Essential Computational Fluid Dynamics

This book serves as a complete and self-contained introduction to the principles of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis. It is deliberately short (at approximately 300 pages) and can be used as a text for the first part of the course of applied CFD followed by a software tutorial. The main objectives of this non-traditional format are: 1) To introduce and explain, using simple examples where possible, the principles and methods of CFD analysis and to demystify the `black box’ of a CFD software tool, and 2) To provide a basic understanding of how CFD problems are set and which factors affect the success and failure of the analysis. Included in the text are the mathematical and physical foundations of CFD, formulation of CFD problems, basic principles of numerical approximation (grids, consistency, convergence, stability, and order of approximation, etc), methods of discretization with focus on finite difference and finite volume techniques, methods of solution of transient and steady state problems, commonly used numerical methods for heat transfer and fluid flows, plus a brief introduction into turbulence modeling.