1

METU Mechanical Engineering Department

ME 485 Computational Fluid Dynamics using Finite Volume Method
Spring 2014 (Dr. Sert)
Demonstration of How SIMPLE Algorithm Works on 1D Co-located Meshes
Problem Definition
Simplify the incompressible flow in the following converging nozzle to be 1D and inviscid. Obtain the finite volume
solution using 5 cells of equal length. Density of the fluid is 1 kg/m
3
. As boundary conditions inlet velocity is given
1 m/s and exit pressure is specified as 0 Pa.










Cross sectional area of the nozzle decreases linearly
() = 0.5 0.2
Exit pressure is set to zero for simplicity. Actually the value of this reference pressure is not important for an
incompressible flow, because in INS only the pressure gradient (/) is important, not the actual pressure
values. If the actual exit pressure is

, pressure values that we will obtain by setting exit pressure to zero will
be gage pressures. To obtain absolute values we can add

to all the pressure values.

Analytical Solution
Analytical solution of the problem is governed by the Bernoulli equation.
+

2
2
= constant
Mass flow rate inside the nozzle is constant and its value is known due to the given inlet speed
=

= 0.5kg s
Using this value we can calculate the speed at any point inside the nozzle. Exit speed is

= 5 m s

= 0.5 m
2

= 1 m/s

= 0.1 m
2

= 0 Pa
= 2 m
= 1 kg/m
3

2

Using the known speed and pressure at the exit the constant of the Bernoulli equation can be calculated as

2
2
= 0 +
(1)(5)
2
2
= 12.5 Pa
With the = 0.5 equation and the above equation speed and pressure at any point inside the nozzle can be
determined.
Nodes and faces of the 5 cell mesh are shown below






Analytical solution at the faces and nodes is as follows
Face Node [m]
[m
2
]

[m/s]

[Pa]

1
0.0 0.50 1.0000 12.0000
1 0.2 0.46 1.0870 11.9093

2
0.4 0.42 1.1905 11.7914
2 0.6 0.38 1.3158 11.6343

3
0.8 0.34 1.4706 11.4187
3 1.0 0.30 1.6667 11.1111

4
1.2 0.26 1.9231 10.6509
4 1.4 0.22 2.2727 9.9174

5
1.6 0.18 2.7778 8.6420
5 1.8 0.14 3.5714 6.1224

6
2.0 0.10 5.0000 0.0000


Discretization of the x-Momentum Equation
Consider the following cell P with W and E neighbors



For cell P, the discretized x-momentum equation without the viscous and source terms is

(1)
where

= ()

= ()

are known, calculated using initial guesses or previous iteration values.

and

of Eqn (1) can be expressed in terms of speeds at nodes using various schemes. Here upwind scheme is used
as follows

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5

= 0.4 m

W P E
3

= {

if

if

> 0

< 0

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0)

= {

if

if

> 0

< 0

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0)

Pressure derivative of Eqn (1) is discretized as

2

Volume of cell P is

where

is the cross sectional area at node P.

Substituting these details into Eqn (1) we get

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0)

] =

2
(2)
which can be arranged as

2
(3)
where

max (

, 0)

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0) +

max(

, 0)

= 0
Eqn (3) can also be written as

2
(4)
where

=
1

) and

(5)

Although the source term is zero, it is kept in the equations because for boundary cells there may be nonzero
contributions to it.



4

Modification of the x-Momentum Equation for Boundary Cells
Cell 1:




At the west face inlet velocity is known, i.e. in the x-momentum equation flux at the west face is known

= known
This can be taken to the right hand side of the equation to act as a source term.
For the pressure derivative one-sided difference can be used instead of central differencing

With these, Eqn (3) for cell 1 becomes (modified terms are shown in red)

)
where

= 0

max(

, 0)

max(

, 0)

Therefore at an inlet boundary where velocity is given, following changes occur in the x-momentum equation
Coefficient of the ghost neighbor is set to zero.

coefficient changes because there is no contribution from the ghost neighbor.

Momentum flux created by the known inlet velocity acts as a source term.
Pressure discretization becomes one-sided (not central).

Cell 5:




Considering that the right end of the domain is an exit boundary we can use

Pressure gradient term can be discretized to make use of the given

value.

=
2

2


1 2

P E

4 5

W P
5

With these, Eqn (3) for cell 1 becomes (modified terms are shown in red)

2

where

max(

, 0)

= 0

max(

, 0) +

max(

, 0)
Therefore at an exit boundary where pressure is given, following changes occur in the x-momentum equation
Coefficient of the ghost neighbor is set to zero.
Pressure discretization uses the known exit pressure.

