Axisymmetric swirl
 

Hi,

I'm trying to simulate a vortex tube in starccm+ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube) . My first attempt is to perform a 2D axisymmetric simulation with swirl.

Models:

Axisymmetric
Axisymmetric Swirl


My boundary condition at the inlet is a Mass Flow Inlet. My problem is that I'm not able to find the place to set the swirl component at my inlet boundary condition. When I set the Flow direction, only the axial and radial component are used by starccm+ and the tangential component is ignored. Is there a specific setting that I didn't found where the ''swirl'' component at the inlet can be specified?

Are you sure that the problem is axisymmetric? From what I understand, the flow will not be symmetric about the axis. You might have to simulate the 3D geometry.

Hi kguntur, thank you for your reply!

The problem can be considered as axisymmetric for a first approximation. The model axisymmetric with swirl has been used by several research group in the past (H.M Skye, R. Ricci, etc...). I'm trying to use this 2D model to study the impact of different boundary conditions and after that I will move to a a more complete 3D representation of the vortex tube.

My problem with this case is more related to the software. I am not able to find the way to apply a swirl velocity at the inlet with the model Axisymmetric Swirl.

Hallo etgau8,

could you find a solution to your problem?
I am currently also trying to understand how to setup it for the 2D Axisymmetric Swirl Model.

Daniele