AcuSolve 2017.2 Tutorial Guide PDF

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2
AcuSolve Tutorials
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Contents
1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials.......................................................................... 6
1.1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials................................................................................. 7
2 Turbulence.................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow................................................................ 11

2.1.1 Analyzing the Problem..................................................................................... 12
2.1.2 Defining the Simulation Parameters...................................................................18
2.1.3 Importing the Geometry and Defining the Model................................................. 26
2.1.4 Assigning Mesh Controls.................................................................................. 39
2.1.5 Computing the Solution and Reviewing the Results..............................................48
2.1.6 Summary....................................................................................................... 65
2.2 ACU-2100: Turbulent Flow Over an Airfoil Using the SST Turbulence Model........................ 66
2.2.1 Analyzing the Problem..................................................................................... 67
2.2.2 Defining the Simulation Parameters...................................................................69
2.2.3 Importing the Geometry and Defining the Model................................................. 79
2.2.4 Assigning Mesh Controls.................................................................................. 85
2.2.5 Computing the Solution and Reviewing the Results..............................................95
2.3 ACU-2200: Transition Flow over an Airfoil Using the SA Transition Models........................ 102
2.3.1 Analyzing the Problem................................................................................... 104
2.3.2 Introduction to Theory................................................................................... 107
2.3.3 Defining the Simulation Parameters................................................................. 109
2.3.4 Importing the Geometry and Defining the Model............................................... 117
2.3.5 Computing the Solution and Reviewing the Results............................................ 135
2.3.6 Post-Processing with AcuFieldView................................................................... 139
2.3.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 149
2.4 ACU-2201: Transition Flow over an Airfoil using the SST Transition Models.......................150
2.4.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 194
1
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3 Heat Transfer............................................................................................................. 195
3.1 ACU-3000: Enclosed Hot Cylinder: Natural Convection..................................................196

3.1.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 243
3.2 ACU-3100: Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Mixing Elbow................................................. 245
3.2.4 Assigning Mesh Controls.................................................................................275
3.2.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 303
3.3 ACU-3101: Transient Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Mixing Elbow.................................... 304
3.3.5 Summary..................................................................................................... 344
3.4 ACU-3200: Greenhouse Nocturnal Climate Simulation-Enclosure Radiation
and Porous Media.......................................................................................................... 345
3.4.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Boundary Conditions.....................366
3.4.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 407
3.5 ACU-3201: Greenhouse Daytime Climate Simulation – Solar Radiation and
Thermal Shell................................................................................................................ 408
3.5.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 457
2
4 Multiphase................................................................................................................... 458
4.1 ACU-4000: Dam Break Simulation: Two Phase Problem................................................ 459

4.1.5 Summary..................................................................................................... 485
4.2 ACU-4001: Water Filling in a Tank............................................................................. 486
4.2.4 Assigning Surface Parameters......................................................................... 501
4.2.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 520
5 Moving Body............................................................................................................... 521
5.1 ACU-5000: Blower - Steady (Rotating Frame)............................................................. 522

5.1.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Boundary Conditions.....................537
5.1.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 563
5.2 ACU-5001: Blower - Transient (Sliding Mesh).............................................................. 564
5.2.5 Summary..................................................................................................... 605
5.3 ACU-5100: Modeling of Fan_Component: Axial Fan...................................................... 606
5.3.5 Summary..................................................................................................... 644
3
5.4 ACU-5200: Rigid-Body Dynamics of a Check Valve.......................................................645
5.4.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Attributes................................... 669
5.5 ACU-5201: Coupled Simulation of a Check Valve using AcuSolve and MotionSolve.............701
5.5.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Attributes................................... 721
5.5.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 756
5.6 ACU-5300: Ship Hull Static....................................................................................... 757
5.6.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Parameters................................. 775
5.6.7 Summary..................................................................................................... 799
5.7 ACU-5301: Ship Hull Dynamics..................................................................................800
5.7.4 Summary..................................................................................................... 825
5.8 ACU-5400: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester: A Fluid-Structure
Interaction (P-FSI)......................................................................................................... 826
5.8.8 Summary..................................................................................................... 880
5.9 ACU-5401: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester - PFSI & IMM........................................881
4
5.9.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 935
5.10 ACU-5402: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester with Rigid Body Rotation....................... 936
5.10.1 Analyzing the Problem................................................................................. 937
5.10.2 Defining the Simulation Parameters............................................................... 940
5.10.3 Computing the Solution and Reviewing the Results.......................................... 951
5.10.4 Post-Processing with AcuFieldView................................................................. 954
5.10.5 Summary....................................................................................................963
6 AcuTrace...................................................................................................................... 964
6.1 ACU-6000: Static Mixer Simulation - AcuTrace.............................................................965

6.1.4 Computing the Particle Paths and Reviewing..................................................... 981
6.1.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 987
5
Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials 1
1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials
This chapter covers the following:
• 1.1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials (p. 7)

AcuSolve Tutorials
1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials p.7
1.1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials
This guide contains a collection of simulation cases with explicit instructions for setting up, solving
and post-processing. A range of tutorials are included to illustrate the basic AcuSolve workflow and to
provide guidance for setting up a variety of problems.
1.1.1 Objectives
The objectives of the AcuSolve tutorials are to:

• Present the basic AcuSolve workflow
• Introduce the capabilities of AcuSolve to new users
• Provide guidance for the use of AcuSolve with industrial applications
1.1.2 Prerequisites
No experience with AcuSolve is needed prior to running through the tutorials included in this guide.
It is expected that you have some exposure to basic principles of engineering and computer assisted
engineering. It is strongly recommended that you complete ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Bowl
prior to running any of the other tutorials. This tutorial walks you through the basic simulation workflow
and the use of AcuConsole, the graphical user interface for AcuSolve. The subsequent tutorials are
written to be used as stand-alone guides so that you can work through them in any order.
1.1.3 Basic Workflow
The basic workflow for setting up, solving and post-processing a problem with AcuSolve consists of the
following tasks:
1. Analyze the problem and identify the important attributes that need to be provided to AcuSolve.
2. Start AcuConsole and create the simulation database.
3. Set general simulation attributes.
4. Set solution strategy attributes.
5. Set material model attributes.
6. Import the geometry for the simulation.
7. Apply attributes to volumes.
8. Create surfaces, such as inlet, outlet and wall, and apply boundary conditions.
9. Set global meshing attributes.
10. Set user-defined zones for mesh refinements to areas not linked to a particular surface.
11. Set surface meshing attributes.
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AcuSolve Tutorials
12. Generate the mesh.

13. Run AcuSolve to calculate the solution.
14. Post-process results with AcuProbe (to visualize data related to the progress of the calculations)
and/or with AcuFieldView to visualize simulation data with contours, vectors, streamlines, and the
like.
While all steps needed to complete these tutorials are explicitly mentioned, default values, initial
conditions, and discussions of other turbulence models are intentionally left out of the tutorials.
Note: Validation (comparison with experimental results) and verification (determination

of a mesh independent solution) approaches are not covered in this guide. Please refer to
the AcuSolve Validation Manual for validation cases.
For tutorials that illustrate more complicated problems, such as those involving transient physics or
mesh motion, details of additional tasks are provided in the tutorial.
1.1.4 Operating System Used for Tutorial Development
The AcuSolve tutorials are prepared using AcuConsole, AcuSolve, AcuProbe and AcuFieldView on a
workstation running a Windows operating system. While the steps for starting AcuConsole on Windows
differ from those steps on Linux or OS X (Mac), other steps can be completed on all supported operating
systems.
1.1.5 Supporting Files
Supporting files are provided for use in completing the tutorials. These files are located in a
compressed .zip archive located in the <AcuSolve installation directory>\model_files
\tutorials directory. Copy Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a directory and expand it to a location of
your choice. You will need to know this location in order to load files for any given tutorial.
1.1.6 Typographical Conventions Used in this Guide
Different type styles are used to indicate workspace items and inputs, for example:
Set the Turbulence equation to Spalart Allmaras.
Enter Symmetry as the name of the surface.

AcuSolve Tutorials
A mini flow chart is used to indicate menu selections that lead to a specific command or dialog box, for
example,
Open View > Defined Views and set the view to +Z.
This indicates that the View menu is clicked, then the Defined Views menu item is selected, and that
the button labeled +Z is clicked on the dialog box that is opened.
A mini flow chart is also used to indicate items in the Data Tree to be expanded, for example,
Expand the Model > Surfaces > Small Inlet tree item.
This indicates that first the Model tree item is expanded, then the Surfaces item underneath it is
expanded, and finally, the Small Inlet item under Surfaces is expanded.

Turbulence 2
2 Turbulence
• 2.1 ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow (p. 11)

• 2.2 ACU-2100: Turbulent Flow Over an Airfoil Using the SST Turbulence Model (p. 66)
• 2.3 ACU-2200: Transition Flow over an Airfoil Using the SA Transition Models (p. 102)
• 2.4 ACU-2201: Transition Flow over an Airfoil using the SST Transition Models (p. 150)
AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.11
2.1 ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving, and viewing results of a simulation of 3D
turbulent flow in a mixing elbow. It is designed to introduce you to the AcuSolve tool set with a simple
problem.
In order to run this tutorial, you will need access to a licensed version of AcuSolve 2017.2. As this is
the first tutorial in the introductory tutorial sequence, no prior experience with AcuConsole, AcuSolve, or
AcuFieldView is expected.
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy Mixing_Elbow\mixingElbow.x_t from <AcuSolve

installation directory>\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a
working directory.
The color of objects shown in the modeling window in this tutorial and those displayed on your screen
may differ. The default color scheme in AcuConsole is "random," in which colors are randomly assigned
to groups as they are created. In addition, this tutorial was developed on Windows. If you are running
this tutorial on a different operating system, you may notice a slight difference between the images
displayed on your screen and the images shown in the tutorial.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.12
2.1.1 Analyzing the Problem
An important first step in any CFD simulation is to examine the engineering problem to be analyzed
and determine the settings that need to be provided to AcuSolve. Settings can be based on geometrical
components (such as volumes, inlets, outlets, or walls) and on flow conditions (such as fluid properties,
velocity, or whether the flow should be modeled as turbulent or as laminar).
The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown schematically in Figure 1. This is a typical
industrial example for mixing in a pipe by injecting high-velocity fluid from a small inlet into relatively
low-velocity fluid in the main pipe. It consists of a 90° mixing elbow with water entering through two
inlets with different velocities. The geometry is symmetric about the XY midplane of the pipe, as shown
in the figure. This symmetry allows the flow to be modeled with the use of a symmetry plane. The use
of a symmetry plane leads to reduced computation time while still providing an accurate solution.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.13
Figure 1: Schematic of Mixing Elbow
Details of the problem characteristics are shown in the following images extracted from a sample
worksheet that was created prior to setting up the case for AcuSolve.
The diameter of the large inlet is 0.1 m, and the inlet velocity (v) is 0.4 m/s. The diameter of the small
inlet is 0.025 m, and the inlet velocity is 1.2 m/s.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.14
Figure 2:
The fluid in this problem is water, with the following properties that do not change with temperature; a
3 -3
density (ρ) of 1000 kg/m , a molecular viscosity (μ) of 1 X 10 kg/m-sec, a conductivity (k) of 0.598
W/m-K, and a specific heat (cp) of 4183 J/kg-K, as shown in the worksheet.
Figure 3:
Based on mass conservation, the combined flow rate (Q) yields a velocity of 0.475 m/s downstream of
the small inlet. This value is useful in determining the Reynolds number, which in turn can be used to
determine if the flow should be modeled as turbulent, or if it should be modeled as laminar.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.15
Figure 4:
In order to determine whether the modeled flow would be turbulent or whether it would be laminar, the
Reynolds number (Re) should be calculated. The Reynolds number is given by:
where ρ is the fluid density, v is the fluid velocity, D is the diameter of the flow region, and μ is the
molecular viscosity of the fluid. When the Reynolds number is above 4,000, it is generally accepted that
flow should be modeled as turbulent.
The Reynolds numbers of 40,000 at the large inlet, 30,000 at the small inlet, and 47,500 for the
combined flow indicate that the flow is turbulent throughout the flow domain.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.16
Figure 5:
The simulation will be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow.
Figure 6:
In addition to setting appropriate conditions to capture the physics of the simulation, it is important
to generate a mesh that is sufficiently refined to provide good results. In this tutorial the global mesh
size is set to provide at least 30 mesh elements around the circumference of the large inlet. For this
problem, the global mesh size is 0.0106 m. This mesh size was chosen to provide a quick turnaround
time for the model. For real-world simulations, you would modify your mesh settings after an initial
solution until a mesh-independent solution is reached (that is, a solution that does not change with
further mesh refinement).

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.17
Figure 7:
AcuSolve allows for mesh refinements in a user-defined region that is independent of geometric
components of the problem such as volumes, model surfaces, or edges. It is useful to refine the mesh
in areas where gradients in pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity, and the like are steep.
Figure 8:
Once a solution is calculated, results of interest are the steady state velocity contours on the symmetry
plane, velocity vectors on the symmetry plane, and pressure contours on the symmetry plane.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.18
2.1.2 Defining the Simulation Parameters
Starting AcuConsole
AcuConsole is the workspace that is used for building simulations and running them with AcuSolve.
Start AcuConsole from the Windows Start menu by clicking Start > All Programs > Altair
HyperWorks <version> AcuSolve > AcuConsole.
Start AcuConsole on Linux by entering AcuConsole in a terminal window that has the AcuSolve
environment configured. Please refer to the Hyperworks Installation Guide for instructions on
configuring AcuSolve on Linux.
The main AcuConsole window is comprised of eight major components.
• Menu bar
• Toolbar
• Data Tree
• Data Tree Manager
• View Manager toolbar
• Modeling window
• Detail panels
• Information window
When AcuConsole is first opened, the Data Tree, detail panel, modeling window and Information window
are empty. The following figure from a partially defined case is used to illustrate the parts of the
workspace.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.19
Menu Bar Toolbar
View
Data Tree Manager
Manager Toolbar
Data Tree
Graphics
Window
Detail
Panel
Information
Window
Figure 9:
The items in the Data Tree are separated into two main areas, Global and Model. The Global tree item
contains geometry independent settings that apply to the AcuSolve simulation, such as the physics to
be modeled, the solution strategy, material properties and geometry independent mesh controls. The
Model branch in the Data Tree contains settings that apply to specific portions of the geometry of the
model, such as boundary conditions, material used for a volume region and meshing attributes that
apply to a specific component of the model geometry.
In this tutorial, you will begin by creating a database, populating the geometry-independent settings,
loading the geometry, creating groups, setting group attributes, adding geometry components to groups
and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you will generate a mesh
and run AcuSolve to converge on a steady state solution. Finally, you will visualize the results using
AcuFieldView.
Creating the Simulation Database
In the next steps you will create a database for the storage of AcuConsole settings and set the location
for saving mesh and solution information for AcuSolve.
1. Click the File menu, then click New to open the New data base dialog.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.20
Tip: You can also open the New data base dialog by clicking on the toolbar.
2. Browse to the location that you would like to use as your working directory.
This directory is where all files related to the simulation will be stored. The AcuConsole database
file (.acs) is stored in this directory. Once the mesh and solution are created, additional files and
directories will be created within this directory.
3. Create a new folder named Mixing_Elbow and open this folder.
4. Enter Mixing_Elbow as the File name for the database.
Note: In order for other applications to be able to read the files written by
AcuConsole, the database path and name should not include spaces.
5. Click Save to create the database.
Setting General Simulation Parameters
In the next steps you will set parameters that apply globally to the simulation. To simplify this task, you
will use the BAS filter in the Data Tree Manager. The BAS filter limits the options in the Data Tree to
show only the basic settings.
The physical models that you define for this tutorial correspond to steady state, turbulent flow. You will
also provide some general information about the AcuSolve case, such as a title and subtitle.
1. Click BAS in the Data Tree Manager to switch to basic view in the Data Tree.
Figure 10:
2. Double-click the Global Data Tree item to expand it.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.21
Tip: You can also expand a tree item by clicking next to the item name.
Figure 11:
3. Double-click Problem Description to open the Problem Description detail panel.
Tip: You can also open a panel by right clicking a tree item and clicking Open on
the context menu.
4. Enter Introductory Tutorial as the Title.

5. Enter Mixing Elbow – Turbulent as the Sub title.
6. Accept the default Analysis type.
Note: By default, AcuSolve cases are run as steady state simulations.
7. Set the Turbulence equation to Spalart Allmaras.

a) Click the Turbulence equation drop-down.
b) Click Spalart Allmaras from the list.
The robustness and accuracy of the Spalart Allmaras turbulence model makes it an excellent
choice for simulation of steady state flows.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.22
Figure 12:
Note: The detail panel can be resized by dragging the right frame of the panel.
Setting Solution Strategy Parameters
In the next steps you will set parameters that control the behavior of AcuSolve as it progresses during
the solution.
1. Double-click Auto Solution Strategy to open the Auto Solution Strategy detail panel.
2. Enter 0.4 for the Relaxation factor.
The relaxation factor is used to improve convergence of the solution. Typically a value between
0.2 and 0.4 provides a good balance between achieving a smooth progression of the solution and
the extra compute time needed to reach convergence. Higher relaxation factors cause AcuSolve
to take more time steps to reach a steady state solution. A high relaxation factor is sometimes
necessary in order to achieve convergence for very complex applications.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.23
Figure 13:
Setting Material Model Parameters
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum, and Water.

In the next steps you will verify that the pre-defined material properties of water match the desired
properties for this problem.
Figure 14:
1. Double-click Material Model in the Data Tree to expand it.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.24
Figure 15:
2. Double-click Water in the Data Tree to open the Water detail panel.
The Material type for water is Fluid.
3
3. Click the Density tab. Verify that the density of water is 1000.0 kg/m .
4. Click the Specific Heat tab. Verify that the specific heat of water is 4183.0 J/kg-K.
5. Click the Viscosity tab. Verify that the viscosity of water is 0.001 kg/m-sec.
6. Click the Conductivity tab. Verify that the conductivity of water is 0.598 W/m-K.
Figure 16:
7. Save the database to create a backup of your settings. This can be achieved with any of the
following methods.
• Click the File menu, then click Save.
• Click on the toolbar.
• Click Ctrl+S.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.25
Note: Changes made in AcuConsole are saved into the database file (.acs) as they
are made. A save operation copies the database to a backup file, which can be used
to reload the database from that saved state in the event that you do not want to
commit future changes.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2 Turbulence p.26
2.1.3 Importing the Geometry and Defining the Model
Importing the Mixing Elbow Geometry
You will import the geometry in the next part of this tutorial. You will need to know the location of
mixingElbow.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the solid model of the mixing
elbow in the Parasolid ASCII format.
1. Click File > Import.

2. Browse to the directory containing mixingElbow.x_t.
3. Change the File name filter to Parasolid File (*.x_t *.xmt *X_T …
a) Click the drop-down button to the right of the File name field.
b) Click Parasolid File (*.x_t *.xmt *X_T … from the drop-down list.
4. Click mixingElbow.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
5. Click Ok to complete the geometry import.
Figure 17: Mixing Elbow Case with Geometry Imported
At this point, your modeling window should look similar to what is shown in Figure 17.
The color of objects shown in the modeling window in this tutorial and those displayed on your
screen may differ. The default color scheme in AcuConsole is "random," in which colors are
randomly assigned to groups as they are created. In addition, this tutorial was developed on

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Windows. If you are running this tutorial on a different operating system, you may notice a slight
difference between the images displayed on your screen and the images shown in the tutorial.
Manipulating the View in the Modeling window
In the next steps you will do some basic manipulations of the mixing elbow view to help you become
familiar with the mouse actions in the modeling window. The mouse buttons that are used for rotating,
panning, and zooming are shown in the following table:
Action Mouse Button
rotate left
move (pan) middle
zoom right
1. Rotate the view.

a) Left-click in the modeling window.
b) Drag the cursor to the right and observe the display.
The model should rotate to the right.
c) Drag the cursor to the left to rotate the model to the left.
d) Drag the cursor up or down to rotate the model up or down.
Note: You will only see half of the pipe when you manipulate the view. As this
geometry is symmetric around the midplane only half of the geometry needs to
be modeled, which reduces computation time.
e) Restore the initial view by clicking on the View Manager toolbar.
Figure 18:
2. Pan the view.

a) Middle-click in the modeling window.

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b) Drag the cursor to the right to move the model to the right.
c) Drag the cursor to the left to move the model to the left.
d) Restore the initial view by clicking on the View Manager toolbar.
3. Zoom in on and out from the view.
a) Right-click in the modeling window.
b) Drag the cursor up to zoom out from the view.
c) Drag the cursor down to zoom in on the view
d) Restore the initial view by clicking on the View Manager toolbar.
Note: You can also fit the model to the window by clicking on the View
Manager toolbar.
Applying Volume Parameters
Volume groups are containers used for storing information about a volume region. This information
includes solution and meshing parameters applied to the volume and the geometric regions that these
settings are applied to.
When the geometry was imported into AcuConsole, all volumes were placed into the "default" volume
container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group, toggle the display, and assign the material
for the volume as water.
1. Expand the Model tree item by clicking .

2. Expand the Volumes tree item.
3. Toggle the display of the default volume container by clicking and next to the volume name.
Note: You may not see any change when toggling the display if Surfaces are being
displayed, as surfaces and volumes may overlap.
4. Rename the default volume group.

a) Right-click default under Volumes and click Rename on the context menu.

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Figure 19:
b) Type Mixing Elbow and click Enter.

5. Set the material model used for the fluid in the simulation.
a) Expand the Mixing Elbow tree item.
Note: By default, when an item in the Data Tree is specified, the corresponding
geometric elements are highlighted in the modeling window.
b) Double-click Element Set to open the Element Set detail panel.

c) Click the Material model drop down arrow.
d) Click Water.
Figure 20:
For the next set of steps it is useful to turn off the display of Elbow Volume by clicking so that it
is in the off ( ) state.

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Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Boundary Conditions
Surface groups are containers used for storing information about a surface. This information includes
the list of geometric surfaces associated with the container, as well as attributes such as boundary
conditions, surface outputs, and mesh sizing information.
In the next steps you will define surface groups, assign the appropriate attributes for each group in the
problem, and add surfaces to the groups.
Setting Inflow Boundary Conditions for the Large Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the large inlet, set the inlet velocity, and add the
main inlet from the geometry to the surface group.
Figure 21:
1. Create a new surface group.

a) Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree.
b) Click New.
2. Rename the surface to Large Inlet .
a) Right-click Surface 1 under Surfaces and click Rename on the context menu.
b) Enter Large Inlet.
3. Expand the Large Inlet surface in the tree.
4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Large Inlet to open the Simple Boundary
Condition detail panel.
5. Change the Type to Inflow.
6. Change the Inflow type to Average Velocity.
This type of boundary condition is used by AcuSolve to approximate a fully developed flow with a
given average velocity.
7. Set the Average velocity to 0.4 m/sec.

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Figure 22:
8. Add a geometry surface to the Large Inlet group.

a) In the Data Tree, right-click Large Inlet and click Add to.
The Add to dialog is used in conjunction with the modeling window to select geometry items
to associate with model groups such as volumes, surfaces, or edges. When using the Add
to capability, zoom, pan, and rotate actions are performed by holding down the Ctrl key and
using the mouse buttons.
b) If needed, expose the modeling window, by dragging the Add to dialog to the side.
c) Rotate the model to expose the large inlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the left side of the
geometry and dragging the cursor to the right.
d) Click on the large inlet face.
Figure 23:
At this point, the inlet should be highlighted.

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e) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Large Inlet surface group.
Note: You can also use the middle mouse button to complete the addition of
geometry components to a group.
Setting Inflow Boundary Conditions for the Small Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the small inlet, assign the appropriate attributes,
and add the small inlet from the geometry to the surface group.
Figure 24:

2. Rename the surface to Small Inlet.
3. Expand the Small Inlet surface in the tree.
4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Small Inlet to open the Simple Boundary
Figure 25:
8. Add a geometry surface to the Small Inlet group.

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a) In the Data Tree, right-click Small Inlet and click Add to.
b) Rotate the model to expose the small inlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the bottom of the
geometry and moving the cursor toward the top of the window.
Note: If you need to zoom in or out, Ctrl+right-click and drag the cursor down
or up. You can also restore the initial view by clicking .
c) Left-click on the small inlet face.
Figure 26:
At this point, the small inlet should be highlighted.

d) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Small Inlet group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Large Pipe
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the pipe walls, assign the appropriate attributes,
and add the elbow pipe walls from the geometry to the surface group.

2. Rename the surface to Large Pipe.

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3. Expand the Large Pipe surface in the tree.

4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Large Pipe to open the Simple Boundary
The default wall settings will be used for the pipe wall.
Figure 27:
5. Add geometry surfaces to this group.

a) Right-click Large Pipe and click Add to.
b) Click on the pipe near the large inlet, the pipe near the elbow, and the pipe near the outlet to
select the three surfaces that make up the main pipe wall.

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Figure 28:
At this point, the pipe walls should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add these geometric surfaces to the Large Pipe group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Small Pipe
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the side pipe wall, assign the appropriate
attributes, and add the side pipe wall from the geometry to the surface group.

2. Rename the surface to Small Pipe.
3. Expand the Small Pipe surface in the tree.
4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Small Pipe to open the Simple Boundary
As with the large pipe, the default boundary condition Type is Wall. The default is appropriate for
this group and no other changes are needed.

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a) Right-click Small Pipe and click Add to.

b) Click on the pipe near the side inlet.
Figure 29:
At this point, the side pipe wall should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Small Pipe surface container.
Setting Outflow Boundary Conditions for the Outlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the outlet, assign the appropriate attributes and
add the outlet from the geometry to the surface group.

2. Rename the surface to Outlet.
3. Expand the Outlet surface in the tree.
4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Outlet to open the Simple Boundary
5. Change the Type to Outflow.
6. Add a geometry surface to the Outlet surface container.
a) In the Data Tree, right-click Outlet and click Add to.

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b) Rotate the model to expose the outlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the top of the geometry and
moving the cursor toward the bottom of the window.
c) Click on the outlet face.
Figure 30:
At this point, the outlet should be highlighted.

d) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the surface settings of the Outlet group.
Setting Symmetry Boundary Conditions for the Symmetry Plane
This geometry is symmetric about the XY midplane, and can therefore be modeled with half of the
geometry. In order to take advantage of this, the midplane needs to be identified as a symmetry plane.
The symmetry boundary condition enforces constraints such that the flow field from one side of the
plane is a mirror image of that on the other side.
In the next steps you will rename the default surface and apply appropriate settings.
When the geometry was loaded into AcuConsole, all geometry surfaces were placed in the default
surface group. In the previous steps, you selected geometry surfaces to be placed in the groups that
you created. At this point, all that is left in the default surface group is the symmetry plane. Rather than

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create a new container, add the symmetry surface in the geometry to it, and then delete the default
surface container, you will rename the existing container.
1. Rename the default surface to Symmetry

2. Expand the Symmetry surface in the tree.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Symmetry to open the Simple Boundary
4. Change the Type to Symmetry.
Figure 31:

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2.1.4 Assigning Mesh Controls
Setting Global Meshing Parameters
Now that the simulation has been defined, parameters need to be added to define the mesh sizes that
will be created by the mesher.
AcuConsole supports three levels of meshing control, global, zone and geometric.
• Global mesh controls apply to the whole model without being tied to any geometric component of
the model.
• Zone mesh controls apply to a defined region of the model, but are not associated with a
particular geometric component.
• Geometric mesh controls are applied to a specific geometric component. These controls can be
applied to volume groups, surface groups, or edge groups.
In the next steps you will set global meshing parameters. In subsequent steps you will create zone and
surface meshing parameters.
Figure 32:
1. Click MSH in the Data Tree Manager to filter the settings in the Data Tree to show only the
controls related to meshing.
2. Expand the Global Data Tree item.
3. Double-click Global Mesh Attributes to open the Global Mesh Attributes detail panel.
4. Change the Mesh size type to Absolute.
5. Enter 0.0106 m for the Absolute mesh size.
This absolute mesh size is chosen to ensure that there are at least 30 mesh elements around the
circumference of the main pipe.
6. Turn off the Curvature refinement parameters option.

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Figure 33:
Setting Zone Meshing Parameters
In addition to setting meshing characteristics for the whole problem, you can assign meshing
parameters to a zone within the problem where you want to be able to resolve flow with a mesh that
is more refined than the global mesh. A zone mesh refinement can be created using basic shapes to
control the mesh size within that shape. These types of mesh refinement are used when refinement is
needed in an area that does not correspond to a geometric item.
In the next steps you will define mesh controls for a region around the small pipe and extending into
the main pipe by using a zone mesh control. The region of interest for this refinement is a cylinder that
encloses the small pipe and extends into the main pipe.
Figure 34:
1. Turn off the display of volumes.

2. Turn off the display of all surfaces except Symmetry.
3. Restore the initial view by clicking on the View Manager toolbar.
4. Right-click Zone Mesh Attributes under the Global branch in the Data Tree and click New.

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5. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Small pipe refinement.

6. Double-click Small pipe refinement to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.
7. Change the Mesh zone type to Cylinder.
8. Set the location of the mesh refinement by defining the center points of the end faces of the
cylinder.
a) Click Open Array to open the Array Editor dialog.
b) Enter 0.143 for X-coordinate 1 and 2.
c) Enter -0.232 for Y-coordinate 1.
d) Enter -0.025 for Y-coordinate 2.
e) Enter 0.0 for Z-coordinate 2.
f) Click OK.
Figure 35:
9. Enter 0.0254 m for the Radius.

This radius is used to define a cylinder that is larger than the small inlet.
10. Enter 0.0053 m for the Mesh size.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size is half of the mesh size in the rest of the pipe.
Note: When setting mesh size for refinement zones, the best practice is to choose a
1 1 1
value that is the global mesh size divided by a power of two, that is, /2, /4, /8, and
the like.

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Figure 36:
Figure 37:
Setting Meshing Parameters for Surface Groups
In the following steps you will set meshing parameters that will allow for localized control of the mesh
size on surface groups that you created earlier in this tutorial. Specifically, you will set local meshing

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parameters that control the growth of boundary layer elements normal to the surfaces of the main pipe
and of the side pipe.
Setting Meshing Parameters for the Large Pipe
In the next steps you will set parameters that control the mesh size normal to the large pipe wall
(boundary layer mesh controls).
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Large Pipe tree item.
2. Click the checkbox next to Surface Mesh Attributes to enable the settings and open the
Surface Mesh Attributes detail panel.
3. Change the Mesh size type to None.
This option indicates that the mesher will use the global meshing parameters when creating the
mesh on the surface of the pipe walls.
4. Turn on the Boundary layer flag option.
This option allows you to define how the meshing should be handled in the direction normal to the
walls.
5. Set the Resolve option to Total Layer Height.
Mesh elements for a boundary layer are grown in the normal direction from a surface to allow
effective resolution of the steep gradients near no-slip walls. The layers can be specified using a
number of different options. In this tutorial you will specify the height of the first layer, a stretch
ratio for successive layers (growth rate), and the total number of layers to generate. AcuConsole
will resolve the total layer height from the attributes that you provide. That is, total layer height
will be computed based on the height of the first element, the growth rate, and the number of
layers that you provide in the next few steps.
6. Keep the default value, 0.001 m, for First element height.
7. Enter 1.3 for the Growth rate.
8. Enter 4 for the Number of layers.

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Figure 38:
Setting Meshing Parameters for the Small Pipe
size near the walls of the small pipe.
1. Expand the Small Pipe tree item.
Note: You will set the same attributes as for the large pipe.

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Figure 39:
8. Save the database to create a backup of your settings.
Generating the Mesh
In the next steps you will generate the mesh that will be used when computing a solution for the
problem.
1. Click on the toolbar to open the Launch AcuMeshSim dialog.

2. Click Ok to begin meshing.
During meshing an AcuTail window will open. Meshing progress is reported in this window. A
summary of the meshing process indicates that the mesh has been generated.

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Figure 40:
3. Display the mesh on surfaces.

a) Right-click Zone Mesh Attributes under Global in the Data Tree and click Display off.
b) Right-click Volumes in the Data Tree and click Display off.
c) Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree and click Display on.
d) Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree, select Display type and click solid & wire.
4. Rotate, move, or zoom the view to examine the mesh.
Details of the mesh on the side pipe are shown in Figure 41. The view was obtained by turning off
the display of all surfaces except Symmetry, then zooming in on the regions where the side pipe
joins the main pipe.

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Figure 41: Mesh Details Around the Pipe Intersection Viewed on the Symmetry Plane
Note that the mesh size in the main pipe decreases from left to right in the transition from a
region where global settings determine the size to the zone around the small pipe where the
settings are for a finer mesh.

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2.1.5 Computing the Solution and Reviewing the Results
Running AcuSolve
In the next steps you will launch AcuSolve to compute the solution for this case.
1. Click on the toolbar to open the Launch AcuSolve dialog.
Figure 42:
For this case, the default values will be used.
Based on these settings, AcuConsole will generate the AcuSolve input files, then launch the solver.
AcuSolve will run on a single processor to calculate the steady state solution for this problem.
2. Click Ok to start the solution process.

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The information provided in the summary is based on the number of processors used by AcuSolve.
If you used a different number of processors than indicated in this tutorial, the summary for your
run may be slightly different than the summary shown.
Figure 43:
Viewing Results with AcuFieldView
Now that a solution has been calculated, you are ready to view the flow field using AcuFieldView.
AcuFieldView is a third-party post-processing tool that is tightly integrated to AcuSolve. AcuFieldView
can be started directly from AcuConsole, or it can be started from the Start menu, or from a command
line. In this tutorial you will start AcuFieldView from AcuConsole after the solution is calculated by
AcuSolve.
In the next steps you will start AcuFieldView, manipulate the view of the model, display velocity
contours and vectors on the symmetry plane, and display pressure contours on the symmetry plane.

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Starting AcuFieldView
1. Click on the AcuConsole toolbar to open the Launch AcuFieldView dialog.

2. Click Ok to start AcuFieldView.
When AcuFieldView is started from AcuConsole, the main window and the Boundary Surface
dialog are displayed. The main window is comprised of six components as shown in Figure 44.
• menu bar
• Main toolbar
• Transform Controls toolbar
• Viewer toolbar
• modeling window
• Side toolbar
When you start AcuFieldView from AcuConsole, the results from the last time step of the solution
that were written to disk will be loaded for post-processing.
Menu Bar Transform Controls Main Toolbar

Toolbar
Viewer
Toolbar
Graphics
Side
window
Toolbar
Figure 44: AcuFieldView GUI with Mixing Elbow Loaded

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Manipulating the Model View in AcuFieldView
When AcuFieldView is started directly from AcuConsole, the model will be displayed in an isometric view
with a Boundary Surface dialog open. The initial view is shown in perspective, with an outline around
the model. You will manipulate the view in the next steps, and in later steps will view different flow
characteristics using the Boundary Surface dialog.
Figure 45:
1. Change the background color to white.

a) Click on the View menu.
b) Click Background Color.

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Figure 46:
c) Click the white swatch, then click Close.

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Figure 47:
2.
Turn off the display of the outline around the model by clicking on the toolbar.
3. Change the view from perspective to orthographic.
b) Click Perspective to disable this option.

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Figure 48:
4. Orient the model to view it from the positive Z direction (+Z).

a)
Click on the toolbar to open the Defined Views dialog.
b)
Click .
You will see the view change as soon as you click a button in the Defined Views dialog.

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Figure 49:
c) (Optional) Close the dialog.

You can move, zoom, and rotate the view in AcuFieldView in a similar fashion as in AcuConsole.
AcuFieldView uses a different mapping for mouse-button actions.
Action Mouse Button
move (pan) left
rotate middle
zoom right
Displaying Contours of Velocity Magnitude on the Symmetry Plane

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In the next steps you will create a boundary surface to display contours of velocity magnitude on the
symmetry plane.
1.
Click the icon to open the Boundary Surface dialog.
Note: The dialog may already be open. This step will put the focus on the dialog.
2. Disable the Show Mesh option.

3. Set velocity_magnitude as the scalar field to display.
a) Click Select in the Scalar Function control group to open the Function Selection dialog.
b) Select velocity_magnitude from the list.
Note: You may need to scroll down in the list to find velocity_magnitude.
c) Click Calculate.
4. Set the symmetry plane as the location for display of the contours.
a) Click OSF: Symmetry in the list of BOUNDARY TYPES.
b) Click OK.

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Figure 50:
The contours reflect the velocity profiles at the inlets, and show that at the elbow there is a
momentum transfer between the high-velocity side inlet flow and the flow in the main pipe,
represented by the change in the velocity magnitude.
5. Add a legend to the view.
a) In the Boundary Surface dialog, click the Legend tab .
b) Enable the Show Legend option.
c) Enable the Frame option.
d) In the Color group, next to Geometric, click the white color swatch, and then select the
black color swatch to set the color for the legend values to black.
e) Click the white color swatch next to the Title field and set the color for the title to black.
f) Move the legend by Shift+left-clicking and dragging the legend to the left.

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Figure 51:
Adding Velocity Vectors to the View
In the next steps you will create a new boundary surface and display velocity vectors on that surface.
1. In the Boundary Surface dialog, in the Surface tab, click Create.

The new Surface ID will be 2.
2. Click the Geometric radio button in the COLORING group.
This sets the color of the vectors to a constant color. By default, the color is black.
3. Set vector options.
a) Click the Vectors radio button.
b) Click Options next to Vectors to open the Vector Options dialog.
c) Enable Head Scaling and set it to 0.5.
This option determines the size of the arrow head compared to the vector.
d) Set the Length Scale to 2.
The length scale determines the length of the vectors.
e) Enable the Skip option and set it to 37.5%.

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The Skip option determines the percentage of vectors to skip from being displayed. The
setting of 37.5% will result in 62.5% of the vectors being displayed.
f) Close the dialog.
4. Set the symmetry plane as the location for display of the vectors.
a) Click OSF: Symmetry in the BOUNDARY TYPES list.
b) Click OK.
Figure 52:
5. Zoom in on the junction of the small inlet with the main pipe to view details of velocity vectors.
a)
Click on the toolbar.
b) Draw a box around the junction of the two pipes.

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Figure 53:
Note: The Show Legend option for the velocity contour (Surface ID 1) is disabled in
order to capture this image.
The velocity vectors indicate the direction of flow. Notice that the velocity vector length
corresponds with the velocity contours. The vectors in the high-velocity region (red) are longest,
and those in the low-velocity region (blue) are shortest.
Displaying Contours of Pressure on the Symmetry Plane
In the next steps you will create a boundary surface and display contours of pressure on the symmetry
plane.
1. In the Boundary Surface dialog, in the Surface tab, click Create.

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2. Enable the Smooth option in the DISPLAY TYPE control group.
3. Enable the Scalar option in the COLORING control group.
4. Set pressure as the scalar property to display.
b) Select pressure from the list.
c) Click Calculate.
b) Click OK.
6. Turn off the visibility of the vectors and velocity contours.
a) Change the Surface ID to 2 or by clicking .
b) Disable the Visibility option to hide the velocity vectors.
c) Change the Surface ID to 1.
d) Disable the Visibility option to hide the velocity contours.
Note: Click on the Transform Controls toolbar to resize and center the view.

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Figure 54:
7. Change the color mapping to better resolve differences in the pressure contours.
When the scalar function for pressure is calculated by AcuFieldView, minimum and maximum
values are calculated for use in a colormap for the contour display. You can edit the coloring to
better resolve differences in the pressure distribution.
a) Set the Surface ID in the Boundary Surface dialog to 3.
Note: You could also make this the current surface by double-clicking the
surface in the modeling window.
b) Click the Colormap tab.

c) Enable the Local option.
d) Enter 200 for the upper SCALAR COLORING value.
e) Enter -60 for the lower SCALAR COLORING value.
Note: Decimal entries for values will be converted to scientific notation.

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Figure 55:
Notice that the Min: value for the Function Range changes when the Local option is toggled.
Notice also that the contours, especially near junction of the small pipe and the inside of the
bend in the main pipe, change as the option is toggled.
a) Click the Legend tab in the Boundary Surface dialog.
b) If needed, change the Surface ID to 3.
c) Enable the Show Legend option.
d) Enable the Frame option.
e) Move the legend by Shift+left-clicking and dragging the legend to the left.

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Figure 56:

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2.1.6 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a simulation of flow through a mixing
elbow. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and computed a solution using AcuSolve.
Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create contour and vector views along the
symmetry plane of the model. In other tutorials, this basic workflow will be reinforced while additional
modeling capabilities are introduced.

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2.2 ACU-2100: Turbulent Flow Over an Airfoil Using the

SST Turbulence Model
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up and using the SST and K-Omega turbulence
models in AcuSolve. The application that is investigated is the flow over a NACA0012 airfoil at an
angle of attack of 5 degrees. AcuSolve is used to extract the lift and drag forces on the airfoil. This
tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number of modeling concepts necessary to perform external
aerodynamic simulations using the SST and K-Omega turbulence models.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in the tutorial, Flow in a Mixing Elbow. The following
additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Use of the SST and/or K-Omega turbulence models
• Use of the farfield boundary condition type
• Use of the Variable Manager to store variables and expressions
• Entry of expressions into the panel area.
Prerequisites
You should have already run through the introductory tutorial, ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing
Elbow. It is assumed that you have some familiarity with AcuConsole, AcuSolve, and AcuFieldView. You
will also need access to a licensed version of AcuSolve.
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy NACA0012.x_t from <AcuSolve installation directory>
\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a working directory.

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The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown schematically in the figure below. It consists of
a cylindrical bounding region containing air that flows past a NACA0012 airfoil profile. The simulation
is performed as 2D by including only a single layer of extruded elements in the airfoil span direction.
The velocity vector at the far field boundary of the domain is specified to yield an angle of attack of
5 degrees and a Reynolds Number of 1.0e6. The airfoil chord is 1 meter, and standard air material
properties are used for the simulation.

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Figure 57:
The diameter of the cylindrical bounding volume for the airfoil is set to 500 times the airfoil chord. This
large bounding volume is selected to ensure that the farfield boundaries are sufficiently far from the
airfoil to prevent any influence of blockage of the domain on the solution.
The initial simulation of this airfoil will be considered fully turbulent and use the SST turbulence model.
These simulation conditions correspond to a scenario where the boundary layer on the leading edge of
the airfoil is tripped with some type of roughness elements to produce a fully turbulent boundary layer
over the length of the airfoil.

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Starting AcuConsole
In this tutorial, you will begin by creating a database and loading some predefined variables, populating
the geometry-independent settings, loading the geometry, creating groups, setting group attributes,
adding geometry components to groups and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the
groups. Next you will generate a mesh and run AcuSolve to converge on a steady state solution. Finally,
you will review the results using AcuFieldView and AcuProbe.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, create the database for storage of AcuConsole settings and
set the location for saving mesh and solution information for AcuSolve.
1. Start AcuConsole from the Windows Start menu by clicking Start > All Programs > Altair
Note: You can also open the New data base dialog by clicking on the toolbar.
4. Create a new folder named TurbulentAirfoil_SST and open this folder.
5. Enter Turbulent_Airfoil_SST as the File name for the database.
Note: In order for other application to be able to read the files written by
Defining Expressions and Variables Using the Variable Manager
In this step, you will use the Variable Manager in AcuConsole to create a list of expressions that will be
used during the model setup process.
The Variable Manager is a useful utility that allows you to define variables and expressions that can later
be referenced as inputs to the various settings used throughout the process of building your model.

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When a model is constructed in terms of variables, it is very easy to update the entire model with a
simple change of a single parameter from the Variable Manager. This process will be illustrated in this
tutorial.
The AcuConsole expression syntax has two different types of entry methods. The first entry method is
known as immediate evaluation, and uses the = sign to perform assignments of values to a variable.
For example, consider an inlet boundary to a model with an area of 2 m and an average velocity of
2 m/s. If you want to create a variable called volumeFlowRate, you can enter the expression into the
Variable Manager as follows:
Name Expression
volumeFlowRate =2*2
When using the = syntax, the expression is immediately evaluated when you click out of the text entry
area and the equation used to compute that expression is not stored in the database. However, if
you wish to store the expression as a relationship, you can use the relational expression definition by
replacing the = with :=. In that case, AcuConsole stores the expression and evaluates it when needed.
This means that you can define expressions that are functions of other expressions and changes to one
will be propagated to all other dependent expressions. For example, if you want to redefine the inlet
flow rate using a relational expression, you can do that as follows:
Name Expression
inletArea 2.0
averageVelocity 2.0
volumeFlowRate :=inletArea*averageVelocity
Using this syntax, the formula for volumeFlowRate is stored in the database and will automatically
update whenever the inletArea or averageVelocity are updated. Any variables that are defined in the
Variable Manager can be referenced when specifying an integer or floating point value in the panels
area. The same expression syntax can be used.
1. Click the Variable List icon from the main toolbar:
Figure 58:

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The Variable Manager opens.

2. To create new variables in the Variable Manager, click Add.
3. For Name, enter ReynoldsNumber.
4. For Expression enter 1000000.
5. For Description, enter Target Reynolds number for the simulation.
6. Repeat this process for the remaining variables shown in the table below:
Table 1:
Name Expression Description
ReynoldsNumber 1000000 Target Reynolds number for

the simulation
rho 1.225 Density of air
mu 1.781e-5 Molecular viscosity of air
chord 1.0 Airfoil chord
alpha 5.0 Angle of attack (degrees)
windSpeed :=ReynoldsNumber*mu/ Velocity of air (m/s)

(rho*chord)
xVelocity :=windSpeed*cos(alpha*deg) X component of velocity
yVelocity :=windSpeed*sin(alpha*deg) Y component of velocity
turbIntensity 0.00025 Turbulence intensity
viscosityRatio 0.03 Viscosity ratio (turbulent

viscosity / molecular viscosity)
globalMeshSize :=200*chord Global maximum element size
surfaceMeshSize :=.02*chord Maximum surface element size
firstLayerHeight 1.2e-5 Boundary layer first layer

height
stretchRatio 1.2 Boundary layer element growth

rate
totalLayerHeight 0.004 Total height of boundary layer

element stack

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sweepAngle 7.0 Sweep angle for boundary

layer blends at sharp edges
Once the expressions are entered, the Variable Manager should appear similar to what is shown
below:
Figure 59:
7. At this point all variables and expressions are defined and you can close the Variable Manager by
selecting Close.

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The general attributes that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, and steady state time
analysis.
Figure 60:
Figure 61:

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Figure 62:

4. Enter NACA0012 Airfoil as the Title for this case.
5. Enter Fully turbulent as the Sub title for this case.
6. Change the Analysis type to Steady State.
7. Click the Turbulence equation drop down menu to see the available turbulence models.
Figure 63:
8. Select the SST turbulence model. Note that the SST and K-Omega models both require the same
set of inputs. So, the steps in this tutorial also apply to the K-omega model. If you wish to use the
K-Omega model instead of SST, you can select it from this menu.

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Figure 64:
In the next steps you will set the parameters that control the behavior of AcuSolve as it progresses
during the transient solution.
2. Enter 0.4 for Relaxation factor.
This value is used to improve convergence of the solution. Typically a value between 0.2 and 0.4
provides a good balance between achieving a smooth progression of the solution and the extra
compute time needed to reach convergence. Higher relaxation factors cause AcuSolve to take
more time steps to reach a steady state solution. A high relaxation factor is sometimes necessary
in order to achieve convergence for very complex applications.

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Figure 65:
In the next steps you will modify the pre-defined material properties of air using an expression that was
created in the Variable Manager.
Figure 66:
2. Double-click Air in the Data Tree to open the Air detail panel.
3. Click the Density tab and in the Density value field, enter :=rho.
This sets the value of density to be equal to the value entered in the Variable Manager.
4. Click the Viscosity tab and enter :=mu in the Viscosity field.
This sets the value of viscosity to be equal to the value entered in the Variable Manager.

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Defining Nodal Initial Conditions
In the next steps you will define the nodal initial conditions.
1. In the Data Tree double-click Nodal Initial Conditions.

For the SST and K-Omega turbulence models, you need to enter the initial values for Kinetic
energy and Eddy frequency. If you have a reasonable estimate of these values, you can enter
them directly in the fields. One option is to use the same values that are assigned at the inlet
boundary. In the absence of good estimates for the initial conditions, it is also possible to let
AcuSolve perform an automatic initialization of the turbulence variables. By leaving these values
set to zero, AcuSolve will trigger an automatic initialization of these variables.
2. Set the Kinetic energy and Eddy frequency to 0.0 to trigger the automatic initialization.
Figure 67:
Saving the Database
Save the database to create a backup of your settings.
following methods.

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• Click Ctrl+S.

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Importing Airfoil Geometry
NACA0012.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the solid model of airfoil in the
Parasolid ASCII format.
1. Click the File menu, then Import.

2. Set the file filter to Parasolid File(*.x_t).
3. Browse to the directory containing NACA0012.x_t.
4. Select NACA0012.x_t and click Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
5. In the Import Geometry dialog, set Volume Group Option to All in default.
6. In the Import Geometry dialog, set Surface Group Option to All in default.
7. Click OK to close the dialog.
Creating a Volume Group and Applying Volume Parameters
Volume groups are containers used for storing information about volumes. This information includes the
list of geometric volumes associated with the container, as well as parameters such as material models
and mesh sizing information.
When the geometry was imported into AcuConsole, all volumes were placed into the default volume
container.
In the next steps you will rename the default group to Fluid, set the material for that group and add the
volume from the geometry to that volume group.
1. Expand the Model Tree.

2. Expand Volumes.
4. Rename the default group.

a) Right-click default.
b) Click Rename.

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c) Enter Fluid.
5. Expand Fluid in the Data Tree.
6. Double-click Element Set to open the Element Set detail panel.
7. Ensure that the Material model is set to Air.
Figure 68:
Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Parameters
the list of geometric surfaces associated with the container, as well as parameters such as boundary
conditions, surface outputs and mesh sizing information.
In the next steps you will define surface groups, assign the appropriate parameters for each group in
the problem and add surfaces to the groups.
Setting Farfield Boundary Conditions
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the farfield boundary, set the inlet velocity and add
the corresponding surface from the geometry to this group.
1. Add a new surface group by right-clicking Surfaces and click New.

2. Rename Surface 1 to Far Field.
3. Expand the Far Field surface in the tree.
4. Right-click Far Field in the Model Tree.
5. Select Add to.
6. Select the edge surface in the visualization window (highlighted in gray below) and then select
Done.

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Figure 69:
7. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Far Field to open the Simple Boundary
8. Change the Type to Far Field.
When using the Far field boundary condition, you need to enter the vector direction of the flow
velocity. Based on this direction, AcuSolve determines whether each element face should be
acting as an inlet or an outlet. Using this direction vector, in conjunction with the outward facing
normal at each element, it applies the appropriate boundary conditions to the faces of the
model. For faces where the flow is entering the model, a nodal boundary condition for velocity
and turbulence variables is assigned. For faces where the flow is exiting the model, an element
boundary condition for pressure is assigned, that is, an outflow condition.
To facilitate ease in changing the angle of attack for this simulation, you will set the inlet velocity
vector at the far field boundary using the variables that were previously defined. Set the values
using the following inputs.
9. For X Velocity, enter :=xVelocity.
10. For Y Velocity, enter :=yVelocity.
When using the SST or k-omega turbulence models, you need to provide values for the Kinetic
energy and Eddy frequency at far field boundaries. AcuConsole supports various different ways
of doing this. You can specify the values directly using turbulence input type = Direct, or you can
have AcuConsole compute the values based on an estimation of the Turbulence Intensity and

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Length Scale or based on an estimation of the Turbulence Intensity and Viscosity Ratio. For this
case, we will use the Turbulence Intensity and Viscosity Ratio.
11. Set Turbulence input type to Intensity Viscosity Ratio.
12. Set Turbulence intensity type to Value.
13. Set Percent turbulence intensity to :=turbIntensity*100
14. Set Turbulence viscosity ratio to :=viscosityRatio.
Figure 70:
Setting Remaining Boundary Conditions
In the next steps you will define surface groups for slip and wall boundaries.
1. Add a new surface group by right-clicking Surfaces and click New.

2. Rename Surface 1 to +z slip.
3. Expand the +z slip surface in the tree.
4. Right-click +z slip.
5. Select Add to.
Done.

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Figure 71:
7. Click Simple Boundary Condition.

8. Set Type to Symmetry.
9. Add another new surface group by right-clicking Surfaces and click New.
10. Rename Surface 1 to -z slip.
11. Expand the -z slip surface in the tree.
12. Right-click -z slip in the Model Tree.
13. Select Add to.
Done.
Figure 72:

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16. Set Type to Symmetry.

17. In the tree, rename the default surface to airfoil.
18. Expand the airfoil surface in the tree.
19. Turn off the display of the other surfaces in the Model Tree and then zoom into the remaining
surface.
20. Right-click airfoil in the Model Tree.
21. Select Add to.
22. Select the edge surface in the visualization window (shown below) and then select Done.
Figure 73:

24. Set Type to Wall. Leave all the default settings.

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the model.
applied to volume groups, surface groups or edge groups.
5. Set Absolute mesh size to :=globalMeshSize.
6. Set the Curvature refinement parameters to Off.
7. Set the Mesh growth rate to 1.2.
When this option is set, the mesher will ensure that the mesh grows smoothly when transitioning
between different size. Note that the growth rate of 1.2 does not directly corresponds to a change
in length scale of adjacent elements of 1.2, but rather a gradual expansion. The mesh growth rate
can be adjusted between a value of 1 and 2. Values closer to 1.0 indicate a smoother transition,
whereas a value closer to 2.0 indicates a faster transition. A value of 1.0 disables this setting
and reverts to the default meshing behavior. It should be noted that this option can significantly
increase the time necessary to produce the mesh as well as the total number of nodes/elements
created by the mesher.
8. Set Maximum sweep angle to :=sweepAngle.
This setting instructs the mesher to use the sweepAngle parameter to define the maximum angle
between radial element lines when creating radial edge blends during the boundary layer meshing
process.

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Figure 74:
Setting Mesh Process Parameters
Due to the large range of mesh sizes that will be created on the surface of the airfoil, you will need to
instruct the boundary layer mesher how to resolve poor quality elements that result from the requested
boundary layer controls. For example, you request the boundary layers to grow to a constant height
across the airfoil surface, but the local surface element size varies drastically. So, in some areas this will
lead to boundary layer elements that are much taller than they are wide. The mesher views this as a
poor quality element and needs to resolve this in some manner. There are two mechanisms by which to
resolve this:
• Locally reduce the number of layers in the boundary layer stack to maintain high quality boundary
layer elements.
• Locally reduce the height of the boundary layer stack, but keep the total number of layers
constant. Using this approach, the height of each layer is scaled by a constant factor to reduce the
total height of the stack and avoid the creation of the poor quality boundary layer elements.
For this simulation, the mesher will locally reduce the height of the boundary layer stack.
1. Under the Global Tree, double-click on Mesh Process Attributes.

2. In the detail panel, set the Shrink mixed flag to On.
3. Set the 2D Boundary layer adjacent height smoothing ratio to 0.25.
This parameter controls how smoothly the local boundary layer heights vary from one element to
the next after the layers height are adjusted locally to resolve poor quality elements. A low value
of this parameter smooths the variation in height over a large distance, while a value closer to 1.0
enforces a more abrupt change in height. Note that there are separate values of this setting for
2D and 3D boundary layers. For this application, you will be creating a 2D mesh and extruding it
in the third direction to create the volume. Therefore, the 2D setting will control the behavior of
the mesh in this case.

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Figure 75:
Setting Surface Mesh Parameters
The surface mesh size on the airfoil is controlled through a combination of the mesh size set on the
perimeter edges of the airfoil and the mesh size applied directly to the surface. In this tutorial you
will also use the region of influence option of the surface mesh to create a refined mesh at a specified
distance from the airfoil surface.
1. Expand Model > Surfaces > Airfoil.

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2. Activate the Surface Mesh Attributes option.

3. Select Absolute as the Mesh size type.
4. Enter :=surfaceMeshSize as the Absolute mesh size.
This assigns a constant mesh size on the surface that corresponds to the value created in the
“surfaceMeshSize” variable.
5. Set the Region of influence parameters to On.
6. Set the Influence type to Simple.
When using a region of influence type = Simple, the mesh size that was assigned on the surface
is maintained for a specified distance from the surface. The distance from the surface at which
the surface mesh size is retained is defined by the "Influence distance”. It is also possible to scale
the mesh size as a function of distance from the surface. This can be achieved by setting the
influence size factor. When this value is set, the local mesh size is linearly interpolated from the
size specified on the surface to the scaled value at the furthest extent of the refinement distance.
Note that the size used by the “region of influence” meshing is the absolute mesh size that is
defined in the surface mesh attributes parameter. It does not take into account any local variation
of the mesh size due to curvature refinement, and so on. Therefore, the current settings on the
airfoil surface are only used to drive the region of influence sizing. The desired element size on the
surface to resolve the shape of the airfoil will be controlled with edge meshing.
7. Set Boundary layer flag to On.
8. Set the Boundary layer type to Full Control.
9. For the Resolve field, select Number of Layers.
With this setting, you will specify the first layer height of the boundary layer elements, the total
layer height and the growth rate. The total number of layers required to satisfy these settings will
be computed by AcuConsole.
10. For First element height, enter :=firstLayerHeight.
11. For Total layer height, enter :=totalLayerHeight.
12. For Growth rate, enter :=stretchRatio
13. Set the Boundary layer blends flag to On.
14. Set the Boundary layer element type to Tetrahedron.
15. Set the Maximum sweep angle to :=sweepAngle.
With these settings, the boundary layer mesher will create radial edge blends with a maximum
angle defined by the sweepAngle variable.

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Figure 76:
Setting Edge Mesh Parameters
To create an optimum mesh on the surface of the airfoil, it is necessary to have high levels of
refinement near the leading and trailing edges and a large element size near the mid chord. Since the
surface mesh size was set to constant to serve as the size that is propagated into the volume for the
region of influence refinement, you will use an edge mesh parameter to control the placement of nodes
along the airfoil surface. To accomplish this, you will first need to create an edge group that contains
the perimeter edges of the airfoil.
1. Add a new edge by right-clicking Edges and click New.

2. Rename Edge 1 to Perimeter Edges.
3. Select the two perimeter edges of the airfoil to add them to this group.
a) Right-click Perimeter Edges and click Add to.
b) Select the two perimeter edges of the airfoil shown below.

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Figure 77:
c) Select Done.
4. Activate Edge Mesh Attributes and then double-click on it.
5. Set the Mesh size type to Absolute Expression.
Figure 78:
6. Click on the Absolute mesh size expression button to open a text editor where you can write
an expression for the mesh size.
This expression will be evaluated by the mesher to determine the local mesh size that should be
used at each location on edges in the edge set.

