Integration of Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis in Undergraduate Research Program

Quamrul H. Mazumder Assistant Professor- Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science University of Michigan-Flint 303 East Kearsley Street, Flint, MI 48502 E-mail: qmazumde@umflint.edu Abstract Computational fluid dynamics analysis has long been recognized as complex techniques limited to graduate students in engineering and other disciplines. Recent advancement in computational power and user friendly graphical user interface of CFD code enables undergraduate engineering students to perform CFD analysis of flow behavior providing better understanding of fluid flow phenomenon. Although undergraduate students may have limited knowledge in the underlying theories and equations used by CFD codes to solve flow problems, they are capable of using the code in solving complex problems with supervision by a faculty member. Undergraduate students of mechanical engineering program at University of MichiganFlint performed analysis of multiphase flow to predict the erosion behavior in a bend using a commercially available CFD code Fluent. The result of the analysis shows a trend with close agreement with previous experimental and computational results. Using CFD in undergraduate research can significantly improve the understanding of complex flow phenomenon as students are able to visualize the flow simulation for different input variables. Introduction The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) at University of MichiganFlint offers undergraduate student opportunities to work in faculty sponsored research projects to gain valuable research experience. The challenges associated with this program are the level of preparedness of undergraduate students to make meaningful contribution in research project. Students often spent significant effort and time to perform tasks required in the research activities along with faculty mentor willing to provide guidance for meaningful learning experience. A study was conducted to evaluate the erosion of elbow inner wall due to particulates in multiphase flow. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT was used in the study that required understanding of fluid mechanics and multiphase flow theories. CFD has been limited to graduate students and researchers to conduct experiments and simulations due to the complexities associated with underlying theoretical base and ambiguities associated with output results. Recent advancement of CFD and their ease of use enable undergraduate students to perform simulation of complex flow behavior without getting involved in the underlying complex theories and computational details.

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Background Although CFD code has been successfully used in senior design projects, it is extremely important that students understand the capabilities and limitations of the code so that the computational outputs are accurately interpreted. One of the essential elements in training undergraduate students for use of CFD code is to use a step by step approach without overwhelming them. By using small, manageable steps with clear goals and objectives of the desired outcome, undergraduate students stay focused on learning specific modules of the code required for the research [1]. Undergraduate students at Purdue University developed a sodium borohydroxide PEM fuel cell by analyzing the two-phase fuel separation inside a highly porous metal membrane [2]. Students were able to simulate the metal foam layers from the PEM fuel cell with preliminary results on gas and liquid separation and participated in the catalyst development experiments. The proficient use of CFD code enabled students to develop specialized skills that are well beyond the analytical skills by other undergraduate students in their class. Research-mentoring framework to train undergraduate students in a hands-on setting in the area of digital signal and image processing has been developed at Western Michigan University. This work was intended to encourage undergraduate to pursue research for enhancement of their knowledge, active learning and problem solving skills [3]. These skills developed outside the classroom environment are extremely critical to become successful in the competitive job market. Digital signal and image processing (DSIP) applications such as video game, medical imaging, security and surveillance systems and military intelligence require innovative problem solving skills and superior research abilities that can be developed through undergraduate research experience. Undergraduate students were involved in development of a high performance computing software and algorithm at Pennsylvania State University [4]. This project involves introduction of a new course to teach and prepare undergraduate students in aerospace engineering and computer science so that they can develop knowledge, research skills and abilities to develop the program and perform high quality research. Involving undergraduates in meaningful research projects provides in depth understanding of the topic and valuable research experience as presented by numerous organizations [5-8]. A summer undergraduate research project to characterize ultra wideband propagation and position location in a forest environment provided significant knowledge and skills in electromagnetic and communication [9]. These courses are typically taught as a highly theoretical and mathematical class where most of the students struggle when faced with real-world application of these concepts. The research experience providing supplemental knowledge enabled students to gain a higher level of understanding of the complex theoretical topics. After an initial training period, students were able to design the experiment, measure and analyze data, troubleshoot issues associated with the research. Undergraduate engineering students at Lawrence Technological University evaluated the durability and reliability of fuel cells for automotive applications [10]. A special process was used to hire and direct these students to achieve research objectives through their contributions and accomplishments. Students gained high level of engineering and technical understanding as well as acquired soft skills such as teamwork, time management, and multidisciplinary

