Solar Radiation Effect on a Gasoline Tank — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionThis project presents a CFD simulation of solar radiation heating a gasoline tank — an important safety and storage problem, since overheating fuel raises vapor pressure and evaporation risk. Using ANSYS Fluent's radiation modeling, you'll capture how sunlight heats the tank and its contents, and how a protective coating can mitigate that effect. In this project, you'll model a cylindrical fuel tank in an external airflow and run a comparative study — with and without an insulating coating layer. As the opening project of the Radiation: Beginner CFD Training Package, it introduces the radiation and solar-load workflow on the simplest case — a single object under the sun — establishing the foundation the building and HVAC cases build on.MethodologyThe 3D cylindrical gasoline tank is designed inside an external flow domain in Design Modeler and meshed in ANSYS Meshing with an unstructured grid of roughly 1,084,362 cells. The P1 radiation model is set up — well suited to this case for its low CPU cost and its handling of scattering and optically thick media — and solar ray tracing and the Solar Load model are activated to apply realistic thermal loading from the sun. The solar calculator inputs are defined for a specific location and time: longitude 36.2605°, latitude 59.6168°, time zone 4.5, at 13:08 on day 17 of month 8. External-flow boundary conditions are applied, with air at 10 m/s and 318.15 K striking the tank. The study is run as a two-geometry comparison: a bare tank versus a tank with a 0.003 m coating layer.AnalysisPost-processing produces 2D and 3D temperature contours at the final time step, showing how the coating acts as a radiation barrier that keeps the gasoline cool. Comparing the bare and coated tanks quantifies how effectively the insulating layer reduces the solar heating of the fuel — directly relevant to storage safety. Solar radiation modeling is essential for fuel storage, building thermal loads, solar collectors, and vehicle cabins, and the P1 + Solar Load workflow built here transfers directly to any design where sunlight drives the thermal behavior. By the end of this project, you'll be able to set up the P1 radiation model, activate solar ray tracing and the Solar Load model with realistic solar-calculator inputs, run a comparative study of a protective coating, and interpret the temperature fields that show how solar radiation heats a fuel tank and how a coating mitigates it.

Master Solar Radiation Analysis on Buildings with ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationExplore the intricate interplay of solar radiation and building thermal dynamics in our advanced tutorial, “Solar Radiation effect on a House CFD Simulation”. This comprehensive episode in our “ANSYS Fluent: All Levels” course offers an in-depth exploration of environmental heat transfer mechanisms, crucial for architects, energy engineers, and CFD specialists in sustainable building design.Unlock Advanced CFD Techniques for Solar-Influenced Building DesignLearn to harness the power of ANSYS Fluent to simulate and analyze complex heat transfer behaviors in residential structures exposed to solar radiation. This tutorial provides a detailed approach to modeling radiation, convection, and conduction phenomena for accurate thermal analysis of buildings.Key Learning Objectives:- Master the setup of 3D house models in ANSYS Design Modeler - Develop proficiency in unstructured mesh generation for architectural simulations - Understand the application of the Discrete Ordinates (DO) model for solar radiation - Analyze natural convection and wind effects on building thermal performanceComprehensive Simulation Setup and MethodologyGain hands-on experience in configuring and executing a professional-grade CFD simulation for solar-influenced building thermal analysis, covering all aspects from geometry creation to advanced environmental modeling.1. Precise 3D Geometry and Mesh Generation- Create optimized 3D models of gable houses using ANSYS Design Modeler - Implement unstructured meshing strategies with ANSYS Meshing - Optimize mesh quality for accurate flow and thermal simulations (696,480 elements)2. ANSYS Fluent Configuration for Solar Radiation and Natural Convection- Set up pressure-based solver for incompressible air flow - Configure Discrete Ordinates (DO) model for solar radiation simulation - Implement gravitational effects for natural convection modeling3. Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization Techniques- Extract and interpret temperature, pressure, and velocity contours - Analyze solar radiation patterns and their impact on building surfaces - Evaluate the effects of wind direction on heat distributionReal-World Applications and Industry RelevanceThis tutorial is crucial for professionals and researchers in:Sustainable architecture and green building designHVAC system optimization for energy efficiencyUrban planning and microclimate analysisRenewable energy integration in residential buildingsKey Simulation Outcomes and Thermal Insights1. Solar Radiation Impact Analysis- Interpret temperature distributions on building surfaces exposed to sunlight - Identify shadow effects and their influence on local thermal conditions2. Natural Convection Evaluation- Analyze buoyancy-driven air flow patterns inside the house - Assess the effectiveness of building design in promoting natural ventilation3. Wind Interaction Assessment- Evaluate the formation of wake regions and their impact on building thermal performance - Understand the combined effects of solar radiation and wind on overall heat distributionElevate Your CFD Skills in Environmental Building SimulationBy completing this specialized tutorial, you’ll gain:Cutting-edge skills in applying CFD to complex building thermal analysisProficiency in setting up and analyzing solar radiation simulations in ANSYS FluentDeep understanding of the interplay between solar radiation, natural convection, and wind effectsInsights into optimizing building designs for improved thermal comfort and energy efficiencyWho Should Take This Advanced TutorialArchitects specializing in sustainable building designEnergy engineers focused on building performance optimizationCFD analysts working on environmental and urban heat transfer problemsGraduate students in architectural engineering or building physicsDon’t miss this opportunity to significantly advance your CFD simulation skills in environmental building analysis. Enroll now in our “ANSYS Fluent: All Levels” course and master the art of simulating solar radiation effects on buildings with ANSYS Fluent!

