Modeling Heat Transfer

Chapter 13.
Modeling Heat Transfer

This chapter provides details about the heat transfer models available in FLUENT.
Information is presented in the following sections:
Section 13.1: Introduction
Section 13.2: Modeling Conductive and Convective Heat Transfer
Section 13.3: Modeling Radiation
Section 13.4: Modeling Periodic Heat Transfer
13.1 Introduction
The ow of thermal energy from matter occupying one region in space to matter occu-
pying a dierent region in space is known as heat transfer. Heat transfer can occur by
three main methods: conduction, convection, and radiation. Physical models involving
conduction and/or convection only are the simplest (Section 13.2: Modeling Conduc-
tive and Convective Heat Transfer), while buoyancy-driven ow or natural convection
(Section 13.2.5: Natural Convection and Buoyancy-Driven Flows), and radiation mod-
els (Section 13.3: Modeling Radiation) are more complex. Depending on your problem,
FLUENT will solve a variation of the energy equation that takes into account the heat
transfer methods you have specied. FLUENT is also able to predict heat transfer in
periodically repeating geometries (Section 13.4: Modeling Periodic Heat Transfer), thus
greatly reducing the required computational eort in certain cases.
c Fluent Inc. September 29, 2006 13-1
13.2 Modeling Conductive and Convective Heat Transfer
FLUENT allows you to include heat transfer within the uid and/or solid regions in your
model. Problems ranging from thermal mixing within a uid to conduction in composite
solids can thus be handled by FLUENT.
When your FLUENT model includes heat transfer you will need to activate the relevant
physical models, supply thermal boundary conditions, and input material properties that
govern heat transfer and/or vary with temperature as part of the setup. Information
about heat transfer theory and how to setup and use heat transfer in your FLUENT
model is presented in the following subsections:
Section 13.2.1: Heat Transfer Theory
Section 13.2.2: Steps in Solving Heat Transfer Problems
Section 13.2.3: Solution Strategies for Heat Transfer Modeling
Section 13.2.4: Postprocessing Heat Transfer Quantities
Section 13.2.5: Natural Convection and Buoyancy-Driven Flows
Section 13.2.6: Shell Conduction Considerations
13.2.1 Heat Transfer Theory
The Energy Equation
FLUENT solves the energy equation in the following form:
t
(E) + (v(E + p)) =
_
_
k
e
T
j
h
j

J
j
+ (
e
v)
_
_
+ S
h
(13.2-1)
where k
e
is the eective conductivity (k +k
t
, where k
t
is the turbulent thermal conduc-
tivity, dened according to the turbulence model being used), and

J
j
is the diusion ux
of species j. The rst three terms on the right-hand side of Equation 13.2-1 represent
energy transfer due to conduction, species diusion, and viscous dissipation, respectively.
S
h
includes the heat of chemical reaction, and any other volumetric heat sources you have
dened.
In Equation 13.2-1,
E = h
p
+
v
2
2
(13.2-2)
13-2 c Fluent Inc. September 29, 2006
where sensible enthalpy h is dened for ideal gases as
h =
j
Y
j
h
j
(13.2-3)
and for incompressible ows as
h =
j
Y
j
h
j
+
p
(13.2-4)
In Equations 13.2-3 and 13.2-4, Y
j
is the mass fraction of species j and
h
j
=
_
T
T
ref
c
p,j
dT (13.2-5)
where T
ref
is 298.15 K.
The Energy Equation for the Non-Premixed Combustion Model
When the non-adiabatic non-premixed combustion model is enabled, FLUENT solves the
total enthalpy form of the energy equation:
t
(H) + (vH) =
_
k
t
c
p
H
_
+ S
h
(13.2-6)
Under the assumption that the Lewis number (Le) = 1, the conduction and species
diusion terms combine to give the rst term on the right-hand side of the above equation
while the contribution from viscous dissipation appears in the non-conservative form as
the second term. The total enthalpy H is dened as
H =
j
Y
j
H
j
(13.2-7)
where Y
j
is the mass fraction of species j and
H
j
=
_
T
T
ref,j
c
p,j
dT + h
0
j
(T
ref,j
) (13.2-8)
h
0
j
(T
ref,j
) is the formation enthalpy of species j at the reference temperature T
ref,j
.
Inclusion of Pressure Work and Kinetic Energy Terms
Equation 13.2-1 includes pressure work and kinetic energy terms which are often negli-
gible in incompressible ows. For this reason, the pressure-based solver by default does
not include the pressure work or kinetic energy when you are solving incompressible ow.
If you wish to include these terms, use the define/models/energy? text command to
turn them on.
Pressure work and kinetic energy are always accounted for when you are modeling com-
pressible ow or using the density-based solver.
Inclusion of the Viscous Dissipation Terms
Equations 13.2-1 and 13.2-6 include viscous dissipation terms, which describe the thermal
energy created by viscous shear in the ow.
When the pressure-based solver is used, FLUENTs default form of the energy equation
does not include them (because viscous heating is often negligible). Viscous heating will
be important when the Brinkman number, Br, approaches or exceeds unity, where
Br =
U
2
e
kT
(13.2-9)
and T represents the temperature dierence in the system.
When your problem requires inclusion of the viscous dissipation terms and you are using
the pressure-based solver, you should activate the terms using the Viscous Heating option
in the Viscous Model panel. Compressible ows typically have Br 1. Note, however,
that when the pressure-based solver is used, FLUENT does not automatically activate
the viscous dissipation if you have dened a compressible ow model.
When the density-based solver is used, the viscous dissipation terms are always included
when the energy equation is solved.
Inclusion of the Species Diffusion Term
Equations 13.2-1 and 13.2-6 both include the eect of enthalpy transport due to species
diusion.
When the pressure-based solver is used, the term
_
_
j
h
j

J
j
_
_
is included in Equation 13.2-1 by default. If you do not want to include it, you can turn
o the Diusion Energy Source option in the Species Model panel.
When the non-adiabatic non-premixed combustion model is being used, this term does
not explicitly appear in the energy equation, because it is included in the rst term on
the right-hand side of Equation 13.2-6.
When the density-based solver is used, this term is always included in the energy equation.
Energy Sources Due to Reaction
Sources of energy, S
h
, in Equation 13.2-1 include the source of energy due to chemical
reaction:
S
h,rxn
=
j
h
0
j
M
j
R
j
(13.2-10)
where h
0
j
is the enthalpy of formation of species j and R
j
is the volumetric rate of creation
of species j.
In the energy equation used for non-adiabatic non-premixed combustion (Equation 13.2-6),
the heat of formation is included in the denition of enthalpy (see Equation 13.2-7), so
reaction sources of energy are not included in S
h
.
Energy Sources Due To Radiation
When one of the radiation models is being used, S
h
in Equation 13.2-1 or 13.2-6 also
includes radiation source terms. See Section 13.3: Modeling Radiation for details.
Interphase Energy Sources
It should be noted that the energy sources, S
h
, also include heat transfer between the
continuous and the discrete phase. This is discussed further in Section 22.9.1: Coupling
Between the Discrete and Continuous Phases.
Energy Equation in Solid Regions
In solid regions, the energy transport equation used by FLUENT has the following form:
t
(h) + (vh) = (kT) + S
h
(13.2-11)
where = density
h = sensible enthalpy,
_
T
T
ref
c
p
dT
k = conductivity
T = temperature
S
h
= volumetric heat source
The second term on the left-hand side of Equation 13.2-11 represents convective energy
transfer due to rotational or translational motion of the solids. The velocity eld v is
computed from the motion specied for the solid zone (see Section 7.18: Solid Conditions).
The terms on the right-hand side of Equation 13.2-11 are the heat ux due to conduction
and volumetric heat sources within the solid, respectively.
Anisotropic Conductivity in Solids
When you use the pressure-based solver, FLUENT allows you to specify anisotropic con-
ductivity for solid materials. The conduction term for an anisotropic solid has the form
(k
ij
T) (13.2-12)
where k
ij
is the conductivity matrix. See Section 8.5.5: Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity
for Solids for details on specifying anisotropic conductivity for solid materials.
Diffusion at Inlets
The net transport of energy at inlets consists of both the convection and diusion com-
ponents. The convection component is xed by the inlet temperature specied by you.
The diusion component, however, depends on the gradient of the computed tempera-
ture eld. Thus the diusion component (and therefore the net inlet transport) is not
specied a priori.
In some cases, you may wish to specify the net inlet transport of energy rather than the
inlet temperature. If you are using the pressure-based solver, you can do this by disabling
inlet energy diusion. By default, FLUENT includes the diusion ux of energy at inlets.
To turn o inlet diusion, use the define/models/energy? text command.
Inlet diusion cannot be turned o if you are using the density-based solver.
13.2.2 Steps in Solving Heat Transfer Problems
The procedure for setting up a heat transfer problem is described below. (Note that this
procedure includes only those steps necessary for the heat transfer model itself; you will
need to set up other models, boundary conditions, etc. as usual.)
1. To activate the calculation of heat transfer, enable the Energy Equation option in
the Energy panel (Figure 13.2.1).
Dene Models Energy...
Figure 13.2.1: The Energy Panel
2. (Optional, pressure-based solver only.) If you are modeling viscous ow and you
want to include the viscous heating terms in the energy equation, enable the Viscous
Heating option in the Viscous Model panel.
Dene Models Viscous...
As noted in Section 13.2.1: Inclusion of the Viscous Dissipation Terms, the viscous
heating terms in the energy equation are (by default) ignored by FLUENT when
the pressure-based solver is used. (They are always included for the density-based
solver.) Viscous dissipation should be enabled when the shear stress in the uid
is large (e.g., in lubrication problems) and/or in high-velocity, compressible ows
(see Equation 13.2-9).
3. Dene thermal boundary conditions at ow inlets, ow outlets, and walls.
Dene Boundary Conditions...
At ow inlets and exits you will set the temperature; at walls you may use any of
the following thermal conditions:
specied heat ux
specied temperature
convective heat transfer
external radiation
combined external radiation and external convective heat transfer
Section 7.13.1: Thermal Boundary Conditions at Walls provides details on the
model inputs that govern these thermal boundary conditions. The default ther-
mal boundary condition at inlets is a specied temperature of 300 K; at walls the
default condition is zero heat ux (adiabatic). See Chapter 7: Boundary Conditions
for details about boundary condition inputs.
i
If your heat transfer application involves two separated uid regions, see
the information provided below.
4. Dene material properties for heat transfer.
Dene Materials...
Heat capacity and thermal conductivity must be dened, and you can specify
many properties as functions of temperature as described in Chapter 8: Physical
Properties.
i
If your heat transfer application involves two separated uid regions, see
the information provided below.
Limiting the Predicted Temperature Range: The Temperature Floor and Ceiling
For stability reasons, FLUENT includes a limit on the predicted temperature range. The
purpose of the temperature ceiling and oor is to improve the stability of calculations
in which the temperature should physically lie within known limits. Sometimes interme-
diate solutions of the equations give rise to temperatures beyond these limits for which
property denitions, etc. are not well dened. The temperature limits keep the temper-
atures within the expected range for your problem. If the FLUENT calculation predicts
a temperature above the maximum limit, the stored temperature values are pegged at
this maximum value. The default for the temperature ceiling is 5000 K. If the FLUENT
calculation predicts a temperature below the minimum limit, the stored temperature
values are pegged at this minimum value. The default for the temperature minimum
is 1 K.
If you expect the temperature in your domain to exceed 5000 K, you should use the
Solution Limits panel to increase the Maximum Temperature.
Solve Controls Limits...
Modeling Heat Transfer in Two Separated Fluid Regions
If your heat transfer application involves two uid regions separated by a solid zone or a
wall, as illustrated in Figure 13.2.2, you will need to dene the problem with some care.
Specically:
You should not use outow boundary conditions in either uid.
You can establish separate uid properties by selecting a dierent uid material for
each zone. (For species calculations, however, you can only select a single mixture
material for the entire domain.)
uid 1
uid 2
Figure 13.2.2: Typical Counterow Heat Exchanger Involving Heat Transfer
Between Two Separated Fluid Streams
13.2.3 Solution Strategies for Heat Transfer Modeling
Although many simple heat transfer problems can be successfully solved using the default
solution parameters assumed by FLUENT, you may accelerate the convergence of your
problem and/or improve the stability of the solution process using some of the guidelines
provided in this section.
Under-Relaxation of the Energy Equation
When you use the pressure-based solver, FLUENT under-relaxes the energy equation
using the under-relaxation parameter dened by you in the Solution Controls panel, as
described in Section 25.9.2: Setting Under-Relaxation Factors.
Solve Controls Solution...
If you are using the non-adiabatic non-premixed combustion model, you will set the
energy under-relaxation factor as usual but you will also set an under-relaxation factor
for temperature, as described below.
FLUENT uses a default under-relaxation factor of 1.0 for the energy equation, regardless
of the form in which it is solved (temperature or enthalpy). In problems where the
energy eld impacts the uid ow (via temperature-dependent properties or buoyancy)
you should use a lower value for the under-relaxation factor, in the range of 0.81.0. In
problems where the ow eld is decoupled from the temperature eld (no temperature-
dependent properties or buoyancy forces), you can usually retain the default value of
1.0.
Under-Relaxation of Temperature When the Enthalpy Equation is Solved
When the enthalpy form of the energy equation is solved (i.e., when you are using the non-
adiabatic non-premixed combustion model), FLUENT also under-relaxes the temperature,
updating the temperature by only a fraction of the change that would result from the
change in the (under-relaxed) enthalpy values. This second level of under-relaxation can
be used to good advantage when you would like to let the enthalpy eld change rapidly,
but the temperature response (and its eect on uid properties) to lag. FLUENT uses a
default setting of 1.0 for the under-relaxation on temperature and you can modify this
setting using the Solution Controls panel.
Disabling the Species Diffusion Term
If you are solving for species transport using the pressure-based solver and you encounter
convergence diculties, you may want to consider disabling the Diusion Energy Source
option in the Species Model panel.
Dene Models Species...
When this option is disabled, FLUENT will neglect the eects of species diusion on the
energy equation.
Note that species diusion eects are always included when the density-based solver is
used.
Step-by-Step Solutions
Often the most ecient strategy for predicting heat transfer is to compute an isothermal
ow rst and then add the calculation of the energy equation. The procedure diers
slightly, depending on whether or not the ow and heat transfer are coupled.
Decoupled Flow and Heat Transfer Calculations
If your ow and heat transfer are decoupled (no temperature-dependent properties or
buoyancy forces), you can rst solve the isothermal ow (energy equation turned o) to
yield a converged ow-eld solution and then solve the energy transport equation alone.
i
Since the density-based solver always solves the ow and energy equations
together, the procedure for solving for energy alone applies to the pressure-
based solver, only.
You can temporarily disable the ow equations or the energy equation by disabling the
Energy option in the Equations list in the Solution Controls panel.
Coupled Flow and Heat Transfer Calculations
If the ow and heat transfer are coupled (i.e., your model includes temperature-depen-
dent properties or buoyancy forces), you can rst solve the ow equations before enabling
energy. Once you have a converged ow-eld solution, you can disable energy and solve
the ow and energy equations simultaneously to complete the heat transfer simulation.
13.2.4 Postprocessing Heat Transfer Quantities
Available Variables for Postprocessing
FLUENT provides reporting options for simulations involving heat transfer. You can
generate graphical plots or reports of the following variables/functions:
Static Temperature
Total Temperature
Enthalpy
Relative Total Temperature
Rothalpy
Wall Temperature (Outer Surface)
Wall Temperature (Inner Surface)
Total Enthalpy
Total Enthalpy Deviation
Entropy
Total Energy
Internal Energy
Total Surface Heat Flux
Surface Heat Transfer Coef.
Surface Nusselt Number
Surface Stanton Number
The rst 12 variables listed above are contained in the Temperature... category of the
variable selection drop-down list that appears in postprocessing panels, and the remaining
variables are in the Wall Fluxes... category. See Chapter 30: Field Function Denitions
for their denitions.
Denition of Enthalpy and Energy in Reports and Displays
The denitions of the reported values of enthalpy and energy will be dierent depending
on whether the ow is compressible or incompressible.
Reporting Heat Transfer Through Boundaries
You can use the Flux Reports panel to compute the heat transfer through each boundary
of the domain, or to sum the heat transfer through all boundaries to check the heat
balance.
Report Fluxes...
It is recommended that you perform a heat balance check to ensure that your solution is
truly converged.
Reporting Heat Transfer Through a Surface
You can use the Surface Integrals panel to compute the heat transfer through any bound-
ary or any surface created using the methods described in Chapter 27: Creating Surfaces
for Displaying and Reporting Data.
Report Surface Integrals...
To report the mass ow rate of enthalpy
Q =
_
Hv d
A (13.2-13)
choose Flow Rate for the Report Type in the Surface Integrals panel, select Enthalpy (in
the Temperature... category) as the Field Variable, and select the surface(s) on which to
integrate.
Reporting Averaged Heat Transfer Coefcients
The Surface Integrals panel can also be used to generate a report of averaged heat transfer
coecient h on a surface (
1
A
_
h dA).
Report Surface Integrals...
In the Surface Integrals panel, choose Area-Weighted Average for Report Type, select Surface
Heat Transfer Coef. (in the Wall Fluxes... category) as the Field Variable, and select the
surface.
Exporting Heat Flux Data
It is possible to export heat ux data on wall zones (including radiation) to a generic le
that you can examine or use in an external program. To save a heat ux le, you will
use the custom-heat-flux text command.
file export custom-heat-flux
Heat transfer data will be exported in the following free format for each face zone that
you select for export:
zone-name nfaces
x_f y_f z_f A Q T_w T_c HTC
.
.
.
Each block of data starts with the name of the face zone (zone-name) and the number
of faces in the zone (nfaces). Next there is a line for each face (i.e., nfaces lines), each
containing the components of the face centroid (x f, y f, and, in 3D, z f), the face area
(A), the heat transfer rate (Q), the face temperature (T w), the adjacent cell temperature
(T c), and the heat transfer coecient (HTC). If the heat transfer coecient is calculated
based on wall function (Equation 30.4-33), then Q is the convective heat transfer rate.
Otherwise, Q will be the total heat transfer rate, including radiation heat transfer.
13.2.5 Natural Convection and Buoyancy-Driven Flows
When heat is added to a uid and the uid density varies with temperature, a ow can be
induced due to the force of gravity acting on the density variations. Such buoyancy-driven
ows are termed natural-convection (or mixed-convection) ows and can be modeled by
FLUENT.
Theory
The importance of buoyancy forces in a mixed convection ow can be measured by the
ratio of the Grashof and Reynolds numbers:
Gr
Re
2
=
gTL
v
2
(13.2-14)
When this number approaches or exceeds unity, you should expect strong buoyancy
contributions to the ow. Conversely, if it is very small, buoyancy forces may be ignored
in your simulation. In pure natural convection, the strength of the buoyancy-induced
ow is measured by the Rayleigh number:
Ra =
gTL
3
(13.2-15)
where is the thermal expansion coecient:
=
1
T
_
p
(13.2-16)
and is the thermal diusivity:
=
k
c
p
(13.2-17)
Rayleigh numbers less than 10
8
indicate a buoyancy-induced laminar ow, with transition
to turbulence occurring over the range of 10
8
< Ra < 10
10
.
Modeling Natural Convection in a Closed Domain
When you model natural convection inside a closed domain, the solution will depend
on the mass inside the domain. Since this mass will not be known unless the density is
known, you must model the ow in one of the following ways:
Perform a transient calculation. In this approach, the initial density will be com-
puted from the initial pressure and temperature, so the initial mass is known. As
the solution progresses over time, this mass will be properly conserved. If the
temperature dierences in your domain are large, you must follow this approach.
Perform a steady-state calculation using the Boussinesq model (described in Sec-
tion 13.2.5: The Boussinesq Model). In this approach, you will specify a constant
density, so the mass is properly specied. This approach is valid only if the tem-
perature dierences in the domain are small; if not, you must use the transient
approach.
i
For a closed domain, you can use the incompressible ideal gas law only
with a xed operating pressure. It cannot be used with a oating operating
pressure. You can use the compressible ideal gas law with either oating
or xed operating pressure.
See Section 9.6.4: Floating Operating Pressure for more information about the oating
operating pressure option.
The Boussinesq Model
For many natural-convection ows, you can get faster convergence with the Boussinesq
model than you can get by setting up the problem with uid density as a function of
temperature. This model treats density as a constant value in all solved equations, except
for the buoyancy term in the momentum equation:
(
0
)g
0
(T T
0
)g (13.2-18)
where
0
is the (constant) density of the ow, T
0
is the operating temperature, and is
the thermal expansion coecient. Equation 13.2-18 is obtained by using the Boussinesq
approximation =
0
(1T) to eliminate from the buoyancy term. This approxima-
tion is accurate as long as changes in actual density are small; specically, the Boussinesq
approximation is valid when (T T
0
) 1.
Limitations of the Boussinesq Model
The Boussinesq model should not be used if the temperature dierences in the domain are
large. In addition, it cannot be used with species calculations, combustion, or reacting
ows.
Steps in Solving Buoyancy-Driven Flow Problems
The procedure for including buoyancy forces in the simulation of mixed or natural con-
vection ows is described below.
1. Activate the calculation of heat transfer.
(a) Enable the Energy option in the Energy panel..
2. Dene the operating conditions.
Dene Operating Conditions
(a) Enable the Gravity option under Gravity (Figure 13.2.3).
(b) Enter the appropriate values in the X, Y, and (for 3D) Z elds for Gravitational
Acceleration for each Cartesian coordinate direction. (Note that the default
gravitational acceleration in FLUENT is zero.)
(c) If you are using the incompressible ideal gas law, check that the Operating
Pressure is set to an appropriate (non-zero) value.
Figure 13.2.3: The Operating Conditions Panel
(d) Depending on whether or not you use the Boussinesq approximation, specify
the appropriate parameters described below:
If you are not using the Boussinesq model, the inputs are as follows:
i. If necessary, enable the Specied Operating Density option in the Op-
erating Conditions panel, and enter a value for the Operating Density.
See below for details.
ii. Dene the uid density as a function of temperature as described in
Sections 8.2 and 8.3.
Dene Materials...
If you are using the Boussinesq model (described in Section 13.2.5: The
Boussinesq Model) the inputs are as follows:
i. Enter the Operating Temperature (T
0
in Equation 13.2-18) in the Op-
erating Conditions panel.
ii. Select boussinesq in the drop-down list for Density in the Materials
panel as described in Sections 8.2 and 8.3, and enter a constant value.
iii. Also in the Materials panel, enter an appropriate value for the Thermal
Expansion Coecient ( in Equation 13.2-18) for the uid material.
Note that if your model involves multiple uid materials you can choose
whether or not to use the Boussinesq model for each material. As a result, you
may have some materials using the Boussinesq model and others not. In such
cases, you will need to set all the parameters described above in this step.
3. Dene the boundary conditions.
(a) The boundary pressures that you input at pressure inlet and outlet boundaries
are the redened pressures as given by Equation 13.2-19. In general you should
enter equal pressures, p
, at the inlet and exit boundaries of your FLUENT

model if there are no externally-imposed pressure gradients.
4. Set the parameters that control the solution.
(a) Select Body Force Weighted or Second Order in the drop-down list for Pressure
under Discretization in the Solution Controls panel.
You may also want to add cells near the walls to resolve boundary layers.
If you are using the pressure-based solver, selecting PRESTO! as the Discretiza-
tion method for Pressure is another recommended approach.
See also Section 13.2.2: Steps in Solving Heat Transfer Problems for information on
setting up heat transfer calculations.
Operating Density
When the Boussinesq approximation is not used, the operating density
0
appears in the
body-force term in the momentum equations as (
0
)g.
This form of the body-force term follows from the redenition of pressure in FLUENT as
p
s
= p
s
0
gx (13.2-19)
The hydrostatic pressure in a uid at rest is then
p
s
= 0 (13.2-20)
Setting the Operating Density
By default, FLUENT will compute the operating density by averaging over all cells. In
some cases, you may obtain better results if you explicitly specify the operating density
instead of having the solver compute it for you. For example, if you are solving a natural-
convection problem with a pressure boundary, it is important to understand that the
pressure you are specifying is p
s
in Equation 13.2-19. Although you will know the actual
pressure p
s
, you will need to know the operating density
0
in order to determine p
s
from
p
s
. Therefore, you should explicitly specify the operating density rather than use the
computed average. The specied value should, however, be representative of the average
value.
In some cases the specication of an operating density will improve convergence behavior,
rather than the actual results. For such cases use the approximate bulk density value
as the operating density and be sure that the value you choose is appropriate for the
characteristic temperature in the domain.
Note that if you are using the Boussinesq approximation for all uid materials, the
operating density
0
does not appear in the body-force term of the momentum equation.
Consequently, you need not specify it.
Solution Strategies for Buoyancy-Driven Flows
For high-Rayleigh-number ows you may want to consider the solution guidelines be-
low. In addition, the guidelines presented in Section 13.2.3: Solution Strategies for
Heat Transfer Modeling for solving other heat transfer problems can also be applied
to buoyancy-driven ows. Note, however that no steady-state solution exists for some
laminar, high-Rayleigh-number ows.
Guidelines for Solving High-Rayleigh-Number Flows
When you are solving a high-Rayleigh-number ow (Ra > 10
8
) you should follow one of
the procedures outlined below for best results.
The rst procedure uses a steady-state approach:
1. Start the solution with a lower value of Rayleigh number (e.g., 10
7
) and run it to
convergence using the rst-order scheme.
2. To change the eective Rayleigh number, change the value of gravitational accel-
eration (e.g., from 9.8 to 0.098 to reduce the Rayleigh number by two orders of
magnitude).
3. Use the resulting data le as an initial guess for the higher Rayleigh number and
start the higher-Rayleigh-number solution using the rst-order scheme.
4. After you obtain a solution with the rst-order scheme you may continue the cal-
culation with a higher-order scheme.
The second procedure uses a time-dependent approach to obtain a steady-state solu-
tion [138]:
1. Start the solution from a steady-state solution obtained for the same or a lower
Rayleigh number.
2. Estimate the time constant as [31]
=
L
U

