An Introduction to the applications of

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

A practical guide backed up by brief

theoretical considerations
Case Study 5
5.2 - Case Study – 5; Modeling Radiation
and Natural Convection
• This Case Study demonstrates how to do the following:
– Use the radiation models in ANSYS Fluent (Rosseland, P-1,
DTRM, discrete ordinates (DO), and surface-to-surface (S2S))
and understand their ranges of application.
– Use the Boussinesq model for density.
– Set the boundary conditions for a heat transfer problem involving
natural convection and radiation.
– Separate a single wall zone into multiple wall zones.
– Change the properties of an existing fluid material.
– Calculate a solution using the pressure-based solver.
– Display velocity vectors and contours of stream function and
temperature for flow visualization.

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5.2.1 - Problem Description - 1
• The geometry to be considered in this Case Study is
shown on the next slide. A square box of side L has a hot
right wall at T = 2000 K, a cold left wall at T = 1000 K, and
adiabatic top and bottom walls. Gravity acts downwards.
A buoyant flow develops because of thermally-induced
density gradients. The medium contained in the box is
assumed to be absorbing and emitting, so that the
radiant exchange between the walls is attenuated by
absorption and augmented by emission in the medium.
All walls are black. The objective is to compute the flow
and temperature patterns in the box, as well as the wall
heat flux, using the radiation models available in ANSYS
Fluent, and to compare their performance for different
values of the optical thickness αL.
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 5.2.1 - Problem Description - 2
ρ = 1000 kg/m3
Cp= 1.1030x104 J/kgK
Adiabatic Wall
k = 15.309 W/mK
μ = 10-3 kg/ms
β = 10-5 1/K
g = - 6.96 x 10-5 m/s2
α = 0, 0.2, 5 1/m
Tc = 1000 K L=1m
Ra = 5 x 105
g Th = 2000 K Pl = 0.02
Pr = 0.71
y

Adiabatic Wall

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5.2.1 - Problem Description - 3
• The working fluid has a Prandtl number of approximately Pr = 0.71,
and the Rayleigh number based on L, of Ra = 5 *105.
• This means the flow is inherently laminar. The Boussinesq
assumption is used to model buoyancy. The Planck number
measures the relative importance of conduction to radiation
Pl = k/(4σLT03) = 0.02, where T0 = (Th + Tc)/2.
• Three values for the optical thickness are considered:
αL = 0, αL = 0.2, and αL = 5
• Note that the values of physical properties and operating conditions
(e.g., gravitational acceleration) have been adjusted to yield the
desired Prandtl, Rayleigh, and Planck numbers.

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5.2.2 - CFD Model Setup – Grid - 1
• Start the 2D version of ANSYS Fluent.
• Read the grid file rad.msh (File > Read > Case).
• Check the grid (Mesh > Check). ANSYS Fluent
will perform various checks on the mesh and will
report the progress in the console. Make sure
that the reported minimum volume is a positive
number.
• The grid was created in meters and therefore
there is no need to scale the grid.

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5.2.2 - CFD Model Setup – Grid - 2
• The mesh is displayed by default, but in general
in order to display the mesh (Display > Mesh...).
– Retain the default selection of all the items in the
“Surfaces” selection list.
– Click “Display” to display the quadrilateral grid.
– All of the walls are currently contained in a single wall
zone, “wall-4”. You will need to separate them out into
four different walls in the next step so that you can
specify different boundary conditions for each wall.

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5.2.2 - CFD Model Setup – Grid - 3

• Graphics Display of Grid

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5.2.2 - CFD Model Setup – Grid - 4
• Separate the single wall zone into four wall zones (Mesh
> Separate > Faces...). Faces with normal vectors that
differ by more than 89° are placed in separate zones.
Since the four wall zones are perpendicular (angle =
90o), wall-4 will be separated into four zones when you
set the angle to 89° in this step.
– Retain the default “Angle” separation method in the “Options” list.
– Select “wall-4” from the “Zones” selection list.
– Enter “89°” for the “Angle”.
– Click “Separate” to split the single wall into four zones. There are
now four wall zones for “wall-4” listed under Zones in the
“Separate Face Zones” panel. The new zone information is also
reported in the console.
– Close the “Separate Face Zones” panel.
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5.2.3 - CFD Model Setup – Model - 1
• As discussed earlier, in this Case Study you will
define each radiation model in turn, obtain a
solution, and then postprocess the results. You
will start with the Rosseland model, then use the
P-1 model, the discrete transfer radiation model
(DTRM), and the discrete ordinates (DO) model.
At the end of the Case Study, you will use the
surface-to-surface (S2S) model.
• Retain all the default solver settings (Define >
General...).

