ANSYS Fluent Lab
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Simulation of the Steady-State Conduction Using Ansys Fluent
Objectives
Objectives
Get familiar with the ANSYS Fluent software.
Simulate 2D steady-state conduction in a metallic plate using ANSYS Fluent software.
Generate a structured mesh and learn the steps for conducting a CFD simulation.
Display the temperature contours and plot the temperature distribution at the middleline.
Compare the numerical results obtained by Fluent with those obtained by finite differences and analytical results.
Problem description
Problem description
Consider a 2D solid aluminum plate with constant thermal properties: thermal conductivity (k = 202.4 W/m.K), specific heat capacity (Cp = 871 J/kg.K), and density (𝝆 = 2719 kg/m3). The material has dimensions of 0.06 m length and 0.09 m height. The top surface of the plate is subjected to a constant temperature of 100°C, while the lateral and bottom surfaces have a constant temperature of 50°C, as shown in the figure below. Assuming steady-state heat conduction in the plate, use Ansys Fluent to simulate the heat conduction and compare the results with finite difference and analytical solutions.
Step 0: Launch Ansys Fluent
Step 0: Launch Ansys Fluent
Open Ansys Workbench
Open new project on ''Fluid flow (Fluent)''
Give a name to the project (optionally)
Right-click on the "Geometry" model in the project schematic.
Select "New Geometry DesignModeler" from the drop-down menu.
This will open the DesignModeler interface where you can create, modify, and import geometries for your simulation.
Step 1: Geometry creation
Step 1: Geometry creation
In the DesignModeler interface, we can create our geometry by following these steps:
Choose a plane such as "XY plane"
Define a new "Sketch" and choose "Rectangle"
Draw a rectangle from the origin of XY plane
Define dimensions using "Dimensions"
Convert sketch to surface using "Surface From Sketch"
Click "Generate" and close DesignModeler interface
Step 2: Mesh generation
Step 2: Mesh generation
To generate a mesh for the created geometry, follow these steps:
Double click on the Mesh model in the Outline tree.
Specify the number of divisions for each direction (12x18) using the "Sizing" method.
Use the "Face Meshing" method to generate a structured mesh.
Specify the names of the boundaries using "Create Named Selection".
Click on "Generate" and then close the Mesh model.
Step 3: Simulation in Fluent
Step 3: Simulation in Fluent
Update the Mesh and Double click on Fluent icon.
In "General" window select "Steady".
In the "Models" panel, select "Energy" and click "OK" to activate the energy equation (to consider the temperature distribution).
In "Material" panel, select "Solid" and choose "Aluminum" (which is a default material in Fluent).
In the "Cell Zone Conditions panel", change the domain to Solid and make sure that tit is set to Aluminum.
Select "Units" and change the temperature units to degrees Celsius (default unit is Kelvin).
In the "Boundary Conditions" panel, specify the temperature values for the boundaries as per the problem statement.
Click on "Monitors" and "Residuals" and increase the precision of the energy equation to 1E-10.
Initialize the solution by clicking on "Initialization" and start the calculation by clicking on "Run Calculation".
After the convergence of solutions close the Fluent window.
Step 4: Post-Processing using CFD-Post
Step 4: Post-Processing using CFD-Post
We can visualize the results in Fluent itself, but CFD-Post provides better visualization options. In the video below, we will demonstrate how to plot temperature contours and distributions along the middleline.
Step 5: Results Validation
Step 5: Results Validation
Fig 1. Comparison of the temperature distribution contours with Finite Difference Method and Analytical Solution.
Fig 2. Comparison of the temperature distribution at the middle line with Finite Difference Method and Analytical Solution.
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