COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS INTRODUCTION: Approximation Techniques

Lecture 3
APPROXIMATE SOLUTION TECHNIQUES

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Numerous approximate solution techniques have been developed for different types of
problems in CFD. These methods can be classified into two categories:
 Mesh-based methods which require discretization of the problem domain into a
mesh (or grid), e.g. finite difference, finite element, and finite volume methods.
 Mesh-free methods which primarily use a collection of nodes with no apparent
connectivity, e.g. smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), mesh-less Petrov-
Galerkin (MLPG), lattice Boltzmann methods.
Of the preceding two types, mesh-based methods are more popular in CFD. Of these, finite
volume method has been the most popular due to its simplicity and ease of application for
problems in complex geometries. In fact, majority of commercial CFD packages (e.g. Fluent,
StarCD, etc.) are based on finite volume method. In this lecture, we will have a brief
overview of finite difference, finite element and finite volume methods.

3.2 FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD (FDM)

The FDM is the oldest method for numerical solution of partial differential equations. This
method is also the easiest method to formulate and program for problems on simple
geometries. In FDM, the solution domain is discretized using a structured (usually Cartesian)
grid. The conservation equations in differential form are approximated at each grid point by
replacing the partial derivatives by finite difference approximations in terms of nodal values
of the unknown variables. This process results in an algebraic equation for each node. These
algebraic equations are collected for all the grid points and resulting system of discrete
equations are solved to yield the approximate solution of the problem at the grid nodes.

The main disadvantage of the finite difference method is its restriction to simple
geometries (although immersed boundary techniques do remove this restriction). We provide
a detailed description of this method in the following section.

3.3 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD (FEM)

The finite element method is based on the division of the problem domain into a set of finite
elements which are generally unstructured. The elements are usually triangles or
quadrilaterals in two dimensions, and tetrahedra or hexahedra in three dimensions. Starting
point of the method is conservation equation in differential form. The unknown variable is
approximated using an interpolation procedure in terms of nodal values and a set of known
functions (called shape functions). This approximation is substituted into the differential
equation. The resulting residual (error) is minimized in an average sense using a weighted
residual procedure. The weighted integral statement leads to a system of discrete equations in
terms of unknown nodal values, which is solved to obtain the solution of the problem.

FEM is ideally suited to problems on complex geometries, and hence, this method has
been very popular in computational solid mechanics. There is an extensive literature available

L3.1
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS INTRODUCTION: Approximation Techniques

on all aspects of this method: type of elements, shape functions, mesh generation,
applications to different type of problems, etc. For detailed study of FEM, interested reader
can refer to books by Zienkiewicz et al. (2005a, 2005b), Reddy (2005), Reddy and Gartling
(2010) amongst others.

3.4 FINITE VOLUME METHOD (FVM)

The finite volume method is based on the integral form of conservation equations. The
problem domain is divided into a set of non-overlapping control volumes (called finite
volumes). The conservation equations are applied to each finite volume. The integrals
occurring in the conservation equations are evaluated using function values at computational
nodes (which are usually taken as centroids of finite volumes). This process involves use of
approximate integral formulae and interpolation methods (to obtain the values of variables at
surfaces of the CVs).

The FVM can accommodate any type of grid, and hence, it is naturally suitable for
complex geometries. This explains its popularity for commercial CFD packages, which must
cater to problems in arbitrarily complex geometries. This method has immensely benefited
from the unstructured grid generation methods developed for the finite element method.

REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READING

Anderson, J. D., Jr. (1995). Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Basics with Applications.
McGraw Hill, New York.
Ferziger, J. H. And Perić, M. (2003). Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics. Springer.

Reddy, J. N. (2005). An Introduction to the Finite Element Method. 3rd Ed., McGraw Hill,
New York.

Reddy, J. N. and Gartling, D. K. (2010). The Finite Element Method in Heat Transfer and
Fluid Dynamics, 3rd ed., CRC Press

Versteeg, H. K. and Malalasekera, W. M. G. (2007). Introduction to Computational Fluid

Dynamics: The Finite Volume Method. Second Edition (Indian Reprint) Pearson Education
Zienkiewicz, O. C., Taylor, R. L., Nithiarasu, P. (2005a). The Finite Element Method for
Fluid Dynamics, Butterworth-Heinemann (Elsevier).

Zienkiewicz, O. C., Taylor, R. L., Zhu, J. Z. (2005b). The Finite Element Method: Its Basis
and Fundamentals, 6th Ed., Butterworth-Heinemann (Elsevier).

L3.2
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Conservation Laws and Mathematical Preliminaries

Lecture 4
CONSERVATION LAWS AND MATHEMATICAL
PRELIMINARIES
4.1 CONSERVATION LAWS
CFD is based on fundamental governing equations of fluid dynamics which are essentially
mathematical models of conservation laws of physics. Assuming a fluid to be a continuum,
these conservation laws are
1. Conservation of mass
2. Conservation of momentum (Newton’s second law)
3. Conservation of energy (first law of thermodynamics)
These conservation laws are supplemented with constitutive relations (e.g. stress-strain rate
relation, heat diffusion law, etc.) for a specific material.

