Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations

SIMPLE Algorithm
Way to solve incompressible NV-Stokes Equation

- by Rajat Walia
Here is everything about it.

Content
• Introduction

• Main Problem

• What happens when flow is incompressible?

• Principle behind SIMPLE Algorithm

• How does SIMPLE Algorithm works?

• Detailed SIMPLE Algorithm explanation

• SIMPLE Algorithm Flow Chart

Introduction
• Transport equations for each velocity component – momentum equations – can be
derived from the general transport equation by replacing the variable φ by u, v and w
respectively.

• Above equations governs a two-dimensional laminar steady flow:

Main Problem!

• The velocity field obtained from the momentum equation must also satisfy the continuity
equation.

• The convective terms of the momentum equations contain non-linear quantities: for
example, the first term of equation is the x- derivative of ρu2.

• All three equations are intricately coupled because every velocity component appears in
each momentum equation and in the continuity equation.

• The most complex issue to resolve is the role played by the pressure. It appears in both
momentum equations, but there is evidently no (transport or other) equation for the
pressure.
Main Problem!

• If the pressure gradient is known, the process of obtaining discretised equations for
velocities from the momentum equations is exactly the same as that for any other scalar.

• If the flow is compressible the continuity equation may be used as the transport equation
for density and, the energy equation is the transport equation for temperature.

• The pressure may then be obtained from density and temperature by using the equation
of state p = p(ρ, T).
What happens when the flow is
incompressible?
Issue with Incompressible Flow!

• If the flow is incompressible the density is constant and hence by definition not linked to
the pressure.

• In this case coupling between pressure and velocity introduces a constraint in the solution
of the flow field.

• We don’t have any separate equation for pressure.

Still we need to supply correct pressure field into the momentum equation so that
resulting velocity field satisfies the continuity constrain.
SIMPLE Algorithm
SIMPLE Algorithm
• The pressure–velocity linkage can be resolved by adopting an iterative solution strategy
such as the SIMPLE algorithm of Patankar and Spalding (1972).

• In SIMPLE Algorithm:-

 The convective fluxes through cell faces are evaluated from guessed velocity
components.

 A guessed pressure field is used to solve the momentum equations.

 A pressure correction equation is derived from the continuity & momentum

equation.

 That Pressure Correction equation is solved to obtain a pressure correction field,

which is in turn used to update the velocity and pressure fields that will satisfy the
continuity equation.

 Again Momentum equation are solve with the updated pressure and velocity field.

 The process is iterated until convergence of the velocity and pressure fields.
Principle behind SIMPLE Algorithm
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 neighbouring cells must be
too low.

 Thus the pressure in that cell must be increased relative to the neighbouring cells.

 The reverse is true for cells where more mass flows out than in.

 Repeat this process iteratively for all cells.

The trick is in finding a good equation for the pressure correction

as a function of mass imbalance.
How does it actually work?
Complete Algorithm
1. Guess the pressure field p*

2. Solve the momentum equations to obtain u*, v* and w*

3. Solve the p’ equation (continuity)

4. Correct Pressure field p = p’ + p*

Complete Algorithm
5. Calculate the velocity corrections u’, v’, w’

6. Correct velocity field u = u* + u’ ; v = v* + v’ ; w = w* + w’

Detailed Algorithm Explanation
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
The SIMPLE stands for Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure- Linked Equations.

• The algorithm is essentially a guess-and-correct procedure for the calculation of pressure

on the staggered grid arrangement.

• Now, Steps involved in solving the incompressible Navier Stokes Equation using SIMPLE
Algorithm are explained.

1. Guess & Solve

• Guess a pressure field p* is guessed.
• Discretised momentum equations are solved using the guessed pressure field to yield
velocity components u* and v* as follows:

• u* & v* satisfies the momentum equation but does not satisfy the continuity equation.
• Equation in the box is obtained from Finite Volume Discretization of Momentum
Equation.
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm

2. Introduce a Correction Term

• We define the correction p′ as the difference between correct pressure field p and the
guessed pressure field p*.

• Similarly we define velocity corrections u′ and v′ to relate the correct velocities u & v to
the guessed velocities u* and v*.
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
3. Obtain Velocity Correction
• Subtraction the discretized equations obtained from corrected pressure field from the
correct discretized equations(where there is no assumed pressure field)

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• After doing that equation obtained is shown below.

• Substitute the correction terms in above equation and we obtain as shown below.
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
3. Obtain Velocity Correction

• Fs are ignored and we obtain as follow:-

• Above equation gives the relation between correction pressure p′ & velocity corrections
u′ and v′.
• Substituting above equations into we obtain:-

• Finally we have obtained an equation for velocity field based on guessed velocity field
and corrected pressure field term.
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
4. Obtain an Equation for Pressure Correction P’
• As mentioned earlier, Momentum Equation solved using guessed pressure field satisfies
the momentum conservation but not the mass conservation.

• Then we introduce a correction term P’,U’,V’ which is added with guessed value P*,U*,V*
to correct the pressure and velocity field.

• Then we obtain an expression that corrects the velocity field based on the guessed
velocities U’,V’ and corrected pressure P’ as shown below.

• Now we have to obtain equation for pressure correction term P’ so that we can correct
our velocity field.
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
4. Obtain an Equation for Pressure Correction P’
• The velocity field is subject to the constraint that it should satisfy continuity equation.
Continuity is satisfied in discretised form for the scalar control volume shown below.

• Substitute the corrected velocities of equations into discretised continuity equation.

• The equation obtained after doing some rearrangements is as follow:-

• Above equation is known as Poisson Equation for Pressure in a Discretized form.

Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
4. Obtain an Equation for Pressure Correction P’

Where & the coefficients are given below

• The source term b′ in the equation is the continuity imbalance arising from the incorrect
velocity field u*, v*.

• By solving equation for P’, Pressure Correction Term can be obtained in complete domain.
Working of SIMPLE Algorithm
5. Correct the Pressure Field

• Using above equation, obtain the pressure correction term P’ & correct the pressure field.

6. Correct the Velocity Field

• Using above equation, Obtain the correct velocity field.

This complete process is iterated until convergence of the velocity and pressure
fields meaning velocity and pressure fields attains a steady state.
Flow Chart
Flow Chart