CFD – Importance of Mesh Quality
Posted on July 13, 2021 Computational Fluid Dynamics
For the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of a fluid flow problem, the first step is to discretize the geometric domain into small cells—a procedure known as meshing. The quality and resolution of the mesh is a critical aspect of the CFD analysis, as it determines the accuracy of the simulation.
An architectural firm approached Coanda with a design for which they needed to know if a seawall would protect the yard of a new residence from prevailing winds. The firm had developed a 3D vector file of the residence and surrounding properties and ran a simulation using the basic CFD capabilities of the CAD package they were using.
However, the results did not make any sense, mainly because the grid automatically created by the CAD program did not resolve the boundary layers close to the solid surfaces and was far too coarse to properly predict the flow around the buildings.
Coanda created a 2.5 million cell mesh with sufficient resolution for the turbulence models and was able to demonstrate that adequate wind protection was provided by the seawall.
Stay tuned for future posts in which more details of meshing techniques will be discussed.