Fluent Inc.

6/9/2014 N1
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Postprocessing and Visualization

Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N2
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Outline
Solution monitoring
Solution data
Graphical display:
vectors
contours
pathlines
XY plots, histograms
2D vs. 3D
Alphanumeric reports:
field data, fluxes, forces, integrals
Custom Field Functions
Data export
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N3
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Solution monitoring
Graphical display of the solution provides:
quick visual check of solution status
indication of equations that are not converging
The actual solution quantity plotted depends on the software
continuity equation convergence
trouble affects convergence of
all equations
Fidap example here
0.10000 0.86000 1.62000 2.38000 3.14000 3.90000
-3.07381
-2.45905
-1.84429
-1.22953
-0.61476
0.00000
LOG
10**N
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A A
A
A
A
A
A A
A
A
A
A
A A A
A
A
A A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
B
B B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B B B
B
B B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B B
B B B
B
B
B
B
B
B B B
B
C
C
C C C
C
C C
C
C
C C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C C C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C C
C
C
C
D
D
D
D
D D
D D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D D D
D
D
D
D
D
D D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
(X10+ 1) ITERATION NO.
NORM
2-D TURBULENT FLOW OVER A BACKWARD-FACING STEP (SS)
FIDAP 7.51
7 Apr 95
14:05:53
CONVERGENCE
HISTORY PLOT
REL.ERROR VEL
A - U
B - V
C - K
D - E
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N4
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Other Solution Monitors
You can also monitor and display other quantities during calculation
Value of a variable
at a boundary
at a point
Integrals/averages on a surface
Force: lift, drag, moment
Another indication of convergence
is when the monitored value stops
changing
Lift coefficient vs. iteration
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N5
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Solution Data (1)
Pressure
static, dynamic, total, pressure coefficient, ...
Velocity
magnitude, components, stream function, vorticity, helicity, ...
Temperature
static, total, enthalpy, internal energy, entropy, ...
Turbulence
kinetic energy, dissipation rate, effective viscosity, wall y
+
, ...
Species
mass fraction, mole fraction, concentration, deposition rate, ...
r m
o2

e k
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N6
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Solution Data (2)
Properties
density, viscosity, conductivity, specific heat, ...
Wall quantities
shear stress, heat flux, heat transfer coefficient, ...
Grid
coordinates, areas, volumes, quality measures, ...
Derived quantities
shear rate, stresses, other derivatives,
Custom quantites
User-defined Functions
Field Function Calculator


Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N7
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Graphical Display of Data
What would colorful fluid dynamics (CFD) be without graphics?!
Graphical display should be more than just pretty pictures
The goal is visualization and understanding of the flow
capture of gross features:
is the flow headed the right way
does it look correct? Have I done something wrong?
Visualization of finer features:
where does the flow separate
what does the local heat transfer coefficient look like on the wall
Many options: contours, vectors, path lines, ...
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N8
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Contours
Color-coded contours are an effective means of visualizing scalar
quantities such as pressure, velocity magnitude, stream function,
Display is essentially 2-D
You can identify the min/max and gradients
slide coater
contours of stream function filled contours
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N9
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Vector Plots
Velocity vectors indicate the direction and magnitude of the flow
Usually colored by velocity magnitude
Usually displayed on a surface, but shows three-dimensionality
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N10
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Path Lines
Path lines trace the flow pattern using massless particles
3-D version of stream function contours
Can be colored/twisted by any scalar value
Be careful! You specify the starting point for the path lines, but...
if the particles start outside a recirculating region, you wont see it!
particles
released
here
nothing here?!
Flow structure is actually
quite complex!
Particles released here
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N11
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
XY Plots
Quantitative data can be
viewed as XY plots
Useful for comparing against
experimental or other data
Examples:
heat transfer coefficient along a
wall
pressure distribution on lift
surfaces
time dependent behavior (e.g.,
shedding)
Can be plotted on a surface, but
usually along a line
velocity distribution at exit of
a coating die
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N12
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Histograms
Histograms are a good way to visualize distributions
cell skewness
other statistics (e.g., variation of density throughout flowfield)
Cell
skewness
distribution
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N13
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
2D vs. 3D
In 2D, data is normally plotted on the entire flow domain
In 3D, this is not feasible too much data!!
Thus, for 3D problems, you normally plot data on:
a surface or surfaces
a line or lines
All outer boundaries are available as plotting surfaces
Most postprocessors provide tools for creating arbitrary plotting
surfaces:
points or lines
planes, iso-surfaces, clipped surfaces
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N14
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Alphanumeric Reports
It is not practical to view raw data perhaps on a small, mapped
grid
However, other alphanumeric reports are quite helpful:

udA
uTdA
T
avg
r
r
L
D
in
m
out
m
fluxes: e.g., summary of mass flux in/out
of each boundary


forces: e.g., summary of xyz components
of forces/moments on a surface


integrals: e.g., evaluate mass flow rate
weighted average temperature at the outlet
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N15
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Custom Postprocessing Values
Sometimes, the value you want to plot isnt provided
What then? Some software programs provide:
user-defined subroutines calculation of custom quantities which then
can be visualized
field function calculator you can enter a formula in a special GUI
panel. The resulting quantity can be contoured, XY plotted, etc.
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N16
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Data Export
Most CFD codes can write out data in other formats
For people who want to:
view the data in another CAD program (I-DEAS, PATRAN, etc.)
use a third-party postprocessor (FieldView, Ensight, Data Explorer,
Tecplot, etc.)
make some further calculations with the data using their own software
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N17
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Animation
CFD data lends itself nicely to animation: i.e., moving pictures of the
data
Examples:
particles moving with the fluid
fly-bys, fly-throughs
visualizations of moving geometries (e.g., mixing tanks)
visualizations of other transient phenomena (e.g., movement of a shock)
data on a plane passing through the domain
Its very helpful if the CFD software provides animation support:
composition of animation
proper file output formats
Fluent Inc. 6/9/2014 N18
Fluids Review
TRN-1998-004
Summary
Postprocessing includes all the tools needed for interpretation and
visualization of the CFD solution
Postprocessing occurs at two levels:
qualitative check: are b.c.s correct, does flow look right
extracting the quantitative results that are needed for design
2D postprocessing is fairly straightforward and trivial
Effective visualization of 3D flows is assisted by:
preparing appropriate plotting surfaces for viewing scalar data
path line plots or particle tracks to see overall flow patterns
animation to bring the flow to life