SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

MSc (Eng) PROJECT

FINAL REPORT

Wannier Flows

Rennie Philip
ID Number: 200687762
Programme: Advanced Aerospace Engineering

December 2015

Supervisor: Dr Mark Johnson

Project No. 175
School of Engineering
The University of Liverpool
Brownlow Hill, LIVERPOOL, L69 3GH
Summary

Fluid Dynamics is the study of fluid flow and its parameters. It is governed by few
mathematical equations such as the partial differential equations and depends on various
fluid properties such as pressure, temperature, density, Reynolds number, etc. The analyses
and investigation of these flow properties can be easily computed using software such as
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

This report focuses on the accuracy of the CFD codes for various mathematical models of
Wannier flow. Wannier flow is flow past a rotating cylinder next to a moving wall at
Reynolds number close to 1. Various advantages and applications of CFD are outlined in this
report, along with the basic types of flow and mathematical flow models. The Wannier flow
is initially analysed analytically and a simulation of the flow model is built using Fluent, a
CFD software. The results of the analytical results and the simulated results are compared to
determine the pattern of errors and the accuracy of the CFD code used in the software.

This project showed that there is a pattern to the errors between the two solutions as the
parameters are changed. The studies showed that the errors are gradual for all the cases
except for case with Reynolds number which exhibited a rapid error change. This is believed
to be the result due to the Wannier flow definition.
Acknowledgment

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Mark Johnson, project supervisor and
mentor for the research done in this report, and Dr Volfango Bertola for the guidance given
to me.

I am thankful to family and friends, whose support and encouragement helped me complete
this report.
Contents
Summary ........................................................................................................... II

Acknowledgment .............................................................................................. III

Figures and Tables ...........................................................................................VII

Notation............................................................................................................ IX

1.0 Introduction.............................................................................................. 1

1.1 Aims and Objectives .............................................................................. 2

2.0 Literature Review ..................................................................................... 3

2.1 Flows .................................................................................................... 3

2.1.1 Uniform flow, Steady flow .................................................................. 3

2.1.2 Compressible, Incompressible Flows................................................... 4

2.2 Models................................................................................................... 4

2.2.1 Flow around a cylinder ........................................................................ 4

2.2.2 ow around a circular cylinder near a plane boundary ....................... 5

2.2.3 Flow around a rotating cylinder .......................................................... 6

2.2.4 Flow past a rotating cylinder next to a wall ......................................... 7

2.2.4.1 Couette Flow .................................................................................... 7

2.2.5 Wannier Flows .................................................................................... 7

2.3. Application ............................................................................................. 11

2.3.1 Hotwire/ Hot Films ............................................................................ 11

2.4. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) ..................................................... 12

2.4.1 What is CFD? ..................................................................................... 12

 2.4.2 How CFD Works? .............................................................................. 12

2.4.3 Advantages of CFD ............................................................................ 12

2.4.4 Limitations of CFD ............................................................................. 13

2.4.5 CFD Software packages ..................................................................... 14

2.4.6 Errors in CFD ..................................................................................... 14

3.0 Project ....................................................................................................... 16

3.1 Analytical Solutions to Wannier Flow ...................................................... 16

3.2 Wannier Flow modelling in Ansys Workbench (Fluent) ........................... 19

3.2.1 Geometry .......................................................................................... 19

3.2.2 Mesh ................................................................................................. 20

3.2.3 Setup................................................................................................. 22

3.2.4 Solution............................................................................................. 24

4.0 Results ....................................................................................................... 26

4.1 Analytical Solutions to Wannier Flow ...................................................... 26

4.1.1 Change in cylindrical radius ............................................................... 26

4.1.2 Change in Gap between wall and cylinder ........................................ 29

4.1.3 Change in velocities .......................................................................... 30

4.2 CFD of Wannier Flow .............................................................................. 31

4.2.1 Gap to Diameter Ratio ...................................................................... 31

4.2.2 Cylinder to wall velocity ratios .......................................................... 33

4.2.3 Reynolds Number ............................................................................. 34

4.2.4 Study on the original concept using Wannier flow ............................ 36

5.0 Discussion ............................................................................................... 38

V
 5.1 Gap to Diameter Ratio ......................................................................... 38

5.2 Cylinder to wall velocity ratios ............................................................. 39

5.3 Reynolds Number ................................................................................ 39

5.4 Original concept ................................................................................... 41

6.0 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 42

7.0 References .............................................................................................. 45

8.0 Appendices ............................................................................................. 47

VI
Figures and Tables
Figure 1: Circular cylinder in a uniform free stream. ................................................................. 4
Figure 2: a) Vortices generating, Re 10; b) Von Karman vortex street (laminar,
temperature), Re = 250 .............................................................................................................. 5
Figure 3: Flow past a cylinder with circulation .......................................................................... 6
Figure 4: A Couette Flow ............................................................................................................ 7
Figure 5: Representing the streamlines of the exact solution to the parameters; .................... 9
Figure 6: Representing the computational domain discretized for K=40 quadrilateral
elements (Top) and K=65 triangular elements (Bottom). (Johnson, 1998).............................. 10
Figure 7: Hot-wire sensor ......................................................................................................... 11
Figure 8: 3D flow past a rotating cylinder. .............................................................................. 14
Figure 9: Wannier Flow Model ................................................................................................ 16
Figure 10: Representing two cases of Ansys geometry for varied cylindrical radius ............... 19
Figure 11: Three Mesh cases .................................................................................................... 21
Figure 12: a) Error vs Elements; b) Log of Error vs Elements ................................................... 21
Figure 13: Refinements around the cylinder ............................................................................ 22
Figure 14: Elements vs Convergence ........................................................................................ 25
Figure 15: Convergence of Mesh case 1................................................................................... 25
Figure 16: 3 different radii with all same gap between the moving wall and the cylinder wall.
.................................................................................................................................................. 26
Figure 17: Wannier Flow Solution; change in radius at a constant gap. a) Dimensional form;
b) non-dimensional form.......................................................................................................... 27
Figure 18: Wannier Flow Solution in the positive x coordinate; change in radius at a constant
gap. .......................................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 19: velocities in the x-direction. .................................................................................... 28
Figure 20: Representing 3 different gap between the moving wall and the cylinder wall with
all the same radius. .................................................................................................................. 29
Figure 21: Wannier Flow Solution; change in gap at constant radius ..................................... 30
Figure 22: Display the gradient increase when the velocity parameters are increased. ......... 31
Figure 23: Wannier flow in CFD (Left diagram, Diameter 1 and Right diagram, Diameter 10)
.................................................................................................................................................. 32

VII
Figure 24: Change in gap to diameter ratio ............................................................................. 33
Figure 25: Velocity path lines for different values (Left diagram rotational speed 1 rad/s
and Right diagram rotational speed 20 rad/s) ........................................................................ 34
Figure 26: velocity change for varying rotational speeds ........................................................ 34
Figure 27: Velocity values for different Reynolds number ....................................................... 35
Figure 28: Velocity path lines for different Reynolds number (Top diagram, Reynolds number
1 and Bottom diagram, Reynolds number 10) ......................................................................... 36
Figure 29 : Shear velocity for different radii. ........................................................................... 36
Figure 30: Representing 3 different radii conducted to achieve a liner shear velocity ............ 37
Figure 31: Percentage error with diameter change ................................................................. 38
Figure 32: Percentage error with rotational speed .................................................................. 39
Figure 33: Percentage error with Reynolds number ................................................................ 40
Figure 34: Percentage error with Reynolds number ................................................................ 41
Figure 35: Percentage error with an increase in radius ........................................................... 41

Table 1: Wannier Flow model on Excel .................................................................................... 17

Table 2: Mesh Test with different number of elements.......................................................... 20
Table 3: Refinements test and subsequent error .................................................................... 22
Table 4: Mesh, Refinements and the steps for convergence. ................................................. 24
Table 5: Parameters used when varying the wall and the cylinder velocities ........................ 30
Table 6: parameters used to vary gap to diameter ratio ......................................................... 32
Table 7: Parameters used to vary cylinder to wall velocity ratio ............................................ 33
Table 8: parameters used to vary Reynolds number ............................................................... 35

VIII
Notation

a0, a1, a2, a3, Constants for Wannier flow solution Eq. 1-4

D Diameter of the cylinder m

d distance from the centre of the cylinder to the moving wall m

K1, K2 Functions depending on x and y Eq. 7, 8

L Smallest gap between the cylinder and wall m

Reynold Number Eq. 11

r Cylinder radius m

s Length of gap as a result of Pythagoras m

U Velocity of the wall m/s

Free Stream Velocity m/s

u1, u2 Velocity in x and y direction respectively m/s

x, y 2D coordinates

Constants for Wannier flow solution Eq. 6

Kinematic viscosity kg/ms

Rate of Rotation of Cylinder rad/s

1.0 Introduction

Fluid flows explains (liquid and gas flows) the behaviour of fluid particles in motion and are
studied by analysing their flow parameters. It has various aspects of motion attributed to it
defined by its steadiness, compressibility, viscosity, rotational motion, etc. Few of these
features are those of the fluid particles itself, while others are dependent on exterior factors
affecting its motion.

The behaviour of the fluid is governed by various laws of physics such as the Navier stokes
equations and the continuity equations. Computing these flow parameters and
understanding its behaviour can be a tedious task without computer software. One such
software is Ansys, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software that uses the Navier
Stokes and the conservation of mass equations to solve difficult problems. (Kuzmin, 2015)

In CFD analysis, partial differential equations are used as a method to predict the fluid flow,
making it easier to conduct virtual experiments through mathematical models of the flow.
This software is widely used and accepted by engineers in various fields such as Aerospace,
Mechanical, Civil, Chemical and Petroleum, and other fields such as medicine, meteorology,
defence, transport, etc. (Kuzmin, 2015)This software provides a huge advantage against the
ancient method of determining and defining a flow property. This report focuses on
determining the accuracy of the CFD software packages through quantitative analysis of a
Wannier flow.

Wannier flow is defined as the viscid creeping flow past a cylindrical body, rotating next to a
moving wall. In this report we consider the various flow models that defines a Wannier flow,
analyse the accuracy of the CFD codes for these models at various parameters using the CFD
software packages, and compare the two results.

1
1.1 Aims and Objectives

The aim of this project is to investigate the accuracy of computation fluid dynamics codes of
software packages by comparing it to the analytical solution for a Wannier flow.

The objectives are:

- To determine the analytical solution to Wannier flows at various parameters

including the flow/wall velocities, the wall diameter, the change in gap between the
wall and the cylinder.
- To produce the Wannier flow model in CFD software package.
- To investigate the Wannier flow model at various parameters of Reynold number
and cylinder diameter.
- To compare the solutions achieved between the software packages and the
analytical solutions calculated.
- To investigate the pattern in the errors between the two resultants.
- To use the rotating cylinder examples to find out the radius required for the
successful calibration of surface hot films.

2
2.0 Literature Review
A flow past a rotating cylinder in a uniform stream has been investigated numerous times
and can be interpreted through two-dimensional computer software. A finite element
method can be used to solve the incompressible Navier Stokes Equation.

The earliest experiments on a rotating cylinder when in steady flow were carried out by
Prandtl (1925). His findings stated that the maximum lift generated by a spinning cylinder in
a uniform flow is limited to 4. (Mittal and Bhaskar, 2002) The flow however when
experimented can be seen as more complex than what was observed by Prandtl and deals
with two dimensional instabilities.

A creeping flow past a rotating circular cylinder in a uniform flow next to a moving wall is
called a Wannier flow. This review will address the Wannier flow model in a CFD software
package. Analytical solution will be worked out and discussed and will be used as a
benchmark for the comparison of the computational results.

2.1 Flows

To know the different types of flow that is dealt with when modelling is an important factor.

2.1.1 Uniform flow, Steady flow

1) Uniform Flow This is where the flow velocity is the same magnitude and direction at
every point in the fluid.
2) Non Uniform Flow when at a given instant the velocity of the flow is not the same at all
the locations.
3) Steady Flow in which conditions such as velocity and pressure may differ from one point
to another but doesnt change with time.
4) Unsteady When the above mentioned conditions change with time.

3
2.1.2 Compressible, Incompressible Flows
When a fluid flow is compressible, the fluid density varies with its pressure. Compressible
flows are usually high speed flows with Mach numbers > 0.3. For an incompressible flow the
density does not vary. The Mach number is usually <0.3 for an incompressible flow.

2.2 Models

2.2.1 Flow around a cylinder

Potential flow around a circular cylinder is a prime example of an inviscid, incompressible

fluid flow around a cylinder where the flow is transverse. Figure 1 below represents this
flow model. The flow is uniform away from the cylinder. The velocity field is irrotational and
can be classed as a potential flow. The solution has zero drag unlike a real fluid and is known
as dAlemberts paradox. The result gained through this model is the basic to understanding
the vector fields and coordinate transformations. The calculation for the flow past a circular
cylinder at low speeds is given by equations of viscous steady flow. (Thom, 1933) The
governing parameter for viscous ows is the Reynolds number, expressing the ratio of
inertia to viscous forces. The Reynolds number is dened as = /, where is the
free stream velocity, D is the diameter of the cylinder and is the kinematic viscosity.
(Engelbreth, 2011)

Figure 1: Circular cylinder in a uniform free stream.

Figure 1 has a neglected viscosity entirely. The flow is symmetrical from upstream to
downstream. This occurs at Reynolds number which are very small, Re 1. The streamline is

4
symmetrical on both the horizontal and the vertical axis. As the flow reaches Re 10, a
closed region of streamline starts to form in the rear side of the cylinder. The fluid flow can
be seen rotating clockwise and anticlockwise in the upper and lower side of the cylinder
respectively. This is as a result of vortices generating. (Sato and Kobayashi, 2012) Figure 2a
represents the initial vortices generating.

As the viscosity starts to increase the flows starts to get separated and vortices become
unstable. The vortices starts oscillating in up and down directions. This occurs at around
Re60. The wake generates a large amount of drag and this shedding is called Karmen
Vortex Street; figure 2b represents this flow pattern. This flow is periodic unsteady however
the pattern repeats itself. At high Reynolds number (Re 250) the boundary layer
transitions to a chaotic turbulent flow. (Benson, 2014) However, the free stream far from
the cylinder maintains a steady state of flows.

a) b)

Figure 2: a) Vortices generating, Re 10; b) Von Karman vortex street (laminar,

temperature), Re = 250

2.2.2 ow around a circular cylinder near a plane boundary

The presence of a wall next to the circular cylinder is dependent primarily on several
parameters in addition to the Reynolds number; these include the gap to diameter ratio, the
boundary layer thickness, and the flow characteristics of the boundary layer. (Zdravkovich
and Bearman, 1998)

5
One of the earliest experiments on this model was performed in 1965 which worked with
Reynolds number, >200 and various gap ratios. Due to the experiment being performed
with a towed cylinder, observations of vortices were made at a low 0.6 gap ratio. (Taneda,
1965)

2.2.3 Flow around a rotating cylinder

Potential flow around a cylinder that rotates can be classed as an equivalent to a vortex
combined with the flow past a cylinder. As such in addition to superimposed uniform flow
and a doublet, a vortex is added to the doublet centre which will simulate a rotating cylinder
in uniform stream. The distribution of pressure will result in a force which in turn culminates
to a lift force. The phenomenon of lift generated by a rotating object which is placed in a
stream is known as Magnus effect. Figure 2 demonstrates a rotating cylinder in a free
steam. (Nptel, 2015)

Figure 3: Flow past a cylinder with circulation

Based on the theoretical and experimental approaches, investigations on an incompressible

flow past a rotating circular cylinder have been conducted by numerous researchers. The
application of a rotating cylinder has great importance in the field of engineering and
especially in aerodynamics. Another well recognised use of a rotating cylinder is that it is
used for the controlling of boundary layer flows. (Karabelus et al., 2012)

6
 2.2.4 Flow past a rotating cylinder next to a wall
The modelling of a flow past a rotating cylinder can be investigated as a two-dimensional
simulation. For this model to work the flow has to be a creeping solution, if the Reynolds
number is large the flow past the cylinder can be turbulent and vortices can be formed. The
calculations cannot be completed in cases such as these. For cylinder rolling forward there
can be a wake and the reverse rotation can suppress the vortex shredding completely. (Rao
et al., 2011)

2.2.4.1 Couette Flow

As the radius of the cylinder increases to a very large number the problem turns into a
Couette flow. A Couette flow is a laminar flow of fluid between a moving plate and a steady
wall at parallel to each other.

Figure 4: A Couette Flow

2.2.5 Wannier Flows

Creeping flow past a rotating circular cylinder next to a moving wall is called a Wannier flow.
(Wannier, 1950). For a creeping flow past a rotating cylinder next to a moving wall; the
solution depends on the cylinders rate of rotation, the cylinder radius, the distance from
the centre of the cylinder to the moving wall, and the velocity of the wall.