DescriptionThis project uses ANSYS Fluent to simulate combined convective and radiative heat transfer inside a dome-shaped mosque building, applying the radiation module to capture solar heating effects. The building's indoor thermal environment is driven by solar radiation on the sidewalls, roof, and dome, along with a ground-floor heat source, making it a representative case for radiation-influenced indoor climate analysis in architectural CFD.MethodologyThe 3D geometry is built in SpaceClaim and meshed in ANSYS Meshing using an unstructured grid of 674,066 elements. Convective heat transfer at the sidewalls, roof, and dome is modeled against a surrounding ambient temperature of 309 K with a heat transfer coefficient of 10 W/m²K, while the mosque floor (20 cm thick) receives an applied heat flux of 30 W/m². Radiative heat transfer is captured using the Rosseland radiation model, suited to surfaces and materials with high absorption coefficients, with an absorption coefficient of 0.8 assumed for the building surfaces. The solar load model is used to represent the effect of incoming solar radiation. Since the focus is on internal heat transfer rather than external flow, no inlet or outlet boundary conditions are required.ConclusionResults include 2D (YZ and XZ sections through the building center) and 3D contours of temperature, pressure, and velocity, along with velocity vector fields. The temperature distribution reflects the combined effects of radiation and floor heating, while the velocity vectors reveal internal airflow circulation, with the strongest vortex forming in the dome region due to its direct exposure to solar radiation.

Radiation Heat Transfer in a Computer Room — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationDescriptionThis project simulates the air conditioning of a computer room containing four computers using ANSYS Fluent. The model represents a computer room with several distinct heat sources and was built in 3D using SpaceClaim. Because the geometry is symmetric, only one-quarter of the room is modeled to reduce computational cost.Meshing was performed in ANSYS Meshing, producing 809,037 elements.MethodologyIn this simulation, steady airflow enters the domain through several inlets at the bottom of the room and exits through several outlets in the ceiling, with radiation heat transfer taken into account. This air-conditioning approach is widely used in office environments; it offers greater energy efficiency because the flow rises naturally through the density difference and buoyancy body force rather than being forced mechanically.Fresh air enters the computational domain at a velocity of 0.61254 m/s and a temperature of 291.8 K. One of the room's four main walls is subjected to a constant heat flux of 194 W/m². The remaining heat sources include a laptop and a simulator, with heat fluxes of 153.25 W/m² and 90.56 W/m², respectively.The Realizable k-epsilon model is used to solve the turbulent flow equations. The energy equation is enabled to compute the temperature variation within the domain, and the ideal gas model is used to capture the change in air density with temperature. Most importantly, the Surface-to-Surface (S2S) radiation model is employed to simulate the radiative heat exchange between surfaces inside the domain.ConclusionThe mixture mass flow rate at the computer room outlet is 0.568 kg/s. Air density reaches its minimum on the surfaces subjected to heat flux: as the fluid temperature rises, its density falls, and the resulting upward buoyant force acts on the fluid volume. As a consequence, the air density decreases progressively with height up the room.High temperatures of around 327 K are observed on the laptop surfaces and the hot walls. Intense turbulence appears near the hot wall and above the simulator, a direct result of the high heat fluxes assigned to the laptop, the simulator, and the hot wall.

