ANSYS Fluent Getting Started

Lecture 06: Solution Tab

Release 2020 R1

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 Introduction

Lecture Theme:
A Fluent simulation begins with initialization and proceeds, over a number of
iterations, to convergence. Inputs that control this process are called solver settings.
Convergence is a critical concept in simulation, so while default settings can be used in
most cases, a basic understanding of the role of the most important settings can help
to ensure optimal convergence.
Learning Aims:
You will learn:
• How to specify the solver and choose solution methods and controls
• How to initialize the solution
• How to use report definitions to monitor and judge convergence
Learning Objectives:
You will be able to choose appropriate methods and controls for your Fluent
simulation and be able to monitor and judge solution convergence

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 ANSYS Fluent Workflow
Ribbon Guides Basic Workflow

• Domain • Physics • Solution • Results

– Read and check mesh – Solver – Choose solution methods – Surfaces
– Check mesh quality • Set up basic options and controls • Create surfaces, lines
– Convert mesh to – Models – Add Report Definitions and points for flow
polyhedra (optional, if • Set up Energy, Viscous for convergence checking visualization and data
extraction
needed) (turbulence), – Initialization
– Graphics and Plots
– Scale or Transform mesh Multiphase, … – Run calculation • Visualize solution data
(optional, if needed) – Materials – Reports
– Set units (optional, SI used • Create/Edit materials • Quantitative solution
by default) and their properties analysis
– Zones
• Cell zone and boundary
conditions

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 Solving Overview

• The sketch to the right shows the basic workflow Set the solution parameters
for any simulation once the domain and physics
have been set up Enable the report definitions of interest
• Most items in the chart will be covered here
Initialize the solution
‐ Solution parameters
• Choosing the solver Modify solution
• Solution methods Calculate a solution
parameters or grid
• Initialization Check for convergence
• Calculate the solution and monitor convergence Yes No
‐ Monitoring convergence
• Stability
▪ Setting controls Check for accuracy No
‐ Accelerating convergence Yes
• Accuracy Stop

• (Discussed in "Best Practices for CFD" Lecture)

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 Solver Types

• Fluent has two types of solver, pressure-based and density-

based
• Pressure-Based is the default and should be used for most
problems
‐ Handles the range of Mach numbers from 0 to ~2-3
• Density-Based is normally only used for higher Mach numbers,
or for specialized cases such as capturing interacting shock
waves
• Available methods and controls will vary depending on solver
type

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 Methods for the Pressure-Based Solver

• Choose Methods… in the Solution group to open

the Solution Methods Task Page
• Pressure-Velocity Coupling needed by Pressure-
Based Solver
• Default is Coupled, with Pseudo Transient activated
– This combination often referred to simply as the pseudo
transient solver
– Good for majority of routine compressible and
incompressible flow applications
• Especially involving buoyancy or rotation
• The other selections are only used in specific
situations
‒ PISO is normally only used for transient calculations
("Transient Flow Modeling" lecture) Warped-Face Gradient
• In some cases SIMPLEC may be preferred over PISO for transient Correction is activated
calculations automatically whenever the
mesh includes polyhedral cells.
‒ SIMPLE is faster per iteration than Coupled but usually There is normally no need to
requires more iterations to converge and is often not as change this setting.
robust
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 Pseudo Transient Timescale Factor

• This main control for the pseudo-transient solver is the Timescale Factor
− The pseudo transient solver advances the solution to steady state using a false (pseudo-) time step to
control how the solution advances from one iteration to the next
− The default pseudo time step size is determined automatically by the solver, based on the length and
velocity scales present in the domain and flow
− The automatically determined value is often conservative
− If the residuals decrease smoothly, but slowly, the timescale factor can often be increased to values
in the range of 3 to 10
− Always save the case and data file before increasing the timescale factor because too large of an increase might cause the
solution to diverge
− Conversely, if the residuals are not decreasing, try lowering the value to somewhere in the range of 0.1 to 0.3

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 Pseudo Transient Timescale Settings

• In some cases, the automatic methods

used by the solver to compute the
timescale may not be optimal and
additional options are accessed by clicking
Run Calculation
− For instance in external flow it is sometimes
better to specify the length scale
• For instance in flow over an airfoil, length scale = chord

•
length
The time scale resulting from the automatic method can
or
be displayed in the console window for each iteration by
setting Verbosity > 0 in the panel
− Other times, it may be desirable (e.g. Heat sink
workshop) to enter the pseudo time step based
on knowledge of the physical length and velocity
scales in the problem

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 Under-relaxation Factors

• Implicit under-relaxation factors are used

for SIMPLE, SIMPLEC, PISO
– The under-relaxation factor, α, is included to
stabilize the iterative process for the pressure-
based solver
– The final, converged solution is independent of
the under-relaxation factor
• Only the number of iterations required for convergence
is dependent

• The default settings are suitable for a

wide range of problems
– You can reduce the values when necessary
– Appropriate settings are best learned
The precise implementation used
from experience! by the solver is slightly different
but the basic concept is identical

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 Spatial Discretization Settings

• Use of the default settings for spatial discretization

is recommended for most cases
‒ For natural convection problems, where gravity has been
activated, the pressure discretization must be changed to
PRESTO! or Body-Force Weighted

