Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
1.
Introduction.......................................................................................................1
1.1.
Introduction to CFD .............................................................................................................. 1
1.2.
Main Steps in a Typical CFD Analysis ................................................................................. 2
1.2.1.
Stage 1: Pre-processing Stage Definition of the Problem........................................ 2
1.2.2.
Stage 2: Solution Stage Solving the Governing Equations ...................................... 2
1.2.3.
Stage 3: Post-processing Stage Analysis of Results ............................................... 2
1.3.
Step 0: Preparing to Run MicroFlo....................................................................................... 2
2.
3.
External Analysis............................................................................................28
3.1.
Step 1: CFD Settings ......................................................................................................... 29
3.1.1.
Wind........................................................................................................................... 29
3.1.2.
Turbulence Model...................................................................................................... 30
3.1.3.
Grid Settings .............................................................................................................. 30
3.1.4.
Discretisation ............................................................................................................. 31
3.2.
Step 2: Redefine the Model Grid........................................................................................ 31
3.2.1.
Generate Grid ............................................................................................................ 32
3.2.2.
Add Grid Region ........................................................................................................ 32
3.2.3.
Remove Grid Region ................................................................................................. 33
3.2.4.
Edit Grid Region ........................................................................................................ 33
3.3.
Step 3: Running the Simulation.......................................................................................... 34
3.3.1.
3.3.2.
3.3.3.
3.3.4.
3.3.5.
3.3.6.
4.
6.
Table of Figures
Figure 1: MicroFlo Interface................................................................................................................... 3
Figure 2: CFD Settings Properties Box ................................................................................................. 5
Figure 3: A maximum dimension of 0.2m .............................................................................................. 7
Figure 4: A maximum dimension of 1m ................................................................................................. 8
Figure 5: Selected room plus components ............................................................................................ 9
Figure 6: Surface level of model.......................................................................................................... 10
Figure 7: Selection of Boundary Conditions file generated in ApacheSim / Vista............................... 11
Figure 8: Import of MacroFlo openings and subsequent window opening position ............................ 11
Figure 9: Dialogue box to define boundary conditions ........................................................................ 12
Figure 11: Convective Heat Gains from ApacheSim........................................................................... 16
Figure 12: Place Component Dialogue ............................................................................................... 17
Figure 13: Model with CFD Components added ................................................................................. 19
Figure 14: Model displaying grid scheme............................................................................................ 20
Figure 15: Dialogue box to allow adding a Grid Region...................................................................... 21
Figure 16: Interface to allow editing of a Grid Region. ........................................................................ 22
Figure 17: CFD Grid Statistics............................................................................................................. 23
Figure 18: Simulation Control .............................................................................................................. 23
Figure 19: MicroFlo Simulation Control Monitor .................................................................................. 24
Figure 20: Simulation in Progress...................................................................................................... 25
Figure 21: Simulation Control .............................................................................................................. 26
Figure 22: Grid for External Analysis................................................................................................... 28
Figure 23: CFD Setting Properties Box for External Analysis ............................................................. 29
Figure 24: Grid Settings for External Analysis..................................................................................... 30
Figure 25: Dialogue box to allow adding a Grid Region ...................................................................... 33
Figure 26: Edit Grid Region ................................................................................................................. 33
Figure 27: CFD Grid Statistics............................................................................................................. 34
Figure 28: Simulation Control .............................................................................................................. 35
Figure 29: CFD Monitor for External Analysis ..................................................................................... 35
Figure 30: CFD External Analysis in progress. ................................................................................... 37
Figure 31: Simulation Control .............................................................................................................. 37
Figure 32: The MicroFlo viewer interface ............................................................................................ 41
Figure 33: The comfort conditions dialogue ........................................................................................ 41
Figure 34: The particle tracking dialogue ............................................................................................ 42
Figure 35: Velocity Vector Slice
Figure 36: Velocity Contour Slice ............................................ 43
Figure 37: Temperature Contour Slice ................................................................................................ 43
Figure 38: Filled Velocity Slice ............................................................................................................ 43
Figure 39: Temperature Contour Slice ................................................................................................ 44
Figure 40: Temperature Surface Net ................................................................................................. 44
Figure 41: The orbit create movie........................................................................................................ 45
Figure 42: The timed create movie...................................................................................................... 45
Figure 43: The slice create movie ....................................................................................................... 45
1. Introduction
The purpose of this document is to summarise the principal steps in performing
a MicroFlo CFD simulation.
