2012 ANSYS, Inc. December 17, 2012 1 Release 14.

5
14.5 Release
Workshop 03
Mixing Tube


Introduction to ANSYS CFX
2012 ANSYS, Inc. December 17, 2012 2 Release 14.5
Overview
This workshop simulates an inline
static mixing device. Two side inlets
inject hot fluid into the main flow
just before a restriction in the pipe,
designed to enhance mixing
A Profile Boundary Condition is used
for the velocity main inlet, for which
the temperature is set at 298 [K]
Fluid enters the side inlets at 325 [K]
and 5 [m/s]
The fluid viscosity is set as a function
of temperature using CEL
Symmetry planes divide the model
into of its initial size

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Mesh Checking
Before setting up the simulation you will
check the mesh quality in CFD-Post. It is
good practice to check the quality of your
mesh.
1. Start ANSYS Workbench and save
the project to your working directory
(File > Save As)
2. Drag and drop a Results component
system into the Project Schematic. Open
CFD-Post by double clicking on the
Results cell or right clicking to select Edit
3. In CFD-Post select File > Load Results
and browse to the directory containing
the mesh file Inline_Mixer_Mesh.gtm
(workshop_input_files\WS_03_Mixing
Tube). Make sure Files of type is set to
All Readable Files or CFX so that you can
select the file. Then click on Open
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3. Click on the Calculators tab and highlight Mesh Calculator
4. Examine the results for each of the functions. Guidelines from the
Help documentation (search for Mesh Visualization Advice) have
been copied below
Mesh Checking
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Two metrics fall outside the recommended values:
Minimum Face Angle < 10
Element Volume Ratio > 30
Now create some plots to view these mesh regions:
Create a Volume object (Location > Volume)


There are very few elements of this quality

Create a second Volume object using the Isovolume
Method with the variable Element Volume Ratio above a
Value of 30. Check the Inclusive box to include elements
at that value so that the isovolume is visible. On the
Colour tab change the Colour to something that will
stand out
There are few elements with high Element Volume
Ratios
They overlap the elements with poor face angles
Mesh Checking
Method = Isovolume
Variable = Minimum Face Angle

Mode = Below Value
Value = 15 [degree]
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5. Edit the object Default 2D Region (under the Mesh Regions branch in the
Outline tree)
Mesh Checking
6. View the mesh on this
object by editing its Render
properties to Show Mesh
Lines
A finer mesh in the area of
the isovolumes would
improve the mesh quality. A
coarse mesh was used to
minimise solution times
7. Close CFD-Post (File > Close
CFD-Post)

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1. Drag and drop a CFX Component System into the Project Schematic
and edit the Setup cell to open CFX-Pre
2. Right click on Mesh in the Outline tree and select Import Mesh >
CFX Mesh. You can then browse to the directory containing
Inline_Mixer_Mesh.gtm and select it
The mesh represents one quarter of the full geometry
3. Click on Open to import the mesh

Starting the Simulation
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The next step is to prepare the profile boundary data so that they can be
used to define the velocity components on the main inlet. The data are
contained in a file called Inline_Mixer_BC_Profile.csv. Files such as this
can be created by exporting solution data from CFD-Post.

Starting the Simulation
4. Select Tools > Initialise Profile Data
5. Select the Data File as
Inline_Mixer_BC_Profile.csv
The profiles for the velocity
components are listed
6. Click OK. The User Function, MainInlet,
is added to the Outline tree

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For this workshop the default viscosity of water will be
replaced with a temperature-dependent expression
1. Right-click on Expressions in the Outline tree and
insert a new expression called Tlower. Enter a value of
275.0 [K] in the Definition box of the Expression editor
2. Right-click on the Expressions object in the editor to
insert the following expressions:





Expressions for Viscosity
Tupper = 325.0 [K]
VisAtTupper = 5.45E-4 [N s m^-2]
VisAtTlower = 1.8E-3 [N s m^-2]
VisT = VisAtTlower + (VisAtTupper -
VisAtTlower)*(T-Tlower)/(Tupper-
Tlower)
Expressions are case sensitive. To ensure that syntax is correct, you can use
drop-down menus by right-clicking in the Definition box

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4. Double-click the VisT expression and then select the Plot
5. To view how VisT varies with temperature, turn on the T toggle and enter
a Start of Range of 275 [K] and an End of Range of 325 [K]
6. Click Plot Expression
The expression produces sensible values of viscosity over the given range of
temperatures. To confirm that the expression would be invalid at larger values
of T, click Define Plot and enter higher End of Range temperatures.

Checking the Viscosity
To protect against invalid values,
you could use an expression that
clips viscosity, for example:
max(VisAtTupper,VisT)
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Now modify the properties of
Water :
1. Expand Materials in the
Outline tree and double-
click on Water
2. Click the Material
Properties tab and expand
the Transport Properties
section.
3. Click on the expression
icon.
4. Right click in the Dynamic
Viscosity box and select
the expression VisT
5. Click OK

Applying Viscosity Expression
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Next create the fluid domain:
1. Right-click on Default Domain in the Outline and
rename it InlineMixer
2. Double-click on InlineMixer to edit it and set the
following on the Basic Settings:
Material = Water
Reference Pressure = 1 [ atm ]
3. Set the following on the Fluid Models tab:
Heat Transfer Model = Thermal Energy
Turbulence Model = k-Epsilon
4. Click OK to complete the domain specification

Creating the Domain
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1. Insert a new boundary by right-clicking
on the domain InlineMixer in the Outline
tree
2. Set the Name to Main Inlet and click OK
3. On the Basic Settings tab, set Boundary
Type to Inlet, and Location to Main Inlet
4. Turn on the Use Profile Data toggle
The previously initialised profile
MainInlet is displayed
5. Click Generate Values and switch to the
Boundary Details tab
Generate Values automatically enters
appropriate expressions that refer to the
selected profile.

