Engineering tools: Experimental and CAE

Three-phase flow simulations

(*) http://www.uwal.org/customer/rateguide.htm
(**) http://en.openei.org/wiki/Ship_Towing_Tank TBD, to be determined

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Numerical Method Engineering tools: Experimental and CAE

The main difference between experiments and virtual tools is in that:

Finite Element Method (FEM) • Virtualization of physical phenomena requires very often a
simplification of the problem, of both geometry and fluid
Boundary Element Method properties, in order to allow to solve the related numerical problem
(versus accuracy).
Finite Difference Method
• Experiments contains much more complexity related to the
physical phenomenon and are therefore considered a reference
Finite Volume Method misconsidering the weigth of source of errors, noise, level of
control on the physical quantities involved by the experiment, the
Meshless Method repeatability and the data acquirable during an experiment (versus
repeatability).
A constructive interplay of experimental and virtualized models
is of capital interest for modern engineering
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What is the FEM? Stress (mechanics)
Description
 FEM cuts a structure into several elements (pieces of the
structure).
 Then reconnects elements at “nodes” as if nodes were pins or
drops of glue that hold elements together.
 This process results in a set of simultaneous algebraic equations.

Number of degrees-of-freedom (DOF)

Continuum: Infinite
General stress
FEM: Finite
(This is the origin of the name,
Finite Element Method)
A 2D model of a gear tooth
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