C

D



COMPUTA
Dr K M Sin
AP

19.1 A
Conside
Figure

where
points


19.2 G
The fir
volume
CV is s
dimensi


ATIONAL
ngh, Indian
PPLICA
APPLICA
er the steady
19.1. The pr
d d
dx dx
|
| |
I
|
\ .

I is the di
A and B are
GRID GE
rst step in t
es. The sche
shown in Fig
ional geome
Fi
FLUID DY
n Institute o
ATION
ATION O
y state diffu
rocess is go
0 S
|
+ =
|
.

iffusion coe
e given.
Figure 19
ENERAT
the finite v
ematic of gr
g. 19.2. A g
etry, the nod
igure 19.2
YNAMICS:
of Technolo
NS OF F
SCA
OF FVM
usion of a pr
overned by t

efficient an
9.1 Schema
TION
volume met
rid generatio
general nod
des to the w
2 Notations
: FVM: A
ogy Roorke
FINITE
ALAR T
M TO 1-D
roperty | in
the differen
d S is the
atic of the 1-

thod is to
on is shown
al point is i
west and eas
s used for t
Applications
ee
VOLU
TRANS
D DIFFU
n a one-dim
ntial equatio

source term
-D diffusion
divide the
n in Fig. 19
identified by
st, are identi
the 1-D con
s to Scalar
NPTE
UME ME
SPORT
SION PR
mensional do
on
m. Boundary
n problem.
domain in
9.1. The usu
y P and its n
ified by W a
ntrol volum
Transport
EL
Lectu
ETHOD
PROBL
ROBLEM
omain defin
(1
y values of

nto discrete
ual notation
neighbors in
and E respe

me
Problems
19.1
ure 19
D TO
LEM
M
ned in
9.1)
f | at
control
n for the
n a one-
ectively.




COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: FVM: Applications to Scalar Transport Problems
Dr K M Singh, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee NPTEL 19.2
19.3 DISCRETIZATION
The key step of the FVM is the integration of the governing equation(s) over a control
volume to yield a discretized equation at its nodal point P. For the control volume defined
above this gives

0
e w V V
d d d d
dV SdV A A SdV
dx dx dx dx
| | |
A A
| | | | | |
I + = I I + =
| | |
\ . \ . \ .
} }
(19.2)

Here A is the cross-sectional area of the control volume face, dV is the volume and S is the
average value of source S over the control volume.

In order to derive useful forms of the discretized equations, the interface diffusion
coefficient I and the gradient / d dx | at east face (e) and west face (w) are required. To
calculate gradients (and hence fluxes) at the control volume faces, an approximate
distribution of properties between nodal points is used. Using simple averaging, one can
write


2
2
W P
w
P E
e
I + I
I =
I + I
I =
(19.3)
Using central difference method, the diffusive fluxes can be written as


E P
e e
e PE
P W
w w
w WP
d
A A
dx x
d
A A
dx x
| | |
o
| | |
o
| |
| |
I = I
| |
\ .
\ .
| |
| |
I = I
| |
\ .
\ .
(19.4)

The source term S may also depend on the dependent variable. In such cases the finite volume
method approximates the source term by means of a linear form expressed as

u P P
SdV S S | = + (19.5)

where S
u
and S
P
are independent of . Use of the preceding approximations leads to
( ) 0
E P P W
e e w w u P P
PE WP
A A S S
x x
| | | |
|
o o
| | | |
I I + + =
| |
\ . \ .


Rearrangement of the preceding equation yields


e w w e
e w P P w W e E u
PE WP WP PE
A A S A A S
x x x x
| | |
o o o o
| | | | | | I I I I
+ = + +
| | |
\ . \ . \ .
(19.6)

The above equation can be written in a short form as

P P W W E E u
a a a S | | | = + + (19.7)



COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: FVM: Applications to Scalar Transport Problems
Dr K M Singh, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee NPTEL 19.3
where
W
a
E
a
P
a
W
W
WP
A
x o
I

e
e
PE
A
x o
I

W P P
a a S +


19.4 SOLUTION OF EQUATIONS
Discretized equations for each of the control volume are formulated and suitable
modifications are incorporated for the boundary control volumes. The resulting set of linear
equations is solved using suitable linear solver (e.g. TDMA would be the best solver for the
present example).



Example 19.1
Consider the steady state heat conduction in a slab of width l = 0.5 m with heat generation.
The left end of the slab (x = 0) is maintained at T = 373 K. The right end of the slab (x = 0.5
m) is being heated by a heater for which the heat flux is 1 kW/m
2
. The heat generation in the
slab is temperature dependent and is given by Q = (1273 T) W/m
3
. Thermal conductivity is
constant at k = 1 W/(m-K).Write down the governing equation and boundary conditions for
the problem. Use the finite difference method (central difference scheme) to obtain an
approximate numerical solution of the problem. For the first order derivative, use forward or
backward difference approximation of first order. Choose x = 0.1, and use the TDMA. (We
have chosen the same as the one solved previously in Example 15.1 using FDM to illustrate
comparison between FVM and FDM.)

