All flow simulation must happen over some contained volume-the “fluid volume.” The software does not know where to end the problem if we don’t cap the ends, so we select “Yes” in the dialog box. Yes, the pipe must actually have its ends “sealed” and be watertight to be able to simulate flow through it. Error message due to nonwatertight model. Selecting water in Figure 6 adds it to the project fluids section as the default fluid.Īfter completing the wizard, we are greeted with our first error, as seen in Figure 7.įigure 7. We then add the fluid we are simulating to the project. An external flow example would be airflow over an airplane wing. Our current model is internal and the fluid is bound by the pipe walls. Internal flow is bound by a solid at the flow outer boundary.
The type of analysis can usually be determined intuitively. The next dialog is the analysis type, as shown in Figure 5. We will continue with the default IPS units.
This is particularly useful when performing a flow/thermal simulation using U.S. Conveniently, we can mix and match units. Flow Simulation Wizard dialog box.Ĭlicking “Next,” the dialog box in Figure 4 appears for unit system selection. Selecting the wizard option from the menu brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 3.įigure 3. With the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation add-in activated, the display should appear similar to Figure 2. The easiest way of doing this is to use the Flow Simulation Wizard. The next step is to bring this model to the flow environment. It’s nothing exciting but a result I knew I could verify from having done these calculations manually and from other technical references (first rule of simulation, trust but verify!).įigure 1 shows a simple solid model of a hollow cylinder to represent our pipe.
It is a 100-ft horizontal length of 4-in-diameter pipe. This is a model I used when I was evaluating various CFD packages. We will start with a simple model of water flow in a pipe. So I write this article using the approach and models that introduced me to CFD and the eventual selection of SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation as my CFD package. However, as I more recently evaluated CFD software and its integration graphical interfaces, I came to realize its power not only in flow, but also in thermal analysis, which was my main area of interest at the time. Initially, I did not see many practical industrial applications for CFD and stuck with custom code, rules of thumb and spreadsheets to get the job done. I had been a finite element user for many years before entering the world of flow simulation/computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
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