IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/matcom/v147y2018icp152-171.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A case-study in open-source CFD code verification, Part I: Convergence rate loss diagnosis

Author

Listed:
  • Noriega, H.
  • Guibault, F.
  • Reggio, M.
  • Magnan, R.

Abstract

This study analyzes the influence of cell geometry on the numerical accuracy of convection–diffusion operators in OpenFOAM. The large variety of solvers and boundary conditions in this tool, as well as the precision of the finite-volume method in terms of mesh quality, call for a verification process performed in steps. The work is divided into two parts. In the first (the current manuscript), we focus on the diffusion operator, which has been found to exhibit a loss in convergence rate. Although the cell-centered finite volume approach underlying OpenFOAM should preserve a theoretical second order convergence rate, loss of convergence order is observed when non-orthogonal meshes are used at the boundaries. To investigate the origins of this problem, the method of manufactured solutions is applied to yield analytical solutions for the Poisson equation and compute the numerical error. The root cause is identified and corrections to recover second-order convergence are proposed. In part two of this investigation, we show how convergence can be improved, and present results for problems described by the Poisson and Navier–Stokes equations.

Suggested Citation

  • Noriega, H. & Guibault, F. & Reggio, M. & Magnan, R., 2018. "A case-study in open-source CFD code verification, Part I: Convergence rate loss diagnosis," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 152-171.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:matcom:v:147:y:2018:i:c:p:152-171
    DOI: 10.1016/j.matcom.2017.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378475417303774
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.matcom.2017.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:matcom:v:147:y:2018:i:c:p:152-171. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/mathematics-and-computers-in-simulation/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.