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5.2.3 - CFD Model Setup – Model - 2
• Define the Rosseland radiation model (Define >
Models…).
– Select “Radiation – Off” under Models group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Select “Rosseland” in the “Model” list.
• Click “OK” to close the “Radiation Model” panel. ANSYS Fluent will
present an “Information” dialog box telling you that new material
properties have been added for the radiation model. You will be
setting properties later so you can simply click “OK” in the dialog box
to acknowledge this information. ANSYS Fluent will automatically
enable the energy calculation when you select a radiation model, so
you need not visit the “Energy” panel.

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5.2.4 - CFD Model Setup – Operating
Conditions
• Add the effect of gravity to the model (Define > Operating
Conditions...).
– Enable the “Gravity” option in the “Gravity” group box. The panel
will expand to show additional inputs.
– Enter “-6.94e-5” m/s2 for “Y” in the “Gravitational Acceleration”
group box. As previously mentioned, the gravitational
acceleration is adjusted to yield the correct dimensionless
quantities for Prandtl, Rayleigh, and Planck numbers. (See the
problem description slides for this Case Study and the
associated comments.)
– Enter “1000” K for “Operating Temperature” in the “Boussinesq
Parameters” group box. The operating temperature will be used
by the Boussinesq model which you will enable in the next step.
– Click “OK” to close the “Operating Conditions” panel and set the
parameters.
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5.2.5 - CFD Model Setup – Material - 1
• The default fluid material is air which is the working fluid
in this problem. However, since you are working with a
fictitious fluid whose properties have been adjusted to
give the desired values of the dimensionless parameters,
you must change the default properties for air. You will
use an optical thickness αL of 0.2 for this calculation.
(Since L = 1, the absorption coefficient α will be set to
0.2). Later in this Case Study, results for an optically
thick medium with αL = 5 and non-participating medium
with αL = 0 are computed to show how the different
radiation models behave for different optical thicknesses.

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5.2.5 - CFD Model Setup – Material - 2
• Define the material properties (Define >
Materials...).
– Select “air”, under “Materials” group box.
– Click “Create/Edit…”.
• Select “boussinesq” from the drop-down list for “Density” and
then enter “1000” to set the density to 1000 kg/m3. For details
about the Boussinesq model, see Module 2.
• Enter “1.103e4” J/kg-K for “Cp” to set the specific heat.
• Enter “15.309” W/m-K for “Thermal Conductivity”.
• Enter “0.001” kg/m-s for “Viscosity”.

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5.2.5 - CFD Model Setup – Material - 3
– Use the scroll bar to access the properties that are not
initially visible in the panel. Enter “0.2” m-1 for
“Absorption Coefficient”.
– Retain the default values for “Scattering Coefficient”,
“Scattering Phase Function”, and “Refractive Index”
since there is no scattering in this problem.
– Enter “1e-5” K-1 for “Thermal Expansion Coefficient”
(used by the Boussinesq model).
– Click “Change/Create” and then close the “Create/Edit
Materials” panel.

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5.2.6 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions - Rosseland Model - 1
• Set the boundary conditions for the left wall
(“wall-4”) (Define > Boundary Conditions...).
– Select “wall-4” under “Zone” group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Enter “left-wall” for “Zone Name”.
• Click the “Thermal tab”.
• Select “Temperature” from the “Thermal Conditions” list.
• Enter “1000” K for “Temperature”.
• Click “OK” to set the conditions and close the “Wall” panel.

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5.2.6 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions - Rosseland Model - 2
• Set the boundary conditions for the top wall
(“wall-4:005”).
– Select “wall-4:005” under “Zone” group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Enter “top-wall” for “Zone Name”.
• Click the “Thermal tab” and retain the default thermal
conditions (“Heat Flux” of “0”) to specify an adiabatic wall.
• Click “OK” to set the conditions and close the “Wall” panel.

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5.2.6 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions - Rosseland Model - 3
• Set the boundary conditions for the bottom wall (“wall-
4:006”).
– Select “wall-4:006” under “Zone” group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Enter “bottom-wall” for “Zone Name”.
• Click the “Thermal tab” and retain the default thermal conditions
(“Heat Flux” of “0”) to specify an adiabatic wall.
• Click “OK” to set the conditions and close the “Wall” panel.
• Please note that the Rosseland model does not require
you to set a wall emissivity. Later in this Case Study you
will need to define the wall emissivity for the other
radiation models.

