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Introduction
Here we aim to collect together main areas where errors arise in CFD
solutions, and how these can be avoided, or their effects minimized.
Reading:
J. Ferziger, M. Peric, Computational Methods for Fluid
Dynamics
H.K. Versteeg, W. Malalasekara, An Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Finite Volume Method
S.V. Patankar, Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow
Notes:
Blackboard
and
CFD/TM
web
server:
http://cfd.mace.manchester.ac.uk/tmcfd
- People - T. Craft - Online Teaching Material
-2
Cp
-4
Omega=0
Omega=2
Omega=1
-6
-8
100
200
300
Theta
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Need to understand how these arise, and check for their influence.
What steps should be taken to check for accuracy and reliability of CFD
results?
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Numerical Errors
Discretization Errors
These generally refer to differences between the CFD solution and the
exact solution of the governing differential equations and boundary
conditions.
U
Ue Uw
x
x
b1
a11 . . . a1n
1
..
.. .. ..
.
. . .
an1
. . . ann
bn
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Order of accuracy does not tell us the accuracy of one particular solution
it indicates how rapidly errors decrease as the grid spacing (or time
step) is refined.
Note that this convergence rate with grid or time step size will only be
observed for sufficiently small grid spacing or time step.
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Richardson Extrapolation
+
+
e = P + x
x P
2!
x2 P
or
exact =
Ue Uw
U
x
x
U (n+1) U (n)
U
t
t
then the leading order error term is only the largest contribution if x is
small enough that x | 2 / x 2 | << | / x |.
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1 2n 2
+ O((x )n+1 )
1 2n
To apply this, we need two solutions with uniform grid refinement, and the
grids must be fine enough to show convergence rates proportional to the
schemes order of accuracy.
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Convergence Errors
The difficulty in quantifying this is that we cannot measure the error norm,
|| exact ||, since we do not know exact .
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For single phase laminar flows the equations can generally be regarded
as exact.
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- : k - ;
: Basic RSM+GL;
- - -: Basic RSM+CL;
: TCL RSM
z
x
These models all have some limits of applicability, and some will perform
better or worse than others in particular flow situations.
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Grid Quality
High aspect ratio cells should be avoided, particularly when not aligned
with the flow (eg.away from near-wall regions).
In some cases the choice of model is linked with spatial grid and time
step choices. For example, the use of wall-functions for resolving
near-wall regions, or the relatively fine grids and small time steps
required for models such as LES that resolve some turbulence structures.
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Poor grid angles also cause interpolation errors, and may require
deferred correction methods for gradient reconstruction, etc.
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Grid cells not aligned with the flow direction tend to lead to numerical
diffusion, so grids should be aligned with the expected flow direction
where possible.
Some codes allow the use of hanging nodes, and other non-matching
cell interfaces. Avoid these if possible particularly in critical flow regions.
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For example, as shown below, grid refinement can lead to high aspect
ratio cells normal to the flow direction.
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User Errors
In some cases flow conditions are not known exactly, and assumptions
must be made for boundary conditions etc.
Inlet conditions are often not known in
great detail a flow rate might be given,
but not the detailed velocity distribution.
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These type of errors can usually be avoided by ensuring users know how
to run software tools correctly, and understand the flow problem and
process of modelling it.
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Software Errors
Again, user experience and knowledge of the flow and modelling can
help to identify where such errors may be present.
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