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activities. Assessment data obtained from participating student and faculty showed the positive impact of undergraduate research experience in technical knowledge that was not provided during undergraduate coursework. A successful approach was developed at Georgia Institute of Technology to teach research skills to undergraduate students by combining laboratory experience with weekly instructional seminars [11]. The key areas of research skills developed in the seminar were communication, investigation and documentation where students were trained on literature review process, procedure for performing the research task, documenting research data and presenting the data. Assessment of the research skills seminar provided feedback regarding the effectiveness of the seminar that provided essential skills to undergraduate students to conduct high quality research task. Skills developed through the seminar helped students gain valuable experience that will also significantly help them to perform research in graduate school and in their professional jobs. Current Work: Erosion of metal surfaces of fluid handling components by entrained sand particles can risk the safety and reliable operation of the equipments. Solid particle erosion is a micromechanical process where micro-particles removed from metal surfaces due to repeated impact of solid particles in the flow. A number of factors effecting erosion severity of which the particle velocity, particle size and shape factors, impact angle and impacting surface characteristics are proven to be the dominant ones [12]. Several approaches used in experimental and modeling techniques to predict the erosion behavior. Due to a large number of variables contributing erosion phenomenon, feasibility of experimental investigation and associated cost makes it impossible to evaluate the effect of each of those variables. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis has been successfully used to predict erosion behavior in geometries that are highly susceptible to erosion. A novel multi-layer paint erosion indication technique used to generate a three dimensional map of erosion damage, flow and particle visualization, CFD and metallic component erosion validation experiments. Results from the study of typical well head geometries used for oil and gas production are compared with the CFD analysis techniques to study the solid particle erosion process showing good agreement [13]. This paper presents approaches used to train undergraduate students to perform quality research using computational fluid dynamics software, Fluent. Undergraduate students appear to have very little or no idea about research methodology, research plan, analysis and interpretation of data and presentation of the results that are essential research skills. A number of steps used in this training process so that they are not overwhelmed with the information they are required to comprehend. The first step in the process is to have a meeting with the potential undergraduate student who expressed interest in conducting research. In this meeting research faculty mentor discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the student, level of interest towards specific research, amount of available time and effort student is willing to spend on research and level of commitment to accomplish research goals and objectives. Prerequisite knowledge for learning CFD analysis software includes background and knowledge in fluid mechanics, computer programming and analytical skills that the undergraduate students developed through course works in the mechanical engineering programs

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at University of Michigan-Flint. Although CFD is covered very briefly in the introductory fluid mechanics course, training is essential for effectively running the software. The training program includes creating geometry and generation of meshes in GAMBIT, a preprocessor used with Fluent. After the initial training on GAMBIT is provided by the research faculty, students are asked to create geometry and meshes using standard tutorials provided by Fluent, Inc. The GAMBIT training usually takes 2-3 weeks after which students are asked to create geometry and mesh it. Faculty review of the geometry and mesh determines whether student has gained a minimum level of competency in GAMBIT. Further training may be required if the competency level of the student is found to be less than adequate [14] After successful completion of GAMBIT training, students receive preliminary training on Fluent CFD software along with fundamentals of computational methods in fluid mechanics. Demonstration on the fluent graphical user interface (GUI) and analysis menu are conducted by the faculty advisor or another student who is proficient with Fluent. A number of web based training modules obtained from Fluent, Inc [15] are also provided to the student to develop better understanding of CFD techniques, capabilities and limitations. Students are then asked to run a number of Fluent Tutorials that are also available from Fluent, Inc. By running the tutorials, students become familiar with different options available during the analysis. Students are assigned to run analysis with problems similar to the tutorial with different operating conditions such as varying the inlet velocity, inlet temperature, inlet pressure to evaluate the effect on the analysis results. Students are then asked to write a report on these analyses that should include the input data and output results and their interpretations. The above activities take 2-4 weeks after which the student is expected to develop a level of proficiency adequate to run CFD analysis with supervision. During the abovementioned training period, students are also required to develop competencies in reading and writing research papers. Training provided on how to write different sections of a research paper with appropriate information [16] such as literature review, citation and summarizing results. A summary paper written by the students are reviewed by the writing center personnel at University of Michigan in coordination with the faculty advisor. Writing center provides them feedback and grammar, sentence, syntax and citation while the faculty member review the content of the paper. Students receive feedback and update the paper accordingly. This phase of the training may take two weeks after which students acquire the skill to write a research paper.