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5.2.6 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions - Rosseland Model - 4
• Set the boundary conditions for the right wall
(“wall-4:007”).
– Select “wall-4:007” under “Zone” group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Enter “right-wall” for “Zone Name”.
• Click the “Thermal tab”.
• Select “Temperature” from the “Thermal Conditions” list.
• Enter “2000” K for “Temperature”.
• Click “OK” to set the conditions and close the “Wall” panel.

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5.2.7 - CFD Model Setup – Solution -
Rosseland Model - 1
• Set the spatial discretization options (Solve >
Methods...).
– Select “Green-Gauss Cell Based” option from the
“Gradient” drop-down list in the “Spatial Discretization”
group box.
– Select “PRESTO!” from the “Pressure” drop-down list
in the “Spatial Discretization” group box.
– Select “Second Order Upwind” from the “Momentum”
and “Energy” drop-down lists.

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5.2.7 - CFD Model Setup – Solution -
Rosseland Model - 2
• Initialize the flow field (Solve > Initialization...).
– Select “Standard Initialization”.
– Enter “1500” K for “Temperature” to set the initial
temperature.
– Click “Initialize”.

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5.2.7 - CFD Model Setup – Solution -
Rosseland Model - 3
• Enable the plotting of residuals during the calculation
(Solve > Monitors...).
– Select “Residuals - Print, Plot” option under “Residuals, Statistics
and Force Monitors” group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Enable “Plot” in the “Options” group box.
• Click “OK” to set the conditions and close the “Residual Monitors”
panel. Please note that there is no extra residual for the radiation
heat transfer because the Rosseland model does not solve extra
transport equations for radiation; instead, it augments the thermal
conductivity in the energy equation. When you use the P-1 and DO
radiation models, which both solve additional transport equations,
you will see additional residuals for radiation.

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5.2.7 - CFD Model Setup – Solution -
Rosseland Model - 4
• Save the case file (rad_ross.cas) (File > Write >
Case...).
• Start the calculation by requesting 200 iterations
(Solve > Run Calculation...).
– Enter “200” for “Number of Iterations”.
– Click “Calculate”. The results of the solution will be
reported in the console. The solution will converge in
approximately 180 iterations.
• Save the data file (rad_ross.dat) (File > Write >
Data...).

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 1
• Display velocity vectors (Display > Graphics and
Animations...).
– Select “Vectors” option under “Graphics” group box.
– Click “Set Up…”.
• Retain the default settings.
• Click “Display” to view the vectors in the graphics display
window (see the next slide).
• Close the “Vectors” panel.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 2

• Velocity Vectors for the Rosseland Model

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 3
• Display contours of stream function (Display >
Graphics and Animations...).
– Select “Contours” option under “Graphics” group box.
– Click “Set Up…”.
• Select “Velocity...” and “Stream Function” from the “Contours
of” drop-down lists.
• Enable “Filled” in the “Options” group box.
• Retain all the other default settings.
• Click “Display” to view the contours in the graphics display
window (see the next slide).
• Close the “Contours” panel.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 4

• Contours of Stream Function for the Rosseland Model

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 5
• The recirculatory patterns observed are due to the natural
convection in the box. At a low optical thickness (0.2), radiation
should not have a large influence on the flow. The flow pattern is
expected to be similar to that obtained with no radiation (see the next
slide). However, the Rosseland model predicts a flow pattern that is
very symmetric (see the previous slide), and quite different from the
pure natural convection case. This discrepancy occurs because the
Rosseland model is not appropriate for small optical thickness.
• To compute the results without radiation yourself, turn off all the
radiation models in the “Radiation Model” panel, set the “Under-
relaxation Factor” for “Energy” to “0.8” in the “Solution Controls”
panel, and “Iterate” the solution until convergence. (Remember to
reset the under-relaxation factor to 1 (the default value) before
continuing with the Case Study). Compare the stream function
contours without radiation (next slide) to the plot with the Rosseland
radiation model enabled (previous slide).
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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 6

• Contours of Stream Function with No Radiation

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 7
• Display contours of temperature (Display >
Graphics and Animations...).
– Select “Contours” option under “Graphics” group box.
– Click “Set Up…”.
• Select “Temperature...” and “Static Temperature” from the
“Contours of” drop-down lists.
• Enable “Filled” in the “Options” group box.
• Retain all the other default settings.
• Click “Display” to view the contours in the graphics display
window (see the next slide).
• Close the “Contours” panel.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 8

