computational fluid dynamics definition of computational fluid dynamics in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

computational fluid dynamics [‚käm·pyə′tā·shən·əl ′flü·əd dī′nam·iks]

(fluid mechanics)

A field of study concerned with the use of high-speed digital computers to numerically solve the complete nonlinear partial differential equations governing viscous fluid flows.

Computational fluid dynamics

The numerical approximation to the solution of mathematical models of fluid flow and heat transfer. Computational fluid dynamics is one of the tools (in addition to experimental and theoretical methods) available to solve fluid-dynamic problems. With the advent of modern computers, computational fluid dynamics evolved from potential-flow and boundary-layer methods and is now used in many diverse fields, including engineering, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and geology. The crucial elements of computational fluid dynamics are discretization, grid generation and coordinate transformation, solution of the coupled algebraic equations, turbulence modeling, and visualization.

Numerical solution of partial differential equations requires representing the continuous nature of the equations in a discrete form. Discretization of the equations consists of a process where the domain is subdivided into cells or elements (that is, grid generation) and the equations are expressed in discrete form at each point in the grid by using finite difference, finite volume, or finite element methods. The finite difference method requires a structured grid arrangement (that is, an organized set of points formed by the intersections of the lines of a boundary-conforming curvilinear coordinate system), while the finite element and finite volume methods are more flexible and can be formulated to use both structured and unstructured grids (that is, a collection of triangular elements or a random distribution of points).

There are a variety of approaches for resolving the phenomena of fluid turbulence. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are derived by decomposing the velocity into mean and fluctuating components. An alternative is large-eddy simulation, which solves the Navier-Stokes equations in conjunction with a subgrid turbulence model. The most direct approach to solving turbulent flows is direct numerical simulation, which solves the Navier-Stokes equations on a mesh that is fine enough to resolve all length scales in the turbulent flow. Unfortunately, direct numerical simulation is limited to simple geometries and low-Reynolds-number flows because of the limited capacity of even the most sophisticated supercomputers. See Turbulent flow

The final step is to visualize the results of the simulation. Powerful graphics workstations and visualization software permit generation of velocity vectors, pressure and velocity contours, streamline generation, calculation of secondary quantities (such as vorticity), and animation of unsteady calculations. Despite the sophisticated hardware, visualization of three-dimensional and unsteady flows is still particularly difficult. Moreover, many advanced visualization techniques tend to be qualitative, and the most valuable visualization often consists of simple x-y plots comparing the numerical solution to theory or experimental data.

Computational fluid dynamics has wide applicability in such areas as aerodynamics, hydraulics, environmental fluid dynamics, and atmospheric and oceanic dynamics, with length and time scales of the physical processes ranging from millimeters and seconds to kilometers and years. Vehicle aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, which have provided much of the impetus in the development of computational fluid dynamics, are primarily concerned with the flow around aircraft, automobiles, and ships. See Aerodynamic force, Aerodynamics, Fluid flow, Hydrodynamics

Computational fluid dynamics

(language)

Computational Fluid Dynamics - (CFD) A Fortran-based parallel language for the Illiac IV.

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