L
2
(PrRa)
1/2
=
L
gTL
(13.2-21)
where L and U are the length and velocity scales, respectively. Use a time step t
such that
t

4
(13.2-22)
Using a larger time step t may lead to divergence.
3. After oscillations with a typical frequency of f = 0.050.09 have decayed, the
solution reaches steady state. Note that is the time constant estimated in Equa-
tion 13.2-21 and f is the oscillation frequency in Hz. In general this solution process
may take as many as 5000 time steps to reach steady state.
Postprocessing Buoyancy-Driven Flows
The postprocessing reports of interest for buoyancy-driven ows are the same as for other
heat transfer calculations. See Section 13.2.4: Postprocessing Heat Transfer Quantities
for details.
13.2.6 Shell Conduction Considerations
Introduction
By default, FLUENT treats walls as zero thickness presenting no thermal resistance to
heat transfer across them. If a thickness is specied for walls then the appropriate thermal
resistance across the wall thickness is imposed, although conduction is considered in the
wall in the normal direction, only. There are applications, however, where conduction in
the planar direction of the wall is also important. For these applications, you have two
options: you can either mesh the thickness or you can use the shell conduction approach.
Shell conduction can be used to model thin sheets without the need to mesh the wall
thickness in a preprocessor. When the shell conduction approach is utilized, you have the
ability to easily switch on and o conjugate heat transfer on any wall. When you specify
a thickness for the wall, a material property, and toggle the Shell Conduction switch in
the Wall panel, then during the solution process FLUENT automatically grows a layer of
prism cells or hex cells for the wall, depending on the type of face mesh that is utilized.
Shell conduction can be used to account for thermal mass in transient thermal analysis
problems such as soaking. It can also be used for multiple junctions and allows heat
conduction through the junctions. Shell conduction can be applied on boundary walls as
well as internal walls.
Physical Treatment
In the case of shell conduction that is applied on a boundary wall, the boundary condition
that you specify on the original wall is applied to the outer shell wall and the original
wall is treated as a coupled wall (Figure 13.2.4). Note however, that internal emissivity
is applied on the inner shell. The shell boundaries (the sides of the shell zone) need
boundary conditions as well. If the wall with shell conduction is connected to another
wall that has no shell conduction, the shell side will take its boundary condition. The
sides will be adiabatic if they are connected to face zones having a boundary condition
type other than a wall. If the shell is connected to another shell of another wall at the
boundary (referred to as shell junctions in FLUENT), then a net ux of zero is imposed
at the shared boundary shell face zone.
Figure 13.2.4: A Case for Shell Conduction
Limitations of Shell Conduction Walls
The following is a list of limitations for the shell conduction model:
Shells cannot be created on non-conformal interfaces.
Shell conduction is not available for 2D.
Shell conduction is available only when the pressure-based solver is used.
Shell conduction cannot be used with the non-premixed or partially- premixed
combustion model.
When used in conjunction with the Discrete Ordinates (DO) radiation model, shell
conducting walls cannot be semi-transparent and it should not be used with the
DO/Energy Coupling Method.
Shell conducting walls cannot be split or merged. If you need to split or merge a
shell conducting wall, you will need to turn o the Shell Conduction option for the
wall (in the Wall panel, perform the split or merge operation, and then enable Shell
Conduction for the new wall zones.
The shell conduction model cannot be used on a wall zone that has been adapted.
If you want to perform adaption elsewhere in the computational domain, be sure to
use the mask register described in Section 27.11.1. This will ensure that adaption
is not performed on the shell conducting wall.
Fluxes at the ends of a shell conducting wall are not included in heat balance
reports. These uxes are accounted for correctly in the FLUENT solution, but are
not listed in the ux report.
Initialization
Shell zones can be patched using the Patch panel.
Solve Initialize Patch...
Postprocessing
Shell zones can be postprocessed. The shell cell temperature is stored in the Temperature
variable (inner surface). If a more detailed analysis of he solid zone and surfaces is
required, then you should consider using a layer of solid zones in your model.
13.3 Modeling Radiation
Information about radiation modeling is presented in the following sections:
Section 13.3.1: Overview and Limitations
Section 13.3.2: Radiative Transfer Equation
Section 13.3.3: P-1 Radiation Model Theory
Section 13.3.4: Rosseland Radiation Model Theory
Section 13.3.5: Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) Theory
Section 13.3.6: Discrete Ordinates (DO) Radiation Model Theory
Section 13.3.7: Surface-to-Surface (S2S) Radiation Model Theory
Section 13.3.8: Radiation in Combusting Flows
Section 13.3.9: Choosing a Radiation Model
Section 13.3.10: Steps in Using the Radiation Models
Section 13.3.11: Setting Up the DTRM Model
Section 13.3.12: Setting Up the S2S Model
Section 13.3.13: Setting Up the DO Model
Section 13.3.14: Dening Material Properties for Radiation
Section 13.3.15: Dening Boundary Conditions for Radiation
Section 13.3.16: Solution Strategies for Radiation Modeling
Section 13.3.17: Postprocessing Radiation Quantities
Section 13.3.18: Solar Load Model
13.3.1 Overview and Limitations
FLUENT provides ve radiation models which allow you to include radiation, with or
without a participating medium, in your heat transfer simulations:
Heating or cooling of surfaces due to radiation and/or heat sources or sinks due to
radiation within the uid phase can be included in your model using one of the following
radiation models.
Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) [48, 328]
P-1 Radiation Model [54, 331]
Rosseland Radiation Model [331]
Surface-to-Surface (S2S) Radiation Model [331]
Discrete Ordinates (DO) Radiation Model [60, 293]
In addition to these radiation models, FLUENT also provides a solar load model that
allows you to include the eects of solar radiation in your simulation.
Typical applications well suited for simulation using radiative heat transfer include the
following:
radiative heat transfer from ames
surface-to-surface radiant heating or cooling
coupled radiation, convection, and/or conduction heat transfer
radiation through windows in HVAC applications, and cabin heat transfer analysis
in automotive applications
radiation in glass processing, glass ber drawing, and ceramic processing
You should include radiative heat transfer in your simulation when the radiant heat ux,
Q
rad
= (T
4
max
T
4
min
), is large compared to the heat transfer rate due to convection
or conduction. Typically this will occur at high temperatures where the fourth-order
dependence of the radiative heat ux on temperature implies that radiation will dominate.
Advantages and Limitations of the DTRM
The primary advantages of the DTRM are threefold: it is a relatively simple model, you
can increase the accuracy by increasing the number of rays, and it applies to a wide range
of optical thicknesses.
You should be aware of the following limitations when using the DTRM in FLUENT:
DTRM assumes that all surfaces are diuse. This means that the reection of
incident radiation at the surface is isotropic with respect to solid angle.
The eect of scattering is not included.
The implementation assumes gray radiation.
Solving a problem with a large number of rays is CPU-intensive.
DTRM is not compatible with non-conformal interface or sliding meshes.
DTRM is not compatible with parallel processing.
Advantages and Limitations of the P-1 Model
The P-1 model has several advantages over the DTRM. For the P-1 model, the RTE
(Equation 13.3-1) is a diusion equation, which is easy to solve with little CPU demand.
The model includes the eect of scattering. For combustion applications where the optical
thickness is large, the P-1 model works reasonably well. In addition, the P-1 model can
easily be applied to complicated geometries with curvilinear coordinates.
You should be aware of the following limitations when using the P-1 radiation model:
P-1 model assumes that all surfaces are diuse. This means that the reection of
incident radiation at the surface is isotropic with respect to the solid angle.
There may be a loss of accuracy, depending on the complexity of the geometry, if
the optical thickness is small.
P-1 model tends to over-predict radiative uxes from localized heat sources or sinks.
Advantages and Limitations of the Rosseland Model
The Rosseland model has two advantages over the P-1 model. Since it does not solve an
extra transport equation for the incident radiation (as the P-1 model does), the Rosseland
model is faster than the P-1 model and requires less memory.
The Rosseland model can be used only for optically thick media. It is recommended for
use when the optical thickness exceeds 3. Note also that the Rosseland model is not
available when the density-based solver is being used; it is available with the pressure-
based solver, only.
Advantages and Limitations of the DO Model
The DO model spans the entire range of optical thicknesses, and allows you to solve prob-
lems ranging from surface-to-surface radiation to participating radiation in combustion
problems. It also allows the solution of radiation at semi-transparent walls. Computa-
tional cost is moderate for typical angular discretizations, and memory requirements are
modest.
The current implementation is restricted to either gray radiation or non-gray radiation
using a gray-band model. Solving a problem with a ne angular discretization may be
CPU-intensive.
The non-gray implementation in FLUENT is intended for use with participating media
with a spectral absorption coecient a
that varies in a stepwise fashion across spectral

bands, but varies smoothly within the band. Glass, for example, displays banded be-
havior of this type. The current implementation does not model the behavior of gases
such as carbon dioxide or water vapor, which absorb and emit energy at distinct wave
numbers [247]. The modeling of non-gray gas radiation is still an evolving eld. However,
some researchers [106] have used gray-band models to model gas behavior by approxi-
mating the absorption coecients within each band as a constant. The implementation
in FLUENT can be used in this fashion if desired.
The non-gray implementation in FLUENT is compatible with all the models with which
the gray implementation of the DO model can be used. Thus, it is possible to include
scattering, anisotropy, semi-transparent media, and particulate eects. However, the non-
gray implementation assumes a constant absorption coecient within each wavelength
band. The weighted sum of gray gases model (WSGGM) cannot be used to specify
the absorption coecient in each band. The implementation allows the specication of
spectral emissivity at walls. The emissivity is assumed to be constant within each band.
Advantages and Limitations of the S2S Model
The surface-to-surface (S2S) radiation model is good for modeling the enclosure radia-
tive transfer without participating media (e.g., spacecraft heat rejection systems, solar
collector systems, radiative space heaters, and automotive underhood cooling systems).
In such cases, the methods for participating radiation may not always be ecient. As
compared to the DTRM and the DO radiation models, the S2S model has a much faster
time per iteration, although the view factor calculation itself is CPU-intensive. This
increased time for view factor calculation will be especially pronounced when the emit-
ting/absorbing surfaces are the polygonal faces of polyhedral cells.
You should be aware of the following limitations when using the S2S radiation model:
S2S model assumes that all surfaces are diuse.
The storage and memory requirements increase very rapidly as the number of sur-
face faces increases. This can be minimized by using a cluster of surface faces,
although the CPU time is independent of the number of clusters that are used.
S2S model cannot be used to model participating radiation problems.
S2S model cannot be used if your model contains periodic or symmetry boundary
conditions.
S2S model does not support non-conformal interfaces, hanging nodes, or grid adap-
tion.
13.3.2 Radiative Transfer Equation
The radiative transfer equation (RTE) for an absorbing, emitting, and scattering medium
at position r in the direction s is
dI(r, s)
ds
+ (a +
s
)I(r, s) = an
2
T
4
+

s
4
_
4
0
I(r, s

) (s s

) d
(13.3-1)
where r = position vector
s = direction vector
s

= scattering direction vector
s = path length
a = absorption coecient
n = refractive index
s
= scattering coecient
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.672 10
8
W/m
2
-K
4
)
I = radiation intensity, which depends on position (r) and direction (s)
T = local temperature
= phase function
= solid angle
(a +
s
)s is the optical thickness or opacity of the medium. The refractive index n is
important when considering radiation in semi-transparent media. Figure 13.3.1 illustrates
the process of radiative heat transfer.
ds
Incoming
radiation (I)
Outgoing radiation
I + (dI/ds)ds
Absorption and
scattering loss:
I (a+ s) ds
Gas emission:
(aT / ) ds
4
Scattering
addition
Figure 13.3.1: Radiative Heat Transfer
The DTRM and the P-1, Rosseland, and DO radiation models require the absorption
coecient a as input. a and the scattering coecient
s
can be constants, and a can also
be a function of local concentrations of H
2
O and CO
2
, path length, and total pressure.
FLUENT provides the weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model (WSGGM) for computation of
a variable absorption coecient. See Section 13.3.8: Radiation in Combusting Flows for
details. The discrete ordinates implementation can model radiation in semi-transparent
media. The refractive index n of the medium must be provided as a part of the calculation
for this type of problem. The Rosseland model also requires you to enter a refractive
index, or use the default value of 1.
13.3.3 P-1 Radiation Model Theory
The P-1 radiation model is the simplest case of the more general P-N model, which is
based on the expansion of the radiation intensity I into an orthogonal series of spherical
harmonics [54, 331]. This section provides details about the equations used in the P-1
model.
The P-1 Model Equations
As mentioned above, the P-1 radiation model is the simplest case of the P-N model. If
only four terms in the series are used, the following equation is obtained for the radiation
ux q
r
:
q
r
=
1
3(a +
s
) C
s
G (13.3-2)
where a is the absorption coecient,
s
is the scattering coecient, G is the incident
radiation, and C is the linear-anisotropic phase function coecient, described below.
After introducing the parameter
=
1
(3(a +
s
) C
s
)
(13.3-3)
Equation 13.3-2 simplies to
q
r
= G (13.3-4)
The transport equation for G is
(G) aG + 4aT
4
= S
G
(13.3-5)
where is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant and S
G
is a user-dened radiation source.
FLUENT solves this equation to determine the local radiation intensity when the P-1
model is active.
Combining Equations 13.3-4 and 13.3-5, the following equation is obtained:
q
r
= aG4aT
4
(13.3-6)
The expression for q
r
can be directly substituted into the energy equation to account
for heat sources (or sinks) due to radiation.
Anisotropic Scattering
Included in the P-1 radiation model is the capability for modeling anisotropic scattering.
FLUENT models anisotropic scattering by means of a linear-anisotropic scattering phase
function:
(s

s) = 1 + Cs

s (13.3-7)
Here, s is the unit vector in the direction of scattering, and s

is the unit vector in the
direction of the incident radiation. C is the linear-anisotropic phase function coecient,
which is a property of the uid. C ranges from 1 to 1. A positive value indicates that
more radiant energy is scattered forward than backward, and a negative value means that
more radiant energy is scattered backward than forward. A zero value denes isotropic
scattering (i.e., scattering that is equally likely in all directions), which is the default in
FLUENT. You should modify the default value only if you are certain of the anisotropic
scattering behavior of the material in your problem.
Particulate Effects in the P-1 Model
When your FLUENT model includes a dispersed second phase of particles, you can include
the eect of particles in the P-1 radiation model. Note that when particles are present,
FLUENT ignores scattering in the gas phase. (That is, Equation 13.3-8 assumes that all
scattering is due to particles.)
For a gray, absorbing, emitting, and scattering medium containing absorbing, emitting,
and scattering particles, the transport equation for the incident radiation can be written
as
(G) + 4
_
a
T
4
+ E
p
_
(a + a
p
)G = 0 (13.3-8)
where E
p
is the equivalent emission of the particles and a
p
is the equivalent absorption
coecient. These are dened as follows:
E
p
= lim
V 0
N
n=1
pn
A
pn
T
4
pn
V
(13.3-9)
and
a
p
= lim
V 0
N
n=1
pn
A
pn
V
(13.3-10)
In Equations 13.3-9 and 13.3-10,
pn
, A
pn
, and T
pn
are the emissivity, projected area,
and temperature of particle n. The summation is over N particles in volume V . These
quantities are computed during particle tracking in FLUENT.
The projected area A
pn
of particle n is dened as
A
pn
=
d
2
pn
4
(13.3-11)
where d
pn
is the diameter of the nth particle.
The quantity in Equation 13.3-8 is dened as
=
1
3(a + a
p
+
p
)
(13.3-12)
where the equivalent particle scattering factor is dened as
p
= lim
V 0
N
n=1
(1 f
pn
)(1
pn
)
A
pn
V
(13.3-13)
and is computed during particle tracking. In Equation 13.3-13, f
pn
is the scattering factor
associated with the nth particle.
Heat sources (sinks) due to particle radiation are included in the energy equation as
follows:
q
r
= 4
_
a
T
4
+ E
p
_
+ (a + a
p
)G (13.3-14)
Boundary Condition Treatment for the P-1 Model at Walls
To get the boundary condition for the incident radiation equation, the dot product of
the outward normal vector n and Equation 13.3-4 is computed:
q
r
n = G n (13.3-15)
q
r,w
=
G
n
(13.3-16)
Thus the ux of the incident radiation, G, at a wall is q
r,w
. The wall radiative heat
ux is computed using the following boundary condition:
I
w
(r, s) = f
w
(r, s) (13.3-17)
f
w
(r, s) =
w
T
4
w
+
w
I(r, s) (13.3-18)
where
w
is the wall reectivity. The Marshak boundary condition is then used to elim-
inate the angular dependence [274]:
_
2
0
I
w
(r, s) n s d =
_
2
0
f
w
(r, s) n s d (13.3-19)
Substituting Equations 13.3-17 and 13.3-18 into Equation 13.3-19 and performing the
integrations yields
q
r,w
=
4
w
T
4
w
(1
w
)G
w
2(1 +
w
)
(13.3-20)
If it is assumed that the walls are diuse gray surfaces, then
w
= 1
w
, and Equa-
tion 13.3-20 becomes
q
r,w
=

w
2 (2
w
)
_
4T
4
w
G
w
_
(13.3-21)
Equation 13.3-21 is used to compute q
r,w
for the energy equation and for the incident
radiation equation boundary conditions.
Boundary Condition Treatment for the P-1 Model at Flow Inlets and Exits
The net radiative heat ux at ow inlets and outlets is computed in the same manner
as at walls, as described above. FLUENT assumes that the emissivity of all ow inlets
and outlets is 1.0 (black body absorption) unless you choose to redene this boundary
treatment.
FLUENT includes an option that allows you to use dierent temperatures for radiation
and convection at inlets and outlets. This can be useful when the temperature out-
side the inlet or outlet diers considerably from the temperature in the enclosure. See
Section 13.3.15: Dening Boundary Conditions for Radiation for details.
13.3.4 Rosseland Radiation Model Theory
The Rosseland or diusion approximation for radiation is valid when the medium is
optically thick ((a +
s
)L 1), and is recommended for use in problems where the
optical thickness is greater than 3. It can be derived from the P-1 model equations,
with some approximations. This section provides details about the equations used in the
Rosseland model.
The Rosseland Model Equations
As with the P-1 model, the radiative heat ux vector in a gray medium can be approxi-
mated by Equation 13.3-4:
q
r
= G (13.3-22)
where is given by Equation 13.3-3.
The Rosseland radiation model diers from the P-1 model in that the Rosseland model
assumes that the intensity is the black-body intensity at the gas temperature. (The P-1
model actually calculates a transport equation for G.) Thus G = 4n
2
T
4
, where n is the
refractive index. Substituting this value for G into Equation 13.3-22 yields
q
r
= 16n
2
T
3
T (13.3-23)
Since the radiative heat ux has the same form as the Fourier conduction law, it is
possible to write
q = q
c
+ q
r
(13.3-24)
= (k + k
r
)T (13.3-25)
k
r
= 16n
2
T
3
(13.3-26)
where k is the thermal conductivity and k
r
is the radiative conductivity. Equation 13.3-24
is used in the energy equation to compute the temperature eld.
The Rosseland model allows for anisotropic scattering, using the same phase function
(Equation 13.3-7) described for the P-1 model in Section 13.3.3: Anisotropic Scattering.
Boundary Condition Treatment for the Rosseland Model at Walls
Since the diusion approximation is not valid near walls, it is necessary to use a tem-
perature slip boundary condition. The radiative heat ux at the wall boundary, q
r,w
, is
dened using the slip coecient :
q
r,w
=
_
T
4
w
T
4
g
_
(13.3-27)
where T
w
is the wall temperature, T
g
is the temperature of the gas at the wall, and the
slip coecient is approximated by a curve t to the plot given in [331]:
=
_
_
1/2 N
w
< 0.01
2x
3
+3x
2
12x+7
54
0.01 N
w
10
0 N
w
> 10
(13.3-28)
where N
w
is the conduction to radiation parameter at the wall:
N
w
=
k(a +
s
)
4T
3
w
(13.3-29)
and x = log
10
N
w
.
Boundary Condition Treatment for the Rosseland Model at Flow Inlets and
Exits
No special treatment is required at ow inlets and outlets for the Rosseland model. The
radiative heat ux at these boundaries can be determined using Equation 13.3-24.
13.3.5 Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM) Theory
The main assumption of the DTRM is that the radiation leaving the surface element in a
certain range of solid angles can be approximated by a single ray. This section provides
details about the equations used in the DTRM.
The DTRM Equations
The equation for the change of radiant intensity, dI, along a path, ds, can be written as
dI
ds
+ aI =
aT
4
(13.3-30)
where a = gas absorption coecient
I = intensity
T = gas local temperature
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.672 10
8
W/m
2
-K
4
)
Here, the refractive index is assumed to be unity. The DTRM integrates Equation 13.3-30
along a series of rays emanating from boundary faces. If a is constant along the ray, then
I(s) can be estimated as
I(s) =
T
4
(1 e
as
) + I
0
e
as
(13.3-31)
where I
0
is the radiant intensity at the start of the incremental path, which is determined
by the appropriate boundary condition (see the description of boundary conditions, be-
low). The energy source in the uid due to radiation is then computed by summing the
change in intensity along the path of each ray that is traced through the uid control
volume.
The ray tracing technique used in the DTRM can provide a prediction of radiative
heat transfer between surfaces without explicit view-factor calculations. The accuracy of
the model is limited mainly by the number of rays traced and the computational grid.
Ray Tracing
The ray paths are calculated and stored prior to the uid ow calculation. At each
radiating face, rays are red at discrete values of the polar and azimuthal angles (see
Figure 13.3.2). To cover the radiating hemisphere, is varied from 0 to