Double Facade Airflow — ANSYS Fluent CFD SimulationThis project simulates airflow through the gap between the two walls of a building's double facade using ANSYS Fluent, under steady-state, pressure-based conditions with gravity effects included.Geometry and MeshThe 3-D geometry was created in Design Modeler and consists of a rectangular chamber measuring 3 m × 1.5 m × 0.2 m, fitted with 120 rows of thin shading plates angled at 45 degrees, arranged in a shutter-like configuration. The model was meshed in ANSYS Meshing using an unstructured mesh, totaling 4,264,442 elements.The ambient air surrounding the shells is assumed to be at 300 K, with a heat transfer coefficient of 10 W/m²·K. The shading plates positioned between the two facade walls play a key role in driving the ventilation process within the cavity.The aim of the study is to characterize the upward airflow and heat transfer occurring in the space between the two shells and around the shading plates.MethodologyThe energy equation is enabled to capture temperature distribution, with turbulence modeled using the standard k-epsilon model. Pressure boundary conditions equal to atmospheric pressure are applied at both the inlet and outlet of the cavity, allowing buoyancy-driven upward flow to develop naturally from density variations caused by pressure and temperature changes. Since the primary driver of these temperature changes is solar heating of the shading plates, the Discrete Ordinates (DO) radiation model is used together with the solar ray tracing model.ResultsThe simulation produces 2-D and 3-D contours of pressure, velocity, and temperature, along with 2-D and 3-D pathlines. The 2-D contours are presented in the XY plane at the mid-section of the cavity between the two facade walls. Velocity distribution is also plotted along a line in the XZ plane at a height of 2 m from the floor, running through the geometric center between x = -0.1 and x = +0.1, consistent with the 45-degree orientation of the shading plates.Geometry and mesh files, along with a comprehensive training video walking through the full solution process and result extraction, are available as part of this package.

DescriptionThis project simulates the radiation of solar rays into the interior of a room using ANSYS Fluent, taking into account a wooden partition acting as solar shading together with a double-glazed façade. Argon gas fills the gap between the two panes of the double glazing; because argon has a low thermal conductivity, it acts as an insulating layer that reduces heat transfer from the outdoor environment into the room. Radiative heat transfer from the sun is the central physics of the study, so a radiation model is used — here the P1 model — together with the solar ray tracing feature to define the incoming solar radiation.The room is located at a latitude of 24 degrees and a longitude of 26 degrees, with the case set at 1 p.m. on the 30th of June. The directions of the sun's rays are computed from the room's geographic longitude and orientation. The glass walls adjacent to the room are defined as semi-transparent, meaning the sun's rays can be absorbed, transmitted, or reflected at these surfaces. The solar shading, by contrast, is treated as an opaque body that only absorbs and reflects the rays and does not allow them to pass through.Geometry & MeshThe model was built in 3D using Design Modeler and represents a room connected to an outdoor space through a wooden partition (solar shading) and a double-glazed façade. The room is 6 m deep, 5 m wide, and 3 m high, and the gap between the panes of the double glazing is 2 mm. Meshing was performed in ANSYS Meshing using a structured grid of 239,760 elements.MethodologySeveral assumptions underpin the simulation: a pressure-based solver is used, the simulation is steady, and gravitational effects on the fluid are neglected.Viscous model — standard k-epsilon with standard wall functionsRadiation model — P1, with the solar ray tracing solar-load modelEnergy — enabledBoundary conditions — Glass 1: stationary wall, convection thermal condition (heat transfer coefficient 20 W/m²·K, free-stream temperature 310 K), semi-transparent; Glass 2 and Glass 3: stationary walls, coupled thermal condition, semi-transparent; Wood (solar shading): stationary wall, coupled thermal condition, opaque; Room and Argon walls: stationary walls, convection thermal condition (20 W/m²·K, 310 K), opaqueMethods — SIMPLE pressure-velocity coupling; second-order for pressure; second-order upwind for density, momentum, and energy; first-order upwind for turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rateInitialization — standard method, with 0 Pa gauge pressure, zero velocity, and a temperature of 310 KConclusionOn completion of the solution, two- and three-dimensional results for temperature, pressure, and velocity were obtained, along with velocity information on a plane through the middle of the model. The results clearly show the circulation of air within the room's interior spaces and the rise in temperature throughout the domain caused by the solar radiation.Overall, the study demonstrates how the P1 radiation model combined with solar ray tracing captures the entry of solar energy through a double-glazed, semi-transparent façade and the moderating effect of the wooden solar shading — illustrating how radiative solar loading drives the thermal behavior of a room and how shading and insulated glazing can be used to control it.

