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Boundary Conditions
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Outline
Flow Inlets and Exits Wall, Repeating, and Pole Boundaries Internal Cell Zones Internal Face Boundaries
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Boundary Conditions
Boundaries direct and constrain motion of flow. Boundary Conditions are a required component of mathematical model. Mass Momentum Energy
out
Zones are a collection of cells (fluid or solid continuum) or cell faces (boundaries, interior surfaces). Surfaces are used for post-processing. in Surfaces can correspond to Zones:
walls
Choose the zone in Zone list. Click on selected zone type in Type list Click Set.. button
Can also select boundary zone in graphics window using right mouse button.
Useful if:
Setting up problem for first time Two or more zones of same type in problem.
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Wide range of boundary conditions permit flow to enter and exit solution domain. Types of boundary conditions for specification of flow inlets and exits:
General
Incompressible
Compressible flows
Special
Inlet and Outlet boundary conditions are available to specify fluxes for:
Internal Flows: jet engine, reactor External Flows: aircraft in flight, natural convection flows Select inlet and outlet boundary location and shape such that flow either goes in or out.
General guidelines:
Not necessary, but will typically observe better convergence. Indicates incorrect set-up.
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Defines velocity and scalar properties of flow at inlet boundaries. Useful when velocity or velocity profile is known at inlet. Intended for incompressible flows only.
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User-defined functions (UDF) can be used to define spatial- and timevarying velocity profiles (magnitude and direction). If upstream flow comes from region of constant total energy and there are no losses (upstream), it may be easier to use the Pressure Inlet condition.
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When turbulent flow enters domain at inlet, outlet, or at a far-field boundary, FLUENT 5 requires boundary values for:
Set k and explicitly Set turbulence intensity and turbulence length scale Set turbulence intensity and turbulent viscosity ratio Set turbulence intensity and hydraulic diameter
Exhaust of a turbine Intensity = 20 % Length scale = 1 - 10 % of blade span Downstream of perforated plate or screen Intensity = 10 % Length scale = screen/hole size Fully-developed flow in a duct or pipe Intensity = 5 % Length scale = hydraulic diameter
C9 Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
Pressure Preliminaries
Can be expressed relative to operating pressure as the gauge pressure: pabsolute p gauge poperating
operating pressure
vacuum
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Pressure at thermodynamic state which would exist if fluid were brought to rest (zero velocity) isentropically. 1/2 v2 is referred to as the dynamic pressure. For incompressible flow:
poperating RT
pabsolute RT
C11 Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
For incompressible, constant-density flows, operating pressure not used. For incompressible flows using ideal-gas law to determine density
Select incompressible-ideal-gas in Define Materials... Set operating pressure close to mean pressure in problem.
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Defines total pressure, temperature, and other scalar quantities at flow inlets. Also requires direction of velocity vector to be defined.
Can get non-physical results if you dont specify reasonable direction for velocity vector. flow rate and/or velocity is not known (e.g., buoyancy-driven flows). free boundary in an external or unconfined flow needs to be defined. Suitable for compressible and incompressible flows.
Useful when:
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Mechanical head of pressure/total pressure drives flow into computational domain. Mass flux varies depending on interior solution and direction specified for velocity vector. Value specified for total pressure used as static pressure wherever outflow occurs. Total temperature set to static temperature for incompressible flows.
Note:
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Flow exits computational domain at fixed static pressure. Requires specification of static (gauge) pressure at outlet boundary. All other flow quantities at the pressure outlet boundary are extrapolated from the interior. Value of specified static pressure:
used only while exit flow is subsonic. ignored for supersonic flow (pressure is extrapolated from flow in interior).
C15 Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
Required for calculations if flow reverses direction at Pressure Outlet boundary during solution process. When backflow occurs, it is assumed to be normal to the boundary.
Cannot specify the direction of the flow entering the domain, in contrast to pressure inlet boundary condition.
Convergence difficulties minimized by realistic values for backflow quantities. Value specified for static pressure used as total pressure wherever backflow occurs.
Pressure Outlet must be used when problem is set up with Pressure Inlet.
