LECTURE SOLVER SETTINGS

INTRODUCTION
Lecture Theme:
FLUENT requires inputs (solver settings) which tell it how to calculate the
solution. By introducing the concepts of accuracy, stability and
convergence, the purpose of each setting can be understood. Emphasis
will be placed on convergence, which is critical for the CFD simulation.
Learning Aims:
You will learn:
How to choose the solver and the discretization schemes
How to initialize the solution
How to monitor and judge solution convergence and accuracy

Learning Objectives:
You will be able to choose appropriate solver settings for your CFD
simulation and be able to monitor and judge solution convergence
 SOLUTION PROCEDURE OVERVIEW
• The sketch to the right shows the
basic workflow for any simulation
Set the solution parameters
• This lecture will look at all the items
in the chart Initialize the solution
– Solutionparameters
• Choosing the solver Enable the solution monitors of interest
• Discretization schemes
– Initialization Calculate a solution
Modify solution
parameters or grid
– Convergence
• Monitoring convergence
Check for convergence
• Stability
– Setting Under‐relaxation Yes No
– Setting Courant number
– Setting Pseudo‐timestep
• Accelerating convergence Check for accuracy No
– Accuracy
• Grid Independence Yes
• Adaption Stop
 AVAILABLE SOLVERS
• There are two kinds of solvers available in FLUENT
• Pressure based
• Density based Pressure-Based Density-Based
Segregated Coupled Coupled Implicit Coupled-Explicit

Solve U-Momentum

Solve V-Momentum Solve Mass, Solve Mass,

Solve Mass Momentum, Momentum,
Solve W-Momentum & Momentum Energy, Energy,
Species Species
Solve Mass
Continuity;
Update Velocity

Solve Energy

Solve Species

Solve Turbulence Equation(s)

Solve Other Transport Equations as required

 PRESSURE‐BASED SOLVER (PBS)
• The pressure‐based solvers Pressure-Based
Segregated Coupled
– Velocity field is obtained from the momentum
equation Solve U-Momentum

– Mass conservation (continuity) is achieved by Solve V-Momentum

solving a pressure correction equation Solve Mass
• Pressure‐velocity coupling algorithms are derived by Solve W-Momentum & Momentum
reformatting the continuity equation
Solve Mass
• The pressure equation is derived in such a way that Continuity;
the velocity field, corrected by the pressure, satisfies Update Velocity
continuity
– Energy equation (where appropriate) is solved Solve Energy
sequentially
Solve Species
– Additional scalar equations are also solved in a
segregated (sequential) fashion
Solve Turbulence Equation(s)

Solve Other Transport Equations as required

 DENSITY‐BASED SOLVER (DBS)
• Density‐based Solver (DBS) Density-Based
Coupled Implicit Coupled Explicit
– The governing equations of continuity,
momentum, and (where appropriate) energy
and species transport are solved Solve Mass, Solve Mass,
simultaneously (i.e., coupled together) Momentum, Momentum,
Energy, Energy,
– Additional scalar equations are solved in a Species Species
segregated fashion
– The density‐based solver can be run implicit or
explicit

Solve Turbulence Equation(s)

Solve Other Transport Equations as required

CHOOSING A SOLVER
 CHOOSING A SOLVER – PRESSURE
BASED
• The pressure‐based solver (segregated) is applicable for a wide
range of flow regimes from low speed incompressible flow to
high‐speed compressible flow
– Requires less memory (storage) compared to coupled solvers
– Allows flexibility in the solution procedure – damping of all equations separately
– Examples: Good for the majority of day‐to‐day applications; for convergence
issues switch to PBCS or DBCS

• The pressure‐based coupled solver is applicable for most flows,

and yields superior performance to the standard (segregated)
pressure‐based solver
– Not available with NITA, periodic mass‐flow, fixed‐
velocity option
– Requires 1.5–2 times more memory than the Enabling
segregated solver. pressure-based
– Examples: More demanding applications where coupled solver
pressure‐velocity coupling rules convergence, e.g. (PBCS)
high inertia or body forces
 PBS ‐ PRESSURE‐VELOCITY COUPLING
• Pressure‐velocity coupling refers to the numerical algorithm which uses a
combination of continuity and momentum equations to derive an equation for
pressure correction when using the PBS

• Five algorithms are available in FLUENT

– Semi‐Implicit Method for Pressure‐Linked Equations
(SIMPLE)
• The default scheme, robust (memory efficient)
– Coupled
• Enable the Pressure‐based coupled Solver. (faster convergence than segregated)

