Computational Fluid Dynamics (MAE 190)

MAE 190: Computational Fluid Dynamics

MAE 190 is a class that goes over basic concepts in Computational Fluid Dynamics including but not limited to numerical methods, discrete Navier-Stokes equations, meshing, and industry software. The first half of the class involved programming a direct numerical simulation code in MATLAB to simulate supersonic flow over a flat plate. The second half other class involved using Ansys Fluent to do miscellaneous simulations, culminating in a final project.

Supersonic Flow over a Flat Plate

The first project was to program a 2D direct numerical simulation for supersonic Mach 4 flow over a flat plate in MATLAB. The code utilized the MacCormack predictor-corrector method. The program included code to analyze and plot critical variables including density, velocity, energy, pressure, and temperature. It also included code to create a Schlieren image.

Ansys Fluent Simulation of a Lecture Hall

The final project was to simulate the airflow in a UCSD lecture hall to investigate the effect of airflow on COVID-19 particle transmission. Our group chose to simulate Pepper Canyon Hall room 106, a relatively large lecture hall. We wanted to investigate the effect convection due to the heat generated by students has on airflow and, by extension, COVID-19 transmission. To investigate this, we treated the students as the floor and set the floor of the mesh as a heat flux based on the heat flux a certain number of students would generate. We ran multiple simulations but were unable to make any conclusive results due to the time constraint of about a week and a half (also during finals). More information is provided in our final report and presentation.

MAE 190 Presentation

Final Presentation