The TCFD software has been fully upgraded to TCAE software. After the upgrade, the software includes functional modules such as TMESH, TCFD, TFEA, etc. It can quickly and conveniently perform grid partitioning, fluid simulation calculation, structural strength simulation calculation, fluid structure coupling simulation calculation, and post-processing in the same software interface, greatly improving the efficiency of simulation analysis work.

The following will introduce a case study of the fluid structure coupling calculation of a cantilever sphere using TCAE.

Beam-Ball Fluid-Structure Coupling Analysis

This article uses TCAE software to conduct fluid solid coupling simulation analysis on the deformation of a sphere on a cantilever beam under the action of airflow. The sphere and beam models are shown in the following figure:

In the model, a sphere with a diameter of D=30 cm is tightly fixed on a beam (cylindrical rod) with a length of L=1m and a diameter of D=1 cm. Both the beam and sphere are made of steel, and the model is in an airflow with a velocity of U=30 meters/second. The airflow acts on the beam ball system, causing the beam to bend. The TCAE software will analyze and determine the deformation of the beam (displacement at the free end of the beam and the fixed position of the ball), and obtain the stress distribution.

The basic parameters are as follows:

Import the Beam ball model file into TCAE software for grid partitioning and fluid structure coupling simulation calculations. All grid partitioning and simulation settings are completed in the TCAE graphical interface. The TCAE simulation workflow is fully automated. After setting grid parameters, fluid boundaries and structural model constraints, material properties, and other conditions, all simulation calculations can be initiated with one click and corresponding analysis reports can be generated.

TCAE consists of different software modules. The numerical simulation sequence is as follows: model → CFD grid → FEA grid → CFD simulation → FSI → FEA simulation → report. The TMESH module in the software creates grids suitable for CFD and FEA to prepare for simulation. The TCFD module runs CFD simulation and outputs CFD result reports. The TFEA module performs FSI conversion, runs FEA simulation, and outputs FEA result reports. Due to the symmetrical model, half of the model is used for calculation in the simulation.

CFD grid

A computational grid for CFD was created in the TMESH module of the software. The fluid domain model uses Cartesian grid as the initial background grid, and carries out body fitted refinement according to the model, and adds boundary layer grid. Finally, 489620 grids are generated in the fluid domain.

The fluid domain model and grid situation are as follows: