LIONTECH ROCKET LABS

Computational Fluid
Dynamics

As Part of the 2012 2013 NASA USLI

Preliminary Design Review

Vincent San Miguel

10/29/2012
 Figure 1

Figure 1: SolidWorks Model

 Figure 2

Inflated Mesh Layer

Figure 2: Meshed Rocket Domain

Table 1

Table 1: ANSYS FLUENT Solver Settings

Figure 3

Switch to Second Order spatial

discretization

Figure 3: Convergence of Residuals

Table 2
Table 2: Comparisons of ANSYS FLUENT and OpenRocket

Figure 4 Figure 5

Figure 4: Contours of Dynamic Pressure

Figure 5: Pathlines Colored by Velocity Magnitude
Appendix 10: Computational Fluid Dynamics using ANSYS FLUENT

SolidWorks Model

Figure 6: SolidWorks Side View

Figure 7: SolidWorks Rear View

Meshing
Meshing was done in ANSYS Mesher using ANSYS ICEM meshing techniques.

Table 3: Mesh Information

Nodes 153,071
Elements 754,896

Figure 8: Meshed Solution Domain

Figure 9: Meshed Rocket Domain

Figure 11: Close Up of Meshed Aft End

Figure 12: Close Up of Meshed Rocket Domain

Turbulence Model
Fluid dynamics is governed by the principles of the conservation laws, expressed using the
Reynolds Transport Theorem.

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

( ) ( )

These three laws provide five equations (one each for continuity and energy, three for Navier-Stokes)
and three variables (x-velocity, y-velocity, z-velocity, and continuity) that govern fluid dynamics.
However, as there are more unknown variables than equations to solve them, the equation set is not
closed and cannot be solved in the present form. In the case of turbulent flow, turbulent models that
follow the Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) approach sufficiently close the equation set and
allow the modeler to iterate towards a solution.

Realizable k-epsilon Turbulence Model

The k-epsilon model is one of the most common turbulence models and has been used as the
industry standard for some time. It is a two-equation model that represents the turbulent properties of
flow and introduces two transport variables:

The modeler now has 5 equations and 5 variables, and the solution set is closed.

For the ANSYS FLUENT simulation, a pressure-based Navier-Stokes realizable k-epsilon model
was utilized. A realizable k-epsilon model differs from the standard k-epsilon model in that it satisfies
certain mathematical constraints on the Reynolds stresses, consistent with the physics of turbulent
flows. It also more accurately predicts the spreading rate of both planar and rounded jets, as well as
handle problems involving boundary layers under strong adverse pressure gradients (e.g. the nosecone
tip), flow separation (which occurs somewhere along the airframe), and recirculation (e.g. at the aft end
of the rocket). For the interested reader, the complete transport equations can be found in the ANSYS
FLUENT User Manual at
(http://hpce.iitm.ac.in/website/Manuals/Fluent_6.3/fluent6.3/help/html/ug/node480.htm).
Boundary and Initial Conditions
The solution domain consisted of a rectangular prism with an inlet, an outlet, a plane of
symmetry, and three farfield faces modeled as symmetry faces to remove the need to calculate wall
effects.

Table 4: Inlet Conditions

Velocity 100 m/s (normal to plane)

Turbulent Intensity 1%
Turbulent Viscosity Ratio 10

Table 5: Outlet Conditions

Gauge Pressure 0 Pa
Backflow Turbulent Intensity 5%
Backflow Turbulent Viscosity Ratio 10

Table 6: Wall Boundary Conditions

Motion Stationary
Shear Condition No Slip
Spatial Discretization Solution Methods
This table represents the solution methods used when running the solver. First Order Upwind
discretization methods were used for the first 100 iterations; following that, a Second Order Upwind
scheme was implemented for improved accuracy.

Table 7: ANSYS FLUENT Solution Methods

Pressure-Velocity Coupling Scheme Coupled

Gradient Least Squares Cell Based
Pressure Standard
Momentum Second Order Upwind
Turbulent Kinetic Energy Second Order Upwind
Turbulent Dissipation Rate Second Order Upwind

Table 8: ANSYS FLUENT Solution Controls

Figure 13: Flow Courant Number 50

Momentum Explicit Relaxation Factor 0.25
Pressure Explicit Relaxation Factor 0.25

The Under-Relaxation Factors for density, body forces, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent
dissipation rate, and turbulent viscosity were all kept at a default value of 1.
Monitors
To ensure convergence, values for residuals of the x velocity, y velocity, z velocity, coefficient of
drag, and coefficient of lift were monitored.

Figure 14: Residuals Monitor

Figure 15: Coefficient of Drag Monitor

Figure 16: Coefficient of Lift Monitor