Momentum
Energy
Mass continuity
Turbulence
Scalar/Mass Fraction
1.2.2. Stage 2:
1.2.3. Stage 3:
The following are the various steps required to perform a MicroFlo CFD
simulation.
Create/Open model for internal air flow, external air flow or both (not
simultaneously). The detail of the model may be different e.g. in
external flow the model may have little detailed information on each
building.
Users can generate MicroFlo boundary conditions for any time from
2
The MicroFlo Interface is shown (Figure 1). MicroFlo is in the CFD Application
group.
2. Internal Analysis
In addition to studying the air flow through the space, it is possible to model the
concentrations of CO2, moisture and CO, and the local mean age of air through the
use of passive scalars.
The CO, CO2 and moisture calculations are performed automatically when the
appropriate boundary condition is set on a supply diffuser (see 2.3) or a source term
is introduced via a fluid component (see 2.5). The Microflo viewer display options will
be set appropriately.
The local mean age of air is only calculated for ventilated rooms only, where there is
an exchange with the outside. This is a measure of the time a parcel of air has been
in the simulation domain, after allowing for advection and diffusion. Regions of high
values indicate places of poor ventilation. The air change effectiveness is derived
from the local mean age according to chapter 27 of the 2005 ASHRAE Handbook
Fundamentals.
There are only two active buttons on the Toolbar that are important when selecting
Internal analysis: Settings and Run. Step 1 is to define CFD settings.
k-e: the most generally accepted and widely used turbulence model (Default). The
k-e model calculates turbulent viscosity for each grid cell throughout the calculation
domain by solving two additional partial differential equations, one for turbulence
kinetic energy and the other for its rate of dissipation.
Constant effective viscosity. This model does not attempt to account for the
transport of turbulence but offers the user a much faster, much more approximate
method of accounting for turbulence than the k-e model. The turbulent viscosity is
assumed constant throughout the calculation domain and it can be defined either
by specifying an absolute value or a multiplier, which is applied to the molecular
laminar viscosity. This specification of turbulent viscosity is at best approximate but
does allow a number of scenarios to be investigated for key features, prior to using
the k-e model.
MicroFlo will calculate heat transfer between solid surfaces and the air (Default).
Users can define the surface heat transfer coefficients.
2.1.6. Discretisation
Three options:
Upwind (Default)
Hybrid
Power Law.
The Create multi-zone space partitions button ( ) must be selected if there are
internal partitions within any room or between selected rooms, otherwise they will be
ignored.
In the example model, the larger room in the ground floor is selected. Having
selected the required room, step down to the Body level of decomposition, either by
double-clicking on the room or clicking on the Move down one level view toolbar
button.
Once at the Surface level, MicroFlo displays the selected rooms plus all room
components:
Component: defining CFD components that exist within the volume of the
room
Grid: to create and modify the CFD finite volume grid
Slice: post-simulation analysis of results. N.B. slice mode has been
superseded by the MicroFlo Viewer and now when slice mode is selected the
Microflo Viewer is launched.
On first moving down to the Body level of decomposition, the default display mode is
Surface, which allows users to define surface boundary conditions. Note that for
multi-zone spaces, it is necessary to define surface boundary conditions separately
for each constituent room (i.e. users will need to go back up to the Model level of
decomposition and move down into each constituent room).
10
11
Solid boundaries can have arbitrary polygonal geometries, but vent boundaries must be
rectangular. Swirl diffusers are circular.
There are two additional boundaries that can be applied to openings and holes to control
the flow of air:
Porous Baffle
Fan
2.3.1. Supply Diffusers and Extracts
These are boundaries where the flow into and out of the simulation domain is specified.
Supply diffusers define the entry of air into the simulation domain. The composition can be
specified, for air from an external source, such as the moisture content and the
concentrations of CO2 and CO as mass fractions. The local mean age of air from an
external source is defined to be zero.
General supply diffusers can be applied to surfaces of arbitrary orientation, but the others
can only be applied to surfaces aligned with the primary Cartesian axes.
Only the flow is required for extracts. They can be placed on surfaces of any orientation.