• Contours of Temperature for the Rosseland Model

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 9
• The Rosseland model predicts a temperature
field (see previous slide) very different from that
obtained without radiation (see the next slide).
For the low optical thickness in this problem, the
temperature field predicted by the Rosseland
model is not physical.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 10

• Contours of Temperature with No Radiation

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 11
• Create an isosurface at y = 0.5, the horizontal line
through the center of the box (Surface > Iso-Surface...).
– Select “Mesh...” and “Y-Coordinate” from the “Surface of
Constant” drop-down lists.
– Click “Compute” to calculate the extents of the domain.
– Enter “0.5” for “Iso-Values”.
– Enter “y=0.5” for “New Surface Name”.
– Click “Create” to create a surface at y = 0.5. The new isosurface
at y=0.5 will appear in the “From Surface” list.
– Close the “Iso-Surface” panel.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 12
• Create an XY plot of y velocity on the isosurface (Display
> Plots...).
– Select “XY Plot” under “Plots” group box.
– Click “Set Up…”.
• Retain the default selection of “Node Values” in the “Options” group
box.
• Retain the default values of “1” for “X” and “0” for “Y” in the “Plot
Direction” group box. With a Plot Direction vector of (1, 0), ANSYS
Fluent will plot the selected variable as a function of x. Since you are
plotting the velocity profile on a cross-section of constant y, the x
direction is the one in which the velocity varies.
• Select “Velocity...” and “Y Velocity” from the “Y Axis Function” drop-
down lists.
• Select “y=0.5” from the “Surfaces” selection list.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 13
• Click “Plot” to display the x-y plot in the graphics display
window (see the next slide).
• Enable “Write to File” in the “Options” group box and save the
plot data to a file.
• Click “Write...” to open the “Select File” dialog box.
– Enter “rad_ross.xy” for “XY File” and click “OK”. This will save
the xy plot file named rad_ross.xy to your working folder.
• Close the “Solution XY Plot” panel.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 14

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for the Rosseland Model

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 15
• The velocity profile reflects the rising plume at
the hot right wall, and the falling plume at the
cold left wall. Compared to the case with no
radiation (see the next slide), the profile
predicted by the Rosseland model exhibits
thicker wall layers. As discussed before, the
expected profile for αL = 0.2 is similar to the case
with no radiation.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 16

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for No Radiation

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 17
• Compute the total wall heat flux on each lateral wall
(Report > Result Reports...).
– Select “Fluxes” under “Reports” group box.
– Click “Set Up…”.
• Select “Total Heat Transfer Rate” in the “Options” list.
• Select “left-wall” and “right-wall” from the “Boundaries” selection list.
• Click “Compute”. The total wall heat transfer rate is reported for
each of the hot and cold walls as approximately 7.43*105 W. The net
heat flux of about 604 W on the lateral walls is a negligible
imbalance (in relative terms). This is reported in the panel as well as
displayed in the console.
• Close the “Flux Reports” panel.

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5.2.8 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
Rosseland Model Solution - 18
• Save the case and data files (rad_ross.cas and
rad_ross.dat) (File > Write > Case & Data...).
• Thus far in this Case Study, you have learned
how to set up a natural convection problem while
incorporating the Rosseland model to compute
radiation. You have also learned to postprocess
the results. You will now enable the P-1 model,
run a simulation, and compare the results to the
Rosseland model.

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5.2.9 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions - P1 Model - 1
• Define the P-1 radiation model (Define > Models...).
– Select “Radiation – Rosseland” under Models group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Select “P-1” in the “Model” list and click “OK”.
• Define the boundary conditions (Define > Boundary
Conditions...).
– Retain the default value of “1” for “Internal Emissivity” for all walls
in the “Zone” group box. Remember to click the “Thermal tab” to
view emissivity in the “Wall” boundary condition panel.
– Close the “Wall” boundary condition panels.

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5.2.10 - CFD Model Setup – Solution - P1
Model - 1
• Set the solution parameters (Solve > Controls...).
– Retain the default values of “0.3” for “Pressure”, “0.7” for
“Momentum”, and “1.0” for “Energy” in the “Under-Relaxation
Factors” group box.
– Scroll down to view the P1 under-relaxation factor. Enter “1.0” for
“P1” in the “Under-Relaxation Factors” group box. Note that the
P1 under-relaxation factor appears in the list because the P-1
model solves an additional radiation transport equation. This
problem is relatively easy to converge for the P-1 model since
there is not much coupling between the radiation and
temperature equations at low optical thicknesses. Consequently
a high under-relaxation factor can be used for P-1.