The Wannier flow analytical solutions is given by:

7
Constants:

(1)
0 =

1 (2)
1 = (0 + 2 )
2

1 (3)
2 = ( + ) (0 + 2 )
2

1
3 = ( ) (0 + 2 ) (4)
2

Where,

2 = 2 2 (5)

And,

+ (6)
=

Functions depending on position (x, y) is defined by:

1 (, ) = 2 + ( + )2 (7)

2 (, ) = 2 + ( )2 (8)

Using the above mentioned constants and functions, the Wannier flows solution is given by:

+ 1 2 ( + )2
1 (, ) = 2(1 + 0 ) [ + ] 0 ln ( ) [ + ]
1 2 2 1 1
3 ( )2 (9)
[ + ]
2 2

2 2 ( + ) 3 ( )
2 (, ) = (1 + 0 )(2 1 ) (10)
1 2 1 2 2 2

Figure 4 represents the streamlines of Wannier flow with the exact solution given by the
above equations. (Barth and Deconinck, 1999), (Roe, 1981)

8
The solution to this problem can also be solved numerically using the triangle mesh
elements. (Samson et al., 2012) A solution was found after splitting the domain into 65
elements. Figure 5 represents the element split. The mesh uses curvilinear elements around
the cylinder; furthermore it introduces a triangulisation to test the convergence of the
method on the distorted meshes. (Sherwin and Karniadakis, 1995) When performing
integration all elements are mapped to a standard triangle and the curvilinear elements is
not constant due to the deformed nature. (Johnson, 1998)

Figure 5: Representing the streamlines of the exact solution to the parameters;

r = 0.25, d= 0.5, U= 1 and = 2. (Johnson, 1998)

9
 Figure 6: Representing the computational domain discretized for K=40 quadrilateral
elements (Top) and K=65 triangular elements (Bottom). (Johnson, 1998)

The exact solution can be validated by a computed error of the solution at steady state for
several expansion orders.

10
2.3. Application

2.3.1 Hotwire/ Hot Films

A hot film is a sensor that can be calibrated and kept on a stationary wall next to a rotating
cylinder to measure the shear velocity. If the velocity of the flow and the height of the
cylinder from the wall is known the shear velocity can be worked out. The results achieved
can then be used to work out the shear stress using the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.

Two situations where the Wannier flow can occur is when dealing with a hot-film or a hot-
wire probe. Hot-wire and hot-films are both thermal anemometer instruments and are
used as a common method to measure and analyse microstructures in fluid flows. The
application works by an electrically heating sensing element or a probe detecting the
convective heat loss to the surrounding fluid. If only the fluid velocity varies, then the heat
loss can be interpreted as a variable measurement. Hot films in additions can be employed
to measure the wall shear stress.

Hot wires are made from short lengths of resistance wire and a hot film is a sensor
consisting of a thin layer of conducting material that has been attached to non-conducting
substrate and usually takes up a cylindrical shape. Thermal anemometry uses a very small
probe that offers high spatial resolution and has excellent frequency response
characteristics. To optimise the frequency resistance of an anemometer, the probe should
have a very small thermal inertia and this is consistent with the requirement for small size.
Platinum coated tungsten is used to work with gases and the wire is usually 5 m in
diameter. Figure 7 represents a typical hot-wire sensor.

Figure 7: Hot-wire sensor

11
2.4. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

2.4.1 What is CFD?

Before the Wannier flow is modelled in the CFD software package it is essential to
understand what CFD is and why it is used. Fluid flows are governed by partial differential
equations (PDE) which represents conservation laws for mass, momentum and energy. CFD
helps to replace these differential equating systems to a set of numerical equations which
can be solved by computers. (Kuzmin, 2015)

The numerical process used in CFD model enables the user to predict the flow, the mass and
heat that is transferred, and any other related phenomena by solving the mathematical
equation. Using a CFD can help create a new conceptual design, detailed development and
redesign. (Bakker, 2002)

2.4.2 How CFD Works?

CFD can only be done by initially creating the mathematical model of the physical problem.
The fluid property is modelled empirically. Usually the assumptions such as inviscid, steady
state, incompressible, made during a CFD problem is at its simplest form as it is easily
traceable. The numerical methods used in CFD also known as discretization makes
approximations of the governing equations of fluid mechanics in the interested region. The
discretized domain is split into finite set of control volumes called a mesh, which can be
controlled according to the resolution required or by computer memory. (Bakker, 2002)

2.4.3 Advantages of CFD

There are several advantages in using a CFD model compared to an experimental model.
CFD can predict the systems performance before actually installing the system and work out
the flow within an occupied zone.

12
1) Lower Cost setting up the experiments physically and getting the tests done to get the
essential data can be considerably more costly than setting up the model in CFD.
Furthermore building a CFD model is relatively inexpensive.

2) Simulation A CFD model has the ability to both simulate a real and an ideal condition.
Unlike a physical experiment any condition can be simulated on a CFD model, an example of
a heat transfer process maybe hypersonic. The modelling of a hypersonic flow physically is
quite difficult compared to a CFD model. Condition on a CFD model can be altered to match
the need of the user and provides the ability to help the user understand any and all
phenomenons related to the flow. (Bakker, 2002)

3) Information Experiments permit a limited set of data to be collected in a system

whereas CFD allows the user to find data on a large number of locations simultaneously in
the experimented region.

4) Time time can be saved using a CFD model due to the multiple data analysis at the same
time compared to the experiment where one data is analysed at a time.

2.4.4 Limitations of CFD

1) Models CFD models are only accurate as the physical models on which they are based
on such as turbulence, multiple fluid flow, etc.

2) Errors CFD can produce multiple errors, as the problems are solved using a computer
introduces numerical errors. Round off errors are also common due to the finite size
available on the computers. As a solution is produced using a mesh/grid method there is a
truncation error due to approximations. However the truncation error can be dealt with by
refining the model mesh. (Bakker, 2002)

3) Conditions- The solution to the CFD model is only as good as the boundary condition
provided for the model.

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 2.4.5 CFD Software packages
Although there are numerous CFD software packages, one of the most beneficial software
package is the ANSYS Fluent software. Fluent has an advanced solver technology which
provides accurate results faster. Other positives that this software provides are a flexible
moving and deforming meshes and superior scalability. This software is very user friendly
and has incorporated new user models as well as enabling the customisation of existing
designs. Fluent has interactive solver setup which with its post processing capabilities allows
user to pause and change calculations during the processing phase. (Ansys, 2015). Figure 8
represents a 3D visual image of a Karmen Vortex forming past a rotating cylinder at 300
Reynolds number, produced in a CFD software package.

Figure 8: 3D flow past a rotating cylinder.

2.4.6 Errors in CFD

In CFD there are several errors that could occur; these are categorised into acknowledged
and unacknowledged errors. (Slater, 2008)

Acknowledge errors are split into four sectors:

1) Physical approximation error Error that are caused due to the deliberate simplification
of the model. Errors often occur when a problem is modelled using fluid properties and the
governing equations are used to solve it. Furthermore, building a model can also cause
modelling errors. The physical error often occur in CFD solutions where there is a degree of

14
uncertainty, when the phenomenon is not understood properly, or when the experiment is
incomplete due to the simplification of the model.

2) Iterative convergence error occurred due to the eventual stopping points in the
iterative methods used in the simulation.

3) Discretization errors (numerical error) Error that are caused by the governing flow
equations and algebraic expression in a discrete domain of space and time. A zero
discretization error occurs with the growth of the grid points and grid spacing tends to zero.
The grid convergence is achieved as the mesh is refined and the solution reaches a
continuum. In CFD problem the discretisation error is the biggest concern because the
model is completely dependent on the grid size.

4) Computer round off errors These are depended on the accuracy of the computer used,
the numbers should be stored at small bits to represent the floating points. However the
round off errors can be insignificant compared to the other errors.

Unacknowledged errors are split into two categories:

1) Usage Errors Occurred due to the improper manner for the application of code. The
user set up of model, grids and input establishes the accuracy of the simulation and can
have blatant errors. The usage errors increase with an increased level of CFD code available.

2) Computer Programme errors errors which are embedded into the programme of the
code. The programme errors can only be discovered by the running of various simulation to
check the results are what is expected.

15
3.0 Project

3.1 Analytical Solutions to Wannier Flow

The initial stage for this project is to work out the Wannier flow solutions. The results are
achieved through varying parameters to work out the solutions.

To work out the analytical solutions, the equation for Wannier flow problem was set up on
Microsoft excel which allows the varying of the parameters with ease. The Excel programme
can also help to create the relevant graphs necessary to understand the flow patterns.

Wannier flow equations gives the results of velocity in both the x-plane (u1) and in the y-
plane (u2). To achieve these results the parameters we have to decide upon is the cylindrical
radius (r or D/2 in m), the gap between the cylinder and the wall (d-r in m), the velocity of
the wall (U in m/s) and the rotational speed of the cylinder ( in rad/s).

To simplify the Wannier flow problem the moving wall is assumed to be on the x plane, i.e.
(at y=0). Figure 9 below represents the Wannier flow model with the parameters discussed
earlier.

