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An adaptive finite element method for thermal hydraulics problems

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6457477
;  [1]
  1. Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal (Canada)

The paper presents an adaptive finite element method based on remeshing to solve incompressible viscous flow problems including heat transfer effects by forced or free convection. Conjugate heat transfer problems are also considered. Solutions are obtained in primitive variables by an Uzawa algorithm using a highly accurate finite element approximation on unstructured grids. Two error estimators are presented and compared on problems with known analytical solutions. The methodology is then applied to a problem of practical interest and predictions are compared with experimental measurements. Finally a non-trivial conjugate heat transfer problem is solved to show the versatility and flexibility of the proposed approach. The method is shown to lead to improved accuracy and reliability of finite element predictions. 14 refs.

OSTI ID:
6457477
Report Number(s):
AIAA-Paper--93-0920; CONF-930108--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English