2
and from 0
to 2. Each ray is then traced to determine the control volumes it intercepts as well as
its length within each control volume. This information is then stored in the radiation
le, which must be read in before the uid ow calculations begin.
t
n
P
Figure 13.3.2: Angles and Dening the Hemispherical Solid Angle About
a Point P
Clustering
DTRM is computationally very expensive when there are too many surfaces to trace rays
from and too many volumes crossed by the rays. To reduce the computational time, the
number of radiating surfaces and absorbing cells is reduced by clustering surfaces and
cells into surface and volume clusters. The volume clusters are formed by starting from
a cell and simply adding its neighbors and their neighbors until a specied number of
cells per volume cluster is collected. Similarly, surface clusters are made by starting from
a face and adding its neighbors and their neighbors until a specied number of faces per
surface cluster is collected.
The incident radiation ux, q
in
, and the volume sources are calculated for the surface and
volume clusters respectively. These values are then distributed to the faces and cells in
the clusters to calculate the wall and cell temperatures. Since the radiation source terms
are highly non-linear (proportional to the fourth power of temperature), care must be
taken to calculate the average temperatures of surface and volume clusters and distribute
the ux and source terms appropriately among the faces and cells forming the clusters.
The surface and volume cluster temperatures are obtained by area and volume averaging
as shown in the following equations:
T
sc
=
_
f
A
f
T
4
f
A
f
_
1/4
(13.3-32)
T
vc
=
_
c
V
c
T
4
c
V
c
_
1/4
(13.3-33)
where T
sc
and T
vc
are the temperatures of the surface and volume clusters respectively,
A
f
and T
f
are the area and temperature of face f, and V
c
and T
c
are the volume and
temperature of cell c. The summations are carried over all faces of a surface cluster and
all cells of a volume cluster.
Boundary Condition Treatment for the DTRM at Walls
The radiation intensity approaching a point on a wall surface is integrated to yield the
incident radiative heat ux, q
in
, as
q
in
=
_
sn>0
I
in
s nd (13.3-34)
where is the hemispherical solid angle, I
in
is the intensity of the incoming ray, s is the
ray direction vector, and n is the normal pointing out of the domain. The net radiative
heat ux from the surface, q
out
, is then computed as a sum of the reected portion of q
in
and the emissive power of the surface:
q
out
= (1
w
)q
in
+
w
T
4
w
(13.3-35)
where T
w
is the surface temperature of the point P on the surface and
w
is the wall
emissivity which you input as a boundary condition. FLUENT incorporates the radiative
heat ux (Equation 13.3-35) in the prediction of the wall surface temperature. Equa-
tion 13.3-35 also provides the surface boundary condition for the radiation intensity I
0
of a ray emanating from the point P, as
I
0
=
q
out
(13.3-36)
Boundary Condition Treatment for the DTRM at Flow Inlets and Exits
The net radiative heat ux at ow inlets and outlets is computed in the same manner
as at walls, as described above. FLUENT assumes that the emissivity of all ow inlets
and outlets is 1.0 (black body absorption) unless you choose to redene this boundary
treatment.
FLUENT includes an option that allows you to use dierent temperatures for radiation
and convection at inlets and outlets. This can be useful when the temperature out-
side the inlet or outlet diers considerably from the temperature in the enclosure. See
Section 13.3.15: Dening Boundary Conditions for Radiation for details.
13.3.6 Discrete Ordinates (DO) Radiation Model Theory
The discrete ordinates (DO) radiation model solves the radiative transfer equation (RTE)
for a nite number of discrete solid angles, each associated with a vector direction s xed
in the global Cartesian system (x, y, z). The neness of the angular discretization is
controlled by you, analogous to choosing the number of rays for the DTRM. Unlike the
DTRM, however, the DO model does not perform ray tracing. Instead, the DO model
transforms Equation 13.3-1 into a transport equation for radiation intensity in the spatial
coordinates (x, y, z). The DO model solves for as many transport equations as there are
directions s. The solution method is identical to that used for the uid ow and energy
equations.
Two implementations of the DO model are available in FLUENT: uncoupled and (energy)
coupled. The uncoupled implementation is sequential in nature and uses a conservative
variant of the DO model called the nite-volume scheme [60, 293], and its extension
to unstructured meshes [255]. In the uncoupled case, the equations for the energy and
radiation intensities are solved one by one, assuming prevailing values for other variables.
Alternatively, in the coupled ordinates method (or COMET) [231], the discrete energy
and intensity equations at each cell are solved simultaneously, assuming that spatial
neighbors are known. The advantages of using the coupled approach is that it speeds up
applications involving high optical thicknesses and/or high scattering coecients. Such
applications slow down convergence drastically when the sequential approach is used.
The DO Model Equations
The DO model considers the radiative transfer equation (RTE) in the direction s as a
eld equation. Thus, Equation 13.3-1 is written as
(I(r, s)s) + (a +
s
)I(r, s) = an
2
T
4
+

s
4
_
4
0
I(r, s

) (s s

) d
(13.3-37)
FLUENT also allows the modeling of non-gray radiation using a gray-band model. The
RTE for the spectral intensity I
(r, s) can be written as

(I
(r, s)s) + (a
+
s
)I
(r, s) = a
n
2
I
b
+

s
4
_
4
0
I
(r, s

) (s s

) d
(13.3-38)
Here is the wavelength, a
is the spectral absorption coecient, and I

b
is the black
body intensity given by the Planck function. The scattering coecient, the scattering
phase function, and the refractive index n are assumed independent of wavelength.
The non-gray DO implementation divides the radiation spectrum into N wavelength
bands, which need not be contiguous or equal in extent. The wavelength intervals are
supplied by you, and correspond to values in vacuum (n = 1). The RTE is integrated
over each wavelength interval, resulting in transport equations for the quantity I
,
the radiant energy contained in the wavelength band . The behavior in each band is
assumed gray. The black body emission in the wavelength band per unit solid angle is
written as
[F(0 n
2
T) F(0 n
1
T)]n
2
T
4
(13.3-39)
where F(0 nT) is the fraction of radiant energy emitted by a black body [247] in the
wavelength interval from 0 to at temperature T in a medium of refractive index n.
2
and
1
are the wavelength boundaries of the band.
The total intensity I(r, s) in each direction s at position r is computed using
I(r, s) =
k
I
k
(r, s)
k
(13.3-40)
where the summation is over the wavelength bands.
Boundary conditions for the non-gray DO model are applied on a band basis. The
treatment within a band is the same as that for the gray DO model.
Energy Coupling and the DO Model
The coupling between energy and radiation intensities at a cell (which is also known
as COMET) [231] accelerates the convergence of the nite volume scheme for radiative
heat transfer. This method results in signicant improvement in the convergence for
applications involving optical thicknesses greater than 10. This is typically encountered
in glass-melting applications. This feature is advantageous when scattering is signicant,
resulting in strong coupling between directional radiation intensities. This DO model
implementation is utilized in FLUENT by enabling the DO/Energy Coupling option for
the DO model in the Radiation Model panel. The discrete energy equations for the
coupled method are presented below.
The energy equation when integrated over a control volume i, yields the discrete energy
equation:
N
j=1
T
ij
T
j
T
i
T
i
T
i
L
k=1
I
k
i

k
S
T
i
S
h
i
(13.3-41)
where
T
i
= V
i
T
i
= 16T
3
i
V
i
S
T
i
= 12T
4
i
V
i
= absorption coecient
V = control volume
The coecient
T
ij
and the source term S
h
i
are due to the discretization of the convection
and diusion terms as well as the non-radiative source terms.
Combining the discretized form of Equation 13.3-37 and the discretized energy equation,
Equation 13.3-41, yields [231]:
P
i
q
i
+r
i
= 0 (13.3-42)
where
q
i
=
_
_
I
1
i
I
2
i
:
:
I
L
i
T
i
_
_
(13.3-43)
P
i
=
_
_
M
1
ii
+
11
i
+
1
i
1

12
i
+
1
i
2
...
1
i
21
i
+
2
i
1
M
2
ii
+
22
i
+
2
i
2
...
2
i
:
:
T
i

1

T
i

2
...M
T
ii
_
_
(13.3-44)
r
i
=
_
N
j=1,i=j

l
ij
I
l
j
S
1
i
S
B
i
:
:
N
j=1,i=j

T
ij
T
j
+ S
T
i
+ S
h
i
_
_
(13.3-45)
Limitations of DO/Energy Coupling
There are some instances when using DO/Energy coupling is not recommended or is
incompatible with certain models:
DO/Energy coupling is not recommended for cases with weak coupling between
energy and directional radiation intensities. This may result in slower convergence
of the coupled approach compared to the sequential approach.
DO/Energy coupling is not compatible with the shell conduction model.
DO/Energy coupling is not available when solving enthalpy equations instead of
temperature equations. Typical cases would involve combustion modeling.
To nd out how to apply DO/Energy coupling, refer to Section 13.3.13: Setting Up the
DO Model.
Angular Discretization and Pixelation
Each octant of the angular space 4 at any spatial location is discretized into N
solid angles of extent

i
, called control angles. The angles and are the polar and
azimuthal angles respectively, and are measured with respect to the global Cartesian
system (x, y, z) as shown in Figure 13.3.3. The and extents of the control angle,
and , are constant. In two-dimensional calculations, only four octants are solved due to
symmetry, making a total of 4N
directions in all. In three-dimensional calculations,

a total of 8N
directions are solved. In the case of the non-gray model, 4N
or
8N
equations are solved for each band.

When Cartesian meshes are used, it is possible to align the global angular discretization
with the control volume face, as shown in Figure 13.3.4. For generalized unstructured
meshes, however, control volume faces do not in general align with the global angular
discretization, as shown in Figure 13.3.5, leading to the problem of control angle over-
hang [255].
Essentially, control angles can straddle the control volume faces, so that they are partially
incoming and partially outgoing to the face. Figure 13.3.6 shows a 3D example of a face
with control angle overhang.
The control volume face cuts the sphere representing the angular space at an arbitrary
angle. The line of intersection is a great circle. Control angle overhang may also occur
as a result of reection and refraction. It is important in these cases to correctly account
for the overhanging fraction. This is done through the use of pixelation [255].
Each overhanging control angle is divided into N
p
N
p
pixels, as shown in Figure 13.3.7.
z
y
x
s
Figure 13.3.3: Angular Coordinate System
C0 C1 q q
n
face f
incoming
directions
outgoing
directions
Figure 13.3.4: Face with No Control Angle Overhang
C0
C1
q
q
n
face f
incoming
directions
outgoing
directions
overhanging
control angle
Figure 13.3.5: Face with Control Angle Overhang
x
y
z
outgoing
directions
incoming
directions
overhanging
control
angle
control
volume
face
Figure 13.3.6: Face with Control Angle Overhang (3D)
pixel
control
volume
face
control angle
i
s
i
Figure 13.3.7: Pixelation of Control Angle
The energy contained in each pixel is then treated as incoming or outgoing to the face.
The inuence of overhang can thus be accounted for within the pixel resolution. FLUENT
allows you to choose the pixel resolution. For problems involving gray-diuse radiation,
the default pixelation of 11 is usually sucient. For problems involving symmetry, peri-
odic, specular, or semi-transparent boundaries, a pixelation of 33 is recommended. You
should be aware, however, that increasing the pixelation adds to the cost of computation.
The DO implementation in FLUENT admits a variety of scattering phase functions. You
can choose an isotropic phase function, a linear anisotropic phase function, a Delta-
Eddington phase function, or a user-dened phase function. The linear anisotropic phase
function is described in Equation 13.3-7. The Delta-Eddington function takes the follow-
ing form:
(s s

) = 2f(s s

) + (1 f)(1 + Cs s

) (13.3-46)
Here, f is the forward-scattering factor and (s s

) is the Dirac delta function. The
f term essentially cancels a fraction f of the out-scattering; thus, for f = 1, the Delta-
Eddington phase function will cause the intensity to behave as if there is no scattering
at all. C is the asymmetry factor. When the Delta-Eddington phase function is used,
you will specify values for f and C.
When a user-dened function is used to specify the scattering phase function, FLUENT
assumes the phase function to be of the form
(s s

) = 2f(s s

) + (1 f)
(s s

) (13.3-47)
The user-dened function will specify
and the forward-scattering factor f.

The scattering phase functions available for gray radiation can also be used for non-gray
radiation. However, the scattered energy is restricted to stay within the band.
Particulate Effects in the DO Model
The DO model allows you to include the eect of a discrete second phase of particulates
on radiation. In this case, FLUENT will neglect all other sources of scattering in the gas
phase.
The contribution of the particulate phase appears in the RTE as:
(Is) + (a +a
p
+
p
)I(r, s) = an
2
T
4
+E
p
+

p
4
_
4
0
I(r, s

) (s s

) d
(13.3-48)
where a
p
is the equivalent absorption coecient due to the presence of particulates, and
is given by Equation 13.3-10. The equivalent emission E
p
is given by Equation 13.3-9.
The equivalent particle scattering factor
p
, dened in Equation 13.3-13, is used in the
scattering terms.
For non-gray radiation, absorption, emission, and scattering due to the particulate phase
are included in each wavelength band for the radiation calculation. Particulate emission
and absorption terms are also included in the energy equation.
Boundary Condition Treatment at Opaque Walls
The discrete ordinates radiation model allows the specication of opaque walls that are
interior to a domain (with adjacent uid or solid zones on both sides of the wall), or
external to the domain (with an adjacent uid or solid zone on one side, only). Opaque
walls are treated as gray if gray radiation is being computed, or non-gray if the non-gray
DO model is being used.
Figure 13.3.8 shows a schematic of radiation on an opaque wall in FLUENT.
n
q
absorbed
in, a
q
q
emission
in, a
q
in, a
q
reflected, diffuse
Medium a
Adjacent Fluid or Solid
reflected, specular
Figure 13.3.8: DO Radiation on Opaque Wall
The diagram in Figure 13.3.8 shows incident radiation q
in,a
on side a of an opaque wall.
Some of the radiant energy is reected diusely and specularly, depending on the diuse
fraction f
d
for side a of the wall that you specify as a boundary condition.
Some of the incident radiation is absorbed at the surface of the wall and some radiation is
emitted from the wall surface as shown in Figure 13.3.8. The amount of incident radiation
absorbed at the wall surface and the amount emitted back depends on the emissivity of
that surface and the diuse fraction. For non-gray DO models, you must specify internal
emissivity for each wavelength band. Radiation is not transmitted through an opaque
wall.
Radiant incident energy that impacts an opaque wall can be reected back to the sur-
rounding medium and absorbed by the wall. The radiation that is reected can be
diusely reected and/or specularly reected, depending on the diuse fraction f
d
. If q
in
is the amount of radiative energy incident on the opaque wall, then the following general
quantities are computed by FLUENT for opaque walls:
emission from the wall surface = n
2
w
T
4
w
diusely reected energy = f
d
(1
w
)q
in
specularly reected energy = (1 f
d
)q
in
absorption at the wall surface = f
d
w
q
in
where f
d
is the diuse fraction, n is the refractive index of the adjacent medium,
w
is
the wall emissivity, is Boltzmanns Constant, and T
w
is the wall temperature.
i
There is no emission or absorption in the specular component of reected
energy for an opaque wall surface.
Note that although FLUENT uses emissivity in its computation of radiation quantities,
it is not available for postprocessing. Absorption at the wall surface assumes that the
absorptivity is equal to the emissivity. For a purely diused wall, f
d
is equal to 1 and
there is no specularly reected energy. Similarly, for a purely specular wall, f
d
is equal
to 0 and there is no diusely reected energy. A diuse fraction between 0 and 1 will
result in partially diuse and partially reected energy.
i
Note that in practice, fully specular surfaces (diuse fraction = 0) do have
some emission and absorption occurring, albeit very low. To dene a prob-
lem that has a purely specular surface with emissivity, you can set the
internal emissivity to 1 and set the diuse fraction to the intended emis-
sivity. To dene a problem that has a partially-specular surface, set the
internal emissivity to suit the net surface emissivity (not necessarily 0)
that you expect to achieve (internal emissivity = net emissivity/diuse
fraction).
Gray Diffuse Walls
For gray diuse radiation, the incident radiative heat ux, q
in
, at the wall is
q
in
=
_
sn>0
I
in
s nd (13.3-49)
The net radiative ux leaving the surface is given by
q
out
= (1
w
)q
in
+ n
2
w
T
4
w
(13.3-50)
where n is the refractive index of the medium next to the wall,
w
is the wall emissivity,
is Boltzmanns Constant, and T
w
is the wall temperature. This equation is also valid
for specular radiation with emissivity = 0.
The boundary intensity for all outgoing directions s at the wall is given by
I
0
=
q
out
(13.3-51)
Non-Gray Diffuse Walls
There is a special set of equations that apply uniquely to non-gray diuse opaque walls.
These equations assume that the absorptivity is equal to the emissivity for the wall
surface. For non-gray diuse radiation, the incident radiative heat ux q
in,
in the band
at the wall is
q
in,
=
_
sn>0
I
in,
s nd (13.3-52)
The net radiative ux leaving the surface in the band is given by
q
out,
= (1
w
)q
in,
+
w
[F(0 n
2
T
w
) F(0 n
1
T
w
)]n
2
T
4
w
(13.3-53)
where
w
is the wall emissivity in the band. F(n, , T) provides the Planck distribution
function. The boundary intensity for all outgoing directions s in the band at the wall
is given by
I
0
=
q
out,
(13.3-54)
Boundary Condition Treatment at Semi-Transparent Walls
FLUENT allows the specication of interior and exterior semi-transparent walls for the
DO model. In the case of interior semi-transparent walls, incident radiation can pass
through the wall and be transmitted to the adjacent medium (and possibly refracted),
it can be reected back into the surrounding medium, and absorbed through the wall
thickness. Transmission and reection can be diuse and/or specular. You specify the
diuse fraction for all transmitted and reected radiation; the rest is treated specularly.
For exterior semi-transparent walls, there are two possible sources of radiation on the
boundary wall: an irradiation beam from outside the computational domain and incident
radiation from cells in adjacent uid or solid zones.
For non-gray radiation, semi-transparent wall boundary conditions are applied on a per-
band basis. The radiant energy within a band is transmitted, reected, and refracted as
in the gray case; there is no transmission, reection, or refraction of radiant energy from
one band to another.
By default the DO equations are solved in all uid zones, but not in any solid zones.
Therefore, if you have an adjacent solid zone for your thin wall, you will need to specify
the solid zone as participating in radiation in the Solid panel as part of the boundary
condition setup.
i
If you are interested in the detailed temperature distribution inside your
semi-transparent media, then you will need to model a semi-transparent
wall as a solid zone with adjacent uid zone(s), and treat the solid as a
semi-transparent medium. This is discussed in a subsequent section.
Semi-Transparent Interior Walls
Figure 13.3.9 shows a schematic of an interior (two-sided) wall that is treated as semi-
transparent in FLUENT and has zero thickness. Incident radiant energy depicted by
q
in,a
can pass through the semi-transparent wall if and only if the contiguous uid or
solid cell zones participate in radiation, thereby allowing the radiation to be coupled.
Radiation coupling is set when a wall is specied as semi-transparent. Note that by
default, radiation is not coupled and you will need to explicitly specify radiation coupling
on the interior wall by changing the boundary condition type to semi-transparent in the
Wall panel (under the Radiation tab).
n
q
in, a
q
in, a
n
a
n
b
q
in, a reflected, specular
q
in, a
q
in, a
d d
Medium b
Medium a (for side a) (for side b) f
f
f
d
d
f ( used is for side a)
reflected, diffuse
transmitted, specular, refracted
transmitted, diffuse
( used is for side a)
Figure 13.3.9: DO Radiation on Interior Semi-Transparent Wall
Incident radiant energy that is transmitted through a semi-transparent wall can be trans-
mitted specularly and diusely. Radiation can also be reected at the interior wall back
to the surrounding medium if the refractive index n
a
for the uid zone that represents
medium a is dierent than the refractive index n
b
for medium b. Reected radiation can
be reected specularly and diusely. The fraction of diuse versus specular radiation
that is transmitted and reected depends on the diuse fraction for the wall. The special
cases of purely diuse and purely specular transmission and reection on semi-transparent
walls is presented in the following sections.
If the semi-transparent wall has thickness, then the thickness and the absorption co-
ecient determine the absorptivity of the thin wall. If either the wall thickness or
absorption coecient is set to 0, then the wall has no absorptivity. Although incident
radiation can be absorbed in a semi-transparent wall that has thickness, note that the
absorbed radiation ux does not aect the energy equation. FLUENT does not consider
emission from semi-transparent walls except for the case when a specied temperature
boundary condition is dened.
Specular Semi-Transparent Walls
Consider the special case for a semi-transparent wall, when the diuse fraction f
d
is equal
to 0 and all of the transmitted and reected radiant energy at the semi-transparent wall
is purely specular.
Figure 13.3.10 shows a ray traveling from a semi-transparent medium a with refractive
index n
a
to a semi-transparent medium b with a refractive index n
b
in the direction
s. Surface a of the interface is the side that faces medium a; similarly, surface b faces
medium b. The interface normal n is assumed to point into side a. We distinguish
between the intensity I
a
(s), the intensity in the direction s on side a of the interface, and
the corresponding quantity on the side b, I
b
(s).
b
s
s
r
s
t
s
n
medium b
medium a
>
b a
n n
Figure 13.3.10: Reection and Refraction of Radiation at the Interface Be-
tween Two Semi-Transparent Media
A part of the energy incident on the interface is reected, and the rest is transmitted.
The reection is specular, so that the direction of reected radiation is given by
s
r
= s 2 (s n) n (13.3-55)
The radiation transmitted from medium a to medium b undergoes refraction. The direc-
tion of the transmitted energy, s
t
, is given by Snells law:
sin
b
=
n
a
n
b
sin
a
(13.3-56)
where
a
is the angle of incidence and
b
is the angle of transmission, as shown in Fig-
ure 13.3.10. We also dene the direction
s

= s
t
2 (s
t
n) n (13.3-57)
shown in Figure 13.3.10.
The interface reectivity on side a [247]
r
a
(s) =
1
2
_
n
a
cos
b
n
b
cos
a
n
a
cos
b
+ n
b
cos
a
_
2
+
1
2
_
n
a
cos
a
n
b
cos
b
n
a
cos
a
+ n
b
cos
b
_
2
(13.3-58)
represents the fraction of incident energy transferred from s to s
r
.
The boundary intensity I
w,a
(s
r
) in the outgoing direction s
r
on side a of the interface is
determined from the reected component of the incoming radiation and the transmission
from side b. Thus
I
w,a
(s
r
) = r
a
(s)I
w,a
(s) +
b
(s

)I
w,b
(s

) (13.3-59)
where
b
(s

) is the transmissivity of side b in direction s
. Similarly, the outgoing intensity

in the direction s
t
on side b of the interface, I
w,b
(s
t
), is given by
I
w,b
(s
t
) = r
b
(s

