CFX Fsi 14.5 l4 - Two - Way - Setup 46

Lecture 4
Two-way FSI Setup

14. 5 Release
Solving FSI Applications Using

ANSYS Mechanical and ANSYS CFX
1 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5
Outline
Mechanical Setup
This section will cover the Mechanical setup in the context of a 2-way
FSI simulation. Well discuss Analysis Settings, creating Fluid Solid
Interfaces and other topics relevant to FSI simulations.
CFX Setup
The CFX setup for FSI simulations will be covered next. In addition to
describing how to create FSI boundaries to send/receive data from
MAPDL, well discuss creating useful monitor data, solution output and
FSI solver controls.

Mechanical Analysis Settings
Set Number of Steps to 1 and Step End Time
to 1 [s]
These values are not used set in CFX-Pre
Only 1 load step allowed
Use restarts to make changes
Use a table to define time varying loads
Set Auto Time Stepping = Off, Defined By =

Substeps and Number of Substeps = 1
Gives 1 substep per transient time step (Coupling
Time Step)
Substepping (and Auto Time Stepping) should not
be used
Dont use Define By = Time

It leads to substepping if not set consistently with
the Coupling Time Step in CFX-Pre
Time Integration
Set to On for transients
Accounts for transient effects such as
structural inertia and thermal capacitance
Can set to Off to produce a static solution
within the Transient Structural system
Useful for initialization see later
Large Deflection
Should usually be set to On
When set to Off, the underlying structural
mesh will not change, so forces from the
deformed CFD mesh will be applied to the
undeformed structural mesh

Restart Controls
These restart controls are not applicable and
will not produce restart points
Use a command object see later
Damping Controls
The fluid often provides much of the damping
Here we set controls to model the energy loss
in the structure in a transient case, if
necessary

Output Controls
Each time step is actually treated as a load step in
Mechanical
The rst file can become LARGE, even for small
cases
Can set Stress and Strain to No to reduce output if
these quantities are not of interest
Calculate Results At generally not useful
Interpreted per load step; so Last Time Point means
the last substep of each load step i.e. once per
Coupling Step (transient time step)
Insert commands to reduce the frequency at which

results are written:
MFOU,10
This will save results to the rst file every 10th
Coupling Step (transient time step). Note that this
is not sufficient for a restart / backup point
Backup / Restart Points
For long simulations you may want to create backup files that can be
used for a restart
Use the MFRC command and the MFOU command
MFOU,10
MFRC,50,1
Creates restart points every 50 time steps, keeping only the most recent
(1) file set required for restarts
Results are also written to the rst file every 10 time steps all these results
are maintained
Must manually create corresponding backup files for CFX too,
typically using the Time Step Interval option
MFRC must be a multiple of MFOU
Note the RESCONTROL command is ignored for MFX
MFRC cannot be added when restarting define it in the initial run
Mechanical Fluid Solid Interface
Define non-FSI supports and

loads as usual
Insert a Fluid Solid Interface
for regions that will
communicate with CFX
Can define multiple interfaces

Mechanical Fluid Solid Interface
Split interfaces when faces meet at a small angle

Avoids mapping problems
1
2
A surface can only be included in one Fluid Solid

Interface
No overlapping interfaces

Mechanical Loads and Supports
Ensure any non-FSI time-dependent loads are consistent

with the simulation start time
Restarts of transient cases will not start from 0 [s], including
restarts from steady state cases that are actually transient
dynamic with TIMINT,OFF
When a Rotational Velocity is applied in Mechanical, it

will solve in a rotating reference frame
The mesh is not actually rotated (just like CFX)
Displacements passed to CFX will be relative to the rotating
frame
Use a rotating frame on the CFX side too
Apply other loads and supports as usual, except...

Mechanical Contact Elements
Latest generation of contact elements (CONTA171

CONTA178) are not robust with the MFX solver in some
cases
Several features in WB use these elements including Remote
Displacements/Forces/Points, Springs, Point Mass and Joints
(body to ground joint for a rigid body) and of course Contact
Static cases are much more robust in general

Changes in contact status often trigger robustness
problems

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF EQUILIBRIUM ITERATIONS HAS BEEN MODIFIED
TO BE, NEQIT = 26, BY SOLUTION CONTROL LOGIC.
Characterized by FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE

EQUIL ITER 1 COMPLETED.
= 171.9 CRITERION= 2.842
NEW TRIANG MATRIX. MAX DOF INC= 0.8868E-01
LINE SEARCH PARAMETER = 0.7625 SCALED MAX DOF INC = 0.6762E-01
divergence during FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE = 0.1649E+05 CRITERION= 3.227
EQUIL ITER 2 COMPLETED. NEW TRIANG MATRIX. MAX DOF INC= -0.4564E-02
equilibrium iterations LINE SEARCH PARAMETER =
FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE
0.1094 SCALED MAX DOF INC = -0.4992E-03
= 0.1360E+07 CRITERION= 3.317
in MAPDL EQUIL ITER 3 COMPLETED.
LINE SEARCH PARAMETER =
NEW TRIANG MATRIX. MAX DOF INC= -0.4259E-02
0.5000E-01 SCALED MAX DOF INC = -0.2130E-03
FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE = 0.2084E+07 CRITERION= 3.404
LINE SEARCH PARAMETER = 0.5222 SCALED MAX DOF INC = -0.2118E-02
EQUIL ITER 5 COMPLETED. NEW TRIANG MATRIX. MAX DOF INC= 0.3042E-02
LINE SEARCH PARAMETER = 1.000 SCALED MAX DOF INC = 0.3042E-02
...
...
FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE = 101.1 CRITERION= 7.092
LINE SEARCH PARAMETER = 0.5000E-01 SCALED MAX DOF INC = 0.7107E-03
FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE = 101.1 CRITERION= 7.237
LINE SEARCH PARAMETER = 0.5000E-01 SCALED MAX DOF INC = 0.7107E-03
*** ERROR *** CP = 16.536 TIME= 16:12:00

Solution not converged at time 0.6 (load step 6 substep 1).
Run terminated.

As a work-around Remote Displacement, Remote
Force, Remote Point, Joints, Springs and Point
Masses can use the Beam (beta) option:
Turn on beta features: Tools > Options >
Appearance > Beta Options
Set the Behaviour option in the Details view to
Beam (Beta)
For other cases robustness may be improved by:
Using a low contact stiffness value
Turning off Line Search under Analysis Settings >
Nonlinear Controls (LNSRCH,OFF)
Turning off prediction via a Command object:
PRED,OFF
Using substepping

2-way Thermal and Structural Analysis
When thermal and structural loads are passed between solvers, use
coupled field elements (SOLID226 or SOLID227) in MAPDL
Set up as a Transient Structural analysis then switch the element type
using a Commands object inserted into Geometry > Part:
Thermal constraints and loads are set in another Commands object
Sets element type matid to SOLID 226

with KEYOPT(1) = 11 (Structural
Thermal degrees of freedom)
et,matid,226,11 For element type matid, set KEYOPT(2) =1. This

KEYOPT,matid,2,1 sets weak (load vector) coupling, producing a
symmetric matrix but requiring at least two
iterations to achieve a coupled response. This
just allows iterative solvers to be used rather
than the direct sparse solver the best solver
will be case dependent.
Using Coupled Field Elements
When should SOLID226 be used versus SOLID227?
The documentation shows SOLID226 is a 20-node hex element with
degenerate tet, pyramid and prism options
Note that the degenerate forms still have 20 nodes, since they contain
duplicate nodes
SOLID227 is a 10-node tet element

When should SOLID226 be used versus SOLID227?
Your current solid body meshes will be made from SOLID186 (20-node
hex with degenerate forms) and SOLID187 (10-node tet) elements
Bodies that are currently meshed with SOLID186 elements need to be
switched to SOLID226. Those meshed with SOLID187 elements need to
be switched to SOLID227
If you switch an element to a type that has a different shape or
different number of nodes youll get an error in the MAPDL solver
Depending on your mesh, some bodies may contain a mixture of
SOLID186 and SOLID187 elements
Examining the ds.dat file is the best way to determine your current
elements

Before adding any et commands, update the structural Setup cell
and locate the ds.dat file, or use Tools > Write Input File to write
out this file
Open in a text editor and search for et, to locate the element
types for each body
Here the body named fea contains SOLID186 elements. It may still
contain SOLID187 too. Keep searching for all instances of et, until you
have identified all element types associated with each solid body.

