This project is enhancing undergraduate learning by integrating Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modules into fluid mechanics and transport phenomena courses. Students are developing CFD numerical solutions to problems previously analyzed only via either simplified empirical correlations or laboratory experiments. The increased understanding the students are achieving through CFD solutions enable complex problems across a diverse range of engineering disciplines to be solved more effectively.
Introducing CFD into undergraduate courses is possible because simplified CFD tools allow undergraduate students to solve complex problems without needing to become CFD software experts. The FlowLab simulation package, developed by Fluent Inc., appeals to and enhances the learning experiences of students with a wide variety of learning styles.
The learning outcomes associated with this project are well defined, and the assessment techniques for documenting the achievement of these outcomes are comprehensive and rigorous. Presentations at conferences and published papers and articles are helping to disseminate outcomes as widely as possible. Close communication with ongoing, related CFD educational efforts elsewhere also provide opportunities for improving future CFD education modules and implementing them at more universities worldwide.