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5.2.10 - CFD Model Setup – Solution - P1
Model - 2
• Save the case file (rad_p1.cas) (File > Write >
Case...).
• Continue the calculation by requesting another
200 iterations (Solve > Run Calculation...). The
P-1 model reaches convergence after
approximately 115 additional iterations.
• Save the data file (rad_p1.dat) (File > Write >
Data...).

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 1
• Display velocity vectors (see the next slide) of
the P-1 model calculation (Display > Graphics
and Animations...).
– The following postprocessing steps do not include
detailed instructions because the procedure is the
same one that you followed for the Rosseland model
postprocessing.

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 2

• Velocity Vectors for the P-1 Model

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 3
• Plot the y velocity along the horizontal centerline
y = 0.5 (see the next slide) and then save the
plot data to a file called rad_p1.xy (Display >
Plots...).
– You may need to reselect “Velocity...” and “Y Velocity”
in the “Y Axis Function” drop-down lists. Also,
remember to “deselect” the “Write to File” option so
that you can access the “Plot” button to generate the
plot.

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 4

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for the P-1 Model

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 5
• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report
> Result Reports...).
• The total heat transfer rate reported on the right
wall is 8.47*105 W. The net heat flux of about 79
W on the lateral walls is once again a negligible
imbalance (in relative terms). You will see later
that the Rosseland and P-1 wall heat transfer
rates are substantially different from those
obtained by the DTRM and the DO model.

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 6
• Notice how different the velocity vectors and y-velocity
profile are from those obtained using the Rosseland
model. The P-1 velocity profiles show a clear momentum
boundary layer along the hot and cold walls. These
profiles are much closer to those obtained from the non-
radiating case (shown on the next two slides). Though
the P-1 model is not appropriate for this optically thin
limit, it yields the correct velocity profiles since the
radiation source in the energy equation, which is
proportional to the absorption coefficient, is small. The
Rosseland model uses an effective conductivity to
account for radiation, and yields the wrong temperature
field, which in turn results in an erroneous velocity field.
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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 7

• Velocity Vectors with No Radiation

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5.2.11 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
P1 Model Solution - 8

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for No Radiation

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5.2.12 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions – DTRM - 1
• Define the DTRM and the ray tracing (Define >
Models...).
– Select “Radiation – P1” under Models group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Select “Discrete Transfer (DTRM)” in the “Model” list and click
“OK”. The “Radiation Model” panel will expand to show
additional inputs.
• Retain all the default parameters.

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5.2.12 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions – DTRM - 2
• Click “OK” in the “Radiation Model” panel to open the “DTRM
Rays” panel.
– Retain the default settings for “Clustering” and “Angular
Discretization”. The number of “Cells Per Volume Cluster” and
“Faces Per Surface Cluster” control the total number of
radiating surfaces and absorbing cells. For a small 2D problem,
the default number of 1 is acceptable. For a large problem,
however, you will want to increase these numbers to reduce the
ray tracing expense. The “Theta Divisions” and “Phi Divisions”
control the number of rays being created from each surface
cluster. For most practical 2D problems, however, the default
settings of “1” and “4” for “Theta Divisions” and “Phi Divisions”
will suffice.

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5.2.12 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions – DTRM - 3
– Click “OK” to open the “Select File” dialog box.
» Enter “rad_dtrm.ray” for the “Ray File” in the “Select File” dialog
box.
» Click “OK” to write the ray file. ANSYS Fluent will report on the
status of the ray tracing in the console.

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5.2.13 - CFD Model Setup – Solution –
DTRM - 1
• Set the parameters that control the solution (Solve >
Controls...).
– Retain the default solution values of “0.3” for “Pressure”, “0.7” for
“Momentum”, and “1.0” for “Energy” in the “Under-Relaxation
Factors” list.
• Save the case file (rad_dtrm.cas) (File > Write > Case...).
• Continue the calculation by requesting another “100”
iterations (Solve > Run Calculation..). The solution will
converge after about 80 additional iterations.
• Save the data file (rad_dtrm.dat) (File > Write > Data...).
• Display velocity vectors (see the next slide) of the DTRM
calculation (Display > Graphics and Animations...).

