Turbulent Flow Past a Backwards

Facing Step

15.0 Release

Turbulence Modeling Using

ANSYS Fluent
© 2014 ANSYS, Inc. April 23, 2014 1 Release 15.0
I Introduction
Workshop Description:
Flow over a backwards facing step is a standard test case for turbulence models. We
will see how to set up and solve turbulent flow problems in Fluent and learn to use
CFD-Post and Workbench to compare the results from different turbulence models
with each other and with experimental data. We will also examine how the results
are affected by boundary conditions
Learning Aims:
The workshop covers many aspects of turbulent flow modeling in Fluent including
specifying models and near wall treatments, checking y+, selecting boundary
conditions, comparison with experimental results and comparison of results obtained
with different turbulence models
Learning Objectives:
To understand how to set up and solve turbulent flows in Fluent using different
models and near wall treatments
To understand how to post process y+ in Fluent
To understand the importance of realistic boundary conditions
To understand how to compare results with data using CFD-Post and easily perform
results comparisons using Workbench

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 Simulation to be performed
• The task is to simulate flow over a backwards facing step
• The simulation is being performed to determine:
– How the results from different turbulence models compare with one another and with
experimental results
– Can the models predict the reattachment point downstream of the step??

Flow separates at the step

and reattaches some distance
downstream

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 Loading the mesh and starting Fluent

• Start a new workbench session.

• Drag a Fluent component system
onto the project
• Right-click on ‘Setup’, and select
Import Fluent Case, and Browse

• In the pop-up window, change the

filter (bottom-right) from case to
“Fluent Mesh File”
• Browse to and select the file
“driver.msh.gz”

• Click OK on the Fluent Launcher

screen

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 Display Mesh
• Display the mesh and then zoom in on the mesh near the bottom wall
downstream of the step

It is intended for the

simulation to resolve the
viscous sublayer with the
mesh (no wall functions),
which requires a very fine
near wall mesh to get y+ ≈ 1.
The distance corresponding Later in the workshop, we will
to y+ = 1 can be estimated as evaluate whether this has
described in Lecture 7. been achieved.

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 Activate Models
• Open the Viscous Models panel and select the Realizable k-
epsilon with Enhanced Wall Treatment

Later on we will calculate the

flow with the SST k-omega
model and compare results.

When using any k-epsilon

model, the Enhanced Wall
Treatment is the only viscous
sublayer resolving near wall
treatment.

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 Define Materials

• Enter values for the density and viscosity of air as shown below

These values will allow us to

match the Reynolds number
reported in the experiment.

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 Boundary Conditions
• The inlet boundary conditions are shown below

To begin with, uniform

profiles will be used. In a
later step, the flow will be
recomputed using fully
developed flow profiles for
velocity and turbulence at the
inlet.

• The default backflow settings for the outlet are sufficient for this
problem, so no entries are required for the pressure outlet
boundary
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 Solution Methods
• In the Solution Methods panel, change the option for 'Pressure-
Velocity Coupling' from SIMPLE to Coupled and select Pseudo
Transient near the bottom of the panel
• Change pressure to PRESTO!

In many cases, the solution will converge

in fewer iterations using Coupled plus the
Pseudo Transient method.

PRESTO! is often a better choice for

structured hexahedral or quadrilateral
meshes such as has been created for this
problem.

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 Monitors
• In ‘Monitors’, press ‘Create...’ for a Surface Monitor
– Enter ‘wall-shear-mon’ for the name
– Check the box to Plot and set the window number to 2
– Choose Area-Weighted Average for the report type
– Choose Wall Shear Stress for the field variable
– Select bottom_wall as the surface

The Wall Shear Stress on the wall downstream of the step is the
quantity of interest in this simulation, so it is natural to track it with a
solution monitor.

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 Monitors
• Create another surface monitor
– Enter ‘turb-out-mon’ for the name
– Check the box next to plot and immediately below that set Window to 3
– Select Area-Weighted Average for the report type
– Select Turbulent Viscosity Ratio for the field variable
– Select outlet_p in the list of surfaces

The solution for turbulence model variables can

change very slowly in regions far downstream from
inlets. Because of this they are often good to use
for solution monitors. Turbulent viscosity ratio is
selected here because it includes contributions
from both the turbulent kinetic energy and the
turbulent dissipation rate, meaning both fields have
to converge before the monitor stops changing.

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 Calculate the Solution
• Initialize the solution using hybrid initialization, save the project,
and then go to the Run Calculation panel and ask for 100
iterations

• The residuals converge in a small number of iterations, but the

monitors do not definitively indicate that the solution has
stopped changing
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 Continue the Calculation
• Set the continuity residual criterion to 1e-6
There is no significance to 1e-6. It is just desired to select a low
value so the iterations do not stop prematurely. Additional
iterations will be performed and convergence will be judged by
whether the surface moonitors are still changing.

• Use the TUI command /solve/monitors/surface/clear-data to

clear the solution monitors This step is not strictly necessary but it helps
to make the y-axis range in the monitor plots
tighter, thus making it easier to see changes
in the monitored variable.