Now add the appropriate et commands under each solid body
below Geometry in the Outline tree. Example:
Below we can see the Clamp body has both 186 and 187 elements
Note that matid and matid+1 are used to refer to element type number
matid points to a different number depending on the context (body)
in which it is used

Lastly, a Commands object is inserted below
the Static or Transient analysis in the Outline
tree to define the thermal boundary conditions
Create Named Selections for regions that
require thermal boundary conditions, then
refer to these in the Commands object
See the MAPDL Command Reference documentation for
more details on the commands below.
Here the ic command sets the initial temperature to
the default (the Environment Temperature).
The sf command is used to define convection, heat flux
and radiation loads. In this example a convection load
with a film coefficient of 500 and a bulk temperature of
40 is defined on the Named Selection external_walls.
The d command is use to set a temperature constraint
of 40 on the Named Selection inlet_side.
Units will be those selected in Mechanical and are noted
as comments in the Commands object.
Be careful if you change units
commands may need to be changed too
In general do not use any Fixed
Supports in the structural model, use a
zero Displacement constraint instead
A Fixed Support sets all DOF to zero,
including the thermal DOF for Coupled
Field Elements
The Environment Temperature for the
analysis defines the temperature at which
there is zero thermal stress
The default initial temperature is the
Environment Temperature. Use the ic
command to define a different initial
temperature, e.g. ic,all,temp,100

Close Mechanical or Write an Input File
Solving in Mechanical just solves the
structural model (no FSI)
Can be useful to define a temporary
load and check the solution runs OK
If completing the entire simulation in
WB, just close Mechanical and Update
the Setup cell
Writes an input file in the project
directory named ds.dat which will be
picked up by CFX-Pre
If running CFX-Pre and the solvers
outside WB, in Mechanical select the
analysis from the Outline tree then
Tools > Write Input File
Writes an input file that you will select
in CFX-Pre

Outline
Mechanical Setup
This section will cover the Mechanical setup in the context of a 2-way
FSI simulation. Well discuss Analysis Settings, creating Fluid Solid
Interfaces and other topics relevant to FSI simulations.
CFX Setup
The CFX setup for FSI simulations will be covered next. In addition to
describing how to create FSI boundaries to send/receive data from
MAPDL, well discuss creating useful monitor data, solution output and
FSI solver controls.

CFX Simulation Type
Coupling Time Duration
Total transient time
For steady-state enter arbitrary value
Coupling (Multifield) Time Step

Transient time step size applied to CFX and
Mechanical
For steady-state enter a fraction of the Time
Duration (e.g. 1/20th to have 20 load /
displacement updates during the run)
Adaptive option dynamically adjusts the time
step based on the number of coupling
iterations needed to converged each time
step
In general a fixed time step works better

CFX Simulation Type
Coupling Initial Time

Generally leave as Automatic. When
restarting this will pick up time completed
in the previous run
Only reason to change this is if restarting
from an intermediate backup point
Analysis Type
This controls if the CFX solver is run in
steady-state or transient mode
If Transient, time controls must be in sync
with Mechanical, so nothing to set

CFX Domain
Reference Pressure in CFX is not passed to MAPDL solver

by default
Set include pref in forces = t if necessary
o Expert Parameters Panel in CFX-Pre
o Absolute Pressure will be used in the forces passed to MAPDL solver
May need to apply atmospheric pressure to non-FSI boundaries
in Mechanical if using absolute pressure for the CFX forces
Dont set 0 or 1 [atm] Reference Pressure if that is not
representative of your domain pressure

CFX Domain
Use constant density (incompressible) fluids with care

Implies an infinite wave speed
Cannot resolve acoustics / pressure waves (e.g. water hammer)
Using ideal gases (e.g. Air Ideal Gas) instead of
constant density gases (e.g. Air at 25 C) gives a more
stable solution
For a given interface displacement, an incompressible fluid
responds with a higher pressure change than a compressible
one
Even if the constant density assumption is valid for the
converged solution, it can lead to divergence while iterating
In closed volumes a compressible fluid must be used to
conserve mass

CFX Domain
If resolving pressure waves in liquids (e.g. Water

Hammer) define density as a function of pressure, e.g:
Pref = 100 [bar]
BulkMod = 2.2e9[Pa]
Density = 1002[kg/m^3]*(1 +(Absolute Pressure
Pref)/BulkMod)
Enable Total Energy equation when resolving pressure

waves in the liquids
Even if heat transfer is not of interest
Otherwise can get pressure wiggles in the CFX solution because the
system is forced to be isothermal (need to solve all the physics to
get a physically correct solution)

CFX Boundaries
Create the FSI interface as a Wall

boundary in CFX
Only Wall boundaries no Interfaces
Heat Transfer and/or Mesh Motion
option can be ANSYS MultiField
Receiving elements in FEA model must
support thermal and/or structural DOF
Mesh Motion: receives

displacements and sends forces
Heat Transfer: receive Wall Heat
Flow and sends Temperature, or
vice versa
1-way using 2-way Framework
1-way FSI is easily
performed using the 2-way
framework, but only Receive displacements
but send nothing
sending data in one
direction
Works very well for transient Receive Temperature
cases but send nothing
o Automates data transfer
o No intermediate files needed
Conservative GGI-type
interpolation is better than
linear interpolation in CFD-
Post Use Additional
Coupling options to
send data 1-way

