CFD techniques and their relevance to mechatronics

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a powerful technique for predicting fluid flow and heat transfer in engineering systems. Exemplars are presented to demonstrate the relevance of CFD to mechatronics. Popular CFD techniques and commercial packages are discussed. Predictions relevant to pneumatic actuators, magnetic bearings, enclosures containing electronic components, solar-concentrators and inert gas electronic insulation are presented. The exemplars chosen illustrate the prediction of: unsteady; three dimensional; turbulent; moving boundary; forced convection and free convection flows. The amount of time required to set up and run the exemplars is given and on average this is 12 min and 2.5 h, respectively.