Figure 9: Wannier Flow Model

16
The Wannier flow equations found initially in the High-Order Methods for Computational
Physics and in The Handbook of Fluid Dynamics produced incorrect results. Both the books
had the functions Y1 and Y2 incorporated into Wannier flow equation, these were
dependants on the position of the cylinder of coordinate (x, y). Investigations on the
equation for fixed cylinder next to a moving wall resulted in the removal of both the Y
functions from the Wannier flow equation and replacing it with the y-coordinate, this
started producing the expected results.

To check if the achieved results are correct, a simple procedure of applying the coordinates
of the walls can be used to see if it matches the parameters selected. As an example a
cylinder of radius 0.6m was used with a rotational speed of 2 rad/s. The wall velocity was
chosen to be 1m/s and the gap between the wall and the cylinder was chosen to be 0.1m.
By applying the coordinates (0, 0), the velocity achieved should be that of the moving wall.
Similarly by applying the coordinates at the edge of the cylinder (0, 0.1), the result should be
equal to r .

Table 1: Wannier Flow model on Excel

Parameters:
d 0.7 m
D 1.2 m
r 0.6 m
U 1 m/s
2 rad/s
Pythagoras Length Result:
s 0.361 m
Constants:
3.124
a0 0.878
a1 -1.313
a2 3.980
a3 1.274

17
 2D Co-ordinates:
x 0 0
y 0 0.1

Functions depending on coordinates:

K1 0.13 0.212
K2 0.13 0.068
Wannier Flow velocity in x and y direction:
u1 1 m/s 1.2 m/s
u2 0 m/s 0 m/s

Table 1, imported from the Wannier flow spreadsheet created in excel shows that the
results do support the correct answers. The results at the coordinate (0, 0) gives the result
of 1m/s which equals to the wall velocity. Similarly the velocity of the cylinders edge equals
to the product of r = 2 0.6 = 1.2m/s .

18
3.2 Wannier Flow modelling in Ansys Workbench (Fluent)

Ansys is split into 5 sections, this includes geometry, mesh, set-up, solution and results.

3.2.1 Geometry
Geometry consists of the building the base of the model; the boundaries and the cylinder.

A geometry (boundary) was created with dimensions that could have a cylinder of dimeter
10m and still have undisturbed flow upstream and downstream of it.

The 2D geometry created was 15m vertical in height and 30m horizontally in length. The
centre of the cylinder was on the y-plane.

Figure 10: Representing two cases of Ansys geometry for varied cylindrical radius

Figure 10 represents two cases of investigation. Case 1 deals with a cylinder of 0.5m radius
and case 2 deals with a cylinder of 5m radius.

19
3.2.2 Mesh
Selecting the correct mesh is important when working with CFD problems. A finer mesh will
provide results closer to the true value. For the mesh test, the velocity at the centre of the
gap was selected.

Table 2: Mesh Test with different number of elements

Mesh Elements CFD Velocity Actual Velocity Error

(m/s) (m/s) (%)
1 162 0.955 1.505 36.54
2 312 1.148 1.505 23.72
3 644 1.343 1.505 10.76
4 1255 1.452 1.505 3.52
5 1865 1.490 1.505 1.00
6 4938 1.495 1.505 0.66
7 8012 1.500 1.505 0.33
8 16101 1.500 1.505 0.33

Table 2 shows a number of tests conducted with different number of elements, it can be
seen that the numerical error decreases as the number of elements increase. Mesh 1 in the
table deals with a very small number of elements, for a large geometry such as the one
created, the error is reflection of the lack of the number of elements. An error of 36.54% for
a simple Wannier flow model means a more complex design model would provide
percentage errors that will reach several hundreds. From the table one can see that Mesh 5
which has close to 2000 elements gave only a small error 1% error. The table also shows
that as Mesh 8 has twice as much elements as Mesh 7 but the error remained 0.33%, this
could be the limit for this software.

20
 Figure 11: Three Mesh cases

Figure 11 above displays three of the mesh cases from table 2; Mesh 6 from the diagram can
be seen as a really fine quality for this model. Figure 12a represents the graph that shows
the relationship between the number of elements and the errors they have. The graph
exhibits an exponential decay; the error is decreased drastically as the number of elements
increased towards the initial stage, however from 2000 to 8000 elements the gradient of
the graph is close to 0. Figure 12b represents a negative linear pattern to the error as the
element number increase.

40.00 2
35.00
1.5
30.00
25.00
1
Log of Error

20.00
Error %

15.00 0.5
10.00
0
5.00
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
0.00
-0.5
-1900-5.00 100 2100 4100 6100 8100

-10.00 -1
No of Elements Log of the No of Elements

a) b)

Figure 12: a) Error vs Elements; b) Log of Error vs Elements

21
This project takes an in-depth look at the regions close to the cylinder next to the wall,
therefore having a large number of elements far away from the cylinder is irrelevant. To
decrease the element count, a refinement is introduced to the region of focus (closer to the
cylinder).

Table 3: Refinements test and subsequent error

Refinement Elements CFD Velocity Actual Velocity Error

(m/s) (m/s) (%)
0 1865 1.452 1.505 1
1 1993 1.495 1.505 0.66
2 2144 1.498 1.505 0.47
3 2403 1.500 1.505 0.33

Figure 13: Refinements around the cylinder

Table 3 shows that the error decreases as the refinement around the cylinder is increased.
In addition, the numerical value for the percentage of error for refinement 3 is the same as
the Mesh 7 and Mesh 8 investigations made previously (Table 2).

3.2.3 Setup
Setup in Ansys software is where the flow and models parameters are set out.

22
 3.2.3.1 General
The initial step in the setup solver is to make the set up a 2D space planer model. Any other
type of space can make this Wannier flow model complex.

The velocity formulations was chosen between relative and absolute. The recommended
formulation is one which will result in the flow domain having the smallest velocities in
frame. This will reduce the numerical diffusion and hence making the solution more
accurate. The absolute velocity formulation is preferred over the relative formulation in
models where the flow in most of the domain is not rotating. However, the inlet velocity
and wall velocity can be either be in a relative frame or an absolute frame for this flow
setup. (Ansys, 2015)

3.2.3.2 Models and Materials

The Wannier flow is defined as a creeping flow that is a viscous laminar flow, therefore the
model was selected to match the definition.

For materials, the 2 most common Fluid materials chosen are air and water. The problem
with choosing either of these materials is that it the results will have a large Reynolds
number that cannot be used for a Wannier flow model.

= (11)

For this project U and L are parameters that will be changed consistently. So for a model
that will have a moving wall velocity of 1 m/s and a gap of 0.1 m; air having a kinematic
viscosity of 1.7894e-05 kg/ms will give a Reynolds number of 5589 to 4s.f. and water having
a kinematic viscosity of 1.34e-05 kg/ms will give a Reynolds number of 7463 to 4s.f. Both of
which will go against the Wannier flow definition. Therefore, an undefined material was
selected with =0.1 kg/ms, this will give the Reynolds number to be exactly 1.

3.2.3.2 Boundary Conditions

Boundary conditions are the parameters section that needs to be constantly altered for
each model. There are 5 zones for this model;

Cylinder wall a rotational moving wall motion, the speed (rad/s) and the coordinates for
the centroid of the cylinder needs to be specified for each model.

23
Inlet- the left wall of the geometry, the velocity magnitude of the inlet flow needs to be
specified for each model.

Moving Wall a transitional wall motion in the x-direction, the speed (m/s) needs to be
specified for each model. The velocity of the wall equals the inlet velocity for all cases
except for stationary wall.

Outlet and wall 2 zones that are constant throughout the experiment. Outlet is the right
wall of the geometry and is pressure based and the top wall of the geometry is stationary.

3.2.4 Solution
3.2.4.1 Time Steps
In CFD, number of iterations are inputted to achieve the convergence, i.e. the solution no
longer changes with further iterations and all balances are achieved. The criteria for a
solution to converge in CFD is that it should be equal to 1x10-5, so the answers are never
exact.

A disadvantage of having a large number of elements is that the solution would require a
large number of time steps for the flow to converge. For a project that requires to solve a
large number of problems in a limited time, it is essential to decrease the time steps.

Table 4 shows the number of elements and the time it takes to converge for the 8 mesh
cases and the 3 refinement cases conducted in section 3.2.2.

Table 4: Mesh, Refinements and the steps for convergence.

Mesh Case No. of elements Converged at Refinement Elements Converged at

1 162 140 0 1865 2611
2 312 459 1 1993 2790
3 644 934 2 2144 3002
4 1255 1820 3 2403 3316
5 1865 2611
6 4938 6913
7 8012 10816
8 16101 20931

24
The data reveals that the required time in which the governing equations being solved
increases as the number of elements increase. Figure 14 shows the graph of elements vs
convergence; there is a linear relationship between number of elements and the time it
takes to converge. This is true for both the mesh case and the refinement case. The
importance of using the refinement case compared to the Mesh case 7 or 8 can be justified
here as the solution was converged at a 1/3 of the steps for case 7 and almost 1/7 of the
steps for case 8.