)I
w,b
(s

) +
a
(s)I
w,a
(s) (13.3-60)
For the case n
a
< n
b
, the energy transmitted from medium a to medium b in the incoming
solid angle 2 must be refracted into a cone of apex angle
c
(see Figure 13.3.11) where
c
= sin
1
n
a
n
b
(13.3-61)
b
medium b
medium a
c
n
>
b a
n n
Figure 13.3.11: Critical Angle
c
Similarly, the transmitted component of the radiant energy going from medium b to
medium a in the cone of apex angle
c
is refracted into the outgoing solid angle 2. For
incident angles greater than
c
, total internal reection occurs and all the incoming energy
is reected specularly back into medium b. The equations presented above can be applied
to the general case of interior semi-transparent walls that is shown in Figure 13.3.9.
When medium b is external to the domain as in the case of an external semi-transparent
wall (Figure 13.3.12), I
w,b
(s

) is given in Equation 13.3-59 as a part of the boundary
condition inputs. You supply this incoming irradiation ux in terms of its magnitude,
beam direction, and the solid angle over which the radiative ux is to be applied. Note
that the refractive index of the external medium is assumed to be 1.
Diffuse Semi-Transparent Walls
Consider the special case for a semi-transparent wall, when the diuse fraction f
d
is equal
to 1 and all of the transmitted and reected radiant energy at the semi-transparent wall
is purely diuse.
In many engineering problems, the semi-transparent interface may be a diuse reector.
For such a case, the interfacial reectivity r(s) is assumed independent of s, and equal to
the hemispherically averaged value r
d
. For n = n
a
/n
b
> 1, r
d,a
and r
d,b
are given by [332]
r
d,a
= 1
(1 r
d,b
)
n
2
(13.3-62)
r
d,b
=
1
2
+
(3n + 1)(n 1)
6(n + 1)
2
+
n
2
(n
2
1)
2
(n
2
+ 1)
3
ln
_
n 1
n + 1
_
2n
3
(n
2
+ 2n 1)
(n
2
+ 1)(n
4
1)
+
8n
4
(n
4
+ 1)
(n
2
+ 1)(n
4
1)
2
ln(n) (13.3-63)
The boundary intensity for all outgoing directions on side a of the interface is given by
I
w,a
=
r
d,a
q
in,a
+
d,b
q
in,b
(13.3-64)
Similarly for side b,
I
w,b
=
r
d,b
q
in,b
+
d,a
q
in,a
(13.3-65)
where
q
in,a
=
_
4
I
w,a
s nd, s n < 0 (13.3-66)
q
in,b
=
_
4
I
w,b
s nd, s n 0 (13.3-67)
When medium b is external to the domain as in the case of an external semi-transparent
wall (Figure 13.3.12), q
in,b
is given as a part of the boundary condition inputs. You
supply this incoming irradiation ux in terms of its magnitude, beam direction, and the
solid angle over which the radiative ux is to be applied. Note that the refractive index
of the external medium is assumed to be 1.
Partially Diffuse Semi-Transparent Walls
When the diuse fraction f
d
that you enter for a semi-transparent wall is between 0 and
1, the wall is partially diuse and partially specular. In this case, FLUENT includes the
reective and transmitted radiative ux contributions from both diuse and specular
components to the dening equations.
Semi-Transparent Exterior Walls
Figure 13.3.12 shows the general case of an irradiation beam q
irrad
applied to an exterior
semi-transparent wall with zero thickness and a non-zero absorption coecient for the
material property. Refer to the previous section for the radiation eects of wall thickness
on semi-transparent walls.
q
irrad
q
irrad
q
irrad
q
irrad
q
irrad
q
irrad
Medium A
Adjacent Fluid or Solid Zone
n
b
n
a
not equal to
b a
transmitted, diffuse
transmitted, specular & refracted
normal
reflected, specular
reflected, diffuse

Outside computational domain
n n
Figure 13.3.12: DO Irradiation on External Semi-Transparent Wall
An irradiation ux passes through the semi-transparent wall from outside the computa-
tional domain (Figure 13.3.12) into the adjacent uid or solid medium a. The transmitted
radiation can be refracted (bent) and dispersed specularly and diusely, depending on
the refractive index and the diuse fraction that you provide as a boundary condition
input. Note that there is a reected component of q
irrad
when the refractive index of the
wall (n
b
) is not equal to 1, as shown.
There is an additional ux beyond q
irrad
that is applied when the Mixed or Radiation
boundary conditions are selected in the Thermal tab. This external ux at the semi-
transparent wall is computed by FLUENT as
Q
ext
=
external
T
4
rad
(13.3-68)
The fraction of the above energy that will enter into the domain depends on the trans-
missivity of the semi-transparent wall under consideration. Note that this energy is
distributed across the solid angles (i.e., similar treatment as diuse component.)
Incident radiation can also occur on external semi-transparent walls. Refer to the previ-
ous discussion on interior walls for details, since the radiation eects are the same.
The irradiation beam is dened by the magnitude, beam direction, and beam width that
you supply. The irradiation magnitude is specied in terms of an incident radiant heat
ux (W/m
2
). Beam width is specied as the solid angle over which the irradiation is
distributed (i.e., the beam and extents). The default beam width in FLUENT is 1e6
degrees which is suitable for collimated beam radiation. Beam direction is dened by the
vector of the centroid of the solid angle. If you select the feature Apply Irradiation Parallel
to Beam in the Wall boundary condition panel, then you supply q
irrad
for irradiation
(Figure 13.3.12) and FLUENT computes and uses the surface normal ux q
irrad,normal
in
its radiation calculation. If this feature is not checked, then you must supply the surface
normal ux q
irrad,normal
for irradiation.
Figure 13.3.13 shows a schematic of the beam direction and beam width for the irradiation
beam. You provide these inputs (in addition to irradiation magnitude) as part of the
boundary conditions for a semi-transparent wall.
The irradiation beam can be refracted in medium a depending on the refractive index
that is specied for the particular uid or solid zone material.
y
x
/2
/2
/2
/2
z
y
Beam Direction (X, Y, Z)

External Beam Irradiation
x
z
Beam Direction (X, Y, Z)

Beam Width ( )
Beam Width ( )
y
Figure 13.3.13: Beam Width and Direction for External Irradiation Beam
Limitations
The thin wall treatment should be used for semi-transparent walls only where absorption
or emission by the walls is not signicant. In cases with signicant emission or absorption
of radiation in a participating solid material, such as the absorption of long wavelength
radiation in a glass window, the use of semi-transparent thin walls can result in the
prediction of unphysical temperatures in the numerical solution. To avoid potentially
erroneous results, one or more solid cell zones should be used to represent the solid
material in such a case.
Solid Semi-Transparent Media
The discrete ordinates radiation model allows you to model a solid zone that has adjacent
uid or solid zones on either side as a semi-transparent medium. This is done by
designating the solid zone to participate in radiation as part of the boundary condition
setup. Modeling a solid zone as a semi-transparent medium allows you to obtain a
detailed temperature distribution inside the semi-transparent zone since FLUENT solves
the energy equation on a per-cell basis for the solid and provides you with the thermal
results. By default however, the DO equations are solved in uid zones, but not in any
solid zones. Therefore, you will need to specify the solid zone as participating in radiation
in the Solid panel as part of the boundary condition setup.
Boundary Condition Treatment at Specular Walls and Symmetry Boundaries
At specular walls and symmetry boundaries, the direction of the reected ray s
r
corre-
sponding to the incoming direction s is given by Equation 13.3-55. Furthermore,
I
w
(s
r
) = I
w
(s) (13.3-69)
Boundary Condition Treatment at Periodic Boundaries
When rotationally periodic boundaries are used, it is important to use pixelation in order
to ensure that radiant energy is correctly transferred between the periodic and shadow
faces. A pixelation between 3 3 and 10 10 is recommended.
Boundary Condition Treatment at Flow Inlets and Exits
The treatment at ow inlets and exits is described in Section 13.3.5: Boundary Condition
Treatment for the DTRM at Flow Inlets and Exits.
13.3.7 Surface-to-Surface (S2S) Radiation Model Theory
The surface-to-surface radiation model can be used to account for the radiation exchange
in an enclosure of gray-diuse surfaces. The energy exchange between two surfaces de-
pends in part on their size, separation distance, and orientation. These parameters are
accounted for by a geometric function called a view factor.
The main assumption of the S2S model is that any absorption, emission, or scattering of
radiation can be ignored; therefore, only surface-to-surface radiation need be considered
for analysis.
Gray-Diffuse Radiation
FLUENTs S2S radiation model assumes the surfaces to be gray and diuse. Emissivity
and absorptivity of a gray surface are independent of the wavelength. Also, by Kirchos
law [247], the emissivity equals the absorptivity ( = ). For a diuse surface, the
reectivity is independent of the outgoing (or incoming) directions.
The gray-diuse model is what is used in FLUENT. Also, as stated earlier, for applications
of interest, the exchange of radiative energy between surfaces is virtually unaected by
the medium that separates them. Thus, according to the gray-body model, if a certain
amount of radiant energy (E) is incident on a surface, a fraction (E) is reected, a
fraction (E) is absorbed, and a fraction (E) is transmitted. Since for most applications
the surfaces in question are opaque to thermal radiation (in the infrared spectrum), the
surfaces can be considered opaque. The transmissivity, therefore, can be neglected. It
follows, from conservation of energy, that + = 1, since = (emissivity), and
= 1 .
The S2S Model Equations
The energy ux leaving a given surface is composed of directly emitted and reected
energy. The reected energy ux is dependent on the incident energy ux from the
surroundings, which then can be expressed in terms of the energy ux leaving all other
surfaces. The energy reected from surface k is
q
out,k
=
k
T
4
k
+
k
q
in,k
(13.3-70)
where q
out,k
is the energy ux leaving the surface,
k
is the emissivity, is Boltzmanns
constant, and q
in,k
is the energy ux incident on the surface from the surroundings.
The amount of incident energy upon a surface from another surface is a direct function
of the surface-to-surface view factor, F
jk
. The view factor F
jk
is the fraction of energy
leaving surface k that is incident on surface j. The incident energy ux q
in,k
can be
expressed in terms of the energy ux leaving all other surfaces as
A
k
q
in,k
=
N
j=1
A
j
q
out,j
F
jk
(13.3-71)
where A
k
is the area of surface k and F
jk
is the view factor between surface k and surface
j. For N surfaces, using the view factor reciprocity relationship gives
A
j
F
jk
= A
k
F
kj
for j = 1, 2, 3, . . . N (13.3-72)
so that
q
in,k
=
N
j=1
F
kj
q
out,j
(13.3-73)
Therefore,
q
out,k
=
k
T
4
k
+
k
N
j=1
F
kj
q
out,j
(13.3-74)
which can be written as
J
k
= E
k
+
k
N
j=1
F
kj
J
j
(13.3-75)
where J
k
represents the energy that is given o (or radiosity) of surface k, and E
k
represents the emissive power of surface k. This represents N equations, which can be
recast into matrix form as
KJ = E (13.3-76)
where K is an N N matrix, J is the radiosity vector, and E is the emissive power
vector.
Equation 13.3-76 is referred to as the radiosity matrix equation. The view factor between
two nite surfaces i and j is given by
F
ij
=
1
A
i
_
A
i
_
A
j
cos
i
cos
j
r
2

ij
dA
i
dA
j
(13.3-77)
where
ij
is determined by the visibility of dA
j
to dA
i
.
ij
= 1 if dA
j
is visible to dA
i
and 0 otherwise.
Clustering
The S2S radiation model is computationally very expensive when there are a large number
of radiating surfaces. To reduce the computational time as well as the storage require-
ment, the number of radiating surfaces is reduced by creating surface clusters. The
surface clusters are made by starting from a face and adding its neighbors and their
neighbors until a specied number of faces per surface cluster is collected.
A new algorithm has been implemented for the creation of surface clusters which is faster
and supports non-conformal interfaces, hanging nodes, or grid adaption. This algorithm
is now the default. If you wish to use the old algorithm, you may use the TUI command
but adaption and non-conformal interfaces will not be supported.
The radiosity, J, is calculated for the surface clusters. These values are then distributed
to the faces in the clusters to calculate the wall temperatures. Since the radiation source
terms are highly non-linear (proportional to the fourth power of temperature), care must
be taken to calculate the average temperature of the surface clusters and distribute the
ux and source terms appropriately among the faces forming the clusters.
The surface cluster temperature is obtained by area averaging as shown in the following
equation:
T
sc
=
_
f
A
f
T
4
f
A
f
_
1/4
(13.3-78)
where T
sc
is the temperature of the surface cluster, and A
f
and T
f
are the area and
temperature of face f. The summation is carried over all faces of a surface cluster.
Smoothing
Smoothing can be performed on the view factor matrix to enforce the reciprocity rela-
tionship and conservation.
The reciprocity relationship is represented by
A
i
F
ij
= A
j
F
ji
(13.3-79)
where A
i
is the area of surface i, F
ij
is the view factor between surfaces i and j, and F
ji
is the view factor between surfaces j and i.
Once the reciprocity relationship has been enforced, a least-squares smoothing method [190]
can be used to ensure that conservation is satised, i.e.,
F
ij
= 1.0 (13.3-80)
13.3.8 Radiation in Combusting Flows
The Weighted-Sum-of-Gray-Gases Model
The weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model (WSGGM) is a reasonable compromise between
the oversimplied gray gas model and a complete model which takes into account partic-
ular absorption bands. The basic assumption of the WSGGM is that the total emissivity
over the distance s can be presented as
=
I
i=0
a
,i
(T)(1 e
i
ps
) (13.3-81)
where a
,i
are the emissivity weighting factors for the ith ctitious gray gas, the bracketed
quantity is the ith ctitious gray gas emissivity,
i
is the absorption coecient of the
ith gray gas, p is the sum of the partial pressures of all absorbing gases, and s is the
path length. For a
,i
and
i
FLUENT uses values obtained from [66] and [343]. These
values depend on gas composition, and a
,i
also depend on temperature. When the total
pressure is not equal to 1 atm, scaling rules for
i
are used (see Equation 13.3-87).
The absorption coecient for i = 0 is assigned a value of zero to account for windows in
the spectrum between spectral regions of high absorption (
I
i=1
a
,i
< 1) and the weight-
ing factor for i = 0 is evaluated from [343]:
a
,0
= 1
I
i=1
a
,i
(13.3-82)
The temperature dependence of a
,i
can be approximated by any function, but the most
common approximation is
a
,i
=
J
j=1
b
,i,j
T
j1
(13.3-83)
where b
,i,j
are the emissivity gas temperature polynomial coecients. The coecients
b
,i,j
and
i
are estimated by tting Equation 13.3-81 to the table of total emissivities,
obtained experimentally [66, 78, 343].
The absorptivity of the radiation from the wall can be approximated in a similar
way [343], but, to simplify the problem, it is assumed that = [246]. This assumption is
justied unless the medium is optically thin and the wall temperature diers considerably
from the gas temperature.
Since the coecients b
,i,j
and
i
are slowly varying functions of ps and T, they can be
assumed constant for a wide range of these parameters. In [343] these constant coecients
are presented for dierent relative pressures of the CO
2
and H
2
O vapor, assuming that
the total pressure p
T
is 1 atm. The values of the coecients shown in [343] are valid for
0.001 ps 10.0 atm-m and 600 T 2400 K. For T > 2400 K, coecient values
suggested by [66] are used. If
i
ps 1 for all i, Equation 13.3-81 simplies to
=
I
i=0
a
,i
i
ps (13.3-84)
Comparing Equation 13.3-84 with the gray gas model with absorption coecient a, it
can be seen that the change of the radiation intensity over the distance s in the WSGGM
is exactly the same as in the gray gas model with the absorption coecient
a =
I
i=0
a
,i
i
p (13.3-85)
which does not depend on s. In the general case, a is estimated as
a =
ln(1 )
s
(13.3-86)
where the emissivity for the WSGGM is computed using Equation 13.3-81. a as dened
by Equation 13.3-86 depends on s, reecting the non-gray nature of the absorption of
thermal radiation in molecular gases. In FLUENT, Equation 13.3-85 is used when s
10
4
m and Equation 13.3-86 is used for s > 10
4
m. Note that for s 10
4
m, the
values of a predicted by Equations 13.3-85 and 13.3-86 are practically identical (since
Equation 13.3-86 reduces to Equation 13.3-85 in the limit of small s).
FLUENT allows you to specify s as the mean beam length or the characteristic cell size.
The model based on the mean beam length is the recommended approach, especially
when you have a nearly homogeneous medium and you are interested in the radiation
exchange between the walls of the enclosure. You can specify the mean beam length
or have FLUENT compute it. If you do decide to use the WSGGM based on the char-
acteristic cell size, note that the predicted values of a will be grid dependent (this is a
known limitation of the model). See Section 8.8.1: Inputs for a Composition-Dependent
Absorption Coecient for details about setting properties for the WSGGM.
i
The WSGGM cannot be used to specify the absorption coecient in each
band when using the non-gray DO model. If the WSGGM is used with
the non-gray DO model, the absorption coecient will be the same in all
bands.
When p
tot
= 1 atm
The WSGGM, as described above, assumes that p
tot
the total (static) gas pressureis
equal to 1 atm. In cases where p
tot
is not unity (e.g., combustion at high temperatures),
scaling rules suggested in [92] are used to introduce corrections. When p
tot
< 0.9 atm or
p
tot
> 1.1 atm, the values for
i
in Equations 13.3-81 and 13.3-85 are rescaled:
i