• In the Run Calculation panel, request 100 more iterations

– Choose "Use settings for current calculation only"

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 Judging Convergence
• After an additional 100 iterations, neither surface monitor is
changing and the residuals have all reached very low levels
– Together, these conditions indicate the solution is converged

• Save the project before moving on

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 Quick Post-Processing: Wall Yplus
• Plot y+ along the bottom wall
Wall Yplus is near the bottom of the list under
turbulence variables. For 2D problems such
as this, xy plots are an ideal way to check the
y+ distribution. Node values have been
unselected because although y+ is calculated
at wall faces, its value is stored for post-
processing in the wall adjacent cells.
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These values are a little bit higher than ideal.
We will see later how it affects comparison
with experiment, and it would be highly
recommended to do a mesh sensitivity study
if this were an actual study as opposed to a
workshop exercise.
Post-Processing Summary
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 Quick Post-Processing: Vectors
• Display velocity vectors and zoom in on the step region

The vectors show the recirculation zone behind

the step and the subsequent reattachment of the
flow. Some adjustment of the Scale and Skip
setting in the panel is probably required for
optimal viewing of the vectors.

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 Change the turbulence model
• Close Fluent, return to Workbench and save the
project
• In the project schematic, right click on the Fluent
cell and rename it as RKE
• Right click again on the Fluent cell and select
Duplicate
• Rename the duplicate cell to SST and Edit the
setup block in this cell

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 Select SST Model
• In the Viscous Models panel, select the SST model as shown

In Fluent, the turbulence models that use

omega do not require the selection of a near
wall treatment. This is because the near wall
treatment that is used is a y+ insensitive
method that automatically behaves either as
a viscous sublayer resolving treatment or as a
wall function depending on how fine or
coarse the near wall mesh is.

• Repeat the steps performed in Slides 12, 13 and 14

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 SST: Convergence and Post-processing
• Convergence is very good
both for this problem with
both SST and Realizable k-
epsilon
• Yplus is qualitatively similar.
Next we will use CFD Post to
make a more quantitative
comparison
• Save the project, exit Fluent
and return to the Project
Schematic

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 Post-Processing in CFD-Post
• From 'Component Systems' drag a
'Results' object into the Project
Schematic

• Left click on the Solution cell for

RKE (A3) and without releasing the
mouse, drag the pointer on top of
Results (C2)

• Repeat the previous step with the

Solution cell for SST (B3). The
Project Schematic should appear as
to the right.
• Double click on Results to start CFD-
Post
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 Velocity Vectors
• Click on Insert and choose Vector

• Select 'symmetry 1' for the Use these icons to

location and change the synchronize views and the
reduction factor to 2 visibility of objects. For 2D models, CFD-Post extrudes
the geometry a small distance in the
Changing the reduction factor to 2 means that 3rd direction. The resulting symmetry
only every other vector will be displayed, which planes are used for results display.
makes the vectors easier to see.

• Click on the Symbol tab and

enter a value of 0.5 for Symbol
Size (not shown)
• Zoom in on the region just
behind the step
The velocity fields here are very similar. In
the next step a more quantitative comparison
will be made using the shear stress on the
wall downstream of the step.

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 Expressions
• Comparisons of results are often made using geometrical
coordinates normalized by the step height. This can be done
with the help of variables and expressions
• Click the Expressions tab, then right click and select 'New'
• Name the expression 'step height' and define the expression
as shown (below)

It is also possible to type 0.0127 [m] in the

definition field. Defining the expression as Right click in the details field for context
shown here will allow it to update menus to add functions and locations
automatically if the step height were to be without having to type them manually.
changed, for instance in a parametric study.

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 Expressions

• Create a second expression for the dimensionless x-coordinate

named 'xh expression' as shown below

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 Variables
• In order to use the previous expression to plot the
wall shear stress, a variable needs to be created
• Click the Variables tab, right click anywhere in the
white area, select 'New' and create a variable
named 'Xh'

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 Polyline

• A polyline defined by the intersection of the symmetry boundary

and the bottom wall is required in order to plot the wall shear
stress

There is more than one way to define this

polyline, but the Boundary Intersection
method is probably the most convenient in
this case and its use ensures the polyline
definition would remain consistent if changes
were made upstream in the project workflow.

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 Create a Chart
• Select Insert > Chart
• In the Details panel, select the polyline created in the previous
step in the Data Series tab
• Select Xh for the X Axis variable and Wall Shear X for the Y Axis

'Wall Shear X' is used instead of 'Wall Shear'

because the location where it changes sign
identifies the flow reattachment point.

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 Wall Shear Stress Comparison
• The resulting plot appears in the Chart Viewer

The reattachment point is identified where the shear stress changes

sign.

Also the positive values very close to the step indicate the presence
of a small secondary recirculation zone. This can also be seen by
zooming in on the vector plot and increasing the symbol size.

The size and strength of the recirculation zone

predicted by either model is remarkably
similar. However, because of the proximity of
the inlet to the step, the use of uniform inlet
profiles is questionable. That will be explored
later on in the workshop.

