KAKATIYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE, WARANGAL

(An Autonomous Institute under Kakatiya University)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS-U18ME802C

Classroom Discussion Topic
W1-L2-CDT1
Topic:History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid
Dynamics

By
Dr. E. Ramesh
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,KITSW
Lecture Outcomes (LOs)
After completion of this lecture, Student will be able to..
• LO1: History of computational fluid dynamics
• LO2: Philosophy of computational fluid dynamics

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid

Dynamics
History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

• Fluid (gas or liquid ) flows are governed by partial differential

equations which represent conservation laws for the mass,
momentum and energy.
• CFD is art of replacing such PDE systems by a set of algebraic
equations which can solved using digital computers.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

Fluid flow:
Fluid flow encountered in everyday life include
• Meteorological phenomena
• Environmental hazards

• Heating, ventilation and air conditioning of building, cars etc

• Combustion in automobile engines and other propulsion systems
• Interaction of various objects with the surroundings air/water

• Complex flows in furnace

• Process in human body (blood flow, breathing, drinking..)
• And so on and so forth…….

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid

Dynamics
History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
INTRODUCTION
Analysis of physical problems in any area of engineering and science
involves a multi- pronged approach:
• Idealized physical model: experiments on scale models of the problem

• Mathematical model: Theoretical analysis (analytical solution) /

• approximate numerical solution.
Physical
Problem

Experimental Mathematical
Analysis Modeling
W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
Both physical experiments and analytical/numerical simulations complement each other. Both the
approaches have their own limitations, advantages and disadvantages:
• Physical experiments
o These are usually very time consuming and expensive to set up
o There are limitations on extrapolation of the results obtained on
• scaled model of a problem to the actual prototype.
o BUT the experimentally observed data provides the closest possible
• approximation of the physical reality within the limits of experimental errors.
• Numerical Simulation
o Mathematical modeling is based on a set of assumptions with regard to the variation of the problem
variables, constitutive relations and material properties.
o Numerical simulation process introduces additional approximation errors
• in the solution. Hence, results of any analytical or numerical study must be carefully validated against
physical experiments to establish their practical usefulness.
• However, once validated, a numerical simulation can be easily performed on the full scale prototype, and
thereby eliminate the need Of extrapolation.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
WHAT IS CFD?
• CFD deals with approximate numerical solution of governing equations based on the
fundamental conservation laws of physics, namely mass, momentum and energy
conservation. The CFD solution involves Conversion of the governing equations for a
continuum medium into a set of discrete algebraic equations using a process called
discretization.

• Solution of the discrete equations can using a high speed digital computer to obtain the
numerical solution to desired level of accuracy.

CFD is essentially a branch of continuum mechanics which deals with

numerical simulation of fluid flow and heat transfer problems.

Note that although word heat transfer is missing from CFD, it is an intrinsic part of this discipline.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
Why use CFD?
Numerical simulations of fluid flow will enable:
• Architects
• Designers of vehicles
• Chemical engineers

