Hi all,

Do you know of any CFD code which would simulate free surface with surface tensi on effect in a rotating fluid reliably. I am trying to model Liquid Galium (Ga) filled bearing. Ga is located in a "reservoir" located on a rotating shaft, while outside this reservoir there is very little gap (between the rotati ng component and a stationary enclosure) through which it can "leak" out. I am t rying to find out design parameters to minimize this leakage. The leaking can be (a) because of rotational effect (centrifugal force) and/or (b) because of surf ace tension effect. STAR-CD has VOF type of free surface, but it does not includ e surface tension effect, I guess one option would be FIDAP, but then again I d o not know how good it is in handling flow in rotational system. If you have any suggestions or experience, or know of any code which can handle th e situation as described above, can you kindly send me an e-mail.

Thanks a lot for your help,

- Roy Mechanical Engineer GE Corporate R&D choudhury@crd.ge.com

You might try Flow 3D from Flow Science Inc. It has excellent free surface capabilities including surface tension and rotating systems.

I have been working with Flow 3D for some time and I believe, that it could be of great help to you. To my knowledge, there is nothing comparable to it for free surfaces. Have a look at www.flow3d.com.