Unsteady Viscous Cavity Flow Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

The problem of unsteady viscous incompressible flow in a two-dimensional cavity is treated using the unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with various initial and boundary conditions. First the case of a square cavity with one inlet and one outlet is treated in steady and unsteady flows. The software package ANSYS FLUENT was used in the CFD simulations. This approach captures the appearance of separation bubbles and vortex formation inside the cavity. Steady state flows are also obtained from the unsteady simulations after convergence of the time dependent solutions. Then the case of a cavity with a synthetic jet and two outlets is treated, where a complex configuration of vortices and bubbles form in the cavity.