Laminar Pipe Flow

Created using ANSYS 16.2

Learning Goals

In this module, you'll learn to:

• Develop the numerical solution to a laminar pipe flow problem in ANSYS Fluent
• Verify the numerical results from ANSYS Fluent
• Connect the ANSYS steps to concepts covered in the Computational Fluid Dynamics section

Problem Specification

This module is drawn from MAE 4230/5230 Intermediate Fluid Dynamics at Cornell University.

Consider fluid flowing through a circular pipe of constant radius as illustrated below. The figure is not to scale. The pipe diameter D = 0.2 m and length L = 3 m Consider the inlet velocity to be constant over the cross-section and equal to 1 m/s. The pressure at the pipe outlet is 1 atm. Take density ρ = 1 kg/ m 3 and coefficient of viscosity µ = 2 x 10 -3 kg/(m*s). These parameters have been chosen to get a desired Reynolds number of 100 and don't correspond to any real fluid. 

We'll solve this problem numerically using ANSYS Fluent. We'll look at the following results:

• Velocity vectors

• Velocity magnitude contours 

• Pressure contours 

• Velocity profile at the outlet

We'll verify the results by following a systematic process which includes comparing the results with the analytical solution in the full-developed region. 

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