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7. Enter the following expression:
sizeMin = 0.0025
sizeMax = 0.1
xMin =(0.0)
xMax =(1.0)
xCenter =((xMin+xMax)/2.0)
dx = ((xMax-xMin)/2.0)
fac = ((dx - abs(x-xCenter) )/dx )
power = (ln(sizeMax/sizeMin))
expVal = sizeMin*exp(power*fac)
linVal = sizeMin+(sizeMax-sizeMin)*fac
value = expVal
This expression takes the min and max surface mesh size (sizeMin and sizeMax) along with the
location of the leading and trailing edge (xMin and xMax) and computes a logarithmic expansion
of the surface mesh size as a function of distance from the leading and trailing edges. The mesh
size at the leading and trailing edge corresponds to sizeMin and the size at the mid chord location
corresponds to sizeMax.
Figure 79:

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8. Click Ok to close this text editor area and accept the expression.
Setting Mesh Extrusion Parameters
The final step in the setup of the meshing for the airfoil is the creation of a mesh extrusion attribute.
This extrusion will be defined such that a single element is created across the span of the airfoil.
1. Create a new Mesh Extrusion.

a) Right-click Mesh Extrusions and select New.
b) Right-click Mesh Extrusion 1 and select Rename.
c) Rename it to Z extrusion.
2. Double-click Z extrusion to open the settings dialog.
Two types of extrusion are supported with the mesh extrusion attributes. The first type is surface.
When selecting this type, the input to the mesher is a set of two surfaces for which the mesh
will be extruded between. The resulting mesh is an extruded volume mesh. The second type
of extrusion that is supported is an edge extrusion. Using this type of extrusion, two edges are
chosen and the resulting mesh is an extruded surface mesh that lies between the two edges. For
this application, you will set Geometry type to surface to generate an extruded volume mesh.
3. Ensure the Geometry type is set to surface.
4. For Side 1, from the drop down, select +z slip.
5. For Side 2, from the drop down, select –z slip.
6. Set the Extrusion type to Number of layers.
7. Enter 1 for the total number of layers.
8. Under Extrusion options, select Mixed elements to create a single layer of extruded prism
elements across the span of the airfoil.
9. Click OK to accept these settings.

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Figure 80:
Generating the Mesh
problem.

2. Leave the default settings and select OK.
3. Inspect the mesh around the surface of the airfoil.
Note the refinement at the leading and trailing edge of the airfoil that resulted from the
expression that was used for edge mesh attributes. Also note the refinement of the mesh around
the airfoil surface. This was caused by the region of influence meshing.
4. Zoom in on the trailing edge of the airfoil to see the impact of setting the boundary layer blends
flag to on. The radial edge blend at the trailing edge of the airfoil is clearly evident.

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Figure 81:

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Running AcuSolve and Examining the .log File
In the next steps, you will launch AcuSolve to compute the solution for this case.

2. Enter 4 for Number of processors, if your system has 4 or more processors.
The use of multiple processors can reduce solution time.
3. Ensure the Restart radio button is set to Off.
4. Accept all other default settings.
AcuSolve will run on four processors to calculate the transient solution for this problem.
5. Select Ok to start the solution process.
As the solution progresses, an AcuTail dialog will open. Solution progress is reported in this
dialog. A summary of the solution process indicates that the simulation has been completed. The
information provided in the summary is based on the number of processors used by AcuSolve.
6. Once the analysis is complete, scroll up to the top of the file and look for the message about
initializing turbulence field values.
This is because the nodal initial conditions were set to 0. Notice that it reports the min, max and
average values of the initialized variables.

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Figure 82:
7. Review a single timestep.

One thing to notice is that eddy frequency and kinetic energy are solved for three times in each
timestep. This is the most efficient way to get a converged solution when using the SST and k-
omega turbulence models.

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Figure 83:
8. Click Close to close the .log file.
Monitoring the Solution with AcuProbe
While AcuSolve is running, you can monitor the kinetic energy using AcuProbe.
1.
Click on the toolbar to open the AcuProbe dialog.
2. Clear the plot by right-clicking Residual Ratio and selecting Plot None.
3. Expand Residual Ratio and All.

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4. Right-click kinetic_energy and select Plot.
Figure 84:
5. Right-click kinetic_energy and select Don’t Plot to clear the plot.

6. Right-click Final and select Plot All.

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Figure 85:
7. Close the AcuProbe dialog.
2. Click OK to start AcuConsole.

that were written to the disk will be loaded for post-processing.
Displaying Square Root of the Eddy Period
In the next steps you will create a boundary surface to display contours of a new variable, called
the square root of the eddy period. When solving for the SST and k-omega turbulence models,
AcuSolve introduces three new variables to the output; kinetic_energy (k), eddy_frequency (ω) and
sqrt_eddy_per ( ). The sqrt_eddy_per variable is useful for visualizing the turbulent time scale

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since the eddy_frequency variable has such a large range of values, it is often times easier to visualize
sqrt_eddy_per.
These steps are provided with the assumption that you are able to manipulate the view in AcuFieldView.
If you are unfamiliar with basic AcuFieldView operations, refer to Manipulate the Model View in
AcuFieldView.
1.
Click on the side toolbar to open the Boundary Surface dialog.
2. Under Scalar Function, click Select.

3. Select sqrt_eddy_period and then select Calculate.
Note: You may have to scroll down to find sqrt_eddy_period. This is a new variable
and it represents one over the square root of omega. It has been added as it is a
more well bounded variable to plot, as compared to the eddy frequency.
Figure 86:

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4. Zoom into the airfoil to view the sqrt_eddy_period around the airfoil.
Figure 87:
Changing the Angle of Attack and Computing the Solution
Because this database was set up using variables and expressions, it is easy to re-run the simulation
again using a different angle of attack. To accomplish this, open the Variable Manager, and set “alpha”
to 0.0. Because the xVelocity and yVelocity variables that were defined for the initial and boundary
conditions are a function of this parameter, the database will automatically be updated to reflect the
new settings. You can simply write the input again and run the solver to obtain the zero angle of attack
solution.

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2.3 ACU-2200: Transition Flow over an Airfoil Using the

SA Transition Models
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a steady simulation
of transition flow over a S809 airfoil using the SA transition models. AcuSolve is used to compute the
intermittency and predict the point where the boundary layer transitions from the laminar mode to
turbulence mode. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to the modeling concepts necessary to
perform simulations using the transition models coupled with the SA Turbulence model.
The basic steps in a CFD simulation were shown in ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow and
the steps to set up external turbulent flow were shown in ACU-2100: Turbulent Flow Over an Airfoil
Using the SST Turbulence Model. The following additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this
tutorial:
• Use of the Gamma transition model
• Use of the Gamma-ReTheta transition model
In this tutorial you will do the following:

• Analyze the problem
• Start AcuConsole and create a simulation database
• Set general problem parameters
• Set solution strategy parameters
• Import the geometry for the simulation
• Create a volume group and apply volume parameters
• Create surface group and apply volume parameters
• Set global and local meshing parameters
• Generate the mesh
• Run AcuSolve
• Monitor the solution with AcuProbe
• Post-processing the nodal output with AcuFieldView
Prerequisites
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy Acu_tutorial_input.zip from <AcuSolve installation
directory>\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a working directory.
Extract s809_blunt.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

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An important step in any CFD simulation is to examine the engineering problem and determine the
important parameters that need to be provided to AcuSolve. Parameters can be based on geometrical
The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown schematically in Figure 1. It consists of a

cylindrical bounding region containing air that flows past a S809 airfoil profile. The simulation is
performed as the two-dimensional problem by including only a single layer of extruded elements in the
airfoil span direction. The velocity vector at the far field boundary of the domain is specified to yield
an angle of attack of one degree and a Reynolds Number of ~250000. The airfoil chord is 1 m, and
standard air material properties are used for the simulation.

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Figure 88: S809 Airfoil in the Flow Domain
The simulation will be carried out by activating the turbulence transition models. The underlying
turbulence model used will be the one-equation Spalart-Allmaras model. The problem will be solved
with the transition models available in AcuSolve – the one-equation Gamma and the two-equation
Gamma-ReTheta transition models. As the name suggests, the transition models predict the point
where the boundary layer transitions from the laminar mode to turbulence mode. When in the

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turbulence regime, the underlying turbulence model, SA in this case, will be used to determine the flow
characteristics.

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2.3.2 Introduction to Theory
Transition and Transition Models

In the real world, laminar flow and turbulent flow coexist when obstacles are located inside of a
fluid flow. Transition flows from laminar to turbulent flow regimes can be found in many industrial
applications including turbomachinery, vehicles, drones, and wind turbines.
A transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow occurs due to various external factors such as
freestream turbulence level (vertical disturbances), sound waves (acoustic disturbances), temperature
fluctuations (entropy disturbances), streamwise pressure gradients, surface roughness, surface
curvature, and vibration. Depending on the external factor or factors, the development of various
transition (instability) mechanisms cause the flow to trip from laminar to turbulent. Here are three main
mechanisms responsible for transition:
1. Natural Transition: In the laminar flow regime, viscous forces usually damp out the disturbances.
However, when the free stream turbulence is low (below 1 percent) and the Reynolds number
is higher than the critical Reynolds number, viscous forces destabilize the shear layer, causing
the fluid to transition to a turbulent regime via the development of the three initial disturbances
(waves, vorticity and vortex breakdown). This mechanism is called the Natural Transition. It is
usually very subtle and progresses very slowly, over a long distance scale.
2. Bypass Transition: When the initial disturbances are high (due to surface roughness or freestream
turbulence levels higher than 1%), turbulence are generated without development of the three
initial disturbances (T-S waves, spanwise vorticity, and vortex breakdown) observed in the natural
transition.
3. Separated-Inducted Transition: When a laminar flow experiences adverse pressure gradients
(such as airfoil suction surfaces and flow over a sphere), the fluid flow detaches from the wall
surface. If the disturbances are low, separation can cause the generation of structures found in
natural transition. Larger disturbances generate Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, where vortices roll
up before breaking down into turbulence. The process involved in separation-induced transition
depends on the size of the adverse pressure gradient and the presence of additional disturbances
(for example, obstacles).
Since transition affects the flow development, lift, drag, heat transfer, and others, it is important to
predict the transition phenomena properly. It is known that conventional turbulence models over-predict
the wall-shear stress for transitional flows. Thus, transition models can be used to improve the accuracy
of CFD solutions when flows encounter transition in the boundary layer.
Transition Models in AcuSolve

AcuSolve has two transition models (Gamma-ReTheta and Gamma) coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras
(SA) and the Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence models, resulting in total of four choices of the

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transition modelling, including: SA-Gamma, SA-Gamma-ReTheta, SST-Gamma, and SST-Gamma-

ReTheta.
1. Gamma-ReTheta Transition Model: The Gamma-ReTheta ( ) model is a correlation-based
intermittency model that predicts natural, bypass, and separation-induced transition mechanisms.
It is based on two transport equations for intermittency ( ) and transition momentum thickness
Reynolds number ( ). The intermittency is a measure of the flow regime that varies between
zero (laminar) and one (fully turbulent). It is used to turn on the turbulent kinetic energy
production in the turbulent kinetic energy equation, while the transition momentum thickness
Reynolds number is used as the transition onset criteria. The Gamma-ReTheta model is more
suitable for cases when freestream turbulence intensity may be high or adverse pressure
gradients are present in the flow. Most internal flows and some external flows fall in this category.
2. Gamma Transition Model: The Gamma ( ) transition model is a one-equation transition model
and follows Galilean invariance by modifying the correlations. The Gamma transition model is well
suited for the external aerodynamic cases where freestream turbulence intensity is low.
Transition Model Usage Guidelines

1. Meshing Guidelines
a. Generate boundary layer meshes on surfaces where transition onset occurs
b. The first layer height of the boundary layer mesh should be y+ < 5
c. The stretch ratio of the boundary layer mesh should be in the range between 1.1 and 1.2
d. The transition between the boundary layer mesh and the freestream mesh should be smooth
e. The streamwise surface mesh spacing should be small enough to capture separation bubbles
2. Convergence Monitoring
a. The residual and solution ratios of the transition simulations are sometimes stagnated
(commonly seen when the bubble forms near the leading-edge of an airfoil)
b. Despite the appearance of residual and/or solution ratio stagnations, the integrated
force and moment over the airfoil could be converged to the satisfactory level. Thus, the
monitoring of quantities such as lift, drag, thrust, power, torque, etc. is highly suggested.
The purpose of this tutorial is to provide the instructions for setting up the steady transition simulation
of the S809 airfoil using the SST transition models. To keep the total computing time within 5 minutes,
some of the meshing guidelines described above have not been followed. However, you must follow
these guidelines when solving a problem if a high accuracy in results is desired.
This tutorial consists of two parts. In the first part, you will setup and solve the problem, using the
Gamma transition model. After successfully having run the problem with the Gamma model, you will
modify the database setup to use the Gamma-ReTheta transition model, and generate the solution
again.

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Starting AcuConsole
loading the geometry, creating volume and surface groups, setting group attributes, adding geometry
components to groups and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you
will generate a mesh and run AcuSolve to solve for the number of time steps specified. Finally, you will
review some characteristics using AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, create the database for storage of the simulation settings.
4. Create a new folder named SA_Transition_Models and open this folder.
5. Enter sa_transition as the File name for the database.

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Figure 89:

3. For Name, enter Uinf.
4. For Expression, enter 4.0.
5. For Description, enter Free Stream Velocity of Air.
Table 2:
Uinf 4.0 Free Stream Velocity of Air
xVel :=Uinf * cos(alpha*deg) X component of velocity
yVel :=Uinf * sin(alpha*deg) Y component of velocity
below:

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Figure 90:
selecting Close.
In the next steps you will set attributes that apply globally to the simulation. To simplify this task, you

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Figure 91:
Figure 92:
Figure 93:

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4. Enter S809 as the Title for this case.

5. Enter SAS Transition as the Sub title for this case.
6. Ensure the Analysis type is set to Steady State.
7. Click Turbulence equation and select Spalart Allmaras.
8. Click Turbulence Transition model and select Gamma.
Figure 94:
2. Check that the Analysis type is set to Steady State.
3. Set the Max time steps to 100.
4. Set the Convergence tolerance to 0.0001.
6. Ensure that both the Turbulence and Turbulence transition flags are set to On.

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Figure 95:
AcuConsole has three pre-defined standard materials, Air, Aluminium, and Water, with standard
parameters defined. In the next steps you will check and if needed modify the material characteristics
of the predefined "Air" model to match the desired properties for this problem.
Figure 96:
The Material type for air is Fluid. Fluid is the default material type for any new material created in
AcuConsole.
3. In the Density tab check the following.

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a) The Type is set to Constant

3
b) The Density value is set to 1.225 kg/m
4. Click the Viscosity tab.
-5
The viscosity of air is 1.781 x 10 kg/m - sec
The remaining thermal and other material properties are not critical to this simulation. However, you
may browse through the tabs to check the complete material specification.
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.
Setting Initial Conditions
1. Under Global in the Data Tree, double-click Nodal Initial Condition to open the dialog in the
detail panel.
2. Set the X velocity to :=xVel.
3. Set the Y velocity to :=yVel.
This will set the X and Y velocities equal to the values specified in the Variable Manager.
For the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model, you need to provide the initial value for Eddy viscosity.
For the Gamma transition model, you need to provide the initial value for Intermittency, or . If you
have a reasonable estimate of these values, you can enter them directly in the nodal initial condition
fields. One option is to use the same values that are assigned at the inlet boundary. In the absence
of good estimates for the initial conditions, it is also possible to let AcuSolve perform an automatic
initialization of the turbulence and transition variables. By setting these values to zero, AcuSolve will
trigger an automatic initialization of these variables.
4. Set the Eddy viscosity and Intermittency to 0.0 to trigger the automatic initialization.

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Figure 97:

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s809_blunt.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the solid model of airfoil in the

3. Browse to the directory containing s809_blunt.x_t.
4. Select s809_blunt.x_t and Open the Import Geometry dialog.
For this tutorial, the default values for the Import Geometry dialog are used to load the geometry.
If you have previously used AcuConsole, be sure that any settings that you might have altered are
manually changed to match the default values shown in the figure. With the default settings, volumes
from the CAD model are added to a default volume group. Surfaces from the CAD model are added to
a default surface group. You will work with groups later in this tutorial to create new groups, set flow
parameters, add geometric components, and set meshing parameters.
5. Click OK to complete the geometry import.

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Figure 98:
6. Rotate and zoom in the visualization to view the entire model.

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Figure 99:
When a new geometry is imported, by default AcuConsole will place all volumes from a geometry in a
single volume container named "default". You should be able to see it in the data tree upon successful
import of your model in the last step, under Model > Volumes > default.
Since the model for this tutorial has only a single volume, it will be the only volume in the default
volume group when the geometry is imported. Even when there is a single volume in the model, it is
advisable to rename the volume for ease of identification in future. In the next steps you will rename
the default volume group container, and set the material and other properties for it.
1. Minimize Global in the Data Tree Manager and expand the Model tree item by clicking .
2. Right-click on Surfaces and select Display off to turn off the display of surfaces

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5. Rename the default volume group to Fluid.

b) Click Rename from the context menu.
c) Enter Fluid as the new name, and click Enter.
Note: When an item in the Data Tree is renamed, the change is not saved until
you press the Enter key on your keyboard. If you move the input focus away
from the item without entering it, your changes will be lost.
6. Set up the fluid volume element set.

a) Expand the fluid volume group in the tree.
b) Double-click Element Set under fluid to open it in the detail panel.
c) Check that the Medium for the volume is set to Fluid. If not, click on the drop-down selector
next to Medium and select Fluid.
Note: The default Medium for a volume in AcuConsole is Fluid.
d) Click on the drop-down selector next to Material model and select Air.
Figure 100:
Creating Surface Groups

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Surface groups are containers used for storing information about a surface, including solution and
meshing parameters, and the corresponding surface in the geometry that the parameters will apply to.
problem and add surfaces to the groups.
In the process of setting up a simulation, you need to move into different panels for setting up the
boundary conditions, mesh parameters, etc. which can sometimes be cumbersome (especially for
models with too many surfaces). To make it easier, less error prone, and for saving time two new
dialogs are provided in AcuConsole which you can use to verify and provide the information for all
surface or volume entities at once. They are the Volume Manager and Surface Manager. In this section
some features of Surface Manager are exploited.
1. Right-click on Volumes and select Display off to turn off the display of Volumes.
2. Right-click Surfaces and select Surface Manager.
3. In the Surface Manager dialog, click New 3 times to create 3 new surface groups.
4. Turn display off for all surfaces except for default surface.
5. Rename Surface Names (column 1) for Surface 1 to Surface 3, and set the Simple BC Active and
Simple BC Type columns as per the table shown below.
Figure 101:
6. Assign the surfaces to the z_pos and z_neg surface groups.

a) In the z-pos row, click Add to.
b) Select the planar surface with the maximum z-coordinate as shown in figure below and click
Done.
c) Similarly assign the surface with the minimum z-coordinate to the z_neg surface group.

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Figure 102:
7. Assign the outer peripheral surface of the domain to the farfield surface group. Use the following
figure as the reference for selecting the required surfaces.

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Figure 103:
surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to wall. In the previous steps,
you assigned some surfaces to various other surface groups that you created. At this point, all
that is left in the airfoil surface group are the surfaces which make up the airfoil.
8. Close the Surface Manager dialog.
Assigning the Surface Parameters
1. Set up the airfoil surface parameters:

a) In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the airfoil surface group.
b) Double-click Simple Boundary Condition to open the detail panel.
c) Ensure the Type is set to Wall.
2. Set up the z_pos and z_neg surface parameters:
a) In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the z_pos surface group.
c) Ensure the Type is set to Symmetry.
d) Similarly, check that the Simple Boundary Condition type for z_neg is also set to Symmetry.
3. Set up the farfield surface parameters:

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a) In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the farfield surface group.
c) Ensure the Type is set to Far Field.
When using the Far field boundary condition, you need to enter the vector direction of the
flow velocity. Based on this direction, AcuSolve determines whether each element face should
be acting as an inlet or an outlet. Using this direction vector, in conjunction with the outward
facing normal at each element, it applies the appropriate boundary conditions to the faces
of the model. For faces where the flow is entering the model, a nodal boundary condition for
velocity and turbulence variables is assigned. For faces where the flow is exiting the model,
an element boundary condition for pressure is assigned (that is, an outflow condition).
To facilitate ease in changing the angle of attack for this simulation, you will set the inlet
velocity vector at the far field boundary using the variables that were previously defined. Set
the values using the following inputs.
d) For X Velocity, enter :=xVel.
e) For Y Velocity, enter :=yVel.
f) Check that the Turbulence input type is set to Auto.
With the Auto setting, AcuSolve will automatically compute the values for the turbulence
variables to be applied at the inflow nodes of the boundaries.
g) Set the Turbulence intensity type to Auto from the drop down selector menu.
Figure 104:

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Now that the flow characteristics have been set for the whole problem, a sufficiently refined mesh has
to be generated.
Global mesh attributes are the meshing parameters applied to the model as a whole without reference
to a specific geometric volume, surface, edge, or point. Local mesh attributes are used to create mesh
generation controls for specific geometry components of the model.
In the next steps you will set the global mesh attributes.
a) Click the drop-down control next to Mesh size type.
b) Click Absolute.
5. Set Absolute mesh size to 200.0 m.
7. Set Maximum sweep angle to 5.0 degrees.
Figure 105:
For this simulation, the mesher will locally reduce the height of the boundary layer stack but will
keep the total number of layers constant. Using this approach, the height of each layer is scaled by
a constant factor to reduce the total height of the stack and avoid the creation of the poor quality
boundary layer elements.

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2. Set Shrink mixed flag to On.

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Figure 106:
Surface mesh attributes are applied to a specific surface in the model. It is a type of local meshing
parameter, used to create targeted mesh controls for one or more specific surfaces.
Local mesh attributes such as surface mesh attributes are not mandatory to be set. When a local mesh
attribute is not found for a component, the global attributes will be used as the mesh generation control
for that component. If a local mesh attribute is present, it will take precedence over the global setting.
In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes for the airfoil surface group.

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1. Expand Model, Surfaces and then Airfoil.

2. Double click Surface Mesh Attributes to open the detail panel.
3. Click the Surface Mesh Attributes checkbox to activate it.
The detail panel is populated with more options.
4. Set the Mesh size type to Absolute.
5. For Absolute mesh size, enter 0.01 m.
Mesh controls related to influence region from the surface are now visible.
Region of influence is a size control that allows you to control the size and growth rate of the
surface and volume mesh surrounding a surface based on the distance from the surface.
7. Set the Influence parameters as follows:
a) Influence type: Simple
b) Influence size factor: 2.0
c) Influence distance: 0.1
Mesh controls related to boundary layer meshing will be visible now.
10. For Resolve, select Number of Layers.
11. Set the remaining parameters as follows:
a) First element height: 0.0004
b) Total layer height: 0.04
c) Growth rate: 1.2
d) Boundary layer elements type: Tetrahedron

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Figure 107:
refinement near the leading and trailing edges and a large element size near the mid chord. Since our
region of influence refinement, you will use an edge mesh attribute to control the placement of nodes
1. Add a new edge by right-clicking Edges > New.

A new entity, Edge 1 is created under Edges in the data tree.
c) Click Done.

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Figure 108:

6. Click Absolute mesh size expression to open a text editor where you can write an expression
for the mesh size.
This expression will be evaluated by the mesh engine to determine the local mesh size that should
be used at each location on the edges in the edge set.
7. Enter the following expression in the text area editor:
sizeMin = 0.002
sizeMax = 0.05
xMin = (0.0)
xMax = (1.0)
xCenter = ((xMin+xMax)/2.0)
fac = ((dx - abs( x-xCenter) )/dx )
power = (ln( sizeMax/sizeMin))

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value = expVal
8. Select Ok to close this text editor area and accept the expression.
Defining Mesh Extrusion
The present simulation is equivalent to a representation of a 2D cross section of the model. In AcuSolve
2D models are simulated by having just one element across the faces of the cross section. Thus when
these faces are set up with a similar boundary condition, it coerces the corresponding nodes across the
faces to have same results. In this problem, these faces are the negative and positive z-surfaces. This
kind of mesh is achieved in AcuSolve with mesh extrusion process. In the following steps you will define
the process of extrusion of the mesh between these surfaces.
1. Right-click Mesh Extrusions and select New.

2. Right-click Mesh Extrusion 1, select Rename and enter Z extrusion.
4. Verify that Geometry type is set to surface.
5. For Side 1, from the drop down, select z_neg.
6. For Side 2, from the drop down, select z_pos.
7. Set Number of Layers to 1.
8. Under Extrusion options, select All tets.

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Figure 109:
Generating the Mesh
problem.

During meshing an AcuTail dialog will open. Meshing progress is reported in this window. A
summary of the meshing process indicates that the mesh generation has finished.

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Figure 110:
Note: The actual number of nodes and elements, and memory usage may vary
slightly from machine to machine.
3. Close the AcuTail dialog and save the database to create a backup of your settings.
4. You can visualize the mesh in the visualization area now. Turn on the display of surfaces, and set
the display type to solid and wire.
5. You can rotate and zoom in the model to analyse the various mesh regions.

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Figure 111:
No TOC

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Running AcuSolve

For this case, the default settings will be used. AcuSolve will run using four processors (if
available, higher number of processors may be specified) and AcuConsole will generate AcuSolve
input files and will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolvewill calculate the steady state solution for this
problem.

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Figure 112:
Post-Processing with AcuProbe
AcuProbe can be used to monitor various variables over solution time.
1.
Open AcuProbe by clicking the icon on the toolbar.
2. Double-click Residual Ratio to expand the tree.
3. Right-click Final and click Plot All.
This will plot the residuals for all the variables, pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity, and
intermittency, in the plot area.

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Note: You might need to click the icon on the toolbar in order to properly
display the plot.
Figure 113:
4. Right-click Final and click Plot None.

5. Expand the Surface Output group entry, and under Surface Output expand the airfoil surface
group.
6. Right-click x-traction > Plot and y-traction > Plot to plot both of them.
display the plot.

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Figure 114:
The traction values on the airfoil surface have nearly converged. When using correlation-based
transition models, it is always a good practice to examine not only the residuals but also the
actual solution quantities of interest for convergence before accepting the solution. In some other
cases, it is also possible that the flow field has converged even while the residuals show minor
oscillations. The user thus should observe both in tandem before taking an informed decision
about the validity of the solution.
7. You can also save the plots as an image.
a) From the AcuProbe dialog, click File > Save.
b) Enter a name for the image and click Save.

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2.3.6 Post-Processing with AcuFieldView
The tutorial has been written with the assumption that you have become familiar with the AcuFieldView
interface and basic operations. In general, it will be helpful to understand the following basics:
• How to find the data readers in the File menu and open up the desired reader panel for data input.
• How to find the visualization panels either from the Side toolbar or the Visualization panel menu to
create and modify surfaces in AcuFieldView
• How to move the data around the graphics window using mouse actions to translate, rotate and
zoom in to the data.
This tutorial shows you how to work with steady state analysis data.

You will see that the pressure contours have already been displayed on all the boundary surfaces
with mesh.

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Figure 115:
Setting Up AcuFieldView
1. Click Viewer Options.

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Figure 116:
2. In the Viewer Options dialog:

a) Deselect Perspective to turn off the perspective view.
b) Click Axis Markers to disable the axis markers.
c) Click Close.
3.
On the toolbar, click the Colormap icon .
4. In the Scalar Colormap Specification dialog, click Background and select White.
5. Close the Scalar Colormap Specification dialog.
6.
Click the Toggle Outline icon on the toolbar to turn off the outline display.
Your display should look similar to Figure 117.

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Figure 117:
Coordinating the Surface Showing Turbulence Viscosity on the Mid Coordinate

Surface
1. From the Surface tab in the Boundary Surface dialog, turn off the Visibility for the active
boundary surfaces.
2.
Click the icon to open the Coordinate Surface dialog.
3. Click Create to create a new coordinate surface.
4. Select Z as the Coordinate Plane.
This will create a coordinate surface at the mid – Z coordinate plane. The coordinate surface
created is the mid plane between the two side surfaces in the model.
5. Change the Coloring to Scalar.
6. Change the Display Type to Smooth.
7. For Scalar Function, select eddy_viscosity.

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8. From the Defined Views list, select +Z as the viewing direction.

Your view should be similar to figure 1
Figure 118:
You can clearly see the turbulent flow developing at about halfway through the chord of the airfoil.
Before the onset of turbulence, the boundary layer on the airfoil surface is laminar.
9. For Scalar Function, select Intermittency.
Figure 119:
A closer look at the contour plot of intermittency will show that the value of intermittency
transitions to one at the point where the flow transitions from laminar to turbulent. In the region

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where the flow is laminar, from the leading edge of the airfoil to the halfway, the intermittency is
zero.
Setting Up the Gamma-ReTheta Transition Model
At this stage you have successfully setup and ran the S809 airfoil problem with the Gamma transition
model and Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. In this part of the tutorial you will modify your open
database to setup the problem so as to use the Gamma-ReTheta transition model.
1. Close the open AcuFieldView window and return to the open AcuConsole window.
2. Save the database to retain the setup for the Gamma transition model.
3. Create a new directory within your existing working directory, or at any other location of your
choice, and name it SA_Gamma_Re_Theta.
4. Click File > Save As
5. Navigate into the SA_Gamma_Re_Theta directory. Enter sa_transition_gammaretheta as the File
name for the database, or choose any name of your preference.
Updating General Simulation Attributes
4. Enter SA Transition Gamma Re-Theta as the new Sub title for this case.
5. Change the Turbulence transition model from Gamma to Gamma-Re Theta.

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Figure 120:
Updating the Nodal Initial Conditions
The Gamma-Re Theta transition model is a two equation model and introduces a new variable,
transition Re-theta, or . Like other variables, an initial value for this variable also needs to be
provided. As before, you will set it to zero to trigger the automatic initialization of by AcuSolve.
1. Double-click Nodal Initial Condition in the data tree to open the detail panel.
2. Set the Transition re theta to 0.0 to trigger the automatic initialization.

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Figure 121:
The remaining settings in the setup need not be modified. You can now launch AcuSolve to get the
solution of the S809 airfoil problem with the Gamma-Re-theta transition case. Follow the same
steps as in the previous case to post-process the results.

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Figure 122:

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Figure 123: Gamma-Re Theta - Residuals Plot
Figure 124: Gamma-Re Theta - X and Y Traction Plot

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2.3.7 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a turbulence transition problem. The
underlying turbulence model employed was the Spalart-Allmaras model. The problem simulated a
S809 wind turbine airfoil in an external flow field. You started the tutorial by creating a database
in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the geometry, and setting up the simulation parameters.
The database was initially set up with the one-equation Gamma transition model. Once the case
was setup, the solution was generated with AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuProbe and
AcuFieldView. In AcuFieldView you observed the inter-relation between onset of turbulence viscosity
and intermittency. After successfully getting a solution for the Gamma transition model, you modified
the database to use the two-equation Gamma-Re-Theta as the transition model.

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2.4 ACU-2201: Transition Flow over an Airfoil using the

SST Transition Models
of transition flow over a S809 airfoil using the SST (Shear Stress Transport k-ω) turbulence model with
transition models (Gamma or Gamma-ReTheta). AcuSolve is used to compute the intermittency and
predict the point where the boundary layer transitions from the laminar mode to turbulence mode. This
tutorial is designed to introduce you to the modeling concepts necessary to perform simulations using
the transition models coupled with the SST Turbulence model.
The basic steps in a CFD simulation were shown in ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow and the
steps to set up external turbulent flow were shown in ACU-2200: Transition Flow over an Airfoil Using
the SA Transition Models. The following additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Use of the SST turbulence model with the Gamma transition model
• Use of the SST turbulence model with Gamma-ReTheta transition model

• Create surface group and apply volume parameters
• Run AcuSolve
Prerequisites
You should have already run through the tutorials, ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow and
ACU-2200: Transition Flow over an Airfoil Using the SA Transition Models. It is assumed that you have
some familiarity with AcuConsole, AcuSolve, and AcuFieldView. You will also need access to a licensed
version of AcuSolve 2017.2.

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Extract s809_blunt.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

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cylindrical bounding region containing air that flows past a S809 airfoil profile. The simulation is
performed as the two-dimensional problem by including only a single layer of extruded elements in the
airfoil span direction. The velocity vector at the far field boundary of the domain is specified to yield
an angle of attack of one degree and a Reynolds Number of ~250000. The airfoil chord is 1 m, and
standard air material properties are used for the simulation.

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Figure 125: S809 Airfoil in the Flow Domain
The simulation will be carried out by activating the turbulence transition models. The underlying
turbulence model used will be the two-equation SST turbulence model. The problem will be solved with
the transition models available in AcuSolve – the one-equation Gamma and the two-equation Gamma-
ReTheta transition models. As the name suggests, the transition models predict the point where the
boundary layer transitions from the laminar mode to turbulence mode. When in the turbulence regime,
the SST turbulence model will be used to determine the flow characteristics.

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Transition and Transition Models

In the real world, laminar flow and turbulent flow coexist when obstacles are located inside of a
fluid flow. Transition flows from laminar to turbulent flow regimes can be found in many industrial
applications including turbomachinery, vehicles, drones, and wind turbines.
A transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow occurs due to various external factors such as
freestream turbulence level (vertical disturbances), sound waves (acoustic disturbances), temperature
fluctuations (entropy disturbances), streamwise pressure gradients, surface roughness, surface
curvature, and vibration. Depending on the external factor or factors, the development of various
transition (instability) mechanisms cause the flow to trip from laminar to turbulent. Here are three main
mechanisms responsible for transition:
1. Natural Transition: In the laminar flow regime, viscous forces usually damp out the disturbances.
However, when the free stream turbulence is low (below 1 percent) and the Reynolds number
is higher than the critical Reynolds number, viscous forces destabilize the shear layer, causing
the fluid to transition to a turbulent regime via the development of the three initial disturbances
(waves, vorticity and vortex breakdown). This mechanism is called the Natural Transition. It is
usually very subtle and progresses very slowly, over a long distance scale.
2. Bypass Transition: When the initial disturbances are high (due to surface roughness or freestream
turbulence levels higher than 1%), turbulence are generated without development of the three
initial disturbances (T-S waves, spanwise vorticity, and vortex breakdown) observed in the natural
transition.
3. Separated-Inducted Transition: When a laminar flow experiences adverse pressure gradients
(such as airfoil suction surfaces and flow over a sphere), the fluid flow detaches from the wall
surface. If the disturbances are low, separation can cause the generation of structures found in
natural transition. Larger disturbances generate Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, where vortices roll
up before breaking down into turbulence. The process involved in separation-induced transition
depends on the size of the adverse pressure gradient and the presence of additional disturbances
(for example, obstacles).
Since transition affects the flow development, lift, drag, heat transfer, and others, it is important to
predict the transition phenomena properly. It is known that conventional turbulence models over-predict
the wall-shear stress for transitional flows. Thus, transition models can be used to improve the accuracy
of CFD solutions when flows encounter transition in the boundary layer.
Transition Models in AcuSolve

AcuSolve has two transition models (Gamma-ReTheta and Gamma) coupled with the Spalart-Allmaras
(SA) and the Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence models, resulting in total of four choices of the

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transition modelling, including: SA-Gamma, SA-Gamma-ReTheta, SST-Gamma, and SST-Gamma-

ReTheta.
1. Gamma-ReTheta Transition Model: The Gamma-ReTheta ( ) model is a correlation-based
intermittency model that predicts natural, bypass, and separation-induced transition mechanisms.
It is based on two transport equations for intermittency ( ) and transition momentum thickness
Reynolds number ( ). The intermittency is a measure of the flow regime that varies between
zero (laminar) and one (fully turbulent). It is used to turn on the turbulent kinetic energy
production in the turbulent kinetic energy equation, while the transition momentum thickness
Reynolds number is used as the transition onset criteria. The Gamma-ReTheta model is more
suitable for cases when freestream turbulence intensity may be high or adverse pressure
gradients are present in the flow. Most internal flows and some external flows fall in this category.
2. Gamma Transition Model: The Gamma ( ) transition model is a one-equation transition model
and follows Galilean invariance by modifying the correlations. The Gamma transition model is well
suited for the external aerodynamic cases where freestream turbulence intensity is low.
Transition Model Usage Guidelines

1. Meshing Guidelines
a. Generate boundary layer meshes on surfaces where transition onset occurs
b. The first layer height of the boundary layer mesh should be y+ < 5
c. The stretch ratio of the boundary layer mesh should be in the range between 1.1 and 1.2
d. The transition between the boundary layer mesh and the freestream mesh should be smooth
e. The streamwise surface mesh spacing should be small enough to capture separation bubbles
2. Convergence Monitoring
a. The residual and solution ratios of the transition simulations are sometimes stagnated
(commonly seen when the bubble forms near the leading-edge of an airfoil)
b. Despite the appearance of residual and/or solution ratio stagnations, the integrated
force and moment over the airfoil could be converged to the satisfactory level. Thus, the
monitoring of quantities such as lift, drag, thrust, power, torque, etc. is highly suggested.
The purpose of this tutorial is to provide the instructions for setting up the steady transition simulation
of the S809 airfoil using the SST transition models. To keep the total computing time within 5 minutes,
some of the meshing guidelines described above have not been followed. However, you must follow
these guidelines when solving a problem if a high accuracy in results is desired.
This tutorial consists of two parts. In the first part, you will setup and solve the problem, using the
Gamma transition model. After successfully having run the problem with the Gamma model, you will
modify the database setup to use the Gamma-ReTheta transition model, and generate the solution
again.

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Starting AcuConsole
loading the geometry, creating volume and surface groups, setting group attributes, adding geometry
components to groups and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you
review some characteristics using AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, create the database for storage of the simulation settings.
4. Create a new folder named SST_Transition_Models and open this folder.
5. Enter sst_transition as the File name for the database.

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Figure 126:

3. For Name, enter Uinf.
4. For Expression, enter 4.0.
5. For Description, enter Free Stream Velocity of Air.
Table 3:
Uinf 4.0 Free Stream Velocity of Air
xVel :=Uinf * cos(alpha*deg) X component of velocity
yVel :=Uinf * sin(alpha*deg) Y component of velocity
below:

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Figure 127:
selecting Close.
In next steps you will set parameters that apply globally to the simulation. To make this simple,
the basic settings applicable for any simulation can be filtered using the BAS filter in the Data Tree
Manager. This filter enables display of only a small subset of the available items in the data tree and
makes navigation of the entries easier.

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Figure 128:

4. Enter S809 Airfoil as the Title for this case.
5. Enter SST Transition as the Sub title for this case.
6. Ensure that the Analysis type is set to Steady State.
7. Change the Turbulence equation from Laminar to SST.
8. Change the Turbulence transition model from None to Gamma.
Figure 129:

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4. Set the Convergence tolerance to 0.0001.
6. Ensure that both the Turbulence and Turbulence transition flags are set to On.
Figure 130:
AcuConsole has three pre-defined standard materials, Air, Aluminium, and Water, with standard
parameters defined. In the next steps you will check and if needed modify the material characteristics
of the predefined "Air" model to match the desired properties for this problem.

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Figure 131:
The Material type for air is Fluid. Fluid is the default material type for any new material created in
AcuConsole.
3. In the Density tab check the following.
a) The Type is set to Constant
3
b) The Density value is set to 1.225 kg/m
4. Click the Viscosity tab.
-5
The viscosity of air is 1.781 x 10 kg/m - sec
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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detail panel.
2. Set the X velocity to :=xVel.
3. Set the Y velocity to :=yVel.
This will set the X and Y velocities equal to the values specified in the Variable Manager.
4. Ensure all initial condition types in this panel are set to Constant.
For the SST turbulence model, you need to provide the initial value for kinetic energy and eddy
frequency. For the Gamma transition model, you need to provide the initial value for Intermittency,
or . If you have a reasonable estimate of these values, you can enter them directly in the nodal
initial condition fields. One option is to use the same values that are assigned at the inlet boundary.
In the absence of good estimates for the initial conditions, it is also possible to let AcuSolve perform
an automatic initialization of the turbulence and transition variables. By setting these values to zero,
AcuSolve will trigger an automatic initialization of these variables.
5. Set the Kinetic energy, Eddy frequency and Intermittency to 0.0 to trigger the automatic
initialization.
Figure 132:

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s809_blunt.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the solid model of airfoil in the

3. Browse to the directory containing s809_blunt.x_t.
4. Select s809_blunt.x_t and Open the Import Geometry dialog.
If you have previously used AcuConsole, be sure that any settings that you might have altered are
manually changed to match the default values shown in the figure. With the default settings, volumes
from the CAD model are added to a default volume group. Surfaces from the CAD model are added to
a default surface group. You will work with groups later in this tutorial to create new groups, set flow
parameters, add geometric components, and set meshing parameters.
5. Click OK to complete the geometry import.

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Figure 133:
6. Rotate and zoom in the visualization to view the entire model.

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Figure 134:
When a new geometry is imported, by default AcuConsole will place all volumes from a geometry in a
single volume container named "default". You should be able to see it in the data tree upon successful
import of your model in the last step, under Model > Volumes > default.
2. Right-click on Surfaces and select Display off to turn off the display of surfaces

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5. Rename the default volume group to Fluid.

b) Click Rename from the context menu.
c) Enter Fluid as the new name, and click Enter.

c) Check that the Medium for the volume is set to Fluid. If not, click on the drop-down selector
next to Medium and select Fluid.
d) Click on the drop-down selector next to Material model and select Air.
Figure 135:
Creating Surface Groups

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problem and add surfaces to the groups.
boundary conditions, mesh parameters, etc. which can sometimes be cumbersome (especially for
models with too many surfaces). To make it easier, less error prone, and for saving time two new
some features of Surface Manager are exploited.
1. Right-click on Volumes and select Display off to turn off the display of Volumes.
2. Right-click Surfaces and select Surface Manager.
4. Turn display off for all surfaces except for default surface.
Figure 136:

Done.

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Figure 137:
7. Assign the outer peripheral surface of the domain to the farfield surface group. Use the following
figure as the reference for selecting the required surfaces.

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Figure 138:
surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to wall. In the previous steps,
that is left in the airfoil surface group are the surfaces which make up the airfoil.
1. Set up the airfoil surface parameters:

a) In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the airfoil surface group.
3. Set up the farfield surface parameters:

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a) In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the farfield surface group.
c) Ensure the Type is set to Far Field.
When using the Far field boundary condition, you need to enter the vector direction of the
flow velocity. Based on this direction, AcuSolve determines whether each element face should
be acting as an inlet or an outlet. Using this direction vector, in conjunction with the outward
facing normal at each element, it applies the appropriate boundary conditions to the faces
of the model. For faces where the flow is entering the model, a nodal boundary condition for
velocity and turbulence variables is assigned. For faces where the flow is exiting the model,
an element boundary condition for pressure is assigned (that is, an outflow condition).
To facilitate ease in changing the angle of attack for this simulation, you will set the inlet
velocity vector at the far field boundary using the variables that were previously defined. Set
the values using the following inputs.
d) For X Velocity, enter :=xVel.
e) For Y Velocity, enter :=yVel.
f) Check that the Turbulence input type is set to Auto.
With the Auto setting, AcuSolve will automatically compute the values for the turbulence
variables to be applied at the inflow nodes of the boundaries.
g) Set the Turbulence intensity type to Auto from the drop down selector menu.
Figure 139:

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to be generated.
b) Click Absolute.
7. Set Maximum sweep angle to 5.0 degrees.
Figure 140:
For this simulation, the mesher will locally reduce the height of the boundary layer stack but will
keep the total number of layers constant. Using this approach, the height of each layer is scaled by
a constant factor to reduce the total height of the stack and avoid the creation of the poor quality
boundary layer elements.

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2. Set Shrink mixed flag to On.

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Figure 141:
In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes for the airfoil surface group.

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1. Expand Model, Surfaces and then Airfoil.

2. Double click Surface Mesh Attributes to open the detail panel.
3. Click the Surface Mesh Attributes checkbox to activate it.
The detail panel is populated with more options.
4. Set the Mesh size type to Absolute.
Mesh controls related to influence region from the surface are now visible.
Region of influence is a size control that allows you to control the size and growth rate of the
surface and volume mesh surrounding a surface based on the distance from the surface.
a) Influence type: Simple
b) Influence size factor: 2.0
c) Influence distance: 0.1
Mesh controls related to boundary layer meshing will be visible now.
10. For Resolve, select Number of Layers.
11. Set the remaining parameters as follows:
a) First element height: 0.0004
b) Total layer height: 0.04
c) Growth rate: 1.2
d) Boundary layer elements type: Tetrahedron

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Figure 142:
refinement near the leading and trailing edges and a large element size near the mid chord. Since our
region of influence refinement, you will use an edge mesh attribute to control the placement of nodes
1. Add a new edge by right-clicking Edges > New.

A new entity, Edge 1 is created under Edges in the data tree.
c) Click Done.

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Figure 143:

6. Click Absolute mesh size expression to open a text editor where you can write an expression
for the mesh size.
This expression will be evaluated by the mesh engine to determine the local mesh size that should
be used at each location on the edges in the edge set.
7. Enter the following expression in the text area editor:
sizeMin = 0.002
sizeMax = 0.05
xMin = (0.0)
xMax = (1.0)
xCenter = ((xMin+xMax)/2.0)
fac = ((dx - abs( x-xCenter) )/dx )
power = (ln( sizeMax/sizeMin))

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value = expVal
8. Select Ok to close this text editor area and accept the expression.

5. For Side 1, from the drop down menu, select z_neg.
6. For Side 2, from the drop down menu, select z_pos.
7. Check that the Extrusion type is set to Number of layers.
8. Set Number of layers to 1.
9. Set Extrusion options, select All tets.

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Figure 144:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


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Figure 145:

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Figure 146:

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Running AcuSolve

input files and will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolve will calculate the steady state solution for this
problem.
Figure 147:

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1.
2. Double-click Residual Ratio to expand the tree.
3. Right-click Final and click Plot All.
This will plot the residuals for all the variables, pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity, and
intermittency, in the plot area.
display the plot.
Figure 148:
4. Right-click Final and click Plot None.

5. Expand the Surface Output group entry, and under Surface Output expand the airfoil surface
group.
6. Right-click x-traction > Plot and y-traction > Plot to plot both of them.

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display the plot.
Figure 149:
The traction values on the airfoil surface have nearly converged. When using correlation-based
transition models, it is always a good practice to examine not only the residuals but also the
actual solution quantities of interest for convergence before accepting the solution. In some other
cases, it is also possible that the flow field has converged even while the residuals show minor
oscillations. The user thus should observe both in tandem before taking an informed decision
about the validity of the solution.

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Post-Processing with AcuFieldView

with mesh.

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Figure 150:

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 151:

c) Click Close.
3.
6.
Your display should look similar to Figure 152.

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Figure 152:
Coordinating the Surface Showing Turbulence Viscosity on the Mid Coordinate

Surface
boundary surfaces.
2.
7. For Scalar Function, select kinetic_energy.

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8. Close the Coordinate Surface dialog.

9. From the Defined Views menu, select +Z as the viewing direction.
Your view should be similar to Figure 153
Figure 153:
You can clearly see the turbulent flow developing at about halfway through the chord of the airfoil.
Before the onset of turbulence, the boundary layer on the airfoil surface is laminar.
10. Open the Coordinate Surface dialog, click Select next to Scalar Function and select
Intermittency.
Figure 154:
A closer look at the contour plot of intermittency will show that the value of intermittency
transitions to one at the point where the flow transitions from laminar to turbulent. In the region

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where the flow is laminar, from the leading edge of the airfoil to the halfway, the intermittency is
zero.
Setting Up the Gamma-ReTheta Transition Model
At this stage you have successfully setup and ran the S809 airfoil problem with the Gamma transition
model and SST turbulence model. In this part of the tutorial you will modify your open database to
setup the problem so as to use the Gamma-ReTheta transition model.
1. Close the open AcuFieldView window and return to the open AcuConsole window.
2. Save the database to retain the setup for the Gamma transition model.
3. Create a new directory within your existing working directory, or at any other location of your
choice, and name it SST_Gamma_ReTheta.
4. Click File > Save As
5. Navigate into the SST_Gamma_Re_Theta directory. Enter sst_transition_gammaretheta as the
File name for the database, or choose any name of your preference.
Updating General Simulation Parameters
Figure 155:

4. Enter SST Transition Gamma ReTheta as the new Sub title for this case.
5. Change the Turbulence transition model from Gamma to Gamma-ReTheta.

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Figure 156:
Updating the Nodal Initial Conditions
The Gamma-ReTheta transition model is a two equation model and introduces a new variable, transition
ReTheta, or . Like other variables, an initial value for this variable also needs to be provided. As
before, you will set it to zero to trigger the automatic initialization of by AcuSolve.
1. Double-click Nodal Initial Condition in the data tree to open the detail panel.
2. Set Transition re theta to 0.0 to trigger the automatic initialization.
The remaining settings in the setup need not be modified. You can now launch AcuSolve to get
the solution of the S809 airfoil problem with the Gamma-ReTheta transition case. Follow the same
steps as in the previous case to post-process the results.

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Figure 157:

AcuSolve Tutorials
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2.4.6 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a turbulence transition problem. The
underlying turbulence model employed was the SST model. The problem simulated a S809 wind turbine
airfoil in an external flow field. You started the tutorial by creating a database in AcuConsole, importing
and meshing the geometry, and setting up the simulation parameters. The database was initially set up
with the one-equation Gamma transition model. Once the case was setup, the solution was generated
with AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuProbe and AcuFieldView. In AcuFieldView you
observed the inter-relation between onset of turbulence viscosity and intermittency. After successfully
getting a solution for the Gamma transition model, you modified the database to use the two-equation
Gamma-ReTheta as the transition model.

Heat Transfer 3
3 Heat Transfer
• 3.1 ACU-3000: Enclosed Hot Cylinder: Natural Convection (p. 196)

• 3.2 ACU-3100: Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Mixing Elbow (p. 245)
• 3.3 ACU-3101: Transient Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Mixing Elbow (p. 304)
• 3.4 ACU-3200: Greenhouse Nocturnal Climate Simulation-Enclosure Radiation and Porous
Media (p. 345)
• 3.5 ACU-3201: Greenhouse Daytime Climate Simulation – Solar Radiation and Thermal
Shell (p. 408)
AcuSolve Tutorials
3 Heat Transfer p.196
3.1 ACU-3000: Enclosed Hot Cylinder: Natural

Convection
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a simulation of a
hot cylinder contained within another air-filled cylinder. In this simulation, an internally heated cylinder
is surrounded by air which heats up as it comes in contact with the surface of the inner cylinder. The
localized heating near the surface induces a buoyancy driven flow in the air, generating convection
currents. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to modeling concepts related to natural convection
simulations.
The basic steps in a CFD simulation have been discussed in the earlier tutorials. The following additional
capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Creating and specifying a new custom material in AcuConsole
• Specifying a volume group as a heat source
• Using the Boussinesq density model in buoyancy driven flows, such as cases involving natural
convection
• Set up periodic boundary conditions

• Create a new custom material model in AcuConsole and assign material properties to it
• Create surface groups and apply surface parameters
• Set periodic boundary conditions
• Set the appropriate boundary conditions
• Run AcuSolve

AcuSolve Tutorials
Prerequisites
Extract twin_cylinder.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

AcuSolve Tutorials
An important step in any CFD simulation is to examine the engineering problem at hand and determine
the important parameters that need to be provided to AcuSolve. Parameters can be based on
geometrical elements (such as inlets, outlets, or walls) and on flow conditions (such as fluid properties,
The system being simulated contains an internally-heated cylinder, which is surrounded by a cylindrical
ring of a larger diameter. The annular volume between the two cylinders is filled with a fluid (air). The
inner cylinder thus acts a heat source, and the fluid in contact with the surface of this heat source is
heated up. This hot fluid, being lower in density than the cold fluid, then rises up to the upper part of
the annulus due to buoyancy effects, and displaces the cold fluid at top. At the same time, the film of
fluid which was in contact with the heating surface is replaced by the surrounding cold fluid. This new
film of cold fluid goes through the same process until eventually a steady state convection current is
achieved, or the inner cylinder ceases to generate heat and slowly the whole system achieves an equal
temperature.
The system being simulated can be considered similar to a heat exchanger wherein the inner cylinder is
akin to a tube through which a hot fluid passes by, and the air which surrounds this inner tube extracts
heat from the inner tube. Another analogy can be of a wire carrying high current enclosed in an air
cooled chamber. As the current heats up the wire due to resistance, the air around the wire keeps the
wire temperature within control by extracting heat from the wire surface.
The schematics of the problem which will be addressed in this tutorial is shown in Figure 158. The inner
cylinder is a solid volume with internal heat generation, and the outer cylinder is a fluid volume with air
as the fluid. Both cylinders are assumed to be infinitely long and the system will be modeled using half
symmetry and periodicity. The cylinders are infinite in z-direction and hence periodicity will be applied
along this direction.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 158: Schematic of the Problem

AcuSolve Tutorials
Natural Convection
Convection is a heat transfer mechanism where the transfer of heat energy happens through the motion
of matter. Since the definition of convection involves motion of matter a fluid state is usually present in
convection. Usually this type of heat transfer takes place between a hot or a cold surface and a fluid.
The film of fluid in contact with the surface absorbs heat from or transfers heat to the surface and is
then replaced by a new film. This movement of fluid may either be governed by an external source,
such as a fan or pump, or due to internal changes in the fluid properties. When no external sources are
responsible for the fluid motion the heat transfer mechanism at work is called the Natural Convection.
The driving force for motion of the fluid in a natural convection is density changes in the fluid due to
temperature gradients induced in the fluid by heat transfer.
The natural convection mechanism works similarly as described above, whilst discussion of the problem.
The fluid which is in contact with the surface absorbs or transfers heat from the surface and becomes
hotter or colder than the surrounding fluid. Driven by buoyancy forces due to difference in densities
caused by the temperature gradient, the fluid is displaced upwards or downwards. Surrounding fluid
fills in the void created by the displaced fluid, which then undergoes the same process again. This gives
rise to a convection current which drives the hot fluid to the top and cold fluid to the bottom of the
convection cell. Buoyancy effects are driven by gravity, therefore natural convection requires presence
of a gravitational force to work. It must be noted, however, that gravity is not the driving force behind
the fluid movement. Presence of gravity only enables displacement of the fluid due to the density
changes caused by temperature gradients.
Mathematical determination of the onset of natural convection is done through a dimensionless number
called the Rayleigh number (Ra). The Rayleigh number is defined as:
where:
• is the characteristic length (m)
• is the Rayleigh number for characteristic length
2
• is acceleration due to gravity (m/s )
• is the surface temperature (K)
• is the quiescent temperature (fluid temperature far from the surface of the object) (K)
2
• is the kinematic viscosity (m /s)
2
• α is the thermal diffusivity (m /s)

AcuSolve Tutorials
• β is the thermal expansion coefficient (equals to for ideal gases where is absolute
temperature).
The fluid properties , α and β are evaluated at the film temperature, , which is defined as:
When the Rayleigh number is below a critical value for the fluid heat transfer is primarily in the form of
conduction. When it exceeds this critical value the dominant heat transfer mechanism is convection.
Boussinesq Density Model
The Boussinesq density model is an approximation method applied to buoyancy driven flows, such as
natural convection flows. In the Boussinesq approximation, the density variation terms are neglected
everywhere except when multiplied by acceleration due to gravity, . The basis of this approximation
is that since temperature changes are small, the resultant changes in density are small as well and
thus can be neglected. However, when multiplied by , the resultant term gives rise to forces which no
longer are negligible. The Boussinesq approximation is:
where
3
• is the instantaneous density at temperature (kg/m )
3
• is the density at reference temperature (kg/m )
• is change in temperature (K)
As stated in the approximation, the Boussinesq density model is only applicable when density variations
are small. A general guideline is to check for the condition to be true. This indirectly puts a
limitation on this model to be used to only for cases where expected temperature differences within the
fluid are not large.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Starting AcuConsole
loading the geometry, creating volume and surface groups, setting group parameters, adding geometry
components to groups, and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next, you
visualize some characteristics of the results using AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, and create the database for storage of the simulation
settings.
3. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Natural_convection and navigate into this
directory.
4. Enter NaturalConvection as the file name for the database, or choose any name of your
preference.
Manager. This filter enables display of only a small subset of the available items in the data tree and

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 159:
2. Double-click Global in the Data Tree to expand it.
Figure 160:
Tip: You can also open a panel by right-clicking a tree item and clicking Open on
the context menu.
4. Enter AcuSolve Tutorial as the Title.

5. Enter Natural Convection as the Sub title.
7. Change the Temperature equation to Advective Diffusive.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 161:
during the solution.
1. Double-click Auto Solution Strategy in the Data Tree to open the Auto Solution Strategy
detail panel.
2. Check that Analysis type is set to Steady State.
4. Change the Convergence tolerance to 0.0001.
6. Check that Flow and Temperature are set to On.
7. Change the Temperature flow to On.
Changing the Temperature flow flag to On will instruct the solver to solve thermal-flow
problems in fully coupled mode. Otherwise these problems are solved with a staggered strategy.
In fully-coupled mode, the flow and temperature equations are solved simultaneously, while
in the staggered approach, the flow equation will usually be solved first considering constant
temperature, and then the temperature equation will be solved as the next step.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 162:
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum and Water, with standard parameters
defined. In the next steps you will check and modify the material characteristics of the predefined Air
model to match the desired properties for this problem. Since this a natural convection problem the
density type for air will be set to use the Boussinesq approximation. Subsequently, you will create a new
custom material and assign relevant material properties to it.
Figure 163:

AcuSolve Tutorials
The material type for air is Fluid. Fluid is the default material type for any new material created in
AcuConsole.
3. Click the Density tab. Change the density type to Boussinesq.
Figure 164:
-5
4. Click the Viscosity tab. The viscosity of air is 1.781 x 10 kg/m – sec.
5. Click the Specific Heat tab and make sure the Specific heat value is 1005.0 J/kg-K.
6. Similarly check the Conductivity tab and make sure the values are as follows:
a) Conductivity: 0.02521 W/m-K
b) Turbulent Prandtl number: 0.91
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.
8. Right-click Material Model in the Data Tree and select New from the context menu that
appears.
A new entry, Material Model 1, will be created in the Data Tree under the Material Model branch.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 165:
9. Right-click Material Model 1 and select Rename in the context menu.

