Tag Archives: CFD

Setting Up a Simple Flow Simulation (Part 2)

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At the end of February, I blogged about how I had the pleasure of talking with Desktop Engineering magazine’s senior editor Kenneth Wong via podcast. He had a simple challenge for me: For a structural engineer who is just beginning to work with fluid dynamics, outline the points important to CFD flow simulation. He also asked me to explain how to avoid pitfalls when setting up the simulation and what to look for when analyzing the results.

That podcast focused on the simulation setup. More recently I met again with Kenneth, and this time he wanted information about how to run the simulation and analyze the results to extract key engineering information.

flow simulation pipe valveRemember, we are looking at a ball valve design. In this design, the flow pushes on the valve when it is partially open, which could deform or move the valve enough to make it leak. The analysis simulates flow behavior inside the valve to determine whether or not the valve leaks.

First we focus on how to ensure that the solution process has gone the way it should. Continue reading →

This Week’s Top 5 Engineering Technology News Articles

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Happy Friday, folks! This week, Spiderman makes an appearance in our most interesting engineering technology news articles and SpaceX makes history for the 2nd time as they launch the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule into space to resupply the International Space Station again.

Enjoy!

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Setting Up a Simple Flow Simulation

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of conversing with Desktop Engineering magazine’s senior editor Kenneth Wong for a podcast recording. He had a simple challenge for me: For a structural engineer who is just beginning to work with fluid dynamics, outline the  points important to CFD flow simulation. Additionally, he asked me to explain how to avoid pitfalls when setting up the simulation and what to look for when analyzing the results.

My first thought was that, well, there are great classes, training and free YouTube videos available. Give me a couple of hours and I can turn a structural-expert-but-CFD-newbie into a CFD user. Kenneth understood all this, but his biggest challenge was yet to come. He asked me quite seriously, “And can you get an engineer on the right track in a couple of minutes?”

*** Mission Impossible soundtrack playing inside my head ****  Sure! Let’s do it!

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Reactions Are Everywhere – Learn About Modeling Reacting Flows

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image of Learning text on a keyboard ANSYS Webinars and EventsOur existence depends on reactions. They are all around us. Driving to work, we convert the hydrocarbon fuel through a combustion reaction into water vapors and carbon dioxide. In the case where you have those fancy hybrids or electric cars, you still need that electrochemical reaction to take place to draw current and run the electric motor.

We breath air. The oxygen in air helps in burning the glucose in our body and provide us with energy. So, be it a very complicated engine or a biological system like humans, reactions are everywhere. Continue reading →

Four Out of Top Six F1 Racing Teams Powered by ANSYS

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image of Red Bull Race Team

Team Red Bull Racing poses for the end of season team photo during previews for the Formula One Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Carlos Pace on November 22, 2012 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Vladimir Rys)

If you’re like me — a passionate fan of Formula 1 — you were probably on the edge of your seat during the last race of the season in Brazil, during which either the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel or the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso could have won the championship. After a season of 20 F1 races, the fact that the contest was so close is a measure of the margins these teams work with. Anyone who has been to a race and witnessed these race cars firsthand knows exactly how close to the edge the cars and drivers are.

F1 Vehicles Most Technologically Advanced

F1 vehicles are the most technologically advanced in the world; they need to adapt each year to changing regulations. This often results in a team redesigning the car’s roughly 4,000 components to meet the demands of performance and safety. But not only that, engineering teams are continually improving performance between races — often having only two weeks between races to make a performance impact. With lap times for the leading cars differing by fractions of a second, improperly executing these changes from one circuit to the next can be the difference between being on the podium and not scoring any points. Continue reading →

CFD Drives Marussia Formula 1

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image of Marussia Formula 1I read my coworker Gilles’ blog last week week, the one where he discussed Formula One, wind tunnels and CFD. It brought to mind an article I’d read a few months back geared around how software engineers power Marussia. I thought I’d use this information to jump into Gilles’ conversation from a different angle.

While there are typically hundreds of people on a racing team who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the car quicker, using a computer and the right software is an essential part of what it takes to win a race, much less a season of races. Continue reading →

ANSYS Webinars, Seminars and Events This Week – Dec 3

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image of Learning text on a keyboard ANSYS Webinars and EventsThis week we have four new ANSYS webinars including a continuation of our Ask the Expert series. From San Jose, California at BIOMED Device to the CSIA-ICCAD 2012 in Beijing, China you’ll also find our experts at events where you can meet and discuss the latest advancements in simulation engineering technology.

Let’s begin with the ANSYS webinars. A reminder – if you miss one of our webinars you can access on-demand recordings via our Resource Library within a few days after the scheduled event.

ANSYS Webinars Ask the Expert Series

Improving Productivity with New Features ANSYS 14.5 for Geometry and Meshing

Wednesday, December 05, 2012
4:00 pm EST, 9:00 pm GMT (REGISTER)

A typical simulation workflow requires reading geometry, cleaning it, creating a closed body, generating mesh and reviewing mesh quality. For having a hex dominant mesh, additional geometry decomposition steps may be required. This process can be tedious.

In ANSYS 14.5, there are host of new features in ANSYS DesignModeler (DM) and ANSYS Meshing (AM) that makes preprocessing faster, more efficient and hence resulting in improved productivity for CFD and Mechanical workflows. These enhancements include support of newer CAD releases, usability for DM and AM, improved performance while dealing with large sized CAD geometry and hex dominant mesh in AM. Continue reading →

Simulation Aids in Chiari Malformation Treatment

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In a previous post, I discussed how CFD can help to save newborn lives. Today, I will focus on another advancement in medicine that is generally based on the same approach: patient-specific CFD studies to treat disease. The Chiari malformation is a malformation of the brain that can cause headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness in the head and face, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, nausea, impaired coordination, and, in severe cases, paralysis (source: “Chiari malformation: Symptoms.” Mayo Clinic. November 13, 2008).

What physicians discovered is that this malformation alters the dynamic movement of fluid in the brain. This alteration is the cause for all of the malformation’s side effects. It can be corrected by a surgery that has a 70 percent success rate. This is good, but not good enough. Continue reading →