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Fluid Flow:
Unsteady Flow
2011 Autodesk
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Objectives
Understand unsteady flow.

Examine the unsteady form of the NavierStokes Equation.

Study the Courant Number for unsteady flow.

Learn from an example: Unsteady flow past a cylinder


Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Unsteady Flow: Part I
Flow conditions such as pressure, velocity or even domain
boundaries change with time.
Relatively complex and time consuming to solve.
It is important to choose a reasonable time step size.
The rate of progress in time depends upon the steepness of the time
gradient.
The smaller the time step, the higher the stability and accuracy.
However, more computational resources are required with smaller steps.
Accuracy Stability
Computational
Resources
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Unsteady Flow: Part II
Time steps can be as large as hours, days or months when studying
effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in Earths atmosphere.
Time steps can be microseconds when studying shock wave
phenomena.
In order to work out an ideal time step, the Courant Number is
generally kept under one (for implicit scheme).
All turbulent flows are essentially unsteady, laminar flows on the
other hand can be steady as well as unsteady.
A good example of unsteady flow is seen in reciprocating devices
such as piston engines and compressors.

Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Unsteady Flow: Part III
Consider the example of a four stroke internal combustion engine,
focusing on the exhaust cycle.

As the piston rises and the valve opens, the flow velocity at the
outlet valve increases, approaches a maximum and then decreases.

This is one of the most common cases of unsteady flow that is solved
by CFD.
It gives an insight into flow that is difficult to get through prototype testing.

This information is used to design the exhaust manifold.

Setting up the right time-step is crucial.
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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NavierStokes Equation
Time derivative takes prominence and the strength of the time
derivative will dictate the size of the time step used for analysis.

The time step refers to the size of the leap in temporal domain when
progressing in time.

The higher the time derivative, the smaller the time step for
numerical analysis.
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Courant Number
Also termed as the CourantFriedrichsLewy condition (CFL
condition), the Courant Number is a useful tool to evaluate the time
step size for unsteady flow cases.
The Courant Number for a 1 dimensional case can be given as:




The Courant Number for a 2 dimensional case can be given as:


1
.

C
x
t u
For a solution to be stable, the Courant number should be less than or equal to 1
Where:
u is the flow speed,
t is the time step
x is the grid size
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Example:
Flow Across a Cylinder: Part I


Flow shows different behavior at
different flow speeds.


A Von Karman Vortex Street (a fascinating phenomenon for fluid
flow enthusiasts) can be observed at 40 < Re < 200,000.
Re = Reynolds Number

A two-part video for this module on unsteady flow covers setting up,
solving and viewing results for a Von Karman Vortex Street.
y
x
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Example:
Flow Across a Cylinder: Part II
Various patterns of flow across a
cylinder are seen at different
Reynolds numbers.

Creeping Flow
Re<10
Attached Vortices
10<Re<40
Von Karman vortex trail
40<Re<200,000
Fully turbulent wake
Re>200,000


Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Summary
Unsteady fluid flows occur in a variety of real life situations.

From starting and stopping phases of engines and wind turbines to
vehicles for transport, unsteady flow patterns are frequently
encountered.

When analyzing flow variation with time, the analysis is conducted
for a series of time steps, which progress in time.

The size of these time steps depends upon the time gradient.

The higher the time gradient, the lower the time step should be.
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
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Summary

The Courant Number helps estimate the proper time step.

If the duration of the time step is very low, the amount of
computation required becomes extremely high.

Thus a compromise must be sought which depends upon the
available time and computer resources as well as required accuracy.
Section 5 Fluid Flow
Module 5: Unsteady Flow
Page 11