Mesh Refinement

8000
7000
6000
TIME STEPS

5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
NO OF ELEMENTS

Figure 14: Elements vs Convergence

Figure 15 below is the result of the completed model which represents Mesh model 1 in
Ansys software.

Figure 15: Convergence of Mesh case 1

25
4.0 Results

4.1 Analytical Solutions to Wannier Flow

4.1.1 Change in cylindrical radius

The initial test case was checking the pattern of flow when changing the cylindrical radius
while keeping the gap between the cylinder and the moving wall the same.

For this case; the gap between cylinder and wall was chosen to be 0.1m, the rotation of
cylinder to be 2rad/s and the wall velocity to be 1m/s. The range of cylinder radius was
chosen to be 0.4m to 0.8m.

Figure 16 show 3 of the 5 cases selected and how the parameters are set out.

Figure 16: 3 different radii with all same gap between the moving wall and the cylinder
wall.

26
 2.1 2
Dia=0.8
1.9 Dia=0.8
1.8
Dia=1
Dia=1
1.7 1.6
Dia=1.2
Dia=1.2
1.5 Dia=1.4

U/Uwall
U (m/s)

1.4 Dia=1.4
1.3 Dia=1.6
1.2 Dia=1.6
1.1
1
0.9

0.7 0.8

0.5 0.6
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x coordinates x/D

a) b)

Figure 17: Wannier Flow Solution; change in radius at a constant gap. a) Dimensional
form; b) non-dimensional form

1.8 Dia=0.8
Dia=1
1.6 Dia=1.2
Dia=1.4
1.4 Dia=1.6
U/Uwall

1.2

0.8

0.6
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
x/D

Figure 18: Wannier Flow Solution in the positive x coordinate; change in radius at a
constant gap.

27
Figures 17 and 18 are graphs created by using the x-direction velocity (u1) at the mid-point
of the gap i.e. (x, 0.05).

Studying Figure 17, one can see that the result of Wannier flow solution shows that as the
radius of the cylinder increases the velocity of flow in the gap increases as well. The
maximum velocity of the gap was 1.298m/s at the smallest radius of 0.4m. The velocity is
increased to 1.893m/s at the radius of 0.8m.

Figure 17 also indicates that the velocity is the same in the y-plane. This is due to the
symmetry upstream and downstream of flow around a cylinder at very low Reynolds
number, as considered in section 2.1.1. Figures 17 and 18 shows that the pattern of the flow
is similar for all 5 test cases; the velocity decreases as the flow moves from the centre of the
cylinder to undisturbed domain. The flow then adjust to match the free stream velocity.
Figure 18 illustrates that far away from the cylinder, velocities for all 5 cases are equal to
1m/s which is equal to the free stream velocity.

Figure 19 is created from a cylinder of radius of 0.6m with a distance of 0.1m from the
moving wall. It has the exact parameters as the case of diameter=1.2 in Figures 17 and 18.

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2
U/UWALL

0.8

0.6

0.4
x=0 x=0.1 x=0.2
0.2 x=0.3 x=0.4 x=0.6
x=0.6 x=1 x=5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Y/GAP

Figure 19: velocities in the x-direction.

28
Unlike the case with Figure 17, graph on Figure 19 was created to show the complete
velocity profile across the gap between the wall and the cylinder. For x coordinates 0 to 0.5
(coordinates directly below the cylinder), a curved velocity profile can be seen, this is as a
result of the velocity getting pushed through the narrow gap. The profile then changes to a
linear one as the coordinates leaves the gap between the wall and the cylinder.

4.1.2 Change in Gap between wall and cylinder

The second test case involved checking the pattern of flow, when changing the gap between
the cylinder and the moving wall the same, while keeping the cylinder radius constant.

For this case; the radius of the cylinder was chosen to be 0.7m, the rotation of cylinder to be
2rad/s and the wall velocity to be 1m/s. The range of gaps was chosen to be 0.1m to 0.3m.

Figure 20 illustrates 3 of the 5 cases selected and how the parameters are set out.

Figure 20: Representing 3 different gap between the moving wall and the cylinder wall
with all the same radius.

29
 2
Gap=0.1
1.8
Gap=0.15

1.6 Gap=0.2

Gap=0.25
1.4
U/Uwall

Gap=0.3
1.2

0.8

0.6
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x/D

Figure 21: Wannier Flow Solution; change in gap at constant radius

The data for Figure 21 was created using the coordinates (x, 0.05) and the graph presented
that the velocity decreases as the gap widens. This is as a result of the increase in space for
the flow to travel between the gap of the cylinder and the wall.

The graph illustrates a symmetry in the y-plane similar to that of Figure 17 due to the low
Reynolds number.

4.1.3 Change in velocities

There are two velocity parameters that can be changed in the Wannier flow equation; the
wall velocity and the cylinder velocity.

Table 5: Parameters used when varying the wall and the cylinder velocities

d (m) D (m) r (m) U (m/s) r (m/s) x y u1 (m/s)

0.6 1 0.5 1 1 0 0.05 1.446
0.6 1 0.5 2 1 0 0.05 2.2
0.6 1 0.5 3 1 0 0.05 2.954
0.6 1 0.5 4 1 0 0.05 3.708
0.6 1 0.5 5 1 0 0.05 4.462
0.6 1 0.5 1 1 0 0.05 1.446
0.6 1 0.5 1 2 0 0.05 2.138
0.6 1 0.5 1 3 0 0.05 2.831
0.6 1 0.5 1 4 0 0.05 3.523
0.6 1 0.5 1 5 0 0.05 4.215

30
 5

4.5

4
U wall; U cylinder (m/s)

3.5

2.5
Wall Velocity
2 Cylinder Velocity
1.5

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
U (m/s)

Figure 22: Display the gradient increase when the velocity parameters are increased.

Examination on each of these velocities showed that an increase in either of the velocity,
increases the velocity of the coordinate selected (0, 0.05). Although both velocities increase
the Wannier flow velocity, Figure 22 displayed that the wall velocity have a bigger impact on
the flow than the cylinder velocity. For this case, each time the wall velocity is increased by
1m/s, the flow velocity in increased by 0.754 m/s, compared to flow velocity increase of
0.692 m/s, when the cylinder velocity was increased by increments of 1m/s.

4.2 CFD of Wannier Flow

The parameters of the Wannier flow was changed so that results could be achieved for
various ratios and different Reynolds number. The results for the CFD work are as follows;

4.2.1 Gap to Diameter Ratio

The first set of results are for a change in the gap to diameter ratio while keeping the
cylinder to wall velocity ratio as well as the Reynolds number constant. To change the gap to
diameter ratio, the cylindrical radius was changed while the gap was kept constant like the
analytical experiment conducted in section 4.1.1. The table below shows the parameters
that were set for the first experiment for four different gap to diameter ratios.

31
Table 6: parameters used to vary gap to diameter ratio

d (m) D (m) r (m) U r gap to cylinder to wall Reynolds

(m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) diameter velocity ratio No
ratio
0.6 1 0.5 1 2 1 0.60 1 1
1.1 2 1 1 1 1 0.55 1 1
2.6 5 2.5 1 0.4 1 0.52 1 1
5.1 10 5 1 0.2 1 0.51 1 1

The maximum diameter used for this experiment was limited to 10m. The use of a bigger
cylinder would result in the flow upstream to be disturbed for the boundary that was set up
initially in section 3.2.1. Figure 23 shows the results for the cylinder of radius 0.5m and
radius 5m. The results for the other two experiments along with the numerical results can
be found in the appendix.

Figure 23: Wannier flow in CFD (Left diagram, Diameter 1 and Right diagram, Diameter 10)

Figure 24 is a graph which shows the resultant velocity for the different ratios for the gap to
diameter. At an initial glace the similarity for the velocity profile can be seen to that of the
experiment conducted in section 4.1.1, the analytical experiment conducted on the varying
diameters while keeping the gap same.

32
 1.6
1.5 D=1
1.4 D=2
1.3 D=5
1.2 D=10
U/Uwall

1.1
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
x/D

Figure 24: Change in gap to diameter ratio

4.2.2 Cylinder to wall velocity ratios

The second CFD results is as a result of the change in the cylinder to the wall velocity ratio.
The rotational speed for the cylinder wall was increased for this experiment while keeping
the wall velocity, the Reynolds number and the gap to diameter ratio constant. The
parameters were set for 5 different cylinder to wall velocity ratios and all the parameters
can be seen in table 7 below.

