Best Practices for Computational Fluid Dynamic Applications in Water Infrastructure
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 10
Abstract
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to calculate, analyze, and visualize fluid (liquids, gases, and dissolved gases) flows. This document provides general introductions to best practices for CFD modeling in water infrastructure for practitioners, particularly those new to CFD modeling, which is becoming a widely used tool in the design and retrofitting of water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. The method serves as an alternative, or complement, to physical modeling. In recent years, CFD has often been used in evaluating and troubleshooting existing water systems as well as improving future designs. As with the applications in other fields, the popularity of CFD in the water industry has been propelled by a multitude of factors including, but not limited to, the maturity achieved by CFD techniques, the development of stable and reliable numerical schemes, and the ever-improving computer-aided design (CAD) and meshing technologies for real-world complex geometries. This has been accompanied by many commercial and open-source CFD packages that can be run on increasingly more powerful computing hardware. Despite the visible progress in the application of CFD in water infrastructure projects achieved to date, there are still many challenges that hinder the widespread use of CFD techniques in water treatment design. Perhaps more important is that many of these challenges may result in misuse of the tool with dire consequences. It is imperative that CFD practitioners appropriately apply this tool without overpromising capability or accuracy and that reviewers of CFD model results know what to look for in ensuring proper methods have been applied and that results are representative of reality.
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Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.
Acknowledgments
Logistic support was provided by ASCE–EWRI for the activities of the task committee.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 10 • October 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Aug 2, 2023
Published in print: Oct 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jan 2, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Building design
- Business management
- Chemical properties
- Chemistry
- Computational fluid dynamics technique
- Computer aided design
- Decision making
- Decision support systems
- Design (by type)
- Dissolved gases
- Engineering fundamentals
- Environmental engineering
- Flow (fluid dynamics)
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid flow
- Fluid mechanics
- Gases
- Hydrologic engineering
- Infrastructure
- Models (by type)
- Physical models
- Practice and Profession
- Water and water resources
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