[ashrujit]

Hello,

I am new to OpenFoam and CFD. I have been trying to simulate forced convection (water as fluid) in a rotating cylindrical crucible using SRFPimpleFoam.

The system I am trying to establish is this:- the cylindrical crucible should rotate uniformly and due to the rotation of the cylinder the fluid inside would undergo forced convective flow. The system is 'laminar' (set as 'laminar' in 'turbulenceProperties').

I have created the mesh using 'blockMeshDict'. It has three boundary patches - 'bottom', 'top' and 'sides'. Below is the file:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vertices
(
(0.25 0 0) // 0
(0 0.25 0) // 1
(-0.25 0 0) // 2
(0 -0.25 0) // 3 bottom circle

(0.25 0 1) // 4
(0 0.25 1) // 5
(-0.25 0 1) // 6
(0 -0.25 1) // 7 top circle

(0 0 0) // 8 centre bottom
(0 0 1) // 9 centre up
);

blocks
(
hex (0 1 8 8 4 5 9 9) (25 25 100) simpleGrading (1 1 1)

hex (1 2 8 8 5 6 9 9) (25 25 100) simpleGrading (1 1 1)
hex (2 3 8 8 6 7 9 9) (25 25 100) simpleGrading (1 1 1)
hex (3 0 8 8 7 4 9 9) (25 25 100) simpleGrading (1 1 1)
);

edges
(
arc 0 1 (0.17677 0.17677 0)
arc 1 2 (-0.17677 0.17677 0)
arc 2 3 (-0.17677 -0.17677 0)
arc 3 0 (0.17677 -0.17677 0)

arc 4 5 (0.17677 0.17677 1)
arc 5 6 (-0.17677 0.17677 1)
arc 6 7 (-0.17677 -0.17677 1)
arc 7 4 (0.17677 -0.17677 1)
);

boundary
(
bottom
{
type wall;
faces
(
(0 8 8 1)
(1 8 8 2)
(2 8 8 3)
(3 8 8 0)
);
}
top
{
type wall;
faces
(
(5 9 9 4)
(6 9 9 5)
(7 9 9 6)
(4 9 9 7)
);
}
sides
{
type wall;
faces
(
(0 1 5 4)
(1 2 6 5) // (1 2 5 6)
(2 3 7 6)
(3 0 4 7)
);
}
);

mergePatchPairs
(
);
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The boundary conditions for 'Urel' as follows:-
--------------------------------------------
dimensions [0 1 -1 0 0 0 0];

internalField uniform (0 0 0);

boundaryField
{
bottom
{
type noSlip;
}

top
{
type fixedValue;
value uniform (0 0 0);
}

sides
{
type noSlip;
}
}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The boundary conditions for 'p':-

-------------------------------------------
dimensions [0 2 -2 0 0 0 0];

internalField uniform 0;

boundaryField
{
top
{
type zeroGradient;
}

bottom
{
type zeroGradient;
}

sides
{
type zeroGradient;
}
}
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The SRFProperties file is as below:-

// * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * //

SRFModel rpm;

origin (0 0 0);
axis (0 0 1);

rpmCoeffs
{
rpm 60;
}


// ************************************************** *********************** //


The problem I am facing is that - in the results it seems that the whole cylinder is rotating along with the 'top' part which should not rotate and is open surface. Images of the mesh and 'U' screenshot are attached.

My questions are:-
1. Am is using the correct solver i.e. "SRFPimpleFoam"?

2. How do I make the 'top' boundary non-rotating?

3. Are my boundary conditions correct?

Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.