Inlet Boundary Conditions
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6. On the Boundary Details tab set the Static
Temperature to 298 [K]
7. Change the option for Mass and Momentum to
Cart Vel Components. The User Function,
MainInlet , is automatically used
8. Click Apply, not OK
9. Select the Plot Options tab and enable the
Boundary Contour toggle
10. Set the Profile Variable to W and click Apply
The profile is a
1
/
7
th
power law profile, which is
commonly used to describe the boundary layer
11. Turn off the Boundary Contour toggle and click OK


Inlet Boundary Conditions
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Now create the side inlet boundary condition:
1. Insert a new boundary named Side Inlet
2. On the Basic Settings tab, set Boundary Type to Inlet, and Location to
Side Inlet
3. On the Boundary Details tab set the Mass and Momentum Option to
Normal Speed with a value of 5 [m s^-1]
4. Set Static Temperature to 325 [K] and click OK

Inlet Boundary Conditions
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Next, create the outlet boundary condition:
1. Insert a new boundary named Outlet
2. On the Basic Settings tab set Boundary Type to Outlet and Location to
Outlet
3. Click the Boundary Details tab and set the Mass and Momentum
Option to Average Static Pressure with a value of 0 [ Pa ]
4. Click OK

Outlet Boundary Condition
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Lastly create the symmetry boundary conditions:
1. Insert a new boundary named Sym 1
2. On the Basic Settings tab set Boundary Type to Symmetry and Location
to Sym1
3. Click OK
4. Insert a new boundary named Sym 2
5. On the Basic Settings tab, set Boundary Type to Symmetry and Location
to Sym2
6. Click OK

Symmetry Boundary Conditions
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1. Double-click Solver Control in the
Outline tree
2. Set Timescale Control to Physical
Timescale, and set the Physical
Timescale to 5 [ s ]
3. Click OK

Solver Control
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1. Save the settings by selecting File > Save Project and then close CFX-
Pre (File > Close CFX-Pre)
2. To write the definition file, the input file for the CFX-Solver, and start
up the CFX Solver Manager, double-click on the Solution cell in the
CFX component system in the Project Schematic
3. When the CFX-Solver Manager opens, click Start Run
4. The run should finish after about 40 iterations. When it does so,
close the CFX-Solver Manager (File > Close CFX-Solver Manager)
5. In the Project Schematic double-click on the Results cell of the CFX
component system to open CFD-Post

Running the Solver
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One of the variables written to the results file is Yplus. This variable
gives the dimensionless distance between a wall and the first node from
the wall. This is an important quantity for turbulence models since the
turbulent wall functions are valid only below certain Yplus values. For
the k-epsilon model Yplus should be < 100. Note that you can only plot
Yplus on walls.
Colour the InlineMixer Default boundary using Yplus (to select Yplus use
the button)
Yplus is > 100 over most of the walls
The thickness of the first inflation layer from the wall should be reduced
to obtain more accurate results. To maintain good mesh quality when
reducing the first layer thickness, you will often have to include more
inflation layer and/or use a finer mesh

For turbulent flows you should always check the Yplus values in your results



Post-processing
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The mixing of the fluid from the different inlets will
be visualised with a plot of temperature distribution
1. Double-click on Sym 1 in the Outline tree to edit
2. Set the following on the Colour tab:

Mode to Variable
Variable to Temperature
Range to User Specified
Min to 298 [ K ]
Max to 302.5 [ K ]

The temperature profile appears well mixed within 3
pipe diameters downstream of the flow restriction

Post-processing
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The flow is viewed by means of a vector plot
4. Turn off visibility for Sym 1
5. Create a Vector plot on the location Sym 1
Mixing is enhanced by the large recirculation zone downstream
of the restriction

Post-processing
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The full geometry can be displayed by
means of an instance transform
1. Turn off visibility of all plots
2. Colour the InlineMixer Default
boundary with Temperature, using a
Local Range
3. In the Outline tree edit the User
Locations and Plots > Default
Transform object
4. Turn off Instancing Info From Domain,
change Number of Graphical Instances
to 2 and then turn on Apply Rotation
5. Change the Angle From setting to
Value, enter an Angle of 180 [degree]

Post processing
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6. Turn on Apply Reflection and set the
Method to ZX Plane with a Y value of
0 [ m ]
7. Click Apply
Two transforms are performed: a
rotation of 180 degrees about the Z-
axis and then a reflection in the ZX
plane. This results in four copies of
the original geometry
8. Turn off visbililty of the Wireframe
9. Turn off visibility of InlineMixer
Default


Post-processing
The Default Transform applies to all existing and new objects by default. You
can create new transforms and apply them to selected objects as necessary.
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Now create an Isosurface of
Temperature:
1. Select Location > Isosurface
2. Accept the default name by
clicking OK
3. Set Variable to Temperature
4. Set Value to 301.5 [K], a little
above the mass-flow averaged
temperature on the outlet. Use
the Function Calculator to
evaluate this.

Post-processing
The isosurface is reasonably axisymmetric 1.5 - 2 pipe diameters
downstream of the restriction, where the flow has started to recover.