Reduced order modeling of fluid flow effects is available in the ANSYS Mechanical APDL program. This chapter deals with the thin film effects which you can model using Mechanical APDL. For detailed fluid flow analysis capabilities, refer to the ANSYS Fluent and ANSYS CFX products.

A thin film is a small gap of fluid between moving surfaces. This thin layer of fluid can alter the structural response of the structure by adding stiffness and/or damping to the system. Movement normal to the gap produces a squeeze film effect (modeled with FLUID136 and FLUID138 elements). Movement tangential to the gap produces a slide film effect (modeled with FLUID139 elements).