10. Type in Stainless Steel as the name and press Enter.
11. Double-click Stainless Steel in the Data Tree to open the Stainless Steel detail panel.
The Material type is listed as Fluid. This is the default type for any new material created in
AcuConsole.
12. Change the Material type for Stainless Steel to Solid.
13. Set the material properties for Stainless Steel as follows by navigating through respective tabs in
the detail panel:
3
a) Density: 8000 kg/m .
b) Specific Heat: 500.0 J/kg-K
c) Conductivity: 16.2 W/m-K
Setting the Body Force
The body force commands add volumetric source terms to the governing conservation equations. Two
types of body forces will be used in this tutorial.
The first one is the gravitational force on the fluid due to inertia of the fluid. As discussed in Analyzing
the Problem, gravity is an important aspect of the simulation. In fact, for thermal problems solved in
AcuSolve with the Boussinesq approximation, the gravity is scaled by the product of the expansivity
and the temperature minus reference temperature, while density remains constant. This variation in the
gravitational force on fluid regions with different temperatures is what generated convection currents.
2
For this tutorial gravity is defined as equal to standard gravity (g = 9.81 m/s ) along the negative Y-
axis, which is the downward direction in the model.

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The second body force which will be used in this model is the volumetric heat source, which specifies
the heat energy source term per unit volume. This will be used to simulate the heat-generating inner
cylinder in our model.
1. Double-click Body Force in the Data Tree to expand it.
Figure 166:
2. Double-click Gravity to open the Gravity detail panel.

The medium for gravity is Fluid. This means that the gravity defined here is applicable only on
material models whose material type is fluid.
3. Click Open Array.
4. In the Array Editor dialog, enter:
• X-component: 0.0
2
• Y-component: -9.81 m/s
• Z-component: 0.0
5. Click OK to complete the definition of gravity.
Note: The definition of gravity here will have no effect on the simulation unless it is
assigned to some volume set in the model.
6. Create a new body force by right-clicking on Body Force in the Data Tree and selecting New in
the context menu that appears.
A new entry, Body Force 1, will be created under the Body Force branch.
7. Right-click on Body Force 1, select Rename in the context menu, and type in Heat Source as
the entity name.

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8. Double-click on Heat Source to open it in the detail panel.

9. Change the Medium to Solid.
10. Click on the drop-down selector next to first Type option and select Per unit volume.
This sets the type of heat source to volumetric heat source.
11. Click on the drop-down selector next to the second Type option and select Constant.
3
12. Set the Volumetric heat source value to 2000 W/m
Figure 167:
Creating Time History Output Points
Time History Output commands enables you to extract the nodal solution at any point within the
domain.
1. In the tree, double-click on Output, then right-click on Time History Output, and select New.
A new entry, Time History Output 1, will be created in the Data Tree under the Time History
Output branch.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 168:
2. Right-click on Time History Output 1, select Rename, and type in Monitor points as the
entity name.
3. Double click Monitor points to open the detail panel. In the detail panel,
a) Change the Type to Coordinates.
b) Click Open Array.
c) In the Array Editor, add a new row by clicking Add Row .
d) Fill in the values as follows:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 169:
4. Click OK.
5. Set Time step frequency to 1.
This will save the results for the defined time history points at every time step.
6. Save the database.
Setting the Initial Conditions
1. Double-click on Nodal Initial Condition in the Data Tree to open the detail panel.
2. Set the Temperature to 80° C.
a) The default unit for temperature input is K. You can change the unit for temperature by
clicking on unit to the right of the input field, and selecting oC from the appearing menu.
b) Alternatively, enter 353.15 K in the temperature field.

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Figure 170:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Importing the Geometry
twin_cylinder.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the geometry
in Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing twin_cylinder.x_t.
4. Click twin_cylinder.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
Figure 171:
6. Rotate the visualization to view the entire model.
container.

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In the next steps you will create volume groups for each volume in the model, assign volumes to the
respective volume groups, rename the default volume group container, and set the materials and other
properties for each volume group.
1. Expand the Model Data Tree item.

2. Create a new volume group for the solid inner cylinder.
a) Right-click on Volumes.
b) Click New.
3. Rename the new volume group to solid.
4. Add the solid component in the geometry to this group.
a) Right-click solid under Volumes in the Data Tree.
b) Click Add to.
c) Click the heating element portion of the geometry in the Visualization Area. Refer to the
following figure to identify the correct portion.
Figure 172:
Follow the instructions in the Add to dialog if you need to manipulate the display to select
the correct portion of the geometry.
d) Click Done to add the selected volume to the solid volume group.
5. Set up the solid volume element set.

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The material model for this volume will be set to Stainless Steel, which is the custom material
model you created earlier in this tutorial, specifically for this solid volume. Also the solid volume is
to be set up as the heat source
a) Expand the solid volume group in the tree.
c) Change the Medium to Solid.
d) Change the Material model to Stainless Steel.
e) Change the Body force to Heat Source.
6. In the Data Tree, right-click on default and rename it to fluid.
7. Set up the Fluid volume element set.
b) Double click Element Set under fluid to open it in the detail panel.
c) Ensure that the Medium for the volume is set to Fluid. If not, change it to Fluid.
d) Change the Material model to Air.
e) Change the Body force to Gravity.
In the next steps you will define surface groups, assign the appropriate settings for the different
characteristics of the problem, and add surfaces to the group containers.
boundary conditions, mesh parameters, and so on, which can sometimes be cumbersome, especially for
models with too many surfaces. To make it easier, less error prone, and to save time, two new dialogs
are provided in AcuConsole. Use the Volume Manager and Surface Manager to verify and provide
the information for all surface or volume entities at once. In this section some features of Surface
Manager are exploited.
1. Turn-off display for Volumes by right-clicking on Volumes and selecting Display off .
2. Right-click on Surfaces in the Data Tree and select Surface Manager.
3. In the Surface Manager dialog, click New six times to create six new surface groups.

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Figure 173:
If you cannot see the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, click on Columns , select
these two columns from the list and click Ok.

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Figure 174:
4. Turn off the display for all surfaces except for the default surface.
5. Rename Surface 1 through Surface 6 according to the image below.
6. Set the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns as per Figure 175.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 175:
7. Assign the periodic surfaces to the respective surface groups.

As mentioned earlier, the cylinders are assumed to be infinitely extended in z-direction. Hence
periodicity will be applied in this direction.
a) In the solid_pos_z row in the Surface Manager, click Add to .
b) Select the planar symmetry surfaces as shown in Figure 176 and click Done.
c) Follow the procedure to assign all the surfaces that will extend in the z-direction to respective
surface collectors.

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Figure 176:
8. Assign the outer wall of the geometry to the outer_wall surface group. Use Figure 177 as the
reference for selecting the required surfaces.

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Figure 177:
9. Assign the surface for symmetry_plane.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 178:
surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to inner_walls. In the previous steps,
you assigned some surfaces to various other surface groups that you created. At this point, all that is
left in the inner_walls surface group are the surfaces which make up the contact boundary between
the inner cylinder and the fluid volume.
10. Close the Surface Manager.
Assigning Surface Parameters
The modeling for this simulation was done using half symmetry. The model is only a partial
representation of the system, the complete geometry of which is a cylinder. Hence it is appropriate to
set the surface that you chose as symmetry_plane with a symmetry boundary condition to simulate that
effect.
This change was completed using the Surface Manager in the last section. The following steps are
thus optional.
1. Update symmetry_plane.
a) Expand the symmetry_plane surface in the tree.

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b) Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under symmetry_plane to open the Simple

Boundary Condition detail panel.
c) Ensure that the Type is set to Symmetry.
2. Update outer_wall.
a) Expand the outer_wall surface group in the tree.
b) Double click Simple Boundary Condition under outer_wall to open the Simple Boundary
c) Ensure that the Type is set to Wall.
d) Verify that the Wall velocity type is set to Match Mesh Velocity.
e) Change Temperature BC type from Flux to Value.
f) Set the Temperature to 25° C.
The default unit for temperature input is K. You can change the unit for temperature by
clicking on the unit button at the right of the input field, and selecting oC from the appearing
menu.
Figure 179:
3. Update inner_wall
The inner walls form the boundary surface of the inner cylinder volume, and enclose the fluid
volume on the inside. Since the inner cylinder is a solid medium, this contact boundary will be a
wall.
a) Expand the inner_wall surface group in the tree.
b) Double click Simple Boundary Condition under inner_wall to open the Simple Boundary
c) Ensure that the Type is set to Wall.
d) Verify Wall velocity type is set to Match Mesh Velocity.
4. Update the periodic surfaces solid_pos_z, solid_neg_z, fluid_pos_z, and fluid_neg_z

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Physically the simulation domain is assumed to extend infinitely in the z-direction. However, only
a small section of the cross section is being modelled and the solution is assumed to be consistent
along the z-direction. Thus, these periodic surfaces are not physical boundaries but the solution on
these surfaces is constrained to be equal by periodicity. This is achieved via a periodic boundary
condition in AcuConsole, which links the corresponding pairs of nodes on the two surfaces which
are to be constrained with a periodic boundary condition.
Periodicity can be defined before proceeding with mesh generation. With this workflow, when the
mesh is generated, AcuMeshSim, which is the mesh generation engine for AcuSolve, will read the
defined periodicity constraints and ensure a periodic mesh on the specified surface pairs.
a) Expand the Model Data Tree item, and right-click on Periodics.

b) Select New from the context menu to create a new entity, Periodic 1.
c) Repeat the above step to create a second entity Periodic 2.
d) Rename the two new entities as periodicity_fluid and periodicity_solid.
Figure 180:
e) Right-click on periodicity_fluid and select Define from the context menu.

f) In the Periodic BC dialog, make the following settings.
• Use the drop-down arrow to select the surfaces for Side 1 and Side 2 as fluid_neg_z
and fluid_pos_z, respectively
• Check that the Type is set to Translational.
• Set X, Y and Z-offset as 0.0, 0.0, 0.01 respectively.
Use the following figure for reference for setting up the periodic BC.

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Figure 181:
g) Click OK to close the dialog.

h) Using the same figure as reference, similarly define the periodic BC for the entity
periodicity_solid, with only the following changes:
• Use the drop down arrows for Side 1 and Side 2 and select solid_neg_z and
solid_pos_z, respectively.
Setting Global Mesh Parameters
to be generated.

AcuSolve Tutorials

Figure 182:
In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes for the inner_wall surface, to add boundary
layers to the surface. Then you will propagate these mesh attributes to the outer_wall.

2. Under the Model branch, expand the Surfaces. Under Surfaces, expand the inner_wall surface
group.
3. If necessary, check the box next to Surface Mesh Attributes to activate it. Double-click it to
open the Surface Mesh Attributes detail panel.
The detail panel should now be populated with options related to the local surface meshing
controls.
4. Ensure that the Mesh size type is set to Absolute.
6. Switch the Boundary layer flag to On.
Mesh controls related to boundary layer meshing become visible.
7. Check the Boundary layer type is set to Full Control.
8. Set Resolve to Total Layer Height.
This sets the total layer height based on the other settings you provide.

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9. Set the remaining settings as follows:
Option Description
First element height 0.0001
Growth rate 1.2
Number of layers 8
Boundary layer elements type Tetrahedron
Figure 183:
Instead of repeating the above steps for the outer_wall surface, you can choose to propagate the
mesh attribute settings for inner_wall surface group to outer_wall surface group.
10. Under the inner_wall suface, right-click Surface Mesh Attributes and select Propagate.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 184:
11. In the Propagate dialog, select the surface outer_wall and click Propagate.
Figure 185:

AcuSolve Tutorials
The present simulation is equivalent to a 2D representation of the model, which actually extends
infinitely in both sides along the z-direction. In AcuSolve, 2D models are simulated by having just one
element across the faces of the cross section. Thus when these faces are set up with a similar boundary
condition, it coerces the corresponding nodes across the faces to have same results. In this problem,
these faces are the negative and positive z-surfaces. This kind of mesh is achieved in AcuSolve with
mesh extrusion process. In the following steps, the process of extrusion of the mesh between these
surfaces is defined.

2. Right-click Mesh Extrusions and select New from the context menu to create a new entity, Mesh
Extrusion 1.
3. Repeat the above step to create a second entity, Mesh Extrusion 2.
4. Rename the two entities as extrusion_fluid and extrusion_solid.
Figure 186:
5. Right-click extrusion_fluid and select Define from the context menu.

6. In the Mesh Extrusion dialog, make the following settings.
a) Check that the Geometry type is set to surface.
b) Use the drop down arrows to select the surfaces for Side 1 and Side 2 as fluid_neg_z and
fluid_pos_z, respectively.
c) Check that the Extrusion type is set to Number of layers.
d) Set Number of layers equal to 1.
e) Set Extrusion options to All tets.
Use the following figure for reference for setting up the mesh extrusion for extrusion_fluid.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 187:

8. Using the same figure as reference, similarly define the mesh extrusion for the entity
extrusion_solid, with only the following changes:
a) Use the drop down arrows to select the surfaces for Side 1 and Side 2 as solid_neg_z and
solid_pos_z, respectively
Generating the Mesh
problem.

For this case, the default settings will be used.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 188:

Figure 189:

AcuSolve Tutorials
3. Close the AcuTail window and save the database to create a backup of your settings.
4. Visualize the mesh in the modeling window. Turn on the display of surfaces, and set the display
type to solid and wire.
5. Rotate and zoom in the model to analyze the various mesh regions.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Running AcuSolve

As the solution progresses, an AcuTail window will open. Solution progress is reported in this
window.
Figure 190:
A summary of the solution process indicates that the simulation has been completed.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 191:
1.
2. In the Data Tree on the left, expand Residual Ratio. Right-click Final and select Plot All.
This will plot the residuals for the three variables, pressure, temperature and velocity in the plot
area.
display the plot.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 192:
3. Right-click Final under Residual Ratio and select Plot None.

4. Expand Time History, and then expand Monitor Points.
5. Expand node 1 and node 2.
6. One node at a time, right-click temperature and select Plot.
display the plot.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 193:
The node 1 lies in the bottom half of the model and the node 2 in the upper half. The temperature
distribution in the above plot shows that in steady state upper half of the cylinder annulus is
occupied by the hotter air and lower half has the colder air.
8. The time series data of the variables can also be exported as a text file for further post-
processing.
a) Right-click on the variable that you want to export and click Export.
b) Enter a File name and choose .txt for the Save as type.
c) Click Save.
• How to find the visualization panels either from the toolbar or the Visualization panels from the
main menu to create and modify surfaces in AcuFieldView.

AcuSolve Tutorials
• How to move the data around the modeling window using mouse actions to translate, rotate and

You will see that the temperature contours have already been displayed on all the boundary
surfaces with mesh.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 194:
1. Close the Boundary Surface dialog.

2. On the AcuFieldView toolbar.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 195:
4. Turn off perspective view by deselecting the Perspective checkbox.

5. Disable axis markers by clicking on the Axis Markers button.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 196:
6. Close the Viewer Options dialog.

7.
Click on the Colormap Specification icon on the toolbar.
8. Click on Background in the Scalar Colormap Specification dialog and select white from the
color palette that opens.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 197:
9. Close both dialogs.

10.
Click on the Toggle Outline icon on the toolbar to turn off the outline display.
Your AcuFieldView display should now look like this.
Figure 198:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Creating the Boundary Surface Showing Temperature for the Outer Surfaces with
Mesh
1. Orient the geometry as shown in the figure below, so that the symmetry plane and periodic
surfaces are visible.
2.
Click the Boundary Surface icon to open the Boundary Surface dialog.
3. Click the Legend tab and check the Show Legend checkbox.
4. Change the color of labels to black from the color palette.
5. If desired, change the number of labels to show more labels.
6. Change the Annotation title color to black.
Note: You can move the legend using Shift + left click, and resize it using Shift +
right click.
Figure 199:
Coordinating the Surface Showing Temperature on the Mid-Coordinate Surface
1. In the Surface tab in the Boundary Surface dialog box, click Visibility to turn it off.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2. Click Create to create a new Boundary Surface set.

3. Check Visibility to turn it on.
4. Set the DISPLAY TYPE to Outlines.
5. Under BOUNDARY TYPES, click Select All, and click Ok.
6.
Click to open the Coordinate Surface dialog.
7. Click Create to create a new Coordinate Surface.
8. Set the COORD PLANE to Z.
The coordinate surface created is the mid plane between the two periodic surfaces in the model.
9. Change the COLORING to Scalar.
10. Set the DISPLAY TYPE to Smooth.
11. In the Scalar Function list, select Temperature as the scalar function to be displayed.
12. In the Colormap tab, change SCALAR COLORING to Local.
13. In the Legend tab, check the Show Legend checkbox to display the temperature values on the
coordinate plane.
14. From the Defined Views, select viewing direction as +Z.
Figure 200:
Coordinating the Surface Showing Vectors of Velocity on the Mid-Coordinate

Surface

AcuSolve Tutorials
1. In the Surface tab in the Boundary Surface dialog box, click Create to create a new Boundary
Surface set.
2. Set the DISPLAY TYPE to Vectors.
4. In the Scalar Function list, select Velocity as the scalar function to be displayed.
5. Next to Vectors, click Options.
6. Activate Head Scaling and set it at 1.
7. Set the Length Scale to 4.
8. Activate the Skip option, and set the value to 50%.
Figure 201:
3.1.6 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a natural convection problem. The problem
simulated a hot cylinder placed in the center of another air-filled cylindrical volume. Air is modeled
using a Boussinesq density approximation model which is used for buoyancy driven flows, such as those

AcuSolve Tutorials
involving natural convection. As the film of air in vicinity of the surface of the hot inner cylinder heats
up, it generates convection currents within the annular volume.
You started the tutorial by creating a database in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the geometry and
setting up the basic simulation parameters. The hot inner cylinder was represented by a solid volume
also acting as a heat source. Once the case was setup, the solution was generated with AcuSolve.
Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView where you generated a temperature profile, and a velocity
vector profile, on a cross-section of the model.
New features that were introduced in this tutorial include creating and specifying a new custom material
in AcuConsole, specifying a volume group as a heat source using the Boussinesq density model and
setting up periodic boundary conditions.

AcuSolve Tutorials
3.2 ACU-3100: Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Mixing

Elbow
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving, and viewing results for a simulation of 3D
turbulent-flow with conjugate heat transfer in a mixing elbow. It is designed to introduce you to the
AcuSolve tool set with a simple problem.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in the tutorial ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing
Elbow. The following additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Simulating heat transfer within a fluid
• Simulating heat transfer between a fluid and a solid (conjugate heat transfer)
• Creation of a new material model
• Modeling of surfaces shared between solid and fluid volumes
• Propagation (copying) of settings from one surface group to another
Prerequisites
You should have already run through the introductory tutorial, Flow in a Mixing Elbow. It is assumed
that you have some familiarity with AcuConsole, AcuSolve, and AcuFieldView. You will also need access
to a licensed version of AcuSolve 2017.2.
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy Mixing_Elbow_Heat\mixingElbowHeat.x_t from <AcuSolve

installation directory>\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a
working directory.

AcuSolve Tutorials
mixing elbow made of stainless steel with water entering through two inlets with different velocities and
with different temperatures. The geometry is symmetric about the XY midplane of the pipe, as shown in
the figure. This symmetry allows the flow to be modeled with the use of a symmetry plane. The use of a
symmetry plane leads to reduced computation time while still providing an accurate solution.
Figure 202: Schematic of Mixing Elbow with Stainless-steel Walls
The diameter of the large inlet is 0.1 m, the inlet velocity (v) is 0.4 m/s and the temperature (T) of the
fluid entering the large inlet is 295 K. The diameter of the small inlet is .025 m, the velocity is 1.2 m/s,
and the temperature of the fluid entering the small inlet is 320 K. The pipe wall has a thickness of 0.005
m.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 203:
3 -3
Figure 204:
3
The pipe walls are made of stainless steel with a density of 8030 kg/m , a conductivity of 16.2 W/m-K,
and a specific heat of 500 J/kg-K.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 205:
Figure 206:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 207:
The simulation will be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow with varying temperature. In
addition, the thermal characteristics of the flow will be modeled using advection and diffusion equations.
Figure 208:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 209:
in areas where gradients in pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity, and the like are steep. For this problem,
the flow entering the large pipe from the side pipe creates large velocity gradients that need to be
resolved. A mesh refinement zone is used to capture the flow in this region.
Figure 210:
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the steady state temperature contours
on the symmetry plane, velocity vectors on the symmetry plane, temperature contours on the pipe
walls, and temperature contours at the pipe outlet.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Starting AcuConsole and Creating the Simulation Database
loading the geometry, creating groups, setting group attributes, adding geometry components to
groups, and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you will generate
a mesh and run AcuSolve to converge on a steady state solution. Finally, you will visualize the results
using AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, create the database for storage of AcuConsole settings and
HyperWorks <version> > AcuSolve > AcuConsole.
2. Click the File > New to open the New data base dialog.
3. Browse to the location to use as your working directory.

file (*.acs) is stored in this directory. Once the mesh and solution are created, additional files and
4. Create a new folder named Mixing_Elbow_Heat and open this folder.
5. Enter Mixing_Elbow_Heat as the File name for the database.

AcuSolve Tutorials
The general parameters that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, steady state time
analysis and for thermal analysis using advection-diffusion equations.
1. Click BAS in the Data Tree Manager to filter all but the basic settings in the Data Tree.
Figure 211:
Note: You can also expand a tree item by clicking next to the item name.
Figure 212:

4. Enter Introductory Tutorial as the Title for this case.
5. Enter Mixing Elbow – Turbulent with conjugate heat transfer as the Sub title for this
case.
6. Accept the default Analysis type of Steady State.
7. Set the Temperature equation to Advective Diffusive.
a) Click the Temperature equation drop down.

AcuSolve Tutorials
b) Click Advective Diffusive from the list.

a) Click the Turbulence equation drop-down.
The robustness and accuracy of the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model makes it an excellent
choice for simulation of steady state flows.
Figure 213:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 214:
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum and Water.
properties for this problem. You will also create a new material, stainless steel, and set the desired
material properties.
Figure 215:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 216:
The Material type for water is Fluid. The default material type for any new material created in
AcuConsole is Fluid.
3
4. Click the Specific Heat tab. Verify that the specific heat of water is 4183.0 J/kg-K.
6. Click the Conductivity tab. Verify that the conductivity of water is 0.598 W/m-K.
7. Create a new material model for stainless steel.
Figure 217:
a) Right-click Material Model in the Data Tree.

b) Click New.
8. Rename the new material.

AcuSolve Tutorials
a) Right-click Material Model 1 in the Data Tree.

b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Stainless Steel.
9. Double-click Steel in the Data Tree to open the Stainless Steel detail panel.
10. Change the Material type to solid.
a) Click the drop-down control next to Material Type.
b) Click Solid.
11. Set the density to be used for stainless steel in this simulation.
a) Click the Density tab.
b) Enter 8030 for Density.
c) Verify that the units are kg/m3.
12. Set the specific heat of steel for this simulation.
a) Click the Specific Heat tab.
b) Enter 500 for Specific heat.
c) Verify that the units are J/kg-K.
13. Set the conductivity of steel for this simulation.
a) Click the Conductivity tab.
b) Enter 16.2 for Conductivity.
c) Verify that the units are W/m-K.
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.
Note: Changes made in AcuConsole are saved into the database file (*.acs) as they

AcuSolve Tutorials
Importing the Mixing Elbow Geometry
mixingElbowHeat.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the solid model of the mixing
elbow in the Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing mixingElbowHeat.x_t.
3. Change the File name filter to Parasolid File (*.x_t *.xmt *X_T
b) Click Parasolid File (*.x_t *.xmt *X_T from the drop-down list.
4. Click mixingElbowHeat.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
Figure 218:

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Creating a Volume Group and Applying Volume Parameters
list of geometric volumes associated with the container, as well as parameters such as material models
container.
In the next steps you will create a new group for the steel wall volume; set the material for that group;
add the volumes from the geometry to that volume group; rename the default volume group to Fluid
and set the material for that group; then add the volumes from the geometry to that group.
1. Expand the Model tree item.

2. Expand Volumes.
4. Create a new volume group for the steel pipe walls.

a) Right-click Volumes.
b) Click New.
5. Right-click Volume 1, select Rename and enter Steel Walls .
Note: When an item in the Data Tree is renamed, the change is not saved until you
press Enter. If you move the input focus away from the item without entering it, your
changes will be lost.
6. Set the material model for the volume to use the Stainless Steel.
a) Expand the Steel Walls volume in the tree.
c) Change the Medium to Solid to define this volume as a solid.
d) For Material model, click Stainless Steel.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 219:
7. Add the pipe wall components in the geometry to this volume group.
a) Right-click Steel Walls under Volumes in the Data Tree.
b) Click Add to.
c) Click the outer surface of the pipe wall.
If you rotate the view, by Ctrl+left-clicking, you can see that only the outer volume is
highlighted.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 220:
d) Click Done to add this geometry volume to the Steel Walls volume group.
8. Rename the default volume to Fluid.

When the geometry was loaded into AcuConsole, all geometry volumes were placed in the default
volume group. In the previous steps, you selected a geometry volume to be added to the Steel
volume container that you created. At this point, all that is left in the default volume group is the
fluid volume. Rather than create a new container, add the fluid volume in the geometry to it, and
then delete the default volume container, you will rename the container and modify the attributes
for this group.
b) Enter Fluid .

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a) Expand the Fluid volume in the tree.

c) Click the drop-down control next to Material model.

d) Click Water to set this material model for the fluid.
Figure 221:
Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Attributes
Setting Inflow Boundary Conditions for the Large Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the large inlet, set the inlet velocity, and add the
main inlet from the geometry to the surface group.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 222:

b) Click New.
2. Rename Surface 1 to Large Inlet.
3. Expand the Large Inlet surface in the tree.
4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Large Inlet to open the Simple Boundary
This type of boundary condition is used by AcuSolve to approximate a fully developed flow with a
given average velocity.
8. Set the Temperature to 295 K.
Figure 223:
9. Add a geometry surface to the Large Inlet group.

a) Right-click Large Inlet and click Add to.

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b) Click on the large inlet face.
Figure 224:
At this point, the inlet should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Large Inlet surface group.
Setting Inflow Boundary Conditions for the Small Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the small inlet, assign the appropriate attributes,
and add the small inlet from the geometry to the surface group.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 225:
1. Create a new surface group and rename the surface to Small Inlet.
2. Expand the Small Inlet surface in the tree.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Small Inlet to open the Simple Boundary
7. Set the Temperature to 320 K.
Figure 226:
8. Add a geometry surface to the Small Inlet group.

a) Right-click Small Inlet and click Add to.
b) Rotate the model to expose the small inlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the bottom of the

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Note: If you need to zoom in or out, Ctrl+right-click and drag the cursor down
or up. You can also restore the initial view by clicking .
c) Left-click on the small inlet face.
Figure 227:
At this point, the small inlet should be highlighted.

d) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Small Inlet group.
1. Create a new surface group and rename the surface to Outlet.

3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Outlet to open the Simple Boundary

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Figure 228:

a) Right-click Outlet and click Add to.
b) Rotate the model to expose the outlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the top of the geometry and
moving the cursor toward the bottom of the window.
Figure 229:

Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Steel Pipe Outer Walls

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In the next steps you will define a surface group for the steel pipe outer walls, assign the appropriate
attributes and add the pipe walls from the geometry to the surface group. In this simulation, you
will not be modeling the air surrounding the pipe. However, you will specify a convective heat
transfer coefficient and reference temperature to account for heat transfer from the pipe walls to the
surroundings.
1. Create a new surface group and rename the surface to Steel Pipe - Outer Walls.
2. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Steel Pipe - Outer Walls to open the Simple
3. Enter 100 for the Convective heat flux coefficient and verify that the units are J/m2-sec-K.
This convective heat transfer coefficient is chosen to model the heat transfer between the steel
pipe and the surrounding air.
4. Enter 302.594 for the Convective heat flux reference temperature and verify that the units
are K.
This temperature value specifies that the surroundings of the pipe are at a constant temperature
of 302.594 K.
Figure 230:
5. Add a geometry surface to the Steel Pipe - Outer Walls group.

a) Right-click Steel Pipe - Outer Walls and click Add to.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 231:
At this point, the outer pipe walls should be highlighted.

b) Click Done to associate these geometry surfaces with the surface settings of the Steel Pipe
- Outer Walls group.
Setting Boundary Conditions for the Steel Pipe Inner Walls
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the steel pipe inner wall, assign the appropriate
attributes, and add the pipe walls from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Create a new surface group and rename the surface to Steel Pipe - Inner Walls.
2. Disable boundary conditions for this surface.
For this simulation, no boundary conditions will be used for the inner surface of the steel pipe.
Where there is an interface between two volumes (fluid/solid or fluid/fluid), AcuConsole treats the
interface as two surfaces. This allows you to set different attributes, such as boundary conditions
or local meshing attributes, on either side of the interface. You will set boundary conditions for the
large pipe wall (the second surface at this interface) later in this tutorial.
a) Expand the Steel Pipe - Inner Walls surface in the tree.
b) Click the checkbox next to Simple Boundary Condition to disable boundary conditions.
3. Turn off the display of the Steel Pipe - Outer Walls.
• Click next to the surface so that it is in the display off state ( ),
or,
• Right-click Steel Pipe - Outer Walls in the tree, and click Display off.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Turning off the display of the outer walls will make it easier to add geometric surfaces to the inner
wall group.
4. Add geometry surfaces to the Steel Pipe - Inner Walls group.
a) Right-click Steel Pipe - Inner Walls and click Add to.
b) Click the pipe near the main inlet, the pipe near the elbow, the pipe near the outlet, and the
pipe near the side inlet to select the four surfaces that make up the inner surface of the steel
pipe wall.
Figure 232:
At this point, the inner walls of the steel pipe should be highlighted.
c) Click Done to associate these geometry surfaces with the surface settings of the Steel Pipe
- Inner Walls group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Large Pipe
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the pipe walls, assign the appropriate attributes,
and add the elbow pipe walls from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Create a new surface group and rename the surface to Large Pipe.
2. Expand the Large Pipe surface in the tree.
4. Turn off the display of the Steel Pipe - Inner Walls.

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Turning off the display of the inner walls of the steel pipe will make it easier to add geometric
surfaces to the pipe group.
a) Right-click Large Pipe and click Add to.
b) Click on the pipe near the large inlet, the pipe near the elbow, and the pipe near the outlet to
select the three surfaces that make up the main pipe wall.
Figure 233:
At this point, the pipe walls should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add these geometric surfaces to the Large Pipe group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Small Pipe
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the side pipe wall, assign the appropriate
parameters, and add the side pipe wall from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Create a new surface group and rename the surface to Small Pipe.
2. Expand the Small Pipe surface in the tree.
As with the large pipe, the default boundary condition Type is Wall. The default is appropriate for
this group and no other changes are needed.
a) Right-click Small Pipe and click Add to.

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b) Rotate the model to expose the side pipe by Ctrl+left-clicking near the bottom of the
c) Click on the pipe near the side inlet.
Figure 234:
At this point, the side pipe wall should be highlighted.

d) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Small Pipe surface container.
Setting Symmetry Boundary Conditions for the Pipe Symmetry Plane
This geometry is symmetric about the XY midplane, and can therefore be modeled with half of the
geometry. In order to take advantage of this, the midplane needs to be identified as a symmetry plane.
The symmetry boundary condition enforces constraints such that the flow field from one side of the
plane is a mirror image of that on the other side.
In the next steps you will create a surface group for the symmetry plane of the pipe, assign the
appropriate attributes, and add the side pipe wall from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Create a new surface group and rename it to Symmetry.
2. Expand the Symmetry surface in the tree.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Symmetry to open the Simple Boundary
5. Turn off the display of all surface items except Symmetry and default.
6. Add geometric faces to this group.

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a) Right-click Symmetry and click Add to.

b) Click on the Symmetry plane.
Figure 235:
At this point, the symmetry plane should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Small Pipe surface container.
Setting Boundary Conditions for the Steel Pipe Ends
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the ends of the steel pipe, assign the appropriate
attributes, and add the pipe ends from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Create a new surface group and rename it to Steel Pipe - Ends.

2. Expand the Steel Pipe - Ends surface in the tree.
3. Disable boundary conditions for this surface.
No boundary conditions will be used for the pipe ends for this simulation. AcuSolve will treat the
steel wall as if it continues beyond the regions modeled.
4. Turn off the display of all surface items except Steel Pipe - Ends and default.

AcuSolve Tutorials
a) Right-click Steel Pipe - Ends and click Add to.

b) Click on the pipe ends at the large inlet, the small inlet, and the outlet.
Note: You may need to rotate the graphic to see that the pipe end at the large
inlet is highlighted.
Figure 236:
At this point, the pipe ends should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to associate these geometry surfaces with the Steel Pipe - Ends surface
container.
Setting Symmetry Boundary Conditions for the Steel Pipe Symmetry Plane
1. Rename the default surface group to Steel Pipe - Symmetry.

2. Expand the Steel Pipe - Symmetry surface in the tree.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Steel Pipe - Symmetry to open the Simple

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AcuSolve Tutorials
AcuConsole supports three levels of meshing control; global, zone, and geometric.
the model.
In the next steps you will set global meshing parameters. In subsequent steps you will create zone and
surface meshing parameters.
Figure 237:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 238:
In addition to setting meshing characteristics for the whole problem, you can assign meshing
parameters to a zone within the problem where you want to be able to resolve flow with a mesh that
is more refined than the global mesh. A zone mesh refinement can be created using basic shapes to
control the mesh size within that shape. These types of mesh refinement are used when refinement is
needed in an area that does not correspond to a geometric item.
In the next steps you will define mesh controls for a region around the small pipe and extending into
the main pipe by using a zone mesh control. The region of interest for this refinement is a cylinder that
encloses the small pipe and extends into the main pipe.
Figure 239:
1. Turn off the display of Volumes.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2. Turn off the display of all surfaces except Symmetry.

5. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Small pipe refinement.
6. Double-click Small pipe refinement to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.
This radius is used to define a cylinder that is larger than the small inlet.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size is half of the mesh size in the rest of the pipe.
Figure 240:
Note: When setting mesh size for refinement zones, the best practice is to choose
1 1 1
a value that is the global mesh size divided by a power of 2, that is, /2, /4, /8, and
the like.
cylinder.
b) Enter 0.143 for X-coordinate 1 and 2.
c) Enter -0.232 for Y-coordinate 1.
d) Enter -0.025 for Y-coordinate 2.
e) Enter 0.0 for Z-coordinate 2.
f) Click OK.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 241:
Figure 242:
Setting Meshing Attributes for Surface Groups
In the following steps you will set meshing attributes that will allow for localized control of the mesh

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attributes that control the growth of boundary layer elements normal to the surfaces of the main pipe
and of the side pipe.
Setting Meshing Parameters for the Large Pipe
In the next steps you will set parameters that control the mesh size normal to the large pipe wall
(boundary layer mesh controls).
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Large Pipe tree item.
This option indicates that the mesher will use the global meshing attributes when creating the
walls.
6. Keep the default value, 0.001 m, for First element height

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 243:
Propagating Meshing Parameters to the Small Pipe
The local mesh settings for the small pipe are the same as for the large pipe. AcuConsole has the
capability to propagate, or "copy and paste," settings from one group to another. In the following steps
you will propagate the local mesh settings from the large pipe surface group to the small pipe surface
group.
1. Right-click Surface Mesh Attributes under Large Pipe and click Propagate.
Figure 244:
2. Scroll down the list of surfaces and click Small Pipe.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 245:
3. Click Propagate to paste the settings for the Large Pipe surface to the Small Pipe surface.
If you examine the Surface Mesh Attributes for the Small Pipe, you will see that the settings are the
same as those for the Large Pipe.
Setting Meshing Parameters for the Steel Pipe Outer Walls
size near the outer walls of the steel pipe.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Steel Pipe - Outer Walls tree item.
This option indicates that the mesher will use the global meshing parameters when creating the
walls. For the inner and outer walls of the steel pipe, you will set parameters to create a mesh one
layer thick with a height of 0.002 m.
6. Enter 0.002 m for First element height.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 246:
Propagating Meshing Attributes to the Steel Pipe Inner Walls
The local mesh settings for the inner walls of the pipe are the same as for the outer walls. In the
following steps you will propagate the local mesh settings from the surface group containing the steel
pipe outer walls to the surface group containing the steel pipe inner walls.
1. Right-click Surface Mesh Attributes under Steel Pipe - Outer Walls and click Propagate.
2. Scroll down the list of surfaces and click Steel Pipe - Inner Walls.
3. Click Propagate to paste the settings for the Steel Pipe - Outer Walls surface to the Steel Pipe -
Inner Walls surface.
4. If you examine the Surface Mesh Attributes for the Steel Pipe - Inner Walls, you will see that the
settings are the same as those for the Steel Pipe - Outer Walls.
Generating the Mesh
problem.


AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 247:

5. Turn off the display of small pipe refinement under Global > Zone Mesh Attributes by
clicking next to the surface so that it is in the display off state ( ).
Details of the mesh on the side pipe are shown in Figure 248. This view was obtained by turning
off the display of all surfaces except Symmetry and Steel Pipe - Symmetry, then zooming in on
the region where the small pipe joins the large pipe.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 248: Mesh Details Around the Pipe Intersection Viewed on the Symmetry Plane
Note that the mesh size in the main pipe decreases from left to right in the transition from a
region where global settings determine the size to the zone around the small pipe where the
settings are for a finer mesh.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Running AcuSolve

AcuSolve will run on a single processor to calculate the steady state solution for this problem.
information provided in the summary is based on the number of processors used by AcuSolve. If
you used a different number of processors than indicated in this tutorial, the summary for your
AcuFieldView is a third-party post-processing tool that is tightly integrated toAcuSolve. AcuFieldView
AcuSolve.
In the next steps you will start AcuFieldView, manipulate the view of the model, display temperature
contours and velocity vectors on the symmetry plane, display temperature contours on the pipe wall
symmetry plane and display temperature contours at the outlet.


AcuSolve Tutorials
When AcuFieldView is started directly from AcuConsole, the model will be displayed in an isometric view
with a Boundary Surface dialog open. The initial view is shown in perspective, with an outline around
the model. You will manipulate the view in the next steps, and in later steps will view different flow
characteristics using the Boundary Surface dialog.
Figure 249:
1. Change the background color to white.

b) Click Background Color.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 250:
c) Click the white swatch, then click Close.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 251:
2.
Turn off the display of the outline around the model by clicking on the toolbar.
3. Change the view from perspective to orthographic.
b) Click Perspective to disable this option.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 252:
4. Orient the model to view it from the positive Z direction (+Z).

a)
Click on the toolbar to open the Defined Views dialog.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 253:
b)
Click .
You will see the view change as soon as you click a button in the Defined Views dialog.
c) (Optional) Close the dialog.

You can move, zoom, and rotate the view in AcuFieldView in a similar fashion as in AcuConsole.
AcuFieldView uses a different mapping for mouse-button actions.
Action Mouse Button
move (pan) left
rotate middle

AcuSolve Tutorials
Action Mouse Button
zoom right
Displaying Contours of Fluid Temperature on the Symmetry Plane
In the next steps you will create a boundary surface to display contours of fluid temperature on the
symmetry plane.
1.

3. Set temperature as the scalar property to display.
b) Select temperature from the list.
c) Click Calculate.
b) Click OK.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 254:

d) Click the white color swatch next to Geometric in the Color group and set the color for the
legend values to black.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 255:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 256:
1. Click Create on the Surface tab of the Boundary Surface dialog.

c) Enable Head Scaling and set it to 0.5.
e) Enable the Skip option and set it to 37.5%.
The Skip option determines the percentage of vectors to skip from being displayed. The
setting of 37.5% will result in 62.5% of the vectors being displayed.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 257:

b) Click OK.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 258:
5. Zoom in on the junction of the small inlet with the main pipe to view details of velocity vectors.
a)
Click on the toolbar.
b) Draw a box around the junction of the two pipes.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 259:
Note: The Show Legend option for the temperature contour (Surface ID 1) is
disabled in order to capture this image.
The velocity vectors indicate the direction of flow. The vector length indicates the magnitude
of the flow velocity. Adding velocity vectors to a view with temperature contours allows you to
visualize temperature and velocity simultaneously.
Displaying Contours of Temperature on the Steel Pipe Walls
In the next steps you will create a boundary surface to display contours of temperature on the stainless
steel pipe walls at the symmetry plane.

AcuSolve Tutorials
1. Click on the Transform Controls toolbar to center the visible surfaces and to fit the view in the
window.
2.
3. Disable the visibility of the temperature contours on the symmetry plane and of the velocity
vectors.
a) Set the Surface ID to 1.
b) Disable the Visibility option on the Surface tab.
c) Set the Surface ID to 2.
d) Disable the Visibility option on the Surface tab.
c) Click Calculate.
8. Set the stainless-steel pipe symmetry plane as the location for display of the contours.
a) Scroll up in the list of BOUNDARY TYPES and click OSF:Steel Pipe - Symmetry.
b) Click OK.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 260:
Displaying Contours of Temperature at the Outlet
In the next steps you will create a boundary surface to display contours of temperature at the outlet.
1.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 261:

c) Click Calculate.
6. Set the outlet as the location for display of the contours.

AcuSolve Tutorials
a) Click SBC: Outlet in the BOUNDARY TYPES list.

b) Click OK.
7. Turn of the Visibility option for surfaces 1, 2, and 3.
8. Orient the view so that you can see the contours on the outlet.
a)
Click on the Transform Controls toolbar.
b) Set the VIEWING DIRECTION to -Y.
c) Click on the Transform Controls toolbar to center the visible surfaces and to fit the view in
the window.
Figure 262:
9. Change the color scale to better resolve differences in the temperature contours.
When the scalar function for temperature is calculated by AcuFieldView, minimum and maximum
values are calculated for use in a colormap for the contour display. You can edit the coloring to
better resolve differences in the pressure distribution.

AcuSolve Tutorials
a) Set the Surface ID to in the Boundary Surface dialog to 4.
Note: You could also make this the current surface by double-clicking the
surface in the modeling window.
b) Click the Colormap tab.
Figure 263:
Notice that the Min: and Max: values for the Function Range change when the Local option is
toggled.
c) Enable the Local option.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 264:
3.2.6 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a simulation of conjugate heat transfer
in a mixing elbow. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and generated a solution using
AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create contour and vector
views along the symmetry plane of the model. New features introduced in this tutorial include: flows of
different temperatures, simulating heat transfer within a fluid, simulating heat transfer between a fluid
and a solid (conjugate heat transfer), creation of a new material model, modeling of shared surfaces
at fluid/solid interfaces, and copying and pasting (propagation) of settings from one surface group to
another.

AcuSolve Tutorials
3.3 ACU-3101: Transient Conjugate Heat Transfer in a

Mixing Elbow
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results of 3D, turbulent flow
with conjugate heat transfer in a mixing elbow. It is designed to introduce you to the AcuSolve tool set
with a simple problem.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow.
Details of the setup for the static simulation of this problem are shown in ACU-3100: Conjugate Heat
Transfer in a Mixing Elbow. The following additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this
tutorial:
• Simulating transient flow characteristics
• Creating and applying multiplier functions
• Using the restart capability
• Decoupling of the flow and temperature simulations ("frozen" flow field for thermal simulations)
• Creating an animation from transient results
Prerequisites
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy the MixingElbow_ColdSlug.acs directory and its
contents from <AcuSolve installation directory>\model files\tutorials\AcuSolve
\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a working directory.

AcuSolve Tutorials
The problem is divided into two components, a steady state solution and a transient solution. The flow
and thermal fields that are established in the steady simulation will be used as a starting point for the
transient simulation. The use of these "frozen" flow and thermal fields dramatically reduces the overall
solution time necessary to solve the thermal transient model. This technique of solving temperature
separate from the flow field is a powerful feature that can be applied to a broad class of problems.
Note that this simulation approach relies on decoupling of the thermal and momentum fields. If there is
strong coupling between the flow and thermal fields (that is, through temperature-dependent material
properties), this approach cannot be applied.
Analyzing the Steady State Component
The steady state portion of the problem is shown schematically in Figure 265. It consists of a mixing
elbow made of stainless steel with water entering through two inlets with different velocities and with
different temperatures.
This case is the same as the one used in ACU-3100: Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Mixing Elbow. The
geometry is symmetric about the XY midplane of the pipe, as shown in the figure. This symmetry
allows the flow to be modeled with the use of a symmetry plane. The use of a symmetry plane leads to
reduced computation time while still providing an accurate solution.

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Figure 265: Schematic of Mixing Elbow with Stainless Steel Walls
The diameter of the large inlet is 0.1 m, the inlet velocity (v) is 0.4 m/s and the temperature (T) of the
fluid entering the large inlet is 295 K. The diameter of the small inlet is .025 m, the velocity is 1.2 m/s,
and the temperature of the fluid entering the small inlet is 320 K. The pipe wall has a thickness of 0.005
m.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 266:
3 -3
Figure 267:
3
The pipe walls are made of stainless steel with a density of 8030 kg/m , a conductivity of 16.2 W/m-K,
and a specific heat of 500 J/kg-K.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 268:
Figure 269:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 270:
The simulation will be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow. In addition, the thermal
characteristics of the flow will be modeled using advection and diffusion equations.
The simulation will be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow. In addition, the thermal
characteristics of the flow will be modeled using advection and diffusion equations. The simulation will
be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow with varying temperature.
Figure 271:
in areas where gradients in pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity, and the like are steep. For this problem ,
the flow entering the large pipe from the side pipe creates large velocity gradients that need to be
resolved. A mesh refinement zone is used to capture the flow in this region.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 272:
Once a steady state solution is calculated, you will create a transient database, modify settings, and
solve for the transient temperature characteristics of the problem.
Analyzing the Transient Component
The starting point for the transient portion of the problem is shown schematically in Figure 273. It
consists of a mixing elbow with a steady state solution for flow and temperature. A cold slug of water is
injected at both inlets during the simulation. The temperature excursion drops the temperature at both
inlets to 283.15 K for a duration of 1.0 s.

AcuSolve Tutorials
symmetry plane
stainless steel
water
large inlet
flow direction
v = 0.4 m/sec
T0 = 295 K
Tmin = 283.15 K
symmetry plane
small inlet
flow direction
v = 1.2 m/sec
T0= 320 K
Tmin = 283.15 K
Figure 273: Schematic of Initial Conditions of Mixing Elbow
The temperature profile at the inlets is shown in Figure 274. The temperature of the water flowing in
the large inlet at t=0 is 295 K and the temperature of the fluid flowing in the small inlet at t=0 is 320
K. The temperature is held constant for 0.2 s, then is ramped down at both inlets and reaches 283.15
K at 0.4 s into the simulation. The temperature is held constant for 1 s. The temperature is ramped up
beginning at 1.4 s, and by 1.6 s the inlet temperatures are back to their initial states.

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Figure 274: Transient Temperature Profile at Inlets
For this case, the minimum duration would be the time it takes for the cold slug to move completely
through the domain. This minimum period is given by the steady state transit time through the domain
added to the duration of the cold slug.
Transit time can be estimated using the inlet velocity at the large inlet and the estimated length of the
flow path. The flow path is made up of a straight section 0.2 m long (l1), a 90-degree elbow section
with an average radius of 0.15 m (lelbow), and another straight section 0.2 m long (l2).
Figure 275:

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The inlet velocity for the large inlet is 0.4 m/s. Given a flow path of 0.6356 m, the transit time will
be approximately 1.6 s. In order to predict the movement of the cold slug through the domain, our
simulation period would be at least 3.2 s.
Figure 276:
To allow time for the thermal conditions to return to the steady state, additional time can be added to
the simulation. For this case 1.3 s will be added for a total simulation period of 4.5 s.
Figure 277:
Another critical decision in a transient simulation is choosing the time increment. The time increment
is the change in time during a given time step of the simulation. It is important to choose a time
increment that is short enough to capture the changes in flow properties of interest, but does not
require unnecessary computation time.
There are two methods commonly used for determining an appropriate time increment. The first
method involves identification of the time scales of the transient behaviors of interest and setting the
time increment to sufficiently resolve those behaviors. The second method involves setting a limit on
the number of mesh elements that the flow can cross in a given time step. A convenient metric for
the number of mesh elements crossed per time step is the Courant-Friederichs-Lewy number, or CFL
number. With this method, the time increment can be computed from the mesh size, the flow velocity,
and the desired CFL number. In this tutorial, the time increment was calculated using the global mesh
size and a CFL number of 2, ensuring that any portion of the cold slug will not advance past more than
2 mesh elements within a given step. For a real-world problem, you would base your calculations on the
mesh size at in the mesh zone of interest.

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Figure 278:
The temperature change at the large inlet is from 295 K to 283.15 K. At the small inlet the temperature
changes from 320 K to 283.15 K. The ratio of the cold slug temperature to the initial temperature of the
large inlet flow is 0.9598. The ratio of the cold slug temperature to the initial temperature of the small
inlet flow is 0.8848. These values will be used in creating multiplier functions to model the transient
temperatures at the inlets.
Figure 279:
Once a transient solution is calculated, the results of interest are the transient thermal characteristics of
the fluid and pipe walls at different times in the simulation.

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Starting AcuConsole and Solving the Steady State Simulation
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole and open a database that is set up for a steady state
simulation for flow and conjugate heat transfer. You will then run AcuSolve to calculate a steady state
solution, view the results with AcuFieldView, and save the database for the transient simulation.
2. Open mixingElbow_ColdSlug.acs.
a) Click the File menu, then Open.
b) Browse to the Mixing_Elbow_Cold_Slug\Completed-Steady directory.
c) Click mixingElbow_ColdSlug.acs and Open to open the database.
3. Run AcuSolve to solve the steady state problem.
a) Click on the toolbar to open the Launch AcuSolve dialog.

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Figure 280:
Based on these settings, AcuConsole will generate the AcuSolve input files, then launch the
solver. AcuSolve will run on a single processor to calculate the steady state solution for this
problem.
b) Click Ok to start the solution process.

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Figure 281:
Steady State Results
The steady state flow field was calculated as the starting point for the transient simulation of
temperature. For instructions on visualising steady state results, refer to ACU-3100: Conjugate Heat
Transfer in a Mixing Elbow.
Creating the Transient Simulation Database
The transient portion of the simulation will use the same geometry and many of the same attributes
as used in the steady state simulation. As such, you can create a copy of the steady state database
and then modify the settings as needed to set up the transient simulation. You will save the transient
database in a different directory to avoid confusion of the steady and transient runs.
In these steps you will create the transient database.
1. Click File > Save As.

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2. Browse up one level to the ..\Mixing_Elbow_Cold_Slug directory.

3. Enter mixingElbow_ColdSlug as the File name.
4. Click Save.
In the next steps you will modify global settings needed for the transient portion of the simulation.
The general attributes that you will modify for the transient simulation are the subtitle and the analysis
type.
Figure 282:
Figure 283:

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4. Change the Sub title to read Mixing Elbow - Transient conjugate heat transfer.
5. Change the Analysis type to Transient.
Figure 284:
In the next steps you will set attributes that control the behavior of AcuSolve as it progresses during
the transient solution.
Figure 285:
2. Enter 0 for Max time steps.
This value indicates that AcuSolve should ignore this setting and calculate the maximum number
of time steps using the final time and the time increment.
3. Enter 4.5 sec for the Final time.

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4. Enter 0.053 sec for the Initial time increment.

5. Enter 2 for Min stagger iterations.
This setting determines the minimum number of iterations that will be performed within each time
step.
6. Enter 5 for Max stagger iterations.
This setting determines the maximum number of iterations that will be performed within each
time step.
A minimum of 2 indicates that for every time step there will be at least two iterations performed,
even if the convergence tolerance is reached. A maximum of 5 indicates that for every time
step there will be no more than five iterations performed, even if convergence tolerance is not
achieved. If the convergence tolerance is reached before the fifth iteration, AcuSolve will proceed
to the next time step.
7. Enter 0 for the Relaxation factor.
When solving transient solutions, the relaxation factor should be set to zero. A non-zero relaxation
factor causes incremental updates of the solution, which will impact the time accuracy of the
solution for transient cases.
8. Click Off next to Flow to turn off the solving of flow equations.
9. Click Off next to Turbulence to turn off the solving of the turbulence equation.
By turning these options off, AcuSolve will not update the solution to these equations. Instead, the
current flow and turbulence values (generated from the steady state solution for this tutorial) will
be used throughout the simulation and AcuSolve will only solve for the temperature field.
Figure 286:

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Setting Nodal Output Frequency
In the next steps you will set an attribute that impacts how often results from the transient simulation
are written to disk. Writing the results every three time steps produces a collection of output states
that can be used to create an animation of the simulation once the run has completed. Note that more
frequent output can be used, but it will result in higher disk space usage.
1. Double-click Output under Global in the Data Tree to expand it.

2. Double-click Nodal Output to open the Nodal Output detail panel.
3. Enter 3 as the Time step frequency.
This value indicates that AcuSolve should write results after every three time steps.
Figure 287:
Creating Multiplier Functions for Transient Inlet Temperatures
AcuSolve provides the ability to scale values as a function of time and/or time step during a simulation.
This is achieved through the use of a multiplier function. In this tutorial, the inlet temperature varies as
the simulation progresses. By taking advantage of multiplier functions, you can easily set up functions
to model the temperature changes at the inlets.
In the next steps you will create a multiplier function for the temperature at the large inlet, duplicate
it, and modify the copy to be used with the small inlet. These multiplier functions will be applied to the
large and small inlets later in this tutorial.
Figure 288:

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In this tutorial, the inlet temperatures drop from initial conditions to 283.15 K, are held at that
temperature, and then ramp back up to the initial temperatures.
Figure 289:
To make the creation of the multiplier functions as simple as possible, you will use the PB* filter in the
Data Tree Manager.
1. Click PB* in the Data Tree Manager to show all problem-definition settings.
Figure 290:
2. Right-click Multiplier Function under Global in the Data Tree and click New to create a new
multiplier function.
3. Rename the multiplier function.

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a) Right-click the newly created Multiplier Function 1 and click Rename.

b) Enter Temp - large inlet.
4. Double-click Temp - large inlet to open the detail panel.
5. Set the Type to Piecewise Linear.
This option indicates that you will enter an array of numbers that will be used by AcuSolve to
interpolate the value of the multiplier function at each time step. In this example, the curve fit is a
function of time.
Figure 291:
6. Add the curve-fit values for the large inlet temperature profile.
Figure 292:
b) Click Add.
c) Enter 0.2 in the X column and 1 in the Y column.
d) Click Add again and enter 0.4 in the X column and 0.9598 in the Y column.

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These entries will be used to indicate the ratio of the initial temperature to temperature at
different times during the simulation.
e) Repeat this process until you have entered all of the values shown in the following table.
X (sec) Y
0.0 1
0.2 1
0.4 0.9598
1.4 0.9598
1.6 1
4.5 1
f) Click Plot to expand the Array Editor dialog to display the plot of the curve fit values.
You may need to expand the dialog by dragging the right edge in order to see the plot.
Figure 293:
g) Click OK.
7. Duplicate the multiplier function.

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a) Right-click Temp - large inlet.

b) Click Duplicate.
8. Rename Copy of Temp - large inlet to Temp - small inlet.
9. Revise the multiplier function values for the small inlet.
a) Double-click Temp - small inlet to open the multiplier function detail panel.
Note: The Type of Piecewise Linear is inherited from the multiplier function
for the large inlet.
b) Click Open Array to open the Array Editor dialog.

c) Modify the Y values to match those shown in the following table.
X (sec) Y
0.0 1.0
0.2 1.0
0.4 0.8848
1.4 0.8848
1.6 1.0
4.5 1.0
d) Click OK.

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Defining Transient Inlet Boundary Conditions
In the following steps you will set the inlet boundary conditions that produce the time varying
temperatures at the large and small inlets. This will be achieved by modifying the boundary conditions
to use the multiplier functions that you created earlier in this tutorial.
Setting Transient Temperature for the Large Inlet
In the next steps you will associate the Temp - large inlet multiplier function with the large inlet
boundary condition.
1. Click BC in the Data Tree Manager to show only items related to setting boundary conditions.
2. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Large Inlet tree item.
4. Click On next to Advanced features to expose additional options.
5. Change Temperature multiplier function to Temp - large inlet.
This instructs AcuSolve to determine the inlet boundary value for temperature by first evaluating
the multiplier function, then multiplying its value by the specified value of temperature. Since the
multiplier-function value changes as a function of time, the inlet temperature will change as a
function of time.

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Figure 294:
Setting Transient Temperature for the Small Inlet
In the next steps you will associate the Temp - small inlet multiplier function with the small inlet
boundary condition.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Small Inlet tree item.
3. Click On next to Advanced features to expose additional options.
4. Change Temperature multiplier function to Temp - small inlet.

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Figure 295:

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Running AcuSolve to Perform the Transient Simulation
In the next steps you will modify the AcuSolve settings to run the transient solution. The main feature
that you will use is a restart. A restart allows you to start a solution based on the results of a previous
solution. In this case, the flow and thermal field from the initial solution that you performed in this
tutorial will be used as the starting point. Since the flow and turbulence equations were turned off when
defining the solution strategy, the temperature field is the only one that will be solved.

2. Click On next to Restart on the Main tab.
3. Click the Restart tab.
4. Verify that the value for From Problem is mixingElbow_ColdSlug.
5. Click Browse next to From directory and browse to the location of the steady simulation
directory and select the Completed-Steady\ACUSIM.DIR directory.
6. Verify that the following restart options are set appropriately:
Note: You can drag the right edge of the dialog to make it wider.
From run 0
From time step 0
Reset time step On
Reset time increment On

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Figure 296:

window. A summary of the solution process indicates that the simulation has been completed. The

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Figure 297:
Viewing Transient Results with AcuFieldView
Now that transient results have been calculated, you are ready to review the flow field with
AcuFieldView. AcuFieldView is a third-party post-processing tool that is tightly integrated to AcuSolve.
AcuFieldView can be started directly from AcuConsole, or it can be started from the Start menu, or
from a command line. In this tutorial you will start AcuFieldView from AcuConsole after the solution is
calculated by AcuSolve.

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In the following steps you will display the temperature contours for the fluid and for the pipe walls on
the symmetry plane, add velocity vectors to the view, then animate the results.

Displaying Contours of Fluid and Solid Temperature on the Symmetry Plane
In the next steps you will create a boundary surface to display contours of fluid and solid temperature
on the symmetry plane at the end, middle, and beginning of the transient simulation. The first
visualization will be for the last time step in the simulation, which is the last set of results loaded from
AcuSolve when AcuFieldView was started.
1.

c) Click Calculate.
4. Set the symmetry plane for the pipes and pipe walls as the location for display of contours.
a) Click OSF: Steel Pipe - Symmetry.
b) Hold the Shift key and click OSF:Symmetry.
c) Click OK.
5.
7. Close the dialog.
8. Set the colormap to cover the range of temperatures used in the simulation.
a) In the Boundary Surface dialog, click the Colormap tab.