2.3.1.1. General Supply Diffuser
Specify either the air flow rate (m3/s) or flow velocity (m/s).
Specify the X- and Y-Direction Discharge Angles.
Specify the air composition and temperature for any external sources.
Then draw the supply on the surface.
Specify either the air flow rate (m3/s) or flow velocity (m/s).
Specify the Multiway Discharge Angle which is the angle to the normal and whether
the discharge direction is aligned with the X- or Y- axis when the surface.
Specify the air composition and temperature for any external sources.
Then draw the supply on the surface.
Specify either the air flow rate (m3/s) or flow velocity (m/s).
Specify the Multiway Discharge Angle which is the angle to the normal.
Specify the air supply temperature, and the water vapour content if required.
Then draw the supply on the surface.
13
N
v
r
n
Figure 10 The velocity vector (v) for a position vector (r), zenith () and azimuth()
Specify either the air flow rate (m3/s) or flow velocity (m/s).
Specify the angle to the normal (N) and the azimuth angle between the projection
on the discharge vector (v) and the radial vector on the plane of the boundary (r).
Specify the air composition and temperature for any external sources.
Specify a nominal number of vent elements (2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5) to use.
Then draw the supply on the surface.
Swirl diffusers are generated to second order using the generated mesh and so the
actual number of cells may differ from that specified.
2.3.1.5. Extract
Specify either the air flow rate (m3/s) or flow velocity (m/s).
Then draw the extract on the surface.
2.3.4. Heat
To put heat source patch into the surface, first enter:
14
Repeat as necessary on the same surface and change the properties as required.
Where
is the baffle thickness,
is the pressure jump coefficient and
is the
permeability. The fluids viscosity and density are given by and .
This is essentially a quadratic equation and so the simulation accepts the linear and
quadratic coefficients. The curve is cut off at the stationary point
, if c2 is negative.
The user should:
enter the coefficients c1 and c2,
then draw the boundary over the appropriate hole.
Since the behaviour of the porous boundary is symmetric irrespective of the direction of
flow, it can be drawn on either side of the hole.
2.3.6. Fan
A cubic equation is used to approximate the fan curve for a fan boundary.
The user must specify a target flow rate or target velocity since there can be up to 3
solutions for the velocity for a given pressure step. Any value can in principle be chosen
for the coefficients, but it is strongly recommended that a monotonic decreasing function is
supplied to obtain a well behaved solution. This is one where the gradient is never greater
than zero (
and
15
components exert their influence throughout their volume via source terms.
It is possible to add pre-defined CFD components and to modify existing
components to incorporate boundary conditions. It is necessary to define CFD
components for each constituent room when dealing with a multi-zone space. Select
Component mode from the display mode combo and select the place component
icon on the Toolbar. Figure 12 is then displayed.
17
TEMPERATURE
SOLID
C or F
SOURCE N/A
HEAT
W or Btu/h
W or Btu/h
MOISTURE
N/A
kg/h or lbs/h
CO2 , CO
N/A
kg/h or lbs/h
It should be noted that the values entered for the CO2 or H2O mass fractions are
meaningless and not allowed for solid components as solid boundaries are
impervious to air.
There are a number of pre-defined CFD components:
Radiator
Generic Heat, CO2 and moisture source component
Generic Solid Heat Source
Having selected a component from the drop list, any associated attributes will be
checked in the attribute list box. Attributes may be added or removed by
checking/unchecking the entry. When an entry is selected and checked, the attribute
value will be displayed below the list box (e.g. Surface Temperature in Figure 12).
The scale or actual dimensions of the component can be entered in the dimension
group box. Having defined the properties you can then place the component in the
model. Repeat this process to define other components. Attributes of placed
components can be changed at a later date by selecting the component - adding,
removing or modifying any required attribute and then clicking on the Update
Selected Components button. You will notice that the Place Component dialog has
a similar Room Heat Gain display to the Add Surface Boundary Condition dialog
described under section 2.3.8.
In the example model we have to distribute 2.1 kW of equipment gains via components.
There are seven desks and seven computers at 300W each. These are all solid heat
sources. The result after entering these components is shown below (Figure 13).
18
None no cells
Uniform spaced uniformly using the default grid spacing, which can be
defined under Settings.