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 Add External Data to Chart
• Right click in the data field in the chart
details and select "New"
• Name the new series "Exp.", select File,
navigate to the workshop files directory,
change "Files of type" to "All Files (*)"
and select x-wall-shear-ds.xy

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 Plot External Data
• Select the Line Display tab in the chart details and change the
display options as shown below
• The data appears on the chart as seen to the right

The external data is from the experiment of

Driver and Seegmiller. Agreement between
the CFD results and the data is not very good,
however the uniform inlet boundary
conditions do not correspond to those seen
experimentally in the same location.

In the following steps, more accurate, non-

uniform velocity and turbulence profiles will
be applied at the inlet in order to mimic the
experimental conditions.

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 Changing the Inlet Boundary Condition

• Right click on the RKE cell in the Project Schematic

and select Duplicate
• Name the newly created Fluent object "RKE Profile,
right click on the Setup cell and select "Edit"

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 Adding Profiles
• Navigate to Define > Profiles, select Read…
in the Profiles panel, navigate to the
workshop files directory and select the file
"rke-prof.prof"

• Open the boundary conditions panel for

the Velocity Inlet and use the drop down
arrows apply the profiles as shown to the
right
• Be sure to change the velocity specification
method to “Components” and the turbulence
specification method to "K and Epsilon"
The non-uniform profiles were produced by running an
auxiliary calculation of the wind tunnel section upstream
of the inlet to generate a profile with the same
boundary layer thickness as the experiment.

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 Running the Calculation

• Initialize the flow with hybrid initialization and perform the

calculation exactly as in Slides 12-14
• Good convergence behavior also with the new boundary
conditions

Note that by creating a

duplicate of the original
Fluent object, it was not
necessary to redefine any
of the solution monitors,
material properties or
solver settings. Only the
boundary conditions
needed to be changed.

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 Check the Inlet Velocity Profile

• Use the XY Plot panel to view the inlet profile

– Click on Axes and enable display of grid lines for both the X- and the Y-axis

After selecting X in the upper left of

Remember to change the Plot the panel, check Major Rules and
direction to (0,1). Minor Rules, then click Apply.
Repeat for the Y axis and close the
panel

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 Inlet Velocity Profile

• The profile is from a developing boundary layer with freestream

velocity = 44.2 m/s and a boundary layer thickness just below 2 cm,
as measured in the experiment

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 Run SST with Profile Boundary Conditions

• In the Project Schematic, create a duplicate

of the SST Fluent object and name it SST
Profile
• Click Edit in the Setup cell of the new object,
go to Define > Profiles and read the profile
"sst-prof.prof"
• Apply the profile at the inlet boundary
• Initialize the solution with Hybrid
Initialization and run the calculation using
the same steps described in Slides 12-14

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 Duplicating the Results Object
• Right click on the Results object in the Project Schematic and
select Duplicate

• The original calculations with uniform boundary conditions are

connected to this cell. Right click on each of the connections and
select Delete

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 Examining the New Results
• Left click on the Solution cell
for RKE Profile(F3) and without
releasing the mouse, drag the
pointer on top of Results with
Profiles (D2)
• Repeat with SST Profile so that
the Project Schematic appears
as shown
• The labeling of the
individual blocks A,B,C,D,…
may be different in your
case
• Double click on Results with
Profiles to launch CFD-Post

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 Comparing Results with Profile BCs
• Double click on Chart 1 in the Outline Tree to open
the chart
• The chart is automatically updated with the new
results

Because the original

results cell was
duplicated, none of the Discussion:
setup steps such as Use of realistic, non-uniform velocity and turbulence
defining variables and profiles at the inlet greatly improves the agreement
expressions and loading between the results and the experiment.
the experimental data
needed to be repeated These results do not represent a formal validation study. In
particular the issue of mesh independence (covered in
Lecture 10) has not been addressed here. The intent of
Very good agreement for the this workshop is to show how to run turbulent flow
reattachment point calculations, the importance of boundary conditions and
how Workbench can be used to compare results from
different turbulence models

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 Wrap-up
This workshop has shown the steps for setting up and solving a turbulent flow:
- Selecting the model and if necessary the near wall treatment
- Checking wall y+
- Running a simulation and using both residuals and solution monitors to
determine convergence
- Post-processing the results, both in Fluent and CFD-Post

When solving a particular type of flow for the first time, it can be useful to
compare results from different turbulence models and compare with data if
available. Important to keep in mind are the following:
- What information are you looking for
- What do you know about the inlet conditions

In this case we were interested in the reattachment point and the use of suitable
boundary conditions was important in this respect.

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 Optional Further work
• There are many ways the simulation in this tutorial could be extended
• Mesh independence
– check that results do not depend on mesh
– Use Adapt > Region to adapt all the cells in the mesh and re-run the calculation

• Turbulence profile effects

– To see whether the use of detailed turbulence profiles matters, run the profile cases
using the x-velocity profile, but intensity and hydraulic diameter for turbulence, as in
Slide 8

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