DescriptionThis simulation models office ventilation and heating by solar radiation using ANSYS Fluent software. The problem is carried out and investigated through CFD analysis.This project investigates the ventilation, air circulation, and heat transfer within a room. The heat is emitted by people, objects, and electrical equipment inside the room. The thermal energy from human activity, the thermal energy from a working computer, and the heat emitted by light bulbs are all treated as sources of heat generation. The person, acting as a heat source, produces a constant heat of 1928 W/m³, while the computer produces a constant heat of 7285.7 W/m³, and each lamp produces a constant heat of 26356.5 W/m³.This project also investigates the effect of continuous air circulation inside the room. In addition, a glass window is included on one of the walls to study the effect of solar radiation. The glass surface faces the solar rays to improve heat transfer by solar radiation. The side walls of the room and its floor exchange heat with the outside environment by convection. The ambient air temperature is assumed to be 300 K, and the convection heat transfer coefficient is 19 W/m²·K.The geometry of the present model is drawn using Design Modeler software. The model consists of a room with a volume beneath it. The room contains a human, a computer, two lamps, and other objects, with a dedicated window designed on one of its side walls. The model is then meshed using ANSYS Meshing software. The mesh is unstructured, and 309,156 cells have been created.MethodologyThe main goal of this project is the thermal analysis and investigation of the different modes of heat transfer. Some of the modeled objects generate heat, so a heat source is defined for them to represent the heat emitted. In this way, the heat source represents the heat produced per unit volume.Solar ray tracing is also used to investigate the effect of solar radiation. To characterize the quality of the solar radiation, the direct and diffuse solar irradiation must be specified. Another mode of heat exchange with the surrounding medium is convection. To apply this method, the free-stream temperature of the environment and the convection heat transfer coefficient must be defined.ConclusionAfter the simulation, contours of temperature and velocity are obtained, along with the velocity vectors and streamlines inside the office. The vectors and flow lines clearly show the circulation of airflow within the office, indicating the proper operation of the air conditioning system in balancing the temperature inside the room. The temperature contours show how heat is transferred throughout the model, with a clear rise in temperature around the heat sources.

DescriptionThis project studies solar-driven heat transfer and natural convection inside a room-and-balcony configuration using ANSYS Fluent. The balcony has a glass roof and one glass wall, and as sunlight radiates into both spaces, buoyancy-driven natural convection becomes the dominant mechanism circulating air within them, since no fans or external forcing are present to drive the flow. The geometry, comprising the room and balcony together, is built in 3D in Design Modeler and meshed in ANSYS Meshing with a structured grid of 290,250 elements.MethodologyNatural convection here arises purely from buoyancy: as sunlight warms parts of the air, that air loses density and rises, drawing in cooler, denser air to replace it, and this exchange repeats to form a self-sustaining rotating flow. Turbulence is resolved with the standard k-epsilon model, while the P1 solar ray tracing model simulates incoming sunlight and calculates the radiative heat transfer it produces inside the room. The energy equation is active to compute the resulting temperature field, and density is allowed to follow the ideal gas law so that thermally driven buoyancy is captured directly rather than assumed. Ambient air is set at 310 K with a heat transfer coefficient of 20 W/m²K, the room's walls are treated as opaque absorbers of solar radiation, and the glass walls and roof are modeled as semi-transparent, letting solar rays partially pass through into the interior.AnalysisThe results include 2D and 3D contours of velocity, temperature, and pressure, along with streamlines through both spaces. The pressure fields show clear stratification characteristic of natural convection in an enclosed volume, and notably, the pressure distribution in the room runs opposite in direction to that in the balcony, a difference traced to the glass roof: air near that glass boundary tends to stay warmer, which impedes the usual replacement of cool air by hot air and causes air to accumulate lower in the balcony than the convection pattern would otherwise predict. Temperature contours confirm the room reaches noticeably higher temperatures than the balcony, consistent with the room's opaque walls absorbing far more solar heat than the balcony's semi-transparent glass. The streamlines make the underlying convective rotation visible in both spaces, tracing directly how buoyancy-driven circulation moves air through the room and balcony.