– SIMPLE‐Consistent (SIMPLEC)
• Allows faster convergence than SIMPLE for simple problems (allow high under‐relaxation
factors) (e.g., laminar flows with no physical models employed)
– Pressure‐Implicit with Splitting of Operators (PISO)
• Useful for unsteady flow problems or for meshes containing cells with higher than average
skewness
– Fractional Step Method (FSM) for unsteady flows only
• Used with the NITA scheme; similar characteristics as PISO (used in LES for example)
 PBS SEGREGATED PROCEDURE ‐ UNDER‐RELAXATION
FACTORS
• Implicit under‐relaxation factors are used for SIMPLE, SIMPLEC, PISO
– The under‐relaxation factor, α, is included to stabilize the iterative process for
the pressure‐based solver
– The final, converged solution is independent
of the under‐relaxation factor
• Only the number of iterations required
for convergence is dependen

• Default settings are suitable for a

wide range of problems
– You can reduce the values when necessary
– Appropriate settings are best learned
from experience!

• Note : For the density‐based solver,

under‐relaxation factors for equations
outside the coupled set are modified
as in the pressure‐based solver
 PRESSURE BASED COUPLED SOLVER
• 2 main options to control convergence:
– Piloted by Courant number: default =200
• can be reduced for more complex physics 10‐50
(multiphase, combustion)

– Pseudo‐transient (similar to CFX solver)

Pseudo-transient:
Better convergence
for meshes with
• Pseudo time step is determined from velocity and large aspect ratio
domain size.
cells
• User‐specified: Characteristic physical time is chosen
 PRESSURE‐BASED COUPLED SOLVER:
CONVERGENCE
• Pressure based coupled solver with default settings
Rotating propeller 1500 rpm SIMPLE: ~2250 iterations Coupled: ~120 iterations

– Approximately 2250 iterations of SIMPLE (default) in 3.5 hours

– Approximately 120 iterations of coupled 13 minutes
 USING THE PSEUDO‐TRANSIENT SOLUTION
METHOD
• Solution Method panel
– Select Pseudo Transient
• Run Calculation panel
– Select Time step method
• Automatic (default)
• User Specified

InternalIntern
Flow
– For Automatic al Flow
Flow

• Select Length Scale Method (time=length/velocity)

Lext
– Aggressive :
Internal Flow Lvol  3 Vol
– Conservative : Max(Lext , LVol )
– User Specified Min(Lext , LVol ) External Flow ExternalEFlow
nal Flow
xter
Flow

– Conservative setting is the default L

• Specify “Time Step Scaling factor”: additional usercontrol

to scale automatic method
 CHOOSING A SOLVER – DENSITY
BASED
• The density‐based solver is applicable when there is a strong coupling, or
interdependence, between density, energy, momentum, and/or species

• Density‐based Coupled Implicit

– The implicit option is generally preferred over explicit since explicit has a very strict limit on
time scale size (CFL constraint) as implicit does not have
– Examples: High speed compressible flow with combustion, hypersonic flows, shock
interactions

• Density‐based Coupled Explicit

– The explicit approach is used for cases where the characteristic time scale of the flow is on
the same order as the acoustic time scale
– Example: propagation of high‐Mach shock waves, shock tube problem
 DBS ITERATIVE PROCEDURE – COURANT
NUMBER
• A pseudo‐transient term is included in the density‐based solver even for steady
state problems
– The Courant number (CFL) defines the
time scale size
–Pseudo‐transient option can also be used as
pressure based coupled solver.

• For density‐based explicit solver:

– Stability constraints impose a maximum limit
on the Courant number (<2)

• For density‐based implicit solver:

– The Courant number is theoretically not limited
by stability constraints
• Default value is 5
– (can be reduced for start up to 0.1‐2)
• Values of 100 – 1000 are common in external aero
 DBS ITERATIVE PROCEDURE –
SOLUTION STEERING
• Objective:
– Provide an expert system that will Blending Factor - Stage-1

navigate the solution from the difficult 

f   0 (1) (dr)
initial starting solution to a converged
solution with minimum user
intervention and tweaking CFL=200
• Particularly useful for high speed CFL Update – Stage 2
compressible flows
CFL

• Activating Solution Steering: CFL=5

– Set up your case the normal way 0 100 200 300 400

– Perform initialization (i.e. typically from Stage-1

flow inlets) Stage-2

– Activate Solution Steering

– Select type of flow that best
characterizes the problem
• incompressible, subsonic,
transonic, supersonic ,
hypersonic flows CFL update Termination level

– Start iterating
0 100 200 300 400
 PBS ‐ INTERPOLATION METHODS FOR
PRESSURE
• Interpolation is required for calculating cell‐face pressures in order to compute pressure
gradient (Gauss method):

