Jeppiaar Engg.
College CFD
ME6014 –COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS
UNIT IV - FLOW FIELD ANALYSIS
PART A
1. What is staggered grid?
On a staggered grid the scalar variables (pressure, density, total enthalpy etc.) are stored in the cell
centers of the control volumes, whereas the velocity or momentum variables are located at the cell
faces. This is different from a collocated grid arrangement, where all variables are stored in the same
positions. A staggered storage is mainly used on structured grids for compressible or incompressible
flow simulations.
2. What is necessity of staggered grid in control volume method?
Using a staggered grid is a simple way to avoid odd-even decoupling between the pressure and velocity.
Odd-even decoupling is a discretization error that can occur on collocated grids and which leads to
checkerboard patterns in the solutions.
3. What is considered to be as main disadvantage in staggered grid?
The disadvantage of using staggered grids is that different variable are stored at different places and
this makes it more difficult to handle different control volumes for different varibales and to keep track
of the metrics. Most modern codes instead use a collocated storage.
4. Define peclet number and state its importance.
The Peclet number (Pe) .is defined to be the ratio of the rate of advection of a physical quantity by the
flow to the rate of diffusion of the same quantity driven by an appropriate gradient. The Peclet number
is defined as:
Its importance is, if the Peclet number is often very large. In such situations, the dependency of the
flow upon downstream locations is diminished, and variables in the flow tend to become 'one-way'
properties. Thus, when modelling certain situations with high Peclet numbers, simpler computational
models can be adopted.
5. List out salient features of the cell centered formulation
The Cell centered formulation method is most popular among FVM. The elements are identical to the
discretization elements and it is second order accurate and it allows for the use of general polygonal
elements with no need for predefined shape functions.
6. What are the advantages of finite volume method over finite difference method.
The basic advantage of this method over FDM is it does not require the use of structured grids, and the
effort to convert the given mesh in to structured numerical grid internally is completely avoided. As
with FDM, the resulting approximate solution is a discrete, but the variables are typically placed at cell
centers rather than at nodal points. This is not always true, as there are also face-centered finite volume
methods. In any case, the values of field variables at non-storage locations (e.g. vertices) are obtained
using interpolation.
7. List out the general comments on SIMPLE & SIMPLEC
In CFD, SIMPLE is the default, but many problems will benefit from the use of SIMPLEC, particularly
because of the increased under-relaxation that can be applied.
For relatively uncomplicated problems (laminar flows with no additional models activated) in which
convergence is limited by the pressure-velocity coupling, you can often obtain a converged solution
more quickly using SIMPLEC.
With SIMPLEC, the pressure-correction under-relaxation factor is generally set to 1.0, which aids in
convergence speed-up.
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For complicated flows involving turbulence and/or additional physical models, SIMPLEC will improve
convergence only if it is being limited by the pressure-velocity coupling. Often it will be one of the
additional modeling parameters that limits convergence; in this case, SIMPLE and SIMPLEC will give
similar convergence rates.
8. List out the general comments on SIMPLE & SIMPLER
I. Although SIMPLER has been found to give faster convergence than SIMPLE, computation
effort per increases.
It involves solving the pressure equation.
Calculation of û, v^ and w^ which is not there in SIMPLE.
II. However since SIMPLER requires fewer iterations for convergence, the additional effort
required is justified.
9. What is meant by strong conservation and weak conservation form?
A strong form of the governing equations along with boundary conditions states the conditions at every
point over a domain that a solution must satisfy. On the other hand a weak form states the conditions
that the solution must satisfy in an integral sense. A weak form does not imply "inaccuracy" or
"inferiority". Examples of weak forms are variational formulations or weighted residual formulations.
10. What is First order upwind scheme?
I. This is the simplest numerical scheme. It is the method that we used earlier in the
discretization example.
II. We assume that the value of f at the face is the same as the cell centered value in the cell
upstream of the face.
III. The main advantages are that it is easy to implement and that it results in very stable
calculations, but it also very diffusive. Gradients in the flow field tend to be smeared out,
as we will show later.
IV. This is often the best scheme to start calculations with
11. What is the Principle behind SIMPLE?
The principle behind SIMPLE is quite simple!
I. It is based on the premise that fluid flows from regions with high pressure to low pressure.
– Start with an initial pressure field.
– Look at a cell.
– If continuity is not satisfied because there is more mass flowing into that cell than out of
the cell, the pressure in that cell compared to the neighboring cells must be too low.
– Thus the pressure in that cell must be increased relative to the neighboring
cells.
– The reverse is true for cells where more mass flows out than in.
– Repeat this process iteratively for all cells.
II. The trick is in finding a good equation for the pressure correction as a function of mass
imbalance.
