Simulation Water Wheel Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI)

The simulation of the Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) in a water wheel can be perfectly performed using NOGRID points CFD software. Such simulations are essential for understanding how water forces affect the movement and deformation of mechanical structures. NOGRID points CFD software delivers highly detailed responses.

Challenges of free surfaces in fluid mechanical systems

Free surfaces in fluid mechanical systems present a significant challenge for numerical simulation methods on their own. Many applications also involve moving structures that interact with the fluid.  In most cases, realistic modeling with standard software is either not feasible or would require an uneconomical amount of time and computational power to solve everyday simulation tasks. 

One such example is the simulation of a water wheel accelerated by fluid injected from a nozzle at the top of the domain. A thorough understanding of this process is essential for guiding the design and optimization of the wheel's hull.

In grid-based methods, such simulations are usually simplified. Instead of allowing the wheels to move  freely during acceleration, the shape of the wheels is often kept completely fixed, and their position and orientation do not respond to the fluid. This technique reduces computation time and numerical inaccuracies due to remeshing.

FSI modeling in NOGRID points CFD software

In contrast to other fluid modeling tools, NOGRID points - a meshless CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software - permits several approaches to model the described scenario more realistically. There are no restrictions on the movement of the wheels;  all six degrees of freedom - three for the velocity and three for the rotational motion of the rigid body - are available.

In the approach presented here the water wheel is placed inside a box that is initially empty. The water wheel is modeled as a set of faces that can move freely within the fluid. The fluid-structure interaction of the fluid with these faces is further determined by the wheel's center of gravity, its mass, and its inertia tensor. At time t=0,  the fluid begins injecting from the top nozzle, and shortly thereafter it interacts with and accelerates the wheel.

Capabilities of NOGRID points

NOGRID combines the ability to handle free-surface flows and moving parts within the domain, enabling the simulation of any conceivable geometry and operating mode, such as

• computation is in full 3D solving complete Navier-Stokes-Equations
• easy and intuitive setup of the FSI (Fluid-Structure-Interaction) case
• free definable material properties by equations or curves
• any wheel geometry with small gaps or cutouts
• open or closed domains including moving of additional parts