i
p
m
tot
(13.3-87)
where m is a non-dimensional value obtained from [92], which depends on the partial
pressures and temperature T of the absorbing gases, as well as on p
tot
.
The Effect of Soot on the Absorption Coefcient
When soot formation is computed, FLUENT can include the eect of the soot concen-
tration on the radiation absorption coecient. The generalized soot model estimates
the eect of the soot on radiative heat transfer by determining an eective absorption
coecient for soot. The absorption coecient of a mixture of soot and an absorbing
(radiating) gas is then calculated as the sum of the absorption coecients of pure gas
and pure soot:
a
s+g
= a
g
+ a
s
(13.3-88)
where a
g
is the absorption coecient of gas without soot (obtained from the WSGGM)
and
a
s
= b
1
m
[1 + b
T
(T 2000)] (13.3-89)
with
b
1
= 1232.4 m
2
/kg and b
T
4.8 10
4
K
1
m
is the soot density in kg/m
3
.
The coecients b
1
and b
T
were obtained [317] by tting Equation 13.3-89 to data based
on the Taylor-Foster approximation [369] and data based on the Smith et al. approxima-
tion [343].
See Sections 8.8 and 20.3.3 for information about including the soot-radiation interaction
eects.
The Effect of Particles on the Absorption Coefcient
FLUENT can also include the eect of discrete phase particles on the radiation absorption
coecient, provided that you are using either the P-1 or the DO model. When the P-1
or DO model is active, radiation absorption by particles can be enabled. The particle
emissivity, reectivity, and scattering eects are then included in the calculation of the
radiative heat transfer. See Section 22.14: Setting Material Properties for the Discrete
Phase for more details on the input of radiation properties for the discrete phase.
13.3.9 Choosing a Radiation Model
For certain problems one radiation model may be more appropriate than the others.
When deciding which radiation model to use, consider the following:
Optical thickness: The optical thickness aL is a good indicator of which model to
use in your problem. Here, L is an appropriate length scale for your domain. For
ow in a combustor, for example, L is the diameter of the combustion chamber.
If aL 1, your best alternatives are the P-1 and Rosseland models. The P-1
model should typically be used for optical thicknesses > 1. For optical thickness
> 3, the Rosseland model is cheaper and more ecient. For high optical thickness
cases, a second-order discretization scheme for the DO model is recommended. The
DTRM and the DO model work across the full range of optical thicknesses, but are
substantially more expensive to use. Consequently, you should use the thick-limit
models, P-1 and Rosseland, if the problem allows it. For optically thin problems
(aL < 1), the DTRM and the DO model, only, are appropriate.
Scattering and emissivity: The P-1, Rosseland, and DO models account for scat-
tering, while the DTRM neglects it. Since the Rosseland model uses a temperature
slip condition at walls, it is insensitive to wall emissivity.
Particulate eects: Only the P-1 and DO models account for exchange of radiation
between gas and particulates (see Equation 13.3-8).
Semi-transparent walls (interior and exterior): Only the DO model allows you to
model semi-transparent walls of various types (e.g., glass).
Specular walls: Only the DO model allows specular reection (e.g., for dust-free
mirror).
Partially-specular walls: Only the DO model allows specular reection (e.g., dusty
mirror).
Non-gray radiation: Only the DO model allows you to compute non-gray radiation
using a gray band model.
Localized heat sources: In problems with localized sources of heat, the P-1 model
may over-predict the radiative uxes. The DO model is probably the best suited
for computing radiation for this case, although the DTRM, with a suciently large
number of rays, is also acceptable.
Enclosure radiative transfer with non-participating media: The surface-to-surface
(S2S) model is suitable for this type of problem. The radiation models used with
participating media may, in principle, be used to compute the surface-to-surface
radiation, but they are not always ecient.
External Radiation
If you need to include radiative heat transfer from the exterior of your physical model,
you can include an external radiation boundary condition in your model (for details, see
Section 7.13.1: Thermal Boundary Conditions at Walls). If you are not concerned with
radiation within the domain, this boundary condition can be used without activating one
of the radiation models.
13.3.10 Steps in Using the Radiation Models
The procedure for setting up and solving a radiation problem is outlined below, and
described in detail in referenced sections. Steps that are relevant only for a particular
radiation model are noted as such. Remember that the steps that are pertinent to
radiation modeling, only, are shown here. For information about inputs related to other
models that you are using in conjunction with radiation, see the appropriate sections for
those models.
1. Activate radiative heat transfer by selecting a radiation model (Rosseland, P1, Dis-
crete Transfer (DTRM), Surface to Surface (S2S), or Discrete Ordinates) under Model
in the Radiation Model panel (Figure 13.3.14).
Note, select O to deactivate radiation.
Dene Models Radiation...
2. Set the appropriate radiation parameters.
(a) If you are using the DTRM, dene the ray tracing as described in
Section 13.3.11: Setting Up the DTRM Model.
(b) If you are using the S2S model, compute or read the view factors as described
in Section 13.3.12: Setting Up the S2S Model.
(c) If you are using the DO model, choose DO/Energy Coupling if desired, dene
the angular discretization as described in Section 13.3.13: Setting Up the DO
Model and, if relevant, dene the non-gray radiation parameters as described
in Section 13.3.13: Dening Non-Gray Radiation for the DO Model.
Note that when the DTRM, the S2S, or the DO model is activated, the Radiation
Model panel expands to show additional parameters. These parameters will not
appear if you select one of the other radiation models. If you are running a 3d
case, you will have the added option of using the solar load model. The solar load
options will be displayed in the panel, below the radiation model settings.
i
The Rosseland model can be used only with the pressure-based solver.
Figure 13.3.14: The Radiation Model Panel (DO Model)
When the radiation model is active, the radiation uxes will be included in the
solution of the energy equation at each iteration. If you set up a problem with the
radiation model turned on, and you then decide to turn it o completely, you must
select the O button in the Radiation Model panel.
Note that, when you enable a radiation model, FLUENT will automatically enable
the energy equation so that step is not needed.
3. Dene the material properties as described in Section 13.3.14: Dening Material
Properties for Radiation.
4. Dene the boundary conditions as described in Section 13.3.15: Dening Boundary
Conditions for Radiation. If your model contains a semi-transparent medium, see
the information below on setting up semi-transparent media.
5. Set the parameters that control the solution (DTRM, DO, S2S, and P-1 only) as
described in Section 13.3.16: Solution Strategies for Radiation Modeling.
6. Iterate the solution as described in Section 13.3.16: Running the Calculation.
7. Postprocess the results as described in Section 13.3.17: Postprocessing Radiation
Quantities.
13.3.11 Setting Up the DTRM Model
Dening the Rays
When you select the Discrete Transfer model and click OK in the Radiation Model panel,
the DTRM Rays panel (Figure 13.3.15) will open automatically. (Should you need to
modify the current settings later in the problem setup or solution procedure, you can
open this panel manually using the Dene/DTRM Rays... menu item.)
Figure 13.3.15: The DTRM Rays Panel
In this panel you will set parameters for and create the rays and clusters discussed in
Section 13.3.5: The DTRM Equations.
The procedure is as follows:
1. To control the number of radiating surfaces and absorbing cells, set the Cells Per
Volume Cluster and Faces Per Surface Cluster. (See the explanation below.)
2. To control the number of rays being traced, set the number of Theta Divisions and
Phi Divisions. (Guidelines are provided below.)
3. When you click OK in the DTRM Rays panel, a Select File dialog box will open
prompting you for the name of the ray le. After you have specied the le
name and chosen whether to write a binary ray le, FLUENT will write the ray le
and then read it afterward. During the write process the status of the DTRM ray
tracing will be reported in the FLUENT console window. For example:
Completed 25% tracing of DTRM rays
See below for details on DTRM Rays panel inputs.
i
If you cancel the DTRM Rays panel without writing and reading the ray
le, the DTRM will be disabled.
Controlling the Clusters
Your inputs for Cells Per Volume Cluster and Faces Per Surface Cluster will control the
number of radiating surfaces and absorbing cells. By default, each is set to 1, so the
number of surface clusters (radiating surfaces) will be the number of boundary faces,
and the number of volume clusters (absorbing cells) will be the number of cells in the
domain. For small 2D problems, these are acceptable numbers, but for larger problems
you will want to reduce the number of surface and/or volume clusters in order to reduce
the ray-tracing expense. (See Section 13.3.5: Clustering for details about clustering.)
Controlling the Rays
Your inputs for Theta Divisions and Phi Divisions will control the number of rays being
traced from each surface cluster (radiating surface).
Theta Divisions denes the number of discrete divisions in the angle used to dene the
solid angle about a point P on a surface. The solid angle is dened as varies from
0 to 90 degrees (Figure 13.3.2), and the default setting of 2 for the number of discrete
settings implies that each ray traced from the surface will be located at a 45
angle from
the other rays.
Phi Divisions denes the number of discrete divisions in the angle used to dene the
solid angle about a point P on a surface. The solid angle is dened as varies from
0 to 180 degrees in 2D and from 0 to 360 degrees in 3D (Figure 13.3.2). The default
setting of 2 implies that each ray traced from the surface will be located at a 90
angle
from the other rays in 2D calculations, and in combination with the default setting for
Theta Divisions, above, implies that 4 rays will be traced from each surface control volume
in your 2D model. Note that the Phi Divisions should be increased to 4 for equivalent
accuracy in 3D models. In many cases, it is recommended that you at least double the
number of divisions in and .
Writing and Reading the DTRM Ray File
After you have activated the DTRM and dened all of the parameters controlling the
ray tracing, you must create a ray le which will be read back in and used during the
radiation calculation. The ray le contains a description of the ray traces (path lengths,
cells traversed by each ray, etc.). This information is stored in the ray le, instead of
being recomputed, in order to speed up the calculation process.
By default, a binary ray le will be written. You can also create text (formatted) ray
les by turning o the Write Binary Files option in the Select File dialog box.
i
Do not write or read a compressed ray le, because FLUENT will not be
able to access the ray tracing information properly from a compressed ray
le.
The ray lename must be specied to FLUENT only once. Thereafter, the lename is
stored in your case le and the ray le will be automatically read into FLUENT whenever
the case le is read. FLUENT will remind you that it is reading the ray le after it nishes
reading the rest of the case le by reporting its progress in the text (console) window.
Note that the ray lename stored in your case le may not contain the full name of the
directory in which the ray le exists. The full directory name will be stored in the case
le only if you initially read the ray le through the GUI (or if you typed in the directory
name along with the lename when using the text interface). In the event that the full
directory name is absent, the automatic reading of the ray le may fail (since FLUENT
does not know in which directory to look for the le), and you will need to manually
specify the ray le, using the File/Read/DTRM Rays... menu item. The safest approaches
are to use the GUI when you rst read the ray le or to supply the full directory name
when using the text interface.
i
You should recreate the ray le whenever you do anything that changes
the grid, such as:
change the type of a boundary zone
adapt or reorder the grid
scale the grid
You can open the DTRM Rays panel directly with the Dene/DTRM Rays...
menu item.
Displaying the Clusters
Once a ray le has been created or read in manually, you can click on the Display Clusters
button in the DTRM Rays panel to graphically display the clusters in the domain. See
Section 13.3.17: Displaying Rays and Clusters for the DTRM for additional information
about displaying rays and clusters.
13.3.12 Setting Up the S2S Model
When you select the Surface to Surface (S2S) model, the Radiation Model panel will
expand to show additional parameters (see Figure 13.3.16). In this section of the panel,
you will compute the view factors for your problem or read previously computed view
factors into FLUENT.
Figure 13.3.16: The Radiation Model Panel (S2S Model)
The S2S radiation model is computationally very expensive when there are a large num-
ber of radiating surfaces. To reduce the memory requirement for the calculation, the
number of radiating surfaces is reduced by creating surface clusters. The surface cluster
information (coordinates and connectivity of the nodes, surface cluster IDs) is used by
FLUENT to compute the view factors for the surface clusters.
i
You should recreate the surface cluster information whenever you do any-
thing that changes the grid, such as:
change the type of a boundary zone
reorder the grid
scale the grid
Note that you do not need to recalculate view factors after shell conduction
at any wall has been enabled or disabled. See Section 7.13.1: Thermal
Boundary Conditions at Walls for more information about shell conduction.
i
FLUENT will warn you to recreate the cluster/viewfactor le if a boundary
zone has been changed from a wall to an internal wall (or visa versa), or if
a boundary zone has been merged, separated, or fused.
Computing View Factors
FLUENT can compute the view factors for your problem in the current session and save
them to a le for use in the current session and future sessions. Alternatively, you can save
the surface cluster information and view factor parameters to a le, calculate the view
factors outside FLUENT, and then read the view factors into FLUENT. These methods
for computing view factors are described below.
i
For large meshes or complex models, it is recommended that you calculate
the view factors outside FLUENT and then read them into FLUENT before
starting your simulation.
Computing View Factors Inside FLUENT
To compute view factors in your current FLUENT session, you must rst set the param-
eters for the view factor calculation in the View Factor and Cluster Parameters panel (see
below for details). When you have set the view factor and surface cluster parameters,
click Compute/Write... under Methods in the Radiation Model panel. A Select File dialog
box will open, prompting you for the name of the le in which FLUENT should save
the surface cluster information and the view factors. After you have specied the le
name, FLUENT will write the surface cluster information to the le. FLUENT will use
the surface cluster information to compute the view factors, save the view factors to the
same le, and then automatically read the view factors. The FLUENT console window
will report the status of the view factor calculation. For example:
Completed 25% calculation of viewfactors
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The view factor le format for this version of FLUENT is known as the
compressed row format (CRF) which is a more ecient way of writing
view factors than in prior versions of FLUENT. In the CRF format, only
non-zero view factors with their associated cluster IDs are stored to the
le. This reduces the size of the .s2s le, and reduces the time it takes
to read the le into FLUENT. While the CRF le format is the default,
you can still use the older le format if necessary. Contact your support
engineer for more information.
Computing View Factors Outside FLUENT
To compute view factors outside FLUENT, you must save the surface cluster information
and view factor parameters to a le.
File Write Surface Clusters...
FLUENT will open the View Factor and Cluster Parameters panel, where you will set the
view factor and surface cluster parameters (see below for details). When you click OK in
the View Factor and Cluster Parameters panel, a Select File dialog box will open, prompting
you for the name of the le in which FLUENT should save the surface cluster information
and view factor parameters. After you have specied the le name, FLUENT will write
the surface cluster information and view factor parameters to the le. If the specied
Filename ends in .gz or .Z, appropriate le compression will be performed.
To calculate the view factors outside FLUENT, enter one of the following commands:
For the serial solver:
utility viewfac inputle
where inputle is the lename, or the correct path to the lename, for the surface
cluster information and view factor parameters le that you saved from FLUENT.
You can then read the view factors into FLUENT, as described below.
For the network parallel solver:
utility viewfac -p -tn -cnf=host1,host2,. . .,hostn inputle
where n is the number of compute nodes, and host1, host2,. . . are the names of the
machines being used.
i
Note that host1 must be a host machine.
For a dedicated parallel machine with multiple processors:
utility viewfac -tn inputle
Reading View Factors into FLUENT
If the view factors for your problem have already been computed (either inside or outside
FLUENT) and saved to a le, you can read them into FLUENT. To read in the view
factors, click Read... under Methods in the Radiation Model panel. A Select File dialog
box will open where you can specify the name of the le containing the view factors. You
can also manually specify the view factors le, using the File/Read/View Factors... menu
item.
i
While the previous .s2s view factor le format can still be read seamlessly
into FLUENT, there is now a more ecient compressed row format (CRF)
that can be read into FLUENT (see the section on Computing View Factors
Inside FLUENT). You can take advantage of the reduced size of the CRF
le and thus the reduced time it takes to read the le into FLUENT, by
converting the existing old le format to the new format (without having to
recompute the view factors) using the following command at the command
prompt in your working directory:
utility viewfac -c1 -o new.s2s.gz old.s2s.gz
where new.s2s.gz is the CRF format to which you want the old le format
(old.s2s.gz) converted.
Setting View Factor and Surface Cluster Parameters
You can use the View Factor and Cluster Parameters panel (Figure 13.3.17) to set view
factor and cluster parameters for the S2S model. To open this panel, click Set... under
Parameters in the Radiation Model panel (Figure 13.3.16) or use the File/Write/Surface
Clusters... menu item.
Figure 13.3.17: The View Factor and Cluster Parameters Panel
Controlling the Clusters
Your input for Faces Per Surface Cluster will control the number of radiating surfaces.
By default, it is set to 1, so the number of surface clusters (radiating surfaces) will be
equal to the number of boundary faces. For small 2D problems, this is an acceptable
number. For larger problems, you may want to reduce the number of surface clusters
to reduce both the size of the view factor le and the memory requirement. Such a
reduction in the number of clusters, however, comes at the cost of some accuracy. (See
Section 13.3.7: Clustering for details about clustering.)
There are certain applications that will require most or all wall boundary zones to have
the same Faces Per Surface Cluster parameter. In typical underhood simulations, for
example, there can be hundreds of walls that you want to apply the same Face Per
Surface Cluster parameter to. To avoid visiting each Wall boundary condition panel, you
can instead click the Apply to All Walls checkbox in the View Factor and Cluster Parameters
panel (Figure 13.3.17). Once you click OK, the Faces Per Surface Cluster value you specify
will be copied to all wall zones that are adjacent to uid zones in your model. You can
then visit only the walls you want to dene dierent settings for and set those parameters
individually.
The Faces Per Surface Cluster can be designated for a particular wall in the Wall boundary
condition panel under the Radiation tab (Figure 13.3.18). Under the Radiation tab, you
can also choose to exclude a particular wall from the radiosity calculations by deselecting
Participates in S2S Radiation. Note that if the surface clusters are written with this feature
turned o, then the view factors will not be computed at all for that particular wall. If
you are unsure whether a wall is radiating or not ahead of time, then you should keep
the Participates in S2S Radiation enabled and have the view factors computed. You can
always toggle the switch at a later stage to include or exclude the particular wall for
radiosity calculations.
i
The Faces Per Surface Cluster and Participates in S2S Radiation controls will
not be visible in the GUI on wall boundary zones that are attached to a
solid.
Figure 13.3.18: The Wall Panel
In some cases, you may wish to modify the cuto or split angle between adjacent
face normals for the purpose of controlling surface clustering. The split angle sets the
limit for which adjacent surfaces are clustered. A smaller split angle allows for a better
representation of the view factor. By default, no surface cluster will contain any face
that has a face normal greater than 20
. To modify the value of this parameter, you can

use the split-angle text command:
define models radiation s2s-parameters split-angle
or
file write-surface-clusters split-angle
Specifying the Orientation of Surface Pairs
View factor calculations depend on the geometric orientations of surface pairs with re-
spect to each other. Two situations may be encountered when examining surface pairs:
If there is no obstruction between the surface pairs under consideration, then they
are referred to as non-blocking surfaces.
If there is another surface blocking the views between the surfaces under consid-
eration, then they are referred to as blocking surfaces. Blocking will change the
view factors between the surface pairs and require additional checks to compute
the correct value of the view factors.
For cases with blocking surfaces, select Blocking under Surfaces in the View Factor and
Cluster Parameters panel. For cases with non-blocking surfaces, you can choose either
Blocking or Nonblocking without aecting the accuracy. However, it is better to choose
Nonblocking for such cases, as it takes less time to compute.
Selecting the Method for Smoothing
In order to enforce reciprocity and conservation (see Section 13.3.7: Smoothing), smooth-
ing can be performed on the view factor matrix. To use the least-squares method for
smoothing of the view factor matrix, select Least Squares under Smoothing in the View
Factor and Cluster Parameters panel. If you do not wish to smooth the view factor matrix,
select None under Smoothing.
Selecting the Method for Computing View Factors
FLUENT provides two methods for computing view factors: the hemicube method and
the adaptive method. The hemicube method is available only for 3D cases.
The adaptive method calculates the view factors on a pair-by-pair basis using a variety of
algorithms (analytic or Gauss quadrature) that are chosen adaptively depending on the
proximity of the surfaces. To maintain accuracy, the order of the quadrature increases
the closer the faces are together. For surfaces that are very close to each other, the
analytic method is used. FLUENT determines the method to use by performing a visibility
calculation. The Gaussian quadrature method is used if none of the rays from a surface
are blocked by the other surface. If some of the rays are blocked by the other surface,
then either a Monte Carlo integration method or a quasi-Monte Carlo integration method
is used.
To use the adaptive method to compute the view factors, select Adaptive in the View Factor
and Cluster Parameters panel. It is recommended that you use the adaptive method for
simple models, because it is faster than the hemicube method for these types of models.
The hemicube method uses a dierential area-to-area method and calculates the view
factors on a row-by-row basis. The view factors calculated from the dierential areas are
summed to provide the view factor for the whole surface. This method originated from
the use of the radiosity approach in the eld of computer graphics [63].
To use the hemicube method to compute the view factors, select Hemicube in the View
Factor and Cluster Parameters panel. It is recommended that you use the hemicube method
for large complex models, because it is faster than the adaptive method for these types
of models.
The hemicube method is based upon three assumptions about the geometry of the sur-
faces: aliasing, visibility, and proximity. To validate these assumptions, you can specify
three dierent hemicube parameters, which can help you obtain better accuracy in cal-
culating view factors. In most cases, however, the default settings will be sucient.
AliasingThe true projection of each visible face onto the hemicube can be ac-
curately accounted for by using a nite-resolution hemicube. As described above,
the faces are projected onto a hemicube. Because of the nite resolution of the
hemicube, the projected areas and resulting view factors may be over- or under-
estimated. Aliasing eects can be reduced by increasing the value of the Resolution
of the hemicube under Hemicube Parameters.
VisibilityThe visibility between any two faces does not change. In some cases,
face i has a complete view of face k from its centroid, but some other face j occludes
much of face k from face i. In such a case, the hemicube method will overestimate
the view factor between face i and face k calculated from the centroid of face i.
This error can be reduced by subdividing face i into smaller subfaces. You can
specify the number of subfaces by entering a value for Subdivision under Hemicube
Parameters.
ProximityThe distance between faces is great compared to the eective diameter
of the faces. The proximity assumption is violated whenever faces are close together
in comparison to their eective diameter or are adjacent to one another. In such
cases, the distances between the centroid of one face and all points on the other
face vary greatly. Since the view factor dependence on distance is non-linear, the
result is a poor estimate of the view factor.
Under Hemicube Parameters, you can set a limit for the Normalized Separation Dis-
tance, which is the ratio of the minimum face separation to the eective diameter of
the face. If the computed normalized separation distance is less than the specied
value, the face will then be divided into a number of subfaces until the normalized
distances of the subfaces are greater than the specied value. Alternatively, you
can specify the number of subfaces to create for such faces by entering a value for
Subdivision.
13.3.13 Setting Up the DO Model
Angular Discretization
When you select the Discrete Ordinates model, the Radiation Model panel will expand to
show inputs for Angular Discretization (see Figure 13.3.14). In this section, you will set
parameters for the angular discretization and pixelation described in Section 13.3.6: An-
gular Discretization and Pixelation.
Theta Divisions (N
) and Phi Divisions (N
) will dene the number of control angles used

to discretize each octant of the angular space (see Figure 13.3.3). Note that higher levels
of discretization are recommended for problems where specular exchange of radiation is
important to increase the likelihood of the correct beam direction being captured. For a
2D model, FLUENT will solve only 4 octants (due to symmetry); thus, a total of 4N
directions s will be solved. For a 3D model, 8 octants are solved, resulting in 8N
directions s. By default, the number of Theta Divisions and the number of Phi Divisions
are both set to 2. For most practical problems, these settings are acceptable, however, a
setting of 2 is considered to be a coarse estimate. Increasing the discretization of Theta
Divisions and Phi Divisions to a minimum of 3, or up to 5, will achieve more reliable
results. A ner angular discretization can be specied to better resolve the inuence of
small geometric features or strong spatial variations in temperature, but larger numbers
of Theta Divisions and Phi Divisions will add to the cost of the computation.
Theta Pixels and Phi Pixels are used to control the pixelation that accounts for any control
volume overhang (see Figure 13.3.7 and the gures and discussion preceding it). For prob-
lems involving gray-diuse radiation, the default pixelation of 1 1 is usually sucient.
For problems involving symmetry, periodic, specular, or semi-transparent boundaries, a
pixelation of 3 3 is recommended and will achieve acceptable results. The computa-
tional eort, as a result of increasing the pixelation, is less than the computational eort
caused by increasing the divisions. You should be aware, however, that increasing the
pixelation adds to the cost of computation.
Dening Non-Gray Radiation for the DO Model
If you want to model non-gray radiation using the DO model, you can specify the Num-
ber Of Bands (N) under Non-Gray Model in the expanded Radiation Model panel (Fig-
ure 13.3.19). For a 2D model, FLUENT will solve 4N
N directions. For a 3D model,

8N
N directions will be solved. By default, the Number of Bands is set to zero, indicat-
ing that only gray radiation will be modeled. Because the cost of computation increases
directly with the number of bands, you should try to minimize the number of bands used.
In many cases, the absorption coecient or the wall emissivity is eectively constant for
the wavelengths of importance in the temperature range of the problem. For such cases,
the gray DO model can be used with little loss of accuracy. For other cases, non-gray
behavior is important, but relatively few bands are necessary. For typical glasses, for
example, two or three bands will frequently suce.
When a non-zero Number Of Bands is specied, the Radiation Model panel will expand
once again to show the Wavelength Intervals (Figure 13.3.19). You can specify a Name for
each wavelength band, as well as the Start and End wavelength of the band in m. Note
that the wavelength bands are specied for vacuum (n = 1). FLUENT will automatically
account for the refractive index in setting band limits for media with n dierent from
unity.
Figure 13.3.19: The Radiation Model Panel (Non-Gray DO Model)
The frequency of radiation remains constant as radiation travels across a semi-transparent
interface. The wavelength, however, changes such that n is constant. Thus, when
radiation passes from a medium with refractive index n
1
to one with refractive index n
2
,
the following relationship holds:
n
1
1
= n
2
2
(13.3-90)
Here
1
and
2
are the wavelengths associated with the two media. It is conventional to
specify the wavelength rather than frequency. FLUENT requires you to specify wavelength
bands for an equivalent medium with n = 1.
For example, consider a typical glass with a step jump in the absorption coecient at
a cut-o wavelength of
c
. The absorption coecient is a
1
for
c
m and a
2
for
>
c
m. The refractive index of the glass is n
g
. Since n is constant across a semi-
transparent interface, the equivalent cut-o wavelength for a medium with n = 1 is n
g
c
using Equation 13.3-90. You should choose two bands in this case, with the limits 0 to
n
g
c
and n
g
c
to 100. Here, the upper wavelength limit has been chosen to be a large
number, 100, in order to ensure that the entire spectrum is covered by the bands. When
multiple materials exist, you should convert all the cut-o wavelengths to equivalent
cut-o wavelengths for an n = 1 medium, and choose the band boundaries accordingly.
The bands can have dierent widths and need not be contiguous. You can ensure that
the entire spectrum is covered by your bands by choosing
min
= 0 and n
max
T
min