12. List out some Improvements on SIMPLE.
I. SIMPLE is the default algorithm in most commercial finite volume codes.
II. Improved versions are:
– SIMPLER (SIMPLE Revised).
– SIMPLEC (SIMPLE Consistent).
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– PISO (Pressure Implicit with Splitting of Operators).
III. All these algorithms can speed up convergence because they allow for the use of larger
under relaxation factors than SIMPLE.
IV. All of these will eventually converge to the same solution. The differences are in speed and
stability.
V. Which algorithm is fastest depends on the flow and there is no single algorithm that is
always faster than the other ones.
13. What do you understand by Finite volume method?
I. The FVM uses the integral conservation equation applied to control volumes which
subdivide the solution domain, and to the entire solution domain.
II. The variable values at the faces of the control volume are determined by interpolation.
False diffusion can arise depending on the choice of interpolation scheme.
III. The grid must be refined to reduce “smearing” of the solution as shown in the last example.
IV. Advantages of FVM: integral conservation is exactly satisfied and the method is not limited
to grid type (structured or unstructured, Cartesian or body-fitted).
V. Always ensure proper convergence
14. What is the essence of SIMPLE algorithm?
The essence of the SIMPLE algorithm or Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations is as
follows.
A guessed pressure field is used in the solution of the momentum equations. (For all but the first
iteration, the guessed pressure field is simply the last updated one.) The new velocities are
computed, but these will not, in general, satisfy the continuity equation, so corrections to the
velocities are determined. Based on the velocity corrections, a pressure correction is computed
which, when added to the original guessed pressure, results in an updated pressure. Following the
solution of the remaining problem variables, the iteration is complete and the entire process
repeated.
15. What is the process of under relaxation? What is the factor ranges from?
The solution of a single differential equation, solved iteratively, makes use of information from the
previous iteration. If φn is the value of the variable from the previous iteration and φn+1 is the new
value, then some small difference or change in the variable brings the variable from the old value
to the new one.
Rather than use the full computed change in the variable, ∆φ, it is often necessary to use a
fraction of the computed change when several coupled equations are involved.
This process is called underrelaxation, and underrelaxation factors, f, typically range from 0.1 to 1.0
16. What are the advantages of staggered grid?
The main advantages of a staggered grid are:
I. The discretized continuity equation would contain the differences of adjacent velocity
components and that this would prevent a wavy velocity field from satisfying the
continuity equation. Only reasonable velocity fields would have the possibility of being
acceptable to the continuity equation.
II. The pressure difference between two adjacent grid points now becomes the natural
driving force for the velocity component located between the grid points. Consequently,
the zigzag pressure field or the checkerboard pressure field will no longer be felt as
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uniform pressure fields and could not arise as possible solutions.
17. Indicate the significance of up-wind type formulation in solving fluid flow problems.
Upwind schemes (or simply upwinding) are designed to numerically simulate more properly the
direction of the propagation of information in a flow field along the characteristic curves. As a result,
if the upwinding is carried out in a proper fashion, the calculation of very sharp discontinuities
(spread over only two grid points) with no oscillations is possible.
18. Define staggered grid approach?
A typical choice is then cell-centres for representation as piecewise constant functions or cell-
vertices for representation as piecewise linear (or bilinear) functions. choices imply an interpolation
structure, the last two do not. In the last example, function values are not defined in all nodes. The grid
of nodes on which pressure and density are defined is different from the grid of nodes on which
velocity-x components and velocity-y components are defined. This approach commonly is called the
staggered grid approach.
PART B
1. Explain the SIMPLE algorithm used for steady incompressible flow.
Refer “An intro. To CFD by Malalasekera” – Page no: 186
2. Explain the algorithm SIMPLE with necessary flow chart and description.
Refer “An intro. To CFD by Malalasekera” – Page no: 190
3. Explain the SIMPLER algorithm with flow chart description.
Refer “An intro. To CFD by Malalasekera” – Page no: 191
4. Explain the PISO algorithm with flow chart description.
Refer “An intro. To CFD by Malalasekera” – Page no: 193
5. Explain the concept of staggered grid with an example.
Refer “An intro. To CFD by Malalasekera” – Page no: 180
6. Write short notes on,
(i) Strong formulation
Refer “CFD by John.F.Wendt” – Page no: 237
(ii) Weak formulation
Refer “CFD by John.F.Wendt” – Page no: 242
(iii) Weighted residual formulation
Refer “CFD by John.F.Wendt” – Page no: 240
(iv) Galerkin formulation
Refer “CFD by John.F.Wendt” – Page no: 241
7. Explain cell centred formulation and cell vertex formulation.
Refer “CFD by John.F.Wendt” – Page no: 280 & 290