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b) Enter 323 as the upper value for SCALAR COLORING.

c) Enter 282 as the lower value for SCALAR COLORING.
Figure 298:

e) Set Decimal Places to 1.
f) Click the white color swatch next to the Title field and set the color for the title to black.
g) Enter transient as the Subtitle.
h) Click the white color swatch next to the Subtitle field and set the color to black.

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i) Move the legend by Shift+left-clicking and dragging the legend to the left.
Figure 299:
This image was created with a white background, perspective turned off, outlines turned off, and
the viewing direction set to +Z.
When AcuFieldView is run from a transient AcuSolve case, the results from the final time step are
shown by default.
10. Display contours of temperature at the middle of the transient simulation.
a) Click the Tools menu and then click Transient Data to open the Transient Data Controls
dialog.

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Figure 300:
Note: Note that the slider under SOLUTION TIME is all the way to the right.
The contours currently displayed are from the end of the simulation.
a) Move the slider control to TIME STEP 42, or enter 42 in the field, and click Apply.
The resulting contours show the thermal conditions at time step 42.

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Figure 301:
11. Display contours of temperature at the start of the transient simulation.

a) Click the Tools menu and then click Transient Data to open the Transient Data Controls
dialog.
b) Move the slider control to the beginning of the range and click Apply.
The resulting contours show the thermal conditions for a time step at the beginning of the
simulation.

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Figure 302:
Note that the contours from the beginning of the simulation are similar to those from the end of
the simulation. The conditions changed as the cold slug propagated through the pipe, and then
returned to initial conditions. The contours from the middle of the simulation show that the steel-
wall temperature near the intersection of the small pipe was higher than for the nearby water,
reflecting a lag in the temperature change of the wall compared to the water.
The resulting visualization will be compared to the one created for the steady state solution.


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Figure 303:
c) Enable Head Scaling and set it to 2.

e) Enable the Skip option and set it to 87.5 %.
The Skip option determines the percentage of vectors to skip from being displayed.
The setting of 37.5% will result in 62.5% of the vectors being displayed.
The setting of 87.5% will result in 12.5% of the vectors being displayed.

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The setting of 25% will result in 75% of the vectors being displayed.
b) Click OK.
Figure 304:
Displaying Transient Temperature Contours
In the next steps you will view the transient thermal data for the cold slug.
1. Turn off the display of velocity vectors.

a) Change the Surface ID on the Boundary Surface dialog to 2.
b) Click Visibility to turn this option off.

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2. Click the Tools menu and then click Transient Data to open the Transient Data Controls
dialog.
Figure 305:
3. Click Sweep.
As AcuFieldView prepares the sweep, you will see the controls advance on the Transient Data
Controls dialog, and you will see the visualization update at each time step. Once the sweep is
finished, it will play continuously until you change the controls.
4. Change the playback rate.
a) Click the View menu and then click Minimum Time Between Frames.
Figure 306:
b) Set the Minimum Time Seconds to 0.10.

With the SWEEP CONTROL options, pause the sweep, advance or reverse frames, and play the
sweep.
5. Close the Transient Data Controls dialog.

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6. Click OK to dismiss the Transient Data Controls message dialog.
Animating the Transient Temperature Sweep
In the next steps you will create a transient sweep and save it as an animation that can be viewed
independently of AcuFieldView.
dialog.
2. Click Tools > Flipbook Build Mode.
3. Click OK to dismiss the Flipbook Size Warning dialog.
The Sweep button on the Transient Data Controls dialog will have changed to Build.
Figure 307:
4. Use the slider control to set the SOLUTION TIME to the first time step and click Apply.
5. Click Build.
As AcuFieldView builds the flipbook animation, you will see the controls on the Transient Data
Controls dialog advance. Once the flipbook is built, a Flipbook Controls dialog will allow you to
play or save the animation.

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Figure 308:
6.
Click to play the animation.
Figure 309:
7. Click to pause the playback.

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8. Save the flipbook for playback independent of AcuFieldView.

a) Click Save.
b) Browse to the ..\Mixing_Elbow_Cold_Slug directory.
c) Enter cold_slug for the File name.
This animation, cold_slug.avi is now available for viewing by opening it directly.
9. Close the Flipbook Controls dialog and click OK to dismiss the Flipbook Exit Confirmation
warning.

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3.3.5 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a transient simulation case. You were
provided with a fully set up steady state case to use as initial conditions for the transient simulation.
The transient simulation was carried out using the "frozen flow" methodology to simulate the transient
temperature field without recomputing the velocity field. Once the transient case was set up and solved,
results were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create contour and vector views along the
symmetry plane of the model, and to animate the temperature contours. New features introduced in
this tutorial include transient simulation, multiplier functions, restarts, frozen flow and animation of
transient results.

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3.4 ACU-3200: Greenhouse Nocturnal Climate

Simulation-Enclosure Radiation and Porous Media
of air flow through a greenhouse using enclosure radiation and porous media. In this simulation,
AcuSolve is used to compute the motion and the resulting pressure drop created due to presence of
a porous media (tomato crops) as well as temperature distributions across the greenhouse due to
radiation. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number of modeling concepts necessary to
perform simulations that use porous media and enclosure radiation.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in Flow in a Mixing Elbow. The following additional
• Modeling porous material medium
• Modeling enclosure radiation and use of radiation symmetry planes
• Post-processing with AcuProbe
• Post-processing the nodal output with AcuFieldView to get velocity and temperature fields from
multiple data sets
Prerequisites
Extract Greenhouse_Enclosure.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

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The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown schematically in Figure 310 and Figure 311. It
consists of a low cost gable type greenhouse with tomato plants modeled as porous media, and four
inlets and outlet vents. Soil heating cables are used under the plants to keep the greenhouse warm
during night time. The fluid enters through the inlet vents, passes through the tomato plants, and then
exits the greenhouse through the outlet vents located on the roof.
Greenhouses are high-tech structures dedicated to the horticultural needs of plants, particularly
flowers, vegetables and fruits. Environmental properties such as temperature, light exposure, irrigation,
fertilization, humidity and ventilation can be precisely controlled for optimal crop growth.
The geometric characteristics of the greenhouse are as follows:

• Total Length: 4 m
• Total Width: 2 m
• Eaves Height: 1.5 m
• Ridge Height: 2 m
• Inlet Vents (4): 0.6 m length X 0.4 m height
• Outlet Vents (4): 1m length X 0.4 m height

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Figure 310: Schematic of Greenhouse
The geometry is symmetric about the length and width of the greenhouse, as shown in Figure 311. This
symmetry allows the flow and radiation to be modeled with the use of symmetry planes. The use of a
symmetry plane leads to reduced computation time while still providing an accurate solution.

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Figure 311: Schematic of Model
Air enters the inlet vent at an average speed of 0.8 m/s and temperature 293 K which is considered the
temperature of ambient air around the greenhouse. The outlet vent is considered a constant pressure (p
= patm) outlet boundary.
The fluid in this problem is air, which has the following material properties:
3
• Density (ρ): 1.225 kg/m
-5
• Viscosity (µ): 1.781 X 10 kg/m-s
• Specific Heat (Cp): 1005 J/kg-K
• Conductivity (k): 0.0251 W/m-K

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The density variation will be calculated according to the Boussinesq model in order to take into account
the natural convection effects.
The simulation will be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow in order to determine the climate
distribution inside the greenhouse at night.
Analyzing of Porous Media and Heat Transfer Properties of Tomato Plants
The tomato crops inside the greenhouse are modeled as porous media. The air flow for a porous media
is governed by the Darcy-Forchheimer equation given by:
where
• is the permeability of the medium
• is the dimensionless inertial factor
The permeability value for tomato crops is 0.017 and the dimensionless inertial factor is 0.25. The
resulting pressure drop equation is given by:
For greenhouse applications where the permeability of the crops is significant the viscous contribution
due to porous media is negligible, so the pressure gradient depends on the quadratic term alone.
The tomato plant has the following thermal properties:

The thermal properties of the plants are taken into account through the effective value of thermal
conductivity and specific heat using weighted arithmetic mean considering the volume percentage of
solid material to be 60 percent.
The effective thermal conductivity and specific heat can be determined as:

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Analyzing of Enclosure Radiation Properties of the Model
The enclosure radiation inside the greenhouse is modeled using the Stefan-Boltzmann law. The
emissivity values for materials are as follows:
• Air (Outside): 0.05
• Plants: 0.46
• Ground: 0.9
• Walls: 0.7
Analyzing of Mesh Sizes
In addition to setting appropriate conditions for the simulation, it is important to generate a mesh
that will be sufficiently refined to provide good results. For this problem the global mesh size is set
to provide at least 20 elements along the biggest dimensions of the greenhouse, that is, length and
height.
Note that higher mesh densities are required where velocity, pressure and eddy viscosity gradients are
larger. Local mesh refinements are used for the volume region containing the porous media and the
inlet and outlet surfaces. Proper boundary layer parameters need to be set to keep the y+ near the
wall surface to a reasonable level. The mesh density used in this tutorial is coarse and is intended to
illustrate the process of setting up the model and to retain a reasonable run time. A significantly higher
mesh density is needed to achieve a grid converged solution.
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the temperature distribution between
the ground and roof and the pressure drop across the porous media.
No TOC

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Starting AcuConsole
loading the geometry, creating groups, setting group parameters, adding geometry components to
groups, and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you will generate a
mesh and run AcuSolve to compute the steady state solution. Finally, you will visualize the results using
AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole and create the database for storage of the simulation
settings.
4. Create a new folder named Greenhouse_Enclosure_Night and open this folder.
5. Enter Greenhouse_Enclosure_Night as the File name for the database.
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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In next steps you will set the parameters that apply globally to the simulation. To simplify this task, you
will use the BAS filter in the Data Tree Manager. This filter limits the options in the Data Tree to show
only the basic settings.
The physical models that you define for this tutorial correspond to steady state, turbulent flow.
Figure 312:

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Figure 313:

5. Enter Greenhouse- Enclosure Radiation and Porous Media as the Sub title.
8. Set the Temperature equation to Advective Diffusive.
9. Set the Radiation equation to Enclosure.
10. Accept the default Mesh type of Fixed.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 314:
Tip:
You may need to widen the detail panel from the default size by dragging the right
edge of the panel frame.
the solution.
4. Check that the Convergence tolerance is set to 0.001 seconds.
5. Set the Relaxation factor to 0.4.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 315:
Setting Material Model Properties
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum and Water. You will need to modify the
material properties of Air and create a new material model which would model the properties of tomato
plants as porous media. AcuConsole has a porosity option under material properties to model porous
medium.
In the next steps you will modify the density of air to model natural convection using Boussinesq
approximation. Additionally, you will create a new material model named Porous_Plants and assign the
material properties associated with it.

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Figure 316:
2. Double-click Air to open the detail panel.

3. Click the Density tab.
4. Set Type as Boussinesq.
5. Right-click Air in the Data Tree and select Duplicate to make a copy of the Air material model.
The Material type for air is Fluid. The default material type for any new material created in
AcuConsole is Fluid. The material type for porous media is set as fluid in AcuConsole. Resize the
detail panel region of AcuConsole, if needed, by dragging the right frame of the panel.
6. Right-click Copy of Air and select Rename. Enter Porous_Plants as the new name.
7. Double-click Porous_Plants to open the material properties detail panel.
3
9. Set Type as Boussinesq and ensure that density of plants is 1.225 kg/m .
10. Click the Specific Heat tab. The specific heat of plants is 1326 J/kg-K.
-5
11. Click the Viscosity tab. The viscosity of plants is 1.781 x 10 kg/m-sec.
12. Click the Conductivity tab. The conductivity of plants is 0.1139 W/m-K.
13. Click the Porosity tab.
14. Set the Type to Constant. This will enable the porosity properties to be modeled in the material.
15. Check that the Permeability type is set as Cartesian.
16. Check that the Input method is set as Direct.
17. Check that the Porosity is set as 1.0.
18. Click Open Array next to Permeability direction and check that it is set to the default value, that
is (1,0,0); (0,1,0); (0,0,1).

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Figure 317:
19. Close the Array Editor.

20. In the detail panel, enter 0.017 as Direction 1, Direction 2 and Direction 3 permeability values.
21. Set the Darcy coefficient as 0.0.
22. Set the Forchheimer coefficient as 0.25.
Figure 318:

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Creating New Emissivity Models
The emissivity model option specifies an ideal grey-surface emissivity model for the radiation equation.
AcuConsole has a pre defined emissivity model for a black body. You will need to create additional
emissivity models for the ambient air outside, greenhouse walls, plants and the floor surface covered by
soil.
In the next steps you will create new emissivity models and then assign the emissivity values
associated with them.
1. Click RAD in the Data Tree Manager to filter all but the radiation settings in the Data Tree.
Figure 319:
2. Double-click Emissivity Model in the Data Tree to expand it.

3. Right-click Emissivity Model > New to make a new emissivity model.
A new emissivity model will be created with the name Emissivity Model 1.
4. Right-click Emissivity Model 1 > Rename. Enter Air_Out as the new name.
5. Double-click Air_Out to open the emissivity properties detail panel.
6. Check that Type is set as Constant.
7. Enter 0.05 as the Emissivity value.
Figure 320: Air_Out

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8. Similarly, create three more emissivity models named Ground, Plants and Walls and set their
emissivity values as 0.9, 0.46 and 0.7, respectively.
Figure 321: Ground
Figure 322: Plants
Figure 323: Walls

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Importing the Greenhouse Enclosure Geometry
Greenhouse_Enclosure.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the model of the
greenhouse in the Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing Greenhouse_Enclosure.x_t.
4. Click Greenhouse_Enclosure.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
For this tutorial, the default values for the Import Geometry dialog are used to load the
geometry. If you have previously used AcuConsole, any changes to these settings will be
preserved between AcuConsole sessions. Make sure that any settings that you might have altered
are manually changed to match the default values shown. With the default settings, volumes from
the CAD model are added to a default volume group. Surfaces from the CAD model are added to
a default surface group. You will work with groups later in this tutorial to create new groups, set
simulation attributes, add geometric components, and set meshing attributes.
Figure 324:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Defining Radiation Symmetry Planes
Radiation symmetry planes can be used to compute enclosure radiation heat transfer on geometrical
models that are a half, quarter, or eighth of the corresponding full models. The radiation facets are
reflected across each symmetry plane to create the full model. All planes must be mutually orthogonal.
In the next steps you will define the number of symmetry planes, their orientation and a coordinate
point on which the symmetry planes intersect.
1. Double-click Radiation Parameters to open the detail panel.

2. Enter 2 for the Num symmetry planes to set the number of symmetry planes as 2.
3. Press Enter to display the symmetry center and symmetry direction options.
Figure 325:
4. Click Open Array next to Symmetry center to open the Array Editor for the symmetry center.
5. Enter the coordinates of center as (2.0, 0.0 and 1.0).

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 326:
6. Click Show to see the center point. You may need to increase the width to see the point.
7. Click Open Array next to Symmetry direction-1 to open the Array Editor for the first symmetry
direction.
8. Enter the directions as (0,1,0).
9. Click Show to see the direction on the geometry.
10. Similarly set the second symmetry direction as (1,0,0).
includes the list of geometric volumes associated with the container, as well as attributes such as
material models and mesh size information.
container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group, create a new volume group and assign the
material for that group.
3. Expand Volumes. Toggle the display of the default volume container by clicking and next to
the volume name.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4. Right-click Volumes > New to create a new volume group.

5. Rename the volume group to Greenhouse_Main.
6. Add the volume to the Greenhouse_Main group.
a) Right-click Greenhouse_Main > Add to.
b) Click on the greenhouse.
At this point, the greenhouse should be highlighted in the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 327:
7. Rename the default group to Greenhouse_Plants.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 328:
volume group container. At this point, all of the volume in the default volume group is the flow
region. Rather than create a new container, add the flow volume in the geometry to it, and then
delete the default volume container, you will rename the container and modify the parameters for
this group.
a) Right-click default under Volumes.

b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Greenhouse_Plants.
8. Check that the material model for the volume Greenhouse_Main is set as Air.
a) Expand the Greenhouse_Main volume in the Data Tree.
b) Double-click Element Set under Greenhouse_Main to open the Element Set detail panel.
c) Check that the Material model is set as Air.
When items in the Data Tree are renamed, the change is not saved until you press Enter. If
you move the input focus away from the item without entering it, your changes will be lost.
9. Set the material model for the volume Greenhouse_Plants to Porous_Plants.
a) Expand the Greenhouse_Plants volume.
b) Double-click Element Set under Greenhouse_Plants to open the Element Set detail panel.
c) Set the Material model as Porous_Plants.

AcuSolve Tutorials
3.4.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Boundary

Conditions
conditions, surface outputs and mesh sizing information.
• Inlet
• Outlet
• Greenhouse_Walls
• Plant_Cover_Upstream
• Plant_Cover_Downstream
• Plant_Cover_Sides
• Symmetry_1
• Symmetry_2
• Ground
Setting Parameters for the Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the inlet, assign the appropriate settings, and add
the inlet from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Right-click Surfaces > New to create a new surface group.

2. Rename the surface to Inlet.
a) Right-click Surface 1 under Surfaces and click Rename.
b) Enter Inlet.
3. Expand the Inlet surface in the Data Tree.
4. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Inlet to open the Simple Boundary Condition
detail panel.
7. Set the Average velocity value to 0.8 m/s.
8. Set the Temperature as 293.0 k.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 329: Inlet Surface Detail Panel
9. Click RAD in the Data Tree Manager.

10. Under Inlet, double-click the Radiation Surface checkbox to activate and open the Radiation
Surface detail panel.
11. Change the Type to Opening.
12. Change the Emissivity model to Air_Out.
13. Set the Opening temperature value to 293 K.
Figure 330: Inlet Radiation Surface Detail Panel
14. Add a geometry surface to the Inlet group.

a) Right-click Inlet > Add to.
b) Click on the inlet face.
At this point, the inlet should be highlighted by the color gray. If it is difficult to find the inlet
surface, change the display type to outline to see where the inlet is located.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 331:
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Inlet surface group.
You can also use the middle mouse button to complete the addition of geometry components
to a group.
Setting Parameters for the Outlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the outlet, assign the appropriate settings and add
the outlet from the geometry to the surface group.
2. Rename Surface 1 to Outlet.
3. Expand the Outlet surface group in the Data Tree.

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5. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition to open the detail panel.

8. Under Outlet, activate the Radiation Surface checkbox and double-click it to open the detail
panel.
9. Change the Type to Opening.
10. Change the Emissivity model to Emissive_Air_Out.
a) Right-click Outlet > Add to.
b) Click the outlet face.
At this point, the outlet should be highlighted by the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 332:
c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the surface settings of the Outlet group.
Setting Parameters for the Greenhouse_Walls
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the walls, assign the appropriate settings and add
the faces from the geometry to the surface group.

2. Rename Surface 1 to Greenhouse_Walls.
3. Expand the Greenhouse_Walls surface in the Data Tree.
5. Under Greenhouse_Walls, double-click Simple Boundary Condition and check that the Type is
set to Wall.

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7. Under Greenhouse_Walls, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.
Figure 333: Greenhouse_Walls Radiation Surface Detail Panel
8. Change the Type to Wall.

9. Change the Emissivity model to Walls.
a) Right-click Greenhouse_Walls > Add to.
b) Select all of the wall surfaces.
At this point, the wall surfaces should be highlighted by the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 334:
c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Greenhouse_Walls surface container.
Setting Parameters for the Ground
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the ground, assign the appropriate settings and add

2. Right-click Surface 1 > Rename and enter Ground to rename the surface.
3. Expand the Ground surface.

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6. Check that the Type is set to Wall.
7. Set the Temperature BC type to Value.
8. Enter the Temperature as 323.0 K.
Figure 335: Ground Surface Detail Panel

10. Under Ground, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.
12. Change the Emissivity model to Ground.
a) Right-click Ground > Add to.
b) Select the ground surface.
At this point, the ground surface should be highlighted by the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 336:
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Ground surface group.
Setting Parameters for Symmetry Planes
In the next steps you will define surface groups for the symmetry planes, assign the appropriate
settings and add the symmetry plane surfaces from the geometry to the surface.
1. Turn off the visibility for the Inlet, Outlet, Greenhouse_Walls and Ground surfaces.
3. Rename Surface 1 to Symmetry 1.
4. Expand the Symmetry_1 surface in the Data Tree.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Symmetry_1 to open the detail panel.
8. Add the geometry surface to the Symmetry_1 group.
a) Right-click Symmetry_1 > Add to.
b) Click the symmetry surface in the +X direction.
At this point, the symmetry surface should be highlighted by the color gray.
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Symmetry_1 surface group.
Figure 337:
9. Similarly, create another surface group named Symmetry_2 with simple boundary condition of
Type Symmetry and assign the symmetry surface in the +Y direction.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 338:
Setting Parameters for Plant Cover Surfaces
In the next steps you will define surface groups for the plant cover, assign the appropriate settings and
add the plant cover surfaces from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Turn off the visibility for the Symmetry_1 and Symmetry_2 surfaces.
3. Rename the surface to Plant_Cover_Upstream.
4. Turn off the simple boundary condition for this surface by unchecking the box next to Simple
Boundary Condition.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 339:
5. Add the geometry surface to the Plant_Cover_Upstream group.

a) Right-click Plant_Cover_Upstream > Add to.
b) Click the surface in the -X direction closer to the inlet.
If it is difficult to find the surface, turn on the visibility for the volume group and set the
display type to Outline.
Figure 340:
At this point, the Plant_Cover_Upstream surface should be highlighted by the color gray.
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Plant_Cover_Upstream surface group.
d) Turn off the display for the surface.
There are two sets of surfaces for the plant surfaces which belong to different volume sets.
In this case they can be moved into the same surface group.
e) Right-click Plant_Upstream_Cover > Add to.
f) Select the remaining Plant_Cover_Upstream surface.

AcuSolve Tutorials
g) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the surface settings of the
Plant_Cover_Upstream group.
Note that no boundary conditions are applied to this surface at this point. The grouping
operation was performed to identify that these surfaces are internal and that flow will be
allowed to pass through them freely. These surfaces can still be used for output purposes,
however.
7. Under Plant_Cover_Upstream, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.
9. Change the Emissivity model to Plants.
10. Similarly create another surface group named Plant_Cover_Downstream with simple boundary
condition turned off.
11. Assign the surface opposite to Plant_Cover_Upstream as Plant_Cover_Downstream.
Note that you will need to assign the surface group again after turning off the visibility.
12. Rename the default group to Plant_Cover_Sides.
13. Turn off the simple boundary condition for this surface by unchecking the box next to Simple
Boundary Condition.
Figure 341:
14. Assign plant emissivity models to Plant_Cover_Downstream and Plant_Cover_Sides surfaces using
the Radiation Surface option.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Setting Global Meshing Attributes
Now that the flow characteristics have been set for the whole problem and for the individual surfaces,
attributes need to be added to make sure that a sufficiently refined mesh is generated.
the model.
In the next steps you will set global meshing attributes. In subsequent steps you will set the volume
and surface meshing attributes.
4. Check that the Mesh size type to Absolute.
This absolute mesh size is chosen to ensure that there are at least 33 mesh elements on the inlet.
This option is used to control the rate at which the mesh transitions between regions of different
surface and volume size. By default, the mesher will increase in size at a rate of approximately
2:1 between regions of adjacent size within the mesh. By setting this option to a value between
1.0 and 2.0, the mesh transition will be smoother across the size transitions.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 342:
Setting Volume Meshing Parameters
In the following steps you will set the meshing attributes that will allow for localized control of the mesh
size on the volume groups that you created earlier. Specifically, you will set local meshing attributes that
control the size of elements inside the Greenhouse_Plants volume group.
1. Expand the Model > Volume > Greenhouse_Plants Data Tree item.
2. Click the checkbox next to Volume Mesh Attributes to enable the settings and open the Volume
Mesh Attributes detail panel.
3. Enter 0.05 as the Absolute mesh size.
Figure 343: Greenhouse_Plants Volume Mesh Attributes
Setting Surface Meshing Parameters
size on the surface groups that you created earlier. Specifically, you will set local meshing attributes for
inlet and outlet. You will also set attributes that control the growth of boundary layer elements normal
to the surfaces of the greenhouse walls and ground.
• Inlet
• Outlet

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• Ground
Setting Surface Meshing Parameters for the Inlet
size near the inlet.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Inlet Data Tree item.
2. Click the checkbox next to Surface Mesh Attributes to enable the settings and open the Surface
Figure 344: Inlet Surface Mesh Attributes
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Outlet
size near the outlet.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Outlet Data Tree item.

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Figure 345: Outlet Surface Mesh Attributes
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Greenhouse Walls
size near the greenhouse walls. The mesh size on the wall will be inherited from the global mesh size
that was defined earlier. The settings that follow will only control the growth of the boundary layer from
the walls.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Greenhouse_Walls Data Tree item.
mesh on the surface of the walls.
walls.
6. Set Resolve to First Element Height.
efficient resolution of the steep gradients near no-slip walls. The layers can be specified using a
number of different options.
When Boundary layer type is set to Full Control and the First Layer Height is resolved, the Total
layer height, Number of layers and the Growth rate are specified. Boundary layer elements will
be grown until the mesh size of the top layer matches the mesh size of the volume into which the
boundary layer elements are grown.
7. Enter 0.05 m for the Total layer height.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 346: Greenhouse_Walls Surface Mesh Attributes Panel
Setting Surface Meshing Parameters for the Ground
size near the fan blades.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Ground Data Tree item.

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Figure 347: Ground Surface Mesh Attributes
Generating the Mesh
problem.

During meshing an AcuTail dialog will open. Meshing progress is reported in this dialog. A

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 348:
3. Examine the mesh in the modeling window. For the purposes of this tutorial, the following steps
lead to the display of inlet, outlet and greenhouse walls.
a) Right-click Volumes > Display off.
b) Right-click Surfaces > Display on.
c) Right-click Surfaces > Display type > solid & wire.
4. Rotate, move or zoom the view to examine the mesh.
5. Right-click on the model and select cut plane visualization to view the mesh near the plants.

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Figure 349: Mesh Details of the Geometry

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 350: Mesh Details Near the Plants

AcuSolve Tutorials
Running AcuSolve
In the next steps you will run AcuSolve to compute the solution for this case.

2. Enter 4 for Number of processors, if your system has four or more processors.
dialog.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 351:
While AcuSolve is running you can monitor the results using AcuProbe.
1.
2. In the AcuProbe dialog double-click Residual Ratio to expand the tree.
3. Right-click Final > Plot All.
The residual ratio measures how well the solution matches the governing equations.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 352:
The pressure drop between the upstream and downstream surfaces of the plant cover can be viewed
using a user function at the end of the simulation using AcuProbe.
1.
In the AcuProbe dialog double-click the icon.
2. Enter the name in the User Function dialog as Pres_Drop.
3. In the dialog type P_1 =.
4. Double-click Surface Output to expand the tree.
5. Double-click Plant_Cover_Upstream tri3 Greenhouse_Plants tet4 to expand the tree.
6. Right-click pressure > Copy Name.
7. Paste the value in the User Function dialog for Plant_Cover_Upstream pressure.
8. Repeat the above steps for Plant_Cover_Downstream tri3 Greenhouse_Plants tet4 pressure.
9. Type value = P_1 – P_2.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 353:
10. Click Apply to display the plot.
display the plot.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 354:
AcuSolve.
In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView, use multiple data sets to display velocity magnitude
and temperature on the full geometry at the mid-plane surfaces and boundary surfaces of the
greenhouse.


AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 355:
Creating Boundary Surface Showing Temperature for the Outer Surfaces with
Mesh
1. Disable perspective view from viewer options by clicking Viewer Options and unchecking the
Perspective checkbox.
2. Disable the axis markers from the viewer options.
3. Orient the geometry so you can see inlet, outlet and greenhouse wall surfaces, as shown in the
figure.
4. Click boundary surfaces. Temperature will already be selected as the scalar function.
5. Select the inlet, outlet, ground and greenhouse wall surfaces from boundary types.
6. Click the Colormap tab and then select the checkbox for Local to display the local range of
values of temperature for the selected surfaces.
7. Turn on the legend on the Legends tab and change the color to black from the color palette.
You can move the legend using Ctrl + left click.
8. Change the annotation color to black.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 356:
Appending Results to Create Multiple Data Sets
1. Click File > Data Input > AcuSolve [Direct Reader] to open the reader for .log files to be
read.

AcuSolve Tutorials
2. Select the Append option to add another data set to AcuFieldView for post-processing.
3. Select the checkbox for Read Extended Variables to read extended variables from the file.
Figure 357:
4. Click Read Grids & Results Data... and select the Greenhouse_Enclosure_Night.1.Log from
your working directory.
5. Click Open.
6. The Function Subset Selection dialog opens. Check that all of the variables are selected and
click OK.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 358:
7. Close the AcuSolve [Direct Reader] dialog.
Creating Boundary Surfaces Showing Temperature for Full Geometry
1. Click Dataset.... You will see two data sets.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 359:
You can move between datasets using the +,- signs next to the dataset number or directly type
the number of datasets you want to view.
2. Go to the first dataset and activate the Mirror checkbox under DUPLICATION.

AcuSolve Tutorials
A Dataset Mirror Parameters dialog opens.
Figure 360:
3. Activate the Y checkbox and click OK.

A mirror dataset will be created about the Y axis, as shown in the figure below.
Figure 361:
4. Go back to Dataset Controls and select the second dataset.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5. Repeat the steps in the previous section to show the temperature on the inlet, outlet, ground and
greenhouse wall surfaces for this dataset.
You can skip turning on the legend again since these datasets are duplicates of each other.
6. Go back to the Dataset Controls dialog and under TRANSLATE enter -4 for the X value.
Figure 362:
7. Click Apply. This will translate the new data set.

8. Under ROTATE enter 180 for the Z value.
Figure 363:
This will rotate the data set by 180 degrees.

9. Activate the Mirror checkbox under DUPLICATION and select Y from the Dataset Mirror
Parameters dialog. Click OK.
Now you will be able to see the complete greenhouse geometry with temperature displayed on the
inlet, outlet, ground and greenhouse wall surfaces.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 364:
Creating Boundary Surfaces Showing the Geometry Model in Geometric Coloring
1. Switch to the first dataset.

2.
Click the icon.
3. Turn off the mesh display by unchecking the Show Mesh option.
4. Set the COLORING to Geometric and select the gray color from the color palette.
5. Set the Transparency to 87.5 %.
6. Select all of the surfaces from BOUNDARY TYPES except the symmetry surfaces.
7. Repeat the steps above for the second dataset.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 365:
Creating Coordinate Surfaces Showing the Velocity Vector Magnitude
1.
Click the icon to open the Coodinate Surface dialog and create a new surface at the mid –X
coordinate surface.
2. Select the Scalar Function as velocity_magnitude.
3. Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Vectors.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 366:
4. Click Options... next to Vectors to open the Vector Options dialog.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 367:
5. Set the Vector Scale to 8.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 368:
6. Click the Colormap tab in the Coordinate Surface dialog and then set the coloring to Local.
7. Turn on the legend and set the ANNOTATION coloring to black.
Creating Coordinate Surface Showing Temperature on the Mid Surface of the

Plants
1. Turn off the display for the coordinate surface showing the velocity vectors.
2.
Click the icon to open the Coodinate Surface dialog and create a new surface at the mid –Y
coordinate surface.
3. Under COORD PLANE enter -0.7 as the Current value.
This is the y coordinate for the mid plane between greenhouse plants.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 369:
4. Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Smooth.

5. Select temperature as the Scalar Function to be displayed.
6. Click the Colormap tab and check that the COLORING is set to Local.
7. Turn on the legend to display the temperature values on the coordinate plane.
8. Repeat the steps for the second dataset.
9. Orient the geometry to see the surfaces as well as their mirror images.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 370:
No TOC

AcuSolve Tutorials
3.4.7 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a steady state simulation with enclosure
radiation and porous media in a greenhouse. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and
generated a solution using AcuSolve. AcuProbe was used to post-process the pressure drop across the
porous plants in the greenhouse. Results were also post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to
create multiple datasets to view the velocity vectors and temperature contours on the full geometry.
New features introduced in this tutorial include using the enclosure radiation feature, creating a porous
material medium, creating symmetry radiation surfaces and creating multiple datasets in AcuFieldView.

AcuSolve Tutorials
3.5 ACU-3201: Greenhouse Daytime Climate Simulation

– Solar Radiation and Thermal Shell
of air flow through a greenhouse using solar and enclosure radiation along with thermal shell and
porous media. In this simulation, AcuSolve is used to compute the temperature and solar flux
distribution due solar radiation incident on the roof which is modeled as a thermal shell. This tutorial is
designed to introduce you to a number of modeling concepts necessary to perform simulations that use
thermal shells and solar radiation.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow
and the steps to set up enclosure radiation and porous media were shown in ACU-3200: Greenhouse
Nocturnal Climate Simulation-Enclosure Radiation and Porous Media. The following additional
• Modeling thermal shells
• Modeling solar radiation and use of acuSflux script
• Post-processing the nodal output with AcuFieldView to get solar flux and temperature fields
Prerequisites
Elbow and ACU-3200: Greenhouse Nocturnal Climate Simulation-Enclosure Radiation and Porous Media.
It is assumed that you have some familiarity with AcuConsole, AcuSolve, and AcuFieldView. You will also
need access to a licensed version of AcuSolve 2017.2.
Extract Greenhouse_Solar.x_t, solar_flux.dat and Greenhouse_Enclosure_Night.acs from
Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

AcuSolve Tutorials
The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown schematically in Figure 371. It consists of a low
cost gable type greenhouse with tomato plants modeled as porous media, and four inlets and outlet
vents. The roof of the greenhouse is modeled as a thermal shell with three layers in order to account for
heat transfer due to its thickness. The fluid enters through the inlet vents, passes through the tomato
plants, and then exits the greenhouse through the outlet vents located on the roof.
Greenhouses are high-tech structures dedicated to the horticultural needs of plants, particularly
flowers, vegetables and fruits. Environmental properties such as temperature, light exposure, irrigation,
fertilization, humidity and ventilation can be precisely controlled for optimal crop growth.
The geometric characteristics of the greenhouse are as follows:

• Total Length: 4 m
• Total Width: 2 m
• Eaves Height: 1.5 m
• Ridge Height: 2 m
• Inlet Vents (4): 0.6 m length X 0.4 m height
• Outlet Vents (4): 1m length X 0.4 m height

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 371: Schematic of Greenhouse
Air enters the inlet vent at an average speed of 1.8 m/s and temperature 303 K which is considered the
temperature of ambient air around the greenhouse. The outlet vent is considered a constant pressure (p
= patm) outlet boundary.
The fluid in this problem is air, which has the following material properties:
3
• Density (ρ): 1.225 kg/m
-5
• Viscosity (µ): 1.781 X 10 kg/m-s

AcuSolve Tutorials
The density variation will be calculated according to the Boussinesq model in order to take into account
the natural convection effects.
The simulation will be set up to model steady state, turbulent flow in order to determine the climate
distribution inside the greenhouse at day time, due to the incident solar radiation.
Analyzing of the Solar Radiation Properties of the Model
The incident solar radiation is computed using the acuSflux script provided with the installation. The
location is selected as Sunnyvale California, USA at latitude 37.3688° N and longitude 122.0363° W.
The date is selected as 30th August 2016. The time of the day is taken as 10:30 am in the morning.
The solar radiation is modeled by adding the solar fluxes to the thermal energy equation computed
using a ray trace algorithm. The ray trace algorithm uses the Monte Carlo method to compute exchange
factors and the solar heat flux on every surface.
The interaction of a solar ray photon with a surface may occur in five different ways:
• Specular transmission : Photon passes straight through a surface with no change of direction.
• Diffuse transmission : Photon penetrates the surface, but its outgoing energy is uniformly
distributed in solid angle over the hemisphere, weighted by projected surface area.
• Specular reflection : angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence.
• Diffuse reflections : similar to diffuse transmission, except the hemisphere over which the
outgoing energy is distributed is on the same side of the surface as the incident photon.
• Absorption : Photon may be absorbed by the surface.
These five interactions are associated with five surface properties that together obey the following
constraint:
For computation purposes all of the surfaces are assumed to be gray bodies, that is, emissivity and
absorption are assumed to be independent of wavelength. Further from Kirchhoff’s law of radiation
absorptivity is assumed to be equal to the emissivity of the material.
The cover material on the roof of the greenhouse is semi-transparent and the plants, ground and walls
are diffusively radiating opaque surfaces.
The solar radiation/optical properties of the materials are listed below:

• Cover:
• Plants:
• Ground:
• Walls:

AcuSolve Tutorials
Analyzing of the Thermal Shell
Thermal shells are used to model the energy equation in solid materials where the thinness of
the geometry makes it inconvenient to use it as solid. A solid or shell element set solves only the
temperature and mesh displacement equations, while all other equations, such as flow, turbulence, and
species, are ignored.
Geometrically, the shell is infinitely thin, so that the pairs of nodes in an element that are on opposite
sides of the shell have the same coordinates. The shell medium supports only wedges and bricks.
For a single layer thermal shell the complete 3D heat transfer equation is solved considering the
complete volume element of thickness specified. For multiple layer thermal shell, between the two sides
of the shell, the element is divided up into a number of layers. Each layer is assigned a material model
and a thickness and a one dimensional heat equation is solved through the shell thickness.
The roof of the greenhouse is modeled as a thermal shell with four layers each of thickness 0.25 cm.
The material model of the thermal shell has the following properties:
3
• Density (ρ): 930 kg/m
Note: For the analysis of porous media and enclosure radiation properties, please refer
to ACU-3200: Greenhouse Nocturnal Climate Simulation-Enclosure Radiation and Porous
Media.
Analyzing of Mesh Sizes
that will be sufficiently refined to provide good results. For this problem the global mesh size is set to
provide at least 33 elements along the biggest dimensions of the greenhouse, the length.
Note that higher mesh densities are required where velocity, pressure, and eddy viscosity gradients
are larger. Local mesh refinements are used for the volume region containing the porous media and
the inlet and outlet surfaces. Proper boundary layer parameters need to be set to keep the y+ near the
wall surface to a reasonable level. The mesh density used in this tutorial is coarse and is intended to
illustrate the process of setting up the model and to retain a reasonable run time. A significantly higher
mesh density is needed to achieve a grid converged solution.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the temperature distribution on the
ground and roof and the solar flux on the roof of the greenhouse.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Starting AcuConsole
In this tutorial, you will begin by opening an existing database, modifying and adding the geometry-
independent settings, replacing the geometry, creating additional groups, setting group parameters,
adding geometry components to groups, and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to
the groups. Next you will generate a mesh and thermal shell with its associated properties. Then you
will run AcuSolve to compute the steady state solution. Finally, you will visualize the results using
AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole open and rename the database for storage of the simulation
settings.
2. From the File menu, click Open to open the Open data base dialog.
Note: You can also open the dialog by clicking on the toolbar.
3. Open the Greenhouse_Enclosure_Night.acs file.

5. Create a new folder named Greenhouse_Solar_Day and open this folder.
6. Enter Greenhouse_Solar_Day as the File name for the database.

AcuSolve Tutorials
In next steps you will set the parameters that apply globally to the simulation. To simplify this task, you
will use the BAS filter in the Data Tree Manager. This filter limits the options in the Data Tree to show
only the basic settings.
Figure 372:
Figure 373:

4. Check that AcuSolve Tutorial as the Title.
5. Enter Greenhouse - Solar Radiation and Thermal Shell as the Sub title.
7. Check that the Turbulence equation is set to Spalart Allmaras.

AcuSolve Tutorials
8. Check that the Temperature equation is set to Advective Diffusive.

9. Check that the Radiation equation is set to Enclosure.
Figure 374:
Tip: You may need to widen the detail panel from the default size by dragging the
right edge of the panel frame.
3. Ensure that Max time steps is set to 100.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 375:
Setting Material Model Properties
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum and Water. You will need to modify the
material properties of Aluminum and create a new material model which would model the properties of
cover material for defining the thermal shell in the later steps.
In the next steps you will modify the density of aluminum. Additionally, you will create a new material
model named Cover_Shell and assign the material properties associated with it.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 376:
2. Right-click Aluminum in the Data Tree and select Duplicate to make a copy of the Aluminum
material model.
3. Right-click Copy of Aluminum in the Data Tree and select Rename. Enter Cover_Shell as the
new name.
4. Double-click Cover_Shell to open the detail panel.
5. Check that the Material type for Cover_Shell is Solid.
The default material type for any new material created in AcuConsole is Fluid.
3
The density of cover is 930.0 kg/m .
7. Click the Specific Heat tab. The specific heat of plants is 2000 J/kg-K.
8. Click the Conductivity tab. The conductivity of cover is 0.35 W/m-K.
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Creating New Solar Radiation Models
The solar radiation models command specifies an ideal grey-surface solar radiation model to calculate
the solar heat flux. AcuConsole has a predefined solar radiation model for a black body. You will need
to create additional solar radiation models for the roof, greenhouse walls, plants and the floor surface
covered by soil.
In the next steps you will create new solar radiation models and the assign the values associated with
them.
1. Click RAD in the Data Tree Manager to filter all but the radiation settings in the Data Tree.
2. Double-click Solar Radiation Model in the Data Tree to expand it.
3. Right-click Solar Radiation Model in the Data Tree and select New to make a new solar
radiation model.
A new solar radiation model will be created with the name Solar Radiation Model 1.
4. Right-click Solar Radiation Model 1 and select Rename.
5. Enter Cover as the new name.
6. Double-click Cover to open the detail panel.
7. Check that Type is set as Constant for all the parameters.
8. Enter the values for the cover material as shown in the image below.
Figure 377: Cover Solar Radiation Detail Panel
9. Similarly create three more solar radiation models named: Ground, Plants and Walls and set their
solar radiation values as shown below.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 378: Ground Solar Radiation Detail Panel
Figure 379: Plants Solar Radiation Detail Panel
Figure 380: Walls Solar Radiation Detail Panel
Defining the Solar Radiation Parameters
The solar radiation parameters command specifies the global parameters for solar radiation heat flux.
2
AcuConsole has a predefined solar radiation flux of -1352.0 W/m in the –Z direction.
The value would be read from the file solar_flux.dat generated by the acuSflux script.

AcuSolve Tutorials
1. Double-click Solar Radiation Parameters in the Data Tree to expand it.

2. Click Open Array next to Curve fit values.
3. In the Array Editor, click Read and open the file solar_flux.dat.
The solar flux is read and stored into the respective columns in the Array Editor.
Tip: To generate the solar_flux.dat file, execute the following command from the
command line:
acuSflux -time "aug-30-2016 17:30:00" -lat 37.3688 -lon -122.0363 –

ndir “0,1,0”

AcuSolve Tutorials
Importing the Greenhouse Solar Geometry
Greenhouse_Solar.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains the model of the greenhouse
in the Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing Greenhouse_Solar.x_t.
4. Click Greenhouse_Solar.x_t and Open to open the Confirm Import dialog.
5. Click Open to overwrite the current geometry and open the Import Geometry dialog.
If you have previously used AcuConsole, any changes to these settings will be preserved between
AcuConsole sessions. Make sure that any settings that you might have altered are manually changed
to match the default values shown. With the default settings, volumes from the CAD model are
added to a default volume group. Surfaces from the CAD model are added to a default surface group.
You will work with groups later in this tutorial to create new groups, set simulation attributes, add
geometric components, and set meshing attributes
Figure 381:

AcuSolve Tutorials
container.
In the next steps you will assign the volumes to existing volume groups.
the volume name.
4. Add the volume to the Greenhouse_Main group.

a) Right-click Greenhouse_Main > Add to.
b) Click on the greenhouse.
At this point, the greenhouse should be highlighted in the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 382:
5. Add the volume to Greenhouse_Plants groups.

a) Right-click Greenhouse_Plants and select Add to.
b) Click on the plant.
At this point, the greenhouse plants should be highlighted in the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 383:
Figure 384:
6. Right-click on the ‘default’ volume group and select delete.

7. Check that the material model for the volume Greenhouse_Main is set to Air.
a) Expand the Greenhouse_Main volume.
c) Check that the Material model is set as Air.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 385:
8. Check that the material model for the volume Greenhouse_Plants is set to Porous_Plants.
a) Expand the Greenhouse_Plants volume.
c) Check that the Material model is set as Porous_Plants.
Figure 386:

AcuSolve Tutorials
When the geometry was replaced into AcuConsole, all surfaces are placed in the surface container
named "default" and the existing surface groups becoming empty.
• Inlets_1
• Inlets_2
• Outlet
• Plant_Cover
• Roof
• Ground
In the next steps you will create a copy of surface group Inlet, rename them to Inlets_1 and Inlets_2,
assign the appropriate settings, and add the inlets from the geometry to the surface groups.
1. Create a copy of the Inlet surface group.

a) In the Data Tree, right-click on Inlet and select Duplicate.
b) Right-click Inlet and rename it to Inlets_1.
c) Right-click Copy of Inlet and rename it to Inlets_2.
2. Expand the Inlets_1 surface in the Data Tree.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Inlets_1 to open the Simple Boundary
5. Change the Average velocity value to 1.8 m/s.
6. Change the Temperature to 303.0 k.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 387:

8. Under Inlets_1, double-click the Radiation Surface checkbox to activate and open the Radiation
Surface detail panel.
9. Check that the Type is set to Opening.
10. Check that the Emissivity model is set to Air_Out.
Figure 388:

a) Right-click Inlet > Add to.
b) Click on the inlet face.
At this point, the inlet should be highlighted by the color gray. If it is difficult to find the inlet
surface, change the display type to outline to see where the inlet is located.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 389:
You can also use the middle mouse button to complete the addition of geometry components
to a group.
13. Propagate the settings for Simple Boundary Condition and Radiation Surface to the Inlets_2
surface group.
Note: You may need to switch between BAS and RAD in the Data Tree Manager or
display all the attributes by selecting the ALL filter.
a) Under Inlets_1, right-click on Simple Boundary Condition and select Propagate.

The Propagate dialog appears.
b) Select Inlets_2 from the list, and click Propagate.
c) Under Inlets_1, right-click on Radiation Surface and select Propagate.
d) Select Inlets_2 from the list, and click Propagate.
14. Add a geometry surface to the Inlets_2 group.

AcuSolve Tutorials
a) Right-click Inlets_2 and click Add to.

b) Click on the inlet faces on the +X sides of the geometry.
Figure 390:
At this point, the inlets should be highlighted by grey color. If it is difficult to find the inlet
surfaces, change the display type to outline to see where the inlets are located.
In the next steps you will assign the appropriate settings, and add the outlet from the geometry to the
surface group
2. Expand the Outlet surface group in the Data Tree.

AcuSolve Tutorials

4. Check that the Type is set to to Outflow.
6. Under Outlet, activate the Radiation Surface checkbox and double-click it to open the detail
panel.
7. Check that the Type is set to Opening.
8. Check that the Emissivity model is set to Air_Out.
9. Change the Opening temperature value to 303 K.
Figure 391:

a) Right-click Outlet > Add to.
b) Click the outlet face.
At this point, the outlet should be highlighted by the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 392:
c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the surface settings of the Outlet group.
Setting Parameters for the Greenhouse_Walls
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the walls, assign the appropriate settings and add
2. Expand the Greenhouse_Walls surface in the Data Tree.
3. Under Greenhouse_Walls, double-click Simple Boundary Condition and check that the Type is
set to Wall.
6. Check that the Emissivity model is set to Walls.

AcuSolve Tutorials
7. Under Greenhouse_Walls, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.
Figure 393:
8. In the Data Tree, click the Solar Radiation Surface checkbox to activate and open the detail panel.
9. For Side of Surface, select Inward.
10. For Solar Radiation model, select Walls.
Figure 394:

a) Right-click Greenhouse_Walls > Add to.
b) Select all of the wall surfaces.
At this point, the wall surfaces should be highlighted in gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 395:
c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Greenhouse_Walls surface container.
Setting Parameters for the Ground
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the ground, assign the appropriate settings and add
2. Expand the Ground surface.
5. Set the Temperature BC type to Flux.
The default value of 0 is used for the Heat Flux for the ground.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 396:

7. Under Ground, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.
9. Check that the Emissivity model is set to Ground.
12. For Solar Radiation model, select Ground.
Figure 397:

a) Right-click Ground > Add to.
b) Select the ground surface.
At this point, the ground surface should be highlighted by the color gray.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 398:
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Ground surface group.
Setting Parameters for Plant Cover Surfaces
In the next steps you will define surface groups for the plant cover, assign the appropriate settings and
add the plant cover surfaces from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Turn off the visibility for the Ground, Walls, Inlets and Outlet surfaces.
2. Rename the surface Plant_Cover_Upstream to Plant_Cover.
3. Add the geometry surface to the Plant_Cover surface group.
a) Right-click Plant_Cover > Add to.
b) Click all the plant surfaces.

AcuSolve Tutorials
If it is difficult to find the surface, turn on the visibility for the volume group and set the
display type to Outline.
Figure 399:
At this point, the Plant_Cover surface should be highlighted in gray.

c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Plant_Cover surface group.
d) Turn off the display for the surface.
There are two sets of surfaces for the plant surfaces which belong to different volume sets.
In this case they can be moved into the same surface group.
e) Right-click Plant_Cover > Add to.
f) Select the remaining Plant_Cover surfaces.
g) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the surface settings of the Plant_Cover
group.
Note that no boundary conditions are applied to this surface at this point. The grouping
operation was performed to identify that these surfaces are internal and that flow will be
allowed to pass through them freely. These surfaces can still be used for output purposes,
however.
5. Under Plant_Cover, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.

AcuSolve Tutorials
7. Check that the Emissivity model is set to Plants.

9. For Side of Surface, select Both Sides.
10. For Solar Radiation model, select Plants.
Figure 400:
Setting Parameters for the Roof Surfaces
In the next steps you will define surface groups for the roof, assign the appropriate settings and add the
roof surface from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Turn off the visibility for the Plant_Cover surfaces.

2. Rename the surface Plant_Cover_Downstream to Roof.
3. Under Roof, double-click Simple Boundary Condition and check that the Type is set to Wall.
5. Under Roof, activate the Radiation Surface to open the detail panel.
7. Set the Emissivity model to Walls.
Figure 401:

AcuSolve Tutorials
8. In the Data Tree, click the Solar Radiation Surface checkbox to activate and open the detail
panel.
10. For Solar Radiation model, select Cover.
Figure 402:
11. Add the geometry surface to the Roof group.

a) Right-click Roof > Add to.
b) Click the roof surfaces.
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Plant_Cover surface group.
Note: At this point, all remaining volume containers, including the default container,
should be empty.
12. Right-click on Surfaces and click Purge to remove the empty volume containers.
No TOC

AcuSolve Tutorials
the model.
In the next steps you will set global meshing attributes. In subsequent steps you will set the volume
and surface meshing attributes.
4. Check that the Mesh size type to Absolute.
This option is used to control the rate at which the mesh transitions between regions of different
surface and volume size. By default, the mesher will increase in size at a rate of approximately
2:1 between regions of adjacent size within the mesh. By setting this option to a value between
1.0 and 2.0, the mesh transition will be smoother across the size transitions.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 403:
Setting Volume Meshing Attributes
size on the volume groups that you created earlier. Specifically, you will set local meshing attributes that
control the size of elements inside the Greenhouse_Plants volume group.
1. Expand the Model > Volume > Greenhouse_Plants Data Tree item.
2. Click the checkbox next to Volume Mesh Attributes to enable the settings and open the Volume
Figure 404:
size on the surface groups that you created earlier. Specifically, you will set local meshing attributes for
inlet and outlet. You will also set attributes that control the growth of boundary layer elements normal
to the surfaces of the greenhouse walls and ground.
• Inlets_1
• Inlets_2

AcuSolve Tutorials
• Outlet
• Ground
Setting Surface Meshing Parameters for the Inlet
size near the inlet.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Inlets_2 Data Tree item.
3. Check that 0.05 is set as the Absolute mesh size.
4. Repeat for Inlets_1.
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Outlet
size near the outlet.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Outlet Data Tree item.
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Greenhouse Walls and Roof
size near the greenhouse walls. The mesh size on the wall will be inherited from the global mesh size
that was defined earlier. The settings that follow will only control the growth of the boundary layer from
the walls.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Greenhouse_Walls Data Tree item.
3. Check that the Mesh size type is set to None.
4. Turn On the Boundary layer flag option.

AcuSolve Tutorials
walls.
5. Check that the Boundary layer type is set to Full Control.
When Boundary layer type is set to Full Control and the First Layer Height is resolved, the Total
layer height, Number of layers and the Growth rate are specified. Boundary layer elements will
be grown until the mesh size of the top layer matches the mesh size of the volume into which the
boundary layer elements are grown.
Figure 405:
10. Propagate the Surface Mesh Attributes to the Roof surface.
Setting Surface Meshing Parameters for the Ground

AcuSolve Tutorials
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Ground Data Tree item.
3. Check that the Mesh size type is set to None.
4. Check that the Boundary layer flag option is turned on.
Figure 406:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 407:
3. Examine the mesh in the modeling window. For the purposes of this tutorial, the following steps
lead to the display of inlet, outlet and greenhouse walls.
a) Right-click Volumes > Display off.
b) Right-click Surfaces > Display on.
c) Right-click Surfaces > Display type > solid & wire.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Creating the Thermal Shell and Assigning Attributes
In the following steps you will generate the thermal shell, assign the number of layers, material
properties as well as radiation and solar radiation properties.
1. Under Surfaces, right-click on Roof.

2. Select Mesh Op. and click Generate Thermal Shell.
An Information Window showing the number of modified nodes is displayed. This will create a
new volume set named ‘default_shell’ and new surface set named ‘default’.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 409:
3. The generated thermal shell will be exactly on the Top surface. Click Display On and Display Off
the display to visualize the surfaces.
4. Rename the default surface to Shell_Top.
5. Double-click Element Set to open the detail panel.
6. Check that the Medium is set to Thermal Shell.
7. For Number of shell layers, enter 4.
Figure 410:
8. Next to Shell thickness, click Open Array to open the Array Editor dialog to specify the
thickness of each shell.
9. Change the unit to cm and enter 0.25 for all the layers.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 411:

11. Next to Shell material models, click on Open Ref to open the Reference Editor dialog to specify
the material model of each shell.
Note: You might get a warning stating that number of rows are less than the table.
Click Yes to add None as the default material model for each shell.
12. Select the Cover_Shell as the material model for all the layers by clicking on the drop down
arrow.
Figure 412:

14. Under Surfaces, under Shell_Top, uncheck Simple Boundary Condition to disable simple boundary
condition for this surface.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Since this surface belongs to the ‘default_shell’ volume, Simple Boundary Condition is disabled.
16. In the Data Tree, under Shell_Top, click the Solar Radiation Surface checkbox to activate and
open the detail panel.
17. For Side of Surface, select Outward.
18. For Solar Radiation model, select Cover.
Figure 413:
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AcuSolve Tutorials
Running AcuSolve

2. Enter 4 for Number of processors, if your system has four or more processers.
Accept all other default settings.
dialog.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 414:
While AcuSolve is running you can monitor the results using AcuProbe.
1.
2. In the AcuProbe dialog double-click Residual Ratio to expand the tree.
3. Right-click Final > Plot All.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 415:
The temperature on the roof of the greenhouse and the plant cover can be viewed at the end of
simulation using AcuProbe.
1. In the AcuProbe dialog double-click Radiation Output to expand the tree.
2. Double-click Plant_Cover tri3 Greenhouse_Plants tet4 to expand the tree.
3. Right-click on temperature and click Plot.
4. Repeat the above steps for the Roof.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 416:
AcuSolve.
In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView to display temperature on the plants and roof and heat
flux on the roof of the greenhouse.


AcuSolve Tutorials
Creating Boundary Surface Showing Temperature for the Plants
1. Click Viewer Options and uncheck the Perspective checkbox to disable perspective view.
2. In the Viewer Options dialog, disable the axis markers.
3. Orient the geometry so you can see inlet, outlet and greenhouse wall surfaces.
4.
5. Check that Temperature is already selected as the Scalar Function.
6. Select the Plant_Cover tri3 Greenhouse_Plants tet4 surface from the BOUNDARY TYPES list.
7. Click the Colormap tab and then select the checkbox for Local to display the local range of
values of temperature for the selected surfaces.
8. Turn on the Legend on the Legends tab and change the color to black from the color palette.
You can move the legend using Ctrl + left click.
9. Change the annotation color to black.
Figure 417:
Creating the Boundary Surface Showing the Temperature and Heat Flux for the
Roof

AcuSolve Tutorials
1. In the Boundary Conditions dialog, select the Shell_Top surface from the BOUNDARY TYPES
list. Temperature should already be selected as the scalar function.
Figure 418:
2. Click on Scalar Functions, and select Solar heat flux.

3. Click Calculate to display the Solar Heat flux on the roof.

AcuSolve Tutorials
Figure 419:
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AcuSolve Tutorials
3.5.6 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a steady state simulation with solar
radiation and thermal shell in a greenhouse. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and
generated a solution using AcuSolve. Then you generated the thermal shell and assigned radiation
properties to it. AcuProbe was used to post-process the temperature on the plant cover and roof
surfaces. Results were also post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you visualize temperature contours
on the plant cover and roof, and heat flux values on the roof. New features introduced in this tutorial
include the solar radiation feature and thermal shell.