Figure 1: Sketch of Elbow Geometry for CFD Analysis

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The first step in CFD analysis is to create a geometry that can be done either in GAMBIT or by using other computer aided design (CAD) software. In this research, students were provided with a sketch as shown in Figure 1 to create the geometry in GAMBIT. Figure 1 shows elbow geometry with dimension inlet and outlet flow locations of the geometry. The elbow geometry was modified to 12.5 mm diameter and 125 mm long straight pipe (10x diameter) sections at upstream and downstream of the elbow geometry for fully developed flow analysis was performed using discrete phase model (DPM) available in Fluent. The boundary conditions such as wall, inlet and outlet faces were defined in the geometry by selecting those surfaces. After defining the boundary conditions, it was meshed in GAMBIT using quad mesh with 0.003 spacing between nodes. The meshed elbow geometry with inlet, outlet faces are shown in Figure 2. The meshed geometry was saved as a mesh file in the fluent working directory for analyzing in Fluent.

Figure 2: Three-Dimensional Elbow Geometry and Mesh created in GAMBIT After the geometry is created with boundary conditions and mesh, the next step is to perform the computational analysis using Fluent. The meshed geometry file was opened in Fluent and the grid check was performed to assure that the meshed geometry is ready for analysis. The effect of different size of particles entrained in air and water on erosion of the elbow was analyzed. For this analysis, air and water at 15.24 m/sec inlet velocity was used with different size of solid particles from 50 to 300 microns. The approach used for preparing undergraduate students for performing research is outlines in Figure 3. Typical training time for completion of the training modules is approximately 6-8 weeks after which students are ready for research task. One important and critical issue is the students level of motivation for accomplishment of research goals and objectives and higher level or work ethics. Although an undergraduate student at junior level possesses the aptitude, they often do not realize the effort and time necessary to accomplish research goals. Faculty advisor need to play important role to motivate students so that they can see the long term benefit by developing research skills.

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Figure 3: Steps to Prepare Undergraduate Student for Research in CFD

Results and Discussion: Figure 4 shows the CFD analysis results of a 12.5 mm inside diameter 90 degree elbow for air at 15.24 m/sec velocity and 50 micron solid particles size. The elbow material was carbon steel for the analysis presented in this paper. The solid particles concentration in the fluid was approximately 2% by volume. The magnitude and location of maximum erosion due to impact of entrained solid particle is at the outer wall of the elbow. To evaluate the effect of particle size on erosion, similar analysis was performed for 100, 150, 250 and 350 micron particles sizes. The location and magnitude of maximum erosion for different particle sizes are shown in Figures 2009 ASEE North Central Regional Conference: Paper no. 73 Page 6 of 10

5 and 6. For better visualization of the results, the location of maximum erosion was presented with a close-up view in Figure 4 and 5. Similar analysis was also performed for water as the carrying fluid instead of water. In all the above analysis, the temperature was assumed to be 20 degrees Celsius.

Figure 4: CFD Analysis of Erosion in Elbow for Air and 50 micron Sand

Figure 5: CFD Analysis Results of Elbow Erosion (Air, 15.24m/sec, 100 and 150 microns)

Figure 6: CFD Analysis Results of Elbow Erosion (Air, 15.24m/sec, 250, 300 microns)

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Table 1 shows the magnitude of maximum erosion for air and water with 50, 100, 150, 250, and 300 micron entrained solid particle sizes. The maximum erosion for air at 15.24 m/sec, 50 micron particles was 1.34E-02 kg/m2-sec. This represents the amount of mass loss in kg in one square meter of the elbow surface in one second. The maximum erosion for similar conditions with water as a carrying fluid was 9.75E-3 kg/m2-sec. The ratio of maximum air to water erosion for this condition was 1.38 stating that the rate of erosion in air is 38% more than water. The results are presented in Figure 7 showing that erosion is higher for larger particle size and increases as particle size increase. The erosion rate with air as carrying fluid is consistently higher than those of water for all particle sizes analyzed in this study. Table 1: Comparison of Maximum Erosion of Elbow for Air and Water with Solid Particle
Maximum Erosion- air (Kg/m2-s) 1.34E-02 1.39E-02 1.48E-02 1.60E-02 1.62E-02 Maximum Erosion- water (Kg/m2-s) 9.75E-03 1.13E-02 1.17E-02 1.23E-02 1.23E-02 Air to Water Erosion Ratio 1.38E+00 1.23E+00 1.27E+00 1.30E+00 1.32E+00

