Numerical method for the computation of flow in irregular domains that exhibit geometric periodicity using nonstaggered grids
- Innovative Research, Inc., Minneapolis, MN (United States)
- Fluent, Inc., Lebanon, NH (United States)
- Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Flows in many engineering applications occur in devices that exhibit geometric periodicity, giving rise to flow characteristics that are spatially periodic. This periodicity can be of two types, translational and rotational. Since the geometries encountered in practice are often complex, periodic boundary-fitted grids are used over a typical module to predict such flows. Nonstaggered grids are frequently used for discretizing the equations governing the flow. These methods employ Cartesian velocities as the primary unknowns. In rotationally periodic geometries, these components themselves are not periodic, necessitating special considerations in incorporating the periodicity conditions over the periodic modules. The aim of the present study is to propose modifications to the conventional nonstaggered grid methods for computations of spatially periodic flows, so that geometric periodicities can be treated in a unified manner. The proposed formulation represents a generalization of the existing formulations for nonstaggered grids and can be applied for the discretization of the governing equations in domains with or without periodicity. The proposed formulation is first validated by comparing the computed solutions with the exact solutions for Couette flows in a parallel-plate channel and a cylindrical annulus. The method is then applied to three physical situations to illustrate its utility.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 452166
- Journal Information:
- Numerical Heat Transfer. Part B, Fundamentals, Journal Name: Numerical Heat Transfer. Part B, Fundamentals Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 31; ISSN 1040-7790; ISSN NHBFEE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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