2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As computational tools become more accessible, the need to train engineers with strong software skills has become increasingly prominent. Within the field of fluid mechanics, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) stands at the forefront of modern computational methods. The work presented in this paper aims to redesign a traditional undergraduate fluid mechanics laboratory experiment so that it integrates CFD with classical experimental approaches. In other words, unlike a traditional CFD exercise that has no experimental component, and in contrast to a traditional undergraduate fluid mechanics laboratory experiment that might have no computational counterpart, we envision a seamless blend of these two activities so as to have students recognize that an experiment, when properly designed and implemented, can serve the purpose of a CFD validation while still meeting the traditional learning objectives of each separate entity.

The uniform flow past a circular cylinder is selected as the canonical configuration to validate CFD results. This configuration is selected because it provides valuable insights into how different flow conditions influence the forces acting on bodies submerged in fluids. Additionally, the lack of complexity of the model geometry makes it well-suited for a variety of undergraduate labs that may or may not have extensive experimental equipment, i.e., complex aerodynamic models or measurement instruments. The testing campaign for this work will be performed using an Engineering Laboratory Design wind tunnel model 406, and the simulations will be carried out using OpenFOAM, an open-source partial differential equation solver that is widely used in industry and academia.

We begin with an overview of the introduction to CFD that can be completed by a student outside of the laboratory. This element of the lab is designed to help students understand the complete workflow of a CFD simulation, starting from problem definition and preprocessing to data collection, postprocessing, and effective reporting of the computational results. Along the way, students are tasked with providing choices for the CFD simulation through directed prompts. These choices leverage and reinforce their current understanding of the flow while providing insight into the CFD simulation process (for example, a question such as “Well upstream of the cylinder, what characteristics can we anticipate the flow field to have?” serves to introduce the need for velocity and pressure boundary conditions). Once completed, important quantities from the simulations including surface pressure distribution, viscous drag, separation point estimation, and near and far field flow visualization can be extracted.

With these key computational results in hand, students are then directed to think of the hands-on laboratory experiment that follows as a CFD validation study wherein all of the important results just mentioned can be measured or recorded from the experiment (e.g., surface pressure distributions from static pressure tap(s), wake velocity profiles obtained with a Pitot-static tube traversed through the flow, and creative qualitative flow visualization using photographs of tufts). While performing this experiment, students gain hands-on experience with these tools and measurement techniques. This redesigned experiment helps students establish both quantitative and qualitative expectations using CFD before performing the physical study. Examples include using ranges of static pressure from the CFD simulations to consider whether the instruments available to them – like a pressure transducer – are appropriate for the experiment, or estimating the size of the wake from the CFD study to set the bounds for the wake traverse measurements. Overall, this integrated approach aims to strengthen theoretical knowledge, improve intuition, and enhance students’ technical and experimental skill sets by rethinking how a traditional undergraduate fluid mechanics experiment can be paired with the introduction of CFD simulations.