• Petroleum engineers
• Surgeons
• Meteorologists

• Safety experts
• Military organizations
• CFD practitioners

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Although development of some of the techniques used in CFD dates back to pre-digital era, history of
CFD is intrinsically linked to the advent of the digital computers in late 1950s. It is highly debatable as to
who did the first CFD simulation of a flow problem. Hence, instead of looking at chronology of the
history of CFD, we focus on the evolution of CFD for motivational and application perspective.
Early Applications
❖The early beginning of the CFD can be traced to numerical simulations for aerospace applications at
Douglas, Boeing, NASA, and Lockheed in 1960s based on panel methods.
❖The codes based on panel methods still play an important role in the computer aided design of
modern day aircraft.
❖Meteorologists were the next early users of CFD for weather forecasting applications.
❖Large eddy simulation models for atmospheric turbulent flows appeared in early 1970s.
Algorithmic Front
❖1960s: Development of Particle-In-Cell (PIC), Marker-and-Cell (MAC) and Vorticity-
Stream function methods at NASA.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
HISTORY OF CFD
❖ Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has always had a fascination with fluids; whether it is the flow of water in
rivers, the wind and weather in our atmosphere, the smelting of metals, powerful ocean currents or the flow of
blood around our bodies.
❖ Archimedes initiated the fields of static mechanics, hydrostatics, and determined how to measure densities and
volumes of objects. The focus at the time was on waterworks.
❖ Newton tried to quantify and predict fluid flow phenomena through his elementary Newtonian physical
equations. His contributions to fluid mechanics included his second law: F = m.a.
❖ In the 18th and 19th centuries, significant work was done to mathematically describe the motion of fluids. Daniel
Bernoulli (1700-1782) derived Bernoulli's famous equation, and Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) proposed the Euler
equations, which describe the conservation of momentum for an inviscid fluid, and conservation of mass.
❖ Two other very important contributors to the field of fluid flow emerged in the 19th century; the Frenchman,
Claude Louis Marie Henry Navier (1785-1836) and the Irishman, George Gabriel Stokes (1819-1903) who
introduced viscous transport into the Euler equations, which resulted in the now famous Navier-Stokes equation.
These forms of the differential mathematical equations that they proposed nearly 200 years ago are the basis of the
modern day computational fluid dynamics (CFD) industry.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
• In the early 20th Century, much work was done on refining theories of boundary layers and turbulence in fluid flow. Ludwig
Prandtl (1875-1953) proposed a boundary layer theory, the mixing length concept, compressible flows, the Prandtl number, and
much more that we take for granted today. Theodore von Karman (1881-1963) analyzed what is now known as the von
Karman vortex street.
• It is debatable as to who did the earliest CFD calculations (in a modern sense) although Lewis Fry Richardson in England (1881-
1953) developed the first numerical weather prediction system when he divided physical space into grid cells and used the
finite difference approximations.
• His own attempt to calculate weather for a single eight-hour period took six weeks of real time and ended in failure! His
model's enormous calculation requirements led Richardson to propose a solution he called the "forecast-factory". The "factory"
would have involved filling a vast stadium with 64,000 people. Each one, armed with a mechanical calculator, would perform
part of the flow calculation.
• Kawaguti in Japan obtained a similar solution for flow around a cylinder in 1953 by using a mechanical desk calculator,
working 20 hours per week for 18 months!
• During the 1960s, the theoretical division of NASA at Los Alamos in the U.S. contributed many numerical methods that are still in use in CFD
today, such as the following methods: Particle-In-Cell (PIC), Marker-and-Cell (MAC), Vorticity-Stream function methods, Arbitrary Lagrangian-
Eulerian (ALE) methods, and the ubiquitous k -𝜀 turbulence model.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
• In the 1970s, a group working under D. Brian Spalding, at Imperial College, London, developed Parabolic flow
codes (GENMIX), Vorticity-Stream function based codes, the SIMPLE algorithm and the TEACH code, as well
as the form of the k - 𝜀equations that are used today (Spalding & Launder, 1972).
• It was in the early 1980s that commercial CFD codes came into the open market place in a big way. The use of
commercial CFD software started to become accepted by major companies around the world. Commercial CFD
software is therefore based on sets of very complex non-linear mathematical expressions that define the
fundamental equations of fluid flow, heat and materials transport.
• These equations are solved iteratively using complex computer algorithms embedded within CFD software. The
net effect of such software is to allow the user to computationally model any flow field provided the geometry of
the object being modeled is known, the physics and chemistry are identified, and some initial flow conditions are
prescribed. Outputs from CFD software can be viewed graphically in color plots of velocity vectors, contours of
pressure, lines of constant flow field properties, or as "hard" numerical data and X-Y plots.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics
Philosophy of CFD:
• CFD is by and large the method of replacing the governing transport equations with algebraic equations and
obtaining a final numerical description of the phenomena in space and time domain.
• Irrespective of the nature of the problem, CFD involves the manipulation and solution of numbers, leaving behind
an end product, which is also a collection of numbers.
• This is contrast to the symbolic expression of closed form analytical solution. The final objective of most
engineering investigations is to obtain a quantitative description of the problem.
• In this regard, numerical simulation techniques provide readily acceptable and often the most descriptive form of
solutions to a variety of transport problems. Numerical simulation of practical problems generally requires the
repetitive manipulation of millions of numbers - a task that is feasible only with the aid of a computer.
• Advances in simulation techniques and their applications to problems of greater complexity and enormity, are
intimately related to the advancement in computer technology. This is exemplified by the fact that one of the
strongest forces driving the development of new supercomputers is the increasing demand for speed and storage
required by the numerical simulation of the flow and heat transfer problems.

W2-L1-CDT1 : History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

 Summary
History and Philosophy of Computational Fluid Dynamics

• INTRODUCTION
• WHAT IS CFD?
• Why use CFD?
• HISTORY OF CFD
• Philosophy of CFD
 Lecture Outcome Revisited

Having completed the discussion on History and Philosophy of Computational

Fluid Dynamics, now, students should be able to…

LO1: History of computational fluid dynamics

LO2: Philosophy of computational fluid dynamics
 Further Reading
Textbook:
Anderson J.D. (Jr), Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Basics with
Applications, New Delhi: McGraw-Hill Education Pvt. Ltd., India, 2012.

• Reading:
• Chapter1
• Topics-1.1

Reference Book:
Hoffmann K. A, Chiang S. T., Computational Fluid Dynamics, 4th edn., USA:
Engineering Education System, 2000.