Table 7: Parameters used to vary cylinder to wall velocity ratio

d (m) D (m) r (m) U r gap to cylinder to wall Reynolds

(m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) diameter velocity ratio No
ratio
0.7 1.2 0.6 1 1 0.6 0.58 0.6 1
0.7 1.2 0.6 1 2 1.2 0.58 1.2 1
0.7 1.2 0.6 1 5 3 0.58 3 1
0.7 1.2 0.6 1 10 6 0.58 6 1
0.7 1.2 0.6 1 20 12 0.58 12 1

The rotational speed of the cylinder was changed from 1rad/s to 20rad/s. The two profiles
on figure 25 shows the velocity path lines of the smallest and the biggest values
experimented. The rotational speeds causes to form a vortex next to the cylinder, however
the higher rotation speed resulted in the shift of the vortex from the top right of the
cylinder to the left of the cylinder.

33
Figure 25: Velocity path lines for different values (Left diagram rotational speed 1 rad/s and Right
diagram rotational speed 20 rad/s)

Figure 26 below shows the non-dimensional velocity profile for the five different rotational
speed of the cylinder. For rotational speeds of 1 rad/s and 2 rad/s, the highest velocity is in
the gap between the wall and the cylinder however for a bigger rotational speeds the
highest velocity is at the cylinder wall.

3.5
=1
3 =2
=5
2.5
U-Uwall/ Ucylinder-Uwall

= 10
2
= 20
1.5

0.5

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-0.5

-1
y/Gap

Figure 26: velocity change for varying rotational speeds

4.2.3 Reynolds Number

For the third experiment, the ratios of gap to diameter, and the cylinder to wall velocities
were kept constant, whilst changing the Reynolds number. The parameters for this
experiments are displayed in table 8.

34
Table 8: parameters used to vary Reynolds number

d (m) D (m) r (m) U r gap to cylinder to wall Reynolds

(m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) diameter velocity ratio No
ratio
1.1 2 1 1 1 1 0.55 1 1
1.1 2 1 2 2 2 0.55 1 2
1.1 2 1 3 3 3 0.55 1 3
1.1 2 1 5 5 5 0.55 1 5
1.1 2 1 10 10 10 0.55 1 10

The experiments were conducted for five different Reynolds number from 1 to 10. The
velocity flow pattern showed similarity between all five experiments. The highest velocity of
the flow for each profile was at the centre of the gap, coordinates (0, 0.05). Figure 27 shows
the velocity patterns for the 5 experiments. Figure 28 represents the path lines of velocity
for Reynolds number 1 and 10. A similar trend can be seen from the two Reynolds number
except the vortex for the higher Reynolds number is forced to move further from the
cylinder.

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.3 Re=1
U/Uwall

Re=2
1.2
Re=3
Re=5
1.1
Re=10

0.9

0.8
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
y/Gap

Figure 27: Velocity values for different Reynolds number

35
 Figure 28: Velocity path lines for different Reynolds number (Top diagram, Reynolds number 1 and
Bottom diagram, Reynolds number 10)

4.2.4 Study on the original concept using Wannier flow

Using the Wannier flow solutions, an example was conducted to see how large the cylinder
radius have to be to achieve a linear shear velocity as initially thought. The wall was made
stationary and the gap was kept to be 0.1m as the cylinder radius was increased. For each
case the velocity of the cylinder was kept as 1m/s.

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6 r=0.5
y/Gap

0.5 r=5

0.4 r=10

0.3 r=15

0.2 r=18

0.1

0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20
dU/dy

Figure 29 : Shear velocity for different radii.

36
 Figure 30: Representing 3 different radii conducted to achieve a liner shear velocity

The investigation revealed that for a gap of 0.1m, the radius of the cylinder have to be 18m
to achieve a linear gradient to 0.1m horizontally to 2dp. Figure 29 represents the graph on
shear velocity and shows that at a small radius of 0.5m, the shear velocity is drastically
varying from a linear profile. Case 1 on figure 30 depicts the situation with 0.5m radius. Case
2 and 3 represents the shear velocity at radius of 5m and 18m respectively.

37
5.0 Discussion

The analytical results and the CFD results showed the similar trend in the velocity profiles.
The result gathered in CFD however does not reflect the exact results to the analytical
solutions. An objective of this project was to find out the error between the results.

An in-depth look at the errors for the CFD results is looked at in this section.

5.1 Gap to Diameter Ratio

The percentage of error between the analytical and the CFD results for the four different
cylinder diameters can be seen in Figure 31 below. The cylinder to wall velocity ratio is
constant and the Reynolds number for the gap is constant.

1.7

1.5

1.3
Error %

1.1

0.9

0.7

0.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
D (m)

Figure 31: Percentage error with diameter change

The graph is similar to a negative exponential graph. The graph reveals that the percentage
error is decreasing as the diameter of the cylinder is increased. The max error for the
cylinder of radius 0.5m is under 2%, the error is as a result of the sudden change in the
velocity profile as the flow I squeezed through the gap. The error is decreased to 0.6% as the
dimeter is increased to 10m. The error decrease at the larger cylindrical diameter is due to
the gradually change in the velocity profile compared to that of a smaller cylinder.

38
The max error of 1.63% can be acceptable in a lot of experimental cases as it is quite small.
However the error doesnt quite reach 0% as the diameter is increased. This could change as
the ratio is decreased further.

5.2 Cylinder to wall velocity ratios

Figure 32 below shows the error vs the rotational speed. The percentage error for the
cylinder to wall velocity ratios between analytical and CFD, is a positive linear as the
rotational speed increases.

1.25

1.2

1.15

1.1
Error %

1.05

0.95

0.9

0.85

0.8
0 5 10 15 20 25
(rad/s)

Figure 32: Percentage error with rotational speed

The path lines for the CFD of Wannier flow of rotational speed of 1 rad/s and 20 rad/s in
figure 25 on section 4.2.2 can explain the increase in percentage error as the rotational
speed increases. For the cylinder with the higher rotational speed, the vortex is on the left
of the cylinder, close to flow entering the gap between the wall and the cylinder; this forces
the separation of flow to be closer to the cylinder, hence flow with a higher velocity forced
through the gap and error as a resultant.

5.3 Reynolds Number

The final experiment conducted involved the increase of Reynolds number. Figure 33 is a
graph which shows the percentage error between the analytical results and the CFD results

39
for an increase in the Reynolds number. The graph shows that the there is a linear
relationship between the Reynolds number and the resultant error for L. The error trend
however turns to that of a natural logarithmic graph moving further away centre of the gap.

Compared to the errors of the previous two experiments the Reynolds number errors can
be seen as the largest. The percentage of error between the analytical solution and the CFD
can be expected to rise as the Reynolds number increase, this is as a result of the reason
that the analytical solutions are for those of a Wannier flow and increasing the Reynolds
number is in contradiction to the definition of a Wannier flow.

4.5

3.5

3
Error %

2.5

2 x=0

x=0.1
1.5
x=0.2
1
x=0.5

0.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Re. No

Figure 33: Percentage error with Reynolds number

A sixth case was studied on Reynolds number 50, to check if the error pattern remained
linear as the first five case for a larger Reynolds number. The study showed that the
percentage error rose to 23%. Figure below shows that at a higher Reynolds number the
error is bigger than twice the original linear trend.

40
 25

20

15
Error %
10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Re. No

Figure 34: Percentage error with Reynolds number

5.4 Original concept

For the stationary wall, a diameter of 1m produced an error of over 18%. As the diameter is
increased the percentage of error is decreased much like the gap to diameter decrease
previously looked at in section 5.1. Figure 35 shows a negative exponential graph similar to
figure 31.

In the case of using the hot films to calibrate and measure the shear velocity, a cylinder of
diameter 6m is required if an error of 10 % is plausible. To have under 1% of error a cylinder
at 16m or over is required in diameter.

20.00
18.00
16.00
14.00
12.00
Error %

10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
r (m)

Figure 35: Percentage error with an increase in radius

41
6.0 Conclusion
At the onset, this project was set out to study the Wannier flow; its definition and the
characteristics of flow. Initially this was done analytically, and the result achieved was then
used to compare Wannier flow models build on a computational fluid dynamics software.

It should be evident from this project that the initial aims and objectives set out were
accomplished. The analytical solutions were found and the patterns analysed using the
combination of Wannier flow equations and excel spreadsheet. The Wannier flow model
was built on the Ansys software, allowing to vary parameters and find the velocity profiles.
The results achieved in both situations were used to work out the error patterns.

The analytical solutions were used to work out the flow patterns. An increase in the
cylindrical diameter while keeping the gap constant will result in an increased velocity flow
through the gap. On the contrary, increasing the gap while keeping the cylinder size
constant will result in a decrease of flow velocity through the gap. Additionally, the increase
of U-wall and/or U-cylinder would result in an increase of flow through the gap. However,
the study showed that the U-wall has a bigger impact on the flow velocity than U-cylinder.

