Advanced Turbomachinery Tutorial: Sliding Mesh

Purpose
The purpose of this tutorial is to help you learn how to use the sliding mesh model in
FLUENT6.

Prerequisites
This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with the menu structure in FLUENT and that
you have solved some introductory tutorials. This tutorial uses the Multiple Reference
Frame (MRF) and Sliding Mesh Model (SMM) capabilities of FLUENT, so you should have
some experience with these. If not, Tutorials 8 and 10 of the FLUENT Tutorial Guide will
provide you with the necessary experience.

Problem Description
A 44-blade squirrel-cage air blower running at 2500 RPM is to be simulated numerically as
a 2-D model. The blower inlet total pressure is 200 Pa (gauge), and outlet pressure is at
the ambient. Before the sliding mesh simulation is performed, the MRF model is set up for
the blower in order to get a good initial condition and to help speed up convergence of the
transient SMM computation. The SMM simulation is run for several revolutions to reach a
time-periodic solution for the blower, and finally the results from SMM and from MRF are
compared with each other.

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Figure 1: Problem Figure

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Setup and Solution

Step 1: Grid

1. Start the 2D version of FLUENT and read the mesh file blower.msh.

2. Check and display the grid.

Y
Z X

Grid May 15, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, lam)

Figure 2: Grid Display

You may also want to plot the zones (fluid-inlet, fluid-rotor and fluid-casing) separately
to get familiar with the arrangement of the grid zones.

Step 2: Models

1. Retain the default solver settings.

2. Define the k-epsilon turbulence model with the standard wall functions. Retain the
default values for the other parameters.

Step 3: Materials

1. Retain the default material properties.

The default fluid material is standard air.

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Step 4: Interfaces
Define −→Grid Interfaces...

1. Define int1 grid interface.

(a) Select interface-2 and interface-4 for Interface Zone 1 and Interface Zone 2 respec-
tively.
(b) Enter int1 under Grid Interface and click Create.

2. Define int2 grid interface.

(a) Select interface-3 and interface-6 for Interface Zone 1 and Interface Zone 2 respec-
tively.
(b) Enter int2 under Grid Interface and click Create.

Step 5: Boundary Conditions

1. Define boundary conditions for the pressure-inlet-5 zone.

(a) Set Gauge Total Pressure to 200 Pa and select Intensity and Hydraulic Diameter as
the Turbulence Specification Method.
(b) Set Turbulence Intensity and Hydraulic Diameter to 5 % and 0.05 m respectively.
(c) Retain the default values for the other parameters.

2. Define boundary conditions for the pressure-outlet-9 zone.

(a) Select Intensity and Hydraulic Diameter as the Turbulence Specification Method.
(b) Set the Backflow Turbulence Intensity and Backflow Hydraulic Diameter to 5 % and
0.05 m respectively.

3. Define the boundary conditions for the fluid-rotor zone.

(a) Select Moving Reference Frame for Motion Type and set the Speed for Rotational
Velocity to 2500 RPM.
(b) Retain the default values for the other parameters.

4. Define the boundary conditions for the blades zone.

The blades are the set of boundaries around each blade of the rotor. We have to set
them up as Moving Wall, with zero velocity relative to the adjacent fluid cell zone (
fluid-rotor) which is in the moving reference frame that rotates at the blade speed.
(a) Set the Wall Motion to Moving Wall and Motion to Rotational.
(b) Retain the default values for the other parameters.

5. Retain the default settings for the other boundary zones.

The other two fluid zones, fluid-casing and fluid-inlet are set to the stationary reference
frame, so the default will suffice. The casing wall also uses the default wall boundary
conditions of FLUENT.

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Step 6: Solution Using Moving Reference Frame

1. Initialize the flow field from the inlet zone.

2. Define surface monitors to monitor the solution.

(a) In the Surface Monitors panel, increase the number of Surface Monitors to 2.
(b) Activate Plot, Print and Write for the two Surface Monitors.
(c) Define a surface monitor to monitor the mass flow rate at the outlet.
i. For monitor-1, select Mass Flow Rate for Report Type and Pressure-outlet-9
for Surfaces.
(d) Define a surface monitor to monitor the mass weighted average of total pressure
at the outlet.
i. For monitor-2, select Pressure... and Total Pressure from the Report Of drop-
down lists.
ii. Select Mass-Weighted Average for Report Type and Pressure-outlet-9 for Sur-
faces.
iii. Retain the default values for the other parameters.

