Pressure coefficient larger than 1

albatross · May 3, 2012, 10:31

Hi everyone:
I am simulating a problem with an airfoil flying above calm water surface. The angle of attack is 6 degrees and the clearance between the trailling edge and the calm water surface is 0.01 chord length(which is 10m). The freestream velocity is 30m/s. The flow is regarded as compressible and unsteady. The flow time now is about 2s, but I notice that the pressure coefficient on the pressure side of the airfoil is at some position slightly larger than 1, though the magnitude is gruadually decreasing. Is this possible, or is there something wrong with my case?
Thanks in advance

LuckyTran · May 3, 2012, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by albatross

Is this possible, or is there something wrong with my case?

For incompressible flow, pressure coefficients of 1 corresponds to the stagnation pressure. For compressible flows, the pressure coefficient can be greater than 1. If you calculate the pressure coefficient and it turns out to be larger than 1, that is an indicator that the flow is compressible (but you already knew that).

albatross · May 3, 2012, 12:23

Thank you very much for your reply! One more question, for incompressible flow, can pressure coefficient be smaller than 1 at the stagnation point? If possible, where is the lost energy?

LuckyTran · May 3, 2012, 12:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by albatross

Thank you very much for your reply! One more question, for incompressible flow, can pressure coefficient be smaller than 1 at the stagnation point? If possible, where is the lost energy?

For idealized flow with no losses (inviscid flows) the pressure coefficient at stagnation must be exactly 1. For real and practical flows, it will be slightly less owing to dissipation/viscous losses incurred before the stagnation point was reached. The effect of the moving airfoil is felt upstream of it, because the flow is subsonic and the disturbance can propagate upstream.

albatross · May 4, 2012, 06:39

It's nice talking with you, LuckyTran! Thanks again!

star · May 17, 2014, 00:02

Hi. I know its very old post but i want to ask if for incompressible flow, if pressure coefficient at stagnation point is much lower than 1 (0.7 in my case), will it effect results e.g. lift coefficient, drag coefficient etc.?

albatross · May 17, 2014, 04:26

Hi, star.
I'm not sure whether your result is correct or not, for the Cp at the stagnation point is a bit too low. According to LuckyTran's opinion above, the Cp is generally only slightly lower than 1 at the stagnation point. Maybe you need to analyze the possible factors that can strongly dissipate the energy of the flow upstream of the stagnation point. If such factors don't exist, the results may be questionable, including Cl and Cd.

star · May 17, 2014, 05:43

Thanks albatross for reply. I will be thankful if someone reply with surety because i did some work and it will be meaningless if Cp has effected my results. Plz help

goksusoydan · March 18, 2016, 07:54

Hello everyone!!

I have a question about pressure coefficient. I am modeling the fluid flow around a horizontal cylinder in open channel. I have a trouble about pressure and pressure coeffiecnt. I couldnt get the value of Cp equal to 1. All the values are small than 1. The inlet velocity is 0.17 m/s and the water height is 45 cm in the inlet. for reference value of pressure ı gave 4406 Pa which is equal to (static pressure=gamaxh). Do ı have to give pressure for the outlet boundary conditions. Also we use transient simulation. While using VOF method we get larger pressure values than the transient simulation. Is it because of the density value?.

May 3, 2012, 10:31	Pressure coefficient larger than 1	#1
albatross New Member Zhe Lu Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 14	Hi everyone: I am simulating a problem with an airfoil flying above calm water surface. The angle of attack is 6 degrees and the clearance between the trailling edge and the calm water surface is 0.01 chord length(which is 10m). The freestream velocity is 30m/s. The flow is regarded as compressible and unsteady. The flow time now is about 2s, but I notice that the pressure coefficient on the pressure side of the airfoil is at some position slightly larger than 1, though the magnitude is gruadually decreasing. Is this possible, or is there something wrong with my case? Thanks in advance Greg Hwang likes this.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Pressure coefficient	Giuseppe	FLUENT	2	July 26, 2015 03:19
error message	cuteapathy	CFX	14	March 20, 2012 06:45
lid-driven cavity in matlab using BiCGStab	Don456	Main CFD Forum	1	January 19, 2012 15:00
high CPU load with no computation going on & Pressure coefficient output problem	spetsnaz26	FLUENT	0	September 30, 2011 05:25
Problem in Result of the pressure coefficient	Ken Choi	Main CFD Forum	2	March 15, 1999 04:15

May 3, 2012, 12:23		#3
albatross New Member Zhe Lu Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 14	Thank you very much for your reply! One more question, for incompressible flow, can pressure coefficient be smaller than 1 at the stagnation point? If possible, where is the lost energy?

May 4, 2012, 06:39		#5
albatross New Member Zhe Lu Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 14	It's nice talking with you, LuckyTran! Thanks again!

May 17, 2014, 00:02		#6
star Member Harry Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 68 Rep Power: 12	Hi. I know its very old post but i want to ask if for incompressible flow, if pressure coefficient at stagnation point is much lower than 1 (0.7 in my case), will it effect results e.g. lift coefficient, drag coefficient etc.?

May 17, 2014, 04:26		#7
albatross New Member Zhe Lu Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 14	Hi, star. I'm not sure whether your result is correct or not, for the Cp at the stagnation point is a bit too low. According to LuckyTran's opinion above, the Cp is generally only slightly lower than 1 at the stagnation point. Maybe you need to analyze the possible factors that can strongly dissipate the energy of the flow upstream of the stagnation point. If such factors don't exist, the results may be questionable, including Cl and Cd.

May 17, 2014, 05:43		#8
star Member Harry Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 68 Rep Power: 12	Thanks albatross for reply. I will be thankful if someone reply with surety because i did some work and it will be meaningless if Cp has effected my results. Plz help

March 18, 2016, 07:54		#9
goksusoydan New Member Goksu Soydan Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 10	Hello everyone!! I have a question about pressure coefficient. I am modeling the fluid flow around a horizontal cylinder in open channel. I have a trouble about pressure and pressure coeffiecnt. I couldnt get the value of Cp equal to 1. All the values are small than 1. The inlet velocity is 0.17 m/s and the water height is 45 cm in the inlet. for reference value of pressure ı gave 4406 Pa which is equal to (static pressure=gamaxh). Do ı have to give pressure for the outlet boundary conditions. Also we use transient simulation. While using VOF method we get larger pressure values than the transient simulation. Is it because of the density value?.