Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics

This book is a guide to numerical methods for solving fluid dynamics problems. The most widely used discretization and solution methods, which are also found in most commercial CFD-programs, are described in detail. Some advanced topics, like moving grids, simulation of turbulence, computation of free-surface flows, multigrid methods and parallel computing, are also covered. Since CFD is a very broad field, we provide fundamental methods and ideas, with some illustrative examples, upon which more advanced techniques are built. Numerical accuracy and estimation of errors are important aspects and are discussed in many examples. Computer codes that include many of the methods described in the book can be obtained online.

This 4th edition includes major revision of all chapters; some new methods are described and references to more recent publications with new approaches are included. Former Chapter 7 on solution of the Navier-Stokes equations has been split into two Chapters to allow for a more detailed description of several variants of the Fractional Step Method and a comparison with SIMPLE-like approaches. In Chapters 7 to 13, most examples have been replaced or recomputed, and hints regarding practical applications are made. Several new sections have been added, to cover, e.g., immersed-boundary methods, overset grids methods, fluid-structure interaction and conjugate heat transfer.