50, 000. Here
min
and
max
are the minimum and maximum wavelength bounds of your
wavelength bands, and T
min
is the minimum expected temperature in the domain.
Enabling DO/Energy Coupling
For applications involving optical thicknesses greater than 10, you can enable the DO/Energy
Coupling option in the Radiation Model (Figure 13.3.20) in order to couple the energy and
intensity equations at each cell, solving them simultaneously. This approach accelerates
the convergence of the nite volume scheme for radiative heat transfer and can be used
with the gray or non-gray radiation model.
Figure 13.3.20: The Radiation Model Panel with DO/Energy Coupling En-
abled
i
This option should not be used when the shell conduction model is enabled.
13.3.14 Dening Material Properties for Radiation
When you are using the P-1, DO, or Rosseland radiation model in FLUENT, you should be
sure to dene both the absorption and scattering coecients of the uid in the Materials
panel. Note that you can either enter a constant value for these parameters, or you can
specify them using a user-dened function (UDF). See Section 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY
UDFs of the separate UDF Manual for details.
If you are modeling semi-transparent media using the DO model, you should also dene
the refractive index for the semi-transparent uid or solid material. When using the
Rosseland model, you should dene the refractive index for the uid or solid material.
For the DTRM, you need to dene only the absorption coecient.
Dene Materials...
If your model includes gas phase species such as combustion products, absorption and/or
scattering in the gas may be signicant. The scattering coecient should be increased
from the default of zero if the uid contains dispersed particles or droplets which con-
tribute to scattering. Alternatively, you can specify the scattering coecient as a user-
dened function (UDF). See Section 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY UDFs of the separate UDF
Manual for details.
FLUENT allows you to input a composition-dependent absorption coecient for CO
2
and
H
2
O mixtures, using the WSGGM. The method for computing a variable absorption co-
ecient is described in Section 13.3.8: Radiation in Combusting Flows. Section 8.8: Ra-
diation Properties provides a detailed description of the procedures used for input of
radiation properties.
Absorption Coefcient for a Non-Gray DO Model
If you are using the non-gray DO model, you can specify a dierent constant absorption
coecient for each of the bands used by the gray-band model, as described in Sec-
tion 8.8: Radiation Properties. You cannot, however, compute a composition-dependent
absorption coecient in each band. If you use the WSGGM to compute a variable ab-
sorption coecient, the value will be the same for all bands. Alternatively, you can
specify a user-dened function (UDF) for the absorption coecient.
See Section 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY UDFs of the separate UDF Manual for details.
Refractive Index for a Non-Gray DO Model
If you are using the non-gray DO model, you can specify a dierent constant refractive
index for each of the bands used by the gray-band model, as described in Section 8.8: Ra-
diation Properties. You cannot, however, compute a composition-dependent refractive
index in each band.
13.3.15 Dening Boundary Conditions for Radiation
When you set up a problem that includes radiation, you will set additional boundary
conditions at inlets, exits, and walls. These inputs are described below.
Inlet and Exit Boundary Conditions
Emissivity
When radiation is active, you can dene the emissivity at each inlet and exit bound-
ary when you are dening boundary conditions in the associated inlet or exit bound-
ary panel (Pressure Inlet panel, Velocity Inlet panel, Pressure Outlet panel, etc.). Enter
the appropriate value for Internal Emissivity. The default value for all boundary types
is 1. Alternatively, you can specify a user-dened function for emissivity. See Sec-
tion 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY UDFs of the separate UDF Manual for details.
For non-gray DO models, the specied constant emissivity will be used for all wavelength
bands.
i
The Internal Emissivity boundary condition is not available with the Rosse-
land model.
Black Body Temperature
FLUENT includes an option that allows you to take into account the inuence of the tem-
perature of the gas and the walls beyond the inlet/exit boundaries, and specify dierent
temperatures for radiation and convection at inlets and exits. This is useful when the
temperature outside the inlet or exit diers considerably from the temperature in the
enclosure. For example, if the temperature of the walls beyond the inlet is 2000 K and
the temperature at the inlet is 1000 K, you can specify the outside-wall temperature to
be used for computing radiative heat ux, while the actual temperature at the inlet is
used for calculating convective heat transfer. To do this, you would specify a radiation
temperature of 2000 K as the black body temperature.
Although this option allows you to account for both cooler and hotter outside walls,
you must use caution in the case of cooler walls, since the radiation from the immediate
vicinity of the hotter inlet or outlet almost always dominates over the radiation from
cooler outside walls. If, for example, the temperature of the outside walls is 250 K and
the inlet temperature is 1500 K, it might be misleading to use 250 K for the radiation
boundary temperature. This temperature might be expected to be somewhere between
250 K and 1500 K; in most cases it will be close to 1500 K. (Its value depends on the
geometry of the outside walls and the optical thickness of the gas in the vicinity of the
inlet.)
In the ow inlet or exit panel (Pressure Inlet panel, Velocity Inlet panel, etc.), select
Specied External Temperature in the External Black Body Temperature Method drop-down
list, and then enter the value of the radiation boundary temperature as the Black Body
Temperature.
i
If you want to use the same temperature for radiation and convection,
retain the default selection of Boundary Temperature as the External Black
Body Temperature Method.
i
The Black Body Temperature boundary condition is not available with the
Rosseland model.
Wall Boundary Conditions for the DTRM, and the P-1, S2S and Rosseland
Models
The DTRM and the P-1, S2S, and Rosseland models assume all walls to be gray and
diuse. The only radiation boundary condition required in the Wall panel is the emis-
sivity. For the Rosseland model, the internal emissivity is 1. For the DTRM and the
P-1 and S2S models, you can enter the appropriate value for Internal Emissivity in the
Thermal section of the Wall panel. The default value is 1. Alternatively, you can specify
a user-dened function for emissivity. See Section 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY UDFs of the
separate UDF Manual for details.
Partial Enclosure Wall Boundary Condition for the S2S Model
When the S2S model is used, you can dene a partial enclosure (i.e., you can disable
view factor calculations for walls and inlet and exit boundaries that are not participating
in the radiative heat transfer calculation). This feature allows you to save time computing
the view factors and also reduce the memory required to store the view factor le during
the FLUENT calculation.
To make use of this feature for walls, you can disable the Participates in S2S Radia-
tion option in the Radiation section of the Wall panel for each relevant wall. Similarly,
you can disable the view factor calculations for any inlet or exit boundary by high-
lighting the boundary in the Boundary Conditions panel, clicking the Set... button and
turning o the Participates in S2S Radiation option (this can also be done through the
define/boundary-conditions text command). You can specify the Temperature of the
partial enclosure under Partial Enclosure in the Radiation Model panel (Figure 13.3.16).
The partial enclosure is treated like a black body with the specied temperature.
i
If you change the denition of the partial enclosure by including or ex-
cluding some of the boundary zones, you will need to recompute the view
factors.
i
The Flux Reports panel will not show the exact balance of the Radiation Heat
Transfer Rate because the radiative heat transfer to the partial enclosure is
not included.
Wall Boundary Conditions for the DO Model
When the DO model is used, you can model opaque walls, as discussed in
Section 13.3.6: Boundary Condition Treatment at Opaque Walls, as well as semi-transparent
walls (Section 13.3.6: Boundary Condition Treatment at Semi-Transparent Walls).
You can use a diuse wall to model wall boundaries in many industrial applications since,
for the most part, surface roughness makes the reection of incident radiation diuse. For
highly polished surfaces, such as reectors or mirrors, the specular boundary condition is
appropriate. The semi-transparent boundary condition can be appropriate, for example,
when modeling for glass panes in air.
Opaque Walls
In the Radiation section of the Wall panel (Figure 13.3.21), select opaque in the BC Type
drop-down list to specify an opaque wall. Opaque walls are treated as gray if gray
radiation is being computed, or non-gray if the non-gray DO model is being used. If the
non-gray DO model is being used, the Diuse Fraction can be specied for each band.
Once you have selected opaque as the BC Type, you can specify the fraction of reected
radiation ux that is to be treated as diuse. By default, the Diuse Fraction is set to 1,
indicating that all of the radiation is diuse. A diuse fraction equal to 0 indicates purely
specular reected radiation. A diuse fraction between 0 and 1 will result in partially
diuse and partially specular reected energy. See Section 13.3.6: Boundary Condition
Treatment at Opaque Walls for more details.
Figure 13.3.21: The Wall Panel Showing Radiation Conditions for an Opaque
Wall
You will also be required to specify the internal emissivity in the Thermal section of
the Wall panel (Figure 13.3.22). For gray-radiation DO models, enter the appropriate
value for Internal Emissivity. (The default value is 1.) The value that you specify will
be applied to the diuse component only. For non-gray DO models, specify a constant
Internal Emissivity for each wavelength band in the Radiation tab. (The default value in
each band is 1.) Alternatively, you can specify a user-dened function (UDF) for internal
emissivity. See Section 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY UDFs of the separate UDF Manual for
details.
Figure 13.3.22: The Wall Panel Showing Internal Emissivity Thermal Con-
ditions for an Opaque Wall
You can also specify the external emissivity and external radiation temperature for a
semi-transparent wall when the thermal conditions are set to Radiation or Mixed in the
Wall panel (Figure 13.3.23). Alternatively, you can specify a UDF for these parameters.
Figure 13.3.23: The Wall Panel Showing External Emissivity and External
Radiation Temperature Thermal Conditions
For more information on boundary condition treatment at opaque walls,
see Section 13.3.6: Boundary Condition Treatment at Opaque Walls.
Semi-Transparent Walls
To dene radiation for an exterior semi-transparent wall choose the Radiation tab in the
Wall panel and then select semi-transparent in the BC Type drop-down list(Figure 13.3.24).
The panel will expand to display the semi-transparent wall inputs needed to dene an
external irradiation ux.
Figure 13.3.24: The Wall Panel for a Semi-Transparent Wall Boundary
1. Specify the value of the irradiation ux (in W/m
2
) under Irradiation. If the non-gray
DO model is being used, a constant Irradiation can be specied for each band.
2. Apply Irradiation Parallel to Beam is the default means of specifying the scale of
irradiation ux. When active, FLUENT assumes the value of Irradiation that you
specify is the irradiation ux parallel to the Beam Direction. When deselected,
FLUENT instead assumes the valued specied is the ux parallel to the face normals
and will calculate the resulting beam parallel ux for every face. See Figure 13.3.12
in Section 13.3.6: Semi-Transparent Exterior Walls for details.
3. Dene the Beam Width by specifying the beam Theta and Phi extents. Beam width
is specied as the solid angle over which the irradiation is distributed. The default
value for beam width is 1e
6 which is suitable for collimated beam radiation. A

beam width less than this is likely to result in zero irradiation ux.
4. Specify the (X,Y,Z) vector that denes the Beam Direction. Beam direction is
dened by the vector of the centroid of the solid angle. Only the specular component
of the irradiation ux will be applied with the specied beam direction; the diuse
irradiation ux will be applied diusely and hemispherically to the surface.
5. Specify the fraction of the irradiation that is to be treated as diuse as a real
number between 0 and 1. By default, the Diuse Fraction is set to 1, indicating
that all of the irradiation is diuse. A diuse fraction of 0 treats the radiation as
purely specular. If you specify a value between 0 and 1, the radiation is treated as
partially diuse and partially specular. If the non-gray DO model is being used,
the Diuse Fraction can be specied for each band. See Section 13.3.6: Diuse
Semi-Transparent Walls for details.
i
Note that the refractive index of the external medium is assumed to be 1.
i
If Heat Flux conditions are specied in the Thermal section of the Wall
panel, the specied heat ux is considered to be only the conduction and
convection portion of the boundary ux. The given irradiation species
the incoming exterior radiative ux; the radiative ux transmitted from
the domain interior to the outside is computed as a part of the calculation
by FLUENT. Internal emissivity is ignored for semi-transparent surfaces.
You can also specify the external emissivity and external radiation temperature for a
semi-transparent wall when the thermal conditions are set to Radiation or Mixed in the
Wall panel (Figure 13.3.23). Alternatively, you can specify a user-dened function (UDF)
for these parameters. See Section 2.3.14: DEFINE PROPERTY UDFs of the separate UDF
Manual for details.
For a detailed description of boundary condition treatment at semi-transparent walls, see
Section 13.3.6: Boundary Condition Treatment at Semi-Transparent Walls.
To dene radiation for an interior (two-sided) semi-transparent wall, in the Wall panel
choose the Radiation tab and then select semi-transparent in the BC Type drop-down list
(Figure 13.3.25).
1. Specify the Diuse Fraction as described for the previous case.
Figure 13.3.25: The Wall Panel for an Interior Semi-Transparent Wall
i
Note that the internal emissivity thermal condition is ignored for semi-
transparent surfaces.
Solid Boundary Conditions for the DO Model
With the DO model, you can specify whether or not you want to solve for radiation
in each cell zone in the domain. By default, the DO equations are solved in all uid
zones, but not in any solid zones. If you want to model semi-transparent media, for
example, you can enable radiation in the solid zone(s). To do so, turn on the Participates
In Radiation option in the Solid panel (Figure 13.3.26).
Figure 13.3.26: The Solid Panel
i
In general, you should not turn o the Participates In Radiation option for
any uid zones.
See Section 13.3.6: Solid Semi-Transparent Media for more information on solid semi-
transparent media.
Thermal Boundary Conditions
In general, any well-posed combination of thermal boundary conditions can be used when
any of the radiation models is active. The radiation model will be well-posed in combina-
tion with xed temperature walls, conducting walls, and/or walls with set external heat
transfer boundary conditions (Section 7.13.1: Thermal Boundary Conditions at Walls).
You can also use any of the radiation models with heat ux boundary conditions dened
at walls, in which case the heat ux you dene will be treated as the sum of the convec-
tive and radiative heat uxes. The exception to this is the case of semi-transparent walls
for the DO model. Here, FLUENT allows you to specify the convective and radiative
portions of the heat ux separately.
13.3.16 Solution Strategies for Radiation Modeling
For the P-1, DTRM, S2S, and the DO radiation models, there are several parameters that
control the radiation calculation. You can use the default solution parameters for most
problems, or you can modify these parameters to control the convergence and accuracy
of the solution. Iteration parameters that are unique for a particular radiation model
are specied in the Radiation Model panel (e.g., Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration).
Solution controls such as Discretization (Section 25.3: Discretization) and Under-Relaxation
(Section 25.4.4: Under-Relaxation of Variables) are specied in the Solution Controls
panel. Convergence Criterion (Section 25.18.1: Modifying Convergence Criteria) are set
in the Residual Monitors panel.
There are no solution parameters to be set for the Rosseland model, since it impacts the
solution only through the energy equation.
i
If radiation is the only model being solved in FLUENT, and all other equa-
tions are switched o, then the Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration solu-
tion parameter that is available for certain radiation models, is automati-
cally reset to 1.
P-1 Model Solution Parameters
For the P-1 radiation model, you can control the convergence criterion and under-
relaxation factor. You should also pay attention to the optical thickness, as described
below.
The default convergence criterion for the P-1 model is 10
6
, the same as that for the en-
ergy equation, since the two are closely linked. See Section 25.18.1: Monitoring Residuals
for details about convergence criteria. You can set the Convergence Criterion for p1 in the
Residual Monitors panel.
Solve Monitors Residual...
The under-relaxation factor for the P-1 model is set with those for other variables, as
described in Section 25.9.2: Setting Under-Relaxation Factors. Note that since the equa-
tion for the radiation temperature (Equation 13.3-5) is a relatively stable scalar transport
equation, in most cases you can safely use large values of under-relaxation (0.91.0).
For optimal convergence with the P-1 model, the optical thickness (a +
s
)L must be
between 0.01 and 10 (preferably not larger than 5). Smaller optical thicknesses are typical
for very small enclosures (characteristic size of the order of 1 cm), but for such problems
you can safely increase the absorption coecient to a value for which (a +
s
)L = 0.01.
Increasing the absorption coecient will not change the physics of the problem because
the dierence in the level of transparency of a medium with optical thickness = 0.01 and
one with optical thickness < 0.01 is indistinguishable within the accuracy level of the
computation.
DTRM Solution Parameters
When the DTRM is active, FLUENT updates the radiation eld during the calculation
and computes the resulting energy sources and heat uxes via the ray-tracing technique
described in Section 13.3.5: Ray Tracing. FLUENT provides several solution parame-
ters that control the solver and the solution accuracy. These parameters appear in the
expanded portion of the Radiation Model panel (Figure 13.3.27).
Figure 13.3.27: The Radiation Model Panel (DTRM)
You can control the maximum number of sweeps of the radiation calculation during each
global iteration by changing the Number of DTRM Sweeps. The default setting of 1 sweep
implies that the radiant intensity will be updated just once. If you increase this number,
the radiant intensity at the surfaces will be updated multiple times, until the tolerance
criterion is met or the number of radiation sweeps is exceeded.
The Tolerance parameter (0.001 by default) determines when the radiation intensity up-
date is converged. It is dened as the maximum normalized change in the surface intensity
from one DTRM sweep to the next (see Equation 13.3-91).
You can also control the frequency with which the radiation eld is updated as the
continuous phase solution proceeds. The Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration parameter
is set to 10 by default. This implies that the radiation calculation is performed once every
10 iterations of the solution process. Increasing the number can speed the calculation
process, but may slow overall convergence.
S2S Solution Parameters
For the S2S model, as for the DTRM, you can control the frequency with which the
radiosity is updated as the continuous-phase solution proceeds. See the description of
Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration for the DTRM, above.
If you are using the pressure-based solver and you rst solve the ow equations with the
energy equation turned o, you should reduce the Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration
from 10 to 1 or 2. This will ensure the convergence of the radiosity. If the default value of
10 is kept in this case, it is possible that the ow and energy residuals may converge and
the solution will terminate before the radiosity is converged. See Section 13.3.16: Residual
Reporting for the S2S Model for more information about residuals for the S2S model.
You can control the maximum number of sweeps of the radiation calculation during each
global iteration by changing the Number of S2S Sweeps. The default setting of 1 sweep
implies that the radiosity will be updated just once. If you increase this number, the
radiosity at the surfaces will be updated multiple times, until the tolerance criterion is
met or the number of radiation sweeps is exceeded.
The Tolerance parameter (0.001 by default) determines when the radiosity update is
converged. It is dened as the maximum normalized change in the radiosity from one
S2S sweep to the next (see Equation 13.3-92).
DO Solution Parameters
For the discrete ordinates model, as for the DTRM, you can control the frequency with
which the surface intensity is updated as the continuous phase solution proceeds. See
the description of Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration for the DTRM, above.
For most problems, the default under-relaxation of 1.0 for the DO equations is ade-
quate. For problems with large optical thicknesses (aL > 10), you may experience slow
convergence or solution oscillation. For such cases, under-relaxing the energy and DO
equations is useful. Under-relaxation factors between 0.9 and 1.0 are recommended for
both equations.
Running the Calculation
Once the radiation problem has been set up, you can proceed as usual with the calcula-
tion. Note that while the P-1 and DO models will solve additional transport equations
and report residuals, the DTRM and the Rosseland and S2S models will not (since they
impact the solution only through the energy equation). Residuals for the DTRM and
S2S model sweeps are reported by FLUENT every time a DTRM or S2S model iteration
is performed, as described below.
Residual Reporting for the P-1 Model
The residual for radiation as calculated by the P-1 model is updated after each iteration
and reported with the residuals for all other variables. FLUENT reports the normalized
P-1 radiation residual as dened in Section 25.18.1: Monitoring Residuals for the other
transport equations.
Residual Reporting for the DO Model
After each DO iteration, the DO model reports a composite normalized residual for all
the DO transport equations. The denition of the residuals is similar to that for the
other transport equations (see Section 25.18.1: Monitoring Residuals).
Residual Reporting for the DTRM
FLUENT does not include a DTRM residual in its usual residual report that is issued
after each iteration. The eect of radiation on the solution can be gathered, instead, via
its impact on the energy eld and the energy residual. However, each time a DTRM
iteration is performed, FLUENT will print out the normalized radiation error for each
DTRM sweep. The normalized radiation error is dened as
E =
all radiating surfaces

(I
new
I
old
)
N (T
4
/)
(13.3-91)
where the error E is the maximum change in the intensity (I) at the current sweep,
normalized by the maximum surface emissive power, and N is the total number of
radiating surfaces. Note that the default radiation convergence criterion, as noted in
Section 13.3.16: DTRM Solution Parameters, denes the radiation calculation to be con-
verged when E decreases to 10
3
or less.
Residual Reporting for the S2S Model
FLUENT does not include an S2S residual in its usual residual report that is issued after
each iteration. The eect of radiation on the solution can be gathered, instead, via its
impact on the energy eld and the energy residual. However, each time an S2S iteration
is performed, FLUENT will print out the normalized radiation error for each S2S sweep.
The normalized radiation error is dened as
E =
all radiating surface clusters

