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PostedByLEAPCFDTeamonMar20,2013|10comments

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TheReynoldsnumber(Re)isthesinglemostimportantnondimensionalnumberinfluiddynamicsandisrecommendedtobecalculatedbeforeyoubegin

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anynewCFDmodellingproject.TheReynoldsNumberisdefinedasthedimensionlessratiooftheinertialforcestoviscousforcesandquantifiestheir
relevancefortheprescribedflowcondition:

WhereU andLarethecharacteristicvelocityandlengthscaleoftheproblem,isthefluiddensityandisthedynamicviscosity.Theuseofthe
ReynoldsnumberfrequentlyariseswhenperformingadimensionalanalysisandisknownasReynoldsprincipleofsimilarity.Forexample,airflowofU
=1[m/s]overaflatplateofL=1[m]willexhibitthesameflowpatternasairflowofU =10[m/s]overaflatplateofL=0.1[m].Thisconceptholdssincethe
Reisequalandtheflowisincompressible(i.e.theMachnumberislow).

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TheRealsoallowsustocharacterizewhetheraflowislaminarorturbulent.LaminarflowischaracterizedbylowerReandhighdiffusionoverconvection.

CFD,FEA,CAD,CAMandrela

TurbulentflowontheotherhandischaracterizedbyhigherRewhereinertialforcesdominateconsiderably,resultinginlargelychaoticflow.Theflowmay

products,plusourtrainingand

alsoundergoatransitioningphasewherebytheflowexhibitsneithercompletelylaminarnorcompletelyturbulentcharacteristics.

schedule.
Follow

Freeshearflowillustratinglaminar,transitionandturbulent
phases

Recent

Popular

Note:Inertialforcesareproportionaltothesquareofvelocity,whileviscousforcesvary

linearlywithvelocity.ThereforeastheRe0itisreasonabletoneglectconvectiveterms(e.g.creepingflow).Similarly,astheRetheviscousterms
ofthemomentumequationcanbeneglectedandtheproblemcanbecharacterizedpurelybythegenerationofinertialforces(e.g.highsupersonicand

Using CF
predict fl
generate
and othe
aeroacou
effects

hypersonicflows).

Nov6,2014

ForflowsinapipeofdiameterLornoncircularpipeswithhydraulicdiameterL,empiricalstudieshaveshownthatlaminarflowoccursforReL<2500and

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fullydevelopedturbulentflowoccursforReD>4000.Intheintervalbetween,transitionoccurs.Forexternalflows(e.g.flowoveraflatplate),laminarflowis
5
5
observeduptoapproximatelyReD~110 to510 (whereDisthedistancefromtheleadingedge)beforetransitiontoturbulencetakesplaceand

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ComputationalFluidDynamics(CFD)BlogLEAPAustralia&NewZealand|HowdoestheReynoldsNumberaffectmyCFDmodel?

costs to t
competit
advantag

turbulentflowisobservedthereafter.

Oct29,2014

Solving
Complex
Combust
Challeng
CFD

Animationillustratingcycliclaminarvortexshedding

Oct20,2014

RecentComments
Factorsinfluencingtransitionincluderoughnessandlocalacceleration.TheTurbulenceModellingteamatANSYSInc,ledbyDr.FlorianMenter,have
developedworldleadingcapabilitiestoallowCFDuserstoaccuratelymodelthesetransitioneffects.UsingtheReynoldsnumber,wecandetermine
whetherornotitisnecessarytoincludetransitioninoursimulation(asthismayultimatelyaffectthedevelopmentoftheboundarylayer).Forexample,for

OmaronTips&Tricks:Estim

highspeedflowsoveraflowplate,wemayobservethattheflowispredominatelyturbulentinthiscase,transitionmaysafelybeneglected.Alternatively,

FirstCellHeightforcorrect

forcaseswherelaminarflowisobservedforalargeregionofthegeometry(i.e.lowspeedapplications)thenmodellingfullyturbulentflowmaybean
HARIHARANon

incorrectassumption.
ConsidertheflowandwakepatternoveracircularcylinderatvariousReynoldsnumbers.AtRe<1(seeFigure1),theflowiscreepingandlaminarand
remainsattachedovertheentirecylinder,whichisacharacteristicflowgovernedbymomentumdiffusion.AtRe~10(seeFigure2)webegintoseeapair
ofstableandsymmetricallaminarvorticesinthewake.Theflowinthisregimeissteadyandtheflowpatternwillnotchangeovertime.

