How is a CFD analysis performed on Ansys Student 2021 R1?
I've been given a Fluid Mechanics-I project where I have to conduct a fluid mechanics analysis. I've attached the screenshot of the proposal. I literally have no idea about CFD (other than its basic definition), nor have I used Ansys in the past. I just installed Ansys Student 2021 R1 but I don't know what I should do next, where I should learn from, where I can get the tutorials. On the internet, I just saw that Ansys Fluent is used to perform CFD analysis, and Ansys CFD is also used. But I don't even know which app I should be opening in Ansys Student 2021 R1. If anyone can help me with this, I would be extremely helpful. Thank you.
Accepted answer
Hi Zeeshan,
You can start with watching videos on Youtube by searching 2D car drag with Ansys fluent. There are lots of useful videos out there.I have been learning for a while and I will try to summarize general steps in Ansys Fluent. This basic idea can be applicable to any other software.
Before that I should remind you, theory is the most important part of CFD, without theory you can never understand what is happening behind the scene. Better to start with some fundamental CFD books and some online courses. You can simulate your problem by watching some videos but if you want to go furter theory is the key.
You can start with below links:
https://www.edx.org/course/a-hands-on-introduction-to-engineering-simulations
https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/SIMULATION/FLUENT+Learning+Modules
And well known book:
https://www.amazon.com/Computational-Fluid-Dynamics-John-Anderson/dp/0070016852
Here is my rough summary about Ansys - Fluent
1- Geometry:
You can draw your own on Ansys by using Spaceclaim or Design modeller. If you ever used Solidworks, you will like Spaceclaim.
If you have geometry, you can import directly into ansys. Key point is, some geometries need to be cleaned before going to next step.
Another important thing is, at this step, you should define flow domain.
2- Mesh
After goemetry step, meshing should be done. Meshing is critical because it effect results significantly, if you don't handle it carefully. When you start meshing, better to search, mesh quality in ansys fluent to see what are the acceptible ranges of mesh qualities.
At this step, you should also define names of boddies, faces or edges, too. These names will show up in Setup part, so you will able to define parameters for these boddies, faces or edges. It depends what you have.
3- Setup
This step, you should define boundary conditions like flow velocity, pressure, input output conditions, wall, material, turbulence/laminar condition etc. it depends what you want and what you need. Your problem definition will shape this part mostly.
After all parameters are defined, you can start to solve this.
4- Results
You can either see your results from setup window or you may want to use Result section. At this point you can create your own equations to see drag or any other quantity, you can also plot etc. many things that you can do at this step. Most of the properties can be done in Setup step too, but I generally prefer to define it on Result step.
I can say that CFD is a huge world, and I just wanted to say some general things that I have learned till now.
You can start with watching youtube videos. Start with 2D geometries, try to understand steps and their importance. Ansys can be painful, sometimes but keep going to try. Once you see the power of Ansys, you will understand better what I mean.
Another thing, create and account in Ansys learning forum and hang out some time in the topics and search what you need. Most probably you will find same issues was already discussed and solved. Their managements are very helpful and active.
Good luck,