(J
new
J
old
)
NT
4
(13.3-92)
where the error E is the maximum change in the radiosity (J) at the current sweep,
normalized by the maximum surface emissive power, and N is the total number of ra-
diating surface clusters. Note that the default radiation convergence criterion, as noted
in Section 13.3.16: DTRM Solution Parameters, denes the radiation calculation to be
converged when E decreases to 10
3
or less.
Disabling the Update of the Radiation Fluxes
Sometimes, you may wish to set up your FLUENT model with the radiation model active
and then disable the radiation calculation during the initial calculation phase. For the P-
1 and DO models, you can turn o the radiation calculation temporarily by deselecting
P1 or Discrete Ordinates in the Equations list in the Solution Controls panel. For the
DTRM and the S2S model, there is no item in the Equations list. You can instead set a
very large number for Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration in the expanded portion of
the Radiation Model panel.
If you turn o the radiation calculation, FLUENT will skip the update of the radiation
eld during subsequent iterations, but will leave in place the inuence of the current
radiation eld on energy sources due to absorption, wall heat uxes, etc. Turning the
radiation calculation o in this way can thus be used to initiate your modeling work
with the radiation model inactive and/or to focus the computational eort on the other
equations if the radiation model is relatively well converged.
13.3.17 Postprocessing Radiation Quantities
Available Variables for Postprocessing
FLUENT provides radiation quantities that you can use in postprocessing when your
model includes the solution of radiative heat transfer. You can generate graphical plots
or alphanumeric reports of the following variables/functions:
In the Radiation... category:
Incident Radiation (P-1 and DO models)
Absorption Coecient (DTRM, P-1, DO, and Rosseland models)
Scattering Coecient (P-1, DO, and Rosseland models)
Refractive Index (DO model only)
Radiation Temperature (P-1 and DO models)
Surface Cluster ID (S2S model)
In the Wall Fluxes... category:
Radiation Heat Flux (all radiation models)
Surface Incident Radiation (S2S, DTRM, and DO models)
Transmitted Radiation Flux (DO model, semi-transparent wall)
Reected Radiation Flux (DO model, semi-transparent wall)
Absorbed Radiation Flux (DO model, semi-transparent wall)
Beam Irradiation Flux (DO model, semi-transparent wall)
See Chapter 30: Field Function Denitions for denitions of these postprocessing vari-
ables. Note that in addition, incident radiation, transmitted, reected and absorbed
radiation ux are also available on a per-band basis for the non-gray DO model.
i
The sign convention on the radiative heat ux: heat ux from the wall
surface is a positive quantity.
i
It is possible to export heat ux data on wall zones (including radiation)
to a generic le that you can examine or use in an external program. See
Section 13.2.4: Exporting Heat Flux Data for details.
Reporting Radiative Heat Transfer Through Boundaries
You can use the Flux Reports panel to compute the radiative heat transfer through each
boundary of the domain, or to sum the radiative heat transfer through all boundaries.
Report Fluxes...
See Section 29.2: Fluxes Through Boundaries for details about generating ux reports.
Overall Heat Balances When Using the DTRM
The DTRM yields a global heat balance and a balance of radiant heat uxes only in the
limit of a sucient number of rays. In any given calculation, therefore, if the number
of rays is insucient you may nd that the radiant uxes do not obey a strict balance.
Such imbalances are the inevitable consequence of the discrete ray tracing procedure and
can be minimized by selecting a larger number of rays from each wall boundary.
Displaying Rays and Clusters for the DTRM
When you use the DTRM, FLUENT allows you to display surface or volume clusters, as
well as the rays that emanate from a particular surface cluster. You can use the DTRM
Graphics panel (Figure 13.3.28) for all of these displays.
Display DTRM Graphics...
Figure 13.3.28: The DTRM Graphics Panel
Displaying Clusters
To view clusters, select Cluster under Display Type and then select either Surface or Volume
under Cluster Type.
To display all of the surface or volume clusters, select the Display All Clusters option under
Cluster Selection and click the Display button.
To display only the cluster (surface or volume) nearest to a specied point, deselect the
Display All Clusters option and specify the coordinates under Nearest Point. You may also
use the mouse to choose the nearest point. Click on the Select Point With Mouse button
and then right-click on a point in the graphics window.
Displaying Rays
To display the rays emanating from the surface cluster nearest to the specied point,
select Ray under Display Type. Set the appropriate values for Theta and Phi Divisions
under Ray Parameters (see Section 13.3.11: Setting Up the DTRM Model for details),
and then click on the Display button. Figure 13.3.29 shows a ray plot for a simple 2D
geometry.
DTRM Rays
Figure 13.3.29: Ray Display
Including the Grid in the Display
For some problems, especially complex 3D geometries, you may want to include portions
of the grid in your ray or cluster display as spatial reference points. For example, you may
want to show the location of an inlet and an outlet along with displaying the rays. This
is accomplished by turning on the Draw Grid option in the DTRM Graphics panel. The
Grid Display panel will appear automatically when you turn on the Draw Grid option, and
you can set the grid display parameters there. When you click on Display in the DTRM
Graphics panel, the grid display, as dened in the Grid Display panel, will be included in
the ray or cluster display.
Reporting Radiation in the S2S Model
When you use the S2S model, FLUENT allows you to view the values of the view factor
and radiation emitted from one zone to any other zone. You can use the S2S Information
panel (Figure 13.3.30) to generate a report of these values in the console window or as a
separate le.
Report S2S Information...
Figure 13.3.30: The S2S Information Panel
The steps for generating the report are as follows:
1. Specify the values in which you are interested by selecting View Factors and/or
Incident Radiation.
2. Choose the zones for which you would like data by selecting them in the lists under
From and To (at least one zone must be selected under each list). To select all of
the zones of a particular type, click on that category in the list under Boundary
Types.
3. Specify how you would like the data to be presented. To report the values in the
console window, click the Compute button. To write the data as an S2S Info File
(.sif format), click the Write... button and enter a le name in the Select File
dialog box.
The following is an example of how the data is presented:
S2S Information
From wall1 to:
Viewfactor Incident Radiation
wall1 0.0000 0.0000
wall2 0.2929 171387.7813
wall3 0.2929 155305.7969
wall4 0.4142 29055.9023
From wall2 to:
Viewfactor Incident Radiation
wall1 0.2929 306451.9688
wall2 0.0000 0.0000
wall3 0.4142 214195.0938
wall4 0.2929 19153.2715
Note that the header listed above (S2S Information) is not displayed in the console
window.
13.3.18 Solar Load Model
FLUENT provides a solar load model that can be used to calculate radiation eects from
the suns rays that enter a computational domain. Two options are available for the
model: solar ray tracing and DO irradiation. The ray tracing approach is a highly ecient
and practical means of applying solar loads as heat sources in the energy equations. In
cases where you want to use the discrete ordinates (DO) model to calculate radiation
eects within the domain, an option is available to supply outside beam direction and
intensity parameters directly to the DO model. The solar load model includes a solar
calculator utility that can be used to construct the suns location in the sky for a given
time-of-day, date, and position. Solar load is available in the 3d solver only, and can be
used to model steady and unsteady ows.
Introduction
Typical applications that are well-suited for solar load simulations include the following:
automotive climate control (ACC) applications
human comfort modeling applications in buildings
The eects of solar loading are needed in many ACC applications, where the temper-
ature, humidity, and velocity elds around passengers (and drivers) are desired. ACC
systems are tested for their capacity to cool down passenger compartments after they
have been soaked in intense solar radiation. FLUENTs solar load model will enable
you to simulate solar loading eects and predict the time it will take to reasonably cool
down the cabin of a car that has been exposed to solar radiation, as well as predict the
time interval needed to lower the temperature in specied points and areas within the
domain.
In the analysis of buildings, solar loading provides a signicant burden on the cooling
requirement in warm climates, particularly where architects want to use the aesthetics
of glazed facades. Even in cooler climates, solar loading can provide a burden during
warmer seasons where modern buildings are well insulated against thermal loss during
winter months. As well as providing an engineer with a practical tool for determining
the solar heating eect inside a building, FLUENTs solar load model will allow the
solar transmission through all glazed surfaces to be determined over the course of a day,
allowing important decisions to be made before undertaking any ow studies.
Solar Ray Tracing
The solar load models ray tracing algorithm can be used to predict the direct illumination
energy source that results from incident solar radiation. It takes a beam that is modeled
using the sun position vector and illumination parameters, applies it to any or all wall or
inlet/outlet boundary zones that you specify, performs a face-by-face shading analysis to
determine well-dened shadows on all boundary faces and interior walls, and computes
the heat ux on the boundary faces that results from the incident radiation.
i
The solar ray tracing model includes only boundary zones that are adjacent
to uid zones in the ray tracing calculation. In other words, boundary zones
that are attached to solid zones are ignored.
The resulting heat ux that is computed by the solar ray tracing algorithm is coupled to
the FLUENT calculation via a source term in the energy equation. The heat sources are
added directly to computational cells bordering each face and are assigned to adjacent
cells in the following order: shell conduction cells, solid cells, and uid cells. Heat sources
are assigned to one of these types of adjacent cells, only. You can choose to override this
order and include adjacent uid cells in the solar load calculation by issuing a command
in the text user interface (see Section 13.3.18: Text Interface-Only Commands for details).
Note that the sun position vector and solar intensity can be entered either directly by
you or computed from the solar calculator. Direct and diuse irradiation parameters
can also be specied using a user-dened function (UDF) and hooked to FLUENT in the
Radiation Model panel.
The solar ray tracing option allows you to include the eects of direct solar illumination
as well as diuse solar radiation in your FLUENT model. A two-band spectral model
is used for direct solar illumination and accounts for separate material properties in
the visible and infrared bands. A single-band hemispherical-averaged spectral model
is used for diuse radiation. Opaque materials are characterized in terms of two-band
absorptivities. A semi-transparent material requires specication of absorptivity and
transmissivity. Values that you specify for transmissivity and absorptivity are dened
for normal incident rays. FLUENT recomputes/interpolates these values for the given
angle of incidence.
The solar ray tracing algorithm also accounts for internal scattered and diusive loading.
The reected component of direct solar irradiation is tracked. A fraction of this radiative
heat ux, called internally scattered energy is applied to all the surfaces participating
in the solar load calculation, weighted by area. The internally scattered energy depends
on the scattering fraction which is specied in the TUI, and whose default value is
1. Depending on the reectivity of the primary surface, the scattering fraction can be
responsible for the inclusion (or exclusion) of a large amount of radiation within the rest
of the domain.
Also included as internally scattered energy is the contribution of the transmitted com-
ponent of diuse solar irradiation (which enters a domain through semi-transparent walls
depending upon the hemispherical transmissivity). The total value of internally scattered
energy is reported to the FLUENT console. The ambient ux is obtained by dividing the
internally scattered energy by the total surface area of the faces participating in the solar
load calculation.
Note that Solar Ray Tracing is not a participating radiation model. It does not deal
with emission from surfaces, and the reecting component of the primary incident load
is distributed uniformly across all surfaces rather than being local to the surfaces re-
ected to. If surface emission is an important factor in your case then you can consider
implementing a radiation model (e.g., P1) in conjunction with Solar Ray Tracing.
Shading Algorithm
The shading calculation that is used for solar ray tracing is a straightforward application
of vector geometry. A ray is traced from the centroid of a test face in the direction of
the sun. Every other face is checked to determine if the ray intersects the candidate face
and if the candidate face is in front of the test face. If both conditions are met, then
an opaque face completely shades the test face. A semi-transparent face attenuates the
incident energy.
A Barycentric coordinate formulation is used to construct triangle-ray intersections. A
quadrilateral ray intersection method is used to handle the case when model surfaces
contain quadrilaterals. A quad-tree preprocessing step is applied to reduce the ray tracing
algorithm complexity that can lead to long runtime for 10
4
faces and greater. The quad-
tree renement factor can be modied in the text interface. The default value of this
parameter is 7 which is sucient to cover the entire spectrum of mesh sizes between one
cell and ve million cells. If the mesh is greater than ve million cells, an increase in this
parameter would reduce the CPU time needed to compute the solar loads.
Glazing Materials
Incident solar radiation can be applied to glass and plastic glazing materials of various
types at wall boundaries, and the eects of coated glazings modeled using the solar
ray tracing algorithm. To model solar optical properties, you will need to specify the
transmissivity and reectivity of the material in the Wall boundary conditions panel. You
can obtain these values from the glass (or plastic) manufacturer or use data from another
source (e.g., ASHRAE Handbook).
Glazing optical properties are dependent on incident angle, and the variation is signicant
for an incident angle greater than 40 degrees. As the incident angle increases from zero,
transmissivity decreases, reectivity increases, and absorptivity increases initially due to
lengthened optical path, and then decreases as more incident radiation is reected. The
shape of the property curve varies with glass type and thickness. This dierence is more
pronounced for coated glass or for a multiple-pane glazing system. It cannot be assumed
that all glazing systems have a universal angular dependence.
For coated glazings, the spectral transmissivity and reectivity at any incident angle are
approximated in the solar load model from the normal angle of incidence (Finlayson and
Arasteh, 1993).
Transmissivity is given by
T(, ) = T(0, )Tref() (13.3-93)
where
Tref() = a0 + a1cos() + a
2
cos(
2
) + a3cos(
3
) + a4cos(
4
) (13.3-94)
Reectivity is given by
R(, ) = R(0, )[1 Rref()] + Rref() (13.3-95)
where
Rref() = b0 + b1cos() + b
2
cos(
2
) + b3cos(
3
) + b4cos(
4
) Tref() (13.3-96)
The constants used in Equations 13.3-93 and 13.3-95 are for coated glazings and are
taken from Finlayson, E.U., Arasteh, D.K., Huizenga, C., Rubin, M.D., Reilly, M.S. 1993.
WINDOW 4.0: Documentation of Calculation Procedures. Publication LBL-33493/TA-
309. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Energy and Environmental Division, Berkeley, CA.
URL: http://btech.lpl.gov/papers/33493.pdf. T(0, ) and R(0, ) are specied in the
Wall boundary conditions panel.
Inputs
The following inputs are required for the solar ray tracing algorithm:
sun direction vector
direct solar irradiation
diuse solar irradiation
spectral fraction
direct and IR absorptivity (opaque wall)
direct and IR absorptivity and transmissivity (semi-transparent wall)
diuse hemispherical absorptivity and transmissivity (semi-transparent wall)
quad tree renement factor
scattering fraction
ground reectivity
You can enter the sun direction vector components (X, Y, Z) and the direct and diuse
solar irradiation values as constants in the Radiation Model panel, or you can have these
parameters derived from the solar calculator. Irradiation can also be specied using a
user-dened function (Section 13.3.18: User-Dened Functions (UDFs) for Solar Load.)
The scattering fraction and quad tree renement factor defaults are used by the solar
ray tracing algorithm. Ground reectivity is the overall reectivity of the ground and is
used to calculate the component of diuse radiation that will result from radiation being
reected o the ground. You can modify the default values using text commands issued
at the console window (see Section 13.3.18: Text Interface-Only Commands).
The absorptivity and transmissivity parameters are entered in the Wall boundary condi-
tion panel for the particular wall zones you wish to participate in solar ray tracing.
DO Irradiation
The solar load models discrete ordinates (DO) irradiation option provides you with an
easy means of applying a solar load directly to the DO model. Unlike the ray tracing
solar load option, the DO irradiation method does not compute heat uxes and apply
them as heat sources to the energy equation. Instead, the irradiation ux is applied
directly to semi-transparent walls (that you specify) as a boundary condition, and the
radiative heat transfer is derived from the solution of the DO radiative transfer equation.
The following inputs are required for DO irradiation at semi-transparent walls:
total irradiation (direct and diuse)
beam direction
beam width
diuse fraction
In the Wall boundary condition panel for each semi-transparent wall you want to par-
ticipate in DO irradiation, you can specify that the beam direction and total irradiation
be derived from the solar parameters (e.g., solar calculator) that you set (or compute)
in the Radiation Model panel. This is done by checking the Use Beam Direction from
Solar Parameters and Use Total Irradiation from Solar Parameters boxes. When selected,
FLUENT sets the beam width (the angle subtended by the sun) to the default value of
0.53 degrees for DO irradiation.
i
Note that the sign of the beam direction that is needed for the DO model is
opposite the sun direction vector that is entered or derived from the solar
parameters. The beam direction in the DO model is the direction of exter-
nal radiation (e.g., radiation coming from the sun), while the sun direction
vector in the solar load model points to the sun. Incident radiation and
sun angle always have an opposite sign since they are quantities that are
dened from opposite perspectives.
Solar Calculator
FLUENT provides a solar calculator that can be used to compute solar beam direction
and irradiation for a given time, date, and position. These values can be used as inputs
to the solar ray tracing algorithm or as semi-transparent wall boundary conditions for
discrete ordinates (DO) irradiation.
Inputs/Outputs
Inputs needed for the solar calculator are:
global position (latitude, longitude, time zone)
starting date and time
grid orientation
solar irradiation method
sunshine factor
Global position consists of latitude, longitude, and time zone (relative to GMT). The
time of day for a transient simulation is the starting time plus the ow-time. For grid
orientation, you will need to specify the North and East direction vector in the CFD
grid. The default solar irradiation method is Fair Weather Conditions. Alternatively,
you can choose the Theoretical Maximum method. The sunshine factor is simply a
linear reduction factor for the computed incident load that allows for cloud cover to be
accounted for, if appropriate.
You can specify these inputs in the Solar Calculator panel that is accessible from the
Radiation Model panel (Figure 13.3.34). Alternatively, you can enter the parameters
using text interface commands (Section 13.3.18: Additional Text Interface Commands).
The following values are computed by the solar calculator and are displayed on the console
window whenever the solar calculator is invoked:
sun direction vector
direct normal solar irradiation at earths surface
diuse solar irradiation - vertical and horizontal surface
ground reected (diuse) solar irradiation - vertical surface
Direct normal solar irradiation is computed using the ASHRAE Fair Weather Condi-
tions method, when this option is selected in the solar calculator. (Note: Equation 20
and Table 7 from Chapter 30 of the 2001 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals.) The
theoretical maximum values for direct normal solar irradiation and diuse solar irradi-
ation are computed using NRELs Theoretical Maximum method, when this option is
selected. In practice, these values are unlikely to be experienced due to atmospheric
conditions.
FLUENT computes the diuse solar irradiation components (vertical and horizontal) in-
ternally for each face in the domain. When the Theoretical Maximum method is chosen,
these diuse irradiation values provide estimates for the maximum vertical and horizontal
surface eects.
Theory
FLUENT provides two options for computing the solar load: Fair Weather Conditions
method and Theoretical Maximum method. Although these methods are similar, there
is a key dierence. The Fair Weather Conditions method imposes greater attenuation
on the solar load which is representative of atmospheric conditions that are fair but not
completely clear.
The equation for normal direct irradiation applying the Fair Weather Conditions Method
is taken from the ASHRAE Handbook:
Edn =
A
e
B
sin()
(13.3-97)
where A and B are apparent solar irradiation at air mass m = 0 and atmospheric
extinction coecient, respectively. These values are based on the earths surface on a
clear day. is the solar altitude (in degrees) above the horizontal.
The equation for direct normal irradiation that is used for the Theoretical Maximum
Method is taken from NRELs Solar Position and Intensity Code (Solpos):
Edn = S
etrn
S
unprime
(13.3-98)
where S
etrn
is the top of the atmosphere direct normal solar irradiance and S
unprime
is
the correction factor used to account for reduction in solar load through the atmosphere.
The calculation for the diuse load in the solar model is based on the approach suggested
in the 2001 ASHRAE Fundamental Handbook (Chapter 20, Fenestration). The equation
for diuse solar irradiation on a vertical surface is given by:
Ed = CY Edn (13.3-99)
where C is a constant whose values are given in Table 7 from Chapter 30 of the 2001
ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, Y is the ratio of sky diuse radiation on a vertical
surface to that on a horizontal surface, and Edn is the direct normal irradiation at the
earths surface on a clear day.
The equation for diuse solar irradiation for surfaces other than vertical surfaces is given
by:
Ed = CEdn
(1 + cos )
2
(13.3-100)
where is the tilt angle of the surface (in degrees) from the horizontal plane.
The equation for ground reected solar irradiation on a surface is given by:
Er = Edn(C + sin )
g
(1 cos )
2
(13.3-101)
where
g
is the ground reectivity. The total diuse irradiation on a given surface will be
the sum of Ed and Er when the input for diuse solar radiation is taken from the solar
calculator. Otherwise, if the constant option is selected in the Radiation panel, then the
total diuse irradiation will be the same as specied in the panel.
Running Solar Load Using a Serial Solver
When you want to run a steady-state solution with solar load enabled on a serial solver,
you simply setup the solar load model (Section 13.3.18: Setting Up the Solar Load
Model) and boundary conditions (Section 13.3.18: Setting Boundary Conditions for Solar
Loading) for your case, and then run the simulation. The solution data le will contain
the solar uxes that you can use for postprocessing. For a steady-state solution, the solar
loads are computed on initialization. If you want to initially solve a case without solar
loading (say, for stability) and then add the eects of solar loading afterward, you will
need to enable the solar load model through the text user interface (TUI).
i
Note that you can compute the solar load at any time once you have
setup the model by using the sol-on-demand text interface command (see
Section 13.3.18: Additional Text Interface Commands for details).
When you want to run a transient solar load simulation on a serial solver, the process is
the same as for the steady-state case but you will need to specify the additional Time Steps
per Solar Load Update parameter in the Radiation Model panel. FLUENT will re-compute
the sun position and irradiation and update solar loads with this specied frequency.
Using Solar Load in the Parallel Solver
The solar ray tracing algorithm is not parallelized in FLUENT. As a result, you will
have to generate solar data for the case in serial mode, and then use that data in your
parallel simulation. Follow the separate procedures below for steady-state and transient
simulations, respectively.
Steady-State Simulation
The general process for a steady-state solar load simulation in parallel is outlined below:
1. Start a serial solver in FLUENT and read (or setup) your case le.
2. Setup the solar load model (Section 13.3.18: Setting Up the Solar Load Model).
3. Setup the boundary conditions (Section 13.3.18: Setting Boundary Conditions for
Solar Loading)
4. Initialize the solution in the Solution Initialization panel.
Solar load data is computed at solution initialization for steady-state cases. The
data will be written to the console window, as shown in the example below:
Internally Scattered Energy [W]: 2.29688e-05, Ambient Flux [W/m^2]:
0.000314448
Boundary ID: 11, Integral Energy Source [W]: 3.843255e-08
Total Integral Energy Source [W]: 1.148438e-04
Compute Time: 1 sec
5. Save the case and data les.
6. Start the parallel solver and read the case and data les.
7. Setup and run your parallel steady-state simulation.
Transient Simulation
The general process for a transient solar load simulation in parallel is outlined below.
1. Start a serial solver in FLUENT and read (or setup) your case le.
2. Setup the solar load model which includes specifying the Time Steps per Solar Load
Update in the Radiation Model panel (Section 13.3.18: Setting Up the Solar Load
Model).
3. Setup the boundary conditions (Section 13.3.18: Setting Boundary Conditions for
Solar Loading).
4. Enable the autosave le capability in the text interface that will write separate
solar data le(s) at specied time intervals to be used by the parallel solver. (See
autosave-solar-data in Section 13.3.18: Text Interface-Only Commands).
i
Make sure that the frequency you specify for autosaving solar load data is
the same as for updating. If you choose to make these frequencies dierent,
then the autosave time step should be a multiple of the solar load update
time step.
5. Disable all transport equations in the Solution Controls panel.
6. Save the case le.
7. Initialize the solution.
i
Solar load data is computed at solution initialization for steady-state cases
and written to the console window. See previous steady-state procedure.
8. Set the Max Iterations per Time Step to 1 in the Iterate panel.
9. Run the simulation. As the solver iterates, FLUENT will write separate data les
for the time step frequency that you specied in the autosave command, and will
report it to the console window. The data les will be saved in your working
directory and will be identied by the time step number that is appended to the
le name. For example, solar data002.dat will contain the solar data for the
second time step.
i
The autosave solar data les cannot be used for postprocessing.
10. Start the parallel solver.
11. Read the case le.
12. Enable the autoread le capability in the text interface that will direct the solver to
automatically read the autosaved solar data le(s) that were generated during the
serial session. (See autoread-solar-data in Section 13.3.18: Text Interface-Only
Commands).
i
Make sure that the frequency you specify for autoreading solar load data
is the same that you specied for autosaving and updating solar data. If
you choose to make these frequencies dierent, then the autosave time step
should be a multiple of the update time step, and the autoread time step
should be a multiple of autosave.
13. Make sure that the equations you want to solve for in your parallel simulation are
set in the Solution Controls panel.
14. Run the transient simulation.
i
Note that the solar ux data that will be available at the end of the solution
process is for the last time step that was read using the autoread frequency.
User-Dened Functions (UDFs) for Solar Load
You can write a user-dened function (UDF) to specify direct and diuse solar intensity
using the DEFINE SOLAR INTENSITY macro. See Section 2.3.16: DEFINE SOLAR INTENSITY
of the separate UDF Manual for details. Once interpreted or compiled, you can hook
your intensity UDF for direct or diuse solar irradiation by selecting user-defined in
the drop-down lists for these parameters in the Radiation Model panel. See Step 2 in
Section 13.3.18: Setting Up the Solar Load Model for details.
Setting Up the Solar Load Model
Graphical User Interface
The solar load model is enabled in the Radiation Model panel (Figure 13.3.31).
Dene Models Radiation...
Figure 13.3.31: The Radiation Model Panel (With Solar Load Model Solar
Ray Tracing Option)
The solar load model has two options: Solar Ray Tracing and DO Irradiation. Solar Ray
Tracing can be applied as a standalone solar loading model, or it can be used in con-
junction with one of the FLUENT radiation models (P1, Rosseland, Discrete Transfer,
Surface-to-Surface, Discrete Ordinates). DO Irradiation is available only when the Discrete
Ordinates (DO) radiation model is enabled.
1. Enable the solar load model in the Radiation Model panel.
(a) To enable the solar ray tracing algorithm, select Solar Ray Tracing under Solar
Load (Figure 13.3.32).
Figure 13.3.32: The Radiation Model Panel
(b) To enable the DO irradiation option, rst select Discrete Ordinates under
Model, and then select DO Irradiation under Solar Load (Figure 13.3.33).
Figure 13.3.33: The Radiation Model Panel (With Solar Load Model DO Ir-
radiation Option)
2. Dene the solar parameters.
(a) Enter read values for the X, Y, and Z components of the Sun Direction Vector.
Alternatively, you can choose to have this vector computed from the solar
calculator by enabling the Use Direction Computed from Solar Calculator option.
(b) Specify the illumination parameters.
i. Enter a value for Direct Solar Irradiation under Illumination Parameters.
This parameter is the amount of energy per unit area in W/m
2
due to
direct solar irradiation. This value may depend on the time of year and
the clearness of the sky. Make your selection in the drop-down list next
to Direct Solar Irradiation and either enter a constant value, have the value
computed from the solar calculator, or specify it using a user-dened func-
tion. (See Section 2.3.16: DEFINE SOLAR INTENSITY for details on writing
solar intensity UDFs.) For transient simulations, you have the additional
option of specifying a time-dependent piecewise-linear and polynomial pro-
le for direct solar irradiation.
ii. Enter a value for Diuse Solar Irradiation, which is the amount of energy
per unit area in W/m
2
due to diuse solar irradiation. This value may
depend on the time of year, the clearness of the sky, and also on ground
reectivity. Make your selection in the drop-down list next to Diuse So-
lar Irradiation and either enter a constant value, have the value computed
from the solar calculator, or specify it using a user-dened function. (See
Section 2.3.16: DEFINE SOLAR INTENSITY for details on writing solar in-
tensity UDFs.) For transient simulations, you have the additional option
of specifying a time-dependent piecewise-linear and polynomial prole for
diuse solar irradiation.
iii. If you are using the Solar Ray Tracing solar load model (Figure 13.3.32),
then you will need to enter a value for Spectral Fraction. The spectral
fraction is the fraction of incident solar radiation in the visible part of
the solar radiation spectrum. The spectral fraction is not used for DO
irradiation since the DO implementation is intended only for a single band.
Spectral Fraction =
V
V + IR
(13.3-102)
where V is the visible incident solar radiation, and V + IR is the total
incident solar radiation (visible plus infrared).
3. Use the solar calculator to compute solar beam direction and irradiation.
(a) Click Solar Calculator... in the Radiation Model panel to open the Solar Calcu-
lator panel (Figure 13.3.34).
Figure 13.3.34: The Solar Calculator Panel
(b) In the Solar Calculator panel, dene the Global Position by the following pa-
rameters:
i. Enter a real number in degrees for Longitude. Values may range from
180 to 180 where negative values indicate the Western hemisphere and
positive values indicate the Eastern hemisphere.
ii. Enter a real number for Latitude in degrees. Values can range from 90
(the South Pole) to 90
(the North Pole), with 0
dened as the equator.