In this lecture, we provide a brief overview mathematical notation and a few important
theorems which are used to obtain mathematical statements of the conservation laws, in
integral as well as differential forms. The integral forms provide the starting point for the
finite volume method whereas the differential form of conservation equations is used by the
finite difference and the finite element methods. This lecture closely follows the approach of
Kundu and Cohen (2008) and Panton (2005) which should be consulted for further details
and supplemental reading.

4.2 MATHEMATICAL NOTATIONS

Conservation laws of a continuum medium involve vector and tensor quantities. Following
three different types of notations are usually employed in continuum mechanics:

 Dyadic or vector notation

 Expanded or component form
 Cartesian tensor notation

Dyadic or vector notation

Dyadic notation is usually preferred for clear enunciation of the underlying physical
principles in a compact form. In this notation, form of governing equations is independent of
the choice of coordinate axes. Hence, this is also known as coordinate-free form. We would
use bold face letters to denote vectors or tensor quantities (e.g. velocity v), whereas simple
italics symbols are used for scalars (e.g., temperature T, pressure p).

Expanded or component form

Component form of governing equations is dependent on the choice of coordinate axes.
Algebraic manipulations are a lot simpler with an expanded form of conservation equations
(say, in Cartesian coordinates).

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COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Conservation Laws and Mathematical Preliminaries

Cartesian tensor notation

Cartesian tensor notation provides compactness of the dyadic notation and ease of algebraic
manipulation of Cartesian coordinate representation. In this notation, Ox1x2 x3 represents the
Cartesian reference frame Oxyz , and n subscripts are used for an nth order tensor. Thus,
 one subscript is used to denote a vector (e.g., vi denotes the vector v);
 two subscripts are used to denote a second order tensor (e.g.  ij represents stress tensor
τ ).
The summation convention given below is widely used in Cartesian tensor notation.

Summation convention
A repeated index in a term implies summation over the range of that index. For example
ai bi   ai bi (Dot product of two vectors a and b) (4.1)
i

vi v v v v
 i  1  2  3 (Divergence of vector v) (4.2)
xi xi x1 x2 x3

Kronecker delta
The Kronecker delta,  ij , is a second order isotropic tensor defined as
1 if i  j
 ij   (4.3)
0 if i  j
Substitution property of Kronecker delta:

 ij u j  ui (4.4)

Alternating tensor (permutation symbol)

The alternating tensor,  ijk is isotropic tensor of third order defined as
1 if ijk  123, 231 or 312 (cyclic order)

 ijk  0 if any two indices are equal (4.5)
1 if ijk  321, 213 or 132 (anticyclic order)


Products of Two Vectors a and b

 Scalar or dot product
a  b  b  a  a1b1  a2b2  a3b3  ai bi (4.6)
 Vector or cross product
c  a  b  ci   ijk a j bk (4.7)
 Tensor product
C  ab  Cij  ai b j (4.8)

Products of Two Second Order Tensors A and B

 Simple tensor product
C = AB  Cijkl  Aij Bkl (4.9)
 Singly contracted product (dot product)
( A  B )ij  Aik Bkj (4.10)

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COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Conservation Laws and Mathematical Preliminaries

 Doubly contracted product (scalar product)

c  A : B  c  Aij B ji (4.11)

Products of a Second Order Tensors A and vector u

 Simple tensor product
C = Au  Cijk  Aij uk (4.12)
 Singly contracted product (dot product)
( A  u )i  Aij u j (4.13)

Gradient operator (  )
The gradient operator,  (“del”) is the vector operator defined as
   
  i  j k  ii (4.14)
x y w xi
When operated on a scalar function  , it generates a vector whose ith component is  / xi .

Divergence operator ( . )
The divergence of a vector field is defined as the scalar quantity given by
v v v v
.v  i  1  2  3 (4.15)
xi x1 x2 x3
Divergence of a second order tensor τ yields a vector whose ith component is given by

 .τ i  ij (4.16)
x j
Thus, divergence operator decreases the order of a tensor by 1, whereas gradient operator
increases the order of a tensor by 1.

4.3 GAUSS DIVERGENCE THEOREM

Let V be a volume bounded by a closed surface A. Let F  x  be any scalar, vector or tensor
field. Gauss theorem states that
F
V xi dV  A FdAi (4.17)

If F is a vector, then Gauss theorem becomes

F
V xii dV  A dAi Fi or    FdV A F  dA
V
(4.18)

which is popularly known as Gauss divergence theorem. Gauss divergence theorem is used to
convert a surface integral to a volume integral (or vice-versa).

4.4 REYNOLDS TRANSPORT THEOREM (RTT)

Conservation laws are defined for a control mass system whereas a control volume based
(Eulerian) description is usually preferred for a fluid medium. Reynolds transport theorem

L4.3
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Conservation Laws and Mathematical Preliminaries

provides a relation between the time rates of change in two descriptions, and is used to obtain
the integral form of the conservation laws for a fluid medium.