Multiphase 4
4 Multiphase
• 4.1 ACU-4000: Dam Break Simulation: Two Phase Problem (p. 459)
• 4.2 ACU-4001: Water Filling in a Tank (p. 486)
AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.459
4.1 ACU-4000: Dam Break Simulation: Two Phase

Problem
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a transient dam
break simulation using the level set method. In this simulation, a square column of water is initially
held at rest by walls in one end of a reservoir. The simulation begins when the walls holding the water
column are removed and the water is free to flow out. The simulation can be used to visualize and study
the surge patterns as the column of water rushes out, as in a dam wall break.
• Two-phase flow simulation using the level set method
• Transient simulation
• Use of a script for the water volume fraction initialization
• Post-processing with AcuFieldView
Prerequisites
Extract damBreak2D.x_t from the Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.460
In general, multiphase flows are mainly observed in real life environment, consisting of two or more
fluids (gas, liquid, or solid). They have possible combinations of gas-liquid (dissolved gas), liquid-liquid
(oil in water), liquid-solid (immersed particles), as well as gas-liquid-solid. The first two are examples
of two-phase immiscible flows. The two-phase immiscible flows can be solved by tracking the interface
between the two-phases. This tutorial will guide you through how to set up the two-phase flow problem
using the level set method.
The system being simulated contains a reservoir, along one corner of which stands a square water
column, held in place by walls. At time t = 0 the walls are removed. As the walls are removed, the
water column is now free to flow out and flow surges towards the other end of the reservoir. The
simulation can be used to visualize and study the surge patterns as the column of water rushes out, as
in a dam wall break.
The schematics of the problem which will be addressed in this tutorial is shown in Figure 420. The
system will be modeled as a two-dimensional problem by including only a single layer of extruded
elements in the spanwise direction.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.461

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.462
Starting AcuConsole
components to groups, and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you
visualize some characteristics using AcuFieldView.
settings.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Dam_break and open it.
5. Enter damBreak_2D as the file name for the database.
Manager. This filter enables display of only a small subset of the available items in the Data Tree and

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.463
Figure 421:
Figure 422:
the context menu.
4. Enter AcuSolve Multiphase Tutorial as the Title.

5. Enter Dam Break 2D as the Sub title.
7. Toggle on Show beta features to access multiphase equation.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.464
Note: Once this option is toggled on, the "Level Set" in the Multiphase equation
pull down list is displayed. The additional multiphase model, VOF (Volume of Fluids)
approach, will be introduced in a later release.
8. Ensure Multiphase equation is set to Level Set.
Figure 423:
Setting Solution Strategy Attributes
2. Check that the Analysis type is set to Transient.
4. Set the Final time to 1.0 secs.
5. Set the Initial time increment to 0.002498.
When setting up a transient analysis, if the Max time steps option is set to zero, this option is
ignored. In such a case, the Final time must be specified. AcuSolve will then run until this final
time is reached, incrementing with the specified initial time increment at each time step.
7. Set the Max stagger iterations to 5.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.465
8. Set the Relaxation factor to 0..

9. Check that Flow and Multifluid flags are turned On.
10. Check that Fluid 1 is set to Air.
11. Check that Fluid 2 is set to Water.
The options available to specify the fluids for Fluid 1 and Fluid 2 are taken from the material
models already defined in the open AcuConsole database. When a new AcuConsole database
is created, the available pre-defined fluid material models are Air and Water. If your model
requires a fluid other than these two, you must create and define a new material model to match
the specification of this fluid, before you can set it as one of the fluids in the Multifluid model
definition.
Figure 424:

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.466
damBreak2D.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the geometry in

2. Browse to the directory containing damBreak2D.x_t.
4. Click damBreak2D.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
geometry. If you have previously used AcuConsole, be sure that any settings that you might have
altered are manually changed to match the default values shown in the figure. With the default
settings, volumes from the CAD model are added to a default volume group. Surfaces from the
CAD model are added to a default surface group. You will work with groups later in this tutorial to
create new groups, set flow parameters, add geometric components, and set meshing parameters.
Figure 425:

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.467
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum, and Water, with standard parameters
defined. In the next steps you will verify that the pre-defined material properties of air and water match
the desired properties for this problem.
Figure 426:
AcuConsole.
3. In the Density tab, check the following:
a) The Type is set to Constant.
3
b) The Density value is 1.225 kg/m .
-5
5. Double-click Water in the Data Tree to open the detail panel.
3
b) The Density value is 1000 kg/m .
7. Click the Viscosity tab. The viscosity of water is 0.001 kg/m – sec.
may browse through the tabs to check the complete material specification
following methods.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.468
• Click Ctrl+S.
Setting the Multifield Parameters
When Multifield is activated in the Problem Description, by selecting a Multifield equation, AcuConsole
automatically generates the necessary set of parameters required to complete the multifield model
definition. These include defining the fields in the model, and also specifying the interaction models
between the fields.
In this section you will go through and observe the multifield parameters for the simulation as
generated by AcuConsole.
1. Define the fields:

a) Click on ALL in the Data Tree Manager to display all available simulation settings.
b) Expand the Multifield Parameters Data Tree item.
c) Under Field, double-click Air. Check that the Material model is set to Air.
d) Double-click Water. Check that the Material model is set to Water.
2. Define the Field Interaction Model:
a) Under Multifield Parameters, expand the Field Interaction Model item.
b) Double-click Air-Water to open the detail panel.
c) Click Open Refs next to Fields 1.
d) Check that the entry in the Reference Editor is Air.
e) Click Open Refs next to Fields 2.
f) Check that the entry in the Reference Editor is Water.
g) Set the Surface tension model to None.
h) Set the Interface thickness option to Auto.
3. Define the Multi Field Model:
a) Under Multifield Parameters, expand the Multi Field Model item.
b) Double-click Air-Water to open the detail panel.
c) Click Open Refs next to Field interaction models.
d) Check that the entry in the Reference Editor is Air-Water.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.469
The body force commands add volumetric source terms to the governing conservation equations. In
this tutorial, gravitational body force will be applied to the fluid fields. Gravity will be defined as equal
to standard gravity (g = 9.81 m/s2) along the negative Y-axis, which is the downward direction in the
model.
Figure 427:
2. Double-click on Gravity to open the Gravity detail panel.

2
Defining Nodal Outputs

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.470
The nodal output command specifies the nodal output parameters, for example, output frequency and
number of saved states.
1. Expand the Output tree, then double-click Nodal Output to open the Nodal Output detail
panel.
This will save the nodal outputs at every time step.
3. Set Output initial condition to On.
This will instruct the solver to write the initial state of the problem as the first output file.
4. Make sure that the Number of saved states is set to 0.
Setting this option to zero will instruct the solver to save all of the solution state files.
Figure 428:
2. Set the Pressure initial condition type to Script.
3. Click Open text next to Pressure script to open the text editor.
4. Enter the following script in the text editor:
value = 0.0
if (x<0.05715 and y<0.05715): value=9.81*1000.0*(0.05715-y)
This script will set the pressure initial condition in the domain. The region where x < 0.05715
and y < 0.05715 represents the region where the water column is initially held, bound by the
dam walls. Within this region, the pressure is defined by the hydrostatic pressure level within the
water column. For all other nodes in the domain, the pressure is set to zero. At these nodes, the
pressure value represents the atmospheric pressure.
5. Click Ok to close the text editor.

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6. In the Select fluid field, select Water.

7. Set Water initial condition type to Script.
8. Click Open Text next to Water volume fraction script to open the text editor.
value = 0.0
if (x<0.05715 and y<0.05715): value=1.0
This script will set the initial volume fraction of the field water in the domain. For the nodes where
x < 0.05715 and y < 0.05715 (the region occupied by the water column), the volume fraction
of water will be set to 1. For all other nodes, the volume fraction of water will be set to zero. At
these nodes, the volume fraction of air will be 1, as the sum of volume fractions of the field should
always be unity.
container.

2. Right-click on Surfaces and click Display off to turn off the display of surfaces.
the volume name.

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a) Right-click on default.
b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Fluid as the new name and click Enter.
you press Enter on your keyboard. If you move the input focus away from the
item without entering it, your changes will be lost.

a) Expand Fluid in the Data Tree.
b) Double-click Element Set under Fluid to open it in the detail panel.
c) For Medium, select Multi Field.
d) For Multi field model, select Air-Water.
e) For Body force, select Gravity.
Figure 429:
boundary conditions, mesh parameters, and so on, which can sometimes be cumbersome (especially
for models with too many surfaces). To make it easier, less error prone, and for saving time two new

AcuSolve Tutorials
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some features of the Surface Manager are exploited.
1. In the Data Tree, right-click on Volumes and select Display off to turn off the display of
volumes.
2. Right-click on Surfaces and select Surface Manager.
Note: If you cannot see the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, click
Columns, select these two columns from the list, and click Ok.
4. Turn the display off for all surfaces except for default surface.
Figure 430:

Done.

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Figure 431:
When the geometry was loaded into AcuConsole, all geometry surfaces were placed in the
default surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to sides. In the
previous steps, you assigned some surfaces to various other surface groups that you created.
At this point, all that is left in the sides surface group are the surfaces which make up the
sides of the reservoir.

2. Set up the sides surface parameters:
a) In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the sides surface group.

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.475
to be generated.
b) Click Absolute.
Figure 432:
Surface mesh parameters are applied to a specific surface in the model. It is a type of local meshing
Local mesh parameters such as surface mesh parameters are not mandatory to be set. When a
local mesh parameter is not found for a component, the global parameters will be used as the mesh
generation control for that component. If a local mesh parameter is present, it will take precedence
over the global setting.
In the current model, any local mesh parameters specific to a surface entity are not required.

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Figure 433:

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Generating the Mesh
problem.

Figure 434:

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No TOC

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Running AcuSolve

problem.

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Figure 435:

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.481

with mesh.
Figure 436:


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Figure 437:

c) Click Close.
4.
7.
Your display should look similar to figure 1.
Figure 438:

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Coordinating the Surface Showing Water-Air Interface on the Mid Coordinate

Surface
boundary surfaces.
3. For the new set:
a) Turn on the visibility.
b) Set the Display Type to Outlines.
c) For Boundary Types, select All.
4. Click Ok.
5.
10. For Scalar Function, select volume_fraction-Water.
11. In the Colormap tab, set the maximum and minimum threshold values to 0.501 and 0.499
respectively.
Your view should be similar to Figure 439.
Figure 439:
Visualizing the Animation of the Water Flow

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.484

2. From the Tools menu, select Flipbook Build Mode.
3. In the Flipbook Size Warning window, click OK to close it.
4. Click Tools > Transient Data.
The Transient Data Controls dialog opens.
If the Sweep Control in this dialog says Sweep instead of Build, the Flipbook Build Mode is not active.
In Sweep mode, you will be able to create and visualize the animation but you will not be able to save
it. To be able to save the animation, enable the Flipbook Build Mode.
5. Drag the time step slider to its leftmost position. Alternatively, enter zero in the Time Step or
Solution Time box.
6. Click Apply.
The displayed state now corresponds to the initial state of the domain.
Figure 440:
7. Click Build.
AcuFieldView will now build the frame-by-frame animation of the solution progressing through all
the available time steps. You will be able to see the progress in the Building Flipbook dialog.
Once the Build process is complete, a Flipbook Controls dialog will appear.
8. In the Flipbook Controls dialog, click Frame Rate.
9. For Minimum time, enter 0.1 seconds and click Close.
10.
Click Play to play the animation.
11. To save the animation, click Pause , and then click Save.
12. Provide a file name in the Flipbook File Save dialog, and click Save.

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4.1.5 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a multiphase flow problem. The problem
simulated a dam break scenario. A column of water initially held in place by walls in one end of the
reservoir is let free to flow at the start of the simulation. You started the tutorial by creating a database
in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the geometry, and setting up the simulation parameters. Air and
water are modelled as different fields occupying a single volume. Once the case was setup, the solution
was generated with AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView where you generated an
animation of the water flow as it surges once the walls restricting the water column are removed.
New features that were introduced in this tutorial include: setting up a multiphase flow simulation in
AcuSolve with two fluids.

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4.2 ACU-4001: Water Filling in a Tank
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a transient
simulation of a two-phase flow in a square tank using the level set model. In this simulation, AcuSolve
is used to compute the time-varying water-level interface due to presence of water through the inlet
and the outlet of the tank. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number of modeling concept
necessary to perform two-phase simulations.
• Two-phase flow solution
• Use of a script for the water volume fraction initialization
• Post-processing with AcuFieldView
Prerequisites
Extract tank2D.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

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velocity).
In general, multiphase flows are mainly observed in real life environment, consisting of two or more
fluids (gas, liquid, or solid). They have possible combinations of gas-liquid (dissolved gas), liquid-liquid
(oil in water), liquid-solid (immersed particles), as well as gas-liquid-solid. The first two are examples
of two-phase immiscible flows. The two-phase immiscible flows can be solved by tracking the interface
between the two-phases. This tutorial will guide you through how to set up the two-phase flow problem
using the level set method.
Figure 1 shows a schematic of the half-filled water tank at time t = 0. From t = 0 onwards, water is
injected through the inlet, at a velocity of 1.5 m/s. As the water fills in through the inlet, the water-air
interface can be visualized in a transient simulation.

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Starting AcuConsole
settings.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Tank_Filling and open it.
5. Enter tankFilling_2D as the file name for the database.

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Figure 442:
Figure 443:
the context menu.
4. Enter AcuSolve Multiphase Tutorial as the Title.

5. Enter Tank Filling 2D as the Sub title.
7. Toggle on Show beta features to access multiphase equation.

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4 Multiphase p.491
Note: Once this option is toggled on, the "Level Set" in the Multiphase equation
pull down list is displayed. The additional multiphase model, VOF (Volume of Fluids)
approach, will be introduced in a later release.
8. Ensure Multiphase equation is set to Level Set.
Figure 444:
4. Set the Final time to 3.0 secs.
5. Set the Initial time increment to 0.01 secs.
When setting up a transient analysis, if the Max time steps option is set to zero, this option is
ignored. In such a case, the Final time must be specified. AcuSolve will then run until this final
time is reached, incrementing with the specified initial time increment at each time step.
6. Check that the Convergence tolerance is set to 0.001.

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8. Set the Relaxation factor to 0.

9. Check that Flow and Multifluid flags are turned On.
10. Change Fluid 1 to Water.
11. Change Fluid 2 to Air.
Figure 445:

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tank2D.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the geometry in

2. Browse to the directory containing tank2D.x_t.
4. Click tank2D.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
Figure 446:

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Figure 447:
defined. In the next steps you will verify that the pre-defined material properties of air and water match

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 448:
AcuConsole.
3
b) The Density value is 1.225 kg/m .
-5
5. Double-click Water in the Data Tree to open the detail panel.
3
b) The Density value is 1000 kg/m .
may browse through the tabs to check the complete material specification
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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Setting the Multifield Parameters
In this section you will define the multifield parameters for the simulation. These include defining the
fields in the model, and also specifying the interaction models between the fields.
1. Define the fields:

a) Click on ALL in the Data Tree Manager to display all available simulation settings.
b) Expand the Multifield Parameters Data Tree item.
c) Under Field, double-click Air. Check that the Material model is set to Air.
d) Double-click Water. Check that the Material model is set to Water.
2. Define the Field Interaction Model:
a) Under Multifield Parameters, expand the Field Interaction Model item.
b) Right-click on Air-Water and click Delete.
c) Double-click Water-Air to open the detail panel.
d) Click Open Refs next to Fields 1.
e) Check that the entry in the Reference Editor is Water.
f) Click Open Refs next to Fields 2.
g) Check that the entry in the Reference Editor is Air.
h) Set the Surface tension model to None.
i) Set the Thickness type to Auto.
3. Define the Multi Field Model:
a) Under Multifield Parameters, expand the Multi Field Model item.
b) Right-click on Air-Water and select Delete.
c) Double-click Water-Air to open the detail panel.
d) Click Open Refs next to Field interaction models.
e) Check that the entry in the Reference Editor is Water-Air.

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The body force commands add volumetric source terms to the governing conservation equations. In
this tutorial, gravitational body force will be applied to the fluid fields. Gravity will be defined as equal
to standard gravity (g = 9.81 m/s2) along the negative Y-axis, which is the downward direction in the
model.
Figure 449:
2. Double-click on Gravity to open the Gravity detail panel.

2

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4 Multiphase p.498
panel.
This will save the nodal outputs at every time step.
Figure 450:
2. In the Select Fluid field, select Water from the drop-down selector menu.
3. Set the Water initial condition type to Script.
4. Click Open text next to Water volume fraction script to open the text editor.
value = 0.0
if y <= 0.0 : value = 1.0
The script above will set the initial volume fraction of the field water in the domain. For the nodes
where y <= 0.0 (bottom half of the domain), the volume fraction of water will be set to 1. For all
other nodes (top half of the domain), the volume fraction of water will be set to zero. At these
nodes, the volume fraction of air will be 1, as the sum of volume fractions of the field should
always be unity.

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container.

2. Right-click on Surfaces and click Display off to turn off the display of surfaces.
the volume name.

a) Right-click on default.
b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Fluid as the new name and click Enter
you press Enter on your keyboard. If you move the input focus away from the

a) Expand Fluid in the Data Tree.
b) Double-click Element Set under Fluid to open it in the detail panel.
c) For Medium, select Multi Field.
d) For Multi field model, select Water-Air.

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e) For Body force, select Gravity.
Figure 451:
No TOC

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4.2.4 Assigning Surface Parameters
boundary conditions, mesh parameters, and so on, which can sometimes be cumbersome (especially
for models with too many surfaces). To make it easier, less error prone, and for saving time two new
some features of the Surface Manager are exploited.
1. In the Data Tree, right-click on Volumes and select Display off to turn off the display of
volumes.
2. Right-click on Surfaces and select Surface Manager.
3. In the Surface Manager dialog, click New four times to create four new surface groups.
Note: If you cannot see the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, click
Columns, select these two columns from the list, and click Ok.
4. Turn the display off for all surfaces except for default surface.

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Figure 452:

Done.

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Figure 453:
7. Assign the surface with the maximum x-coordinate to inlet surface group.
8. Assign the surface with the minimum x-coordinate to outlet surface group.
Use the following figure as the reference for selecting the required surfaces.

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4 Multiphase p.504
Figure 454:
surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to sides. In the previous steps,
that is left in the sides surface group are the surfaces which make up the sides of the reservoir.
Inlet
As mentioned earlier, the inlet in this problem is a water inlet with inlet velocity set as 1.5 m/s.
1. In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the inlet surface.

3. Check that the Type is set to Inflow.
4. Check that the Inflow Type is set to Velocity.
5. Set the Inflow velocity type to Normal from the drop down selector menu.
6. Set the Normal velocity to 1.5 m/s.

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7. Set the Incoming fluid field to Water from the drop down selector menu.
Figure 455:
Outlet
1. In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the outlet surface.

3. Check that the Type is set to Outflow.
4. Switch the Hydrostatic pressure flag to On.
5. Click Open Array next to Hydrostatic pressure origin to check that the origin location is at (0, 0,
0)
Figure 456:

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.506
Wall
1. In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the wall surface.

Figure 457:
z_pos and z_neg
1. In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, expand the z_pos surface.

3. Check that the Type is set to Slip.
4. Similarly, check that the Simple Boundary Condition type for z_neg is also set to Slip.

AcuSolve Tutorials
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to be generated.
5. Set Absolute mesh size to 0.12.
Figure 458:
Surface mesh parameters are applied to a specific surface in the model. It is a type of local meshing
Local mesh parameters such as surface mesh parameters are not mandatory to be set. When a
local mesh parameter is not found for a component, the global parameters will be used as the mesh
generation control for that component. If a local mesh parameter is present, it will take precedence
over the global setting.

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In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes for the wall surface group.

2. Under Model, expand Surfaces > wall.
3. Click Surface Mesh Attributes to open the detail panel.
The detail panel becomes populated with more options.
6. Switch the Curvature refinement parameters flag to On.
Mesh controls related to curvature refinement will be visible now. These settings are applied to
resolve curved geometric features in the surface group.
7. Set the Curvature angle to 5.0 degrees.
This setting controls the maximum value of the included angle between the two mesh edges
protruding from the surface.
8. Set the Curvature mesh size factor to 0.2.
This setting is used to determine the minimum value of the mesh edge length used to resolve
curved features. This minimum value is computed by multiplying the Absolute or Relative mesh
size with the Curvature mesh size factor.
In the last section, it was mentioned that surface mesh attributes are local mesh attributes that are
applied to a specific surface. Similarly, there is a provision for edge mesh attributes that are local to a
specific edge in the model. However, at times it is desired to specify a mesh attribute local to a region
independent of the CAD entities in the model. This can be achieved using Zone Mesh Attributes. It
is possible to specify a zone in the shape of a box, cylinder or a sphere for example, with local mesh
control attributes to be used within that zone. Wherever this zone overlaps the CAD model, the zonal
mesh attributes will be used instead of the global mesh attributes.

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In the following steps, you will define a mesh refinement zone, and set up the zonal mesh attributes for
it to be used in the model. A box-shaped refinement zone will be used in the region where a water-air
interface is expected.
2. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Free surface region.
3. Double-click Free surface region to open the detail panel.
4. Change the Mesh zone type to Box.
6. Enter the values in the Array Editor as shown below and click OK.
Figure 459:
7. In the detail panel, set the Box lengths as follows:

a) Box length X: 1.0 m.
b) Box length Y: 0.75 m.
c) Box length Z: 0.01 m.
8. Set the Mesh size to 0.015 m

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 460:
Figure 461:

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 462:
Generating the Mesh
problem.

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 463:

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4 Multiphase p.513
No TOC

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Running AcuSolve

problem.
This tutorial shows you how to work with transient analysis data.

with mesh.
with mesh.

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 464:

Figure 465:

AcuSolve Tutorials
4 Multiphase p.516

c) Click Close.
4.
7.
Your display should look similar to figure 1.
Figure 466:
Coordinating the Surface Showing Water-Air Interface on the Mid Coordinate

Surface
boundary surfaces.
3. For the new set:
a) Turn on the visibility.

AcuSolve Tutorials
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b) Set the Display Type to Outlines.

c) For Boundary Types, select All.
4. Click Ok.
5.
10. For Scalar Function, select volume_fraction-Water.
11. In the Colormap tab, set the maximum and minimum threshold values to 0.501 and 0.499
respectively.
Your view should be similar to Figure 467.
Figure 467:

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Visualizing the Animation of the Water Flow

2. From the Tools menu, select Flipbook Build Mode.
3. In the Flipbook Size Warning window, click OK to close it.
If the Sweep Control in this dialog says Sweep instead of Build, the Flipbook Build Mode is not active.
In Sweep mode, you will be able to create and visualize the animation but you will not be able to save
it. To be able to save the animation, enable the Flipbook Build Mode.
5. Drag the time step slider to its leftmost position. Alternatively, enter zero in the Time Step or
Solution Time box.
6. Click Apply.
Figure 468:
7. Click Build.
AcuFieldView will now build the frame-by-frame animation of the solution progressing through all
the available time steps. You will be able to see the progress in the Building Flipbook dialog.
Once the Build process is complete, a Flipbook Controls dialog will appear.

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8. In the Flipbook Controls dialog, click Frame Rate.

9. For Minimum time, enter 0.1 seconds and click Close.
10.
Click Play to play the animation.
11. To save the animation, click Pause , and then click Save.
12. Provide a file name in the Flipbook File Save dialog, and click Save.
No TOC

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4.2.7 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a multiphase flow problem. The problem
simulated a square shaped water tank in which water is being injected through an inlet. The tank also
has an open outlet. As the water fills in through the inlet, the air-water interface in the tank can be
visualized. You started the tutorial by creating a database in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the
geometry, and setting up the simulation parameters. Air and water are modelled as different fields
occupying a single volume. Once the case was setup, the solution was generated with AcuSolve. Results
were post-processed in AcuFieldView where you generated an animation of the water flow. New features
that were introduced in this tutorial include: setting up a multiphase flow simulation in AcuSolve with
two fluids.

Moving Body 5
5 Moving Body
• 5.1 ACU-5000: Blower - Steady (Rotating Frame) (p. 522)

• 5.2 ACU-5001: Blower - Transient (Sliding Mesh) (p. 564)
• 5.3 ACU-5100: Modeling of Fan_Component: Axial Fan (p. 606)
• 5.4 ACU-5200: Rigid-Body Dynamics of a Check Valve (p. 645)
• 5.5 ACU-5201: Coupled Simulation of a Check Valve using AcuSolve and MotionSolve (p. 701)
• 5.6 ACU-5300: Ship Hull Static (p. 757)
• 5.7 ACU-5301: Ship Hull Dynamics (p. 800)
• 5.8 ACU-5400: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester: A Fluid-Structure Interaction (P-FSI) (p. 826)
• 5.9 ACU-5401: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester - PFSI & IMM (p. 881)
• 5.10 ACU-5402: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester with Rigid Body Rotation (p. 936)
AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.522
5.1 ACU-5000: Blower - Steady (Rotating Frame)
of a centrifugal air blower utilizing reference frames. In this simulation, AcuSolve is used to compute
the motion of fluid due to the rotation of the impeller blades as well as the resulting pressure drop
created between the inlet and outlet after the blades have been rotating for a long time. This tutorial is
designed to introduce you to a number of modelling concepts necessary to perform simulations that use
multiple reference frames.
• Rotating reference frame
• Assigning of reference frame to volume and surface sets
• Post-processing using user function with AcuProbe
• Post-processing the nodal output with AcuFieldView to get pressure and velocity fields.
Prerequisites
Extract Centrifugal_Blower.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

AcuSolve Tutorials
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consists of a centrifugal blower with a wheel of backward curved blades, and a housing with inlet and
outlet ducts. The fluid through the inlet plane enters the hub of the blade wheel, radially accelerates
due to centrifugal force as it flows over the blades, and then exits the blower housing through the outlet
plane. Because of relatively cheaper and simpler than axial fans, centrifugal blowers have been widely
used in HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) systems of buildings.
The diameter of the inlet plane is 0.1 m and the length of the inlet duct is 0.15 m. The housing width is
0.1 m and the radius of the housing from the blade wheel hub varies from 0.113 to 0.18 m.

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Figure 469: Schematic of Centrifugal Blower
The fan blades have a mean chord length and width of 0.05 m. The maximum thickness of the blades
is 0.003 m. The fan blades have an angular velocity of -1500 RPM. The negative sign describes the
direction of the angular velocity vector which in this case is in the –Z direction (clockwise rotation).

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Figure 470: Schematic of Fan Blades
The boundary condition at the inlet is taken as stagnation pressure rather than mass flow rate so that
AcuSolve calculates mass flow rates and pressure rise based on impeller rotation.
3
The fluid in this problem is air, which has a density (ρ) of 1.225 kg/m and a viscosity (μ) of 1.781 X
-5
10 kg/m-sec.
provide approximately 16 elements around the circumference of the inlet which results in a mesh size
of 0.02 m. Note that higher mesh densities are required where velocity, pressure and eddy viscosity

AcuSolve Tutorials
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gradients are larger. In this application, the flow will accelerate as it passes through radial flow paths
between the fan blades. This leads to the higher gradients that need finer mesh resolution. Proper
boundary layer parameters need to be set to keep the y+ near the wall surface to a reasonable level.
The mesh density used in this tutorial is coarse and is intended to illustrate the process of setting up the
model and to retain a reasonable run time. A significantly higher mesh density is needed to achieve a
grid converged solution.
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the mass flow rate at the outlet and the
pressure drop across the inlet and outlet. These parameters define the performance characteristics.
Starting AcuConsole
loading the geometry, creating groups, setting group parameters, adding geometry components to
mesh and run AcuSolve to compute the steady state solution. Finally, you will visualize the results using
AcuFieldView.
settings.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Blower_MRF_Steady and open it.
5. Enter Blower_MRF_Steady as the file name for the database.

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 471:
Figure 472:

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.528
the context menu.

5. Enter Centrifugal Blower - Reference Frame as the Sub title.
6. Accept the default Analysis type as Steady State.
7. Change the Turbulence equation to Spalart Allmaras.
a) Click the Turbulence equation drop-down menu.
Figure 473:
the solution.
3. Set the Max time steps as 100.

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The relaxation factor is used to improve convergence of the solution. Typically, a value between
defined. In the next steps you will verify that the pre-defined material properties of air match the
desired properties for this problem.
Figure 474:
AcuConsole.
3. Click the Density tab. The density of air is 1.225 kg/m3.
-5
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.531
Centrifugal_Blower.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the
geometry in Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing Centrifugal_Blower.x_t.
4. Click Centrifugal_Blower.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.

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Figure 475:

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Figure 476:
Creating a Reference Frame
A reference frame is used to specify a rotating frame of reference. When specified for a volume set
in domain, the elements in that volume set are assumed to be solved in the given rotating reference
frame and rotational body forces are added for that volume set. In this tutorial, the fluid region near the
impeller blades is assigned a rotating reference frame.
In the next steps you will create a reference frame.
1. Click PB* in the Data Tree Manager to display all the available settings related to general problem
setup in the Data Tree.
3. Right-click Reference Frame and click New to create a new reference frame.
4. Rename the new reference frame.
a) Right-click Reference Frame 1.
b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Impeller_RF.
5. Double-click Impeller_RF to open the detail panel.
6. Click the Open Array button next to Rotation center to open the Array Editor.

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7. Enter 0.05 as the Z-coordinate.
Figure 477:

9. In the detail panel, click the Open Array button next to Angular velocity to open the Array
Editor.
10. Change the units to RPM and enter -1500 in the Z-component field.
Note: The negative sign specifies the clockwise direction of rotation. Note that the
rotation direction is determined using the “right-hand rule”.
Figure 478:

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container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group container, assign the materials for that
group, and set mesh motion for the fluid volume.
the volume name.
4. Create a new volume group.

b) Click New.
5. Rename the new volume group to Fluid_main.
volume group container. At this point, all the volume in the default volume group is the flow region.
Rather than create a new container, add the flow volume in the geometry to it, and then delete the
default volume container, you will rename the container and modify the parameters for this group.
6. Rename the default volume group to Fluid_Impeller.
7. Check that the material model for the volumes is set as Air.
a) Double click Element Set under Fluid_Main to open it in the detail panel.
b) Ensure that the Material model is set to Air.
8. Repeat the steps for Fluid_Impeller.
9. Assign the reference frame Impeller_RF to Fluid Impeller.
a) In the detail panel, click the drop down arrow for the Reference frame field and select
Impeller_RF.

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Figure 479:

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5.1.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Boundary

Conditions
Surface groups are containers used for storing information about a surface or a set of surfaces. This
information includes the list of geometric surfaces associated with the container, as well as attributes
such as boundary conditions, surface outputs and mesh sizing information.
characteristics of the problem and add surfaces to the group containers.
• Inlet
• Outlet
• Walls
• Interface
• Fan Blades
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the inlet, assign the appropriate settings, and add
the inlet from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Collapse Volumes in the Data Tree.

3. Rename the new surface to Inlet.
4. Expand Inlet in the Data Tree.
7. Change the Inflow type to Stagnation Pressure.
8. Change the Turbulent input type to Viscosity Ratio.
This allows you to automatically compute the eddy viscosity value based on the material model
and the ratio of the turbulent to molecular viscosity.
9. Set the Turbulence viscosity ratio to 10.

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Figure 480:
10. Add geometry to the Inlet group.

a) In the tree, right-click on Inlet and select Add to.
b) Click on the inlet face on the model.
At this point, the inlet should be highlighted grey.
Figure 481:

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Tip: You can also use the middle mouse button to complete the addition of
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the outlet, assign the appropriate settings, and add
the outlet from the geometry to the surface group.

2. Rename the new surface to Outlet.
3. Expand Outlet in the Data Tree.
Figure 482:
6. Add geometry to the Outlet surface container.

a) In the tree, right-click on Outlet and select Add to.
b) Click on the outlet face on the model.
At this point, the outlet should be highlighted grey.

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Figure 483:
c) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Outlet surface group.
Setting Parameters for the Walls
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the walls, assign the appropriate settings, and add

2. Rename the new surface to Walls.
3. Expand Walls in the Data Tree.
6. Add geometric faces to the Wall group.
a) In the tree, right-click on Walls and select Add to.
b) Select all the wall surfaces.
At this point, the wall surfaces should be highlighted grey.

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Figure 484:
Figure 485:

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c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Walls surface container.
Setting Parameters for the Interface
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the Interface, assign the appropriate settings, and
add the Interface surfaces from the geometry to the surface group.
Note: Internal surfaces in AcuConsole are handled in a special manner. At import

time, AcuConsole creates two identical copies of the surface. One copy of the surface
is associated with each volume. This allows you to control meshing parameters
independently on each side of the surface. When assigning boundary conditions to internal
surfaces, it is important to remember that there are two sides of the surface that need
to be dealt with. When selecting an internal surface, the side corresponding to the outer
volume is the first pick target that is encountered when both faces are visible. The inner
surface can be selected directly by changing the display of the outer surface.
1. Turn off the display of the Inlet, Outlet, and Walls surfaces.
3. Rename the new surface to Interface.
4. Expand Interface in the Data Tree.
5. Turn off the Simple Boundary Condition by unchecking the box next to it.
Figure 486:

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6. Add geometry surfaces Interface group.

a) In the tree, right-click on Interface and select Add to.
b) Select all the surfaces on the interface.
c) Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the Walls surface container.
Figure 487:
7. Turn off the display for the interface.
There are two sets of surfaces for the interface which belong to different volume sets. In this case
they can be moved into the same surface group.
8. Right-click Interface and click Add to.
9. Select the remaining interface surfaces.
10. Click Done to associate this geometry surface with the surface settings of the Interface group.
Note: Note that no boundary conditions are applied to this surface at this point. The
grouping operation was performed to identify that these surfaces are internal and
that flow will be allowed to pass through them freely. These surfaces can still be used
for output purposes, however.
Setting Parameters for the Fan Blades

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In the next steps you will define a surface group for the Fan_Blades, assign the appropriate settings,
and add the fan blades from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Rename the default surface to Fan_Blades.

2. Expand Fan_Blades in the Data Tree.
The default Type for a default surface is Wall.
4. Set the Reference frame as Impeller_RF.
Figure 488:

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the model.
applied to volume groups, surface groups, or edge groups
In the next steps you will set the global mesh attributes. In subsequent steps you will set the surface
meshing attributes.
6. Set the Maximum sweep angle as 30.0 degrees.
This option allows you to set the maximum sweep angle for edge blend meshing on a global basis
which creates a radial array of elements around sharp edges to provide better resolution of the
flow features. The sweep angle is used to control how many degrees each radial division spans.

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Figure 489:
size on the surface groups that you created earlier. Specifically, you will set local meshing attributes that
control the growth of boundary layer elements normal to the surfaces of the walls and fan blades.
• Walls
• Fan Blades
Setting Surface Mesh Parameters for the Walls
size near the walls. The mesh size on the wall will be inherited from the global mesh size that was
defined earlier. The settings that follow will only control the growth of the boundary layer from the
walls.

2. Under the Model branch, expand Surfaces, and then expand Walls.
walls.

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When Boundary layer type is set to Full Control, the First layer height, Number of layers and the
Growth rate are specified. Boundary layer elements will be grown until the mesh size of the top
layer matches the mesh size of the volume into which the boundary layer elements are grown.
Option Description
Growth rate 1.3
Number of layers 3
Boundary layer bends flag On
Maximum sweep angle 15.0
Figure 490:

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Setting Surface Mesh Parameters for the Fan Blades
1. Under Fan Blades, click the checkbox next to Surface Mesh Attributes to enable the settings
and open the Surface Mesh Attributes detail panel.
3. Enter 0.005 m as the Absolute mesh size.
6. Set the Resolve field to Total Layer Height.
Option Description
First element height 0.001 m
Growth rate 1.3
Number of layers 3
Figure 491:

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Generating the Mesh
problem.

Figure 492:


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Figure 493:
4. Visualize the mesh in the modeling window. For the purposes of this tutorial, the following steps
lead to the display of inlet, outlet, walls and fan blades.
5. Right-click Volumes in the Data Tree and click Display off.
6. Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree and click Display on.

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7. Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree, select Display type and click solid & wire.
9. Right-click on the model and select cut plane visualization to view the mesh near the fan
blades.
Figure 495: Mesh Details Near the Fan Blades

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Running AcuSolve
Figure 496:
2. Enter 4 for Number of processors, if your system has 4 or more processors.


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Based on these settings, AcuConsole will generate the AcuSolve input files and then launch the
solver.
window.
Figure 497:

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1.
2. In the Data browser on the left, expand Residual Ratio. Right-click Final and select Plot All.
display the plot.
Figure 498:
After AcuSolve has finished running, a summary of the solution process showing the “End Time
Step” data indicates that the simulation has been completed.
The pressure rise between the Inlet and Outlet can be viewed using a User Function at the end of
simulation using AcuProbe.
1.
In the AcuProbe window, double click on .
2. Enter the name in the User Function window as Pres_Rise.

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3. In the function window, type P_Outlet =.

4. Double-click Surface Outputs to expand the tree.
5. Double-click Outlet to expand the tree.
6. Right-click on Pressure and click Copy Name.
7. Paste the value in the function window for Outlet pressure.
8. Repeat steps 5 - 7 for Inlet pressure.
9. Type value = P_Outlet – P_Inlet.
Figure 499:
10. Click Apply to display the plot.
display the plot.

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Figure 500:
AcuFieldView is based on a third-party post-processing tool that has been tightly integrated toAcuSolve.
AcuFieldView can be started directly from AcuConsole, or it can be started from the Start menu, or
from a command line. In this tutorial you will start AcuFieldView from AcuConsole after the solution is
calculated by AcuSolve.

Viewing the Boundary Surface Showing Pressure for the Outer Surfaces with
Mesh

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Figure 501:
2. Click axis markers to disable them.

3. Uncheck Perspective to disable perspective view.
4. Close the Viewer Options dialog.
5. Orient the geometry so you can see inlet, outlet and wall surfaces as shown in Figure 502.
6. In the Boundary Surfaces dialog, ensure that Pressure is selected as the Scalar function.
7. In the BOUNDARY TYPES list, select the inlet, outlet and wall surfaces from boundary types.
8. Click on the Colormap tab and check Local to display the local range of values of pressure for the
selected surfaces.
a) In the Boundary Surface dialog, click the Legend tab.
d) In the Color group, next to Geometric, click the white color swatch, and then select the black
color swatch to set the color for the legend values to black.

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Figure 502:
Viewing the Boundary Surface Showing Velocity Magnitude for the Impeller
Blades
1. In the Boundary surfaces dialog, click the Surface tab and set Coloring to geometric.
2. Click the color swatch, and select grey.
3. Uncheck the Show Mesh option to turn off the mesh display.
4. Set the transparency to 62.5%.
5. Click Create to create a new boundary surface.
6. From the BOUNDARY TYPES list, select fan blades and click OK.
7. For Scalar function, select velocity magnitude and click Calculate.
8. Change the Coloring to scalar.
9. Set transparency to 0.
10. On the Colormap tab, turn on local .
11. On the Legends tab, click Show Legend.

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12. Orient the geometry so you can see the contour on the impeller blades properly.
13. Turn off the legend for boundary surface 2.
Coordinating the Surface Showing Velocity Magnitude on the Mid Coordinate

Surface
1.
Click the Coordinate surfaces icon to open the Coordinate Surface dialog.
2. Click Create to create a new surface.
3. Set the new surface at the mid –Z coordinate surface.
4. In the Coord Plane fields, enter 0.05 as the Current value.
This is the z coordinate for the mid plane between the blower front and back walls.
5. Change the DISPLAY TYPE to smooth.
6. Change the Coloring to scalar.
7. Select velocity magnitude as the scalar function to display.
8. Click the Colormap tab and change the coloring to local.
9. Turn on the legend to display the velocity magnitude values on the coordinate plane.
10. Orient the geometry to see the surfaces from both sides.

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Figure 503:

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Figure 504:

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5.1.7 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a steady state simulation with a rotating
reference frame in a centrifugal blower. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and generated
a solution using AcuSolve. AcuProbe was used to post-process the pressure rise in the blower. Results
were also post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create contour views for the pressure along
the walls and velocity magnitude on the mid coordinate surface of the blower as well as the impeller
blades. New features introduced in this tutorial include creating a rotating reference frame and creating
a user function in AcuProbe.

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5.2 ACU-5001: Blower - Transient (Sliding Mesh)
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a transient
simulation of a centrifugal air blower utilizing the sliding mesh approach. In this simulation, AcuSolve
is used to compute and visualize the motion of fluid in form of velocity field, streamlines and particle
path animations for three revolutions after the blower has been operating for a long time. This tutorial
is designed to introduce you to a number of modeling concepts necessary to perform simulations that
use the sliding mesh motion feature.
• Mesh motion
• Use of multiplier function to scale the time step size
• Assigning and meshing interface surfaces
• Mesh refinement
• Projection of steady state solution as the initial condition
• Post-processing using AcuFieldView to get velocity fields, streamlines and streaklines animation.
Prerequisites
In order to run this tutorial, you should have already run through the Centrifugal Blower - Steady
tutorial and kept the solution in your working directory. It is assumed that you have some familiarity
with AcuConsole, AcuSolve, and AcuFieldView. You will also need access to a licensed version of
AcuSolve 2017.2. In case you do not have the steady state results, prior to running through this
tutorial, copy Centrifugal_Blower_MRF_Steady.acs from <AcuSolve installation directory>
\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a working directory.

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consists of a centrifugal blower with backward curved blades.
The diameter of the inlet is 0.1 m and the length is 0.150 m. The scroll width is 0.1 m and the radius
varies from 0.113 m to 0.180 m.
Figure 505: Schematic of Centrifugal Blower
The fan blades have a mean chord length and width of 0.05 m. The maximum thickness of the blades is
0.003 m.

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Figure 506: Schematic of Fan Blades
To capture the dynamic motion of the impeller blades, the simulation has to be run as transient. The
converged steady state solution from the steady blower simulation is projected on the mesh and used
as the initial state for the transient simulation.
The simulation will be run to model 0.12 s of the flow, which would constitute three revolutions of the
fan blades with time step sizes scaled using a multiplier function.

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The multiplier function is chosen such that the impeller blades rotate at 10 degrees per time step for
the first revolution, then ramp down from 10 degrees per time step to 3 degrees per time step during
the second revolution and complete the third revolution at 3 degrees per time step.
Figure 507:
Note: Meaningful data should be taken after 2 or 3 revolutions as the initial conditions
are flushed out of the domain. The multiplier function is selected such that the simulation
completes in sufficient time for a tutorial exercise.
The time step size for the last revolution is based on prior investigations of a similar geometry, which
indicate that this time step size is small enough to capture the transient behavior of the flow. It should
be noted, however, that a time step size sensitivity study should always be performed to establish
appropriate time step size when analyzing a new application.
The CFD analysis of this problem offers detailed information about the flow through a centrifugal blower.
To investigate this behavior, it is necessary to select an appropriate set of boundary conditions to use.
There are two different methods that are commonly used. One approach is to specify the mass flow

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rate at the inlet of the blower and allow AcuSolve to compute the pressure drop, that is, flow forces
simulation. Another option is to specify the stagnation pressure at the inlet and allow AcuSolve to
compute the flow rate that results from this specified pressure change between the inlet and outlet.
The boundary conditions used in this example are the latter. That is, the inlet is taken as stagnation
pressure rather than mass flow rate so that AcuSolve calculates mass flow rates and pressure rise
based on impeller rotation.
3 -5
The fluid in this problem is air, which has a density of 1.225 kg/m and a viscosity of 1.781 X 10 kg/
m-s.
provide approximately 16 elements around the circumference of the inlet which results in a mesh size of
0.02 m.
Note that higher mesh densities are required where velocity, pressure, and eddy viscosity gradients are
larger. In this application, the flow will accelerate as it passes through radial flow paths between the
fan blades. This leads to the higher gradients that need finer mesh resolution. Proper boundary layer
parameters need to be set to keep the y+ near the wall surface to a reasonable level. The mesh density
used in this tutorial is coarse and is intended to illustrate the process of setting up the model and to
retain a reasonable run time. A significantly higher mesh density is needed to achieve a grid converged
solution.
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the velocity magnitude, stream – lines
and streak – lines animations as the blower goes through three revolutions of the impeller blades.

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Starting AcuConsole
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, and open a database that is set up for a steady state
simulation for the centrifugal blower using a rotating reference frame. You will then run AcuSolve to
calculate a steady state solution, view the results with AcuFieldView, and save the database for the
transient simulation.
2. Click File > Open and open Centrifugal_Blower_Sliding_Mesh.acs.
Figure 508:
3. Run AcuSolve to solve the steady state problem.

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a) Click on the toolbar to open the Launch AcuSolve dialog.

Based on these settings, AcuConsole will generate the AcuSolve input files, then launch the
solver. AcuSolve will run on four processors to calculate the steady state solution for this
problem.
b) Click Ok to start the solution process.
Figure 509:
As the solution progresses, an AcuTail dialog will open. Solution progress is reported in
this window. A summary of the solution process indicates that the simulation has been
completed. The information provided in the summary is based on the number of processors
used by AcuSolve. If you used a different number of processors than indicated in this tutorial,
the summary for your run may be slightly different than the summary shown.

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Viewing Steady State Results
1. The steady state flow field was calculated as the starting point for the transient simulation of
temperature. For instructions on visualising steady state results, refer to ACU-5000: Blower -
Steady (Rotating Frame).
The general parameters that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, transient analysis, and
mesh type as fully specified, which means that the motion is fully specified at the beginning of each
time step and hence no mesh equation needs to be solved.
Figure 510:

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Figure 511:
the context menu.

5. Enter Centrifugal Blower - Sliding Mesh as the Sub title.
8. Set the Mesh type to Fully Specified.
This option indicates that the simulation will contain a moving mesh, but the motion of the mesh
will be fully specified, that is, no differential equations will be solved to determine the deformation
of the elements. Since the mesh is undergoing a simple rotational motion, this option provides the
most efficient solution.

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Figure 512:
the solution.
AcuSolve will calculate the number of time steps based on the final time and the multiplier
function, which you will specify in the next section.
4. Set the Final time as 0.12.
5. Set the Initial time increment to 0.00111.
Note that for a transient analysis, the convergence tolerance corresponds to the tolerance that
the equations are converged to before proceeding to the next time step. However, since we
are performing a maximum of 2 iterations per step, the solver will be limited in the number of
iterations it can perform while attempting to reach this tolerance.
This setting determines the maximum number of iterations that will occur at each time step.

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The relaxation factor is used to improve convergence of the solution. The relaxation factor is used
to improve convergence of the solution. Typically a value between 0.2 and 0.4 provides a good
balance between achieving a smooth progression of the solution and the extra compute time
needed to reach convergence. When solving transient solutions, the relaxation factor should be set
to zero. A non-zero relaxation factor causes incremental updates of the solution, which will impact
the time accuracy of the solution for transient cases.
Figure 513:
Creating a Multiplier Function for the Time Increment
This is achieved through the use of a multiplier function. In this tutorial, the time steps sizes are scaled
against time to set up a robust solution.
In the next steps you will create a multiplier function for the time increment. The multiplier function is
chosen such that the impeller blades rotate at 10 degrees per time step for the first revolution (0 s–
0.04 s), then ramp down from 10 degrees per time step to 3 degrees per time step during the second
revolution (0.04 s – 0.08 s) and complete the third revolution at 3 degrees per time step (0.08 s – .12
s)
Data Tree Manager.

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2. In the Data Tree, under Global, right-click Multiplier Function and click New to create a new
b) Enter Time_Function.
Figure 514:
4. Double-click Time_Function to open the Time_Function detail panel.

This option indicates that you will enter an array of numbers that will be used by AcuSolve to
interpolate the value of the multiplier function at each time step. In this example, the curve fit is a
function of time.
Figure 515:
6. Add the curve-fit values for the large inlet temperature profile.
b) Enter the values shown as calculated earlier and shown in the following image.

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Figure 516:
7. Click Plot to expand the Array Editor dialog to display the plot of the curve fit values.
Note: You may need to expand the dialog by dragging the right edge in order to see
the plot.

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Figure 517:
Modifying the Advanced Solution Strategy Parameters
AcuSolve provides additional features to modify some advanced solution strategy attributes separately,
such as individual staggers (flow, mesh, turbulence, and so on), time increments, linear solver
parameters and many more. In this tutorial the time increment feature is turned on in order to scale the
time step sizes based on a multiplier function.
In the next steps you will work with the time increment feature under advanced solution strategy to
assign the multiplier function.
1. Double-click Advanced Solution Strategy to expand the tree.

2. Double-click Time Increment to display the Time Increment detail panel.
3. Turn on the Modify advanced settings option.
4. Check that the Initial time increment has been set as 0.00111.
5. In the Multiplier function drop-down menu, select Time_Function.

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Figure 518:
Creating the Mesh Motion
This command is used to simplify the specification of boundary conditions on mesh displacement and
it can be used to simulate the dynamic motion of a rigid body. In this tutorial, the fluid region near
the impeller blades is assigned a rotating mesh motion. The parameters defined for this would be the
angular speed of the impeller blades and the center of rotation of the motion.
In the next steps you will create a mesh motion.
1. Click ALE in the Data Tree Manager to see all the settings related to mesh motion.
3. Right-click Mesh Motion and click New to create a new mesh motion.
4. Rename the new mesh motion to Impeller_Motion.
5. Double-click Impeller_Motion to open the detail panel.
6. Set the Type to Rotation.
Figure 519:
7. Set the mesh motion parameters.

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a) Click Open Array next to Rotation center to open the Array Editor.
b) Enter 0.05 as the Z-coordinate.
This is the coordinate for the centre of the rotating fluid domain, that is, Fluid_Impeller.
c) Click OK to close the dialog.
d) Click Open Array next to Angular velocity to open the Array Editor.
e) Change the units to RPM and enter -1500 in the Z-component field.
The negative sign specifies the clockwise direction of rotation.
Note: The rotation direction is determined using the “right-hand rule”.
f) Click OK to close the dialog.
Setting the Nodal Output Frequency
The Nodal Output Frequency determines at what frequency or time interval the solution results would
be stored to be used for post processing within AcuFieldView.
1. Click OUT in the Data Tree Manager to filter the settings in the Data Tree to show only those
controls related to outputs written to the solution files.
2. Double-click Output to expand it.
3. Double-click Nodal Output.
a) Change the time step frequency to 3.
This setting will save results every 3 steps and will allow you to create an animation of the
results once the simulation is complete.
4. Set Output Initial Condition to On.
This writes the initial condition file.
Figure 520:

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Modifying Volume Parameters
1. Click PRB from the Data Tree Manager.

2. Expand Model, and then expand Volumes.
3. Assign the mesh motion Impeller_Motion to Fluid_Impeller.
a) Expand Fluid_Impeller.
b) Under Fluid_Impeller, double-click Element Set to open the Element Set detail panel.
c) Click the drop-down control next to Mesh motion and click Impeller_Motion.
This step assigns the mesh displacement boundary conditions specified by the Impeller
Motion mesh motion on all the nodes of Fluid_Impeller Element Set. All the nodes in the
Fluid_Impeller element set would be assigned the angular velocity and center of rotation
defined in the mesh motion.
4. Set the Reference frame as None.
Figure 521:
Modifying Surface Parameters

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In the next steps you will modify the parameters for:

• Fan Blades
• Interface
Modifying Parameters for the Fan Blades
In the next steps you will specify the mesh motion associated with fan blades.
1. Click BC from the Data Tree Manager.

2. Expand Surfaces.
3. Assign the mesh motion Impeller_Motion to Fan_Blades.
a) Expand Fan_Blades.
b) Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Fan_Blades to open the Simple Boundary
c) Click the Mesh motion drop-down menu and select Impeller_Motion.
This step assigns the center of rotation and angular velocity assigned to Impeller_Motion
mesh motion to the fan_blades surface.
4. Set the Reference frame as None.
Figure 522:
Modifying Parameters for the Interface
In the next steps you will assign Interface Surface properties to the Interface.

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The Interface acts as a sliding boundary and is used to connect pairs of elements that share
(approximately) the same surface but are not conformal. An Interface Surface allows the flow to pass
from one side of the surface to the other when the nodes are not connected to each other. This step
would become clear when you split the nodes on the interface surface in the later steps.
Note: Internal surfaces in AcuConsole are handled in a special manner. When a geometry
with internal surfaces is imported, AcuConsole creates two identical copies of the surface.
One copy of the surface is associated with each volume. This allows you to control
meshing parameters independently on each side of the surface. When assigning boundary
conditions to internal surfaces, it is important to remember that there are 2 sides of
the surface that need to be dealt with. When selecting an internal surface, the side
corresponding to the outer volume is the first pick target that is encountered when both
faces are visible. The inner surface can be selected directly by changing the display of the
outer surface.
2. Expand Model, and then expand Surfaces.
3. Activate Interface Surface for Interface.
a) Double-click Interface.
b) Check Interface Surface under Interface.
c) Double-click Interface Surface.
d) Set the Gap factor to 0.
Gap factor is non-dimensional (with respect to the length of an element face) maximum gap
allowed for two element faces to be in contact.
A gap factor of 0 means the maximum gap allowed is zero.
Figure 523:

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Setting Zone Meshing Attributes
In addition to setting meshing characteristics for the whole problem, you can assign meshing attributes
to a zone within the problem where you want to be able to resolve flow with a mesh that is more
refined than the global mesh. A zone mesh refinement can be created using basic shapes to control the
mesh size within that shape. These types of mesh refinement are used when refinement is needed in an
area that does not correspond to a geometric item.
In the following steps you will add mesh refinement in the zone around the impeller blades closest to
the housing wall as shown in figure 3.
2. Under Global, right-click Zone Mesh Attributes and then click New.
3. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Refine_1.
4. Double-click Refine_1 to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.
cylinder.
b) Enter the coordinate values as shown in the following image.
Figure 524:
c) Click OK to close the dialog.

7. In the detail panel, enter 0.05 m for the Radius.

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This radius is used to define a cylinder that encloses the gap in the modeled section near the
impeller blades and housing wall.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size provides at least 10 cells between the impeller and
the housing wall at their nearest distance.
Figure 525:
Setting Surface Meshing Parameters for the Interface
size near on the interface.

2. Expand Surfaces, and then expand Interface.

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5. Turn the Boundary layer flag option to On.
7. Enter the value 0.002 m for First element height.
9. Enter 1 for Number of layers.
10. Change the Boundary layer elements type to Mixed.
This is used to generate prism/hexahedral elements in the boundary layer.
Figure 526:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


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Figure 527:

During meshing an AcuTail window will open. Meshing progress is reported in this window.

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Figure 528:
3. Visualize the mesh in the modeling window. For the purposes of this tutorial, the following steps
lead to the display of inlet, outlet, walls and fan blades.
4. Right-click Volumes in the Data Tree and click Display off.
5. Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree and click Display on.
6. Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree, select Display type and click solid & wire.

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8. Right-click on the model and select cut plane visualization to view the mesh near the fan
blades.
Figure 530: Mesh Details Near the Fan Blades

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Splitting the Nodes on the Interface
At this point, the interface surface has one set of nodes which are either attached to the Fluid_Main or
Fluid_Impeller volume sets. In order for the nodes inside the Fluid_Impeller volume and Interface to
rotate based on the mesh motion prescribed, a duplicate set of nodes needs to be created, so that one
set of the nodes follow the motion of the Fluid_Impeller and another set stays attached to Fluid_Main.
Splitting the nodes on the interface would allow the nodes attached to Fluid_Impeller to slide over the
nodes on Fluid_Main, hence simulating the rotation on the fluid domain with the impeller blades.
In the next steps you will split the nodes on the interface using the Mesh Op. tool.
1. Right-click on Interface, select Mesh Op then select Split internal faces.

The information window showing the modified number of nodes displays.

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Figure 531:
Projecting Steady State Solution to Use as Initial Conditions
In the next steps you will use the Project Solution to project the steady state solution onto the transient
case in form on Nodal Initial Conditions.
1. From the Tools menu, select Project Solution.

The AcuSolve solution projection dialog opens.
2. Click Browse to read in the log file from the steady state solution.
3. Browse to the location where the steady state solution is stored and select the log file.
Once the log file is selected, the Information Window displays, showing the details of the
projection process.
The AcuSolve solution projection dialog updates and displays the step ID and the variables to
project.

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Figure 532:
4. Close the Information Window.

5. Select velocity, pressure and eddy_viscosity from the list by using Shift+click.
6. Click Project.
The Information Window displays and shows that all the three variables have been projected.
7. Close the Information Window and the AcuSolve solution projection dialog.
9. In the Data Tree, expand Global, and double-click on Nodal Initial Condition.
10. Set the pressure, velocity and eddy viscosity initial condition type as Nodal Values.
11. Click Open Array next to Nodal values for Pressure to check that the values have been assigned.

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Figure 533:
12. Click OK to close the Array Editor.

13. Similarly check the values for velocity and eddy viscosity.

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Running AcuSolve

2. Set the Launch AcuSolve option to On.
Figure 534:
For this case, the default values will be used. AcuSolve will run using four processors and it will
calculate the transient solution for this problem.

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dialog.
Figure 535:
Viewing Transient Results with AcuFieldView
AcuSolve.

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In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView, display the velocity magnitude on the mid coordinate
surface and generate animations for velocity magnitude, streamlines and particle paths.
Figure 536:

that were written to disk will be loaded for post-processing. You will see that the pressure
contours have already been displayed on all the boundary surfaces with mesh.

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Figure 537:
These steps are provided with the assumption that you are able to manipulate the view in
AcuFieldView to have a white background, perspective turned off, outlines turned off, and the
viewing direction set to +Z. If you are unfamiliar with basic AcuFieldView operations, refer to
Manipulate the Model View in AcuFieldView.
Animating the Velocity Magnitude on the Mid Coordinate Surface
1. In the Boundary Surface dialog, turn off the visibility for the boundary surfaces by unchecking
the Visibility checkbox.
2. From the View menu, uncheck Perspective view to disable it.
3. From the View menu, uncheck Axis markers to disable them.
4. From the View menu, select Defined Views.
5. In the Defined Views dialog, change the view to +Z.
7.
8. Click Create to create a new surface at the mid –Z coordinate surface.
9. Under COORD PLANE: , change the Current value to 0.05.
This is the z coordinate for the mid plane between the blower front and back walls.

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12. Select velocity_magnitude as the Scalar Function to be displayed.
13. Click the Colormap tab, and activate the Local checkbox to change the coloring to local.
14. Click on the Legend tab, and activate the Show Legend checkbox to display the velocity
magnitude values on the coordinate plane.
15. Activate the Frame checkbox to display the frame for the legend.
Figure 538:
16. From the Tools menu, click on Transient Data to open the Transient Data Controls dialog.
For a transient case, the data displayed by launching AcuFieldView from AcuConsole is for the last
time step. The Transient Data Controls allows you to visualize the data at rest of the time steps.
The time steps at which the data can be post processed depends on the nodal output value set in
AcuConsole. In this case the nodal output is stored at every third time step.

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17. Move the slider all the way to the back to zero to visualize the data at the zeroth time step.
This is done in order to build the animation from the beginning of the simulation.
18. From the Tools menu, click on Flipbook Build Mode.
A Flipbook size warning dialog appears.
19. Click OK.
In the Transient Data Controls dialog, the Sweep option under SWEEP CONTROL changes to
Build.
20. Click Build.
AcuFieldView will build the frame by frame animation of the solution progressing through all of the
available time steps. You will be able to see the progress in a Building Flipbook dialog.
21. In the Flipbook Controls dialog, click on Frame Rate to open the Minimum Time Between
Frames dialog.
Figure 539:
22. Enter 0.1 as the frame rate value.