P
Area Value (e.g. Pressure) computed here
face Aface Vector
But solver must estimate the value at each
P  face
face in order to compute pressure gradient
Vol cell (Gauss method)

– Standard – The default scheme; reduced accuracy for flows exhibiting large surface‐normal pressure
gradients near boundaries (but should not be used when steep pressure changes are present in the
flow – PRESTO! scheme should be used instead)
– PRESTO! – Use for highly swirling flows, flows involving steep pressure gradients (porous media,
fan model, etc.), or in strongly curved domains
– Linear – Use when other options result in convergence difficulties or unphysical behavior
– Second‐Order – Use for compressible flows; not to be used with porous media, jump, fans, etc. or
VOF/Mixture multiphase models
– Body Force Weighted – Use when body forces are large, e.g., high Ra natural convection or highly
swirling flows
 DISCRETIZATION (INTERPOLATION
METHODS)
• Field variables (stored at cell centers) must be interpolated to the
faces of the control volumes

• Interpolation schemes for the convection term:

– First‐Order Upwind – Easiest to converge, only first‐order accurate
– Power Law – More accurate than first‐order for flows when Recell < 5 (typ. low Re
flows)
– Second‐Order Upwind – Uses larger stencils for 2nd order accuracy, essential with
tri/tet mesh or when flow is not aligned with grid; convergence may be slower
– Monotone Upstream‐Centered Schemes for Conservation Laws (MUSCL) – Locally 3rd
order convection discretization scheme for unstructured meshes; more accurate in
predicting secondary flows, vortices, forces, etc.
– Quadratic Upwind Interpolation (QUICK) – Applies to quad/hex and hybrid meshes,
useful for rotating/swirling flows, 3rd‐order accurate on uniform Quad mesh
 EFFECTS OF DISCRETIZATION
Flow is misaligned Theory
RG
 f   C0     C 0 dr0
with mesh

f 1

C0 dr 0 C1 0

1st-Order Upwind
• If  = 0 we get the 1st‐Order‐Upwind convection Scheme
scheme, i.e. no correction =0
– This is robust but only first order accurate
– Sometimes useful for initial runs
2nd-Order
• If  = 1 we get the 2nd‐Order‐Upwind Scheme Scheme
=1.00
– Additional Limiters must be added to guaranteed the
solution to be bounded (C0<f<C1)
QUICK
• The QUICK Resolution scheme “maximizes”  Resolution
throughout the flow domain while keeping the Scheme
solution bounded
 DISCRETIZATION (INTERPOLATION
METHODS)
• Interpolation schemes for the diffusive term:

– Always central‐differenced & 2nd order accuracy

 INTERPOLATION METHODS
(GRADIENTS)
• Gradients of solution variables are required in order to evaluate
diffusive fluxes, velocity derivatives, and for higher‐order
discretization schemes.

RG
 f   C 0     C 0 dr 0
Cell based/
Least-Squares
• The gradients of solution variables at cell centers can be
determined using three approaches:
– Green‐Gauss Cell‐Based – Good, but solution may have false diffusion (smearing of
the solution fields)
– Green‐Gauss Node‐Based – More accurate; minimizes false diffusion; (strongly
recommended for tri/tet and hybrid meshes)
– Least‐Squares Cell‐Based – The default method. Less expensive to compute than Node‐ Node-Based
Based gradients. Slightly more expensive than Cell‐Based gradients. However, exactly
reconstruct linear field on highly skewed or distorted meshes. (appropriate for any kind of
meshes)
 INITIALIZATION
• FLUENT requires that all solution variables be initialized before starting
iterations
– A realistic initial guess improves solution stability and accelerates convergence
– In some cases a poor initial guess may cause the solver to fail during the first few
iterations

• 5 ways to initialize the flow field

– Standard initialization
– Patch values
– Hybrid initialization (solves potential equation)
– FMG initialization
– Starting from a previous solution
 STANDARD INITIALIZATION AND
PATCH VALUES
• Standard Initialization
– Generally the user selects an inlet boundary
under “Compute from” to automatically fill the
initialization values with the values that are
specified at the inlet boundary

• Patch values for individual

variables in certain regions
– Free jet flows (high velocity for jet)
– Combustion problems (high temperature
region to initialize reaction)
– Cell registers (created by marking the
cells in the Adaption panel) can be used
for patching values into various regions
of the domain.
– Multiphase flows (patch different phase
volume fractions in one or more regions)
 HYBRID INITIALIZATION
• The default initialization method
• This provides a quick approximation of the
flow field, by a collection of methods.
• It solves Laplace's equation to determine the
velocity and pressure fields.