Solution
Let us recall that governing equation for the steady state heat conduction with constant heat
generation is the slab is
2
2
d
0
d
T
k Q
x
+ = (i)
Given: Q = 1273 T. Thus, Eq. (i) becomes

2
2
d
(1273 ) 0
d
T
k T
x
+ = (ii)

Left end of the slab is maintained at constant temperature; hence boundary condition at this
end is given by
(0) 373 T = (iii)
At the right end, heat influx is specified. Thus, boundary condition at this end is

d
1000
d
T
k
x
= (iv)
For discretization, let us use a face centered grid. Computational nodes are 1 (x=0), 2 (x=0.1),
3(x=0.2) , 4(x=0.3), 5(x=0.4) and 6 (x=0.5). Each interior finite volume is of width x = 0.1,
whereas finite volumes around boundary nodes 1 and 6 are of width 0.05.




COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: FVM: Applications to Scalar Transport Problems
Dr K M Singh, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee NPTEL 19.4


Let us assume that standard discrete equation can be written as

1 1
i i i
W i P i E i i
A T A T A T b
+
+ + =
(v)

Temperature is specified at node 1, hence, we have

1 1 1
1 1
373, i.e. 0, 1, 0, 373
W P E
T A A A b = = = = = (vi)

For a finite volume around computational node P, finite volume integral equation yields
P
(1273 ) (1273 ) 0
e w V V
d dT dT dT
k dV T dV kA kA T V
dx dx dx dx
A A
| | | | | |
+ = + A =
| | |
\ . \ . \ .
} }
(vii)

where we have used mid-point rule for evaluation of the second volume integral. For an
interior finite volume, using central difference scheme for the derivative, and assuming unit
area of CV surfaces and substituting k = 1, the preceding equation can be re-written as
P W E P
P
(1273 ) 0
T T T T
T x
x x

+ A =
A A
(viii)
Using x = 0.1, the preceding equation simplifies to

1 1
2.01 12.73, 2,3, 4,5
i i i
T T T i
+
+ = = (ix)
where we have used indices i for P, (i-1) for W and (i+1) for node E. Hence, the coefficients
in the standard equation
1 1
i i i
W i P i E i i
A T A T A T b
+
+ + = are:
1, 2.01, 1, 12.73, 2, 3, 4, 5
i i i
W P E i
A A A b i = = = = = (x)

For the last FV around boundary node 6, terms in finite volume equation (vii) are

6 5
1000,
(1273 ) (1273 ) / 2
e w
m
V
T T dT dT
kA kA
dx dx x
T dV T x
A
| | | |
= =
| |
A
\ . \ .
= A
}
(xi)
Using linear interpolation, temperature at the centroid of this FV can be expressed as

6 6 5
6
( ( ) / 2)
( ) / 2
2
m w
T T T
T T T
+ +
= + = (xii)
From Eq. (vii), (xi) and (xii), discrete equation for the boundary finite volume becomes
6 5 6 5
(3 )
1000 1273 0
4 2
T T T T x
x
+ A | |
+ =
|
A
\ .
(xiii)
Using x = 0.1, the preceding equation simplifies to

6 5
1.00375 0.99875 106.365 T T = (xiv)
Thus,
6 6 6
6
0.99875, 1.00375, 0, 106.365
W P E
A A A b = = = = .
Therefore, the discrete system obtained from finite volume discretization is

1 2 3
4 5 6
E W P
w e
x
x/2



COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS: FVM: Applications to Scalar Transport Problems
Dr K M Singh, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee NPTEL 19.5

1
2
3
4
5
6
1 0 0 0 0 0 373
1 2.01 1 0 0 0 12.73
0 1 2.01 1 0 0 12.73
0 0 0 2.01 1 0 12.73
0 0 0 1 2.01 1 12.73
0 0 0 0 0.99875 1.00375 106.365
T
T
T
T
T
T
(
(

(
(

=
( ` `

(
(

(
(
) )
(xv)

The preceding system is very similar to the discrete system (x) obtained using finite
difference discretization in Example 15.1 (only coefficients in last row differ). Numerical
calculations using TDMA are given in the following table:


where W6=-0.99875. Comparison with results obtained in Example 15.1 using finite
difference method, we can clearly observe that the FV results using identical grid spacing are
more accurate. This is simply due to the fact that all interpolation or integration formulae used
in finite volume formulation were second order accurate. On the other hand, first order
backward order method was used in finite difference solution for incorporation of flux
boundary condition.





REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Chung, T. J. (2010). Computational Fluid Dynamics. 2
nd
Ed., Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, UK.
Ferziger, J. H. And Peri, M. (2003). Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics. Springer.
Versteeg, H. K. and Malalasekera, W. M. G. (2007). Introduction to Computational Fluid
Dynamics: The Finite Volume Method. Second Edition (Indian Reprint) Pearson Education.

i
i
W
A

i
P
A
i
E
A

i
b
1
1
i i
i i W E
P P
i
P
A A
A A
A

*
*
1
i
W i
i i
i
P
A b
b b
A

=

*
1
i
i E i
i
i
P
b A T
T
A
+

=

T
ex

1 0 1.00 0 373 1 373 373.000 373.00
2 -1 2.01 -1 12.73 2.01 385.73 498.931 498.95
3 -1 2.01 -1 12.73 1.512487 204.6355 617.121 617.18
4 -1 2.01 -1 12.73 1.34883754 148.02734 728.753 728.85
5 -1 2.01 -1 12.73 1.26862087 122.47438 834.942 835.08
6 W6 1.00 0 100.36 0.21174243 196.54136 936.751 936.92