23. Pause the animation and click Save to save the animation.
24. Close the Minimum Time Between Frames, Flipbook Controls, and Transient Data Controls
dialogs.
Setting up Streamlines
1.
2.
Click the Boundary Surfaces icon and turn on the visibility.

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Pressure is already selected as the Scalar Function.

3. In the BOUNDARY TYPES list, select OSF: walls and click OK.
4. Change the COLORING to Geometric and select grey from the color panel.
5. Turn off the mesh display by unchecking Show Mesh.
6. Set the Transparency field to 75 %.
7. Set the Scalar Function to velocity_magnitude.
8. Turn off the Visibility for this surface.
9. Click Create to create a new boundary surface.
10. Select OSF: Inlet and OSF: Outlet from the BOUNDARY TYPES list.
11. Change the COLORING back Scalar.
12. Set the Transparency to 0.
13. Create another boundary surface and select OSF: Fan_Blades from the BOUNDARY TYPES list.
14. From the Visualization Panels menu, select Streamlines.
The Streamlines panel opens.
15. Select Create to create a new set of streamlines.
16. Click the Mode toggle button and select Seed a Surface.
In order to display streamlines you will need to seed a surface from where the streamlines are
generated.
Figure 540:
17. Set the Seeds to Add value to 200.

18. Click Ctrl + left click to select boundary surface 3 (Fan_Blades) as the surface to be seeded and
click OK.

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The seeds are displayed on the fan blades.
Figure 541:
19. Uncheck Show Seeds to turn off the display of seeds.

20. Open the Boundary Surfaces dialog and turn on the display for Surface 1 (walls).
21. Return to the Streamlines dialog. Under Calculation Parameters, change the Step counter to 5.
The Step size determines the time step intervals at which the streamlines would be calculated.
22. Change the Direction to Both.
The direction determines the direction of flow (upstream, downstream or both) in which the
streamlines would be generated from the surface selected.

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Figure 542:
23. Click Calculate to generate the streamlines.
Figure 543:
24. Change COLORING to Scalar and DISPLAY TYPE to Filament and Arrows.
25. Click the Colormap tab.
26. Click the Colormap drop down arrow and select NASA-1.
27. Click the Legend tab.
28. Activate the Show Legend and Frame checkboxes to turn them on.
29. Orient the geometry so that all the surfaces are visible, as shown below:

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Figure 544:
30. In the Steamlines panel, click Animate to see the streamlines.

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Figure 545:
Setting up Streaklines

2. Click OK to skip the warning.
4. Move the slider back to 0 to show the contours for the 0th time step.
5. Click Build.
6. Click Yes in the Streakline Export panel.
7. Save the .fvp export file.
The export file will save streaklines to a particle path file, and simplifies future import and display.
8. Change the Frame rate to 0.16.
9. Pause the animation and click Save to save the animation.

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Figure 546:

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5.2.5 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a transient simulation with a sliding mesh
in a centrifugal blower. Once the case was set up, you modified the mesh to include refinement zones,
projected the steady state solution onto the refined mesh and generated a solution using AcuSolve.
Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create contour views for the velocity
magnitude on the mid coordinate surface of the blower as well as the impeller blades along with new
features for creating animations for contours, streamlines, streaklines and particle paths.
New features introduced in this tutorial include creating a rotational mesh motion, use of interface
surfaces, projection of steady state solution in form of nodal initial conditions, creating velocity
magnitude, streamlines and particle path animations.

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5.3 ACU-5100: Modeling of Fan_Component: Axial Fan
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for simulation of flow
inside a pipe with an interior fan placed at the middle of the pipe. This middle portion of the pipe is
considered to be fan volume which is modeled using the Fan_Component parameter. In this simulation,
flow is passed from the pipe inlet and it enters the fan in axial direction and exits at the outlet causing
pressure rise due to the fan. A lumped fan model is used to obtain fan pressure rise for a known
inlet volume flow rate. This tutorial is designed to introduce the user to modeling concepts related to
Fan_Components for axial fans.
• Specifying FAN_COMPONENT parameter in AcuConsole
• Setting up Inflow boundary condition with volumetric flow rate
Extract AxialFan.x_t from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

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Figure 547: Axial Fan Model Used for the Simulation
Figure 1 shows a simple axial fan component problem where fan is an interior fan with thickness “t”
and tip radius as “r”. In this simulation, flow is passed from the pipe inlet and it enters the fan in axial

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direction and exits at the outlet causing pressure rise due to the fan. This fan pressure rise can be
simulated for a given volume flow rate at the inlet surface which will be assigned as the inflow boundary
3
condition. The volume flow rate at the inlet surface is considered to be 525.35 m /hr.
The middle portion of the pipe is the Fan Component volume which has both Fan_Inlet and Fan_Outlet.
The FAN_COMPONENT parameters are assigned to Fan_Inlet surface through Advance problem
definition option. Basically, the fan model is applied to a surface, and the pressure jumps across that
surface to model the effect of the fan. The outlet of the pipe geometry is assigned with Outflow BC
to model the flow exit whereas the outer walls are defined to be Wall BC with slip condition. The fluid
3
material considered for this simulation is air with density=1.225 kg/m , viscosity=1.781e-005 kg/m-s.
The FAN_COMPONENT directly computes a body force term to yield the pressure rise within the volume
of interest. It accomplishes this based on the following approach:
• Evaluate the flow rate at the inlet to the domain that is assigned as a fan component (that is, the
surface on which you have assigned the FAN_COMPONENT condition)
• Evaluate the pressure rise resulting from this flow rate based on the fan curve that the user has
input
• Compute a body force per unit length that yields the required pressure rise based on fan_length
input parameter and the target pressure rise.
• The body force can be specified to be a function of the flow direction, that is, axial velocity, radial
velocity, tangential velocity or combination of all these three.
• Assign the body force to all elements of the element set that the FAN_COMPONENT is assigned to.
So, when deciding how to set up the FAN_COMPONENT model, you also need to consider how your
fan is modeled. If it is purely axial flow, then the relevant pressure rise relationship is just in the axial
direction, and the fan_length is the distance from inlet to outlet of the fan section.
Basically the FAN_COMPONENT is modelled by adding axial, radial and tangential body forces to the
momentum equations. For an axial fan type, these forces increase the pressure across the component
by
where : axial coefficient
: density
: tip velocity =
: fan angular rotational speed (rad/sec)
: fan tip radius
: mass averaged velocity through the inlet (m/sec)

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Since piecewise_bilinear curve fit values used in FAN_COMPONENT are functions of the normalized flow
1
rate (Q ) and axial coefficient (αaxial), you need to convert them from the fan performance curve.
1
Normalized flow rate (Q ):
Axial co-efficient (αaxial) =
For example, evaluate the axial coefficients and normalized flow rate from the fan performance data.
The following tables are inputs for the calculations.
Table 4: Fan Characteristics
3
Fluid Density 1.225 kg/m
Tip Radius ( ) 0.11 m
Rotational Speed ( ) 3600 RPM = 376.99 rad/sec

2
Inlet Area, Ai 0.03801 m
Tip Velocity ( ) 41.47 m/sec
Table 5: Fan Performance Parameters
3
Volume Flow Rate (Q), m /hr Pressure rise (ΔP), Pa
1 525.35 494.91
2 890.21 474.63
3 1161.63 424.9
4 1272.76 389.11
5 1356.57 350.42
6 1431.84 308.18
7 1494.69 268.35
8 1551.39 230.89
You can calculate the normalized flow rate and axial coefficient for first two volume flow rates (Q) from
Table 2. The same procedure is followed for the other volume flow rates.

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3
1. For Q = 525.35 m /hr:
1
Q = = 0.0926
= = 0.4613
3
2. For Q = 890.21 m /hr:
1
Q = = 0.1569
= = 0.426
l
In this manner you can calculate Q and αaxial for the remaining volume flow rates, shown in the
following table.
Table 6: Normalized Flow Rates and Axial Coefficients
1
S. No Normalized Flow Rate (Q ) Axial Coefficients ( αaxial )
1 0.0926 0.4613
2 0.1569 0.426
3 0.2047 0.3615
4 0.2243 0.3191
5 0.2391 0.2755
6 0.2523 0.2289
7 0.2634 0.1854
8 0.2734 0.1445
The same information is entered as input for axial curve fit values for the FAN_COMPONENT parameter
as shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 548: Fan Component Array Editor
The first column of array is the normalized radius which varies between 0 and 1 which implies that at
the centre of the fan, this value is 0 whereas at the tip of the fan, this value is 1.

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Starting AcuConsole
settings.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Axial_Fan and open it.
5. Enter AxialFan as the file name for the database.

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Figure 549:
Figure 550:

5. Enter Axial Fan as the Sub title.

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Figure 551:
the solution.
5. Check the Flow and Turbulence are set to On.

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Figure 552: Auto Solution Detail Panel
Figure 553:
AcuConsole.
3. Click the Density tab. The density of air is 1.225 kg/m3.
-5

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following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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AxialFan.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the geometry in

2. Browse to the directory containing AxialFan.x_t.
4. Click AxialFan.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
Figure 554:

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container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group container, assign the materials for that
group, and set mesh motion for the fluid volume.
the volume name.
4. Right-click on Volumes and select Volume Manager.

5. In the Volume Manager, click New twice to create two new volume groups.
6. Turn off the display of all volumes, except default.
7. Rename Volume 1 and Volume 2, and set the columns as per the image below:
Figure 555:
8. Assign the respective volumes to their volume groups:

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a) In the Fan row, click Add To.

b) Select the volume as shown in figure below and click Done.
Figure 556:
c) In the DownstreamDuct row, click Add To.

d) Select the volume as shown in figure below and click Done.
Figure 557:
When the geometry was loaded into AcuConsole, complete geometry volume was placed
in the default volume group. This default volume group was renamed to UpstreamDuct. In
the previous steps, you assigned some volumes to various other volume groups that you
created. At this point, all that is left is the UpstreamDuct volume group wherein the flow
enters through the volume.

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e) Repeat the process with UpstreamDuct.
Figure 558:
1. Turn-off display for Volumes by right-clicking on Volumes and selecting Display off .
2. Right-click on Surfaces in the Data Tree and select Surface Manager.
3. In the Surface Manager dialog, click New eight times to create eight new surface groups.
4. If you cannot see the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, click on Columns and select
these two columns from the list and click Ok.

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Figure 559:
7. Set the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns as per Figure 560.

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Figure 560:
8. Assign the surfaces to the respective surface groups.

a) In the Inlet row in the Surface Manager, click Add to .
b) Select the planar symmetry surfaces as shown in the image, and click Done.

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Figure 561:
c) Rotate the model to see the other side of the surface.

d) In the Outlet row, click Add to, and select the surface shown below:
Figure 562:
e) Assign the surface for the Wall_Up group.

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Figure 563:
f) Assign the surface for the Wall_Fan group.
Figure 564:
g) Assign the surface for the Wall_Down group.

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Figure 565:
h) Assign the surface for the Upstream_Out group.
Figure 566:
i) Assign the surface for the Fan_Inlet group.

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Figure 567:
j) Assign the surface for the Fan_Outlet group.
Figure 568:
When the geometry was loaded into AcuConsole, all geometry surfaces were placed
in the default surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to

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Downstream_Inlet. In the previous steps, you assigned some surfaces to various other
surface groups that you created. At this point, all that is left is the Downstream_Inlet surface
group which makes up the inlet of the DownstreamDuct volume.
9. Assign the surface for the Downstream_Inlet group.
Figure 569:
Inlet
The Inlet group defines that the flow enters through the pipe and flows across length of the pipe. The
correct boundary condition type for this surface is Inflow.
1. Expand the Inlet surface in the tree.

2. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Inlet to open the Simple Boundary Condition
detail panel.
3. Ensure that the Type is set to Inflow.
4. Change Inflow type from Velocity to Flow Rate.
5. In the Flow rate field, change the units to m3/hr.
6. Enter the Flow rate value as 525.35.

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Figure 570:
Outlet
The Outlet group defines the exit of the pipe. The correct boundary condition type for this surface is
Outflow.
1. Expand the Outlet surface group in the tree.

2. Double click Simple Boundary Condition to open the detail panel.
3. Ensure that the Type is set to Outflow.
4. Leave the remaining settings at their default values.
Figure 571:
Wall_Up
The walls enclose the fluid volume on the outside. The correct boundary condition type for this surface
is Wall.
1. Expand the Wall_Up surface group in the tree.

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2. Double click Simple Boundary Condition under inner_wall to open the Simple Boundary
3. Ensure that the Type is set to Wall.
Figure 572:
Wall_Fan and Wall_Down
The surface groups Wall_Fan and Wall_Down will have the same settings as Wall_Up group. In order to
not to repeat the steps again, you can propagate the settings to those two groups.
1. Expand the Wall_Up surface group.

2. Right-click on Simple Boundary Conditions, and select Propagate.
3. Select Wall_Fan and Wall_Down from the menu.
4. Click Propagate.

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Figure 573:
Fan_Outlet
1. Uncheck the Simple Boundary Condition for this surface.
Upstream_Out
Downstream_Inlet
Fan_Inlet
This surface corresponds to the inlet of the Fan component volume. For this particular surface you need
to assign the FAN_COMPONENT parameter, which requires data related to fan speed, tip radius, axial
coefficients, and so on. This parameter is available under advanced options in AcuSolve.
1. Click ALL in the Data Tree Manager to show all the settings in the Data Tree.

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2. Uncheck the Simple Boundary Condition for the Fan_Inlet surface

3. Expand Advanced Options.
4. Check the Fan Component checkbox to open the detail panel.
5. Ensure that the Type is set to Axial.
6. Next to Center, click Open Array.
7. In the dialog, enter 0.0 for all the fields.
8. Click OK.
9. Next to Direction, click Open Array.
10. Enter 1.0 for X-Direction, and 0.0 for the other fields.
11. Click OK.
12. For Rotational Speed change the units from rad/sec to RPM.
13. Set the Rotational Speed to 3600 RPM.
14. Set Tip Radius to 0.11 m.
15. Set Fan thickness to 0.06 m.
16. Change Axial coefficient type from Constant to Piecewise Bilinear.
17. Next to Axial curve fit values, click Open Array.
18. Click Add Col seven times and enter the following as shown in the figure below.
Figure 574:

20. Set Radial coefficient and Tangential coefficient to 0.

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Figure 575:
to be generated.

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Figure 576:
Surface mesh attributes are the meshing parameters applied to a particular surface where the user has
option to control the mesh size on a surface like in case of adding boundary layers, mesh refinement
apart from the global mesh attributes. For this case surface mesh attributes are applied only on the Wall
surfaces.
In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes.

2. Under the Model branch, expand the Surfaces. Under Surfaces, expand the Wall_Up surface
group.
3. If necessary, check the box next to Surface Mesh Attributes to activate it. Double-click it to
open the Surface Mesh Attributes detail panel.
The detail panel should now be populated with options related to the local surface meshing
controls.
6. Change the Boundary layer type to Match Outer Layer.
7. Ensure that First element height is set to 0.001 m.
8. Change the Growth rate to 1.2.

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Figure 577:
The surface groups Wall_Fan and Wall_Down will have the same settings as the Wall_Up group. In
order to not to repeat the steps again, you will propagate the settings to those two groups.
10. Under the Wall_Up surface, right-click Surface Mesh Attributes and select Propagate.
11. In the Propagate dialog, select the surface Wall_Fan and Wall_Down, and click Propagate.
Figure 578:

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Generating the Mesh
problem.

Figure 579:

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4. Visualize the mesh in the modeling window. Turn on the display of surfaces, and set the display
type to solid and wire.
No TOC

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Running AcuSolve

input files and will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolve will calculate the steady state solution for this
problem.
window.
A summary of the solution process indicates that the simulation has been completed.

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Figure 580:
1.
2. In the Data Tree on the left, expand Residual Ratio. Right-click Final and select Plot All.
This will plot the residuals for the three variables - eddy viscosity, pressure and velocity in the plot
area. This plot indicates the convergence of the variables with respect to timestep.

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display the plot.
Figure 581:
3. Right-click Final under Residual Ratio and select Plot None.

4.
Click User Function from the toolbar.
5. In the dialog, enter the Name as dP.
6. In the AcuProbe dialog, expand Surface Output > Fan_Inlet.

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7. Under Fan_Inlet, right-click on pressure and select Copy name.

8. In the User Function dialog, in the Function field, type Fan_In=.
9. Keeping your mouse at the end of the phrase you just entered, right-click and select Paste.
Figure 582:
10. In the AcuProbe dialog, expand Fan_Outlet.

11. Under Fan_Outlet, right-click on pressure and select Copy name.
12. In the User Function dialog, in the Function window, type Fan_Out= and then click Paste.

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Figure 583:
13. In the Function field, type value=Fan_Out-Fan_In.

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Note: The word “value” is case sensitive and should always be in lower case. If you
use a capital letter, an error window appears.
Figure 584:
14. Click Apply.

15. In the AcuProbe dialog, expand User function.
16. Right-click on dP and select Plot.

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Figure 585:
From the above figure, you can see the pressure rise got stabilized at around 9th iteration and
remains constant with a pressure of 494.53 Pa for a given volume flow rate of 525.35 m3/hr
which is very near compared to reference value of 494.91 Pa.

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5.3.5 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a problem involving the FAN_COMPONENT
feature for an axial fan. The FAN_COMPONENT directly computes body force term to yield the pressure
rise within the volume of interest. The problem simulated is the flow inside pipe with a fan placed at the
middle of the pipe causing pressure rise due to fan and exits at the outlet. You started the tutorial by
creating a database in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the geometry, and setting up the simulation
parameters. The fluid domain is divided into three volumes – UpstreamDuct, Fan & DownstreamDuct
using the Volume Manager Dialog option. Once the case was setup, the solution was generated with
AcuSolve. Results were plotted in AcuProbe by creating a user function to check for the fan pressure
rise based on Fan_Inlet and Fan_Outlet pressures. New features that were introduced in this tutorial
include: using Fan Component feature and explaining how the axial coefficients are calculated based on
volume flow rate and fan pressure rise and using the User Function option in AcuProbe.

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5.4 ACU-5200: Rigid-Body Dynamics of a Check Valve
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a simulation of the
opening of a pressure check valve. In this simulation, AcuSolve is used to compute the forces on the
valve due to the time-varying inlet flow field and to compute the motion of the valve that results from
these flow forces. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number of modeling concepts necessary
to perform simulations of rigid-body dynamics.
• Use of a multiplier function to scale inlet boundary condition values
• Mesh motion
• Fluid-structure interaction with a rigid body
• Results animation
Prerequisites
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy Pressure_Check_valve\pressureCheckValve.x_t

from <AcuSolve installation directory>\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve
\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a working directory.

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cylindrical pipe containing water that flows past a check valve with a shutter attached to a virtual
spring (not included in the geometry). The inlet pressure varies over time and the movement of the
shutter will be determined as a function of the balance of the fluid forces against the reactive force of
the spring. The problem is rotationally periodic at 30° increments about the longitudinal axis, and it
is assumed that the resulting flow is also rotationally periodic, allowing for modeling with the use of
a wedge-shaped section. For this tutorial, a 30° section of the geometry is modeled, as shown in the
figure. Modeling a portion of an rotationally periodic geometry leads to reduced computation time while
still providing an accurate solution.

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Figure 586: Schematic of Check Valve with Spring-Loaded Shutter
The pipe has an inlet diameter of 0.08 m, and is 0.4 m long. The check-valve assembly is 0.085 m
downstream of the inlet. It consists of a plate 0.005 m thick with a centered orifice 0.044 m in diameter
and a shutter with an initial position 0.005 m from the opening, simulating a nearly closed condition.
The shutter plate is 0.05 m in diameter and 0.005 m thick. The shutter plate is attached to a stem 0.03
m long and 0.01 m in diameter. The mass of the shutter and stem is 0.2 kg and its motion is affected
by a virtual spring with a stiffness of 2162 N/m. The motion of the valve shutter is limited by a stop
mounted on a perforated plate downstream of the shutter.
Note that AcuSolve's internal rigid-body-dynamics solver is not able to simulate contact. Therefore, this
problem is formulated to avoid contact between the valve and the stop.

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Figure 587:
Modeling the geometry as a 30° section requires that the fluid model is set up to be consistent with the
1
rigid-body model. Since only /12 of the rigid body is modeled, the forces computed by AcuSolve that
1
act on the valve shutter represent /12 of the actual force on the device. Therefore, it is also necessary
to account for this in the simulation. There are two methods that can be used to accomplish this:
1. Scale up the fluid forces calculated by AcuSolve by a factor of 12 to represent the full load on the
device when the displacement of the body is computed.
Using this approach, the full stiffness of the valve spring is used in the rigid-body solution, and the
full mass of the valve is used.
2. Scale down the mass of the valve and the stiffness of the spring to by a factor of 12 to match the
fraction of the valve geometry to be modeled.
Using this approach, the loading passed to the rigid-body solver is not scaled.
This second approach is used in this tutorial; the scaled mass of 0.0167 kg and the scaled stiffness of
180.1667 N/m will be used .
Figure 588:
3
The fluid in this problem is water, which has a density (ρ) of 1000 kg/m and a molecular viscosity (μ)
-3
of 1 X 10 kg/m-sec, as shown in the worksheet.

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Figure 589:
At the start of the simulation the flow field is stationary. Flow is driven by the pressure at the inlet,
which varies over time as a piecewise linear function shown in Figure 590. As the pressure at the inlet
rises, the flow will accelerate as the valve opens. The turbulence viscosity ratio is assumed to be 10.
The initial inlet pressure is 0 Pa. At 0.002 s, the pressure begins to ramp up, and reaches 26,500 Pa at
0.05 s. The pressure is held at 26,500 Pa and begins to ramp back down starting at 0.2 s, reaching the
initial pressure at 0.25 s where it remains for the rest of the simulation.
Figure 590: Transient Pressure at the Inlet
Prior simulations of this geometry indicate that the average velocity at the inlet reaches a maximum
of 0.9 m/s. At this velocity, the Reynolds number for the flow is 72,000. When the Reynolds number is
above 4,000, it is generally accepted that flow should be modeled as turbulent.

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Figure 591:
Note that the initial conditions of the flow are actually laminar, however, the increase in flow velocity
and flow around the valve shutter is expected to cause a rapid transition to turbulent conditions.
Therefore, the simulation will be set up to model transient, turbulent flow. When performing a transient
analysis, convergence is achieved at every time step based on the defined stagger criteria. Mesh motion
will be modeled using arbitrary mesh movement (arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian mesh motion).
Figure 592:
For this case, the transient behavior of interest occurs in the time it takes for the pressure to ramp up
and ramp back down, which is given by the transient pressure profile. To allow time for the spring to
recover, additional time will be simulated. For this tutorial, 0.1 s is added after the pressure drops back
to initial conditions, for a total duration of 0.35 s.

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Figure 593:
number. With this method, the time increment can be computed from the mesh size, the flow velocity,
and the desired CFL number.
The change in inlet pressure from initial conditions to maximum occurs over 0.048 s. A time increment
of 0.002 s would allow for excellent resolution of the transient changes, without requiring excessive
computational time. This time increment would result in a CFL number of 0.36, indicating that it would
take approximately three time steps for flow to cross a single mesh element. While the time increment
could be raised and still maintain a favorable CFL number, the value of 0.002 s is chosen to better
resolve the transient changes resulting from the sudden pressure shifts.

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Figure 594:
size is set to provide at least 50 mesh elements around the circumference of the inlet, resulting in a
mesh size of 0.005 m. This mesh size was chosen to provide a quick turnaround time for the model.
For real-world simulations, you would modify your mesh settings after an initial solution until a mesh-
independent solution is reached (that is, a solution that does not change with further mesh refinement).
Figure 595:
in areas where gradients in pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity, and the like are steep.
For this problem it is desirable to resolve flow characteristics near the gap between the valve opening
and the shutter. It would also be desirable to be able to resolve flow characteristics around the complete
valve body. The mesh size for the region around the gap will be sized to allow for at least three cells
to span the gap in the initial position. The mesh around the full valve body will be sized so that the
average cell size will be one half of the global mesh size. This local mesh refinement is accomplished
using mesh refinement zones.

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Figure 596:
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the displacement of the moving surface,
the mass flow rate at the outlet, pressure contours on the symmetry plane, and velocity vectors on the
symmetry plane.

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This tutorial walks you through the process of setting up and solving a fluid-structure simulation of a
spring-loaded check valve subjected to changes in inlet pressure.
groups, creating a multiplier function, and assigning mesh controls and boundary conditions to the
groups. Next you will generate a mesh and run AcuSolve to simulate the transient behavior. You will use
AcuProbe to post-process mesh displacement and mass flow. Finally, you will visualize the results using
AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, create the database for storage of AcuConsole settings, and
4. Create a new folder named Check_Valve_Transient and open this folder.
5. Enter Check_Valve_Transient as the File name for the database.
Setting General Simulation Attributes

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The general attributes that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, transient time analysis,
and the use of arbitrary mesh movement.
Figure 597:
Figure 598:

5. Enter Pressure Check Valve - AcuSolve Internal Solver as the Sub title.
choice for simulation of transient flows.

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8. Change the Mesh type to Arbitrary Mesh Movement (ALE).
Figure 599:
Figure 600:
detail panel.
of time steps based on the final time and the time increment.

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time step.
Figure 601:
Setting Material Model Attributes
Figure 602:

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Figure 603:
3
Figure 604:
are written to disk. Writing the results every three time steps produces a collection of output states
that can be used to create an animation of the simulation once the run has completed. Note that more
frequent output can be used, but it will result in higher disk space usage.

This value indicates that AcuSolve should write results after every three time steps.

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Figure 605:

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Importing the Check Valve Geometry
\Pressure_Check_Valve-Coupled\pressureCheckValve.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file
contains the solid model of the check valve in the Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing pressureCheckValve.x_t.
4. Click pressureCheckValve.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
the CAD model are added to a single volume group named "default."
Figure 606:
Creating Multiplier Function for Inlet Pressure

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This is achieved through the use of a multiplier function. In this tutorial, the inlet stagnation pressure
varies as the simulation progresses. By taking advantage of multiplier functions, you can easily set up a
function to model the pressure changes at the inlet.
In the next steps you will create a multiplier function for the pressure at the inlet. This multiplier
function will be applied to the inlet later in this tutorial.
In this tutorial, the inlet pressure starts at 0 pascals, ramps up to 26,500 Pa, is held steady briefly, and
then ramps back to 0 Pa.
Figure 607:
Data Tree Manager.

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Figure 608:
b) Enter inlet pressure.
4. Double-click inlet pressure to open the detail panel.

6. Set the Curve fit variable to Time.
7. Check that the Evaluation type is set to Per Time Step.
This value indicates that AcuSolve should evaluate the multiplier function once for each time step.

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Figure 609:
8. Add the function values for the inlet pressure profile.

b) Click Add five times to add five new rows.
c) Enter the following values for X (time) and Y (pressure).
X Y
0.0 0.0
0.002 0.0
0.05 26500
0.2 26500
0.25 0.0
0.35 0.0

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Figure 610:
d) Click Plot to expand the Array Editor dialog to display the plot of the curve fit values.
Figure 611:
e) Click OK.
These entries will be used to control the change in inlet pressure throughout the simulation.

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Creating Mesh Motion
AcuSolve uses the mesh-motion settings to define the movement of nodes within the model. In this
tutorial, you will use a special case of this command that solves the dynamic equations of motion to
determine the motion of the nodes. This type of mesh motion is referred to as a rigid-body dynamic.
In this simulation, you will specify two inputs to define the behavior of the rigid body; the mass of the
valve shutter and the stiffness of the spring that resists the movement of the valve shutter.
The definition of mesh motion requires three steps in AcuConsole:

1. Create the mesh-motion definition (this set of steps).
2. Assign the mesh-motion instance to a surface group.
3. Revisit the mesh-motion settings to couple the forces on the surface with the displacement of the
body.
In the next steps you will create a mesh motion of type rigid body to simulate the valve shutter and
virtual spring. This mesh motion defines how the valve responds to the flow forces. To simplify this task,
you will use the FSI filter in the Data Tree Manager. The FSI filter limits the options in the to show only
the settings related to fluid-structure interactions.
1. Click FSI in the Data Tree Manager to filter all but the settings related to fluid-structure
interactions.
2. Right-click Mesh Motion in the Data Tree and click New to create a new mesh motion item.
3. Rename the mesh motion item.
a) Right-click Mesh motion 1.
b) Click Rename.
c) Enter rigid body.
4. Double-click rigid body to open the detail panel.
5. Set the Type to Rigid Body Dynamic.
6. Ensure that X displacement is set to Active.
7. Set the remainder of the displacement and rotation settings to Inactive.
These settings indicate that AcuSolve should only allow for valve motion in the X direction.
8. Enter 0.0167 for Mass.
1
This is the scaled mass of the valve shutter and stem, corresponding to the /12 portion of the
geometry that is modeled.
9. Define the stiffness of the virtual spring supporting the shutter.
a) Click Open Array next to Stiffness.
b) Enter 180.1667 in the XX cell.

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This is the scaled stiffness of the spring, corresponding to the portion of the geometry that is
modeled. As the valve translates only in the X direction, all other stiffness settings remain at
zero.
Figure 612:
10. Click OK.

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Figure 613:
list of geometric volumes associated with the container, as well as attributes such as material models

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container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group and set the material for the volume as
water.
3. Expand Volumes.
5. Double-click Element Set to open the Element Set detail panel.
6. Click the drop-down control next to Material model and select Water
Figure 614:
For the next set of steps it is useful to turn off the display of Fluid by clicking so that it is in the off
( ) state.

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5.4.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Attributes
Setting Inflow Boundary Conditions for the Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the inlet, assign the multiplier function to describe
the transient pressure, and add the inlet from the geometry to the surface group.

b) Click New.
2. Rename the surface to Inlet .
b) Enter Inlet.
5. Turn Advanced features on.
This will expose the Stagnation pressure multiplier function control that you will use to associate
the multiplier function with the inlet.
8. Set the Stagnation pressure to 1.0 N/m2.
9. Set the Stagnation pressure multiplier function to use the inlet pressure function to apply the
transient pressure at the inlet.
10. Set Turbulence input type to Viscosity Ratio.
When using this setting, AcuSolve will calculate the eddy viscosity based on the material model
and the ratio of turbulent to laminar viscosity.

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Figure 615:

a) Right-click Inlet and click Add to.
b) Rotate the geometry by Ctrl+left-clicking near the left side of the geometry and dragging the
cursor to the right.
c) Click the inlet face.
Figure 616:
At this point the inlet should be highlighted

d) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Inlet surface group.

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b) Rotate the model to expose the outlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the right end of the
geometry and moving the cursor toward the left.
Figure 617:

Setting Symmetry Boundary Conditions for the Symmetry Planes
The problem is rotationally periodic, allowing for modeling with the use of a section. For this tutorial,
a 30-degree section of the geometry is modeled. In order to take advantage of this, the front and
rear faces of the section can be identified as symmetry planes, because the non-streamwise flow
contribution is minimal. The symmetry boundary condition enforces constraints such that the flow field
from one side of the plane is a mirror image of that on the other side.

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In the next steps you will define a surface group for the symmetry plane on the front of the modeled
section, and then create a second surface group for the back symmetry plane.

2. Rename the surface to Front symmetry.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Front symmetry to open the Simple
5. Change the Mesh displacement BC type to Slip.
This allows the mesh to move freely along the plane.
6. Turn off the display of all surface items except Front symmetry and default.
Figure 618:

a) Right-click Front symmetry and click Add to.
b) Click the symmetry plane near the inlet and near the outlet.
Figure 619:
At this point, the front symmetry plane should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add these geometry surfaces to the Front symmetry surface group.

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9. Rename the surface to Back symmetry.
10. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Back Symmetry to open the Simple Boundary
Figure 620:
13. Turn off the display of all surface items except Back Symmetry and default.
a) Right-click Back symmetry and click Add to.
Figure 621:
At this point, the back symmetry plane should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add these geometry surfaces to the Back symmetry surface group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Valve Shutter Walls

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In the next steps you will define a surface group for the walls of the valve shutter, assign the
appropriate settings, and add the faces from the geometry to the surface group. As part of the
definition, you will assign the rigid-body mesh motion that you defined earlier to this surface.

2. Rename the surface to Valve wall.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Valve wall to open the Simple Boundary
The default Type for the boundary condition for a new surface is Wall.
4. Set Mesh motion to use the rigid body mesh motion that you defined earlier in this tutorial.
a) Click the drop-down control next to Mesh motion.
b) Click rigid body.
Figure 622:

The wall of the valve is comprised of many surfaces in the geometry. By orienting the geometry
properly, you can select the surfaces that make up the valve wall with the use of the "rubber
band" selection tool in AcuConsole.
6. Zoom in on the portion of the geometry that represents the valve shutter and stem by using the
right-mouse button or on the View Manager toolbar.
7. Rotate the view by left-clicking above the model and dragging the cursor down and to the right to
expose the shutter and stem walls.

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Figure 623:
8. Turn off the display of all surface items except Valve wall and default.
a) Right-click Valve wall and click Add to.
b) Hold the Shift key down, left-click, and drag a selection box (rubber band) around the valve
and stem.

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Figure 624:
c) Release the left key and the valve shutter and stem should be highlighted.
Figure 625:
d) Click Done to add these geometry surfaces to the Valve wall surface group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Pipe Walls

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you created. At this point, all that is left in the default surface group is the pipe wall. Rather than
create a new container, add the wall surfaces in the geometry to it, and then delete the default surface
container, you will rename the existing container.
1. Rename the default surface to Pipe wall.

2. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Pipe wall to open the detail panel.
Figure 626:
Coupling Mesh Motion to the Valve Wall
As the final step in enabling the use of mesh motion, you will revisit the mesh-motion definition to
couple the mesh motion that you created earlier with the valve wall surface group. This step instructs
AcuSolve to extract the forces on the valve from the set of surfaces that you specify in this step.
1. Click FSI in the Data Tree Manager to display the options relevant to setting up an FSI model in
the Data Tree.
2. Expand the Global > Mesh Motion tree item.
3. Double-click rigid body to open the detail panel.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the panel and click Open Refs next to Surface outputs.
5. Click Add Row in the Reference Editor.
6. Click the drop-down control for row 1 and select Valve wall.

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Figure 627:
7. Click OK.

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Now that the simulation has been defined, attributes need to be added to define the mesh sizes that will
be created by the mesher.
the model.
In the next steps you will set global meshing attributes. In subsequent steps you will create zone and
surface meshing attributes.
3. Double-click Global Mesh Attributes to open the detail panel.
7. Change the Mesh growth rate to 1.2.
This option controls that rate at which the mesh transitions between regions of different surface
and volume size. Setting this to a value of 1.2 allows for a gradual transition between finely
meshed regions and coarsely meshed regions.
8. Set the Maximum sweep angle to 30.0 degrees.
This option allows you to set the maximum sweep angle for edge-blend meshing on a global basis,

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Figure 628:
In the following steps you will add mesh refinements in the zone around the valve gap and around the
valve body.
Setting Zone Meshing Parameters for the Gap
In the next steps you will add a set of mesh attributes for a zone around the gap between the valve
shutter and the orifice.

2. Turn off the display of all surfaces except Valve wall and Pipe wall.
5. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Gap mesh refinement.
6. Double-click Gap mesh refinement to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.
cylinder.
b) Enter -0.05 for X-coordinate 1.
c) Enter -0.03 for X-coordinate 2.

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d) Enter 0.025 for Y-coordinate 1 and 2.

e) Enter 0.0 for Z-coordinate 1 and 2.
f) Click OK.
This radius is used to define a cylinder that encloses the gap in the modeled section of the check
valve.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size provides at least three cells between the shutter and
the edge of the orifice in the initial position.
Figure 629:
Figure 630:
Setting Zone Meshing Parameters for the Valve Body
In the next steps you will add a set of mesh attributes for a zone around the valve body.
2. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Valve body mesh refinement.
3. Double-click Valve body mesh refinement to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.

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cylinder.
Figure 631:

c) Enter 0.04 for X-coordinate 2.
f) Click OK.
valve.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size is half of the global mesh size.
Figure 632:

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Figure 633:
attributes that control the growth of boundary layer elements normal to the surfaces of the pipe walls
and valve walls.
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Pipe Walls
In the next steps you will set meshing attributes that allow for localized control of the mesh near the
walls of the pipe. The mesh size on the wall of the pipe will be inherited from the global mesh size that
was defined earlier. The settings that follow will only control the growth of the boundary layer from the
walls of the pipe into the fluid volume.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Pipe wall tree item.
walls.

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9. Turn on the Boundary layer blends flag option.
This option creates a radial array of boundary layer elements around exterior corners.
10. Enter 30.0 degrees as the Maximum sweep angle.
Figure 634:
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Valve Walls
In the next steps you will set meshing attributes that allow for localized control of the mesh size near
the walls of the valve shutter assembly.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Valve wall tree item.

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Figure 635:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


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Figure 636:

5. Turn off the display of Gap mesh refinement and Valve wall mesh refinement under
Global > Zone Mesh Attributes by clicking next to the surface so that it is in the display off
state ( ),
Details of the mesh on the front symmetry plane are shown in Figure 637. This view was obtained
by reorienting the view with on the View Manager toolbar, then zooming in on the model.

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Figure 637: Mesh Details Around the Valve Viewed on the Front Symmetry Plane
Note that the mesh size in the pipe decreases from left to right in the transition from a region
where global settings determine the size to the zone around the gap where the settings are for
a finer mesh. Note also that the mesh to the right of the valve shutter is smaller than the global
mesh as determined in the Valve body mesh refinement that you created.

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Running AcuSolve

window. A summary of the solution process indicates that the simulation has been completed. The

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Figure 638:
While AcuSolve is running, you can monitor the inlet pressure and displacement of the valve using
AcuProbe.
1.
2. Expand the window by dragging the lower right corner.
3. Expand the Data Tree by dragging the right edge.
4. Expand the Surface Output item in the Data Tree.
5. Expand Inlet under the Surface Output item.
6. Right-click pressure under the Inlet item and select Plot.

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As the solution progresses, the plot will update. If you opened AcuProbe after the solution
completed, click to refresh the plot.

7. Collapse Inlet under the Surface Output item.
8. Expand Valve wall under the Surface Output item.
9. Right-click mesh_x_displacement under the Valve wall item and click Plot.
Figure 639:
Post-Processing Flow Rate with AcuProbe
AcuProbe has the ability to plot many other flow quantities. One such quantity is mass flow rate at
the valve outlet. While AcuProbe does not have the option to plot volume flow rate directly, it can be
calculated for incompressible flow using a user function.
In the next steps you will create a user function for the display of volume flow rate in AcuProbe.
1. Turn off the plot of pressure at the inlet.

a) Right-click Inlet.

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b) Select Plot None.

2. Turn off the plot of mesh_x_displacement on the valve wall.
a) Right-click Valve wall.
3. Create a user function for volume flow rate.
a)
Click on the toolbar to open the User Function dialog.
b) Enter Volume flow rate for the Name.
c) Enter mass_flux = in the Function box.
d) Expand Surface Output > Outlet in the Data Tree.
e) Right-click mass_flux and click Copy Name.
f) Paste the name into the Function box on the User Function dialog.
g) On the next line type value = mass_flux/1000.0.
This sets the value to be plotted as the mass flux at the outlet divided by the density of
water.
Figure 640:
h) Click Apply and Close the dialog.

4.
Click on the toolbar to refresh the plot of volume flow rate.

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Figure 641:
AcuSolve.
In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView, display velocity magnitude and animate the view to
show mesh displacement. You will then display velocity vectors and pressure contours when the valve
shutter is at maximum displacement.

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Figure 642:

Displaying Velocity Magnitude on the Front Symmetry Plane
front symmetry plane of the modeled slice.
These steps are provided with the assumption that you are able to manipulate the view in AcuFieldView
to have a white background, perspective turned off, outlines turned off, and the viewing direction set
to +Z. If you are unfamiliar with basic AcuFieldView operations, refer to Manipulating the Model View in
AcuFieldView .
1.

c) Click Calculate.
4. Set the front symmetry plane and pipe walls as the location for display of contours.

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a) Click OSF: Front symmetry.

b) Hold the Ctrl key and click OSF: Pipe wall.
c) Click OK.
Figure 643:
When data was loaded from AcuSolve, AcuFieldView displays information from the final time step.
In the following steps you will display velocity magnitude at the first time step and then animate
the display to show the motion of the valve shutter and the velocity changes throughout the
simulation.

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Animating the Display of Velocity Magnitude
independently of AcuFieldView. As a first step, you will change the colormap used by the legend.
1. Set the colormap to use defined maximum and minimum values throughout the transient sweep.
a) Click the Colormap tab.
b) Enter 6.6 for the maximum.
c) Enter 0 for the minimum.
These settings will be used throughout the transient sweep so that the contours at each time step
will all be relative to this specified range.
Figure 644:
dialog.

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Figure 645:
6. Click Build.

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Figure 646:
7. Click Frame Rate and set the Minimum Time Seconds to 0.1.
8. Use the controls on the Flipbook Controls dialog to play and pause the animation.
9. Save the animation as mesh_velocity_mag.
AcuFieldView will add the appropriate file extension. For Windows, mesh_velocity_mag.avi
will be saved. It can be viewed independently of AcuFieldView by double-clicking it in Windows
Explorer.
warning.
Displaying Pressure Contours and Velocity Vectors on a Mid-Z Coordinate Surface
In the next steps you will create a coordinate surface at the mid-Z plane of the modeled section. You
will then display pressure contours and velocity vectors on that surface.
1. Disable the Visibility option on the Boundary Surface dialog used to create the display of
velocity magnitude.
2. Open View > Defined Views and set the view to +Z.
3.
Click on the side toolbar to open the Coordinate Surface dialog.

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Figure 647:
4. Create and configure a new coordinate surface at the mid-Z plane.

a) Click Create.
b) Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Smooth.
c) Change the COLORING to Scalar.
d) Select pressure as the Scalar Function to display.
e) Set the COORD PLANE to Z.
This surface will be created in the XY plane at the middle of the geometry in the Z direction.
f) Click the Colormap tab and enable Local in the SCALAR COLORING group.
g) Click the Legend tab and enable the Show Legend option.
h) Click the black color swatch next to the Subtitle field and set the color for the subtitle to
white.
5. Create a second coordinate surface at the mid-Z plane for the display of velocity vectors.
a) Click Create on the Surface tab of the Coordinate Surface dialog.

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Figure 648:
b) Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Vectors.

c) Click Options next to Vectors.
Figure 649:
d) Enable Head Scaling and set the scaling to 0.25.

e) Set the Length Scale to 0.5.

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f) Enable Skip option and set it to 75 %.

g) Close the Vector Options dialog.
h) Change the COLORING to Geometric.
i) Set the Geometric color to white.
j) Set the COORD PLANE to Z.
6. Zoom in on the valve-body region of the model.
th
7. Set transient data to display the 78 time step.
a) Open Tools > Transient Data.
b) Use the slider to set the TIME STEP to 78.
c) Click Apply.
Figure 650:

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5.5 ACU-5201: Coupled Simulation of a Check Valve

using AcuSolve and MotionSolve
AcuSolve has the capability to solve problems with fluid-structure interactions, as shown in ACU-5200:
Rigid-Body Dynamics of a Check Valve. It can also be coupled with external codes, such as MotionSolve,
in cases where the built-in capabilities of AcuSolve do not fully represent the physics of interest, such as
a collision between solid bodies.
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving, and viewing results for a simulation of
the opening of a pressure check valve. In this simulation, AcuSolve is used to compute the forces on
the valve due to the time-varying inlet flow field and MotionSolve is used to compute the motion of
the valve that results from these flow forces. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number
of modeling concepts necessary to perform simulations of rigid-body dynamics and coupling with
MotionSolve. An important feature of the AcuSolve-MotionSolve coupling is the ability to simulate
contact between solid bodies, which is demonstrated in this tutorial through the collision of the valve
with the valve seat.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow. The
following additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Coupled solution with external code (MotionSolve)
• Fluid-structure interaction
• Mesh motion
• Use of a multiplier function to scale inlet boundary conditions
• Results animation
Prerequisites
will also need access to licensed versions of AcuSolve and MotionSolve 2017.2.
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy the Pressure_Check_Valve-Coupled\ directory and
its contents from <AcuSolve installation directory>\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve
\Acu_tutorial_inputs.zip to a working directory. This directory contains the geometry model
in Parasolid ASCII format, pressureCheckValve.x_t, as well as the prepared MotionSolve model,
Valve_model.xml.

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cylindrical pipe containing water that flows past a check valve with a shutter attached to a virtual
spring (not included in the geometry). The inlet pressure varies over time and the movement of the
shutter will be determined as a function of the balance of the fluid forces against the reactive force of
the spring. The problem is rotationally periodic at 30° increments about the longitudinal axis, and it
is assumed that the resulting flow is also rotationally periodic, allowing for modeling with the use of
a wedge-shaped section. For this tutorial, a 30° section of the geometry is modeled, as shown in the
figure. Modeling a portion of an rotationally periodic geometry leads to reduced computation time while
still providing an accurate solution.

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Figure 651: Schematic of Check Valve with Spring-Loaded Shutter
The pipe has an inlet diameter of 0.08 m and is 0.4 m long. The check-valve assembly is 0.085 m
downstream of the inlet. It consists of a plate 0.005 m thick with a centered orifice 0.044 m in diameter
and a shutter with an initial position 0.005 m from the opening, simulating a nearly closed condition.
The shutter plate is 0.05 m in diameter and 0.005 m thick. The shutter plate is attached to a stem 0.03
m long and 0.01 m in diameter. The mass of the shutter and stem is 0.2 kg and its motion is affected
by a virtual spring with a stiffness of 2162 N/m. The motion of the valve shutter is limited by a stop
mounted on a perforated plate downstream of the shutter.

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Figure 652:
Modeling the geometry as a 30° section requires that the fluid model is set up to be consistent with the
1
rigid-body model. Since only /12 of the rigid body is modeled, the forces computed by AcuSolve that
1
act on the valve shutter represent /12 of the actual force on the device. The rigid-body-dynamics model
was set up in MotionSolve with scaled settings of mass and spring stiffness to account for the fact that
you are only modeling a small section of the full geometry. Additional information regarding the setup of
this problem in MotionSolve is provided in the MotionSolve documentation.
3
The fluid in this problem is water, which has a density (ρ) of 1000 kg/m and a molecular viscosity (μ)
-3
of 1 X 10 kg/m-sec, as shown in the worksheet.
Figure 653:
At the start of the simulation the flow field is stationary. Flow is driven by the pressure at the inlet,
which varies over time as a piecewise linear function shown in Figure 654. As the pressure at the inlet
rises, the flow will accelerate as the valve opens. The turbulence viscosity ratio is assumed to be 10.
The initial inlet pressure is 0 Pa. At 0.002 s the pressure begins to ramp up and reaches 29,000 Pa at
0.05 s. The pressure is held at 29,000 Pa and begins to ramp back down starting at 0.2 s, reaching the
initial pressure at 0.25 s where it remains for the rest of the simulation.

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Figure 654: Transient pressure at the inlet
Prior simulations of this geometry indicate that the average velocity at the inlet reaches a maximum of
0.98 m/s. At this velocity, the Reynolds number for the flow is 78,400. When the Reynolds number is
above 4,000 it is generally accepted that flow should be modeled as turbulent.
Figure 655:
Note that the initial conditions of the flow are actually laminar, however, the increase in flow velocity
and flow around the valve shutter is expected to cause a rapid transition to turbulent conditions.
Therefore, the simulation will be set up to model transient, turbulent flow. When performing a transient
analysis, convergence is achieved at every time step based on the defined stagger criteria. Mesh motion
will be modeled using arbitrary mesh movement (arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian mesh motion).

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Figure 656:
For this case, the transient behavior of interest occurs in the time it takes for the pressure to ramp up
and ramp back down, which is given by the transient pressure profile. To allow time for the spring to
recover additional time will be simulated. For this tutorial 0.1 s is added after the pressure drops back
to initial conditions for a total duration of 0.35 s.
Figure 657:
number. With this method, the time increment can be computed from the mesh size, the flow velocity
and the desired CFL number.
The change in inlet pressure from initial conditions to maximum occurs over 0.048 s. A time increment
of 0.002 s would allow for excellent resolution of the transient changes without requiring excessive

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computational time. This time increment would result in a CFL number of 0.36, indicating that it would
take approximately three time steps for flow to cross a single mesh element. While the time increment
could be raised and still maintain a favorable CFL number, the value of 0.002 s is chosen to better
resolve the transient changes resulting from the sudden pressure shifts.
Figure 658:
size is set to provide at least 50 mesh elements around the circumference of the inlet, resulting in a
mesh size of 0.005 m. This mesh size was chosen to provide a quick turnaround time for the model.
For real-world simulations, you would modify your mesh settings after an initial solution until a mesh-
independent solution is reached, that is, a solution that does not change with further mesh refinement.
Figure 659:
components of the problem such as volumes, model surfaces or edges. It is useful to refine the mesh in
areas where gradients in pressure, velocity, eddy viscosity and the like are steep.
For this problem it is desirable to resolve flow characteristics near the gap between the valve opening
and the shutter. It would also be desirable to be able to resolve flow characteristics around the complete
valve body. The mesh size for the region around the gap will be sized to allow for at least three cells

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to span the gap in the initial position. The mesh around the full valve body will be sized so that the
average cell size will be one half of the global mesh size. This local mesh refinement is accomplished
using mesh refinement zones.
Figure 660:
Once a solution is calculated, the flow properties of interest are the displacement of the moving surface,
velocity of the moving surface, mass flow rate at the outlet, pressure contours on the symmetry plane
and velocity vectors on the symmetry plane.

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This tutorial walks you through the process of setting up and solving a fluid-structure simulation of a
spring-loaded check valve subjected to changes in inlet pressure using AcuSolve, to solve the fluid flow,
coupled with MotionSolve, to solve the rigid-body dynamics.
setting parameters for coupling with MotionSolve, loading the geometry, creating groups, setting group
attributes, adding geometry components to groups, creating a multiplier function, and assigning mesh
controls and boundary conditions to the groups. Next you will generate a mesh and run AcuSolve
and MotionSolve to simulate the transient behavior. You will use AcuProbe to post-process mesh
displacement and mass flow. Finally, you will visualize the results using AcuFieldView.
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, create the database for storage of AcuConsole settings, and
4. Create a new folder named Check_Valve_Coupled and open this folder.
5. Enter Check_Valve_Coupled as the File name for the database.

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The general attributes that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, transient time analysis,
arbitrary mesh movement, and the use of an external code (MotionSolve).
Figure 661:
Figure 662:

4. Enter AcuSolve Tutorial as the Title for this case.
5. Enter Pressure Check Valve - Coupled MotionSolve as the Sub title for this case.
choice for simulation of transient flows.

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8. Change the Mesh type to Arbitrary Mesh Movement (ALE).

9. Turn External code on.
This indicates that AcuSolve will send and receive information from another solver. You will
configure the communication between the codes later in this tutorial.
Figure 663:
Figure 664:
detail panel.

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of time steps based on the final time and the time increment.
Important: The value entered here must match the print_interval setting in the
prepared MotionSolve model, Valve_model.xml, to ensure that the two solvers stay
synchronized during the solution process.

time step.
Figure 665:
AcuConsole has three pre-defined materials, Air, Aluminum and Water.

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Figure 666:
Figure 667:
3
are written to disk. The results can be used to create an animation of the simulation once the run has
completed. Writing the results after every time step produces a collection of output states that allows
for the best visual resolution of the contact between the valve and valve stop.
This value indicates that AcuSolve should write results after every time step.

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Figure 668:
Setting External Code Parameters for Communication with MotionSolve
In the next steps you will provide the settings that will allow AcuSolve and MotionSolve to communicate
during the solution process. In this simulation, MotionSolve is being used to calculate the motion of
the valve in response to the fluid loads calculated by AcuSolve. In order to achieve this, AcuSolve and
MotionSolve will communicate through a socket connection. This communication approach enables the
two codes to be run on separate machines and even different operating systems.
1. Click ALL in the Data Tree Manager to show all settings.

2. Double-click External Code Parameters under Global to open the External Code Parameters
detail panel.
3. Set Communication to Socket.
4. Turn Socket initiate off.
This setting indicates that the external code (MotionSolve) will open the socket and AcuSolve will
"listen" for a connection on the indicated socket port.
5. Enter localhost as the Socket host.
This indicates that AcuSolve and MotionSolve are running on the same machine. If MotionSolve
was running on a different machine, the host name or IP address would need to be supplied here.
6. Enter 48000 as the Socket port.
This is the default port used for communication between AcuSolve and MotionSolve.

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Figure 669:

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Importing the Check Valve Geometry
\Pressure_Check_Valve-Coupled\pressureCheckValve.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file
contains the solid model of the check valve in the Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing pressureCheckValve.x_t.
4. Click pressureCheckValve.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
the CAD model are added to a single volume group named "default."
Figure 670:
Creating Multiplier Function for Inlet Pressure

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This is achieved through the use of a multiplier function. In this tutorial, the inlet stagnation pressure
varies as the simulation progresses. By taking advantage of multiplier functions, you can easily set up a
function to model the pressure changes at the inlet.
In the next steps you will create a multiplier function for the pressure at the inlet. This multiplier
function will be applied to the inlet later in this tutorial.
In this tutorial, the inlet pressure starts at 0 pascals, ramps up to 29,000 Pa, is held steady briefly, and
then ramps back to 0 Pa.
Figure 671:
Data Tree Manager.
b) Enter inlet pressure.

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c) Double-click inlet pressure to open the multiplier function detail panel.

5. Set the Curve fit variable to Time.
6. Check that the Evaluation type is set to Per Time Step.
This value indicates that AcuSolve should evaluate the multiplier function once for each time step.
Figure 672:
7. Add the function values for the inlet pressure profile.

Figure 673:

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b) Click Add five times to add five new rows.

c) Enter the following values for X (time) and Y (pressure).
X Y
0.0 0.0
0.002 0.0
0.05 29000
0.2 29000
0.25 0.0
0.35 0.0
d) Click Plot to expand the Array Editor dialog to display the plot of the curve fit values.
Figure 674:
e) Click OK.
These entries will be used to control the change in inlet pressure throughout the simulation.

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list of geometric volumes associated with the container, as well as attributes such as material models
container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group and set the material for the volume as
water.
3. Expand Volumes.
b) Enter Fluid.
a) Expand the Fluid tree item by clicking .
c) Click the drop-down control next to Material model.
d) Click Water.
Figure 675:
For the next set of steps it is useful to turn off the display of Fluid by clicking so that it is in the off
( ) state.

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5.5.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Attributes
Setting Inflow Boundary Conditions for the Inlet
In the next steps you will define a surface group for the inlet, assign the multiplier function to describe
the transient pressure, and add the inlet from the geometry to the surface group.

b) Click New.
2. Rename the surface to Inlet .
b) Enter Inlet.
5. Turn Advanced features on.
This will expose the Stagnation pressure multiplier function control that you will use to associate
the multiplier function with the inlet.
8. Set the Stagnation pressure to 1.0 N/m2.
9. Set the Stagnation pressure multiplier function to use the inlet pressure function to apply the
transient pressure at the inlet.
10. Set Turbulence input type to Viscosity Ratio.
When using this setting, AcuSolve will calculate the eddy viscosity based on the material model
and the ratio of turbulent to laminar viscosity.

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Figure 676:

a) Right-click Inlet and click Add to.
b) Rotate the geometry by Ctrl+left-clicking near the left side of the geometry and dragging the
cursor to the right.
c) Click the inlet face.
Figure 677:
At this point the inlet should be highlighted

d) Click Done to add this geometry surface to the Inlet surface group.

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b) Rotate the model to expose the outlet by Ctrl+left-clicking near the right end of the
geometry and moving the cursor toward the left.
Figure 678:

Setting Symmetry Boundary Conditions for the Symmetry Planes
The problem is rotationally periodic, allowing for modeling with the use of a section. For this tutorial,
a 30-degree section of the geometry is modeled. In order to take advantage of this, the front and
rear faces of the section can be identified as symmetry planes, because the non-streamwise flow
contribution is minimal. The symmetry boundary condition enforces constraints such that the flow field
from one side of the plane is a mirror image of that on the other side.

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In the next steps you will define a surface group for the symmetry plane on the front of the modeled
section, and then create a second surface group for the back symmetry plane.

2. Rename the surface to Front symmetry.
3. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Front symmetry to open the Simple
6. Turn off the display of all surface items except Front symmetry and default.
Figure 679:

a) Right-click Front symmetry and click Add to.
Figure 680:
At this point, the front symmetry plane should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add these geometry surfaces to the Front symmetry surface group.

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9. Rename the surface to Back symmetry.
10. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Back Symmetry to open the Simple Boundary
Figure 681:
13. Turn off the display of all surface items except Back Symmetry and default.
a) Right-click Back symmetry and click Add to.
Figure 682:
At this point, the back symmetry plane should be highlighted.

c) Click Done to add these geometry surfaces to the Back symmetry surface group.
Setting External Code Surface Attributes for the Valve Shutter Walls

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The motion of this surface, resulting from the transient inlet pressure, will be modeled with
MotionSolve. In the next steps you will define a surface group for the walls of the valve shutter, assign
the appropriate settings, and add the faces from the geometry to the surface group.
1. Click ALL in the Data Tree Manager to show all settings.
3. Rename the surface to Valve wall.
4. Disable Simple Boundary Condition for Valve wall.
5. Enable External Code Surface.
Disabling the boundary condition options and enabling external code options indicates that
boundary conditions will be handled by the external code (MotionSolve).
6. Set Coupling type to Rigid Body.
This indicates that the external code will provide rigid-body information for this surface.
7. Enter Model-Shutter Body for Rigid body name.
The name entered here needs to match the body name in the prepared MotionSolve model,
Valve_model.xml, to ensure that information about forces and motion of this surface match up
between AcuSolve and MotionSolve.
Figure 683:
8. Restore the initial view by clicking on the View Manager toolbar. .

9. Zoom in on the portion of the geometry that represents the valve shutter and stem by using the
right-mouse button or on the View Manager toolbar.
10. Rotate the view by left-clicking above the model and dragging the cursor down and to the right to
expose the shutter and stem walls.

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Figure 684:
11. Turn off the display of all surface items except Valve wall and default.
a) Right-click Valve wall and click Add to.
b) Hold the Shift key down, left-click, and drag a selection box (rubber band) around the valve
and stem.