Transient 1-way using 2-way Framework
Can be a problem when timescales are very different

E.g. long thermal transient in the solid, but transient time step
limited by the CFD solution
Cannot sub-cycle the CFD solution
Can only send surface data

Solve CHT in CFX, but only pass surface temperatures and solve solid
temperature in FEA too
Usually faster than 2-way coupled heat transfer
Use coupled field elements for thermal stress

Additional Coupling Sent Data
Additional Coupling Sent Data is used for
1-way FSI but also to send non-standard
variables to MAPDL
Additional loads (e.g. particle tracking or
EMAG forces)
Cannot define additional quantities to
receive
Data Transfer Type
Conservative
o Locally and globally conservative and
preserves profiles. Use when sending flows
(Wall Heat Flow, Total Force) Flux versus Flow
o A flux is a flow per unit area
Profile Preserving o E.g. should not transfer Wall
o Use for non-conservative data inc. fluxes Heat Flux and use
(Displacement, Temperature, Wall Heat Flux, Conservative Wall Heat
Total Force Density,...) Flow should be used with the
Must pick the appropriate option Conservative option

CFX Output Control
Backup tab
Writes CFX backup files
MAPDL solver files are also needed for a
restart
Use the Coupling Step Interval option
with the same frequency as the MFRC
command
Stopping the run always produces a
restart point

CFX Monitor Points
Create monitor points for the

transferred quantities at the interface
(forces, displacements, temperature,
heat flow)
Enable Monitor Options and Monitor

Coeff. Convergence for transients
This provides CFX monitor history for
each coefficient loop within a transient
timestep
Allows you to monitor how the
transferred quantities are changing within
a timestep and judge if they have
converged
Also very useful for debugging failed runs
CFX Monitor Points
Transient Force History at Interface:
1 timestep
Forces, displacements,
temperatures, heat flows should
be converged within a timestep

CFX Solver Control
Maximum Coefficient Loops = Number of
CFX iterations per Coupling Iteration
In general dont use too many loops
Theres no point converging each
Coupling Iteration too tightly since the
transferred quantities may change in the
next Coupling Iteration
Use your monitor points as a guide; do
enough iterations to get reasonable
values for interface forces
Equation Class Settings
Mesh Displacement see moving mesh
chapter

External Coupling
Coupling Step Control = Coupling

Iterations (stagger loops)
During each time step there are multiple
Coupling Iterations, which include
multiple mesh updates and data transfers
between the solvers
Convergence for the time step is
achieved when the change in data
transfer quantities meets the
Convergence Target
Using one Coupling Iteration per time
step is referred to as explicit coupling.
This is generally not accurate for anything
other than one-way or "weakly" coupled
cases

Comparing Explicit and Implicit Coupling
AGARD 445.6 case

Standard wing flutter test Bending mode
case
Zero angle of attack
Transonic to low supersonic
speeds
Traditional linear flutter analysis
tools are not accurate due to
non-linear effects Torsional mode

Comparing Explicit and Implicit Coupling
16
Comparing the predicted flutter 5 Stagger
frequency versus time step size 15

3 Stagger
Flutter frequency [Hz]

for different Coupling (Stagger) 1 Stagger
Iterations 14
Explicit coupling (1 Stagger)

requires a smaller time step for 13
accurate results
The physics determines the time 12
1.E-04 1.E-03 1.E-02
step size with implicit coupling Time step size [s]
dt=0.00025 [s], 1 Stagger

6.E-03
dt=0.005 [s], 5 Stagger Large time step with 5 coupling
4.E-03dt=0.005 [s], 1 Stagger iterations and small time step
2.E-03 with 1 coupling iteration both
Amplitude []
give good results

0.E+00
Large time step case runs 4 times
-2.E-03
faster implicit coupling reduces
-4.E-03 CPU time
-6.E-03 Explicit coupling is unstable at
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
38 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013Time [s]
larger time steps Release 14.5
External Coupling
Coupling Step Control = Coupling

Iterations (stagger loops)
Max. Iterations = 10 is reasonable
Often fewer than 10 are needed
o
o If 10 iterations are consistently used
other controls should be adjusted
o Convergence should be checked
Min. Iterations = 3 is reasonable
o With the default relaxation factor of
0.75 you need a few iterations to ensure
the correct loads are transferred
Set Min. and Max. Iterations to 1 for 1-
way FSI or for explicit coupling

