Hi,

Problem was I couldn't open the tutorials to see how the interfaces had been done. Either way, I managed to get it work - these are my settings for the interface:
side 1: domain - ellipse; cylinder surface
side 2: domain - tunnel; cylinder surface
Type: GGI
Frame Change: Transient Rotor-Stator
Transformation Type: None
Pitch Change: Automatic

Thanks everyone for helping out!

Patrick

Hi everybody!
I'm trying to simulate something like this.

If I have to consider also heat transfer in my model then I have to include the rotating solid domain. Am I right? and how can I define the interfaces?


Claudia

No. You model the solid domain ONLY if you require the temperature distribution in the solid. If you are modelling temperature in the fluid but know the condition of the solid then you do not need to model the solid.

Thank you. I just wanted to be sure.
Unfortuntely I have still problems interfacing the two fluid domains: the stationary one and the rotating one.
I created a fluid/fludid interface between them, with frozen rotor frame change.
Now which boundary condition am I supposed to set in domain interface side 1 and domain interface side2 in terms of wall velocity?
I must specify that the stationary fluid has a traversing velocity as inlet boundary condition.


Claudia

If the interface has no gaps then you do not need to set any boundary condition. Have a look at the tutorials for how to set up rotating machinery simulations.

Sorry but I've already looked at all the tutorials, I'll check again.
I give you a better explanation of the problem:
I'm trying to simulate the Friction Stir Welding process. I'm using an Eulerian Method with the workpiece modeled as a fluid that moves towards a rotanting cylinder (the tool) and the heat generation due to friction between them.

does anybody have any good idea to help me?

Unless you give us some idea of what you are modelling I cannot help you. That is why I did not bother replying. I am not an expert at friction stir welding and I have no idea of how you propose to model it. So please post a drawing of what you propose and a clear description.

Thank you Glenn. I'm sorry. I'll give you a better explanation.

The model consists of a cylindrical steel tool which is rotating, it's plunged into the rectangular workpiece and then moved along the weld line.
There are three ways to analyse this process: eulerian, lagrangian or ALE approach.
I'm using the first one. So a give a translational velocity at inlet of the workpiece and the velocity of the material adjacent to the rotating tool is assumed to be equal to the tool's rotational speed. I think I managed to give this boundary conditions. The problem is when I have to insert the heat flux at the tool/workpiece interface. I've calculated it through analitical expressions assuming sticking conditions.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...magineymn.jpg/

I should obtain in post processing a temperature contour like this but my contours ara concentric and I think they're not influenced by the translational motion:

http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image...000679-gr8.jpg

I understand now. In fact I was part of a team which looked at friction welding of steering racks (for automotive stuff) years ago so I know a little about this process.

What version of CFX are you using? I think convection of heat in solids due to motion of the body was only put in V14. If you are using an earlier version it will not include convection and I suspect that could end up with concentric heat profiles.

Alternately, what causes the asymmetric heat in the images? Isn't there a bit of tool deflection, uneven melting and other stuff resulting in uneven heat generation?

I'm using version 13.So you're telling me that I can't see a wake behind the tool in terms of temperature contour?

In that image they consider heat generated by viscous dissipation.
The asymmetric temperature contour should be caused by the rotating motion; they consider also an angle between the tool and the workpiece.

They might have introduced this in V13. It is simple to check, just put a hot spot in a solid body and move it and see what happens. Do you see a hot wake behidn the tool?

I created a solid cylinder with a heat flux on a boundary interfaced with a fluid. On the tool side I can see the wake. On the fluid side I don't.
Maybe I make always the same mistake.

Apart from the specific boundary conditions do you think I'm modeling the fsw process in the right way?

I managed to run a very simple simulation with a fluid moving toward a cylinder with an heat source on a boundary.

That's the result. I can see the wake.
Now I have to find out what's wrong when I plunge the cylinder in the fluid domain.

:) I don't know what you are trying to learn from this simulation, so cannot answer that.

OK, so that shows that the heat is being convected away in a fluid domain, but what about in a solid domain?

I'm much more interested in temperature in the workpiece. My problem was I could not see the wake in the fluid.

CHT should work fine into the fluid, so a heat wake should form if the conditions are correct.

Yes my problem are definetely the conditions because I'm running more simulations and when I insert heat transfer coefficient on the other surfaces of the workpiece (to simulate the convective heat transfer with air) the wake disappear.

The obvious conclusion is your convective BC is wrong. I suspect it results in almost no heat transfer and therefore no heat wake. Check you HTC and temperatures.