Increasing Power Law the x-coordinate location of the faces of each grid cell
within the region increases as the power of the spacing number, which starts
at the beginning of the region. So that if i represents the index number of the
grid line counted from the start of the region, the x-coordinate of the ith face is
calculated using the following relationship:
Xi=(region length)(i/n)power+xs
Decreasing Power Law MicroFlo sets the spacing to decrease as the power
of the spacing number counted from the end of the region:
Xi=(region length)[1-(i/n)power]+xs
Symmetric Power Law the x-coordinate of the ith face is calculated using
both increasing and decreasing power- law relationships that meet at the
middle of the region:
For i <= n/2:
19
Xi=[(region length)/2](2i/n)power+xs
For i >= n/2:
Xi=[(region length)/2][2-(2i/n))power]+xs
With a default grid spacing of 0.1m the following grid scheme is automatically
created:
20
In addition there are four options above the co-ordinate tabs. These are:
2.6.1. Generate Grid
This option will automatically re-generate the grid based upon the current default grid
spacing.
Note all custom grid refinements will be lost when generating the grid.
21
22
Resume will allow users to restart the simulation from the conditions
paused/stopped the simulation.
Save will allow users to save the file for later use.
Delete will remove the file.
Prior to displaying the main simulation control panel, see Figure 19, MicroFlo will
23
24
2.7.5. Isothermal
If this is checked, the temperature/energy equation will be removed from the solution
scheme.
2.7.6. CO2
If this is checked the solution scheme will solve for CO2 concentration.
25
The simulation will automatically stop when the number of Outer Iterations are reached or
where the Termination Residual has been reached for all variables i.e. convergence has
been achieved.
Review the results (see Analysing the Results in the next section) at any stage. Click on
the Pause button, the simulation will be suspended, and then click on the Close button,
users will be able to review the results by selecting the Slice mode from the display mode
combo box.
To restart a simulation, users need to return to the Grid operating mode. Press the Run
icon to see Figure 21:
If any changes made to the model need to be incorporated into the simulation, then the
last option, to delete the existing file and carry out the simulation using a regenerated file,
should be selected.
26
27
3. External Analysis
External air flow is similar, but in some ways simpler, than internal air flow.
To switch from internal analysis to external analysis the MicroFlo window
changes as follows:
28
29
k-e: the most generally accepted and widely used turbulence model (Default).
The k-e model calculates turbulent viscosity for each grid cell throughout the
calculation domain by solving two additional partial differential equations, one
for turbulence kinetic energy and the other for its rate of dissipation.
Constant effective viscosity. This model does not attempt to account for the
transport of turbulence but offers the user a much faster much more
approximate method of accounting for turbulence than the k-e model. The
turbulent viscosity is assumed constant throughout the calculation domain
and it can be defined either by specifying an absolute value or a multiplier,
which is applied to the molecular laminar viscosity. This specification of
turbulent viscosity is at best approximate but does allow a number of
scenarios to be investigated for key features, prior to using the k-e model.
30
MicroFlo will recommend the extensions beyond the model for the external CFD
domain; in the directions upwind, downwind, to the sides of, and above the model.
This is called the Domain Extent. These values can be adjusted by the user
depending on the particular model / flow domain to be run.
The recommended values for these extents are based on the building height (h):
Upwind
5 h
Downwind
15 h
Sides
35 h
Above
57 h
3.1.4. Discretisation
Three options:
Upwind (Default)
Hybrid
Power Law
The finite volume grid used by MicroFlo is created in the form of a number of
regions. Each region can be spaced using the following options:
None no cells
Uniform spaced uniformly using the default grid spacing, which can be
defined under Settings.
Increasing Power Law the x-coordinate location of the faces of each
grid cell within the region increases as the power of the spacing number,
which starts at the beginning of the region. So that if i represents the
index number of the grid line counted from the start of the region, the x31
Reset the default grid spacing in the CFD Settings (Step 2) to recalculate the
default grid. The basic rules for defining the default grid co-ordinates are:
1. A region end point is placed at the co-ordinate of each object in the
model e.g. surface, supply or component. These regions are fixed and
shown as red.
2. Regions are uniformly spaced with grid cells using the default grid
spacing defined in the CFD settings. In this case 1.0 m. A smaller
spacing would generate more grid cells. These spacing grid cells are
displayed in grey.
The browser window to the left hand side of the interface has a number of
features to allow modification to the grid. The principal features of this grid
interface are as follows:
1. X-Grid, Y-Grid and Z-Grid tabs allow users to select the grid scheme in
each of the X, Y and Z dimensions. Only one can be active at a time.
2. Each of these tabs list the end co-ordinate of each grid region in the
dimension plus the spacing type used to space the region.
In addition there are four options above the co-ordinate tabs. These are:
3.2.1. Generate Grid
This option will automatically re-generate the grid based upon the current default grid
spacing.
Note all custom grid refinements will be lost when generating the grid.
33
34
Resume will allow users to restart the simulation from the conditions that
paused/stopped the simulation
Save will allow users to save the file for later use.
Delete will remove the file.
Prior to displaying the main simulation control panel, see below, MicroFlo will
calculate all the grid cells for the model.
The principal features of this simulation control panel shown in Figure 35 are
as follows.
3.3.1. Graphical Display Monitor
This monitor will graphically display the residual errors, at each iteration, for selected
variables and for defined cells. This helps users estimate how long a simulation may
take or identify if the simulation is converging or not. Note that it is assumed that
external air flow is isothermal i.e. uniform temperature.
36
37
The software has found an existing simulation results file and gives four options:
38
3.4.
39
40
Velocity vector
Velocity contour
Temperature contour
Pressure contour
H2O mass fraction contour
CO2 mass fraction contour
Local Mean Age of Air contour
Filled velocity contour
Filled temperature contour
Filled pressure contour
Filled H2O mass fraction contour
Filled CO2 mass fraction contour
Filled Local Mean Age of Air contour
Dry resultant temperature contour
PMV contour
PPD contour
Comfort contour
Filled dry resultant temperature contour
Filled PMV contour
Filled PPD contour
Filled comfort contour
The user can specify the comfort conditions for the comfort display options.
The MicroFlo viewer can display animated particle tracking where the user can
specify the number and length of the particle tracks.
42
Figure
36:
Velocity
Contour
43
Slice
44
Create AVI
Users can create 3 types of avi to make a video of their CFD results. The 3 types are
orbit, timed and slice. It is the users discretion what results are displayed during the
avi creation process.
In the ApacheSim simulation controller, select Output Options and choose the
rooms for surface temperature output. This additional information will provide the
boundary condition information for use in MicroFlo.
47
6. Appendix B: Troubleshooting
6.1. Difficulty in Achieving Converged Solution
Problem
Residuals
increasing
continuously
Cause
False time steps set too high
Remedy
Reduce false time steps for
velocities
and
possibly
temperature
Reduce false time steps for
velocity
Erratic convergence
Mass residual reduces very
slowly
Residuals all reducing steadily
but very slowly
Check initial
Settings
values
under
If the MicroFlo solver experiences numerical difficulties during the calculation run the
following items should be checked and may need to be changed or altered:
48
Neglecting this can result in lost time and unproductive simulations. Note, however,
that increases in residuals and oscillations in the computed variables during the early
stages of a run are not uncommon and should disappear after a few iterations. The
run should therefore be given sufficient time to stabilise before any judgement is
made on its progress.
4. Click OK to confirm geometry change and then select the filename for the
new .cfd file export.
5. Enter the MicroFlo viewer and select Open File. Choose the new .cfd
file and the available grid slices will appear under the X, Y and Z tabs. All
MicroFlo
results
can
now
be
viewed
as
per
normal.
49
8. Appendix D:
simulations.
for
external
The model from the ASHRAE Handbook - Fundamentals [2005], (16.3 Airflow
around Buildings) was used to obtain the wind speed (u) profile with height
(h).
a met
h
u h u met met
hmet
where
met = 270 m is the Layer Thickness for the meteorological site
(assumed to be of type Country)
amet = 0.14 is the Exponent for the meteorological site (assumed to be
of type Country)
hmet = is the measurement height for the meteorological site (assumed
to be 10 m)
a
The values for the atmospheric boundary layer () and the exponent ( a ) are
given in the table below.
Terrain Type
Description
Exponent
Layer
(m)
Country
0.14
270
Suburbs
0.22
370
City
0.33
460
50
Thickness