External Coupling
Under Relaxation Factor refers to the

transferred loads, default = 0.75
75% of the change in loads is sent
Increase to speed up convergence if
possible
Set to 1 if running explicit (one Coupling
Iteration) or 1-way transient, otherwise
youll get the wrong loads!
Reducing will slow convergence and
require more Coupling Iterations to get
accurate loads
o Try other methods of improving
convergence first

External Coupling
Convergence Target default is 0.01

Rarely needs changing
Monitor loads within time steps to
confirm they have converged
See CFX documentation for details of

interface load convergence
ANSYS CFX-Solver Manager Users
Guide >> Residual Plotting >>
Residual Plotting for ANSYS Multi-
field Runs

External Coupling
Select who should solve first
In general solve ANSYS first
o Lagged forces are better than lagged
mesh displacements
o At the start of a new time step, whoever
solves first will initially be using the
solution from the end of the previous
time step
o Previous fluid forces are usually a very
good estimate of the current fluid forces
o If using previous mesh displacements, it
implies the mesh stopped moving
Can also solve simultaneously
Not often used, likely to require more Coupling Iterations since data is
further lagged

Steady State 2-way FSI Solver Control
Two ways to run steady-state:
Run as n Coupling Steps, with 1 Coupling Iteration per step
o As shown earlier, e.g. Coupling Time Step = 1/20th of Coupling Time Duration
Run as 1 Coupling Step, with n Coupling Iterations
o Coupling Time Duration = Coupling Time Step
o Set the number of Coupling Iterations (e.g. 20)
A run can only be manually stopped at the end of a Coupling Step,

therefore the first method provides more flexibility here
Use MFOU with the first method to avoid unnecessary results data

Steady State 2-way FSI Solver Control
20 Coupling Steps, 1 Coupling Iteration per step, up to 8 CFX iterations per
Coupling Iteration; Maximum of 20*1*8 = 160 CFX iterations in total, with
loads being updated 20 times

Summary
Mechanical Analysis Settings are generally the same for all FSI
cases since some parameters are not used and a single substep
should be used
Setting Time Integration to Off is equivalent to a static
analysis. This provides an easy way to initialize a transient.
Mechanical results files can become very large. Output only
the data you need at a reasonable frequency using the MFOU
command. If backup points are needed use the MFRC
command
Create Fluid Solid Interfaces in Mechanical for regions that will
receive forces from CFX
Mechanical features that use contact elements may require a
different approach to work with 2-way FSI

Summary
In CFX the time step and time duration are used by both codes
Enable Mesh Deformation in CFX if receiving displacements
Define the data sent and received between the codes on the
Boundary Conditions panel in CFX
Always create monitor points in CFX to track the quantities
transferred across the FSI interface, enabling Monitor Coef.
Convergence to track data every CFX iteration
If required, create CFX backup file at the same frequency as
used in Mechanical

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Lecture 4

Two-way FSI Setup

Solving FSI Applications Using

2 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Set Auto Time Stepping = Off, Defined By =

Dont use Define By = Time

4 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

5 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Insert commands to reduce the frequency at which

Define non-FSI supports and

8 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Split interfaces when faces meet at a small angle

A surface can only be included in one Fluid Solid

9 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Ensure any non-FSI time-dependent loads are consistent

When a Rotational Velocity is applied in Mechanical, it

Apply other loads and supports as usual, except...

Latest generation of contact elements (CONTA171

Static cases are much more robust in general

11 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Characterized by FORCE CONVERGENCE VALUE

*** ERROR *** CP = 16.536 TIME= 16:12:00

12 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

13 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Sets element type matid to SOLID 226

et,matid,226,11 For element type matid, set KEYOPT(2) =1. This

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Coupling (Multifield) Time Step

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Coupling Initial Time

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Reference Pressure in CFX is not passed to MAPDL solver

25 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 26, 2013 Release 14.5

Use constant density (incompressible) fluids with care

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If resolving pressure waves in liquids (e.g. Water

Enable Total Energy equation when resolving pressure

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Create the FSI interface as a Wall

Mesh Motion: receives

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Can be a problem when timescales are very different

Can only send surface data

Use coupled field elements for thermal stress

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Create monitor points for the

Enable Monitor Options and Monitor

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Coupling Step Control = Coupling

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* ERROR * CP = 16.536 TIME= 16:12:00