The CFD results produced results similar to that of the analytical counterpart. Decreasing
the gap to diameter ratio, while keeping other parameters constant, increased the flow
velocity through the gap. Similarly, increasing the cylinder to wall velocity ratio increased
the overall flow velocities. Finally, studying the Reynolds number showed the similar flow
patterns with each increment, but with a higher velocity.

Although the flow patterns for the CFD matched the analytical solution, it did not match the
exact solution. Studies on the error revealed that there is a relationship in the pattern of
errors. The error was similar to an exponential decay graph for the experiment with varying
gap to diameter ratio. This was as a result of the rapid velocity changes closer to the gap for
smaller cylindrical diameter, compared to a gradual change that occurs for the larger
cylinder. The second study on the ratios of velocity between the wall and the cylinder
presented a linear relationship, the error increased as the velocity of the cylinder increased.
The increased rotational speed moved the vortex formed closer to gap causing the velocity
streamlines to be closer when entering the gap. The maximum percentage error for the first

42
experiment was below 1.7% and the percentage error for the second experiment reached
above 1.2% for the rotating cylinder of 20 rad/s. Both of which can be said as small errors.

The third experiment demonstrated that the percentage error increased with an increase in
Reynolds number. The analytical solutions used to compare are for a Wannier flow and by
increasing the Reynolds number, the flow property changes from a viscous creeping flow,
which results in the larger errors.

The errors for experiments 1 and 2 are smaller compared to the percentage error in the
third experiment. The studies indicated that none of the errors for any experiments
conducted reached 0%. The study on mesh points and refinements showed a discretization
error of 0.33% for refinement 3 which was used for all the tests. The discretization errors
combined with iterative convergence errors could be the two major contributors to the
overall error.

Initially the Wannier flow for a steady wall was thought to produce the same result as a
Couette flow, which could be used for the application of the calibration of a hot film. The
study on the original concept demonstrated that the errors could be close to 20% for a
cylinder of small diameter 1m. It was found out that a cylinder of minimum diameter 6m
should be used to have below 10% error and the diameter have to be above 16m if the error
is to be decreased below 1%. The study showed that a cylindrical diameter of 18m will
produce a linear profile to 2d.p.

The analytical solutions for the Wannier flow gave a symmetric results in the y-plane. This
project focusing only on the cylinder next to moving wall and the region of the gap wouldnt
have any error related to the symmetrical result. However, the Wannier flow can be studied
further, which focuses on the entire boundary region, focusing on both the undisturbed
domain upstream and downstream as well as the disturbed region, due the presence of
cylinder. The study could be used to check for what velocities and Reynolds number the
symmetrical results could start to vary and start producing errors.

Although majority of the project was done according to the milestones setup initially, there
were several aspects of the project that took more time than what was initially anticipated.
Studying the analytical solutions to Wannier flow took a lot of time as the mistake in the

43
publication for Wannier flow was discovered and amended later, which in turn delayed the
studies on the velocity profiles. However, time management on the other tasks, such as
building the model in Ansys software, allowed the student complete the tasks on time. The
Gantt chart attached in the Appendix reveals the milestones and completion dates that
were set at the start of the project.

The errors produced in Ansys software was quite small as evident from the achieved results.
The study of the Wannier flow analytically and on Ansys was successful. To check the
precision of the differential equations used in CFD, the exact study could be conducted on
another CFD software which can then be used to compare the two.

44
7.0 References
Ansys, (2015). Introduction to Ansys Fluent. [online] Available at:
http://imechanica.org/files/fluent_13.0_lecture02-intro-to-cfd.pdf [Accessed 17 May
2015].

Bakker, A. (2002). Applied Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Barth, T. and Deconinck, H. (1999). High order methods for computational physics.
Berlin: Springer, pp.287-290.

Grc.nasa.gov, (2015). Drag of a Sphere. [online] Available at:

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/dragsphere.html [Accessed 17 May
2015].

Engelbreth, K. (2011). 'VISCOUS FLOW AROUND A CIRCULAR CYLINDER NEAR A PLANE

WALL. Masters. Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Johnson, R. (1998). The handbook of fluid dynamics. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press,
ch:pp.29:30-32.

Karabelas, S., Koumroglou, B., Argyropoulos, C. and Markatos, N. (2012). High Reynolds
number turbulent flow past a rotating cylinder. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 36(1),
pp.379-398.

Kuzmin, D. (2015). Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics.

MITTAL, S. and KUMAR, B. (2003). Flow past a rotating cylinder. Journal of Fluid
Mechanics, 476.pp.303334.

Nptel.ac.in, (2015). Objectives_template. [online] Available at:

http://www.nptel.ac.in/courses/112104118/lecture-23/23-2_flow_rotate_cylinder.htm
[Accessed 17 May 2015].

Prandtl, L. (1925) 'The Magnus eect and windpowered ships'. Naturwissenschaften 13,
93108

45
Rao, A. et al. (2011) 'Flows Past Rotating Cylinders Next To A Wall'. Journal of Fluids and
Structures 27.5-6: pp.668-679.

Roe, P. (1981). Approximate Riemann solvers, parameter vectors, and difference

schemes. Journal of Computational Physics, 43(2), pp.357-372.

Samson, Michael Daniel, Huiyuan Li, and Li-Lian Wang. (2012): 'A New Triangular
Spectral Element Method I: Implementation And Analysis On A Triangle'. Numerical
Algorithms 64.3 pp.519-547.

Sato, M. and Kobayashi, T. (2012) SIMULIA Community Conference 1 A fundamental

study of the flow past a circular cylinder using Abaqus/CFD, 2(1), pp.3,4.

Slater, J. (2008). Uncertainty and Error in CFD Simulations. [online] Grc.nasa.gov.

Available at: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/wind/valid/tutorial/errors.html [Accessed
2 Dec. 2015].

Sherwin, S. and Karniadakis, G. (1995). A triangular spectral element method;

applications to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Computer Methods in
Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 123(1-4), pp.189-229.

Taneda, Sadatoshi. (1965) 'Experimental Investigation Of Vortex Streets'. Journal of the

Physical Society of Japan 20.9 pp.1714-1721.

Thom, A. (1933). The Flow Past Circular Cylinders at Low Speeds. Proceedings of the
Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 141(845), pp.651-669.

Von Karman vortex street (laminar, temperature), Re = 250. (2010). [video] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDeGDFZSYo8 [Accessed 18 May 2015].

Wannier, G.H. (1950) A contribution to the hydrodynamics of lubrication.

Quart.Appl.Math,.8(1)

Zdravkovich, M. and Bearman, P. (1998). Flow Around Circular CylindersVolume 1:

Fundamentals. J. Fluids Eng., 120(1), p.216.

46
 8.0 Appendices

Experiment 1 parameters used for CFD:

C d D (m) r (m) U r gap to cylinder to wall Reynolds

(m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) diameter velocity ratio No
ratio

1 0.6 1 0.5 1 2 1 0.60 1 1

2 1.1 2 1 1 1 1 0.55 1 1
3 2.6 5 2.5 1 0.4 1 0.52 1 1
4 5.1 10 5 1 0.2 1 0.51 1 1

Case 1.1:

d D r (m) Gap U x y u1 CFD Er %

(m) (m) (m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) (m/s)
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0 0.05 1.446 1.470 1.63
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.1 0.05 1.284 1.300 1.23
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.2 0.05 0.985 0.995 1.01
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.3 0.05 0.781 0.785 0.51

47
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.4 0.05 0.703 0.700 -0.43
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.5 0.05 0.698 0.690 -1.16
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.6 0.05 0.723 0.720 -0.42
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.7 0.05 0.756 0.760 0.53
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.8 0.05 0.789 0.795 0.75
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 0.9 0.05 0.818 0.820 0.24
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 1 0.05 0.843 0.855 1.40
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 1.25 0.05 0.889 0.900 1.22
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 2 0.05 0.951 0.955 0.42
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 3 0.05 0.977 0.980 0.31
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 4 0.05 0.987 0.990 0.30
0.6 1 0.5 0.1 1 2 5 0.05 0.99 0.990 0.00

Case 1.2:

d (m) D (m) r (m) Gap U x y u1 CFD Er %

(m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) (m/s)
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0 0.05 1.472 1.490 1.21
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.1 0.05 1.382 1.395 0.93
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.2 0.05 1.17 1.180 0.85

48
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.3 0.05 0.955 0.960 0.52
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.4 0.05 0.802 0.805 0.37
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.5 0.05 0.721 0.725 0.55
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.6 0.05 0.692 0.690 -0.29
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.7 0.05 0.694 0.695 0.14
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.8 0.05 0.711 0.710 -0.14
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 0.9 0.05 0.734 0.735 0.14
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 1 0.05 0.759 0.755 -0.53
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 1.1 0.05 0.783 0.780 -0.38
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 1.2 0.05 0.805 0.805 0.00
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 1.3 0.05 0.825 0.825 0.00
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 1.4 0.05 0.842 0.845 0.36
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 1.5 0.05 0.858 0.860 0.23
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 2 0.05 0.911 0.910 -0.11
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 3 0.05 0.957 0.960 0.31
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 4 0.05 0.975 0.975 0.00
1.1 2 1 0.1 1 1 5 0.05 0.984 0.980 -0.41

Case 1.3:

49
d (m) D (m) r (m) Gap U x y u1 CFD Er %
(m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) (m/s)
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 0 0.05 1.489 1.500 0.73
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 0.4 0.05 1.056 1.060 0.38
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 0.8 0.05 0.714 0.715 0.14
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 1.2 0.05 0.701 0.700 -0.14
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 1.6 0.05 0.762 0.760 -0.26
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 2 0.05 0.819 0.820 0.12
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 2.4 0.05 0.861 0.860 -0.12
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 2.8 0.05 0.892 0.890 -0.22
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 3.2 0.05 0.914 0.915 0.11
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 3.6 0.05 0.930 0.930 0.00
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 4 0.05 0.942 0.940 -0.21
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 4.4 0.05 0.951 0.950 -0.11
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 4.8 0.05 0.959 0.960 0.10
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 5.2 0.05 0.965 0.965 0.00
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 5.6 0.05 0.969 0.970 0.10
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 6 0.05 0.973 0.975 0.21
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 6.4 0.05 0.976 0.975 -0.10
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 6.8 0.05 0.979 0.980 0.10
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 7.2 0.05 0.981 0.980 -0.10
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 7.6 0.05 0.983 0.985 0.20
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 8 0.05 0.985 0.985 0.00
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 9 0.05 0.988 0.990 0.20
2.6 5 2.5 0.1 1 0.4 10 0.05 0.990 0.990 0.00

50
 Case 1.4:

d (m) D (m) r (m) Gap U x y u1 CFD Er %

(m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) (m/s)
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 0 0.05 1.494 1.500 0.40
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 0.4 0.05 1.233 1.235 0.16
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 0.8 0.05 0.856 0.855 -0.12
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 1.2 0.05 0.701 0.700 -0.14
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 1.6 0.05 0.693 0.695 0.29
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 2 0.05 0.732 0.730 -0.27
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 2.4 0.05 0.777 0.775 -0.26
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 2.8 0.05 0.817 0.815 -0.25
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 3.2 0.05 0.849 0.850 0.12
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 3.6 0.05 0.874 0.875 0.11
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 4 0.05 0.894 0.895 0.11
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 4.4 0.05 0.910 0.910 0.00
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 4.8 0.05 0.923 0.925 0.22
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 5.2 0.05 0.933 0.935 0.21
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 5.6 0.05 0.941 0.940 -0.11
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 6 0.05 0.948 0.950 0.21
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 6.4 0.05 0.954 0.955 0.10
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 6.8 0.05 0.959 0.960 0.10

51
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 7.2 0.05 0.963 0.960 -0.31
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 7.6 0.05 0.969 0.970 0.10
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 8 0.05 0.970 0.970 0.00
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 8.4 0.05 0.973 0.975 0.21
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 8.8 0.05 0.975 0.975 0.00
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 9.2 0.05 0.977 0.975 -0.21
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 9.6 0.05 0.979 0.980 0.10
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 10 0.05 0.980 0.980 0.00
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 11 0.05 0.984 0.985 0.10
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 12 0.05 0.986 0.985 -0.10
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 13 0.05 0.988 0.990 0.20
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 14 0.05 0.990 0.990 0.00
5.1 10 5 0.1 1 0.2 15 0.05 0.991 0.990 -0.10

Experiment 2 parameters used for CFD:

C d D (m) r (m) U r gap to cylinder to wall Reynolds

(m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) diameter velocity ratio No
ratio

1 0.7 1.2 0.6 1 1 0.6 0.58 0.6 1

2 0.7 1.2 0.6 1 2 1.2 0.58 1.2 1
3 0.7 1.2 0.6 1 5 3 0.58 3 1
4 0.7 1.2 0.6 1 10 6 0.58 6 1
5 0.7 1.2 0.6 1 20 12 0.58 12 1

52
Case 2.1:

x y u1 CFD Er %
(m/s) (m/s)
0 0 1.000 1.000 0.00
0 0.01 1.095 1.100 0.45
0 0.02 1.158 1.165 0.60
0 0.03 1.192 1.200 0.67
0 0.04 1.197 1.207 0.83
0 0.05 1.174 1.184 0.85
0 0.06 1.122 1.131 0.80
0 0.07 1.040 1.048 0.76
0 0.08 0.928 0.933 0.54
0 0.09 0.782 0.784 0.26
0 0.1 0.600 0.600 0.00

53
Case 2.2:

x y u1 (m/s) CFD Er %
(m/s)
0 0 1 1 0.00
0 0.01 1.199 1.204 0.42
0 0.02 1.357 1.365 0.59
0 0.03 1.475 1.486 0.74
0 0.04 1.554 1.566 0.77
0 0.05 1.595 1.608 0.81
0 0.06 1.598 1.6118 0.86
0 0.07 1.562 1.575 0.83
0 0.08 1.486 1.497 0.73
0 0.09 1.366 1.371 0.36
0 0.1 1.2 1.2 0.00

54
Case 2.3:

x y u1 CFD Er %
(m/s) (m/s)
0 0 1.000 1.000 0.00
0 0.01 1.515 1.520 0.33
0 0.02 1.954 1.964 0.51
0 0.03 2.322 2.340 0.75
0 0.04 2.623 2.646 0.85
0 0.05 2.857 2.882 0.87
0 0.06 3.025 3.053 0.90
0 0.07 3.127 3.150 0.71
0 0.08 3.160 3.177 0.52
0 0.09 3.119 3.132 0.40
0 0.1 3.000 3.000 0.00

55
Case 2.4:

x y u1 CFD Er %
(m/s) (m/s)
0 0 1.000 1.000 0.00
0 0.01 2.039 2.049 0.46
0 0.02 2.948 2.968 0.66
0 0.03 3.735 3.765 0.78
0 0.04 4.405 4.445 0.89
0 0.05 4.961 5.011 0.99
0 0.06 5.405 5.455 0.91
0 0.07 5.736 5.786 0.86
0 0.08 5.950 5.990 0.66
0 0.09 6.040 6.070 0.49
0 0.1 6.000 6.000 0.00

56
Case 2.5:

x y u1 CFD Er %
(m/s) (m/s)
0 0 1 1 0.00
0 0.01 3.089 3.109 0.64
0 0.02 4.937 4.977 0.80
0 0.03 6.56 6.62 0.91
0 0.04 7.968 8.048 0.99
0 0.05 9.169 9.269 1.08
0 0.06 10.164 10.289 1.21
0 0.07 10.953 11.079 1.14
0 0.08 11.53 11.636 0.91
0 0.09 11.884 11.94 0.47
0 0.1 12 12 0.00

57
Experiment 3 parameters used for CFD:

C d D (m) r (m) U r gap to cylinder to wall Reynolds

(m) (m/s) (rad/s) (m/s) diameter velocity ratio No
ratio
1 1.1 2 1 1 1 1 0.55 1 1
2 1.1 2 1 10 10 10 0.55 1 10
3 1.1 2 1 10 50 50 0.55 1 50

Case 3.1:

x y u1 CFD Error
0 0 1.000 1.000 0.00
0 0.01 1.170 1.175 0.43
0 0.02 1.302 1.310 0.61
0 0.03 1.396 1.405 0.64
0 0.04 1.452 1.464 0.82
0 0.05 1.472 1.485 0.88
0 0.06 1.455 1.467 0.82
0 0.07 1.400 1.410 0.71
0 0.08 1.308 1.315 0.53
0 0.09 1.175 1.180 0.42
0 0.1 1.000 1.000 0.00

58
Case 3.2:

x y u1 CFD Error
0 0 10.000 10.000 0.00
0 0.01 11.700 11.985 2.38
0 0.02 13.020 13.362 2.56
0 0.03 13.960 14.331 2.59
0 0.04 14.520 14.933 2.76
0 0.05 14.720 15.147 2.82
0 0.06 14.550 14.963 2.76
0 0.07 14.000 14.382 2.66
0 0.08 13.080 13.413 2.48
0 0.09 11.750 12.036 2.38
0 0.1 10.000 10.000 0.00

59
Case 3.3

Re. No Error %
1 0.88
2 1.1
3 1.3
5 1.7
10 2.5
50 23

60