Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS

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LAMINAR FLOW IN A TUBE

Problem Statement

Room temperature air enters a circular tube with diameter D and length L at a uniform
inlet velocity V
i
. Formation of viscous boundary layers establishes a hydrodynamic
portion in the inlet region of the tube. Air velocity in this region is developing. At and
after a certain hydrodynamic length L
h
, the velocity distribution is developed and
resembles a parabolic profile. This portion of the tube is referred to as fully developed
velocity region (FDVR). Of general interest is to learn how to use COMSOL in obtaining
the flow field in a tube. It is desired to obtain qualitative, as well as quantitative
perspectives about the entrance and fully developed flow field regions from COMSOL
solution.


Known quantities:

Fluid: Air

V
i
= 0.04 m/s
Tair = 20 C


Observations

This is a forced internal channel flow problem. The channel considered is a
circular tube. Only hydrodynamic considerations are of interest. Thermal
considerations are omitted.

Inlet velocity has a uniform distribution. Mean velocity u is not given. Therefore,
Reynolds number is not readily calculable. Entrance flow region is expected to
form in the tube. If
h
L L < , fully developed flow region will form in the tube as
well. If
h
L L > , the entire tube is in entrance flow field region.



Assuming that radial velocity distribution is symmetric at each radial cross
section, the problem can be modeled in 2 dimensions. Rectangular geometry is a
suitable model for lateral cross section of the tube.

The problem can be modeled with constant air properties determined at incoming
air temperature T
air
.

COMSOL can introduce marginal errors near the exit of the tube. To avoid these
small errors, we should always make the tube larger in length by 10 cm. Thus, the
modeling length of the tube will be 110 cm.


Velocity Development in a Tube
L = 100 cm
D = 6 cm
Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
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Assignment
1. State the experimental criterion which permits analyzing flow in a tube as
d a
of
. Use COMSOL to solve for velocity distribution in the given tube. [Note: Please
ve
3. Use COMSOL to graph a vector field showing the development of velocity
4. Use COMSOL to plot axial velocity u(r, x
o
) at x
o
= 5, 10, 25, 75, and 100.
5. Use COMSOL to plot centerline velocity uc as a function of x on

laminar. Determine D
e
for a circular tube of diameter d. Use table 7.2 to fin
correct C
h
for a circular tube. Rearrange equation 7.43a to solve for Re in terms
L
h
, C
h
, and hydraulic diameter for a circular tube.

2
save this COMSOL model in .mph file for future thermal modeling. Thermal
considerations will be done as a separate problem and it will require you to ha
COMSOL velocity solution].

profile. Show a 2D colormap of velocity distribution.


0 x L s s . Does
6. Use the plot of centerline velocity uc to find the hydrodynamic entrance length L
h
.
7. Use the results of questions 1 and 6 to calculate the Reynolds number based on
8. [Extra Credit]: Compute velocity profile in FDVR according to equation 7.48.
9. [Extra Credit]: Compute mean velocity
the velocity profile become invariant with distance? What observations do you
make regarding uc?


hydrodynamic entrance length L
h
. State whether the flow is laminar or turbulent.

Compare this result with axial velocity u(r, x
o
) at x
o
that is in FDVR from
COMSOL solution. Comment on COMSOL solution validity.

u in FDVR. [Hint: Recall from fluid
mechanics that velocity distribution in fully developed velocity region is given by
( )
2
1
c o
u u r r
(
= . Compare this equation with equation 7.48 and use COMSOL
xial velocity u(r, x
o
) at x
o
that is in FDVR to compute

solution to a u ].

10. [Extra Credit]: Perform parametric study in COMSOL that solves the problem for
multiple input velocities. Solve the problem in the rage of 0.01 m/s to 1.0 m/s.
Use an increment of 0.01 m/s.

Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
Modeling with COMSOL Multiphysics

MODEL NAVIGATOR

The problem asks us to solve for velocity profile within the tube. Since no other field of
interest is asked for (ex. Temperature, Pressure, etc), this is not a multi coupled PDE
system, and thus requires only Non Isothermal Flow application mode.

For this setup:

1. Start COMSOL Multiphysics.

2. From the list of application modes select Heat Transfer Module Weakly
Compressible Navier Stokes Steady state analysis.

3. Click OK.




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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
GEOMETRY MODELING

We will model tubes lateral cross section only, as it saves computation time and is
physically symmetric to any other lateral cross section. A rectangular geometry is
adequate to model this problem. Let us therefore begin by creating a rectangle.

