ANSYS Workbench Fluid Flow Analysis

NOTE: If Workbench doesn’t open do the following:

• The following steps need to be performed before ANSYS 12.0 Workbench is initially
opened
Start > All Programs > ANSYS 12.0 > ANSYS Client Licensing > User License Preferences
• Select Use Academic Licenses under Global Settings near the bottom of the window as shown
below

Problem Objectives
Determine the flow around the following aluminum heat sink (dimensions in mm).

Model Creation in SolidWorks

Create a model of the air around the heat sink and save
as a Parasolid file (*.x_t).

Initial ANSYS Setup

Open ANSYS Workbench. In the ToolBox window, select View All/Customize and check the
same box to open all Analysis Options in the Toolbox window. Close the Toolbox customize
window.
Select Analysis Type
Drag the Fluid Flow (CFX) icon from the Toolbox window and drop into the highlighted box in
the Project Schematic window.

Geometry
Import Geometry
Right Click on the Geometry icon and select Import Geometry ►browse…
Find the Parasolid file titled “HeatSink.x_t”. Click the Open button. Double click the Mesh icon
to open the Mesh window and select CFX-Mesh under Meshing Options and click ok.
Set Unit System
From the Units menu, select the first item “Metric (m, kg, N…)”.

Create Mesh

Create Mesh
The default mesh settings will be used
(Smoothing: high; Transition: slow; Span Angle
Center: coarse). Right click on the Mesh item in
the Outline and select Generate Mesh. An input
mesh file is required by CFX and is created by
right clicking on the Mesh item in the Outline
and selecting Update.

Apply Material and Boundary Conditions

Return to Project Window and double click the Setup button to open the CFX-Pre window. This
is where the material, material interactions and boundary conditions are defined.

Right click on Flow Analysis 1 in the outline

window and select insert ► domain. Select a
name and click ok.

Domain Type and Material

Under the Basic Settings tab, click the Location
drop down arrow and select the only option
which is the body number and assure that Fluid
domain is the chosen Domain Type. Choose Air
at 25 C as the material. Under Fluid Models tab,
choose Thermal Energy as the chosen Heat
Transfer Option. Keep the remaining default
settings and click Ok.
 Apply Boundary Conditions
Select Insert menu in the Utility window and
choose Boundary from the drop-down menu.
Name it inlet. Select Inlet as boundary type and
the front face of the model (normal to z-axis) as
the location. Under Boundary Details, input 5
m/s as the normal speed and under Heat
Transfer select 293 K as a static temperature.

Select Insert menu in the Utility window and

choose Boundary from the drop-down menu.
Name it openings. Select Opening as boundary
type and pick all areas that the air is allowed to
escape. This includes the end opposite the applied
velocity, both sides and the ceiling (4 faces out of 6). Under Boundary Details, input 0 Pa as Relative
Pressure and under Heat Transfer select 293 K as an opening temperature.

Select Insert menu in the Utility window and choose Boundary from the drop-down menu. Name
it wall. Select Wall as boundary type and pick all the bottom faces including the heat sink interface.
Under Boundary Details, change the Heat Transfer option from adiabatic to temperature and set
the temperature as 305 K.

Solve Model
Solve Model
Return to the Project Window. Right click the Solution button and select update to solve.

Review Results
From the Project Window, double click the
results button to open the CFX-Post window.
 Insert a plane to review results
Select Insert menu in the Utility window and
choose Location, Plane from the drop-down
menu. Select YZ plane as method and input
0.25 m for X location and apply. This places a
plane in the center of the heat sink.

Insert Contours
Select Insert menu in the Utility window and
choose Contour from the drop-down menu. In
Details of Contour 1 window, select All
Domains as domain and Plane 1 as the location.
Select variables (Temperature, Pressure,
Velocity, ect) from the Variable drop-down box
and click apply to plot them on Plane 1.