Learning Forum

[jsf4801]

Hello All,

I am designing a canoe currently and would like to test the drag force on the canoe. I have imported my CAD geometry but I am struggling to determine the dimensions of my fluid domain for the canoe. The canoe is 19 ft long, 2.5 feet at its widest point, and has a depth of 16 inches. Also is there a certain way to determine my free surface as well?

I am very new to CFD and any help at all would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Rob]

Free surface can be modelled using VOF in Fluent, but you'll need to decide where the canoe sits (depth) unless you want to get even more involved and use the 6DOF solver.  

In terms of the domain size, have a look for wind tunnel and/or water flume rules and apply those. You may also want to consider symmetry to keep the cell count down. 

[jsf4801]

 I did use symmetry to try and reduce the cell count. I am producing results and have the canoe sitting where I would like. I am just not sure if the current fluid domain is big enough. I have attached a picture.

[Rob]

Best way to check is to plot velocity & pressure contours. If you can see a higher pressure on the sides or artificially accelerated flow the domain is probably too small.  You may need to adjust the scale depending on the range. 

[saifali]

Hello Can you share the file