3 Finger-Thumping Myths of CFD and the Realities Associated with it
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation has always been considered a very difficult subject to handle. But now things are changings quite rapidly. We are seeing lots of changes in the way CFD is being persuaded. Now people are keener on understanding the benefits of CFD ignoring the negative points. But there is still a section in the audience that has lots of doubts regarding CFD. In this article; we will look at some of the myths regarding CFD and the realities associated with it. So let us start off the journey: Myth:CFD is very complex to be used in design process Reality: It has been found that there are many mechanical engineers who are not familiar with CFD tools which was quite an astonishing fact to learn. But now things have changed radically. Since a decade or so there has been a growing impetus amongst mechanical engineers to learn about CFD tools and we are now seeing deep awareness of CFD in them to get adequate results. New technology has enabled the use of CFD software quite easy and we are now seeing that mechanical engineers are using this tool quite easily as the manual tuning feature has been removed totally and now everything is automatic. The only thing that a mechanical engineer needs to know while using CFD tools is adequate knowledge of CAD system and physics of the product. Myth: It takes a lot of time to use CFD in the designing process Reality: We have already discussed that earlier CFD software had to used manually hence it used to take lot of time in meshing process. But since the new version has been launched everything has become automatic and now with the help of 3D CAD data is directly used for fluid flow simulations without the need for translations or copies. The automatic mesher as discussed earlier creates the mesh while maintaining the skewness and aspect ratio hence; there is no need for any manual work. The results are quite quick and design changes can be meshed within minutes. Hence; this is absolutely incorrect to say that it takes lot of time to use CFD in the designing process. Myth: CFD is costlier hence; it cannot be used by mechanical engineers Reality: Earlier version of CFD software used to be very expensive to purchase by mechanical engineers as traditional CFD costs used to cost $ 250,000 to lease per year. But with the latest version of CFD software this is not true. Now this software can be assessed for $ 25,000 at perpetual license with an yearly maintenance fees of 18%. This software requires minimal training and is very user friendly. This software can be assessed using the same CAD environment as the engineers are familiar with hence; it is very useful. Moreover, it can run easily on computer and laptops at a very reasonable cost.
Posted by Mehul Patel – CFD Consultant at HiTech CFD.