Guest Post/Tutorial by Best Engineering Aids and Consultancies Pvt. Ltd. (BEACON India)
In 3DEXPERIENCE Fluid Dynamics Engineer, the multispecies model enables the simulation of fluid flows involving two or more chemically distinct substances, such as air and water vapor, fuel-air mixtures, or contaminant dispersion in air. This model captures the transport and mixing of individual species within a single-phase flow, accounting for differences in properties like molecular weight, diffusivity, and specific heat. The framework allows for the specification of boundary conditions for each species (e.g., mass fraction or inflow composition), making it suitable for a wide range of applications, from HVAC airflow analysis to combustion precursors and microfluidic mixture making.
The multispecies capabilities in 3DEXPERIENCE are tightly integrated into the finite volume-based solver, and include options for species transport equations, diffusion modeling, and source terms such as volumetric mixture source. Users can monitor species concentration fields, track scalar transport, and perform post-processing on quantities like total mass fraction or mixing efficiency. The model also allows coupling with thermal and turbulent models, enabling realistic simulation of heat and species transfer in complex geometries. This makes it a powerful tool for industries requiring accurate prediction of mixing, dilution, or contamination, such as automotive, aerospace, energy, and packaging.
One of the main applications of multispecies models comes in microfluidic mixtures which are extensively used in the medical field. Water-ethanol, water-glycerol are some of the unique examples for different medicine preparation. Y shaped mixture channels are the most used mixing channels for these applications. As indicated by arrow marks in figure below the individual fluid (water and ethanol) comes through the inclined limbs, get mixed at the center of the channel and flow out through the other limb. The size of square cross section channels are 6 μm respectively. The simulation results are also given below.
The results shows proper flow development after mixing (see velocity contour).
The flow development (fully developed velocity) happens after mixing as visualized from velocity contour. The mass fraction of Ethanol is at initial and final (1s) are shown in the contour below.
The ethanol from left limb mixes with water from the right limb at the center. Mass fraction of 0.5 is seen at center (mixing region). This implies that proper mixing is achieved on the channel. The mixing region is developing a rectangular sheath at channel center. This sheath is important in field of nanoparticle generation.
In short, the multispecies model in 3DEXPERIENCE Fluid Dynamics Engineer offers a reliable and efficient way to simulate the transport and mixing of multiple non-reacting fluid species within a single-phase flow. While it does not support chemical reactions, it accurately captures the spatial and temporal variation of species concentrations due to convection and diffusion. This makes it particularly valuable for a wide range of applications such as gas dispersion, ventilation analysis, air quality prediction, and microfluidics—where precise control of species mixing and transport at small scales is critical. By integrating with thermal and turbulence models, the multispecies capability provides a comprehensive approach to understanding and optimizing fluid behavior in complex geometries, supporting better engineering decisions across industries including aerospace, automotive, packaging, biomedical, and microfluidic system design.
Guest Post/Tutorial by Best Engineering Aids and Consultancies Pvt. Ltd. (BEACON India)
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