Figure1:Re<<1creepingflow(streamlinesofvelocity)

EstimatingtheFirstCellHe
correctY+

metinonTips&Tricks:Estim

FirstCellHeightforcorrect

HARIHARANon

EstimatingtheFirstCellHe
correctY+

ZakirHusainonTips&Tric
ControlsinANSYS

Tags

2012CSIROCFDConfere

Figure2:Re~10steadylaminarflow(streamlinesofvelocity)

aerodyna
ANSYSANSY
acoustics

aerospaceanddefence

AtaRe~100(seeFigure3)weseethedevelopmentofaKrmnvortexstreet,wherebya

repeatingpatternofvorticesareshedduetounsteadyseparationoftheflow.Whiletheflowisunsteady,thevorticesareshedinaconstantcyclicpattern
5
andtheflowremainslaminar.AsimilarflowpatternisobservedforRe~10 (seeFigure4)withtheexceptionthattheflowremainslaminarwhenit
separateswhilethewakeislargelyunsteadyandturbulent.Inthiscasetheuseofatransitionmodelisnecessary.Assumingfullylaminarflowwillprovide
anerroneouspatternforthewake,andassumingfullyturbulentflowwillresultinadelayedseparationpoint(whichaffectstheaccuracyofliftanddrag

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turbulentflows

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andtestingdesign

eulerianmodelling

Figure3:Re~100Krmnvortexstreet(streamlinesof
velocity)

Figure4:Re~1e5laminarflowwithlargelyunsteadyand
turbulentwake(Streamlinesofturbulentkineticenergy)

optimisation

trainingFaceSizing

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ShearStressTranspo
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modellingturbulen

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modelling

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ComputationalFluidDynamics(CFD)BlogLEAPAustralia&NewZealand|HowdoestheReynoldsNumberaffectmyCFDmodel?

modelswallfunction

6
AtRe~10 (seeFigure5)theflowtransitionstoturbulencebeforeitseparates.Theuseofatransitionmodelhereisnecessarytoobtaincorrectviscous
dragpredictionsbutwillultimatelynotaffectthepointofseparationandsowecanassumethattheinfluenceofthelaminarboundarylayerisonly
additive.Furthermore,theflowcanbeapproximatedtobesteadystate,asthedelayedseparationduetothehigherstressescausedbyturbulent
fluctuationsresultsinanarrowerwakeregion.AtevenhigherRe(whileremainingincompressibleseeFigure6)ahighlyunsteadyturbulentvortexsheet
appearsandinstabilitiesintheboundarylayerresultintheseparationpointmovingfurtherupstream.Thisiscalledthetranscriticalregime.This
phenomenonmustbecapturedusingahighorderturbulentscaleresolvingsimulation.

FIgure5:Re~1e6steadyfullyturbulentflowfield(streamlines
ofvelocity)

Figure6:Re~5e6threedimensionaltranscriticalflow
showingturbulentvorticalstructures

Thissmallexampleshouldprovidesomebasisfordeterminingwhethertheuseofatransitionmodelisnecessary,providedwecalculatethecharacteristic
Reynoldsnumberandareawareoftheflowpatternthatwewouldliketocapture.Forfurtherclarification,orforsomeinsightintoyourownparticular
problem,pleaseleaveacommentbeloworalternativelycontactoursupportline.

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Author:LEAPCFDTeam

10Comments
Stephen
APRIL14,2013
Iamachemeng.studentcurrentlyusingANSYStostudyflowconditioninreactorsaspartofmyresearch.Whenyousaytransitionare
youreferringtothetransitionsstturbulencemodel?Thankyou!Thisblogisawesome!

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LEAP Support Team

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APRIL22,2013
Inthispostwearedirectlyreferringtothephysicsoflaminartoturbulenttransition.Tocapturethisphenomenon,youcan
utilizeeitherthetransitionSSTmodelorthekklomegamodelwhichareavailableinANSYSCFDproducts.These
modelsallowyoutomodelbothlaminarandturbulentregionsoftheflowaswellastheintermittentturbulencewhichis
inherentwiththephysicsoftransition.Thesemodelsareespeciallyusefulforaerodynamicflowswherecapturingthe
laminarandtransitioningregionsoftheflowarecrucialforaccuratedragprediction

kumar
AUGUST13,2013
Hi,
Iamdoingresearchworkonfan,apipeof9mlongandthefanislocatedat3mfromtheinlet.Ineedtosimulatethevolumeflowrange
from2m3/sto22m3/s.
IhavehavedonethesimulationatdesignpointwithhighRemodel(kepsilon),Igotniceresults.howeverItriedwithkomegaSST(lowRe
model).itstakingmassiveamountoftimewhencomparingtokepsilon,aswellitisnotconvergingfully.
InmycasehowcanIdecidetheturbulencemodel.
Ihavedonesmallcalculation,at2m3/stheReynoldsnumberis0.465*10^5atdesignpoint(16m3/s)3.73*10^5.
Thanks,
Kumar