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Outflow Boundary
Flow exiting domain at Outflow boundary has zero normal gradients for all flow variables except pressure. FLUENT extrapolates required information from interior. Useful when:
Details of flow velocity and pressure not known prior to solution of flow problem. Appropriate where exit flow is close to fully developed condition.
Note: Use of Pressure Outlet (instead of Outflow) often results in better rate of convergence when backflow occurs during iteration.
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with compressible flows. with the Pressure Inlet boundary condition (use Velocity Inlet instead):
Combination does not uniquely set a pressure gradient over the whole domain.
Flow enters domain Gradients in flow direction are significant Conditions downstream of exit plane impact flow in domain
outflow
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Mass flow divided equally among all outflow boundaries by default. Flow Rate Weighting (FRW) set to 1 by default. For uneven flow distribution:
specify Flow Rate Weighting for each outflow boundary: mi=FRWi/FRWi. static pressure varies among exits to accommodate flow distribution.
FRW1
velocity inlet
FRW2
Can also use Pressure Outlet boundaries to define exits. velocity-inlet (v,T )
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pressure-outlet (ps)1
or pressure-inlet (p0,T0)
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pressure-outlet (ps)2
Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
Used in compressible flows to prescribe mass flow rate at inlet. Not required for incompressible flows.
Available when density is calculated from the ideal gas law. Used to model free-stream compressible flow at infinity, with free-stream Mach number and static conditions specified.
Model external exhaust fan/outlet vent with specified pressure jump/loss coefficient and ambient (discharge) pressure and temperature. Model inlet vent/external intake fan with specified loss coefficient/ pressure jump, flow direction, and ambient (inlet) pressure and temperature.
C20 Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
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Wall Boundaries
Used to bound fluid and solid regions. In viscous flows, no-slip condition enforced at walls
Tangential velocity component specified in terms of translational or rotational motion of wall boundary.
Wall shear stress and heat transfer based on local flow field. Assumed to be rigid and impermeable
For accurate predictions of wall shear stress, be sure to resolve boundary layers in viscous flows.
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Symmetry Boundaries
Used to reduce computational effort in problem. Flow field and geometry must be symmetric:
Zero normal velocity at symmetry plane Zero normal gradients of all variables at symmetry plane
No inputs required.
symmetry planes
C23 Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
Periodic Boundaries
Used when physical geometry of interest and expected pattern of flow/thermal solution have periodically repeating nature.
4 tangential inlets
cyclic boundaries
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computational domain
flow direction
Axis Boundaries
Used:
At centerline (y=0) of an axisymmetric grid Where multiple grid lines meet at a point in a 3D O-type grid
Specify:
No inputs required
AXIS boundary
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Flow Inlets and Exits Wall, Repeating, and Pole Boundaries Internal Cell Zones
Fluid Porous
Solid
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Fluid Conditions
Fluid zone = group of cells for which all active equations are solved. Only required input is type of fluid material
Can define motion for fluid zone If rotationally periodic boundaries adjacent to fluid zone, use rotation axis. Define fluid zone as laminar flow region if modeling transitional flow.
C28 Fluent Inc. 5/30/2012
Enable Porous Zone option in Fluid panel. Pressure loss in flow determined via user inputs.
Used to model flow through porous media and other distributed resistances:
Packed beds Filter papers Perforated plates Flow distributors Tube banks
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Solid Conditions
Solid zone = group of cells for which only heat conduction problem solved.
Material being treated as solid may actually be fluid, but it is assumed that no convection takes place. Only required input is material type
Optional inputs allow you to set volumetric heat generation rate (heat source). Can define motion for solid zone Need to specify rotation axis if rotationally periodic boundaries adjacent to solid zone.
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Do not have finite thickness Provide means of introducing step change in flow properties. Fans Radiators Porous jump
Interior wall
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Summary
Zones are used to assign boundary conditions. Wide range of boundary conditions permit flow to enter and exit solution domain. Wall boundary conditions used to bound fluid and solid regions. Repeating boundaries used to reduce computational effort. Internal cell zones used to specify fluid, solid, and porous regions. Internal face boundaries provide way to introduce step change in flow properties.
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