Comparative performance of the conjugate gradient and SOR (Successive Over Relaxation) methods for computational thermal hydraulics

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5746389

King, J B; Anghaie, S; Domanus, H M

Finite difference approximations to the continuity, momentum, and energy equations in thermal hydraulics codes result in a system of N by N equations for a problem having N field points. In a three dimensional problem, N increases as the problem becomes larger or more complex, and more rapidly as the computational mesh size is reduced. As a consequence, the execution time required to solve the problem increases, which may lead to placing limits on the problem resolution or accuracy. A conventinal method of solution of these systems of equations is the Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) technique. However, for a wide range of problems the execution time may be reduced by using a more efficient linear equation solver. One such method is the conjugate gradient method which was implemented in COMMIX-1B thermal hydraulics code. It was found that the execution time required to solve the resulting system of equations was reduced by a factor of about 2 for some problems. This paper summarizes the characteristics of these iterative solution procedures and compares their performance in modeling of a variety of reactor thermal hydraulic problems, using the COMMIX-1B computer code.

• Research Organization: Oregon State Univ., Corvallis (USA); Florida Univ., Gainesville (USA); Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5746389
• Report Number(s): CONF-871101-70; ON: DE88002553
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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