mesh adoption is carried out in the fluent solver. It adapts the mesh
according to the flux parameter. Boundary adaptation technique is utilized in
this analysis. Adaptation increases the number of cells and adapts the cells
adjacent to the walls. It is adapted in the solver automatically and the results
are obtained for the adapted condition.

Rotating flows is treated using the moving reference frame capability

in Fluent. The Figure 4.3 depicts the flow in a moving reference frame.
 60

Figure 4.3 Flow in a moving reference frame

In this work the grid convergence is ensured and the same pattern is applied
for all analysis