1. From the Draw menu, select Specify Objects Rectangle.

2. Enter 1.1 and 0.06 as the Width and Height of the rectangle,
respectively. (Without quotation marks).

3. Enter -0.03 as the base position y coordinate.

4. Click OK.


5. Click on Zoom Extents button in the main toolbar to zoom into the
geometry.

Your geometry should now be complete and highlighted in red, as shown below.




PHYSICS SETTINGS

Physics settings in COMSOL consist of two parts: (1) Subdomain settings and (2)
boundary conditions. The subdomain settings let us specify material types, initial
conditions, modes of heat transfer (i.e. conduction and/or convection). The boundary
conditions settings are used to specify what is happening at the boundaries of the
geometry. In this model, we will have to specify and couple physics settings for the flow
of air and heat transfer. Let us begin with the air flow physics settings.

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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
Subdomain Settings:

1. From the Physics menu select Subdomain Settings (F8).

2. Select Subdomain 1 in the subdomain selection field.

3. Enter 1.2042 and 18.17e-6 in the , and fields, respectively.



4. Click OK to apply and close the Subdomain Settings window.

Boundary Conditions:

1. From the Physics menu open the Boundary Settings (F7) dialog box.

2. Apply the following boundary conditions:

BOUNDARY
BOUNDARY
TYPE
BOUNDARY
CONDITION
COMMENTS
1 Inlet Velocity
Enter 0.04 in U
0
field
(Normal Inflow velocity)
2, 3 Wall No Slip
4
Open
boundary
Normal stress Verify that field f
0
is set to 0

3. Click OK to close the Boundary Settings window.

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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
MESH GENERATION

To minimize the computational time without compromising much accuracy of the
solution, we must change the default meshing parameters. To do this,

1. Go to the Mesh menu and select Mapped Mesh Parameters option.

2. Switch to Boundary tab.

3. Select boundaries 1 and 4 in the Boundary selection field while holding the
Control (ctrl) key on your keyboard.

4. Enable Constrained edge element distribution option.

5. Enter 25 in the Number of edge elements field.

6. Enter 5 in the Element ratio: field and switch the Distribution method from
Linear to Exponential.

7. Enable the Symmetric check box option.



8. Select boundaries 2 and 3 in the Boundary selection field while holding the
Control (ctrl) key on your keyboard.

9. Enable Constrained edge element distribution option.

10. Enter 150 in the Number of edge elements field.

11. Enter 20 in the Element ratio: field and switch the Distribution method
from Linear to Exponential.
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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
12. Click Remesh button.

13. Click OK button to close Mapped Mesh Parameters window.

As a result of these steps, you should get the following quadrilateral mesh:




We are now ready to compute our solution.


COMPUTING AND SAVING THE SOLUTION

In this step we define the type of analysis to be performed. We are interested in steady
state analysis here, which we previously selected in the Model Navigator. Therefore, no
modifications need to be made. To enable the solver, proceed with the following steps:

1. From the Solve menu select Solve Problem. (Allow few minutes for solution)

2. Save your work on desktop by choosing File Save. Name the file according
to the naming convention given in the Introduction to COMSOL Multiphysics
document.

The result that you obtain should resemble the following surface color map:




By default, your immediate result will be given as shown in velocity colormap above. In
addition to this qualitative solution representation, the next section (Postprocessing and
Visualization) will help you in obtaining other diagrams, such as 2D velocity vector field,
plots of axial velocities at various x
o
, and a plot of centerline velocity u
c
. With these
results available, you should be able to determine the hydrodynamic entrance length L
h

and a corresponding Reynolds number. Furthermore, you will be able to determine
whether the flow is laminar or turbulent. With hydrodynamic entrance length L
h
known,
you can determine and see whether both entrance and FDV regions or only the entrance
region exist in the tube. Answer the extra credit questions to verify COMSOL results.


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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
POSTPROCESSING AND VISUALIZATION

Displaying Velocity Vector Field with an Arrow Plot:

One of the simplest ways to show the evolution of velocity profile is with arrow plot.
This can be done as follows.

1. From the Postprocessing menu, open Plot Parameters dialog box (F12).

2. Switch to the Arrow tab and enable the Arrow plot check box.

3. Enter 20 in the Number of points for both x and y fields.

4. Press the Color button and select a color you want the arrows to be displayed in.
(Note: choose a color that produces good contrast. Black and white are good
choices here)

5. Click Apply to refresh main view and keep the Plot Parameters window open.



At this point, you will see a similar plot as shown on page 7 with an additional velocity
vector field represented by arrows. It is a good idea to save this colormap for future use.
Before you do save it, however, experiment with the Number of points field in Plot
Parameters window and adjust the velocity vector field to what seems the best view to
you. Put 30 for the x field and update your view by pressing Apply button. Notice
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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
the difference in velocity vector field representation. Try other values. Click OK when
you are done displaying these quantities to close the Plot Parameters window.