Post a Reply

LEAP Support Team

SEPTEMBER27,2013
Thechoiceoftheturbulencemodelisproblemdependentandwillrequiregenerationofasuitablemesh.Inyour
particularcaseSSTwithautomaticwalltreatmentshouldworkfineiftherestofthesetupiscorrect.Youmayalsobe
capturingtransientbehaviour,hencethe(non)convergingbehaviouryouhaveobserved.Youcaninvestigatefurtherby
settingupadditionalmonitorsofinterestforyourproblem(ie.quantifiedvaluessuchaspressuredrop,forcesonfan
blades,minimums/maximums,etc)andobservinganytransientoscillationsinthesemonitorsforyoursteadystate
simulation.Youcanthentestbyreducingthepseudotimestepusedandrerunning,thenobserveifthischangealso
causesanassociatedchangeintheperiodofoscillationinthemonitors.Ifitremovestheoscillations,thenitwasa
numericalissue.Ifitcontinuestooscillate,thenitislikelytobeaninherentlytransientandyouneedtorunyoursimulation
transiently(withasuitabletimestep)insteadofsteadystate.

HansPeter Steinere
AUGUST13,2013
IamaphysicianinIVF
IinventedanewNeedleforeggcollectionandIwouldgreatful
tocomeinmailcontactwithyou.
pleaseseeatYouTubeSteinerTanNeedle
Mymainquestionis:isitpossibletocategorizedifferntneedles
(singlelumen,doublelumenwithReynoldsNumber
concerningcapacityofflushingtheeggoutoffollicles?
Kindregards
HansPeterSteiner,Graz,Austria

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LEAP Support Team

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AUGUST21,2013
ThanksHansPeterforyourinterest.CFDcanbeusedtoevaluatetheabilityofdifferentneedleconfigurations(single,
doublelumen)toachievethesegoals.IfyoudonthaveexistingexperiencewithCFD,wesuggestinyourcasetocontact
CADFEMAustriainVienna:http://www.cadfem.atandinfo@cadfem.at

VR IKkurthi
MARCH3,2014
Thanksforyourtips.Iamaphysicist,juststaringCFDsimulations.HowdowecalculateRebeforehand,whenwedonotknowtheflow
velocity.i.e.sayIhaveapipeandIknowtheinletandoutletpressurevalues,butnotinletflowvelocity.
AlsohowdoIcalculatey+beforehandanddecidewhethertousewallfunctionsorresolvetheboundarylayer.
Thanksinadvance
ramana

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LEAP Support Team

MARCH7,2014
Youcanestimateboththelikelyflowvelocities(forRe)andY+valuesbeforehand,andthenrefinethesecalculations
basedonaninitialCFDsimulation.Thedecisiontousewallfunctionsorfullyresolvetheboundarylayersismadein
termsoftheapplication(Reestimates,likelyflowseparation,whetherornotconjugateheattransferisimportant,etc)and
theoveralllevelofaccuracyrequired.

armaghan
MAY18,2014
DearLEAPSupportTeam
Thankyouforyourdecentwebsite.ItisreallyhelpfulandusefulespeciallyforthosewhoarenewinCFDtogetthegreattipsandtricks.
Iamsimulating2Dflowinsidearectangularchannelwithhieghof0.015meterandlengthof0.400meteratdifferentvelocityofflowing
(0.4m/s,.,1.5m/s).theflowisturbulentandIhavebeenusingKemodel(standard,Enhancedwalltreatment,thermaleffects).Mygoalis
tofindpressuredropthroughoutarectangularchannel.TheamountofpressuredropchangeswithincreasingofRebutitdoesnotfollow
aconsistenttrend.ForexamplewhenforRe=6000Ihavedp=18201.156Pa
andforRe=10000Ihavedp=4625.089Pa
andforRe=14000Ihavedp=195.99176Pa
andforRe=18000Ihavedp=1971.0658Pa
andforRe=22000Ihavedp=1959.609Pa.
Idonotknowwhymyresultsareincorrect.PleasehelpmewithdetailexplainingasIamnewinCFD.
thankyouforyourtimeandconcern

Post a Reply

LEAP CFD Team

JUNE16,2014
ItseemsthatyoucouldbenefitfromsomeintroductorytraininginCFDthisforumisaimedataddressingspecific
questionsthatusersmayhaverelatedtoCFDbestpractice.Howsureareyouthata2Dchannelisappropriately
reflectingtheexperimentandthatyourresidualsarefullyconvergedateachdesignpoint?

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