Example 8

EXAMPLE 8
AXISYMMETRIC SWIRLING FLOW OF A NEWTONIAN LIQUID

DESCRIPTION

In this example, we consider the axisymmetric swirling flow situation as described in

Fig. 1. A disk rotates in a cylindrical tank. Inertia forces induce secondary flows whilst the
shape of the upper free surface is deforming. The radius of the rotating disk is 8 cm; its
angular velocity is 30 s-1. For the fluid, we select the following material properties:
= 15 poises
= 1 g/cm3
g = 981 cm/s

Fig. 1. Rotating disk: flow description

At low Reynolds number, the flow is stable, and the velocity field exhibits symmetry around
the central axis of symmetry. Hence, the present calculation will be performed in a cross-
section plane passing through this central axis of symmetry. In such a geometric modelling in
a cylindrical system of coordinates (r,z), the velocity field is characterised by three
components depending upon two space variables.

Fig. 2 shows the computational domain as defined in a plane passing through the central line
of symmetry, together with the several topological tools (subdomains and boundary sides).
The finite element mesh is also displayed in Fig. 2. It is included in the box x=[0, 11], y=[0,
14].

The various boundary conditions to be imposed are selected as follows:

January 2017 8.1 Release 18.0

 Example 8

BS 1: wall of the container

BS 2: free surface
BS 3: rotating shaft
BS 4: rotating disk
BS 5: axis of symmetry

Fig 2. Rotating disk: topology, boundaries and subdomains (left);

finite element mesh (right).

We see that the boundary of the rotating system is split into two parts: the shaft and the disk.
This has been made necessary by the remeshing technique defined on subdomain 2. The
selected remeshing technique is the method of spines; it requires to properly specify the inlet
and the outlet of the system of spines, respectively the wall (BS 1) and the shaft (BS 3).

KEYWORDS

2-D axisymmetric swirling flow, free surface flow without inlet/outlet

FILENAMES

mixer.mdf, mixer.msh, mixer.dat, mixer.cons

NEW CONCEPTS

In the present example, as described above, we introduce the concept of axisymmetric

swirling flow, or 2D 1/2 flows. This family refers to flows which can be geometrically
described by means of a 2-D computational domain and which involve three velocity
components. The present flow easily illustrates the concept: a 2-D computational domain is
defined by considering a cross-section passing through the central axis of symmetry; the

January 2017 8.2 Release 18.0

 Example 8

velocity field involves however three components: one generated by the rotating device, and
the two other ones in the plane of the domain.

A second concept is that of a free surface without inlet/outlet. In the previous examples, we
have seen several flow situations involving a free surface; those were "jet-like" free surface
cases. Presently, we are facing a situation where the deformation of a boundary depends on
some secondary motions in a confined domain.

POLYDATA SESSION

- Read a mesh: mixer.msh

- Create a new task: 2D 1/2 axisymmetric, steady-state (default) See note 1
- Create a sub-task: Generalized Newtonian isothermal flow (default)
Title: rotating disk
Domain of the sub-task: whole mesh
Material data
Shear-rate dependence of viscosity
Constant Viscosity: fac = 15
Density = 1.0
Inertia terms: Taken into account
Gravity: gx = 0.0; gy = - 981
Flow Boundary conditions
BS 1: Vn = Vs = W = 0
BS 2: Free surface
Boundary conditions
position of free surface imposed on BS 1 See note 2
BS 3: Vn = Vs = 0 ,
W = 0 + 30 * X + 0 * Y See note 3
BS 4: Vn = Vs = 0,
W = 0 + 30 * X + 0 * Y
BS 5: Axis of symmetry
Global remeshing
1-st local remeshing: defined on SD 2
Method of Spines: See note 4
inlet = intersection with BS 1
outlet = intersection with BS 3
- Numerical parameters
Modify the maximum number of iterations: 10
- Outputs
- Default output : CFD-Post
- System of units for CFD-Post: metric_cm/g/s/A+Celsius
- Probe (optional)
probe 1: prefix: mixer_01 location: (1.0, 14.0)
probe 2: prefix: mixer_02 location: (7.5, 8.5)
probe 3: prefix: mixer_03 location: (8.5, 2.0)

January 2017 8.3 Release 18.0

 Example 8

- Save and Exit

- mesh: mixer.msh
- dat: mixer.dat
- result: mixer.res
- CFD-Post: mixer.cfx.res

As in previous examples, we assume that the user is familiar with the standard features of
Polydata.

Note 1. 2D 1/2 Axisymmetric geometry

The (single) task attributes are as follows:

_ steady-state.
_ - axisymmetric swirling flow problem (three velocity components)

The present example involves an axisymmetric swirling flow, or 2 1/2-D flows. This refers to
a flow which is geometrically described in a 2-D computational domain and which involves
three velocity components. Presently, the velocity field involves three components: one
generated by the rotating device, and the two other ones in the plane of the domain.

Note 2. The free surface is attached on boundary side 1

We must specify a fixed point for the free surface in order to integrate the kinematic equation.
In the present case, we expect that fluid particles located above the rotating disk will move
counter-clockwise; i.e. they will move outwards along the disk and upwards along the vessel
border. It is reasonable to assume that the free surface is attached at its intersection with
boundary 1, which is the initial point of the free surface. In the context of a steady-state flow,
it would have been more rigorous to impose a global condition on mass conservation. Such
an advanced technique is however not yet available in Polyflow.

Note 3. "w" velocity = linear function of coordinates

The easiest way of imposing an angular velocity is to specify that the azimuthal velocity
component "w" linearly increases with the radius r. The only non-vanishing parameter is the
coefficient of the r (x) coordinate.

Note 4. remeshing technique

A remeshing technique is defined on subdomain 2; it is based on the method of spines. The

present flow domain does not involve any inlet and outlet, such as in jet-like flows. Still, the
spines technique can be easily applied. By considering the orientation of the secondary
motions generated by the rotating disk, one can easily select the inlet and the outlet of the
system of spines.

January 2017 8.4 Release 18.0

 Example 8

RUNNING POLYFLOW

Input files for POLYFLOW are mixer.msh and mixer.dat. The file mixer.dat is the standard
input for POLYFLOW. During the execution, POLYFLOW generates a listing file, which is
named by the user. POLYFLOW generates a result file RES for a possible restart.

The calculation is performed within seven iterations, and a convergence criterion of 10-3 has
been achieved. The graphic post-processing file is also generated: mixer.cfx.res

GRAPHIC POST-PROCESSING

Fig. 3. Rotating disk: deformed mesh. Fig. 4. Rotating disk: streamlines.

In Fig. 3, we display the deformed mesh obtained at the end of the calculation. The shape of
the upper free surface actually is resulting from the balance of three forces: the viscous force,
the inertia and the gravity. The streamlines are displayed in Fig. 4 in the plane of the
computational domain, i.e. in a plane passing through the central axis of symmetry. It is
important to remember that these lines are essentially the trace of particle paths in the plane
of the computational domain.

January 2017 8.5 Release 18.0