Saving Color Maps:

After you have selected a view that shows the results clearly, you may want to save it as
an image for future discussion. This may be done as follows:

1. Go to the File menu and select Export Image. This will bring up an
Export Image window.

For a 4 by 6 image, acceptable image quality settings are given in the figure below. If
you need higher image quality, increase the DPI value.



2. Change your Export Image value settings to the ones in the above figure.

3. Click the Export button.

4. Name and save the image.


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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
Plotting Axial Velocity as a Function of Radius at Specified x
o
Values

To make axial velocity u(r, x
o
) plots at specified x
o
, we simply need to know the end
coordinates of axial lines along which u(r, x
o
) is to be plotted. Vertical axial lines are
described by the radius of the tube in y coordinate (or r coordinate). Let us begin by
plotting axial velocity u(r, x
o
) at x
o
= 100 cm.

1. Under Postprocessing menu, select Cross Section Plot Parameters.

2. Switch to Line/Extrusion tab.

3. Type y in the Expression field under y axis data section of the tab.



4. Under x axis data, use radio button to enable the Expression option.



5. Click on Expression button.

6. In new x axis data window, type u in Expression field.

7. Click OK to apply and close x axis data window.



8. In Cross Section Plot Parameters window, enter the following coordinates in
the Cross section line data: x0 = x1 = 1; y0 = -3e-2 and y1 = 3e-2.

9. Click Apply.

These steps produce a plot of axial velocity as a function of radius at x = 100 cm.
Velocity u is plotted on the x axis and y coordinates are plotted on the y axis. To
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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
save this plot,

1. Click the save button in your figure with results. This will bring up an
Export Image window.

2. Follow steps 2 4 as instructed on page 9 to finish with exporting the image.


To display axial velocity at other x
0
values, repeat steps 8 and 9 on page 10. In step 8,
change the x0 and x1 coordinates to those given in assignment question 4. You should
produce 5 such plots altogether. When you are done with making these plots, click OK
to close Cross Section Plot Parameters window.

[Note: Alternatively, you can save numerical data for velocity and y coordinates instead
of a plot. You can use this data later to recreate the plot in MATLAB (or other software).
To save this numerical data, use the Export current data button in the plot window.
Give the file a descriptive name (do not forget to add .txt extension at the end of file
name), use the Browse button to navigate to your saving folder, and save the file].


Plotting Centerline Velocity uc as a Function of x

Similar to axial velocity plots, we simply need to specify the proper coordinates of a line
along which we wish to plot velocity. Tube center line begins at x0 = 0 meters and
terminates at x1 = 1. The y coordinate (or the r coordinate) at the center of the tube
stays at zero level.

1. Under Postprocessing menu, select Cross Section Plot Parameters.

2. Switch to Line/Extrusion tab.

3. Type u in the Expression field under y axis data section.

4. In x axis data section, switch to upper radio button and select x using the
drop down menu.

5. Enter the following coordinates in the Cross section line data section: x0 = 0,
x1 = 1; y0 = y1 = 0.



6. Click OK.

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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
Centerline velocity u
c
will be displayed as a function of x on0 x L s s . This graph is
shown below. It has been re plotted with MATLAB.


MATLAB Re Plot of Centerline Velocity uc





This completes COMSOL modeling procedures for this problem.
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Laminar Flow in a Tube ME433 COMSOL INSTRUCTIONS
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APPENDIX

MATLAB script

The following MATLAB script re produces the centerline velocity plot. Make sure to
use COMSOL first to export the centerline velocity data to an external text file. Name the
file as uc.txt and place it in the same directory with MATLABs .m script file.

%% Preliminaries
clear % Clears the UI prompt
clc % Clears variables from memory

%% Velocity Data Import from COMSOL Multiphysics:
load uc.txt; % Loads u(0,x) as a 2 column vector
x = uc(:,1)*100; % x - coordinate, [cm]
u = uc(:,2); % velocity, [m/s]

%% Plotter
figure1 = figure('InvertHardcopy','off',... %\
'Colormap',[1 1 1 ],... % | -> Setting up the figure
'Color',[1 1 1]); %/
plot(x,u,'k'); % Plotting
grid on
box off
title(...
'\fontname{Times New Roman} \fontsize{16} \bf Centerline Velocity u_c')
xlabel('\fontname{Times New Roman} \fontsize{14} \it \bf x, [cm]')
ylabel('\fontname{Times New Roman} \fontsize{14} \it \bf u_c , [m/s]')


This completes MATLAB modeling procedures for this problem.