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Figure 685:
c) Release the left key and the valve shutter and stem should be highlighted.
Figure 686:
d) Click Done to add these geometry surfaces to the Valve wall surface group.
Setting Wall Boundary Conditions for the Pipe Walls

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you created. At this point, all that is left in the default surface group is the pipe wall. Rather than
create a new container, add the wall surfaces in the geometry to it, and then delete the default surface
container, you will rename the existing container.
1. Rename the default surface to Pipe wall.

2. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition under Pipe wall to open the detail panel.
Figure 687:

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Now that the simulation has been defined, attributes need to be added to define the mesh sizes that will
be created by the mesher.
the model.
In the next steps you will set global meshing attributes. In subsequent steps you will create zone and
surface meshing attributes.
3. Double-click Global Mesh Attributes to open the detail panel.
7. Change the Mesh growth rate to 1.2.
This option controls that rate at which the mesh transitions between regions of different surface
and volume size. Setting this to a value of 1.2 allows for a gradual transition between finely
meshed regions and coarsely meshed regions.
8. Set the Maximum sweep angle to 30.0 degrees.
This option allows you to set the maximum sweep angle for edge-blend meshing on a global basis,

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Figure 688:
In the following steps you will add mesh refinements in the zone around the valve gap and around the
valve body.
Setting Zone Meshing Parameters for the Gap
In the next steps you will add a set of mesh attributes for a zone around the gap between the valve
shutter and the orifice.

2. Turn off the display of all surfaces except Valve wall and Pipe wall.
5. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Gap mesh refinement.
6. Double-click Gap mesh refinement to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.
cylinder.
c) Enter -0.03 for X-coordinate 2.

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f) Click OK.
valve.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size provides at least three cells between the shutter and
the edge of the orifice in the initial position.
Figure 689:
Figure 690:
Setting Zone Meshing Parameters for the Valve Body
In the next steps you will add a set of mesh attributes for a zone around the valve body.
2. Rename Zone Mesh Attributes 1 to Valve body mesh refinement.
3. Double-click Valve body mesh refinement to open the Zone Mesh Attributes detail panel.

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cylinder.
Figure 691:

c) Enter 0.04 for X-coordinate 2.
f) Click OK.
valve.
This will result in a zone where the mesh size is half of the global mesh size.
Figure 692:

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Figure 693:
attributes that control the growth of boundary layer elements normal to the surfaces of the pipe walls
and valve walls.
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Pipe Walls
In the next steps you will set meshing attributes that allow for localized control of the mesh near the
walls of the pipe. The mesh size on the wall of the pipe will be inherited from the global mesh size that
was defined earlier. The settings that follow will only control the growth of the boundary layer from the
walls of the pipe into the fluid volume.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Pipe wall tree item.
walls.

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Figure 694:
Setting Surface Meshing Attributes for the Valve Walls
In the next steps you will set meshing attributes that allow for localized control of the mesh size near
the walls of the valve shutter assembly.
1. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Valve wall tree item.

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Figure 695:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


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Figure 696:

5. Turn off the display of Gap mesh refinement and Valve wall mesh refinement under
Global > Zone Mesh Attributes by clicking next to the surface so that it is in the display off
state ( ).
Details of the mesh on the front symmetry plane are shown below. This view was obtained by
reorienting the view with on the View Manager toolbar, then zooming in on the model.

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Figure 697: Mesh Details Around the Valve Viewed on the Front Symmetry Plane
Note that the mesh size in the pipe decreases from left to right in the transition from a region
where global settings determine the size to the zone around the gap where the settings are for
a finer mesh. Note also that the mesh to the right of the valve shutter is smaller than the global
mesh as determined in the Valve body mesh refinement that you created.

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Solving the Problem
This tutorial uses a coupled solution between AcuSolve for the flow field and MotionSolve for the rigid-
body-dynamics. Solving the problem for this tutorial involves two steps:
1. Start AcuSolve.
2. Start MotionSolve.
The next sets of steps provide instructions for these two tasks.
Running AcuSolve

dialog. Since the solution is coupled, the information in the AcuTail dialog will pause after
AcuSolve starts, pending communication with MotionSolve, which you will start in the next set of
steps.

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Figure 698:
Running MotionSolve
In the next steps you will start MotionSolve and provide settings for communication with AcuSolve.
1. Run Start > All Programs > Altair HyperWorks 2017 > MotionSolve to open the
HyperWorks Solver Run Manager.
2. Browse to the location of \Pressure_Check_Valve-Coupled\Valve_model.xml. and select this as
the Input file.
This file contains MotionSolve version of the model.
3. Change the Files of type filter to Motion Solve Data (*.xml, *.acf, *.py).

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4. Click Valve_model.xml and Open.

5.
Click next to Options to open the Available Options dialog.
Figure 699:
6. Enable the -as_cosim option to indicate coupling between MotionSolve and AcuSolve.
7. In the -as_cosim dialog that appear, click None.
8. Click Apply Options and close the dialog.
9. Click Run to start MotionSolve.
As the solution progresses, a HyperWorks Solver View window will open. Solution progress
is reported in this window. The AcuSolve AcuTail window will also update as the solution
progresses.

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Figure 700:
As the solution progresses, you can monitor the progress with AcuProbe, as detailed in the next steps.
While AcuSolve is running, you can monitor flow characteristics such as inlet pressure, displacement of
the valve, and velocity of the valve, using AcuProbe.
1.
2. Expand the window by dragging the lower right corner.
3. Expand the Data Tree by dragging the right edge.

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Figure 701:
4. Expand the Surface Output item in the Data Tree.

5. Expand Inlet under the Surface Output item.
6. Right-click pressure under the Inlet item and select Plot.
display the plot.
7. Collapse Inlet under the Surface Output item.

8. Expand Valve wall under the Surface Output item.
9. Right-click mesh_x_displacement under the Valve wall item and click Plot.

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Figure 702:
Note that the valve motion lags behind the pressure changes at the inlet. Note also the spike
th
around the 25 time step. This represents the collision of the valve stem with the stop and the
subsequent rebound of the valve.
Post-Processing Velocity of Valve Walls with AcuProbe
AcuProbe has the ability to plot many other quantities. One such quantity is velocity of the moving
valve. In the next steps you will create a plot of the x-velocity of the valve walls.
1. Turn off the plot of pressure at the inlet.
a) Right-click Inlet.
2. Expand Valve wall.
3. Right-click x_velocity and click Plot.
4.
Click on the toolbar to refresh the plot.

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Figure 703:
th
Note that the the spike in mesh_x_displacement around the 25 time step corresponds with a
sudden decrease in the velocity of the valve walls. This represents the collision of the valve stem
with the stop and the subsequent rebound is reflected by a negative X velocity.
AcuSolve.
In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView, display velocity magnitude and animate the view to
show mesh displacement. You will then display velocity vectors and pressure contours when the valve
shutter is at maximum displacement.

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Figure 704:

Displaying Velocity Magnitude on the Front Symmetry Plane
front symmetry plane of the modeled slice.
to +Z. If you are unfamiliar with basic AcuFieldView operations, refer to Manipulating the Model View in
AcuFieldView .
1.

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Figure 705:

c) Click Calculate.
4. Set the front symmetry plane and pipe walls as the location for display of contours.
a) Click SBC: Front symmetry.
b) Hold the Ctrl key and click SBC: Pipe wall.
c) Click OK.

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Figure 706:


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Figure 707:
When data was loaded from AcuSolve, AcuFieldView displays information from the final time step.
In the following steps you will display velocity magnitude at the first time step and then animate
the display to show the motion of the valve shutter and the velocity changes throughout the
simulation.
Animating the Display of Velocity Magnitude
independently of AcuFieldView. As a first step, you will change the colormap used by the legend.
1. Set the colormap to use defined maximum and minimum values throughout the transient sweep.
a) Click the Colormap tab.

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Figure 708:
b) Enter 6.6 for the maximum.

c) Enter 0 for the minimum.
These settings will be used throughout the transient sweep so that the contours at each time step
will all be relative to this specified range.
dialog.

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Figure 709:
6. Click Build.
Figure 710:
7. Click Frame Rate and set the Minimum Time Seconds to 0.1.
8. Use the controls on the Flipbook Controls dialog to play and pause the animation.
9. Save the animation as mesh_velocity_mag_coupled.

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AcuFieldView will add the appropriate file extension. For Windows,

mesh_velocity_mag_coupled.avi will be saved. It can be viewed independently of AcuFieldView
by double-clicking it in Windows Explorer.
warning.
Displaying Pressure Contours and Velocity Vectors on a Mid-Z Coordinate Surface
In the next steps you will create a coordinate surface at the mid-Z plane of the modeled section. You
will then display pressure contours and velocity vectors on that surface.
1. Disable the Visibility option on the Boundary Surface dialog used to create the display of
velocity magnitude.
2. Open View > Defined Views and set the view to +Z.
3.
Click on the side toolbar to open the Coordinate Surface dialog.
Figure 711:

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5 Moving Body p.753
4. Create and configure a new coordinate surface at the mid-Z plane.

a) Click Create.
b) Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Smooth.
c) Change the COLORING to Scalar.
d) Select pressure as the Scalar Function to display.
e) Set the COORD PLANE to Z.
f) Click the Colormap tab and enable Local in the SCALAR COLORING group.
g) Click the Legend tab and enable the Show Legend option.
h) Click the black color swatch next to the Subtitle field and set the color for the subtitle to
white.
5. Create a second coordinate surface at the mid-Z plane for the display of velocity vectors.
a) Click Create on the Surface tab of the Coordinate Surface dialog.
Figure 712:
b) Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Vectors.

c) Click Options next to Vectors.

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Figure 713:
d) Enable Head Scaling and set the scaling to 0.25.

e) Set the Length Scale to 0.5.
f) Enable Skip option and set it to 75 %.
g) Close the Vector Options dialog.
h) Change the COLORING to Geometric.
i) Set the Geometric color to white.
j) Set the COORD PLANE to Z.
6. Zoom in on the valve-body region of the model.
th
7. Set transient data to display the 78 time step.
a) Open Tools > Transient Data.
b) Use the slider to set the TIME STEP to 78.

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Figure 714:

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5.5.7 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a transient simulation for moving mesh
and variable inlet pressure. The solution of this case was coupled between AcuSolve for the flow field
and MotionSolve for the rigid-body dynamics. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and
generated a solution using AcuSolve and MotionSolve. AcuProbe was used to post-process the motion
of the valve shutter (x_mesh_displacement) and velocity of the valve walls. Results were also post-
processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create contour and vector views, and to allow you to view the
transient data. New features introduced in this tutorial include: coupled solution with an external code,
fluid-structure interaction, mesh motion, transient simulation, multiplier functions, post-processing with
AcuProbe, and animation of transient results.

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5.6 ACU-5300: Ship Hull Static
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving and viewing results for a simulation of flow
around a static ship hull. In this simulation, a wave hits the static ship hull and the flow around the ship
is simulated. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number of modelling concepts necessary to
perform Free-Surface simulations.
• Use of a User Defined Function (UDF) for the gravity wave generation
• Mesh extrusions
• Periodic boundary conditions
• Use of Surface Manager to apply surface attributes
• Free surface
• Guide surface
• Use of hydrostatic pressure for boundary conditions
• Arbitrary mesh motion using ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian) method

• Import the geometry for the Wigley-hull
• Set global meshing parameters
• Set mesh extrusion and periodic boundary conditions
• Run AcuSolve
Prerequisites

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Extract Wigley_hull.x_t and wave.c from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

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The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown in Figure 715. It is a mid-section of a Wigley
Ship model. Wigley hulls have been widely used as test cases for evaluating hydrodynamic behavior
of ships. The present tutorial demonstrates the simulation of gravity waves hitting a static Wigley hull
(a hypothetical situation of a ship anchored in sea). Since the motion considered in this tutorial is
perpendicular to the length of the ship, an analysis of a 2D section of the ship hull would be appropriate
with lesser computation time without compromising on accuracy. The mid-section dimensions of the
Wigley hull is a function of total ship length and the model used in this tutorial is the mid-section of
Wigley hull whose ship length is 1 m.

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Figure 715: Schematic of a Ship Hull
Generation of Surface Gravity Waves

Gravity waves are waves generated in a fluid medium or at the interface between two media when
the force of gravity or buoyancy tries to restore equilibrium. An example of such an interface is that
[1]
between the atmosphere and the ocean, which gives rise to wind waves . The mechanism of surface
gravity waves is that a fluctuation causes water to rise above the equilibrium surface level, gravity pulls
it back down because water is heavier than air, inertia acquired during the falling movement causes
water to penetrate below its level of equilibrium and a bouncing motion results. The oscillation is similar
to that of a spring that has been stretched and released. The ‘spring’ action in a surface water wave

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[2]
is the gravity, hence the name of surface gravity wave . In the present simulation, wind-generated
gravity waves on the free surface of the sea are generated using a UDF (User-Defined Function).
Figure 716: Gravity Waves
Figure 716 depicts parameters that define a simple, progressive gravity wave. This wave can be
modeled in the form of the sinusoidal wave profile, shown below.
where
is the horizontal particle velocity of wave

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is the speed of the wave
U is the velocity amplitude of disturbance
is wave number =
is the wave length of the wave
is the depth of the water
is the frequency of the wave =
is the time period of the wave
t is the time
In the present simulation we use the following values for the variables of above equation:
U = 0.1256 m/s
= 1.0 sec
-1
= 12.566 m
= 0.01 m/s
= 0.5 m
In the present tutorial, at the inlet you will generate the wave for 2 seconds and simulate the motion of
the wave for 5 seconds. A UDF (wave.c) written in C language is used for this purpose. For the details of
the functions used in the wave.c, refer to the AcuSolve User-Defined Functions Manual.
Two Dimensional Simulations in AcuSolve

AcuSolve does not support a CFD analysis on a 2D surface mesh. However a 2D analysis can be
simulated on a volume mesh by having a single element extrusion along the perpendicular direction of
2D surface of interest and then having identical boundary conditions of symmetry or slip on both sides
of extrusion. This way you can ensure that the solution does not vary along the thickness (extrusion),
which is essentially a 2D representation of the problem. The present tutorial uses this approach.

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Starting AcuConsole
mesh and run AcuSolve to solve for the number of time steps specified. Finally, you will visualize some
characteristics of the results using AcuFieldView.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Ship_hull_static and open this directory.
5. Enter Ship_hull_static as the file name for the database, or choose any name of your
preference.
In next steps you will set attributes that apply globally to the simulation. To simplify this task, you will
use the BAS filter in the Data Tree Manager. This filter reduces the number of items shown in the Data
Tree to make navigation of the entries easier.
The general attributes that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, transient analysis, and
mesh type as arbitrary mesh movement (ALE).

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Figure 717:
Figure 718:

4. Enter AcuSolve Tutorial as the Title for this case.
5. Enter Ship hull motion as the Sub title for this case.
6. Click the Analysis type drop down menu and select Transient.
8. Set the Mesh type to Arbitrary Mesh Movement (ALE).

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Figure 719:
2. Ensure the Analysis type is set to Transient.
4. Set the Initial time increment to 0.05 seconds.
5. Change the Max stagger iterations to 4.
Stagger iterations define how many iterations will be performed within each time step. Changing
the maximum stagger iterations to 4 means that AcuSolve will perform a maximum of four
iterations at every time step whether convergence is achieved or not. Setting the minimum
stagger iterations to 0 indicates that there is no minimum number of iterations within a time step.
In this case, AcuSolve will proceed to the next time step when it has either reached the desired
convergence tolerance or the maximum number of stagger iterations within the step.
6. Check that the Relaxation factor is set to 0.0.

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Figure 720:
defined. In the next steps you will check the material properties of the predefined Water to match the
Figure 721:

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Figure 722:
The material type water air is Fluid. Fluid is the default material type for any new material created
in AcuConsole.
Figure 723:
3
3. Click the Density tab. The density of water is 1000.0 kg/m .
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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The Nodal Output Frequency determines at what frequency or time interval the solution results would
be stored to be used for post processing within AcuFieldView.
1. In the Data Tree, under Global, double-click Output.

2. Double-click Nodal Output to open the detail panel.
This value indicates that AcuSolve should write results every 2 time steps.
4. Turn Output initial condition on.
This indicates that AcuSolve writes initial conditions.

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Importing the Wigley Hull Ship Geometry
wigley_hull.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the geometry in

2. Browse to the directory containing wigley_hull.x_t.
4. Click wigley_hull.x_t and click Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.

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Figure 724:

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Figure 725:
Setting Body Force
As discussed in the section Analyzing the Problem, gravity is the important aspect of the simulation.
2
In AcuConsole it is defined as the Body Force of standard Gravity (g = 9.81 m/s ) along the Z-axis is
applied to the model.
1. In the Data Tree, double-click Body Force to expand it.
2. Double-click Gravity to open the detail panel.
The Medium for Gravity is Fluid. The Gravity defined here is applicable only on material models
whose material type is Fluid.
3. Next to the Gravity field, click Open Array.
4. In the X-components and Y-components fields, enter 0.
2
5. In the Z-components field, enter 9.81 m/s
6. Click OK to complete the definition of Gravity.

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Figure 726:
Note: The definition of Gravity here will have no effect on the simulation unless it
assigned to a Volume in the model.
Applying Volume Attributes
container.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group container, set the material for that group
and set mesh motion for the fluid volume.
4. Create a new volume group for the solid ship hull.

b) Click New.
5. Rename the new volume group to Guide_Vol_Ship.
6. Add the ship hull component in the geometry to this group.
a) Right-click Guide_Vol_Ship.

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b) Click Add to.

c) Click the ship hull portion of the geometry in the modeling window.
If you rotate the view by Ctrl+ left-clicking, you can see that only the ship volume is
highlighted.
Figure 727:
d) Click Done to add the selected volume to the solid volume group.
7. Set the material model for the volume to use to None.
The material model of the ship hull is inappropriate to the present simulation. Hence, the medium
is set to None.

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Note: The element sets of the solid volume are necessary in the pre-processing
stage (AcuPrep) of the simulation for the evaluation of normal directions for the
guide surfaces. However the element sets are not necessary during the solver
module because the only interaction between the fluid and solid is at the guide
surface. The use of None for the Medium of this volume ensures that no elements of
this volume are carried over to the solver, thus saving the computational time.
a) Expand the Guide_Vol_Ship volume group in the tree.

c) Change the Medium to None.
d) Check that the Mesh motion is set to None.
volume group container. In the previous steps, you selected a geometry volume to be added to
Guide_Vol_Ship container that you created. At this point, all that is left in the default volume group is
the fluid volume. Rather than create a new container, add the fluid volume in the geometry to it, and
then delete the default volume container, you can rename the container and modify the attributes for
this group.
8. In the Data Tree, right-click on default and rename it to Fluid.
a) Expand the Fluid volume group in the tree.
b) Double click Element Set under Fluid to open it in the detail panel.
c) Ensure that the Medium for the volume is set to Fluid. If not, change it to Fluid.
d) Change the Material model to Water.
e) Change the Body force to Gravity.

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5.6.4 Creating Surface Groups and Applying Surface Parameters
1. Turn-off display for Volumes by right-clicking Volumes and selecting Display off .
2. Right-click Surfaces in the Data Tree and select Surface Manager.
3. In the Surface Manager dialog, click New nine times to create nine new surface groups.
Figure 728:
6. Assign the surface for Outlet.

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a) In the Surface Manager, next to Outlet, click Add to.

b) Select the surface of the Fluid with maximum X-coordinate.
c) Click Done.
Figure 729:
7. Similarly, add the following surface to the appropriate surface groups.

• Bottom: Surface with maximum Z-coordinate (Bottom surface of water)
• Top: Two surfaces at minimum Z-coordinate (Top surfaces of water)
• Side1: Surface with maximum Y-Coordinate
• Side2: Surface with minimum Y-Coordinate
• Inlet: Surface with minimum X-Coordinate
• No_Bc: 5 surfaces of the Guide_Vol_Ship that are not in contact with Fluid as shown below.
Surfaces shown in gray color belong to the No_Bc surface set.

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Figure 730:
8. Assign the surface for Guide_surf.

Guide_surf is the surface that belongs to the Guide_Vol_ship and is in contact with Fluid.
a) In the Surface Manager, next to Guide_surf, click Add to.
b) Select all of the surfaces that belong to the Guide_vol_ship and are in contact with Fluid.

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Figure 731:
9. Assign the surface for Hull_guide.

Hull_guide is the surface that belongs to the fluid and is in contact with the Guide_Vol_Ship. At
this point all the surfaces present in the default Surface set are eligible for Hull_Guide.
a) In the Surface Manager, next to Hull_guide, click Add to.
b) Select all of the surfaces present in the default surface set.

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Figure 732:
10. Clear the empty surface sets.

a) In the Data Tree, right-click Surfaces and select Purge.
11. Make sure that all the surfaces in Hull_guide belong to Fluid Volume and all surfaces in Guide_surf
belong to Guide_Vol_ship Volume.
a) Under Surfaces, right-click Hull_guide and select info.
b) In the Information Window, check that Parent Volume is Fluid.
c) Under Surfaces, right-click Guide_surf and select info.
d) In the Information Window, check that Parent Volume is Guide_Vol_ship for all the
surfaces in Guide_surf.
Assigning Surface Attributes
1.
Side1 and Side2

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The present simulation is a 2D representation of a ship in water. Hence it is appropriate to set the Side1
and Side2 with the slip boundary condition to simulate that effect.
1. In the Data Tree, expand Side1.

2. Double-click Simple Boundary Condition to open the Simple Boundary Condition detail
panel.
3. Change the Type to Slip.
5. Repeat the settings for the surface Side2.
AcuConsole has a special feature named Propagate that can speed up the process of simulation setup
and save time. This feature copies the attributes (it may be Simple Boundary Condition, Surface
Output, Surface Mesh Attributes, Element Set, Volume Mesh Attributes, and so on) set for one surface
set or volume set to another surface set or volume set. For example, in a simulation model if there are
10 surface sets with simple boundary condition set to Slip, then you can use this feature. You need
to manually set the boundary condition for one surface and use the Propagate feature for all other
surfaces.
6. Under Side1, right-click Simple Boundary Condition and select Propagate.
7. Select the surface Side2 and click Propagate.
Top
The Top surface is the top surface of water which is in contact with air and hence Free Surface is the
appropriate boundary condition.
Note: As the name suggest, the free surface is a surface of the fluid which is not
constrained by any physical boundary. This type of the boundary condition imposes normal
component of mesh velocity to the flow velocity at this surface.
1. In the Data Tree, expand Top.

panel.
3. Change the Type to Free Surface.
4. Check that the Surface tension model is set to None.

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Note: Surface tension model is the user-given model of surface tension defined
under Global > Surface Tension Model. Since the surface tension is not modelled
in this simulation, this parameter is set to None.
5. Check that the Contact angle model is set to None.
Note: Contact angle model is the user-given model of contact angle defined under
Global > Contact Angle Model. The contact angle model is used in conjunction
with the surface tension model. Since the surface tension is not modelled in this
simulation, this parameter is set to None.
6. Check that the Pressure is set to 0.

7. Check that the Pressure loss factor is set to 0.
Note: Use of Pressure loss factor (k) would add the following term to the pressure
term
where
= -1 for the inflow
=1 for the outflow
k = Pressure loss factor
= density of fluid
u = velocity of fluid
n = outward pointing normal of the surface
The higher the value of pressure loss factor, stiffer the free surface behaves, that is,
lesser the displacement of the free surface.
8. Check that Hydrostatic pressure is set to off.

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Note: For the detailed discussion on Hydrostatic pressure, refer to the Outlet
surface attributes defined later in this tutorial.
Bottom
1. In the Data Tree, expand Bottom.

panel.
3. Change the Type to Slip.
A simple boundary condition type Slip imposes zero nodal boundary condition on velocity normal
to the given surface.
4. Change the Mesh displacement BC type to Fixed.
The Bottom surface is a stationary surface and a Mesh displacement BC type Fixed imposes zero
mesh displacement with respect to the surface.
Outlet
1. In the Data Tree, expand Outlet.

panel.
4. Use the default values for Pressure and Pressure loss factor.
5. Change Hydrostatic pressure to On.
The pressure is not constant throughout the Outlet surface. The pressure at this surface varies
along Z- axis because of gravity (Hydrostatic pressure variation). In general, when setting
Hydrostatic pressure to On, the pressure varies as given below
where
= density of fluid
z = coordinate vector of the point on the surface
z0 = coordinate vector where the hydrostatic pressure is zero. Z0 defined below using Hydrostatic
pressure origin

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g = gravity vector
6. Next to Hydrostatic pressure origin, click Open Array to define the pressure origin.
7. Provide the coordinates of origin (0, 0, 0) in the Array Editor.
Note: Hydrostatic pressure will be zero on Free surface (that is, the Top surface).
The point (0, 0, 0) is on the Top surface. In particular, any point on the Top surface
can be chosen as Hydrostatic pressure origin.
During the simulation there will be certain time points (particularly when trough is formed at the
outlet surface) at which the flow enters the domain through certain portion of outlet surface, which is
called back flow. Back flow may lead to instability temperature, turbulence variables. Enabling Back
flow conditions allows nodal boundary conditions to be specified for these variables only on nodes
where there is flow re-entering the domain. Assuming the outlet is sufficiently far away from ship hull,
eddy viscosity value can set as that of the Inlet, for example, 1e-05
8. Set Back flow conditions to On.
9. Select the Eddy viscosity back flow type to Value.
10. Set Eddy viscosity to 1e-05.
Setting the Mesh displacement BC type to Slip will allow the nodes on this surface (Outlet) to
move freely along the surface.
No_Bc
The No_Bc surface set contains the surfaces of Guide_Vol_Ship which do not participate in actual
simulation. Hence it is appropriate to disable the Boundary condition for this surface.
1. In the Data Tree, expand No_Bc.

2. Uncheck the Simple Boundary Condition checkbox.
Guide_surf
This surface belonging to the Guide_Vol_Ship will remain stationary in the present simulation and
provide as a guide for the fluid around. Hence we define it as Guide Surface with no mesh motion.
1. In the Data Tree, expand Guide_surf.

2. Uncheck the Simple Boundary Condition checkbox.

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Note: This ensures that boundary condition for the Guide_surf surface is not defined
by using Simple Boundary Conditions. The boundary condition will be defined as a
Guide surface using the following steps.
3. Click ALL in the Data Tree Manager.

4. Under the Guide_Surf surface, check the box next to Guide Surface.
The Guide Surface type will ensure that Guide_Surf surface can be used to guide mesh nodes of
Hull_guide surface. Refer to the Hull_guide surface attributes defined later in this tutorial.
5. Make sure that Mesh motion is set to None.
This ensures that the Guide_surf surface is static and has no motion.
Hull_guide
1. In the Data Tree, expand Hull_guide.

panel.
4. Change Wall velocity type to Match Mesh Velocity.
5. Change the Mesh displacement BC type to Guide_Surface.
6. Change Guide_surface from None to Guide_surf.
This allows the mesh nodes of Hull_guide surface to slip along Guide_surf surface.
7. Make sure that Mesh motion is set to None.
Inlet
At the Inlet, you will provide the horizontal velocity of the gravity waves given by Equation 1. This
boundary condition at the inlet will be defined using Nodal Boundary conditions with UDF.
1. In the Data Tree, expand Inlet.

panel.

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Note: Setting the Mesh displacement BC type to Slip will allow the nodes on the
Inlet surface to move freely along the surface.
5. Change the Eddy viscosity to 1e-5.
Note: X, Y, Z velocities in the Simple Boundary Condition detail panel can be

left to default values of zero, because these values will be overwritten with Nodal
Boundary conditions below. In case of conflict of inputs, Nodal Boundary conditions
have higher precedence than Simple Boundary conditions.
6. Expand Advanced Options, and the expand Nodal Boundary Conditions.

7. Check the box adjacent to X-Velocity.
8. Change Type to User Function.
9. For User function name, enter usrWaveHorizontal.
10. Next to User function name, click Open Array.
11. In the Array Editor, click Add five times.
12. Enter the values as shown in the figure below:
Figure 733:

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The values provided above are the ones described in the section Generation of Surface Gravity
Waves. The user values should be provided in the same order as shown above, because these
values will be passed on to the UDF script which refers these values in that specific order.
13. Click OK.
Compiling for UDF on Windows
A UDF in the form of C language (wave.c) is provided with the tutorial. Now this C program should be
compiled using the following steps.
1. Start AcuConsole Command Prompt from the Windows Start menu by clicking Start > All
Programs > Altair Hyperworks <version> > AcuSolve > AcuSolve Cmd Prompt.
2. Use the cd command to change the directory to the current working directory.
3. Enter the command acuMakeDll –src wave.c.
A set of files necessary for the use of UDF are created..
Compiling for UDF on Linux
A UDF in the form of C language (wave.c) is provided with the tutorial. Now this C program should be
1. In the terminal, use the cd command to change the directory to the current working directory.
A set of files necessary for the use of UDF are created..

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Now that the simulation characteristics have been set for the whole problem, the next step is to
generate the mesh.
Figure 734:
The present simulation is equivalent to a 2D representation of the model. In AcuSolve, 2D models

are simulated by having just one element across the thickness. In this case, there has to be only one
element between Side1 and Side2. This can achieved with mesh extrusion process. Since you are using
identical boundary conditions on Side1 and Side2, using one element between them will ensure that
there is no variation in nodal values across thickness and hence ensuring the simulation of a 2D model.
In the following steps you will define the process of extrusion of the mesh from Side1 to Side2.

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1. Expand the Model Data Tree item and right-click Mesh Extrusions.
2. Select New from the context menu to create a new entity, Mesh Extrusion 1.
3. Rename Mesh Extrusion 1 as Side1-Side2.
4. Right-click Side1-Side2 and select Define from the context menu.
a) Use the drop down arrows to select the surfaces for Side 1 and Side 2 as Side1 and Side2,
respectively.
b) Ensure that the Extrusion type is set to Number of layers.
c) Set Number of layers equal to 1.
d) Set Extrusion options to All tets.
Use the following figure for reference.
Defining the Periodic Boundaries
The present simulation is a 2D representation of infinite ship model. So the solution should be periodic
on the surfaces Side1 and Side2. The following steps define the periodic boundary conditions.

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Note: The following steps will only ensure that the mesh is periodic. The definition of
periodic boundary conditions for particular variables has to be made separately.
1. In the Data Tree, under Model, right click on Periodics and select New.
2. Rename Periodics 1 to Side1-Side2.
3. Right click on Side1-Side2 and select Define.
4. In the Periodics BC dialog, select the surfaces Side1 and Side2, respectively.
5. Verify that Type is Translational.
6. Set the Y-Offset to -0.01 m (which is the distance between Side1 and Side2).
Figure 735:
Transformation information should be provided so that the Side 1 surface after transformation
matches the Side 2 surface. For the present case, Side 1 should be translated along (-Y) axis for a
distance of 0.01m. Hence the Type as Translational and the Y-Offset as -0.01m.
7. Click OK.
Generating the Mesh

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problem.

Figure 736:


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Figure 737:
4. Visualize the mesh in the modeling window.

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Figure 738:
Checking Periodic Boundary Conditions
The following steps define the periodic boundary conditions for various variables for Side1 and Side2.
2. Under Model, expand Periodics and expand Side1-Side2.
3. Make sure that the Periodic Boundary Condition box is checked On.
4. Double-click Periodic Boundary Condition and verify that Type is set to Periodic and Active Type
is set to Always.
Figure 739:

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Splitting Nodes
At this point, the Hull_guide surface has all nodes that are attached to Fluid. A duplicate set of nodes
has to be created, so that one set of the nodes follow the Fluid motion and another set stays attached
to the surface Guide_surf. The following steps illustrate the process of splitting the nodes.
1. In the Data Tree, under Surfaces, right-click Hull_guide and select Mesh Op. > Split internal
faces.
There is an increase in the number of nodes.

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Running AcuSolve

AcuSolve will run using four processors (if available, higher number of processors may be
specified) and AcuConsole will generate AcuSolve input files and will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolve
will calculate the transient solution for this problem.
As the solution progresses, an AcuTail dialog will open. The solution progress is reported in this
dialog.

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Figure 740:
AcuProbe can be used to monitor various variables over solution time. In the present simulation it is
worthwhile to monitor the forces on the ship hull.
1.
2. In the Data browser on the left, expand Surface Output.
3. Double-click on Hull_guide to open the surface output list.
4. Right-click on x_wall_shear_stress and click on plot.

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display the plot.
5. Similarly, right-click on z_wall_shear_stress and click on plot.
Figure 741:

processing.
c) Click Save.

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AcuSolve.
In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView and create an animation of the ship hull motion with
the contours of z-mesh displacement.

Viewing Water Displacement Around the Ship
to +z. If you are unfamiliar with basic AcuFieldView operations, refer to Manipulating the Model View in
AcuFieldView.
1. Orient the geometry so you can see the Top surface clearly, as shown in the figure below.

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Figure 742:
2. In the Boundary Surface dialog, uncheck Show Mesh.

3. Select z-mesh-displacement as the scalar function and click Calculate.
4. In the Legend tab, click Show Legend.
5. Change the color to black.
Note: You can move the legend using Shift + left-click.
6. From the Colormap tab, turn on Local.

7. Click Tools > Flipbook Build Mode and click OK .
8. Click Tools > Transient Data and move the slider all the way back to reflect the first time step
data on the boundary surfaces.
9. Click Build to build the animation.
10. Once the animation is built, click Frame Rate and change it to 0.1.
11. Save the animation as Z-Displacement.

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5.6.7 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a static ship-hull simulation with
surface gravity waves. Once the case was set up, you generated a mesh and obtained a solution using
AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create an animation of the free
surface movement with time. New features introduced in this tutorial include:
• User Defined Function (UDF) for surface gravity wave generation
• Mesh extrusions and periodic boundary conditions
• ALE based mesh motion approach
• Use of the Surface Manager to apply surface attributes
• Use of hydrostatic pressure as a boundary condition
• Free surface and Guide surface capabilities in AcuSolve

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5.7 ACU-5301: Ship Hull Dynamics
This tutorial provides the instructions for setting up, solving, and viewing results of a flow around
a freely floating ship hull. In this simulation, a wave hits the ship hull and displacement of the ship
and the flow around the ship are simulated. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to a number of
modeling concepts necessary to perform Free-Surface simulations.
The basic steps of a CFD simulation are shown in earlier tutorials. The following additional capabilities of
AcuSolve will be introduced in this tutorial:
• Use of Rigid Body type mesh motion
• Use of Free surface and Guide surface capabilities in conjunction of Rigid Body mesh motion.

• Use the pre-defined material model - Aluminum
• Create Rigid Body Mesh Motion
• Apply Mesh Motion to the Volume and Surface attributes
• Run AcuSolve
Prerequisites
In order to run this tutorial, you should have already run through the introductory tutorials, ACU-2000:
Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow and ACU-5300: Ship Hull Static. Be familiar with AcuConsole,
AcuSolve, or AcuFieldView. In order to run this tutorial, you will need access to a licensed version of
AcuSolve 2017.2.
Prior to running through this tutorial, copy ship_hull_static.acs and wave_c from <AcuSolve
installation directory>\model_files\tutorials\AcuSolve\Acu_tutorial_input.zip to a
working directory.

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The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown below. It is a mid-section of a Wigley Ship model.
Wigley hulls have been widely used as test cases for evaluating hydrodynamic behavior of ships. The
present tutorial demonstrates the simulation of gravity waves hitting a freely floating Wigley hull and
evaluating the positionof the hull with time. This tutorial is similar to the Ship Hull Static tutorial, except
that the ship hull is freely floating as a rigid body compared to a static ship hull.
Since the motion considered in this tutorial is perpendicular to the length of the ship, an analysis of a
2D section of the ship hull would be appropriate with lesser computation time without compromising on
accuracy. The mid-section dimensions of the Wigley hull is a function of total ship length and the model
used in this tutorial is the mid-section of Wigley hull whose ship length is 1m.

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Figure 743: Schematic of a Ship Hull
Generation of Surface Gravity Waves

Wind-generated gravity waves on the free surface of the sea are generated using a UDF (User-Defined
Function).

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Figure 744: Gravity Waves
A linear solution of surface gravity wave propagation would result in the following equation for
horizontal velocity of wave.
Where,
is the horizontal particle velocity of wave
is the speed of the wave

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U is the velocity amplitude of disturbance
is wave number =
is the wave length of the wave
is the depth of the water
is the frequency of the wave =
is the time period of the wave
t is the time
In the present simulation, the following values are used for the variables of above equation:
U = 0.1256 m/s
= 1.0 sec
-1
= 12.566 m
= 0.01 m/s
= 0.5 m
In the present tutorial, at the inlet you will generate the wave for 2 seconds and simulate the motion of
the wave for 5 seconds. A UDF (wave.c) written in C language is used for this purpose. For the details
of the functions used in the wave.c, refer to the AcuSolve User-Defined Functions Manual.
Two Dimensional Simulations in AcuSolve

AcuSolve does not support a CFD analysis on a 2D surface mesh. However, a 2D analysis can be
simulated on a volume mesh by having a single element extrusion along the perpendicular direction of
2D surface of interest and then having identical boundary conditions of symmetry or slip on both sides
of extrusion. This way you can ensure that the solution does not vary along the thickness (extrusion),
which is essentially a 2D representation of the problem. The present tutorial uses this approach.
Modeling the Solid Ship Hull

For the present tutorial the following properties are assumed for the ship hull.
Material = Aluminum
3
Density = 2702 kg/m
Body Center = (1.12971, 0.0, 0.0082984) m
Body Mass = 0.2038 kg
Body Weight = 0.2038 × 9.81 = 2.0 N

2
Components of Moments of Inertia (in kg m ):

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= 0.00113969
= 0.0051392
= 0.004006
Rigid Body Dynamic Analysis

The rigid body is driven by the sum of two kinds of forces and moments.
• Internal Forces/Moments: refers to the integrated fluid traction and moment
• External Forces/Moments: refers to the force and moment you specify
A local coordinate system is used to simplify the definition of the rigid body model and the solution of
the equations of motion. The translational and rotational equations of motion are:
Where,
are the translational displacement, velocity and acceleration vectors, respectively as:
, ,
are the angular displacement, angular velocity and angular acceleration vectors, respectively
as:
, ,
is the mass of the body.
is the dyadic (moment of inertia) matrix of the body.
are the translational and rotational damping matrices, respectively.
are the translational and rotational stiffness matrices, respectively.
are the internal Forces and Moments from the fluid.

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are the external Forces and Moments you specify.
Rigid Body Dynamics Analysis for a 2D Problem

1. The displacements of the ship along its span (y-direction) is neglected.
2. The axis of rotation for the ship is along the y-direction and the variables along other axis are
neglected.
3. Translational damping and stiffness matrices and their rotational equivalents are assumed to be
zero.
4. The only external force acting on the rigid body is the gravity force ( ) along the z-axis.
5. The external moments acting on the body is zero, because the only external force acting on the
body is gravity which does not generate any moment.
For the present tutorial, a single element extrusion will be made along the y-axis. Based on the above
assumptions, you arrive with:
, ,
, ,
The translational equations of the motion will be:
The rotational equations of the motion will be:

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The only critical component of moment of inertia for the present tutorial is .

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Starting AcuConsole and Opening the Simulation Database
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole and open a database that is set up for a Ship hull static
simulation. You will then make appropriate changes to the database to take into account the dynamics
of the ship motion.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it Ship_hull_dynamics and open it.
5. Copy the Ship_hull_static.acs and wave.c from the <installation directory> to the new
working directory.
6. Click Ship_hull_static.acs to open the database.
7. Click File > Save As and enter Ship_hull_dynamics as the file name for the database.
In the next steps you will modify global attributes needed for the transient portion of the simulation.

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Figure 745:
Figure 746:
the context menu.
4. Name the Sub title as Ship hull dynamics.

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Figure 747:
Setting Material Model Attributes

In the next steps you will verify that the pre-defined material properties of water and aluminum match
Figure 748:

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Note: The detail panel can be resized by dragging the right frame of the panel.
Figure 749:
3
5. Double-click Aluminum in the Data Tree to open the Aluminum detail panel.
The Material type for aluminum is Solid.
Figure 750:
3
6. Click the Density tab. Verify that the density of aluminum is 2702.0 kg/m .
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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Setting Mesh Motion Attributes
In the next steps you will define the mesh motion based on the rigid body dynamics of the ship hull.
3. Rename Mesh Motion 1 to Rigid_body_mesh_motion.
4. Double-click Rigid_body_mesh_motion and change the Type to Rigid Body Dynamic.
Note: The values assigned to the parameters in this section are the material and
geometric properties of the ship hull. Please refer to ACU-5300: Ship Hull Static.
5. Set X displacement and Z displacement as Active.

6. Set Y displacement as Inactive.
7. Set X rotation and Z rotation as Inactive.
8. Set Y rotation as Active.
9. For Mass, enter 0.2038 Kg.

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Figure 751:
10. Click Open Array adjacent to Center.

11. Enter the coordinates for the center of the ship hull, as shown below, and click OK.

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Figure 752:
Local Coordinates: This parameter defines the direction of local xyz coordinate system, specified
with respect to the global xyz coordinate system.
12. Click Open Array adjacent to Local coordinates.
Since the local and global coordinates are same in this simulation, use the following defaults.
Figure 753:
13. Click OK.

14. Click Open Array adjacent to Dyadic, and enter the Moment of Inertia matrix, as shown below.

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Figure 754:
Though for the present 2D problem the only critical component of moment of inertia is Iyy as
mentioned in the section Rigid Body Dynamics Analysis, AcuSolve would require the dyadic matrix
to be positive definite because of the 3D volume mesh (refer to 2-Dimensional simulations in
AcuSolve) and therefore, requires the input of Ixx, Izz.
The parameters Stiffness, Damping, Rotational stiffness, and Rotational damping will be
considered zero, because the ship is assumed to be freely floating on water.
External forces: The force of gravity is the external force acting on the ship hull along the positive-
z direction.
15. Click Open Array adjacent to External forces.

16. Enter the Force vector as shown below and click OK.
Figure 755:
External Moment: The only external force on the ship hull is force of gravity. It does not produce
any moment. Therefore, the External Moment will be zero in this simulation.
The parameters Initial displacement, Initial velocity, Initial rotation, Initial angular velocity,
Initial fluid forces, and Initial fluid moments will be considered zero, because of the stationary,
equilibrium position of the ship considered at the start of the simulation.

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Surface outputs: This parameter lists the array of surfaces whose output of forces and moments
will be enforced on the Rigid body (in this case, Ship hull). In this simulation, the forces from the
fluid will be enforced on the ship hull through the surface “Hull_guide” of Fluid volume.
17. Click Open Refs adjacent to Surface outputs.
18. In the Reference Editor, click Add Row.
19. Select Hull_guide and click OK.
Figure 756:
3. Expand Volumes.
4. Under Guide_Vol_Ship, double-click Element Set.
5. Change Medium to Solid.
6. Set Material Model to Aluminum.
7. Set Body force to Gravity.
8. Change the Mesh motion to Rigid_body_mesh_motion.

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Figure 757:
Setting the Mesh Motion to the Guide Surface
2. Expand the Model > Surfaces > Guide_surf tree item.
3. Double-click Guide Surface.
4. Change the Mesh motion to Rigid_body_mesh_motion.
Figure 758:
Compiling of UDF for Windows
A UDF written in C language (wave.c) is provided with the tutorial. Now this C program should be
Programs > Altair HyperWorks <version>AcuSolve > AcuSolve Cmd Prompt.
2. Change the directory to present working directory using the ‘cd’ command.
The working directory is where all files related to the simulation will be stored. When you are
setting up the problem, there will be a file with extension .acs in this directory, which corresponds

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to an AcuConsole database. Once the mesh and solution are generated, additional files and
directories will be added by AcuSolve.
A set of files necessary for the use of UDF are created.
Compiling of UDF for Linux
A UDF written in C language (wave.c) is provided with the tutorial. Now this C program should be
1. In the terminal, use the cd command to change the directory to the current working directory.
A set of files necessary for the use of UDF are created.

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Running AcuSolve
Figure 759:
AcuSolve will run using four processors (if available, higher number of processors may be
specified) and AcuConsole will generate AcuSolve input files and will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolve
will calculate the transient solution for this problem.
As the solution progresses, an AcuTail dialog will open. The solution progress is reported in this
dialog.

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Figure 760:
AcuProbe can be used to monitor various variables over solution time. In the present simulation it is
worthwhile to monitor the forces on the ship hull.
1.
2. Double-click Surface Output to expand the tree.
3. Double-click Hull_guide to open the surface output variables list.
4. Right-click on x_wall_shear_stress and click Plot.

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display the plot.
5. Repeat the above steps to plot the z_wall_shear_stress and click Plot.
Figure 761:

processing.
c) Click Save.

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AcuSolve.
In the following steps you will start AcuFieldView, create an animation of the ship hull motion with the
contours of z-mesh displacement.
Figure 762:

Animating to View Displacement of the Ship
to +z. If you are unfamiliar with basic AcuFieldView operations, refer to Manipulating the Model View in
AcuFieldView.
1. Orient the geometry so you can see the entire model clearly, as shown in the figure below.
2. In the Boundary Surfaces dialog, uncheck Show Mesh.
3. Select z-mesh-displacement as the scalar function and click Calculate.
4. In the Legend tab, click Show Legend.
5. Change the color to black.

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Note: You can move the legend using Shift + left-click.
6. From the Colormap tab, turn on Local.
Figure 763:
7. Click Tools > Flipbook Build Mode and click OK .

8. Click Tools > Transient Data and move the slider all the way back to reflect the 1st time step
data on the boundary surfaces.

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Figure 764:
9. Click Build to build the animation.

10. Once the animation is built, click on Frame Rate and change it to 0.1.
11. Save the animation as Z-Displacement.mpg.

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5.7.4 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a dynamic ship-hull simulation with
surface gravity waves. You started with an .acs file from the Ship Hull Static tutorial and modified the
set up to accommodate the rigid body motion of the ship hull. Once the case was set up, you generated
a solution using AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create animation
of the Ship hull movement with time. New features introduced in this tutorial include: Rigid Body type
mesh motion, use of Free surface and Guide surface capabilities in conjunction of Rigid Body mesh
motion.

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5.8 ACU-5400: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester: A

Fluid-Structure Interaction (P-FSI)
piezoelectric fluid harvester. In this simulation, a piezoelectric flow harvester is placed in a fluid flow
channel. The harvester is attached to a cylinder mount which also acts as a bluff body causing vortices
in the fluid flow. The interaction between the pressure fields generated by the vortices and the flow
harvester structure is simulated in this tutorial. AcuSolve is used in conjunction with a structural solver
to compute the structural displacement of the harvester using a practical fluid structure interaction (P-
FSI) approach. Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) approach is used to compute the mesh deformation
in the fluid domain as it interacts with the deforming structure.
The basic steps in a CFD simulation have been discussed in earlier tutorials. The following additional
• Set up a Practical FSI simulation (P-FSI)
• Using ALE mesh motion
• Use Eigenmode Manager for transferring structural data onto CFD mesh

• Import and transfer structural data onto the CFD mesh
• Set up the P-FSI simulation
• Run AcuSolve
• Post-process the nodal output with AcuFieldView

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Prerequisites
the files fluid.x_t and beam_modal.op2 from Acu_tutorial_input.zip. The file fluid.x_t stores the
geometry information for the fluid portion of the model for this problem, and the file slab_modal.op2
stores the output data from the structural solver which will be projected on to the CFD mesh that will be
generated in the course of the tutorial.

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elements, such as inlets, outlets or walls, and on flow conditions, such as fluid properties, velocity or
whether the flow should be modeled as turbulent or as laminar.
The system being simulated contains a section of a cantilever beam, the fixed side of which is attached
to a rigid cylindrical body. The beam along with the cylinder is placed in a water flow stream. This
cylindrical body acts a bluff body placed in the flow and stimulates vortex shedding in the flow
downstream as it passes over the cylinder. The alternating shedding of vortices creates a zone of
alternating asymmetric pressure distribution on either side of the beam. Such an alternating pressure
distribution exerts an oscillating force on the beam, creating a sustainable oscillating vibration in the
beam.
The modeled system can be compared to a piezoelectric based fluid flow energy harvester. The beam
used in the structural model has a layered arrangement, with a brass shim sandwiched between
the piezoelectric layers on either side. Piezoelectric materials have a unique property of generating
an electric charge when subjected to stress. In the current arrangement as the fluid flow exerts an
oscillating force on the beam leading to vibration, a corresponding oscillating structural stress is induced
in the beam. The piezoelectric property comes into play here as the stress causes the piezoelectric
layers to develop an electric charge. This electric charge is then tapped by a separate electromechanical
arrangement. Thus there is a two-step energy conversion involved in this electricity generation process.
First, the fluid flow energy is converted into mechanical energy of the vibration of the beam, then this
mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy. However, the FSI aspect of this conversion, which
is also of interest, is the transfer of energy between the fluid flow and beam.
The schematics of the problem that will be addressed in this tutorial are in Figure 765. The modeled
domain consists of a fluid volume. The fluid solver does not require the solid body to be modeled.
However, the results of the structural solver will be used to define the solid body and the surfaces where
the fluid interacts with the solid will be allowed to deform according to the Eigen modes of the beam.
Figure 766 shows the arrangement of the beam with its various layers.

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Figure 766: The Beam with its Various Layers

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Fluid Structure Interaction

Fluid Structure Interaction is the interaction between a fluid flow and a deformable solid structure
in contact with this flow. An FSI problem can be an external or an internal flow problem. The fluid
flow can be external with the solid body immersed in the flow, for example, a windmill blade in open
atmosphere. The fluid flow can also be internal with the solid body enclosing the flow, for example,
fluid flow inside a deformable pipe. In both cases, the principle behind solving the problem remains the
same. When a fluid flow encounters a structure, fluid pressure exerts a stress on the solid body that
can lead to deformations in the structure. The magnitude of the deformation depends on the stiffness of
the structure material and the magnitude of pressure force exerted by the fluid. The deformation in the
structure shape then leads to altering of the flow characteristics in vicinity of the structure.
A FSI problem is a multi physics problem, with the coupled laws of structural and fluid mechanics
affecting the solution. There are two widely used approaches with which this coupling is achieved:
• Practical-FSI (P-FSI): The structure is reduced in the modal space and coupled to the fluid
domain through interface nodes. The coupling between the solvers happens in a single pass itself.
Structural behaviour is limited to be linear in a P-FSI simulation.
• Direct coupling (DC-FSI): The coupling is a co-simulation between the structural and the fluid
solver, with each solver stepping through time simultaneously and iterating to equilibrium in each
time step.
In case the deformations in the structure are large enough to alter the fluid flow significantly, the DC-
FSI co-simulation approach should be used. With this approach, as the fluid flow and pressure fields
affect the structural deformations, and the structural deformations affect the flow and pressure, the
information about these effects is exchanged between the solvers in real time.
Given the difference in coupling methodology, it is likely that slightly different results will be observed
when a same problem is solved using P-FSI and DC-FSI approaches. The choice of the approach that
should be used shall depend on the problem and the available resources. As mentioned above, the P-
FSI approach should be limited to the cases when displacements in the structure are small, and the
structural behaviour can be approximated to be linear. For all other cases, DC-FSI should be preferred.
However, DC-FSI simulations incur a higher computational resources cost. With this consideration, P-FSI
simulation can also be used as a preliminary test simulation before a DC-FSI simulation is carried out.
FSI can be stable or oscillatory. In a stable FSI, the deformed shape of the structure will not change
with time, unless the flow changes as well. In an oscillatory FSI, once the structure is deformed, it will
try to return to its non-deformed state and then the whole deformation process repeats itself.

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Mesh Motion Approaches in AcuSolve

Many simulations require deformation of the domain with time. AcuSolve provides two approaches for
handling dynamic meshes:
• Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE)

• Interpolated Mesh Motion
This tutorial uses the ALE approach for specifying the mesh motion of the deformed nodes in the
domain. The Interpolated Mesh Motion approach is discussed in detail in the subsequent tutorials which
solve the same problem using this approach.
Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE)

ALE is an approach for mesh motion in which the computational nodes are moved arbitrarily with the
aim of optimizing the element quality. An additional Partial Differential Equation (PDE) is solved to
arrive at the appropriate mesh position. ALE is capable of handling complex arbitrary motions and
is therefore the most general approach in simulating moving mesh problems. Generality comes with
additional computational cost because of the extra PDE to be solved. For simpler motions like 1D or
2D motions faster approaches are available which include Interpolated Mesh Motion, general specified
motions, Nodal Boundary conditions based approaches.

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In the next steps you will start AcuConsole and create the database for storage for the simulation
settings.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it PFSI_Tutorial and navigate into this directory.
5. Enter piezo_harvester as the File name for the database, or choose any name of your
preference.
In order for other applications to be able to read the files written by AcuConsole, the database
path and name should not include spaces.

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Figure 767:
Figure 768:
Tip: You may need to widen the detail panel from the default size by dragging the
right edge of the panel frame.
4. Enter AcuSolve PFSI Tutorial as the Title.

5. Enter Piezoelectric harvester as the Sub title.

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8. Change the Mesh type from Fixed to Arbitrary Mesh Movement (ALE).
ALE stands for Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian. Using an ALE mesh type allows the mesh in
the domain to be moved freely in accordance with the movement in the domain boundaries
or interfaces. This is achieved by a formulation that can switch to purely Eulerian or purely
Lagrangian or any arbitrary combination of the two thus allowing the elements to take the most
optimum shape. This in turn enables the solver to handle a higher degree of element deformation.
Figure 769:

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You will import the geometry for the problem in the next part of this tutorial. You will need to know
the location of fluid.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the
geometry of the fluid portion of the domain in Parasolid ASCII format.

2. Browse to the directory containing fluid.x_t.
4. Click fluid.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.
Figure 770:

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container. Since the model for this tutorial has only a single volume, it will be the only volume in the
default volume group when the geometry is imported. Even when there is a single volume in the model,
it is advisable to rename the volume for ease of identification in the future.
In the next steps you will rename the default volume group container and set the material and other
properties for it.
3. Turn off the display of surfaces. Right-click Surfaces and click Display off in the context menu.
the volume name.
5. Rename the default volume to fluid.

a) Under Volumes, right-click default and click Rename on the context menu.
b) Enter fluid.
When an item in the Data Tree is renamed, the change is not saved until you press the Enter
key on your keyboard. If you move the input focus away from the item without entering it,
your changes will be lost.
a) Expand the Fluid tree item.
b) Double-click Element Set under fluid to open the Element Set detail panel.
c) Make sure that the Medium for the volume is set to Fluid.
The default Medium for a volume in AcuConsole is Fluid.
d) Click the drop-down control next to Material model and select Water.

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Figure 771:
1. Turn-off the display for Volumes by right-clicking Volumes and selecting Display off .

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Figure 772:
If you cannot see the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, click Columns , select these
two columns from the list and click Ok.

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Figure 773:
5. Rename Surface 1 through Surface 6 according to Figure 774.
6. Set the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, per Figure 774.

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Figure 774:

a) Click Add to in the z_pos row in the Surface Manager.
b) Select the planar surface with the maximum z-coordinate, as shown in Figure 775, and click
Done.
c) Follow the procedure to assign the surface with the minimum z-coordinate to the z_neg
surface group.

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Figure 775:
8. Assign the surfaces enclosing the domain at the top and bottom to the slip surface group.
9. Assign the surface with the minimum x-coordinate to the inlet surface group.
10. Assign the surface with the maximum x-coordinate to the outlet surface group.
11. Assign the cylinder surface to the cylinder surface group. This surface is the contact boundary
between the fluid and the cylinder. Use the following image as the reference for selecting the
required surfaces.

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Figure 776:
surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to beam in the Surface Manager.
In the previous steps, you assigned some surfaces to various other surface groups that you created.
At this point, all that is left in the beam surface group are the surfaces that make up the contact
boundary between the fluid volume and the beam.
to a specific geometric volume, surface, edge or point. Local mesh attributes are used to create mesh

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Figure 777:
parameter used to create targeted mesh controls for one or more specific surfaces.
attribute is not found for a component the global attributes will be used as the mesh generation control
for that component. If a local mesh attribute is present it will take precedence over the global setting.
In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes for the cylinder surface to add boundary
layers to the surface. Then you will propagate these mesh attributes to the beam surfaces.

2. Under the Model branch, expand Surfaces.
3. Under Surfaces, expand the cylinder surface group.
4. Click the Surface Mesh Attributes checkbox to activate and open the detail panel.
5. Make sure that the Mesh size type is set to Absolute.

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7. Make sure that the Region of influence parameters is set to On.

Mesh controls related to influence region from the surface become visible. Region of influence is
a size control that allows you to control the size and growth rate of the surface and volume mesh
surrounding a surface based on the distance from the surface.
Option Description
Influence type Simple
Influence size factor 3.0
Influence distance 2.0
9. Make sure that the Boundary layer flag is set to On.

Mesh controls related to boundary layer meshing become visible.
10. Check that the Boundary layer type is set to Full Control.
This will set the total layer height based on the other settings you provide.
12. Enter the remaining settings as follows:
Option Description
Growth rate 1.3
Number of layers 4
Boundary layer elements type Tetrahedron

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Figure 778:
Instead of repeating the above steps for the beam surface group you can propagate the mesh
attribute settings for the cylinder surface group to the beam surface group.
13. Right-click Surface Mesh Attributes under cylinder and select Propogate.
14. Click the beam surface group in the Propogate dialog.

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Figure 779:
15. Click Propogate.

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The present simulation is equivalent to a representation of a 2D cross section of the model. In

AcuSolve, 2D models are simulated by having just one element across the faces of the cross section.
When these faces are set up with a similar boundary condition it coerces the corresponding nodes
across the faces to have the same results. In this problem these faces are the negative and positive z-
surfaces. This kind of mesh is achieved in AcuSolve with mesh extrusion process. In the following steps,
the process of extrusion of the mesh between these surfaces is defined.

2. Right-click Mesh Extrusions and select New from the context menu.
A new entity, Mesh Extrusion 1, is created.
3. Rename Mesh Extrusion 1 as z_extrusion.
Figure 780:
4. Right-click z_extrusion and select Define from the context menu.

Double-clicking z_extrusion achieves the same results.
b) Use the drop-down arrows to select the surfaces for Side 1 and Side 2 as z_neg and z_pos,
respectively.
d) Set Number of layers to 1.

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Use the following image for reference for setting up the mesh extrusion.
Figure 781:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


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Figure 782:
Note: The actual number of nodes, elements and memory usage may vary slightly
from machine to machine.
5. Turn on the display of surfaces and set the display type to solid and wire.
6. You can rotate and zoom in the model to analyze the various mesh regions.

