wind tunnel results vs fluent

pixie · August 20, 2009, 08:11

Hi

I was just wondering, I am comparing my Fluent results for a c=1 airfoil, to sum wind tunnel tests. the grid I have is a typical C-H grid and mesh with pressure far field boundary conditions (all boundaries). the error i get is 20% for Cd (even though my y+ is too high) and with a refined grid it gets an error of 8% - pretty good!
My question is, the grid size i've been using is not very representative of the wind tunnel dimensions, nor the boundary conditions or the chord length of my airfoil (wind tunnel test uses an airfoil of c=0.3m)
Can I compare my results to the wind tunnel test results and say they're good, even though nothing of my simulations (except the results) is representative of the wind tunnel?
hmmmm...but my results are pretty good! would appreciate comments.

Thanx in advance

SKK · August 20, 2009, 09:02

I would say if your non-dimenional parameter are similar, ie same chord based Reynolds number etc, then you can say the two flow are similar and hence the results would be the same.

August 20, 2009, 08:11	wind tunnel results vs fluent	#1
pixie New Member Jules Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 9 Rep Power: 17	Hi I was just wondering, I am comparing my Fluent results for a c=1 airfoil, to sum wind tunnel tests. the grid I have is a typical C-H grid and mesh with pressure far field boundary conditions (all boundaries). the error i get is 20% for Cd (even though my y+ is too high) and with a refined grid it gets an error of 8% - pretty good! My question is, the grid size i've been using is not very representative of the wind tunnel dimensions, nor the boundary conditions or the chord length of my airfoil (wind tunnel test uses an airfoil of c=0.3m) Can I compare my results to the wind tunnel test results and say they're good, even though nothing of my simulations (except the results) is representative of the wind tunnel? hmmmm...but my results are pretty good! would appreciate comments. Thanx in advance

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August 20, 2009, 09:02		#2
SKK Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 55 Rep Power: 17	I would say if your non-dimenional parameter are similar, ie same chord based Reynolds number etc, then you can say the two flow are similar and hence the results would be the same.