3. Start by requesting 300 iterations.

The solution should converge within 300 iterations.
Residuals
continuity
x-velocity 1e+02
y-velocity
k
epsilon
1e+01

1e+00

1e-01

1e-02

1e-03

1e-04

1e-05
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Iterations

Scaled Residuals May 09, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 3: Scaled Residuals

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600.0000

500.0000

400.0000

Mass 300.0000
Weighted
Average
(pascal) 200.0000

100.0000

0.0000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Iteration

Convergence history of Total Pressure on pressure-outlet-9 May 09, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 4: Convergence History of Total Pressure on pressure-outlet-9

0.0000

-0.5000

-1.0000

-1.5000

Mass -2.0000
Flow
Rate -2.5000
(kg/s)
-3.0000

-3.5000

-4.0000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Iteration

Convergence history of Mass Flow Rate on pressure-outlet-9 May 09, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 5: Convergence History of Mass Flow Rate on pressure-outlet-9

At this point, the MRF model has generated a good initial condition for the sliding mesh
calculation.

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Step 7: Postprocessing

1. Display velocity vectors.

6.24e+01

5.61e+01

4.99e+01

4.37e+01

3.74e+01

3.12e+01

2.50e+01

1.88e+01

1.25e+01

6.30e+00

7.09e-02

Velocity Vectors Colored By Velocity Magnitude (m/s) May 13, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 6: Velocity Vectors

2. Display filled contours of static pressure.

(a) Under Options, deselect Auto Range and set the values of Max and Min to -1000
and 1000 Pa respectively.

1.00e+03

8.00e+02

6.00e+02

4.00e+02

2.00e+02

0.00e+00

-2.00e+02

-4.00e+02

-6.00e+02

-8.00e+02

-1.00e+03

Contours of Static Pressure (pascal) May 21, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 7: Contours of Static Pressure

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Step 8: Solution Using Sliding Mesh Model

The sliding mesh model provides a more accurate solution, especially when the effect of
rotor/stator interaction is desired.

1. Change the solver to the Unsteady time condition. Retain the default values for the
other parameters.

2. Modify the boundary conditions for the fluid-rotor zone.

(a) Change the Motion Type to Moving Mesh and retain the default values for the
other parameters.
Since we have already set int1 and int2 as interfaces between the zones (fluid-rotor,
fluid-inlet, and fluid-casing) during the MRF setup, so we need not do it again. Oth-
erwise, Step 4 is an important step to be carried out in the setup of SMM.

3. Modify the surface monitors (monitor-1 and monitor-2).

Solve −→ Monitors −→Surface...
(a) For monitor-1, select Time Step for Every and in the Define Surface Monitor panel
select Time step under X Axis.
(b) Similarly, for monitor-2, select Time Step for Every and in the Define Surface
Monitor panel select Time step under X Axis.

4. Request for 180 timesteps.

For most turbomachinery problems, we are interested in the time-periodic solution
(i.e., the unsteady solution will exhibit a cyclic behavior after the initial startup phase
has passed) than startup transient behaviors. Therefore we will pursue a time-periodic
solution here for the blower. If we select the numerical time-step size (∆t) to be two
degrees of rotation, then ∆t in seconds can be easily calculated for the blower running
at 2500 rpm as follows:

(60/ω)
∆t (two deg. of rotation) = × 2 = 1.3333 × 10−4 s.
360
where ω is in rpm. Thus we use this time-step size in the iteration panel, run 180
time steps (= 1 revolution in this case) and inspect the results.
(a) Set the Time Step Size to 0.0001333 s and retain the default values for the other
parameters.

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595.0000

590.0000

585.0000

580.0000

575.0000

Mass 570.0000
Weighted
565.0000
Average
(pascal) 560.0000

555.0000

550.0000

545.0000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Time Step

Convergence history of Total Pressure on pressure-outlet-9 (Time=2.3999e-02) May 10, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 8: Convergence History of Total Pressure on pressure-outlet-9

-3.8650

-3.8700

-3.8750

-3.8800

Mass -3.8850
Flow
Rate -3.8900
(kg/s)
-3.8950

-3.9000

-3.9050
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Time Step

Convergence history of Mass Flow Rate on pressure-outlet-9 (Time=2.3999e-02) May 10, 2002
FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 9: Convergence History of Mass Flow Rate on pressure-outlet-9

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5. Request for an additional 720 timesteps.

We will continue to simulate for another 4 revolutions (a total of 180 × 4 = 720 time
steps) to establish a time-periodic solution.