Face Velocity Calculation using Rhie-Chow (Momentum) Interpolation and Relaxation
In total, there are 6 faces in the mesh. Consider the following face with neighboring cells L (left) and R (right).




Using Rhie-Chow interpolation and velocity under-relaxation, velocity at face is calculated as

)] +(1

(6)
where

2
,

is the velocity under-relaxation factor and

is the face velocity of the previous iteration.

Eqn (6) and the above expressions for

and

need to be modified at the boundary faces.

Modification at face 1:




Face 1 at the left boundary has a specified inlet velocity, so we do not use Eqn (6) at face 1, i.e. we do not need

1
or

.



L R

1
=

6

Modification at face 6:




There is no cell on the right of face 6. Instead of central interpolation, one-sided interpolation can be used to
calculate

6
and

. With the assumption of constant cell size

6
=
5
+

4
2
,

=
5

2

Also (

) term of Eqn (6) can be expressed in terms of the known exit pressure as
(

5
)
1/2

which comes from

5
/2


Pressure Correction (PC) Equation
PC equation is

Relating velocity corrections to pressure corrections as follows

) and

)
PC equation becomes

(7)

Eqn (7) is modified as follows for boundary cells.

Modification for cell 1:



At west face inlet velocity is specified and

= 0. Due to this following changes happen

= 0 ,

4 5

1 2

P E
7

Modification for cell 5:

expression need to be modified because there is no

. Instead of using (

) we can use half cell as

)
1/2

where

= 0 because exit pressure is fixed. Due to this coefficients of the PC change as follows

= 0 ,

= 2

Face Velocity Corrections




For the above face , velocity correction is done as follows

) (8)
where

is the velocity calculated previously using Rhie-Chow interpolation. For the boundary faces Eqn (8) is
used as follows
Modification for face 1: Inlet velocity is given and no correction is done.
Modification for face 6: Similar to the previous step we use

6
=

)
1/2
where

= 0


Correct Cell Center Velocities

)
2
(9)

Eqn (9) will be modified for the boundary cells.

4 5

W P

L R

W P E
8

Modification for cell 1: West cell does not exist. Pressure correction difference can be done in a one-sided way.

1
=
1

(
2

)
1


Modification for cell 5: East cell does not exist. Pressure correction difference can be done in a one-sided way
using the fact that exit pressure is fixed.

5
=
5

)
1/2
where

= 0


Correct Pressures

(10)
where

is the pressure of the previous iteration (or the initial guess) and

is the pressure relaxation factor.

SIMPLE Iterations
STEP 1:
As initial guess we can use the inlet velocity and exit pressure at all nodes and faces.

1
=
2
=
3
=
4
=
5
= 1.0

1
=

2
=

3
=

4
=

5
=

6
= 1.0

1
=
2
=
3
=
4
=
5
= 0.0



ITERATION 1:
STEP 2: Setup x-momentum equation set to solve for

.
Cell 1:
Knowns:

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= 0.5 ,

= 0.42 ,

= 0.0

= 0.0 ,

= 0.42 ,

= 0.0 ,

= 0.5

1
=
0.5 0.0
0.42
= 1.1905 ,
1

=
0.46
0.42
= 1.0952
Cell 1 eqn is : 0.42
1

= 0.5 0.46(0.0 0.0)

9

Cell 2:
Knowns:

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= 0.42 ,

= 0.34 ,

= 0.0

= 0.42 ,

= 0.34 ,

= 0.0 ,

= 0.0

2
=
0.0 ((0.42)(1.0))
0.34
= 1.1905 ,
2

=
0.38
0.34
= 1.0952
Cell 2 eqn is : 0.42
1

+0.34
2

= 0.38(0.0 0.0)/2

Cell 3:
Knowns:

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= 0.34 ,

= 0.26 ,

= 0.0

= 0.34 ,

= 0.26 ,

= 0.0 ,

= 0.0

3
=
0.0 ((0.34)(1.0))
0.26
= 1.3077 ,
3

=
0.30
0.26
= 1.1538
Cell 3 eqn is : 0.34
2

+0.26
3

= 0.30(0.0 0.0)/2

Cell 4:
Knowns:

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= 0.26 ,

= 0.18 ,

= 0.0

= 0.26 ,

= 0.18 ,

= 0.0 ,

= 0.0

4
=
0.0 ((0.26)(1.0))
0.18
= 1.4444 ,
4

=
0.22
0.18
= 1.2222
Cell 4 eqn is : 0.26
3

+0.18
4

= 0.22(0.0 0.0)/2

Cell 5:
Knowns:

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= ()

= 1.0 ,

= 0.18 ,

= 0.1 ,

= 0.0

= 0.18 ,

= 0.1 ,

= 0.0 ,

= 0.0

5
=
0.0 ((0.18)(1.0))
0.1
= 1.8000 ,
5

=
0.14
0.1
= 1.4000
Cell 5 eqn is : 0.18
4

+0.1
5

= 0.14(2(0.0) 0.0 0.0)/2

Discretized x-momentum equation system and the solution for

is
[

0.42 0 0 0 0
0.42 0.34 0 0 0
0 0.34 0.26 0 0
0 0 0.26 0.18 0
0 0 0 0.18 0.1
]

=
{

0.5
0
0
0
0 }

=
{

1.1905
1.4706
1.9231
2.7778
0.5000}

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STEP 3: Calculate face velocities using Rhie-Chow interpolation and

= 0.6. These velocities will be used as

star velocities in Step 5.
Face 1:

1
= 1.0
Face 2:

2
=

1
+
2
2
= 1.2129 ,

+
2

2
= 1.1064

2
= (0.6)[1.2129 1.1064(0.0 0.0)] +(1 0.6)(1.0) = 1.1277
Face 3:

3
=

2
+
3
2
= 1.2715 ,

+
3

2
= 1.1357

3
= (0.6)[1.2715 1.1357(0.0 0.0)] +(1 0.6)(1.0) = 1.1629
Face 4:

4
=

3
+
4
2
= 1.3761 ,

+
4

2
= 1.1880

4
= (0.6)[1.3761 1.1880(0.0 0.0)] +(1 0.6)(1.0) = 1.2256
Face 5:

5
=

4
+
5
2
= 1.6222 ,

+
5

2
= 1.3111

5
= (0.6)[1.6222 1.3111(0.0 0.0)] +(1 0.6)(1.0) = 1.3733
Face 6:

6
=
5
+

4
2
= 1.9778 ,

=
5

2
= 1.4889

5
= (0.6)[1.9778 1.4889(0.0 0.0)] +(1 0.6)(1.0) = 1.5867


STEP 4: Calculate the coefficients of the pressure correction equation system solve for

values.
Cell 1:

= 0.0

= (1)(1.1064)(0.42) = 0.4647

= 0.4647
RHS value:

= (0.42)(1.1277) +(0.5)(1.0) = 0.0264

Cell 2:

= (1)(1.1064)(0.42) = 0.4647

= (1)(1.1357)(0.34) = 0.3862

= 0.8509
RHS value:

= (0.34)(1.1629) +(0.42)(1.1277) = 0.0783

Cell 3:

= (1)(1.1357)(0.34) = 0.3862

= (1)(1.1880)(0.26) = 0.3089

= 0.6950
RHS value:

= (0.26)(1.2256) +(0.34)(1.1629) = 0.0767

Cell 4:

= (1)(1.1880)(0.26) = 0.3089

= (1)(1.3111)(0.18) = 0.2360

= 0.5449
RHS value:

= (0.18)(1.3733) +(0.26)(1.2256) = 0.0715

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Cell 5:

= (1)(1.3111)(0.18) = 0.2360

= 0.0

+2

= 0.5338
RHS value:

= (0.1)(1.5867) +(0.18)(1.3733) = 0.0885

Discretized PC equation system and the solution for

is

[

0.4647 0.4647 0 0 0
0.0467 0.8509 0.3862 0 0
0 0.3862 0.6950 0.3089 0
0 0 0.3089 0.5449 0.2360
0 0 0 0.2360 0.5338
]

=
{

0.0264
0.0783
0.0767
0.0715
0.0885}

=
{

3.1321
3.0754
2.8045
2.2175
1.1463}

STEP 5: Correct face velocities using Eqn (8).
Face 1:

1
= 1.0 (No correction for the inlet velocity)
Face 2:

2
=

(
2

) = 1.1277 1.1064(3.0754 3.1321) = 1.1905

Face 3:

3
=

(
3

) = 1.1629 1.1357(2.8045 3.0754) = 1.4706

Face 4:

4
=

(
4

) = 1.2256 1.1880(2.2175 2.8045) = 1.9231

Face 5:

5
=

(
5

) = 1.3733 1.3111(1.1463 2.2175) = 2.7778

Face 6:

