External Flow Passing Through a Flat Plate, ANSYS Fluent, CFD simulation

Overview of CFD Simulation of External Airflow over a Flat Plate

Project Description

Focussing on the behaviour of airflow and heat transfer dynamics, this simulation uses ANSYS Fluent to describe the external flow of air over a flat plate.  The air's thermal conductivity is 0.0242 W/m·K, viscosity 0.000017894 kg/m·s, and density 1.225 kg/m³.  With ambient air at 273 K, the plate keeps a steady temperature of 333 K.

Flat Plate Geometry & Mesh

Created in ANSYS Design Modeller, the 2D model has lower edge depicting the flat plate.  There are 3,000 element structured meshes in the geometry.  The left and right borders are the inlet and outflow for airflow.

CFD Simulation Settings

• Solver: Pressure-based, steady-state
• Viscous Model: Laminar (Re < 50,000)
• Boundary Conditions:
  • Inlet: Variable velocity, temperature 273 K
  • Outlet: Pressure outlet at 0 Pascal
  • Walls: Stationary
• Solution Methods:
  • Coupling: SIMPLE
  • Discretization: Second order for pressure and momentum

Results and Conclusion

The simulation investigates the hydrodynamic boundary layer as well as velocity and temperature distributions.  Results comprise 2D contours for temperature and velocity, velocity vectors, and diagrams of heat transfer coefficients and boundary layer thickness for Reynolds numbers 10,000 to 50,000.