Enhance Undergraduate Understanding of Transport Phenomena Via Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics

The educational benefits associated with integrating computer-assisted learning and simulation technology into undergraduate engineering courses are great. One area which has not been developed to a large extent is CFD. This is due primarily to the lack of trained users of CFD, the lack of knowledge of educational CFD software, and the start up time associated with developing educational CFD materials. This presentation will show how professors can easily and seamlessly incorporate CFD into their undergraduate transport phenomena courses, with very minimal in-class time required. In addition, experiences applying CFD (using the educational software code FlowLab (ANSYS)) into the first undergraduate transport course will be shared. Finally, assessment methods used to determine the effectiveness of the addition of CFD to the transport course will be discussed.