6
=

)
0.5
= 1.5867 1.4889
(0.01.1463)
0.5
= 5.0000



Important note: As seen, corrected face velocities satisfy the continuity equation exactly, i.e. mass is
conserved exactly in each cell with the corrected face velocities. For example consider cell 3.
Mass balance for cell 3:

= (1)(0.26)(1.9231) (1)(0.34)(1.4706) = 0.0000

This is true for all cells. For this 1D problem with specified inlet velocity, these corrected face velocities are
the same as the analytical values. For a 2D or 3D problem mass balance in each cell will again be exact, but
the face velocities cannot be equal to the analytical values, which are probably not known anyway. This
exact mass balance at each iteration is an important power of the SIMPLE algorithm. Although in this
problem face velocities are exact, cell center velocities and pressures will require a number of iterations to
converge and the converged values will not be equal to the analytical values. Accuracy will depend on the
used mesh and the selected convergence tolerance.



5 plus/minus typos. Results are correct.
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STEP 6: Correct cell center velocities using Eqn (9).
Cell 1:
1
=
1

+
1

(
2

) (1) = 1.1905 +1.0952(3.0754 3.1321) = 1.2526

Cell 2:
2
=
2

+
2

(
3

) (2) = 1.4706 +1.1176(2.8045 3.0754) = 1.6537

Cell 3:
3
=
3

+
3

(
4

) (2) = 1.9231 +1.1538(2.2175 2.8045) = 2.4181

Cell 4:
4
=
4

+
4

(
5

) (2) = 2.7778 +1.2222(1.1463 2.2175) = 3.7911

Cell 5:
5
=
5

+
5

) (1) = 5.0000 +1.2222(1.1463 2.2175) = 8.2096

STEP 7: Correct pressures using Eqn (10). Use a pressure relaxation value of

= 0.4.
Cell 1:
1
=
1

= 0.0 +0.6 3.1321 = 1.2529

Cell 2:
2
=
2

= 0.0 +0.6 3.0754 = 1.2302

Cell 3:
3
=
3

= 0.0 +0.6 2.8045 = 1.1218

Cell 4:
4
=
4

= 0.0 +0.6 2.2175 = 0.8870

Cell 5:
5
=
5

= 0.0 +0.6 1.1463 = 0.4585

STEP 8: Check for convergence. There are many possibilities here. One simple way is to compare velocity and
pressure differences of two consecutive iterations. Convergence is declared if the maximum of such
differences is less than a certain user specified tolerance value. It is preferred to use not just differences but
normalize them in a logical way, e.g. normalize the velocity differences with respect to the given inlet velocity.
It is always a good idea to select couple of critical monitoring points in the flow field and watch how variables
change at those points before declaring convergence.
If the convergence check fails go to Step 2 and perform one more iteration. Face and cell center velocities and
cell center pressures calculated in this iteration will be used in the next iteration.
The solution may also divergence, depending on how far the initial guess is from the exact solution, mesh
density and relaxation factors.

ITERATION 2:
You can use the MATLAB code NS_1D_Colocated.m available at the course web site to perform a full solution.
You can try different meshes, initial guesses, boundary condition implementations, relaxation factors, etc.
Results of the second iteration are given below for you to check the correctness of your hand calculations.

STEP 2:

= 0.9200
1
= 1.0000
1

= 1.0209

= 0.7600
2
= 1.2526
2

= 1.0707

= 0.6000
3
= 1.6537
3

= 1.1736

= 0.4400
4
= 2.4181
4

= 1.3195

= 0.2800
5
= 3.7911
5

= 1.5079

13

STEP 3:

= 1.0000

1
= 0.8737

= 1.0000

= 0.8400

2
= 1.1263

= 1.1634

= 0.6800

3
= 1.5043

= 1.5043

= 0.5200

4
= 2.0640

= 2.0640

= 0.3600

5
= 3.0664

= 3.0664

= 0.2000

6
= 4.7967

= 4.7957

STEP 4: STEP 5: STEP 6: STEP 7:

= 0.5818

1
= 1.0000
1
= 1.0505
1
= 1.0201

= 0.6141

2
= 1.1905
2
= 1.0641
2
= 0.9845

= 0.5645

3
= 1.4706
3
= 1.0774
3
= 0.8960

= 0.2934

4
= 1.9231
4
= 1.0835
4
= 0.7996

= 0.5084

5
= 2.7778
5
= 1.7926
5
= 0.6619

6
= 5.0000


Converged Solution with 5 cells





14

Converged Solution with 100 cells