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Dynamics >>25
Introducing
CFD to undergraduate students
M. Razi Nalim, Associate Professor
of Mechanical Engineering, Indiana University – Purdue University,
IN, USA S. Arif Khalid, in association with Indiana University –
Purdue University, IN, USA
To
meet the needs of graduates entering the work force, the school
of Mechanical Engineering, at Purdue University Indianapolis, proposed
an introductory undergraduate course in CFD. At the same time, one
of the University’s senior engineering students expressed an interest
in learning CFD independently, but needed only one or two credit
hours to complete her graduation requirements. To meet the needs
of this student as well as develop the underpinnings of a full undergraduate
course, the University created a guided CFD introduction for this
student using STAR-Design.
The aim was to develop a hands-on program of instruction to emphasize how CFD can be used to solve engineering problems and can require little or no CFD background to get started. In the spirit of problem-based learning (PBL), equations, terminology, and CFD concepts were to be covered during set-up and post-processing of actual cases, rather than via lectures beforehand. The University also aimed to enhance students’ understanding of how to use CFD as a virtual reality tool. While the CFD software needed to be simple to use, the student still needed to be able to access advanced capabilities and even to export the solution for post-processing with their own custom software.
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The two problem cases were created using STAR-Design and were two-dimensional. The first case, a semi-tractor trailer truck, exemplifies an external flow that is both familiar and has obvious aerodynamics shortcomings to address. In a typical introduction to CFD, a student might be given the geometry and mesh with which to carry out his or her first computation. Because STAR-Design has CAD modeling built in, a simplified truck configuration was requested and the student was allowed to create the geometry. The automatic mesh generation within STAR-Design is based on a solid model, and the student simply subtracted the truck from the surrounding block to produce the flow domain. |
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As
an internal flow example, the flow around an axial compressor
blade section was chosen. For this case the geometry
model was provided to the student after entering the
airfoil coordinates into STAR-Design and creating the
domain boundaries. This case involved adjusting the
mesh parameters to resolve the blade boundary layer
and creating periodic boundary conditions. The latter
was accomplished in pro-STAR by using a script that
was provided. In addition to carrying out the computation,
the student studied the relationship between pressure
and velocity by examining several flow fields and plotting
non-dimensional pressure rise against inlet axial velocity. |
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Using
STAR-Design, CFD concepts can be introduced to an undergraduate
student with very little software learning curve. The student learned
how to obtain qualitative and quantitative results for relevant
engineering situations. Meanwhile, this experience laid the groundwork
to develop a full undergraduate course.
Figures
01: Velocity
vectors for baseline 2D truck.
02: Velocity vectors for 2D truck
after student's geometry modifications.
03: Velocity for 2D linear
compressor cascade at low flow condition showing
boundary
layer separation.
04: Mesh for 2D linear compressor cascade
with enlarged view near airfoil
leading
edge showing STAR-Design customization for boundary layer.
Contours
show velocity magnitude for high flow condition.
05: Graph -
plotted pressure rise characteristic showing eventual decrease
for low flows.
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