Let  be an intensive property, then corresponding extensive property  for a given

system (or control mass) can be expressed as
    d (4.19)
CM

where CM represents the volume of the system which occupies the control volume Ω at a
given instant of time and ρ is mass density. Reynolds transport theorem states that the time
rate of change of  for the system is equal to the rate of change of  in control volume plus
net flux of  through boundaries of the control volume, i.e.

 d  
     d      v  v c   dA (4.20)
 dt CM t  S

where v c is velocity of the control volume with respect to the fixed inertial reference frame
in which v is defined, and S denotes the boundary surface of the control volume. The second
term on RHS is usually called the convective (or advective) term.

We would employ the preceding notations and theorems to derive the integral as well as the
differential forms of the mass, momentum and energy equations in next few lectures.

REFERENCES

Kundu, P. K. and Cohen, I. M. (2008). Fluid Mechanics, 4th Ed., Academic Press.
Panton, R. L. (2005). Incompressible Flow, 3rd Ed., Wiley.

L4.4
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Continuity Equation

Lecture 5
CONTINUITY EQUATION

5.1 MASS CONSERVATION EQUATION: INTEGRAL FORM

For a system, its mass is conserved, i.e. dM / dt  0 . Since M    .1 d , hence   1 , and


Reynolds transport theorem (L4.22) yields the following integral form for the mass
conservation (or continuity) equation for a stationary control volume:

t 
 d    v  dA  0 (5.1)
S

5.2 MASS CONSERVATION EQUATION: DIFFERENTIAL FORM

For a fixed control volume, order of temporal differentiation and integration in Eq. (5.1) can
be interchanged. Further, the convective term can be transformed into a volume integral by
applying Gauss divergence theorem, i.e.
 

t 
 d   d and   v  dA     (  v)d

t S 
(5.2)

Substitution of Eq. (5.2) into Eq. (5.1) yields

   
 t d     (  v)d  0
 
      (  v )  d  0

t 
(5.3)

The preceding equation holds for any control volume which is possible only if the integrand
vanishes everywhere, i.e.

 .   v   0 (5.4)
t

Equation (5.4) represents the differential form of continuity equation in vector notation. In
Cartesian coordinates with usual notation of velocity components (i.e. v  ui  vj  wk  vi i i ),
the continuity equation becomes

   u     v     w     vi 
     0 (5.5)
t x y z t xi
The differential form (5.4) or (5.5) can be also derived by considering mass conservation for
an infinitesimal differential control volume (see Example 5.1 below). Expanded form of
continuity equation in cylindrical polar and spherical polar coordinates can be found in any
text on fluid mechanics, e.g. Kundu and Cohen (2008) and Panton (2005).

L5.1
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Continuity Equation

Example 5.1
Derive the differential form of continuity equation using an infinitesimal differential control
volume in Cartesian coordinates.

Solution
Let us consider flow of a fluid through an infinitesimal differential control volume of
dimensions dx, dy and dz. For the sake of clarity, Figure 5.1 depicts the flow through a two-
dimensional control volume. The mass flow rate of fluid entering from the left face (negative
x-face) of the CV is  udydz and the mass flow rate leaving the positive x-face of the CV is
   u  
 u  dx  dydz. Further, the mass flow rate entering from the bottom face (negative y-
 x 
face) of the CV is  vdxdz and the mass flow rate leaving the top face (positive y-face) of the
   v  
CV is   v  dy  dxdz. Therefore,
 y 
   u  
Net mass efflux rate through x-faces =   u  dx  dydz   udydz
 x 
  u 
= dxdydz
x
   v  
Net mass efflux rate through y-faces =   v  dy  dxdz   vdxdz
 y 
  v
= dxdydz
y

 v
v  dy
y y

  u 
u u  dx
dy

x
dx

v
Figure 5.1 Mass fluxes through two-dimensional differential control volume

Similarly, for a three-dimensional control volume

   w
Net mass efflux rate through z-faces = dxdydz
z
   u     v     w 
Hence, the net mass efflux rate =     dxdydz
 x y z 

L5.2
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: Continuity Equation


Rate of accumulation of mass inside the CV = dxdydz
t
For mass conservation, the rate of mass accumulation in the control volume must be negative
of the net mass efflux rate, i.e.
    u     v     w 
dxdydz       dxdydz
t  x y z 
Dividing both sides by the differential volume dxdydz and transferring all the terms on one
side gives the following equation for mass conservation:
    u     v     w 
   0
t x y z
which is same as the continuity equation (5.5) derived from the integral form of the continuity
equation.

Exercise 5.1: Derive the differential form of continuity equation in polar coordinates by take
an infinitesimal control volume in (a) cylindrical polar coordinates and (b) spherical polar
coordinates.

REFERENCES

Kundu, P. K. and Cohen, I. M. (2008). Fluid Mechanics, 4th Ed., Academic Press.
Panton, R. L. (2005). Incompressible Flow, 3rd Ed., Wiley.

L5.3