Particle Dia. (microns) 50 100 150 250 300

Figure 7: Elbow Erosion for Different Size of Particles Entrained in Air and Water Conclusion and Recommendation: Due to complexities associated with the underlying theories, CFD analysis and interpretation of results are limited to graduate students and researcher. With recent advancement of computational resources, friendly graphical user interfaces, undergraduate students are now capable of performing complex CFD analysis with some initial training and

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supervision by research faculty. CFD analysis of flow behavior provides better understanding of fluid flow phenomenon and application of knowledge gained through classroom instruction and standard engineering curriculum. Undergraduate mechanical engineering students of University of Michigan-Flint performed analysis of multiphase flow to predict the erosion behavior in a 90 degree elbow using a commercially available CFD code Fluent. The result of the analysis for air and water with different solid particle sizes showed trend with close agreement with previous experimental and computational results. Using CFD in undergraduate research can significantly improve the understanding of complex flow phenomenon as students are able to visualize the flow simulation for different input variables. The CFD analysis capability should be extended by including more undergraduate students in similar research initiatives. By incorporating CFD analysis in undergraduate fluid mechanics and heat transfer courses may better prepare students to perform quality research by reducing burden on the research faculty to train these students. CFD instruction module in undergraduate course will have a broader impact on large number of students compared to a few students performing undergraduate research. Acknowledgement: The author like to thank office of research at University of Michigan Flint for providing financial support to this research through an internal Research and Creative Activity Grant of 2008 RCAC Grant no: U022754 and UROP program. Thanks to undergraduate engineering student Preshit Tambey for his assistance and conducting research under UROP program.

References: [1] Finlayson, A. Bruce, On the Proper Use of Computational Fluid Dynamics for Senior Research Projects and Beginning Fluid Mechanics Course, Paper 155f at AIChE, 2002 [2] Peruski, Elizabeth, Miwa, Shuichiro and Revankar, T. Sripad, Purdue University DURI program Research on Two-Phase Fuel Separation in a PEM Fuel Cell, Proceedings of the Spring 2007 ASEE Illinois-Indiana Section Conference, IUPUI, Indianapolis March 30-31, 2007 [3] Abdel-Qader, Ikhlas, An Undergraduate Research Mentoring Model in Digital Signal and Image Processing, International Journal of Electrical Engineering education, Volume 41 no. 2, April 2004 [4] Long, Lyle; Barlow, Jesse, Constable, Louis and Morooney, Kevin, Undergraduate Education and Research in High Performance Computing ASEE Annual meeting, University of Illinois, June 1993 [5] Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for Americas Research Universities, Boyer Commission Report on Education of Undergraduates in the Research University, New York, 1998.

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[6] New Expectation for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology, National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Washington, DC: June 1996. [7] Project 2061, Update American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC: AAAS, 2001-2002. [8] Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, National Research Council, Washington, DC, 2003, p. 116 [9] Anderson, Christopher and Buehrer, Richard An Undergraduate Research Experience: Wireless Propagation and Position Location in a Forest Environment, Paper no: AC 2008-92, ASEE Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 2008 [10] Fletcher, Robert, Utilizing Undergraduate Engineering Student Research Assistants in Fuel Cell Durability and Reliability Testing; Assessing Their Feasibility, Benefits, Value and Contributions, Paper no: AC 2008-1564, ASEE Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 2008 [11] Fairley, Jacqueline; Auerbach, Jill; Prysock, Adrianne; Conrad, Leyla; and May, Gary Teaching Research Skills in Summer Undergraduate Research Programs Paper no: AC 20081905, ASEE Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 2008. [12] Mazumder, Quamrul H. Prediction of Solid Particle Erosive Wear of Elbows in Multiphase Annular Flow- Model Development and Experimental Validations . Journal of Energy Resources and Technology, Volume 130, Issue 2, 023001, June 2008 [13] Praslow, G.I; Stephenson, D.J., Strutt, J.E., and Tetlow, S. Investigation of Solid Particle Erosion in Components of Complex Geometry. Journal of Wear, Volume 233, pages 734-745, 1999. [14] Gambit 2.4 user manual, Fluent, Inc . Lebanon, NH, USA [15] Fluent 6.3 user manual, Fluent, Inc. Lebanon, NH, USA [16] Ashby, Mike; How to Write a Paper Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, 6th Edition, April 2005

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