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 Initialization

• Fluent requires that all solution variables be initialized before starting iterations
‐ Basically this means that in every individual cell in the mesh a value must be assigned for every
solution variable to serve as an initial guess for the solution
‐ A realistic initial guess improves solution stability and accelerates convergence
‐ In some cases a poor initial guess may cause the solver to fail during the first few iterations

• 5 initialization methods are available

‐ Hybrid initialization (default)
• Use this for most cases
‐ FMG initialization
• Provides a more realistic initial guess, but the initialization process takes much longer than other methods
• Can be especially beneficial for compressible flows and rotating machinery
‐ Standard initialization
‐ Patch values
‐ Starting from a previous solution

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 Comparison of Initialization Methods

Initial mesh before Standard Initialization: Hybrid Initialization: FMG Initialization: Final converged
solving solution
All cells have the same Slightly more realistic Much more realistic non-
value non-uniform initial guess uniform initial guess,
however takes longer to
generate
In general, the closer the initial guess is to the final solution,
the fewer iterations will be needed to reach convergence.

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 Run Calculation

• Steady State
– Enter the number of iterations to be performed
– Fluent will continue from the current solution
• If no iterations have been performed previously, it starts from the
initialized solution
– The solution will stop sooner if convergence monitor
checks are met
• Transient
– Enter the time step size and the number of time steps for
the solution to run
– Continues from the current solution

• Additional options for both steady state and

transient can be accessed from the task page,
which opens after selecting Advanced…

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 Convergence

• The solver must perform enough iterations to

achieve a converged solution

Residuals
• At convergence, the following should be satisfied:
‐ All discrete conservation equations (momentum, energy,
etc.) are obeyed in all cells to a specified tolerance
(Residual)
• The residual measures the imbalance of the current numerical solution Iteration Number
and is related to but NOT EQUAL to the numerical error
‐ Overall mass, momentum, energy, and scalar balances are

Isentropic Efficiency
achieved
‐ Target quantities reach constant values
• Integral: e.g. Pressure drop
• Local: e.g. Velocity at specified position

Iteration Number

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 Convergence

• Monitoring convergence using residual history

‐ Generally, a decrease in residuals by three orders of magnitude can be a sign of convergence
‐ Scaled energy residual should decrease to 10-6 (for the pressure-based solver)
‐ Scaled species residual may need to decrease to 10-5 to achieve species balance

• Best practice is to also monitor quantitative variables to decide convergence

‐ Ensure that overall mass/heat/species conservation is satisfied
‐ Monitor other relevant key variables/physical quantities for confirmation
• Report Definitions are used for this purpose
• It is strongly recommended to use one or more report definitions for all simulations

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 Convergence Monitors – Residuals

• Residual plots show when the residual values

have reached the specified tolerance
‐ It is possible to modify or disable the default checking
criterion for convergence
• Prevents calculation being stopped prematurely

All equations
converged

10-3

10-6

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 Checking Overall Flux Conservation

• The net flux imbalance (shown in the GUI as Net Results) should be less than 1% of the
smallest flux through the domain boundary

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 Report Definitions

• A flexible approach to monitoring target quantities

‐ Expression, Surface, Volume, Force, Flux, DPM and User-Defined
reports
‐ Relevant variables or functions (e.g. surface integrals) at a
boundary or any defined surface
‐ Write to file, plot in graphics window, print to console
• These additional monitored quantities are important
convergence indicators
• The use of one or more of this type of solution monitor is
strongly recommended for all calculations

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 Convergence Difficulties

• Numerical instabilities can arise with an ill-posed problem, poor-quality mesh and/or
inappropriate solver settings
– Exhibited as increasing (diverging) or “stuck” residuals
– Diverging residuals imply increasing imbalance in conservation equations
– Unconverged results are very misleading!
Continuity equation convergence
• Troubleshooting trouble affects convergence of
– Ensure that the problem is well-posed all equations.
– Compute an initial solution using a
first-order discretization scheme
– For the pseudo transient solver, decrease
timescale factor
– For the density-based solver, reduce
the Courant number
– Remesh or refine cells which have large
aspect ratio or large skewness.
• Remember that you cannot improve
cell skewness by using mesh adaption!

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 Accelerating Convergence

• Convergence can be accelerated by:

– Supplying better initial conditions
• Starting from a previous solution (using file/interpolation when necessary)

– Gradually increasing the timescale factor

• Excessively high values can lead to solution instability and convergence problems
• You should always save case and data files before continuing iterations
– Starting with a good quality mesh with appropriate mesh resolution
• The orthogonal quality reported in Mesh > Info > Quality should have a minimum value of 0.01 and an average value that
is much higher

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 Convergence vs Accuracy

• A converged solution is not necessarily an accurate solution

– Accuracy depends on :
• Order of the discretization schemes (2nd order schemes are recommended)
• Mesh resolution
• Boundary Conditions
• Model limitations
• Geometry simplifications
• Precision of the solver (3d or 3ddp)
• …

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 Summary

• All CFD simulations utilize the same basic solution procedure

– Choose the solver & solution parameters
– Define solution monitors for important "target quantities" such as mass flow rate, drag, pressure
drop, heat flux, ….
– Initialize the solution
– Calculate until you get a converged solution

• Use solution monitors for judging convergence

– Residual monitors are also useful
– Be sure to check flux reports for mass and energy
• The imbalance should be less than 1% of the throughput

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End of presentation