595.0000

590.0000

585.0000

580.0000

575.0000

Mass 570.0000
Weighted
565.0000
Average
(pascal) 560.0000

555.0000

550.0000

545.0000
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Time Step

Convergence history of Total Pressure on pressure-outlet-9 (Time=1.2000e-01) May 10, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 10: Convergence History of Total Pressure on pressure-outlet-9

-3.8600

-3.8800

-3.9000

-3.9200

Mass
Flow -3.9400
Rate
(kg/s)
-3.9600

-3.9800

-4.0000
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Time Step

Convergence history of Mass Flow Rate on pressure-outlet-9 (Time=1.2000e-01) May 10, 2002
FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 11: Convergence History of Mass Flow Rate on pressure-outlet-9

Once the iterations are done, save the case and data files. The monitors of total
pressure and mass flow rate on the outlet surface indicate that after a transient startup
period, a time-periodic solution has been established.

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6. Display velocity vectors.

6.24e+01

5.62e+01

4.99e+01

4.37e+01

3.75e+01

3.12e+01

2.50e+01

1.88e+01

1.25e+01

6.30e+00

6.31e-02

Velocity Vectors Colored By Velocity Magnitude (m/s) (Time=1.2000e-01) May 14, 2002
FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 12: Velocity vectors

7. Display filled contours of static pressure for MRF and SMM solutions.
(a) Under Options, deselect Auto Range and set the values of Max and Min to -1000
and 1000 Pa respectively.
The SMM result is quite similar to the MRF solution shown before. This is because
the MRF model can be thought of as an approximation to the unsteady problem — like
taking a snapshot of the transient flow.

1.00e+03

8.00e+02

6.00e+02

4.00e+02

2.00e+02

0.00e+00

-2.00e+02

-4.00e+02

-6.00e+02

-8.00e+02

-1.00e+03

Contours of Static Pressure (pascal) (Time=1.2000e-01) May 21, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 13: Contours of Static Pressure for SMM Solution

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1.00e+03

8.00e+02

6.00e+02

4.00e+02

2.00e+02

0.00e+00

-2.00e+02

-4.00e+02

-6.00e+02

-8.00e+02

-1.00e+03

Contours of Static Pressure (pascal) May 21, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 14: Contours of Static Pressure for MRF Solution

8. Enable the unsteady data sampling capability of FLUENT to obtain time-averaged

solution data.
In order to do this, we run another 180 time steps (one revolution for the blades) with
the Data Sampling For Time Statistics option being turned on in the Iterate panel. We
will separate the task into two steps —each time we perform 90 time steps, then save
the results
(a) Under Options, activate Data Sampling for Time Statistics and set the Number of
Time Steps to 90.
(b) Retain the default values for the other parameters and click Iterate. Save the
case and data files.
(c) Request for another 90 time steps and save the data file.
Once the additional 180 time steps are done, we have access to several time-
averaged and RMS quantities (pressure, velocity, and temperature, etc.)
(d) Display contours of mean static pressure.
i. Under Options, deselect Auto Range and set the values of Max and Min to
-1000 and 1000 Pa respectively.
This plot can be then used to compare with the plot of static pressure from the
MRF solution.

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1.00e+03

8.00e+02

6.00e+02

4.00e+02

2.00e+02

0.00e+00

-2.00e+02

-4.00e+02

-6.00e+02

-8.00e+02

-1.00e+03

Contours of Mean Static Pressure (pascal) (Time=1.4400e-01) May 21, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske, unsteady)

Figure 15: Contours of Mean Static Pressure for SMM Solution

1.00e+03

8.00e+02

6.00e+02

4.00e+02

2.00e+02

0.00e+00

-2.00e+02

-4.00e+02

-6.00e+02

-8.00e+02

-1.00e+03

Contours of Static Pressure (pascal) May 21, 2002

FLUENT 6.0 (2d, segregated, ske)

Figure 16: Contours of Static Pressure for MRF Solution

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Results
There is no blade-to-blade variation in the time-averaged solution, in contrast to the MRF
and instantaneous sliding mesh solutions. This is reasonable since each blade passage sees
the same flow variations as it executes one revolution of motion, hence the time-averaged
solution for each blade passage is the same. One can also use other postprocessing tools in
FLUENT for comparing the SMM and MRF results in more detail (e.g., the total pressure
rise and the flow rate through the blower).

Summary
A 2-D model of a squirrel-cage air blower is simulated in FLUENT6 by using SMM. A
MRF model of the same blower is first set up and its results are provided as a good initial
condition to help speed up convergence in the SMM calculation. In the process, we have
demonstrated the detailed steps for setting up interfaces between grid blocks, assigning zones
to moving/stationary reference frames and the moving mesh, and specifying the associated
boundary conditions. We have also shown how to use the unsteady statistics feature in
FLUENT to obtain the time-averaged statistics (e.g., pressure) for time-periodic solutions.

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