Description

 The aim of the project is to create a general-purpose finite volume based solver to solve Navier-Stokes, energy and associated scalar equations  for engineering applications. There are many faculty co-investigators associated with the project, but their role will be to use and test the developed code in various engineering applications, in the 4th and 5th years of the project ---which is now into its third year. The actual code development is being done entirely under my supervision, with the help of Masters and PhD students, and project personnel. 

 The developed code is a multi-block finite volume solver for non-orthogonal hexahedral structured grids, written in `C' programming language. It reads grids in CGNS format and solves the Navier-Stokes, continuity, energy and species transport equations and writes the results in CGNS files to be read and displayed by any post-processing software.

The program uses dynamic memory allocation. User choices for grid, equations, variables, boundary conditions, type of algorithm, etc., are made during run time with the compiled code. At present the grids are generated by commercial grid-generation software, but any grid-generator that creates grids in the CGNS format may be used. The results, too, can be viewed on any sophisticated commercial post-processing software. 

The code is continuously under development. The present capabilities of the solver are:

• A basic multi-block Finite-volume solver for non-orthogonal hexahedral grids, that can read grids and write solutions in CGNS format.
• Solves incompressible Navier Stokes, Continuity, Temperature and Species transport equations.
• Solves 2-D, 2-D Axisymmetric and 3-D non-orthogonal structured grid problems.
• Time Stepping Schemes: the first-order Implicit and the second-order Crank Nicolson schemes can both be used.
• Convection Scheme (spatial) discretization:

• First order Upwind scheme.

• Central Difference scheme.

• QUICK scheme.

• Solution strategy for solving Governing Equations:

•  Segregated approach. (separate and sequential solutions of momentum and scalars).

•       Coupled approach (simultaneous solutions of momentum and scalars).

• Boundary Conditions:

•       Dirichlett, Neumann Boundary Conditions.

•       Mixed (Robin) and Convective Outflow Boundary Conditions.

•       Spatially and temporally varying boundary conditions.

• Physical Properties:

•       Both constant and variable physical properties, with provision

                        for physical properties to be user defined.

• Provision for user-defined functions for boundary conditions/source terms.
• The following  modules are currently implemented in the solver:

•       Constant density incompressible flows

•       Variable density provision to handle density changes due to different species mixing, combustion, etc

•       Conjugate Heat Transfer

•       various Turbulence Models

•       Solidification and Melting

•       Combustion (including turbulent combustion)

•       Two-Phase (liquid-vapor)flows with Homogenous Equilibrium Model

•       Flow of ionized gases in an electric field.

•       Magento-hydrodynamic flow with external magnetic and induced magnetic fields

•       Ground-water flow and contaminant transport

The present version of the code also has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for easy use. 

Further capabilities (two-fluid models for particle-gas, gas-liquid and droplet evaporation and combustion, free-surface flows, etc) are being added, and the whole code is being field-tested on numerous engineering applications.