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the solution.
3. Make sure that the Analysis type is set to Transient.
5. Enter 0.01 for Initial time increment.
6. Set the Min and Max stagger iterations to 3 and 5, respectively.
7. Make sure that Flow, Mesh and Turbulence are set to On.
Figure 783:
defined. In the next steps you will verify that the pre-defined material characteristics of water match

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Figure 784:
The material type for water is Fluid. Fluid is the default material type for any new material created
in AcuConsole.
Figure 785:
3. Click the Density tab. The density value is 1000 kg/m3.

4. Make sure that the Type is set to Constant.
The remaining thermal and other material properties are not critical to this simulation. However,
you can browse through the tabs to check the complete material specification.
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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panel.
2. Set Time step frequency as 2.
This will save the nodal outputs at every second time step.
Figure 786:
Time History Output commands enable you to extract the nodal solution at any point within the domain.
In this simulation, you will observe the displacement at the tip of the cantilever beam.
1. Double-click the Output tree, right-click Time History Output and select New.
A new entry, Time History Output 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Time History Output
branch.

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2. Right-click Time History Output 1, select Rename in the context menu and type
Tip_MonitorPoint as the entity name.
3. Double-click Tip_MonitorPoint to open the Tip_MonitorPoint detail panel.
4. In the detail panel, change the Type to Coordinates by selecting from the drop-down selector
menu.
5. Click Open Array next to the Coordinates option and fill in the row in the Array Editor dialog as
follows:
Figure 787:
6. In the detail panel, set Time step frequency to 1.

This will save the results for the defined time history point at every time step.
Figure 788:
1. Double-click Nodal Initial Condition in the Data Tree to open the dialog in the detail panel.
2. Set the X velocity to 10 m/sec.
2
3. Set the Eddy viscosity to 1e-05 m /sec.

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Figure 789:
Creating a Force Ramp Multiplier Function
The force acting on the beam due to the flow will be ramped gradually over the first few time steps.
After these first few time steps the force on the beam will remain constant. This will be achieved using
a multiplier function. In the next few steps you will create a linear multiplier function which will later be
assigned as a force multiplier function for load acting on the beam.
2. Right-click Multiplier Function and select New.
A new entry, Multiplier Function 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Multiplier Function
branch.
3. Right-click Multiplier Function 1, select Rename in the context menu and type ForceRamp as
the entity name.
4. Double-click ForceRamp to open the ForceRamp detail panel.
5. In the detail panel, change the Type to Piecewise Linear.
6. Change the Curve fit variable to Time step.

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Figure 790:
7. Click Open Array next to the Curve fit values option and create two rows in the Array Editor
dialog.
8. Fill in the values as follows:
Figure 791:
Creating a Flexible Body
In the introductory discussion of this tutorial, it was mentioned that FSI is the interaction between
a fluid and a deformable, or in other words, flexible solid body. In AcuConsole, such a solid body is
defined using the Flexible Body command. In P-FSI, the structure is reduced in the modal space. The
Flexible Body definition includes the specification of mass, stiffness and damping matrices of the body.
The mass matrix is usually normalized to I (unity matrix), and stiffness matrix k is a diagonal matrix
where the diagonal entries each represent an Eigen value. The surface outputs list refers to the surfaces
outputs which are used to calculate the forces and moments on the solid body.
the Data Tree.

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2. Right-click Flexible Body and select New.

A new entry, Flexible Body 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Flexible Body branch.
3. Right-click Flexible Body 1, select Rename and type beam as the entity name.
4. Double-click beam to open the beam detail panel.
5. Make sure that Equation is set to Mesh Displacement.
6. Set Number of modes to 5.
This will import and apply the modal information for the first five modes available in the structural
data.
7. Set the Internal force multiplier function to the function ForceRamp, which you created as an
earlier step in the tutorial.
8. Click Open Refs next to the Surface outputs option.
The Reference Editor dialog opens.
Figure 792:
9. Add a row by clicking Add Row.

10. Select beam as the entity in the row from the pull-down menu.
This tells the solver to use the surface output data on the beam surface group to determine forces
to be transferred to the flexible body beam.

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Figure 793:
3. Under Model, expand the Surfaces item, and then expand the inlet surface group.
5. Make sure that the Type is set to Inflow.
6. Make sure that the Inflow type is set to Velocity and the Inflow velocity type is Cartesian.
8. Make sure that the Turbulence input type is set to Direct.
2

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Figure 794:
Setting Parameters for the z_neg and z_pos Surfaces
1. Expand the z_neg surface group in the tree.

3. Make sure that the Type is set to Slip.
4. Set the Mesh displacement BC type to Slip
This setting allows the mesh to slip tangentially along the surface. Using this option requires the
surface to be planar.
Figure 795:
5. Repeat the above steps for the surface group z_pos.

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You can also choose to Propagate the settings for z_neg surface group to z_pos surface group to
ensure they are the same. To do this, right-click the Simple Boundary Condition entity under
the z_neg surface group, select Propagate, select the z_pos surface group in the Propagate
dialog and click Propagate to finish the propagation step.
Figure 796:
Setting Parameters for the Slip Surface
1. Expand the slip surface group in the tree.

3. Ensure that the Type is set to Slip.
Figure 797:
Setting Parameters for the Outlet Surface

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5 Moving Body p.861
1. Expand the outlet surface group in the tree.

Figure 798:
Setting Parameters for the Cylinder Surface
1. Expand the cylinder surface group in the tree.

Figure 799:

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Setting Parameters for the Beam Surface
1. Expand the beam surface group in the tree.

4. Set the Mesh displacement BC type to Flexible body by selecting it from the drop-down menu.
This setting will move the mesh on this surface group according to the motion of the flexible body.
5. Set the Flexible body as the beam by selecting it from the drop-down menu.
This instructs the solver to use the flexible body beam as the reference for calculating the mesh
displacement of the beam surface group.
Figure 800:
Creating a Boundary Layer Node Set
In this step, you will create a set of nodes surrounding the beam that will be forced to move in
conjunction with the body. This reduces the mesh distortion in the elements in close vicinity of the
beam. Since these elements make up the boundary layer at the solid surface, it is important that these
elements are not distorted during the motion.
1. Right-click Nodes under the Model Data Tree and select New.
A new entry, Node 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Nodes branch.
2. Right-click Node 1, select Rename in the context menu and type BLNodes as the entity name.

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3. Right-click BLNodes and select Define from the context menu.

The Node Define Dialog Box opens.
4. Make the following setting changes in the dialog:
a) Selection type: Surface
b) Surface: beam
c) Surface option: Number of Layers
d) Number of layers: 8
Figure 801:
5. Click OK to close the dialog and complete the node definition.
Importing Structural Model Information
The next step is to import the structural model and project the eigenvectors onto the CFD mesh.
1.
Click the icon on the toolbar.
The Eigenmode Manager dialog opens.
2. Click Add.
A new entry, Modal Response 1, is created.
3. Type Modes as the Name for the entry.

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Figure 802:
4. Click Open next to Import.

5. In the File Browser dialog make sure that the file type is set to recognize Nastran OP2 results
files.
6. Select the file beam_modal.op2 and click Open to import the file.
The Number of available modes should now be 5.
7. Set the Number of active modes to 5.

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8. Click the Show tab in the Eigenmode Manager, then toggle the Display and Animate buttons
On to visualize the modes of the structure.
Experiment with the Animation mode Id slider to look at the different modes of the structure.
You can also change the amplitude, speed and visualization properties of the animation using this
panel.
9. Click the Transfer tab in the Eigenmode Manager.
10. Click Transfer next to the Flexible body option.
a) Make sure that beam is selected in the Reference Editor dialog that opens.
Figure 803:
b) Click OK to complete the transfer.

This will transfer the mass, stiffness and damping arrays from the structural model over to
the beam flexible body that was created earlier.
11. Click Transfer next to the Simple BC option.
a) Select beam from the list in the Reference Editor dialog.

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Figure 804:

This will project the eigenvectors of the structure onto the nodes of the surface group beam.
12. Click Transfer next to the Nodal BC option.
a) Make sure that BLNodes is selected in the Reference Editor dialog.
Figure 805:

This will project the eigenvectors of the structure onto the nodes of the set named BLNodes
and activate the appropriate boundary conditions. This projection step causes the nodes of
this set to move directly with the structure.
13. Close the Eigenmode Manager.

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Running AcuSolve

For this case the default settings will be used. AcuSolve will run using four processors, if available,
a higher number of processors may be specified. AcuConsole will generate AcuSolve input files and
will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolve will calculate the transient solution for this problem.
dialog.
A summary of the run printed in the AcuTail dialog indicates that AcuSolve has finished running
the solution.

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Figure 806:
1.
2. Expand the Time History entry and Tip_MonitorPoint.
3. Expand node 1, right-click mesh_y_displacement > Plot.

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display the plot.
Figure 807: AcuProbe
The node 1 lies at the tip of the beam. The plot above shows the displacement of the tip of the
beam due to the fluid forces as the beam interacts with the flow.
processing.
c) Click Save.

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The tutorial has been written with the assumption that you have become familiar with AcuFieldView and
basic operations. In general, it will be helpful to understand the following basics:
• How to find the data readers in the File menu and open up the desired reader panel for data
input.
• How to find the visualization panels either from the Side toolbar or the Visualization panel on the
Main menu to create and modify surfaces in AcuFieldView.

2. Click Ok in the Launch AcuFieldView dialog.
You will see that the pressure contours have already been displayed on all of the boundary
surfaces with mesh. When results of a transient simulation are loaded in AcuConsole the displayed
results correspond to the last time step of the simulation.

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Figure 808:


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Figure 809:

a) Turn off perspective view by deselecting the Perspective checkbox.
b) Disable the axis markers by clicking Axis Markers.

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Figure 810:
4. Click Close to close the dialog.

5.
6. Click Background in the Scalar Colormap Specification dialog.

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Figure 811:
7. Select the color white in the Background Color dialog.
Figure 812:
8. Close the dialogs.

9.
Click the icon to turn off the outline display.

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Your model should now look like this:
Figure 813:
Visualizing and Saving an Animation of the Beam Displacement
1.
2. Turn off the visibility for the active boundary surfaces.
3.
4. Create a new coordinate surface at the mid -Z coordinate plane.
The coordinate surface created is the mid plane between the z_neg and z-pos surfaces.

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7. Select x-velocity as the Scalar Function to be displayed.
8. In the Colormap tab change SCALAR COLORING to Local.
9. From the Defined Views menu bar, select +Z as the viewing direction.
Your model should look like the image below. The visible shape of the beam is its deformed shape
at the end of last time step in the simulation.
Figure 814:

12. Click OK to close the Flipbook Size Warning dialog.

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Figure 815:
13. Click Tools > Transient Data .


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Figure 816:
If the SWEEP CONTROL in this dialog shows Sweep instead of Build the Flipbook Build Mode is not
active. In Sweep mode, you will be able to create and visualize the animation but you will not be
able to save it. To be able to save the animation, enable the Flipbook Build Mode.
14. Drag the time step slider to its left most position. Alternatively, type 0 for the TIME STEP or
SOLUTION TIME.
15. Click Apply.

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Figure 817:
16. Click Build.

17. Click Frame Rate in the Flipbook Controls dialog.
18. Enter 0.2 seconds for Minimum Time.
19. Click Close.
20.
Click the icon to play the animation.
As the animation progresses, you will be able to see the alternating vortices on the top and
bottom surface of the beam, causing an oscillating motion in the beam. This oscillating motion is
responsible for generation of piezoelectric charge in the top and bottom layers of the beam.
21. To save the animation click the icon and then click Save.
22. Provide a file name in the Flipbook File Save dialog and click Save.

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5.8.8 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved a FSI problem using the Practical-FSI
or P-FSI approach. The modal analysis of the structure (beam) is first done in a structural solver
and the results of this modal analysis are used to represent the structure in AcuConsole. The results
of the modal analysis provide the necessary information, such as the mass, stiffness and damping
characteristics of the solid body, to AcuSolve. This information, along with the flow field information
generated by AcuSolve, is used to calculate the displacement of the beam as it interacts with the flow.
You started the tutorial by creating a database in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the fluid portion
geometry and setting up the basic simulation parameters. Then you set up a flexible body to represent
the beam and generated a solution with AcuSolve.
Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView where you generated an animation of the beam’s
displacement as it interacts with the fluid flow. New features that were introduced in this tutorial include
setting up a Practical FSI simulation (P-FSI), using ALE mesh motion and using Eigenmode Manager in
AcuConsole for transferring structural data onto a CFD mesh.

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5.9 ACU-5401: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester -

PFSI & IMM
in the fluid flow. The interaction between the pressure fields generated by the vortices and the flow
harvester structure is simulated in this tutorial. Interpolated mesh motion approach is used to compute
the mesh deformation in the fluid domain as it interacts with the deforming structure.
• Fluid-structure interaction using the interpolated mesh motion (IMM)
• Use of the Eigenmode Manager for transferring structural data onto CFD mesh

• Import and transfer structural data onto the CFD mesh
• Set up the fluid-structure interaction simulation using IMM
• Run AcuSolve
• Post processing the nodal output with AcuFieldView
Prerequisites

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Extract the files fluid.x_t and beam_modal.op2 from Acu_tutorial_input.zip. The file fluid.x_t
stores the geometry information for the fluid portion of the model for this problem, and the file
beam_modal.op2 stores the output data from the structural solver which will be projected on to the CFD
mesh that will be generated in the course of the tutorial.

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the important parameters that need to be provided to AcuSolve.
Figure 818 shows a CFD model consisting of a cantilever beam and a rigid cylindrical body. The
cylindrical body produces vortex shedding in the flow downstream, inducing alternating asymmetric
pressure distribution on either side of the beam. Such an alternating pressure distribution results in a
sustainable oscillating vibration in the beam.
This model is a simplified model of a piezoelectric flow energy harvester.
Figure 819 shows the beam with a brass shim sandwiched between the piezoelectric layers on either
side. Piezoelectric materials have a property of generating an electric charge when subjected to
oscillating structural stress. The electric charge is tapped by a separate electromechanical arrangement.
In this tutorial, we will focus on the simulation of the fluid forces on the beam in response to the
structural deformation. The schematics of the problem which will be addressed in this tutorial is shown
in Figure 818. The modeled domain consists of a fluid volume. The fluid solver does not require the solid
body to be modeled. However, the results of the structural solver will be used to define the solid body
and the surfaces where the fluid interacts with the solid will be allowed to deform according to the Eigen
modes of the beam. Figure 819 shows the arrangement of the beam with its various layers.

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Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) is the interaction between a fluid flow and a deformable solid structure
in contact with the flow. There are two FSI approaches: Practical Fluid/Structure Interaction (P-FSI) and
Direct-Coupling Fluid/Structure Interaction (DC-FSI). Details about these approaches can be found in
ACU-5400: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester: A Fluid-Structure Interaction (P-FSI).
The P-FSI approach requires eigenvalues of the OptiStruct structural model. It is then mapped to
the AcuSolve CFD model in order to compute the structural deformation in response to the vortex
shedding (fluid force) on the beam. The computation of the structural deformation will be made using
the Interpolated Mesh Motion (IMM) rather than using the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE).

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When using interpolated mesh motion (IMM), all the surfaces associated with this motion are assigned
as interpolated motion surfaces and collected into a single set. All the nodes falling within the
boundaries of that set are then interpolated to determine their weighted displacement based on the
distance from their surrounding “driving” surfaces. For example in this simulation shown in Figure 820,
as the flow passes over the cylinder and the beam, the forces causes the beam to move in transverse
direction. This transverse motion of the beam should be communicated to the top and bottom surfaces.
Assigning these surfaces as interpolated surfaces (as shown in Figure 820) and then imparting the
interpolated mesh motion to the nodes within the volume will linearly scale the displacement of the
surrounding nodes as a function of distance between the surfaces associated with the interpolated mesh
motion. The main advantage of interpolated mesh motion over ALE is that no extra partial differential
equations are solved, hence lower computation times. However this approach is limited to problems
involving not so complex mesh motion.

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Figure 820: The Interpolated Motion Surfaces of the Model

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settings.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it PFSI_IMM_Tutorial and navigate into this
directory.
5. Enter piezo_harvester_IMM as the File name for the database, or choose any name of your
preference.

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Figure 821:
Figure 822:

4. Enter AcuSolve PFSI with IMM Tutorial as the Title for this case.
5. Enter Piezoelectric harvester as the Sub title for this case.
8. Change the Mesh type to Fully Specified.

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Using a ‘Fully specified’ mesh type allows the mesh in the domain to be moved based on the mesh
motion defined by user in the later steps. This user-specified mesh motion can be a rigid body
motion or an Interpolated mesh motion (IMM). In this tutorial you will define the mesh motion
using the Interpolated mesh motion.
Figure 823:
4. Set the Initial time increment as 0.01.
5. Set the Min stagger iterations as 3.
6. Set the Max stagger iterations as 5.
8. Check that Flow and Turbulence are both set to On.

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Figure 824:
The material type for water is Fluid. Fluid is the default material type for any new material created
in AcuConsole.
3
b) The Density value is 1000 kg/m
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.

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The nodal output command specifies the nodal output parameters, for instance, output frequency,
number of saved states etc.
1. Expand Output, then double-click Nodal Output to open the Nodal Output detail panel.
2. Set Time step frequency as 2.
This will save the nodal outputs at every 2nd time step.
4. Check that the Number of saved states is set to zero.
Setting this option to zero will instruct the solver to save all the solution state files.
Figure 825:

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fluid.x_t in order to complete these steps. This file contains information about the geometry in

2. Browse to the directory containing fluid.x_t.
4. Click fluid.x_t and Open to open the Import Geometry dialog.

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Figure 826:
container. You should be able to see it in the Data Tree upon successful import of your model in the last
step, under Model > Volumes > default.

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2. Turn off the display of Surfaces by right-clicking on Surfaces and selecting Display off.
the volume name.
4. Rename the default volume group to fluid.
Note: When an item in the Data Tree is renamed, the change is not saved until you
press the Enter key on your keyboard. If you move the input focus away from the
5. Set up the fluid volume set:

c) Check that the Medium for the volume is set to Fluid. If not, click on the drop-down menu
and select Fluid.
d) Click the Material model drop-down menu and select Water.
Figure 827:

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1. Turn-off the display for Volumes by right-clicking Volumes and selecting Display off .
Figure 828:
If you cannot see the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, click Columns , select these
two columns from the list and click Ok.

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Figure 829:
5. Rename Surface 1 through Surface 6 according to Figure 830.
6. Set the Simple BC Active and Simple BC Type columns, per Figure 830.

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Figure 830:

a) Click Add to in the z_pos row in the Surface Manager.
b) Select the planar surface with the maximum z-coordinate, as shown in Figure 831, and click
Done.
c) Follow the procedure to assign the surface with the minimum z-coordinate to the z_neg
surface group.

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Figure 831:
8. Assign the surfaces enclosing the domain at the top and bottom to the slip surface group.
9. Assign the surface with the minimum x-coordinate to the inlet surface group.
10. Assign the surface with the maximum x-coordinate to the outlet surface group.
11. Assign the cylinder surface to the cylinder surface group. This surface is the contact boundary
between the fluid and the cylinder. Use the following image as the reference for selecting the
required surfaces.

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5 Moving Body p.900
Figure 832:
surface group container. This default surface group was renamed to beam in the Surface Manager.
In the previous steps, you assigned some surfaces to various other surface groups that you created.
At this point, all that is left in the beam surface group are the surfaces that make up the contact
boundary between the fluid volume and the beam.

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5 Moving Body p.901
5. Set the Absolute mesh size to 2.0 m.
Figure 833:
In the next steps you will set the surface meshing attributes for the cylinder surface, to add boundary
layers to the surface. Then you will propagate these mesh attributes to the beam surfaces.

2. Under Model, expand Surfaces.
3. Under Surfaces, expand the cylinder surface group.
4. Click the Surface Mesh Attributes checkbox to activate and open the detail panel.

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5 Moving Body p.902

7. Switch the Region of influence parameters flag to On.
Mesh controls related to influence region from the surface will be visible now.
Region of influence is a size control that allows you to control the size and growth rate of the surface
and volume mesh surrounding a surface based on the distance from the surface.
8. Set the Influence parameters:
a) Set Influence type to Simple.
b) Set Influence size factor to 3.0.
c) Set the Influence distance to 2.0.
Note: The above settings will ensure that the volume mesh to have a size 0.05 m
(Absolute mesh size) at the surface and then transition to a size of (Absolute mesh
size) × (Influence size factor) at a distance 2.0 m (Influence distance).

Mesh controls related to the boundary layer become available.
10. Ensure that the Boundary layer type is set to Full Control.
This will set the total layer height based on the other settings you provide.
a) Set First element height to 0.01.
b) Set Growth rate to 1.3.
c) Set the Number of layers to 4.
d) Set the Boundary layer elements type to Tetrahedron.

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5 Moving Body p.903
Figure 834:
Instead of repeating the above steps for the beam surface group, you can propagate the mesh
attribute settings for cylinder surface group to beam surface group.
13. In the Data Tree, under cylinder, right-click on Surface Mesh Attributes.
14. Select Propagate.
15. In the Propagate dialog, select the beam surface group and click Propagate.

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5 Moving Body p.904
The present simulation is equivalent to a representation of a 2D cross section of the model. In

AcuSolve, 2D models are simulated by having just one element across the faces of the cross section.
When these faces are set up with a similar boundary condition it coerces the corresponding nodes
across the faces to have the same results. In this problem these faces are the negative and positive z-
surfaces. This kind of mesh is achieved in AcuSolve with mesh extrusion process. In the following steps,
the process of extrusion of the mesh between these surfaces is defined.

2. Right-click Mesh Extrusions and select New from the context menu.
A new entity, Mesh Extrusion 1, is created.
3. Rename Mesh Extrusion 1 as z_extrusion.
Figure 835:
4. Right-click z_extrusion and select Define from the context menu.

Double-clicking z_extrusion achieves the same results.
b) Use the drop-down arrows to select the surfaces for Side 1 and Side 2 as z_neg and z_pos,
respectively.
d) Set Number of layers to 1.

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5 Moving Body p.905
Use the following image for reference for setting up the mesh extrusion.
Figure 836:
Generating the Mesh
problem.


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5 Moving Body p.906
Figure 837:
Note: The actual number of nodes, elements and memory usage may vary slightly
from machine to machine.
5. Turn on the display of surfaces and set the display type to solid and wire.
6. You can rotate and zoom in the model to analyze the various mesh regions.

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5 Moving Body p.907
Time History Output commands enable you to extract the nodal solution at any point within the domain.
In this simulation, you will observe the displacement at the tip of the cantilever beam.
1. Double-click the Output tree, right-click Time History Output and select New.
A new entry, Time History Output 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Time History Output
branch.
2. Right-click Time History Output 1, select Rename in the context menu and type
Tip_MonitorPoint as the entity name.
3. Double-click Tip_MonitorPoint to open the Tip_MonitorPoint detail panel.
4. In the detail panel, change the Type to Coordinates by selecting from the drop-down selector
menu.
5. Click Open Array next to the Coordinates option and fill in the row in the Array Editor dialog as
follows:
Figure 838:
6. In the detail panel, set Time step frequency to 1.

This will save the results for the defined time history point at every time step.
Figure 839:

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5 Moving Body p.908
1. Double-click Nodal Initial Condition in the Data Tree to open the dialog in the detail panel.
2
Figure 840:
Creating a Force Ramp Multiplier Function
The force acting on the beam due to the flow will be ramped gradually over the first few time steps.
After these first few time steps the force on the beam will remain constant. This will be achieved using
a multiplier function. In the next few steps you will create a linear multiplier function which will later be
assigned as a force multiplier function for load acting on the beam.
2. Right-click Multiplier Function and select New.
A new entry, Multiplier Function 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Multiplier Function
branch.

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5 Moving Body p.909
3. Right-click Multiplier Function 1, select Rename in the context menu and type ForceRamp as
the entity name.
4. Double-click ForceRamp to open the ForceRamp detail panel.
5. In the detail panel, change the Type to Piecewise Linear.
6. Change the Curve fit variable to Time step.
Figure 841:
7. Click Open Array next to the Curve fit values option and create two rows in the Array Editor
dialog.
Figure 842:
Creating a Flexible Body
In the introductory discussion of this tutorial, it was mentioned that FSI is the interaction between
a fluid and a deformable, or in other words, flexible solid body. In AcuConsole, such a solid body is
defined using the Flexible Body command. In P-FSI, the structure is reduced in the modal space. The
Flexible Body definition includes the specification of mass, stiffness and damping matrices of the body.

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5 Moving Body p.910
The mass matrix is usually normalized to I (unity matrix), and stiffness matrix k is a diagonal matrix
where the diagonal entries each represent an Eigen value. The surface outputs list refers to the surfaces
outputs which are used to calculate the forces and moments on the solid body.
the Data Tree.
2. Right-click Flexible Body and select New.
A new entry, Flexible Body 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Flexible Body branch.
3. Right-click Flexible Body 1, select Rename and type beam as the entity name.
4. Double-click beam to open the beam detail panel.
5. Make sure that Equation is set to Mesh Displacement.
6. Set Number of modes to 5.
This will import and apply the modal information for the first five modes available in the structural
data.
7. Set the Internal force multiplier function to the function ForceRamp, which you created as an
earlier step in the tutorial.
8. Click Open Refs next to the Surface outputs option.
The Reference Editor dialog opens.
Figure 843:
9. Add a row by clicking Add Row.

10. Select beam as the entity in the row from the pull-down menu.
This tells the solver to use the surface output data on the beam surface group to determine forces
to be transferred to the flexible body beam.

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5 Moving Body p.911
Figure 844:
3. Under Model, expand the Surfaces item, and then expand the inlet surface group.
5. Make sure that the Type is set to Inflow.
6. Make sure that the Inflow type is set to Velocity and the Inflow velocity type is Cartesian.
8. Make sure that the Turbulence input type is set to Direct.
2

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5 Moving Body p.912
Figure 845:
Setting Parameters for the z_neg and z_pos Surfaces
1. Expand the z_neg surface group in the tree.

3. Make sure that the Type is set to Slip.
4. Set the Mesh displacement BC type to Slip
This setting allows the mesh to slip tangentially along the surface. Using this option requires the
surface to be planar.
Figure 846:
5. Repeat the above steps for the surface group z_pos.

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5 Moving Body p.913
You can also choose to Propagate the settings for z_neg surface group to z_pos surface group to
ensure they are the same. To do this, right-click the Simple Boundary Condition entity under
the z_neg surface group, select Propagate, select the z_pos surface group in the Propagate
dialog and click Propagate to finish the propagation step.
Figure 847:
Setting Parameters for the Slip Surface
1. Expand the slip surface group in the tree.

3. Ensure that the Type is set to Slip.
Figure 848:
Setting Parameters for the Outlet Surface

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5 Moving Body p.914
1. Expand the outlet surface group in the tree.

Figure 849:
Setting Parameters for the Cylinder Surface
1. Expand the cylinder surface group in the tree.

Figure 850:

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5 Moving Body p.915
Setting Parameters for the Beam Surface
1. Expand the beam surface group in the tree.

4. Set the Mesh displacement BC type to Flexible body by selecting it from the drop-down menu.
This setting will move the mesh on this surface group according to the motion of the flexible body.
5. Set the Flexible body as the beam by selecting it from the drop-down menu.
This instructs the solver to use the flexible body beam as the reference for calculating the mesh
displacement of the beam surface group.
Figure 851:
Creating a Boundary Layer Node Set
In this step, you will create a set of nodes surrounding the beam that will be forced to move in
conjunction with the body. This reduces the mesh distortion in the elements in close vicinity of the
beam. Since these elements make up the boundary layer at the solid surface, it is important that these
elements are not distorted during the motion.
1. Right-click Nodes under the Model Data Tree and select New.
A new entry, Node 1, is created in the Data Tree under the Nodes branch.
2. Right-click Node 1, select Rename in the context menu and type BLNodes as the entity name.

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5 Moving Body p.916
3. Right-click BLNodes and select Define from the context menu.

The Node Define Dialog Box opens.
4. Make the following setting changes in the dialog:
a) Selection type: Surface
b) Surface: beam
c) Surface option: Number of Layers
d) Number of layers: 8
Figure 852:
5. Click OK to close the dialog and complete the node definition.
Importing Structural Model Information
The next step is to import the structural model and project the eigenvectors onto the CFD mesh.
1.
The Eigenmode Manager dialog opens.
2. Click Add.
A new entry, Modal Response 1, is created.
3. Type Modes as the Name for the entry.

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5 Moving Body p.917
Figure 853:
4. Click Open next to Import.

5. In the File Browser dialog make sure that the file type is set to recognize Nastran OP2 results
files.
6. Select the file beam_modal.op2 and click Open to import the file.
The Number of available modes should now be 5.
7. Set the Number of active modes to 5.

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5 Moving Body p.918
8. Click the Show tab in the Eigenmode Manager, then toggle the Display and Animate buttons
On to visualize the modes of the structure.
Experiment with the Animation mode Id slider to look at the different modes of the structure.
You can also change the amplitude, speed and visualization properties of the animation using this
panel.
9. Click the Transfer tab in the Eigenmode Manager.
10. Click Transfer next to the Flexible body option.
a) Make sure that beam is selected in the Reference Editor dialog that opens.
Figure 854:

This will transfer the mass, stiffness and damping arrays from the structural model over to
the beam flexible body that was created earlier.
11. Click Transfer next to the Simple BC option.
a) Select beam from the list in the Reference Editor dialog.

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5 Moving Body p.919
Figure 855:

This will project the eigenvectors of the structure onto the nodes of the surface group beam.
12. Click Transfer next to the Nodal BC option.
a) Make sure that BLNodes is selected in the Reference Editor dialog.
Figure 856:

This will project the eigenvectors of the structure onto the nodes of the set named BLNodes
and activate the appropriate boundary conditions. This projection step causes the nodes of
this set to move directly with the structure.
13. Close the Eigenmode Manager.
Assigning the Interpolated Motion Surfaces

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5 Moving Body p.920
In this step you will assign the appropriate surfaces as Interpolated mesh motion surfaces so that the
mesh bounded by these surfaces will be interpolated based on the motion of these interpolated mesh
motion surfaces.
1. Click ALL in the Data Tree Manager to display all settings in the Data Tree.
2. Expand Model > Surfaces > beam.
3. Check the box next to Interpolated Motion Surface.
4. In the detail panel, for Motion surface type, accept the default option of Faceted.
5. Similarly, assign the Interpolated Motion Surface for the Slip surface.
Figure 857:
Creating Mesh Motion with Interpolated Motion Surfaces
In the next steps you will define the mesh motion based on the Interpolated surfaces defined in the
above step.
1. Click ALE in the Data Tree Manager to display all settings in the Data Tree.
2. Right-click on Mesh Motion and select New.
3. Right-click on Mesh Motion 1 and rename it to Interpolated_mesh_motion.
4. Double-click on Interpolated_mesh_motion to open the detail panel.
5. Change the Type to Interpolated Motion.
Figure 858:
6. Click Open Refs.

7. In the Reference Editor, click Add Row twice to create two new rows for the two interpolated
motion surfaces just created.
8. Select the interpolated motion surfaces (beam and slip).

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5 Moving Body p.921
Figure 859:
Assigning Mesh Motion to the Fluid
In this step you will assign the appropriate surfaces as Interpolated mesh motion surfaces so that the
mesh bounded by these surfaces will be interpolated based on the motion of these interpolated mesh
motion surfaces.
2. Expand Model > Volume > fluid.
3. Double-click Element Set.
4. In the detail panel, change Mesh motion to Interpolated_mesh_motion.
Figure 860:

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5 Moving Body p.922
Running AcuSolve

For this case the default settings will be used. AcuSolve will run using four processors, if available,
a higher number of processors may be specified. AcuConsole will generate AcuSolve input files and
will launch AcuSolve. AcuSolve will calculate the transient solution for this problem.
dialog.
A summary of the run printed in the AcuTail dialog indicates that AcuSolve has finished running
the solution.

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5 Moving Body p.923
Figure 861:
1.
2. Expand the Time History entry and Tip_MonitorPoint.

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5 Moving Body p.924
display the plot.
Figure 862: AcuProbe
The node 1 lies at the tip of the beam. The plot above shows the displacement of the tip of the
beam due to the fluid forces as the beam interacts with the flow.
processing.
c) Click Save.

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5 Moving Body p.925
• How to find the data readers in the File menu and open up the desired reader panel for data
input.

2. Click Ok in the Launch AcuFieldView dialog.
surfaces with mesh. When results of a transient simulation are loaded in AcuConsole the displayed
results correspond to the last time step of the simulation.

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5 Moving Body p.926
Figure 863:


AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.927
Figure 864:


AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.928
Figure 865:

5.
6. Click Background in the Scalar Colormap Specification dialog.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.929
Figure 866:
7. Select the color white in the Background Color dialog.
Figure 867:

9.

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5 Moving Body p.930
Figure 868:
1.
3.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.931

8. In the Colormap tab change SCALAR COLORING to Local.
9. From the Defined Views menu bar, select +Z as the viewing direction.
Figure 869:


AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.932
Figure 870:
13. Click Tools > Transient Data .


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5 Moving Body p.933
Figure 871:
If the SWEEP CONTROL in this dialog shows Sweep instead of Build the Flipbook Build Mode is not
active. In Sweep mode, you will be able to create and visualize the animation but you will not be
SOLUTION TIME.
15. Click Apply.

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5 Moving Body p.934
Figure 872:
16. Click Build.

17. Click Frame Rate in the Flipbook Controls dialog.
18. Enter 0.2 seconds for Minimum Time.
19. Click Close.
20.
Click the icon to play the animation.
As the animation progresses, you will be able to see the alternating vortices on the top and
bottom surface of the beam, causing an oscillating motion in the beam. This oscillating motion is
responsible for generation of piezoelectric charge in the top and bottom layers of the beam.
21. To save the animation click the icon and then click Save.
22. Provide a file name in the Flipbook File Save dialog and click Save.

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5 Moving Body p.935
5.9.6 Summary
In this AcuSolve tutorial you successfully set up and solved an FSI problem, using the Practical-FSI,
or P-FSI approach. The modal analysis of the structure (beam) is first done in a structural solver and
the results of this modal analysis in the form of a .op2 file are used to represent the structure in
AcuSolve. The .op2 file provides the necessary information, such as the mass, stiffness and damping
characteristics of the solid body, to AcuSolve. This information, along with the flow field information
generated by AcuSolve, is used to calculate the displacement of the beam as it interacts with the flow.
You started the tutorial by creating a database in AcuConsole, importing and meshing the fluid portion
geometry, and setting up the basic simulation parameters. Then you set up a flexible body to represent
the beam, and generated a solution with AcuSolve. Results were post-processed in AcuFieldView
where you generated an animation of the beam’s displacement as it interacts with the fluid flow. New
features that were introduced in this tutorial include: setting up a Practical FSI simulation (P-FSI)
using Interpolated Mesh Motion (IMM), and using Eigenmode Manager in AcuConsole for transferring
structural data onto a CFD mesh.

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5.10 ACU-5402: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester

with Rigid Body Rotation
in the fluid flow. In addition, the cylinder and the harvester are imparted with a sinusoidal rotation
motion. The interaction between the pressure fields generated by the vortices and the flow harvester
structure is simulated in this tutorial. Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) approach is used to compute
the mesh deformation in the fluid domain as it interacts with the deforming structure.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation have been discussed in the previous tutorials. The following
additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Defining rigid body rotation motion
• Implementation of P-FSI in conjunction with rigid body rotation

• Start AcuConsole and read the simulation database of the Piezoelectric Flow Harvester
• Modify general problem parameters
• Create multiplier function for rigid body mesh motion
• Create mesh motion for rigid body rotation
• Apply mesh motion to the surface attributes
• Assign rigid body motion to the surface and node attributes
• Change the inlet velocity
• Add a time history output point
• Run AcuSolve
Prerequisites
You should have already run through the tutorials ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow and
ACU-5400: Piezoelectric Flow Energy Harvester: A Fluid-Structure Interaction (P-FSI). It is assumed
that you have some familiarity with AcuConsole, AcuSolve and AcuFieldView. You will also need access
to a licensed version of AcuSolve 2017.2.
Extract the file piezo_harvester_P-FSI.acs.

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5 Moving Body p.937
the important parameters that need to be provided to AcuSolve.
The CFD model contains a cantilever beam and a rigid cylindrical body. The beam along with the
cylinder is placed in a water flow stream. This cylindrical body acts a bluff body placed in the flow
and stimulates vortex shedding in the flow downstream as it passes over the cylinder. The alternating
shedding of vortices creates a zone of alternating asymmetric pressure distribution on either side of
the beam. Such an alternating pressure distribution exerts an oscillating force on the beam, creating a
sustainable oscillating vibration in the beam.
In this tutorial, in the addition to the flexible motion of the beam adopted in Piezoelectric Flow
Harvester, you will incorporate the rigid body rotation of the cylinder and the beam. The cylinder and
the beam are enforced with a sinusoidal oscillatory rotation about the center of the cylinder with a
maximum angle of rotation as 100 (i.e. 0.174 rad) with a frequency of 22 rad/sec (3.5 Hz). The axis of
rotation is along axis of cylinder. The variation of the rotation angle (θ) is given as:
Where, t is the time (sec).
Since this tutorial has a rotation motion in addition to flexible motion of beam, you can achieve higher
displacements (and hence strains) at lower velocity. Therefore, you will reduce the inlet velocity to 4 m/
sec instead of 10 m/sec in Piezoelectric Flow Harvester.
The schematics of the problem which will be addressed in this tutorial is shown in Figure 1. The
modeled domain consists of a fluid volume. The fluid solver does not require the solid body to be
modeled. However, the results of the structural solver will be used to define the solid body and the
surfaces where the fluid interacts with the solid will be allowed to deform according to the Eigen modes
of the beam. Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the beam with its various layers.

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Figure 873: Schematic of P-FSI rotation

AcuSolve Tutorials
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Starting AcuConsole and Opening the Simulation Database
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole and open a database that is set up for a P-FSI simulation of
a non-rotating piezoelectric harvester. You will then make appropriate changes to the database to take
into account the rigid body rotation of the harvester in addition to the flexible body motion.
4. Create a new directory in this location. Name it P-FSI_with_rigid_body_motion and open it.
5. Click piezo_harvester_P-FSI.acs to open the database.
6. Click File > Save As and enter P-FSI_with_rigid_body_rotation as the file name for the
database.
In the next steps you will modify global settings needed for the rigid body rotation of the piezoelectric
harvester.

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Figure 875:
Figure 876:
the context menu.
4. Enter P-FSI with rigid body rotation as the Sub title.

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Figure 877:
Creating Multiplier Function for Mesh Motion
The variation of the rotation angle ( ) is modeled using a multiplier function using
the following steps.
2. Right-click Multiplier Function and click New to create a new multiplier function.
A new entry, Multiplier Function 1, will be created in the Data Tree under the Multiplier Function
branch.
3. Rename the new multiplier function.
a) Right-click Multiplier Function 1.
b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Rotation_multiplier.
4. Double-click Rotation_multiplier to open the detail panel.
5. Change Type to Sine Series.
6. Click Open Array next to Sine coefficients.

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In the Array Editor, the first column refers to the amplitude of the sine function, second column
refers to the frequency of the sine function and the third column refers to phase of the sine wave.
Figure 878:
Creating Mesh Motion for Rigid Body Rotation
In the next steps you will define the rigid body rotation of the cylinder and the beam.
3. Rename the new reference frame.
a) Right-click Mesh Motion 1.
b) Click Rename.
c) Enter Rigid_body_rotation.
4. Double-click Rigid_body_rotation to open the detail panel.
5. Change the Type to Rotation.
6. Click the Open Array button next to Rotation center to open the Array Editor.
7. Enter -0.1 as the X-coordinate.

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Figure 879:
Note: (x, y, z) = (-0.1, 0, 0) is the center of the cylinder.
9. Click the Open Array button next to Angular velocity to open the Array Editor.
10. Enter 1.0 as the Z-coordinate.
Figure 880:

12. Set the Rotation variable to Multiplier Function.
13. Set the Rotation multiplier function to Rotation_multiplier.

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Figure 881:
Using the mesh motion Type = Rotation would define the variation of rotation angle which is
used by AcuSolve in evaluating the coordinates of the beam and cylinder. The rotation angle is
evaluated by multiplying the value of Rotation Variable with the components of Angular Velocity.
Therefore for this tutorial, the rotation angle comes out to be:
Figure 882:
about z-axis
For a point with initial coordinates, located on the cylinder or beam, the coordinates at a given
time, t, is given by:
Figure 883:
Figure 884:
Figure 885:
Assigning Rigid Body Motion to the Beam Surface

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5 Moving Body p.946
2. Expand Model > Surfaces > Beam.

4. Set the Mesh motion to Rigid_body_rotation.
Figure 886:
Assigning Rigid Body Motion to the Cylinder Surface
1. Expand Model > Surfaces > Cylinder.

3. Set the Mesh motion to Rigid_body_rotation.

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Figure 887:
4. Click Save to save the database.
Adding the Mesh Motion to the BLNodes
Since the surfaces beam and cylinder have a rigid body rotation, in addition to flexible body motion, you
would like to have similar motion for the boundary layer nodes (BLNodes), so that mesh distortion in
the boundary layer is reduced.
The following steps will add the rigid body mesh motion to these nodes, in addition to the already
defined flexible motion of these nodes.
1. Expand Model > Nodes > BLNodes.

2. Double-click Mesh X-Displacement.
3. Change the Mesh motion to Rigid_body_rotation.
Figure 888:

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5 Moving Body p.948
4. Similarly assign the Rigid_body_rotation mesh motion to the Mesh Y-Displacement and Mesh
Z-Displacement.
Reducing the Inlet Velocity
As mentioned in Analyzing the Problem, you will set the inlet velocity to 4 m/sec.
1. Expand Model > Surfaces > Inlet.

3. Set the X velocity to 4.0 m/sec.
Figure 889:
In the next steps you will set the initial conditions.
detail panel.
3. Verify that the Eddy viscosity is set to 1e-005 m2/sec.

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Figure 890:
Adding Time History Output Point
Time History Output commands enables you to extract the nodal solution at any point within the
domain. In this simulation, it would be interesting to observe the displacement at the tip and root of
the cantilever beam. The .acs database you started with has a monitor point at the tip of the cantilever
beam.
The following steps will create a similar monitor point at the root of the cantilever beam.
3. Double-click Output.
4. Right-click on Time History Output, and select New.
5. Rename the new time history output to Root_MonitorPoint.
6. Double-click Root_MonitorPoint to open the detail panel.
7. Change the Type to Coordinates.
8. Click Open Array next to Coordinates, and update the fields in the Array Editor dialog, as
follows:

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Figure 891:

10. Click Save to save the database.
Figure 892:

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Running AcuSolve

window.
Figure 893:
A summary of the run printed in the AcuTail window indicates that AcuSolve has finished running
the solution.

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1.
2. Expand the Time History entry and Root_MonitorPoint.
display the plot.
4. Repeat the above steps to plot the mesh_y_displacement for the Tip_MonitorPoint.
Figure 894:
The plot above shows the displacement of the tip and the root of the beam, due to the fluid forces
as the beam interacts with the flow. The above plot also shows the displacement at the root and
at the tip are not in phase, hence maximizing the bending stress (hence, strains) for a lower inlet
velocity.

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processing.
c) Click Save.

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Launching AcuFieldView

surfaces with mesh. When results of a transient simulation are loaded in AcuConsole, the
displayed results correspond to the last time step of the simulation.

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Figure 895:


AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 896:


AcuSolve Tutorials
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Figure 897:

5.
Click the Scalar Colormap Specification icon on the toolbar.
6. In the Scalar Colormap Specification dialog, click Background.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.958
Figure 898:
7. In the Background Color dialog, select the color white.
Figure 899:

9.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.959
Figure 900:
1.
3.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.960
5. Set the COLORING to Scalar.

6. Set the DISPLAY TYPE to Smooth.
8. In the COLORMAP tab, change Scalar Coloring to Local.
9. From the Defined Views, select +Z as the viewing direction.
Figure 901:


AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.961
Figure 902:
If the SWEEP CONTROL in this dialog shows Sweep instead of Build, the Flipbook Build mode is not
active. In Sweep mode, you will be able to create and visualize the animation, but you will not be
SOLUTION TIME.
15. Click Apply.

AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.962
Figure 903:
16. Click Build.


AcuSolve Tutorials
5 Moving Body p.963
5.10.5 Summary
In this tutorial you worked through a basic workflow to set up a flexible body motion of a rotating
beam in the wake of a cylinder. You started with the piezo_harvester_P-FSI.acs file from the tutorial
Piezoelectric Flow Harvester and modified the set up to accommodate the rigid body rotation of the
beam and the cylinder. Once the case was set up, you generated a solution using AcuSolve. Results
were post-processed in AcuFieldView to allow you to create animation of the beam displacements with
time.
New features introduced in this tutorial included:

• Creating rigid body type mesh motion for rotation
• Implementation of P-FSI in conjunction of rigid body rotation

AcuTrace 6
6 AcuTrace
• 6.1 ACU-6000: Static Mixer Simulation - AcuTrace (p. 965)

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.965
6.1 ACU-6000: Static Mixer Simulation - AcuTrace
static mixer in combination with the post-processing module AcuTrace. In this simulation, AcuSolve is
used to compute the species mixing within a simple mixer and AcuTrace is used to compute the particle
motion of finite mass particles within the mixer. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to concepts
necessary to visualize streamlines and produce particle path with AcuTrace.
The basic steps in any CFD simulation were shown in ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow. The
following additional capabilities of AcuSolve are introduced in this tutorial:
• Generation of finite mass particle paths with AcuTrace.
• Conversion of the nodal output data with AcuTranstrace for reading into AcuFieldView.
• Post-processing the nodal output with AcuFieldView to visualize streamlines and particle path.
Extract StaticMixer.acs from Acu_tutorial_input.zip.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.966
elements (such as inlets, outlets, or walls) and on flow conditions (such as fluid properties, velocity, or
whether the flow should be modeled as turbulent or as laminar).
The problem to be addressed in this tutorial is shown schematically in Figure 1. It consists of a mixing
tube that contains several swept walls to instigate mixing within the tube. The inlet face is split into two
regions, one containing 100 percent of species_1 and the other containing zero.
The diameter of the inlet is 0.1 m and the length of the mixing tube is 0.525 m. The fins have a mean
diameter of 0.1 m. The maximum thickness of the fins are 0.003 m.
Figure 904: Schematic of the static mixer
The boundary condition at the inlet is defined to produce a fully developed inlet profile with velocity of
1.0 m/s. One portion of the inlet is defined to contain 100 percent of species_1, while the other inlet is
defined to contain 0.0 percent of species_1.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.967
The fluid in this problem is an epoxy resin, which has a density of 1264.0 kg/m3 and a viscosity of 1.49
kg/m-sec.
In addition to setting appropriate conditions for the simulation, it is important to utilize a mesh that
will be sufficiently refined to provide good results. In this application, the flow will accelerate as it
passes over the fin walls. This leads to the higher gradients that need finer resolution. Proper boundary
layer parameters need to be set to keep the y+ near the wall surface to a reasonable level. Although
a slightly refined mesh is used in this area, it should be noted that a proper mesh refinement study is
necessary in order to determine the required mesh controls to obtain a grid independent solution. The
mesh controls used in this tutorial are very coarse and are only intended to illustrate the process of
setting up the model and to retain a reasonable run time. A significantly higher mesh density is needed
to achieve a grid converged solution.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.968
Starting AcuConsole
In the next steps you will start AcuConsole, and open the database for storage of the simulation
settings. In this tutorial, you will begin by loading the existing database, preparing the particle trace
settings and running the model. Next you run AcuTrace to generate the particle paths within the flow
field and convert the data for reading into AcuConsole. Finally, you will visualize some characteristics of
the results using AcuConsole.
4. Browse to the directory where StaticMixer.acs is stored.
5. Click StaticMixer.acs and then click Open to open the database.
This directory is where all files related to the simulation will be stored. Initially there will be an
.acs file in this area, which corresponds to AcuConsole's database. Once the mesh and solution
are created, additional files and directories will be added.
In next steps you will review parameters that apply globally to the simulation. To make this simple,
The general parameters that you will set for this tutorial are for turbulent flow, steady analysis, and
mesh type as fixed.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.969
Figure 905:
Figure 906:
the context menu.
4. Enter Mixing_tube as the Title.

5. Enter Steady State as the Sub title.
7. Set the Species equation to Advective Diffusive.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.970

9. Set the Mesh type to Fixed.
Figure 907:

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.971
defined. For this tutorial you will use a newly defined material model, “Epoxy Resin” which has been
preloaded into the AcuConsole database. In the next steps you will check the material characteristics of
the predefined "Epoxy Resin" to match the desired properties for this problem.
Figure 908:
2. Double-click Epoxy Resin in the Data Tree to open the Epoxy Resin detail panel.
3
3. Click the Density tab. The density of the epoxy is 1264.0 kg/m .
4. Click the Viscosity tab. The viscosity of the resin is 1.49 kg/m – sec.
following methods.
• Click Ctrl+S.
Preparing Output Data Stream

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.972
In order to utilize the finite mass particle trace functionality for particles that have non-constant density,
you are required to store additional variables during the simulation. This is done by using the Derived
Quantity Output mechanism.
1. In the Data Tree, double-click Output to expand it.

2. Double-click Nodal Output.
3. Change the Time step frequency to 1000.
4. Set the Time frequency to 0.
5. In the Data Tree, double-click Derived Quantity Output to open the Derived Quantity Output
detail panel.
6. Change the Time step frequency to 1000.
7. Set the Time frequency to 0.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.973
Running AcuSolve
Figure 909:
Note: For this case, the default values will be used. AcuSolve will run using four
processors, and AcuConsole will generate AcuSolve input files and will launch
AcuSolve. AcuSolve will calculate the steady state solution for this problem.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.974
window. After AcuSolve has finished running, a summary of the solution process showing the “End
Time Step” data indicates that the simulation has been completed.
Figure 910:
AcuProbe can be used to monitor residuals.
1.
2. In the Data browser on the left, expand Solution Ratio.
3. Right-click Final and select Plot All.
The Solution ratio measures how much the solution is changing from one step to the next.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.975
display the plot.
Preparing Particle Trace Attribute for AcuTrace
Now that the steady-state simulation is complete, you can use the finite mass particle tracer to simulate
micro-particles of SiO2, which are often used to add strength to the epoxy.
Defining Particle Trace Parameters for Static Analysis
In the next steps you will define the particle trace data.
1. In AcuConsole, click ALL in the Data Tree Manager to see all settings in the Data Tree.
2. In the Data Tree, expand Particle Trace to show only items related to particle tracing.
Figure 911:

4. For Particle equation, select Finite mass.
5. In the Data Tree, double-click on Flow Field to open the detail panel.
6. Set the Flow field type to Static as this is a static analysis.
7. In the Data Tree, double-click on Finite Mass to open the detail panel.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.976
8. Verify that Density model is set to Use flow values.

In order to utilize the Use flow values option, the derived quantity output needs to be specified.
If the derived quality output is not available, you can select Constant and enter in a Constant
density value. This allows the particles to maintain a specified value for density.
Defining Finite Mass Boundary Conditions
In the next steps you will set the finite mass boundary conditions.
1. Under Particle Trace, right-click on Finite Mass Boundary Condition and select New.
2. Right-click on Finite Mass Boundary Condition 1 and select Rename.
3. Enter the new name as SideWalls.
4. Double-click on SideWalls to open the Finite Mass Boundary Condition panel.
5. Set the Particle surface to Pipe Wall.
6. Leave the Wall type set to Reflect and the Normal and Tangential coefficient of restitution type set
to Constant.
7. Enter 0.2 for both the Normal and Tangential coefficient of restitution.
Figure 912:
8. In the Data Tree, right-click on Finite Mass Boundary Condition and select New.
9. Rename Finite Mass Boundary Condition 2 to FinWalls.
10. Double-click FinWalls to open the Finite Mass Boundary Condition panel.
11. Set the Particle surface to Fin Walls.
12. Leave the Wall type set to Reflect and the Normal and Tangential coefficient of restitution type set
to Constant.
13. Enter 0.8 for both the Normal and Tangential coefficient of restitution.
This will allow for less energy to be lost when the particle hits the wall and in turn will reflect off of
the wall with a greater velocity.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.977
Figure 913:
Defining Particle Seeds
In the next steps you will define the particle seeds that are moving into the flow regime.
1. Under Particle Trace, right-click on Particle Seed and select New.

2. Rename Particle Seed 1 and to S1.
3. Double-click on S1 to open the Particle Seed panel.
4. For Coordinates type, select Surface Random.
5. For Particle surface, select Inlet S1.
6. For Number of seeds, enter 500.
7. For Constant density, enter 200.
8. For Constant radius, enter 0.0001.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.978
Figure 914:
9. Under Particle Trace, right-click on Particle Seed and select New.

10. Rename Particle Seed 1 and to S2.
11. Double-click on S2 to open the Particle Seed panel.
12. For Coordinates type, select Surface Random.
13. For Particle surface, select Inlet S2.
14. For Number of seeds, enter 500.
15. For Constant density, enter 200.
16. For Constant radius, enter 0.00015.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.979
Figure 915:
Defining the Output Parameters
In the next steps you will define the output parameters.
1. Under Particle Trace, expand Output.

2. Check the box for Trace Output.
3. Double-click Trace Output to open the detail panel.
4. For Output frequency, enter 10.
This is equivalent to outputting the streamlines of the data at a frequency that relates the number
of segments, or the approximate length of the particles. In order to reduce the amount of disc
required in AcuTrace, it is recommended that the output frequency be larger than 1, more
specifically, an order of magnitude larger.
Figure 916:

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.980
No TOC

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.981
6.1.4 Computing the Particle Paths and Reviewing
Now that the steady-state simulation is complete, we can use the finite mass particle tracer to simulate
micro-particles of SiO2 which are often used to add strength to the epoxy.
Running AcuTrace
In the next steps, you will launch AcuTrace to compute the solution for this case.
1.
Click on the toolbar to open the Launch AcuTrace dialog.
Figure 917:
2. Accept the default settings and select Ok to start the solution process.
Converting Results for AcuFieldView
Once the run is complete, you need to convert the results so that they can be read in AcuFieldView. To
do this, run the AcuTransTrace utility. This tool can be used to convert data for Ensight, FieldView or
AcuDisplay.
Programs > Altair Hyperworks <version> > AcuSolve > AcuSolve Cmd Prompt.
2. Change the directory to your working location.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.982
3. Enter the command
acuTransTrace –to fieldview –fvopt streamline,steady
Figure 918:

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.983
The tutorials have been written with the assumptions that you have become familiar with the
AcuFieldView interface and basic operations. In general, it will be helpful to understand the following
basics:
• How to find the data readers in the File pull-down on the Main menu and open up the desired
reader panel for data input.
• How to find the visualization panels either from the Side toolbar or the Visualization panel pull-
downs on the Main menu to create and modify surfaces in AcuFieldView.
This tutorial shows you how to work with the steady state data and load a particle paths file.
1. Launch AcuFieldView from the AcuConsole window using the icon on the toolbar.
You will see that the pressure contours have already been displayed on all the boundary surfaces.
The image below was captured with the mesh turned off.
Figure 919:

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.984
Creating a Boundary Surface and Coordinating Plane in Mixer
1. In the Boundary Surfaces dialog, change the COLORING to geometric.

2. Select grey from the color tab.
3. Uncheck the Show Mesh option to turn off the mesh display.
4. From the BOUNDARY TYPES list, select OSF: Fin Walls and click Ok.
5. Orient the geometry to show that the flow moves from bottom to top of the screen.
6. In the Boundary Surfaces dialog, click Create to create a new boundary surface.
7. From the BOUNDARY TYPES list, select OSF: Pipe Walls and click OK.
8. Set the DISPLAY TYPE to Outlines and set to Geometric.
Setting the Coordinate Surface Showing Velocity Magnitude on the Mid

Coordinate Surface
1.
Click to open the Coordinate Surface dialog.
2. Click Create to create a new surface.
3. Set the COORD PLANE at the mid –Y coordinate surface.
4. Change the DISPLAY TYPE to Constant.
6. For Scalar Function, select z-velocity as the scalar function to be displayed, and click Calculate.
7. Click the Colormap tab, and change the coloring to Local.
8. Click the Legend tab, and activate the Show Legend checkbox to display the velocity magnitude
values on the coordinate plane.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.985
Figure 920:
Setting the Boundary Surface and Particle Paths
1.
Click the Paths icon to open the Particle Paths dialog.

2. Click Import.
3. Browse to the .fvp file created with acuTransTrace and click Open.
4. In the Particle Paths dialog, change the COLORING type to Scalar.
5. Select the Scalar Variable to particle_z_velocity
6. Click the Legend tab and turn on the legend.

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.986
Figure 921:

AcuSolve Tutorials
6 AcuTrace p.987
6.1.6 Summary
In this tutorial you successfully set up and solved for a steady simulation of a static mixer to visualize
the particle path. You started the tutorial by opening a database in AcuConsole and setting up the
simulation parameters to compute the species mixing within the mixer. You ran AcuTrace to generate
the particle paths within the static mixer and converted the data using AcuTranstrace to visualize the
particle paths in AcuFieldView.

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1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials.......................................................................... 6

1.1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials................................................................................. 7

2.1 ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow................................................................ 11

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3.1 ACU-3000: Enclosed Hot Cylinder: Natural Convection..................................................196

4.1 ACU-4000: Dam Break Simulation: Two Phase Problem................................................ 459

5 Moving Body............................................................................................................... 521

5.1 ACU-5000: Blower - Steady (Rotating Frame)............................................................. 522

6.1 ACU-6000: Static Mixer Simulation - AcuTrace.............................................................965

This chapter covers the following:

• 1.1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials (p. 7)

1.1 Introduction to AcuSolve Tutorials

The objectives of the AcuSolve tutorials are to:

1.1.3 Basic Workflow

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12. Generate the mesh.

Note: Validation (comparison with experimental results) and verification (determination

1.1.4 Operating System Used for Tutorial Development

1.1.5 Supporting Files

1.1.6 Typographical Conventions Used in this Guide

Set the Turbulence equation to Spalart Allmaras.

Enter Symmetry as the name of the surface.

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This chapter covers the following:

• 2.1 ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow (p. 11)

2.1 ACU-2000: Turbulent Flow in a Mixing Elbow

Prior to running through this tutorial, copy Mixing_Elbow\mixingElbow.x_t from <AcuSolve

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2.1.1 Analyzing the Problem

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Figure 1: Schematic of Mixing Elbow

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