Conical Solar Collector CFD Simulation in ANSYS FluentIntroductionSolar energy represents the largest available energy source in the world, offering a clean, inexpensive, and virtually inexhaustible resource. Solar water heaters operate by absorbing solar energy through collector plates, with heating efficiency varying depending on the collector type; the heated water is typically stored in a double-walled, thermally insulated reservoir capable of maintaining temperature for up to three days. This project simulates heat transfer within a conical solar collector containing water, using ANSYS Fluent to analyze how the collector absorbs sunlight and warms the water inside its tank. The computational domain consists of a cubic air region with a velocity-inlet (1 m/s) and a pressure outlet, along with the conical collector itself, which includes a water inlet (0.01 m/s) and a pressure outlet, and features a glass layer and a steel layer to minimize convective heat loss.Geometry and MeshThe geometry, comprising the fluid domain and the conical solar collector, was designed in SpaceClaim and meshed in ANSYS Meshing, resulting in an unstructured mesh totaling 2,948,101 elements.MethodologyThe energy equation and a radiation model, using the solar ray tracing method combined with the Discrete Ordinates (DO) model, were activated to capture solar heating effects within the collector. Fluid flow behavior was resolved using the k-epsilon turbulence model with standard wall functions.Results and ConclusionContours of velocity, temperature, and streamlines were obtained to characterize the thermal and flow behavior within the collector. The average temperature of the collector walls reaches 308.67 K, while water entering the collector at 298.15 K is progressively heated to an outlet temperature of 306.8 K. The total heat transfer through the collector wall was calculated as 773 W, confirming the effectiveness of the conical design in capturing solar radiation and transferring thermal energy to the circulating water.

DescriptionThis project investigates how solar radiation intensity and angle vary with time of day and their effect on surface temperatures and airflow in an outdoor urban environment, simulated in ANSYS Fluent. The study is anchored to a specific real-world location — Baku, Azerbaijan — and two specific times on June 21st, 8 AM and 3 PM, chosen to contrast morning and afternoon radiation conditions at the same site on the year's longest day. The environment includes a house, trees, and ground, with soil, brick, and wood material properties assigned respectively, so that conduction through solids, convection in the surrounding air, and solar radiation are all represented simultaneously. Free airflow passes through the domain at 10 m/s and 27°C. The geometry is built in Design Modeler and meshed in ANSYS Meshing with an unstructured grid of 2,054,294 cells.MethodologyRadiation is modeled using the Discrete Ordinates (DO) model, the most comprehensive of Fluent's radiation formulations, capable of handling scattering, semi-transparent media, specular surfaces, and wavelength-dependent transitions by solving the radiative transfer equations over a finite set of discrete solid angles. Solar radiation is introduced through the Solar Ray Tracing model, with Baku's longitude, latitude, time zone, and the specific date and hour provided to the solar calculator, which derives the corresponding irradiation intensity and sun angle for each of the two time cases.AnalysisThe results include temperature and radiation heat flux contours for both the 8 AM and 3 PM cases. The maximum domain temperature rises from approximately 312 K at 8 AM to 318 K at 3 PM, a 6 K increase attributable to the higher radiation intensity and more direct sun angle later in the day. In shaded zones between the houses and under the tree canopy, however, the radiation flux received remains in the relatively narrow range of 50 to 70 W/m² across both time cases, indicating that shaded areas provide meaningful and consistent protection from the stronger afternoon solar load even as the broader environment heats up significantly.