Multilevel Implementation of FlowLab in Engineering Fluids

‡§ Hi storically, introduction of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the engineering curriculum has been isolated to graduate level CFD courses. With the development of FlowLab, an educational CFD tool from Fluent, an opportunity now exists for making wider use of the power of CFD within the curriculum and enhancing the students ’ learning experience with respect to fluid dynamics. The following study reports on the implementation of FlowLab in an undergraduate fluid mechanics course and a graduate viscous flow course in the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at West Virginia University. The intended goals are to use FlowLab as both an introduction to CFD and as a virtual fluids laboratory to reinforce lecture material from the classroom. Details will be provided on the implementation methodology, materials used, and the student reactions. The authors will speculate on whether the fluids curriculum was enhanced by the addition of FlowLab and the potential future of this tool.