iii. Enter an integer for Timezone that is the local time zone in hours relative
to Greenwich Mean Time (+-GMT). This value can range from +12 to
12.
i
Note that you must specify all three Global Position parameters for
the solar calculator.
(c) Dene the local Date and Time by the following parameters:
i. Enter an integer for Day and Month under Day of Year.
ii. Enter an integer for Hour that ranges from 0 to 24 under Time of Day.
Enter an integer or oating point number for Minute.
The time of day is based on a 24-hour clock: 0 hours and 0 minutes
corresponds to 12:00 a.m. and 23 hours 59.99 min corresponds to 11:59.99
p.m. For example, if the local time was 12:01:30 a.m., you would enter 0
for Hour and 1.5 for Minute. If the local time was 4:17 p.m., you would
enter 16 for Hour and 17 for Minute.
(d) Dene the Grid Orientation as the vectors for North and East in the CFD grid
system of coordinates.
(e) Select the appropriate Solar Irradiation Method. The Fair Weather Conditions
is the default method.
(f) Enter an integer for Sunshine Fraction (default = 1).
(g) Click Apply.
The solar calculator output parameters are computed and the results are re-
ported in the console window. The default values are shown below:
Fair Weather Conditions:
Sun Direction Vector: X: -0.0785396, Y: 0.170758, X: 0.982178
Sunshine Fraction: 1
Direct Normal Solar Irradiation (at Earths surface) [W/m^2]:
881.635
Diffuse Solar Irradiation - vertical surface: [W/m^2]:
152.107
Diffuse Solar Irradiation - horizontal surface: [W/m^2]:
118.727
Ground Reflected Solar Irradiation - vertical surface: [W/m^2]:
96.4649
4. For transient simulations, enter the Time Steps Per Solar Load Update under Update
Parameters. The number of time steps that you specify will direct the FLUENT
solver to update the solar load data for the specied ow-time intervals in the
unsteady solution process.
Setting Boundary Conditions for Solar Loading
Once you have dened the solar parameters for the solar load model (Section 13.3.18: Set-
ting Up the Solar Load Model), you will need to setup boundary conditions for boundary
zones that will participate in solar loading.
Solar Ray Tracing
1. Set the boundary condition for each inlet and exit boundary zone that you want
to include in solar loading.
(a) Open the inlet or exit boundary condition panel (e.g., Velocity Inlet) and click
the Radiation tab (Figure 13.3.35).
(b) Enable the Participates in Solar Ray Tracing option. (The default is enabled for
all boundary conditions.) If you deactivate solar ray tracing by disabling this
option the surface will be ignored and the solar ray will pass through it with
no interaction, regardless of the boundary condition type.
(c) Click OK.
Figure 13.3.35: The Velocity Inlet Panel
2. Set the boundary condition for each wall boundary zone that you want to include
in solar loading.
(a) Open a Wall boundary condition panel and click the Radiation tab.
(b) Dene the wall as opaque or semi-transparent. An opaque wall will not allow
any solar radiation to pass through it, while a semi-transparent surface will
allow a portion of the solar radiation to pass through it.)
i. For an opaque wall, select opaque from the drop-down list for BC Type
(Figure 13.3.36). Then enable the Participates in Solar Ray Tracing option
and enter constant values for Direct Visible and Direct IR absorptivity.
i
Absorption in the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum
dene the surface material for the opaque wall.
ii. For a semi-transparent wall, select semi-transparent from the drop-down
list for BC Type (Figure 13.3.37). Then, enable the Participates in Solar
Ray Tracing option and enter constant values for Direct Visible, Direct IR,
and Diuse Hemispherical absorptivity and transmissivity.
i
Absorption and transmittance in the visible and infrared portions
of the spectrum, as well as the shading formulation (Diffuse
Hemispherical), dene the surface material for a semi-transparent
wall.
iii. Click OK.
i
FLUENT will calculate the reectivity as the dierence between one and
the sum of absorptivity and transmissivity:
reflectivity = 1 (absorptivity + transmissivity) (13.3-103)
DO irradiation
1. For DO Irradiation, all boundary conditions are setup as normal for the DO model,
except that now you can select semi-transparent boundary surfaces which will pro-
vide a source of solar irradiation.
(a) Open a Wall boundary condition panel and click the Radiation tab (Fig-
ure 13.3.38).
(b) Select semi-transparent from the drop-down list for BC Type.
(c) Enable the Use Beam Direction from Solar Parameters option Solar BC Options
to have the values for beam direction applied from the Solar Parameters panel.
i
Note that the sign of the beam direction that is needed for the DO model is
opposite the sun direction vector that is entered or derived from the solar
parameters. The beam direction in the DO model is the direction of exter-
nal radiation (e.g., radiation coming from the sun), while the sun direction
vector in the solar load model points to the sun. Incident radiation and
sun angle always have an opposite sign since they are quantities that are
dened from opposite perspectives.
(d) Enable the Use Total Irradiation from Solar Parameters option to have the solar
calculator output be applied for total irradiation. Note that total irradiation is
the sum of the direct and diuse irradiation values. When Use Total Irradiation
from Solar Parameters is enabled, the beam width will automatically be set to
0.53 degrees - the angle subtended by the sun.
(e) Click OK.
Text Interface-Only Commands
FLUENT has provided some additional commands for solar load setup that are only
available in the text interface. These commands are present below.
Automatically Saving Solar Data
It is possible to direct FLUENT to automatically save solar load data to a generic le
that you can examine or use in an external program. This is done by executing the text
command autosave-solar-data from the text interface.
define models radiation solar-parameters autosave-solar-data
1. Enter the Solar Data File Frequency (default=0).
2. Enter the lename, in quotations.
3. Choose to write le in binary format.
The text interface command for autosave-solar-data for a le named solar and a
frequency of 1 is shown below:
/define/models/radiation/solar-parameters> autosave-solar-data
Autosave Solar Data File Frequency [0] 1
Enter Filename [""] "solar"
Automatically Reading Solar Data
When you are executing a transient simulation in parallel FLUENT and you want to take
solar loading conditions into consideration, you can use autoread-solar-data text com-
mand to automatically read the solar load data le you generated during a serial run into
parallel FLUENT. This is done by executing the text command autoread-solar-data
from the text interface.
define models radiation solar-parameters autoread-solar-data
1. Enter the Solar Data File Frequency (default=0).
2. Enter the lename, in quotations.
The text interface command for autosave-read-data for a le named solar and a
frequency of 1 is shown below:
/define/models/radiation/solar-parameters> autosave-solar-data
Autosave Solar Data File Frequency [0] 1
Enter Filename [""] "solar"
Use Binary Format for Reading Data Files [yes]
Aligning the Camera Direction With the Position of the Sun
When the solar load model is enabled, you can direct FLUENT to align the camera
direction with the sun position using the text interface command:
define models radiation solar-parameters sol-camera-pos
This command is useful when you are executing a transient simulation and you want
to capture an image of your model with solar load parameters displayed (such as solar
heat ux) as the sun position changes with time in order to create an animation. See
Section 13.3.18: Postprocessing Solar Load Quantities for details.
Specifying the Scattering Fraction
You can modify the default scattering fraction (1) using the text interface command:
define models radiation solar-parameters scattering-fraction
The scattering fraction is the amount of direct radiation that has been reected from
opaque surfaces (after entering through the transparent surfaces) that will be considered
to remain within the space and be evenly distributed among all surfaces. The value is
between 0 and 1.
The text interface command for specifying a scattering-fraction of 0.5 is shown below:
/define/models/radiation/solar-parameters> scattering-fraction
Scattering Fraction [1] .5
Applying the Solar Load on Adjacent Fluid Cells
You can direct FLUENT to apply the solar load that is computed from the solar ray
tracing algorithm to adjacent uid cells by issuing the following command at the text
interface:
define models radiation solar-parameters
sol-adjacent-fluidcells
The text interface command is shown below:
/define/models/radiation/solar-parameters> sol-adjacent-fluidcells
Apply Solar Load on adjacent Fluid Cells? [no] y
This command allows you to apply solar loads to adjacent uid cells only, even if solid
or shell conduction zones are present. By applying the solar load on adjacent uid cells,
you are overruling the default order of the adjacent cell assignment in FLUENT which is
shell, solid, uid.
Specifying Quad Tree Renement Factor
You can modify the default value (7) for the maximum quad tree renement factor in
the solar ray tracing algorithm using the text command:
define models radiation solar-parameters quad-tree-parameters
The text interface command is shown below, when a new maximum renement value of
10 is specied:
/define/models/radiation/solar-parameters> quad-tree-parameters
Maximum Quad-Tree Refinement [7] 10
Specifying Ground Reectivity
You can modify the default value (0.2) for the ground reectivity using the text command:
define models radiation solar-parameters ground-reflectivity
Ground reectivity includes the contribution of reected solar radiation from ground
surfaces. It is treated as part of the total diuse solar irradiation when the solar calculator
is used in conjunction with the Diffuse Solar Irradiation illumination parameter.
The default value is 0.2.
/define/models/radiation/solar-parameters> ground-reflectivity
Ground Reflectivity [0.2] 0.5
Additional Text Interface Commands
Some solar load commands that are available in the graphical user interface are also made
available in the text interface. For example, you can turn the solar load model on using
the text command:
define models radiation solar?
You can also enter the solar calculator parameters in the text interface by executing the
command:
define models radiation solar-calculator
Once invoked, you will be prompted to enter the solar calculator input parameters.
To set the illumination parameters, select this option from the solar-parameters menu:
define models radiation solar-parameters
illumination-parameters
And nally, you can direct FLUENT to compute the solar load on demand, by issuing
the text command:
define models radiation solar-parameters sol-on-demand
When the command is initiated, the solar data are written to the console window (see
Section 13.3.18: Using Solar Load in the Parallel Solver for a sample).
Postprocessing Solar Load Quantities
The following solar load quantities can be used to visualize the illuminated areas and
shadows created by solar radiation.
solar heat ux (i.e., sum of visible and IR absorbed solar ux on opaque walls)
absorbed visible and IR solar ux (semi-transparent walls only)
reected visible and IR solar ux (semi-transparent walls only)
transmitted visible and IR solar ux (semi-transparent walls only)
These quantities are available for postprocessing of solar loading at wall boundaries and
can be displayed as contours of Wall Fluxes in the Contours panel. For steady-state
simulations, the solar ux data is computed at solution initialization and is available for
postprocessing. You can also compute the solar load at any time during your FLUENT
session, once you have setup the model and applied boundary conditions. To compute the
solar load on demand, you can issue the sol-on-demand command in the text interface
(see Section 13.3.18: Additional Text Interface Commands for details).
Solar heat ux, for example, can be displayed for surfaces using the Contours panel. A
sample panel is shown below (Figure 13.3.39).
Display Contours...
Figure 13.3.39: The Contours Panel
Solar Load Animation at Different Sun Positions
The solar camera alignment command is useful when you want to take timed pictures of
solar loading eects of your model during transient simulations, and later create anima-
tions of the image les using an external program. Follow the procedure below.
1. Read (or set-up) your transient case le in FLUENT.
2. Set-up the automatic execution of solution commands in the Execute Commands
panel that will: 1) display solar load parameter graphics, 2) re-position the solar
camera such that the view is aligned with the instantaneous sun direction, and 3)
generate a hardcopy image le (.ti) during the solution process in the Execute
Commands panel.
Solve Execute Commands...
3. Initialize and iterate the solution.
4. Animate the .ti les using an external animation tool.
The following commands entered in the Execute Commands panel will direct FLUENT to
display contours of solar heat ux, align the camera with the current direction of the
sun, and then generate a hardcopy image le (.ti) of the solar heat ux contour every
300 time steps during the unsteady simulation. See Figure 13.3.40.
/di/cont solar-heat-flux ,,
/def/mod/rad/solar-para/sol-camera-pos
/di/hc "flux-%t.tiff"
Figure 13.3.40: The Execute Commands Panel
Reporting and Displaying Solar Load Quantities
FLUENT provides some additional solar load variables that you can use for postprocess-
ing when your model includes solar ray tracing. You can generate graphical plots or
alphanumeric reports of the following variables:
In the Wall Fluxes... category:
Solar Heat Flux
Transmitted Visible Solar Flux (semi-transparent walls)
Transmitted IR Solar Flux (semi-transparent walls)
Reected Visible Solar Flux (semi-transparent walls)
Reected IR Solar Flux (semi-transparent walls)
Absorbed Visible Solar Flux (semi-transparent walls)
Absorbed IR Solar Flux (semi-transparent walls)
See Chapter 30: Field Function Denitions for their denitions.
13.4 Modeling Periodic Heat Transfer
FLUENT is able to predict heat transfer in periodically repeating geometries, such as
compact heat exchangers, by including only a single periodic module for analysis.
This section discusses streamwise-periodic heat transfer. The treatment of streamwise-
periodic ows is discussed in Section 9.4: Periodic Flows, and a description of no-pressure-
drop periodic ow is provided in Section 7.15: Periodic Boundary Conditions.
Information about streamwise-periodic heat transfer is presented in the following sections:
Section 13.4.1: Overview and Limitations
Section 13.4.2: Theory
Section 13.4.3: Steps in Using Periodic Heat Transfer
Section 13.4.4: Solution Strategies for Periodic Heat Transfer
Section 13.4.5: Monitoring Convergence
Section 13.4.6: Postprocessing for Periodic Heat Transfer
13.4.1 Overview and Limitations
Overview
As discussed in Section 9.4.1: Overview and Limitations, streamwise-periodic ow con-
ditions exist when the ow pattern repeats over some length L, with a constant pressure
drop across each repeating module along the streamwise direction.
Periodic thermal conditions may be established when the thermal boundary conditions
are of the constant wall temperature or wall heat ux type. In such problems, the temper-
ature eld (when scaled in an appropriate manner) is periodically fully-developed [277].
As for periodic ows, such problems can be analyzed by restricting the numerical model
to a single module or periodic length.
Constraints for Periodic Heat Transfer Predictions
In addition to the constraints for streamwise-periodic ow discussed in Section 9.4.1: Lim-
itations for Modeling Streamwise-Periodic Flow, the following constraints must be met
when periodic heat transfer is to be considered:
The pressure-based solver must be used.
The thermal boundary conditions must be of the specied heat ux or constant
wall temperature type. Furthermore, in a given problem, these thermal boundary
types cannot be combined: all boundaries must be either constant temperature
or specied heat ux. (You can, however, include constant-temperature walls and
zero-heat-ux walls in the same problem.) For the constant-temperature case, all
walls must be at the same temperature (proles are not allowed) or zero heat ux.
For the heat ux case, proles and/or dierent values of heat ux may be specied
at dierent walls.
When constant-temperature wall boundaries are used, you cannot include viscous
heating eects or any volumetric heat sources.
In cases that involve solid regions, the regions cannot straddle the periodic plane.
The thermodynamic and transport properties of the uid (heat capacity, thermal
conductivity, viscosity, and density) cannot be functions of temperature. (You
cannot, therefore, model reacting ows.) Transport properties may, however, vary
spatially in a periodic manner, and this allows you to model periodic turbulent
ows in which the eective turbulent transport properties (eective conductivity,
eective viscosity) vary with the (periodic) turbulence eld.
Sections 13.4.2 and 13.4.3 provide more detailed descriptions of the input requirements
for periodic heat transfer.
13.4.2 Theory
Streamwise-periodic ow with heat transfer from constant-temperature walls is one of
two classes of periodic heat transfer that can be modeled by FLUENT. A periodic fully-
developed temperature eld can also be obtained when heat ux conditions are specied.
In such cases, the temperature change between periodic boundaries becomes constant
and can be related to the net heat addition from the boundaries as described in this
section.
i
Periodic heat transfer can be modeled only if you are using the pressure-
based solver.
Denition of the Periodic Temperature for Constant- Temperature Wall
Conditions
For the case of constant wall temperature, as the uid ows through the periodic domain,
its temperature approaches that of the wall boundaries. However, the temperature can
be scaled in such a way that it behaves in a periodic manner. A suitable scaling of the
temperature for periodic ows with constant-temperature walls is [277]
=
T(r) T
wall
T
bulk,inlet
T
wall
(13.4-1)
The bulk temperature, T
bulk,inlet
, is dened by
T
bulk,inlet
=
_
A
T|v d
A|
_
A
|v d
A|
(13.4-2)
where the integral is taken over the inlet periodic boundary (A). It is the scaled temper-
ature, , which obeys a periodic condition across the domain of length L.
Denition of the Periodic Temperature Change for Specied Heat Flux
Conditions
When periodic heat transfer with heat ux conditions is considered, the form of the
unscaled temperature eld becomes analogous to that of the pressure eld in a periodic
ow:
T(r +

L) T(r)
L
=
T(r + 2
L) T(r +

L)
L
= . (13.4-3)
where

L is the periodic length vector of the domain. This temperature gradient, , can
be written in terms of the total heat addition within the domain, Q, as
=
Q
mc
p
L
=
T
bulk,exit
T
bulk,inlet
L
(13.4-4)
where m is the specied or calculated mass ow rate.
13.4.3 Steps in Using Periodic Heat Transfer
A typical calculation involving both streamwise-periodic ow and periodic heat transfer
is performed in two parts. First, the periodic velocity eld is calculated (to conver-
gence) without consideration of the temperature eld. Next, the velocity eld is frozen
and the resulting temperature eld is calculated. These periodic ow calculations are
accomplished using the following procedure:
1. Set up a grid with translationally periodic boundary conditions.
2. Input constant thermodynamic and molecular transport properties.
3. Specify either the periodic pressure gradient or the net mass ow rate through the
periodic boundaries.
4. Compute the periodic ow eld, solving momentum, continuity, and (optionally)
turbulence equations.
5. Specify the thermal boundary conditions at walls as either heat ux or constant
temperature.
6. Dene an inlet bulk temperature.
7. Solve the energy equation (only) to predict the periodic temperature eld.
These steps are detailed below.
In order to model the periodic heat transfer, you will need to set up your periodic model
in the manner described in Section 9.4.3: User Inputs for the Pressure-Based Solver for
periodic ow models with the pressure-based solver, noting the restrictions discussed in
Sections 9.4.1 and 13.4.1. In addition, you will need to provide the following inputs
related to the heat transfer model:
1. Activate solution of the energy equation in the Energy panel.
2. Dene the thermal boundary conditions according to one of the following proce-
dures:
If you are modeling periodic heat transfer with specied-temperature bound-
ary conditions, set the wall temperature T
wall
for all wall boundaries in their
respective Wall panels. Note that all wall boundaries must be assigned the
same temperature and that the entire domain (except the periodic boundaries)
must be enclosed by this xed-temperature condition, or by symmetry or
adiabatic (q=0) boundaries.
If you are modeling periodic heat transfer with specied-heat-ux boundary
conditions, set the wall heat ux in the Wall panel for each wall boundary.
You can dene dierent values of heat ux on dierent wall boundaries, but
you should have no other types of thermal boundary conditions active in the
domain.
3. Dene solid regions, if appropriate, according to one of the following procedures:
If you are modeling periodic heat transfer with specied-temperature condi-
tions, conducting solid regions can be used within the domain, provided that
on the perimeter of the domain they are enclosed by the xed-temperature
condition. Heat generation within the solid regions is not allowed when you
are solving periodic heat transfer with xed-temperature conditions.
If you are modeling periodic heat transfer with specied-heat-ux conditions,
you can dene conducting solid regions at any location within the domain,
including volumetric heat addition within the solid, if desired.
4. Set constant material properties (density, heat capacity, viscosity, thermal conduc-
tivity), not temperature-dependent properties, using the Materials panel.
Dene Materials...
5. Specify the Upstream Bulk Temperature in the Periodic Conditions panel.
Dene Periodic Conditions...
i
If you are modeling periodic heat transfer with specied-temperature con-
ditions, the bulk temperature should not be equal to the wall temperature,
since this will give you the trivial solution of constant temperature every-
where.
6. Set the solution parameters as described in Section 13.4.4: Solution Strategies for
Periodic Heat Transfer
7. Iterate the solution and monitor the convergence as described in Section 13.4.5: Mon-
itoring Convergence.
8. Postprocess the results as described in Section 13.4.6: Postprocessing for Periodic
Heat Transfer.
13.4.4 Solution Strategies for Periodic Heat Transfer
After completing the inputs described in Section 13.4.3: Steps in Using Periodic Heat
Transfer, you can solve the ow and heat transfer problem to convergence. The most
ecient approach to the solution, however, is a sequential one in which the periodic ow
is rst solved without heat transfer and then the heat transfer is solved leaving the ow
eld unaltered. This sequential approach is accomplished as follows:
1. Disable solution of the energy equation under Equations in the Solution Controls
panel.
2. Solve the remaining equations (continuity, momentum, and, optionally, turbulence
parameters) to convergence to obtain the periodic ow eld.
i
When you initialize the ow eld before beginning the calculation, use the
mean value between the inlet bulk temperature and the wall temperature
for the initialization of the temperature eld.
3. Return to the Solution Controls panel and turn o solution of the ow equations
and turn on the energy solution.
4. Solve the energy equation to convergence to obtain the periodic temperature eld
of interest.
While you can solve your periodic ow and heat transfer problems by considering both
the ow and heat transfer simultaneously, you will nd that the procedure outlined above
is more ecient.
13.4.5 Monitoring Convergence
If you are modeling periodic heat transfer with specied-temperature conditions, you can
monitor the value of the bulk temperature ratio
=
T
wall
T
bulk,inlet
T
wall
T
bulk,exit
(13.4-5)
during the calculation using the Statistic Monitors panel to ensure that you reach a con-
verged solution. Select per/bulk-temp-ratio as the variable to be monitored. See Sec-
tion 25.18.2: Monitoring Statistics for details about using this feature.
13.4.6 Postprocessing for Periodic Heat Transfer
The actual temperature eld predicted by FLUENT in periodic models will not be peri-
odic, and viewing the temperature results during postprocessing will display this actual
temperature eld (T(r) of Equation 13.4-1). The displayed temperature may exhibit
values outside the range dened by the inlet bulk temperature and the wall temperature.
This is permissible since the actual temperature prole at the inlet periodic face will have
temperatures that are higher or lower than the inlet bulk temperature.
Static Temperature is found in the Temperature... category of the variable selection drop-
down list that appears in postprocessing panels.
Figure 13.4.1 shows the temperature eld in a periodic heat exchanger geometry.
Contours of Static Temperature (k)
4.00e+02
3.87e+02
3.74e+02
3.61e+02
3.48e+02
3.35e+02
3.22e+02
3.09e+02
2.96e+02
2.83e+02
2.70e+02
Figure 13.4.1: Temperature Field in a 2D Heat Exchanger Geometry With
Fixed Temperature Boundary Conditions

Modeling Heat Transfer

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Chapter 13.

Modeling Heat Transfer

, at the inlet and exit boundaries of your FLUENT

that varies in a stepwise fashion across spectral

(r, s) can be written as

is the spectral absorption coecient, and I

solid angles of extent

directions in all. In three-dimensional calculations,

directions are solved. In the case of the non-gray model, 4N

equations are solved for each band.

and the forward-scattering factor f.

. Similarly, the outgoing intensity

Beam Direction (X, Y, Z)

Beam Direction (X, Y, Z)

. To modify the value of this parameter, you can

) and Phi Divisions (N

) will dene the number of control angles used

directions s will be solved. For a 3D model, 8 octants are solved, resulting in 8N

N directions. For a 3D model,

6 which is suitable for collimated beam radiation. A

all radiating surfaces

all radiating surface clusters

(the South Pole) to 90

(the North Pole), with 0

dened as the equator.

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