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Optimizing Internal Combustion Engine Simulations at University of Wisconsin
Technology Category
- Sensors - Flow Meters
- Sensors - Liquid Detection Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Automotive
- Electrical Grids
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Microgrid
- Smart Campus
The Challenge
The Engine Research Center (ERC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a leading institution in the study and application of internal combustion (IC) engines, faced significant challenges in grid generation for complex IC engine geometries. These complexities included valved intake and exhaust ports and intricate details like piston/liner crevices. The ERC's work involves the application and development of computer models for simulating flow and combustion in IC engines, with each engine model requiring a computational mesh to solve the turbulence, chemistry, and flow equations that define their problems. As government emissions standards become stricter, the need to incorporate more physics into simulations and more geometric details into the grids has increased. The second major challenge was performing grid resolution studies with these geometrically complex grids once they were built.
About The Customer
The customer in this case study is the Engine Research Center (ERC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The ERC is a major research and educational institution that investigates the fundamentals and applications of internal combustion (IC) engines. The center has a student research staff that averages about 50 students, half of whom apply and develop computer models for simulating flow and combustion in IC engines. The ERC's work is becoming increasingly complex as government emissions standards become stricter, necessitating the incorporation of more physics into simulations and more geometric details into the grids.
The Solution
The ERC adopted ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa, a tool that can read in from a variety of formats or build from within all the geometric details necessary for the model. This tool's flexible blocking approach made it possible to build a structured mesh that could capture those geometric details. Once the blocking was built, it was easy to vary resolution locally for grid resolution studies. ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa also had the capability to export the grid to ERC’s solvers. The center has been using ANSYS ICEM CFD Hexa for the past three years, and its usage at the ERC continues to grow, providing a comprehensive solution to their grid generation and resolution challenges.
Operational Impact
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