• All other variables, such as temperature,

turbulence, species fractions, volume
fractions, etc., will be automatically patched
based on domain averaged values or a
particular interpolation method.
 FMG INITIALIZATION
• Full Multigrid (FMG) Initialization
– Can be used to create a better initialization of the flow field
• FMG Initialization is useful for complex flow problems involving large pressure and velocity gradients
on large meshes
– FMG uses the Full Approximation Storage (FAS) Multigrid method to solve the flow problem
on a sequence of coarser meshes
• Euler equations are solved with first‐order accuracy on the coarse‐level meshes

• To enable FMG initialization, execute the TUI command

/solve/init/fmg-initialization
• Settings can be accessed by the TUI command
/solve/init/set-fmg-initialization
 STARTING FROM A PREVIOUS
SOLUTION
• A previously calculated solution can
be used as an initial condition when
changes are made to the case setup
– Use solution interpolation to initialize a run
(especially useful for starting fine‐mesh
cases when coarse‐mesh solutions are
available)
– Once the solution is initialized, additional
iterations always use the current data set as
the starting point

• Sometimes solving a simplified Actual Problem Initial Condition

version of the problem first will Heat Transfer Isothermal
provide a good initial guess for the Natural convection Low Rayleigh number
real problem: Combustion / reacting flow Cold flow (no combustion)
Turbulence Inviscid (Euler) solution
 CASE CHECK
• Case Check is a utility in FLUENT which
searches for common setup errors and
inconsistencies
– Provides guidance in selecting
case parameters and models

• Tabbed sections contain

recommendations which the
user can apply or ignore
 CONVERGENCE
• The solver must perform enough iterations to achieve a converged solution
• At convergence, the following should be satisfied:
– All discrete conservation equations (momentum, energy, etc.) are obeyed in all cells to a
specified tolerance (Residual).
• The Residual measures the imbalance of the current numerical solution and is related but NOT EQUAL to
the numerical error
– Overall mass, momentum, energy, and scalar balances are achieved
– Target quantities reach constant values
• Integral: e.g. Pressure drop
• Local: e.g. Velocity at specified position

Isentropic Efficiency
Residuals

Iteration Number Iteration Number

 CONVERGENCE
• Monitoring convergence using residual history:
– Generally, a decrease in residuals by three orders of magnitude can be a sign of
convergence
– Scaled energy residual should decrease to 10‐6 (for the pressure‐based solver)
– Scaled species residual may need to decrease to 10‐5 to achieve species balance

• Best practice is to also monitor quantitative variables to decide

convergence:
– Ensure that overall mass/heat/species conservation is satisfied
– Monitor other relevant key variables/physical quantities for confirmation
 CONVERGENCE MONITORS –
RESIDUALS
• Residual plots show when the residual values have reached the
specified tolerance
– It is possible to modify or disable the default
checking criterion for convergence
(to prevent the calculation from being stopped
prematurely)

All equations
converged

10-3

10-6
 CHECKING OVERALL FLUX
CONSERVATION
• The net flux imbalance (shown in the GUI as Net Results) should
be less than 1% of the smallest flux through the domain
boundary
 CONVERGENCE MONITORS – FORCES AND
SURFACES
• In addition to residuals, you can also
monitor
– Lift, drag and moment coefficients
– Relevant variables or functions (e.g. surface
integrals) at a boundary or any defined surface
• These additional monitored quantities are
important convergence indicators
 CONVERGENCE DIFFICULTIES
• Numerical instabilities can arise with an ill‐posed problem, poor‐quality
mesh and/or inappropriate solver settings
– Exhibited as increasing (diverging) or “stuck” residuals
– Diverging residuals imply increasing imbalance in conservation equations
– Unconverged results are very misleading!
Continuity equation convergence
• Troubleshooting trouble affects convergence of
– Ensure that the problem is well‐posed all equations.
– Compute an initial solution using a
first‐order discretization scheme
– For the pressure‐based solver, decrease
underrelaxation factors for equations
having convergence problems
– For the density‐based solver, reduce
the Courant number
– Remesh or refine cells which have large
aspect ratio or large skewness.
• Remember that you cannot improve
cell skewness by using mesh adaption!
 ACCELERATING
CONVERGENCE

• CONVERGENCE CAN BE ACCELERATED BY:

– SUPPLYING BETTER INITIAL CONDITIONS
• STARTING FROM A PREVIOUS SOLUTION (USING
FILE/INTERPOLATION WHEN NECESSARY)
– GRADUALLY INCREASING UNDER‐RELAXATION FACTORS OR COURANT NUMBER
• EXCESSIVELY HIGH VALUES CAN LEAD TO SOLUTION
INSTABILITY AND CONVERGENCE PROBLEMS
• YOU SHOULD ALWAYS SAVE CASE AND DATA FILES
BEFORE CONTINUING ITERATIONS
– STARTING WITH A GOOD QUALITY MESH WITH APPROPRIATE MESH RESOLUTION
• THE ORTHOGONAL QUALITY REPORTED IN MESH > INFO >
QUALITY SHOULD HAVE A MINIMUM VALUE OF .01 AND
AN AVERAGE VALUE THAT IS MUCH HIGHER
 CONVERGENCE VS ACCURACY

• A CONVERGED SOLUTION IS NOT NECESSARILY AN ACCURATE SOLUTION

– ACCURACY DEPENDS ON :
• ORDER OF THE DISCRETIZATION SCHEMES (2ND
ORDER SCHEMES ARE RECOMMENDED)
• MESH RESOLUTION
• BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
• MODEL LIMITATIONS
• GEOMETRY SIMPLIFICATIONS
• PRECISION OF THE SOLVER (2D/3D OR 2DDP/3DDP)
• …
 ADAPTION EXAMPLE – 2D
PLANAR SHELL
• Adapt grid in regions of large pressure gradient to better resolve
the sudden pressure rise across the shock

Large pressure gradient indicating a

shock (poor resolution on coarse mesh)

Initial Mesh Pressure Contours on Initial Mesh

 2D PLANAR SHELL – SOLUTION ON
ADAPTED MESH
• Solution‐based mesh adaption allows better resolution of the
bow shock and expansion wave.
Adapted cells in locations Mesh adaption yields much‐improved
of large pressure gradients resolution of the bow shock.

Adapted Mesh Pressure Contours on Adapted Mesh

 GRID ADAPTION
• Grid adaption adds more cells where needed to
resolve the flow field without pre‐processor
• Adaption proceeds in three steps:
– Mark cells satisfying the adaption criteria and store
them in a “register”
– Display and modify the register
– Click on Adapt to adapt the cells listed in the Refine Threshold should be set
register
to 10% of the value reported
in the Max field.
• Registers can be defined based on:
– Gradients or iso‐values of all variables
– All cells on a boundary
– All cells in a region with a defined shape
– Cell volumes or volume changes
– y+ in cells adjacent to walls Always save
case and data
• To assist adaption process, you can: files prior to
– Combine adaption registers
adapting the
– Draw contours of adaption function mesh!
– Display cells marked for adaption
– Limit adaption based on cell size
and number of cells
 SUMMARY
• Solution procedure for both the pressure‐based and density‐based solvers is
identical
– Set adequate solver & solution parameters
– Calculate until you get a converged solution
– Obtain a second‐order solution (recommended)
– Refine the mesh and recalculate until a grid‐independent solution is obtained

• All solvers provide tools for judging and improving convergence and ensuring
stability

• A converged solution is not necessarily accurate

– Solution accuracy depends on Mesh resolution, appropriateness of the physical models,
boundary conditions, …
APPENDIX
 TIGHTENING THE CONVERGENCE
TOLERANCE
• If solution monitors indicate that the solution is converged, but
the solution is still changing or has a large mass/heat imbalance,
this clearly indicates the solution is not yet converged

• In this case, you need to:

– Reduce values of Convergence Criteria or disable Check Convergence in the
Residual Monitors panel
– Continue iterations until the solution converges

• Selecting None under

Convergence Criterion
disables convergence
checking for all equations
 AUTOSAVE
• The solution can be saved at regular intervals during the calculation using the
Autosave menu, which is accessed through the Calculation Activities menu
panel
– This can be helpful in situations where convergence difficulties are encountered,
because it makes it possible to return to an earlier point in the calculation
– Keeping a large number of Autosave files can use a large amount of disk space,
therefore in most cases, it is recommended to use the option to retain only the most
recent files
 RUNNING SIMULATIONS IN
• Serial PARALLEL

• Local Parallel
– Shared Memory

• Distributed Parallel
– Distributed Memory

• Different communication methods are available (MPICH2, HP MPI, PVM)

– See documentation “When To Use MPI or PVM” for more details, but HP MPI is recommended in most
cases
 RUNNING SIMULATIONS IN
PARALLEL …
• In the FLUENT Launcher you can choose Parallel
and set the Parameter

• If you choose Distributed Memory, you have to

specify the names of the computers which you
want to connect
– You can specify the names directly
– You can specify a file which contains the names