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5.2.13 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
DTRM Solution - 1

• Velocity Vectors for the DTRM

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5.2.13 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
DTRM Solution - 2
• Plot the y velocity along the horizontal centerline y = 0.5 (see the
next slide), and save the plot data to a file called rad_dtrm.xy
(Display > Plots...). You may need to reselect “Velocity...” and “Y
Velocity” from the “Y Axis Function” dropdown lists. Also, remember
to deselect the “Write to File” option so that you can access the
“Plot” button to generate the plot.
• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report > Result
Reports...). The total heat transfer rate reported on the right wall is
6.07*105 W. The net heat flux of about 4279 W on the lateral walls
can once again be considered a negligible imbalance (in relative
terms). Note that the total heat transfer rate reported on the right wall
is substantially lower than the values predicted by the Rosseland
and P-1 models.

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5.2.13 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
DTRM Solution - 3

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for the DTRM

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5.2.14 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions – DO - 1
• Define the DO model and the angular discretization
(Define > Models...).
– Select “Radiation – Discrete Transfer (DTRM)” under Models
group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Select “Discrete Ordinates (DO)” in the “Model” list. The “Radiation
Model” panel will expand to show additional inputs for the DO
model.
• Enter “1” for “Flow Iterations per Radiation Iteration” in the “Iteration
Parameters” group box. This is a relatively simple flow problem and
will converge easily. Consequently it is useful to do the DO
calculation every iteration of the flow solution. For problems that are
difficult to converge it is sometimes useful to allow the flow solution
to establish itself between radiation calculations. In such cases it
may be useful to set “Flow Iterations Per Radiation Iteration” to a
higher value, such as “10”.
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5.2.14 - CFD Model Setup – Boundary
Conditions – DO - 2
• Retain the default settings for “Angular Discretization” and
“Non-Gray Model”. Thus “Theta Divisions” of “2”, “Phi
Divisions” of “2”, “Theta Pixels” of “1” and “Phi Pixels” of “1”
are used for this problem. The “Number of Bands” for the
“Non-Gray Model” is “zero” because gray radiation, only, is
being modeled in this Case Study.
• Click “OK” to close the “Radiation Model” panel. Please note
that ANSYS Fluent will present an “Information” dialog box
telling you that new material properties have been added for
the radiation model. The property that is new for the DO
model is the refractive index, which is relevant only when you
are modeling semi-transparent media. Since you are not
modeling semi-transparent media here you can simply click
“OK” in the dialog box to acknowledge this information.

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5.2.15 - CFD Model Setup – Solution – DO -
1
• Set the parameters that control the solution
(Solve > Controls...).
– Retain the default values of “0.3” for “Pressure”, “0.7”
for “Momentum”, “1.0” for “Energy”, and “1.0” for
“Discrete Ordinates” in the “Under-Relaxation Factors”
group box. Note that the “Discrete Ordinates” under-
relaxation factor appears in the list because the DO
model solves an additional radiation transport
equation.

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5.2.15 - CFD Model Setup – Solution – DO -
2
• Set the spatial discretization options (Solve >
Methods...).
– Retain the default setting of “First Order Upwind” in
the “Discrete Ordinates” drop-down list for “Spatial
Discretization”.

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5.2.15 - CFD Model Setup – Solution – DO -
3
• Save the case file (rad_do.cas) (File > Write > Case...).
• Continue the calculation by requesting another 100
iterations (Solve > Run Calculation...). The solution will
converge after approximately 25 additional iterations.
• Save the data file (rad_do.dat) (File > Write > Data...).
• Display velocity vectors of the DO calculation (see the
next slide) (Display > Graphics and Animations...).
– Note: The following postprocessing steps do not include detailed
instructions because the procedure is the same one that you
followed for the Rosseland model postprocessing.

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5.2.16 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
DO Solution - 1

• Velocity Vectors for the DO Model

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5.2.16 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
DO Solution - 2
• Plot the y velocity along the horizontal centerline y = 0.5 (see the next slide),
and save the plot data to a file called rad_do.xy (Display > Plots...). You may
need to reselect “Velocity...” and “Y Velocity” from the “Y Axis Function”
dropdown lists. Also, remember to deselect the “Write to File” option so that
you can access the “Plot” button to generate the plot.
• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report > Result Reports...). The
total heat transfer rate reported on the right wall is 6.12*105 W. The net heat
flux of about 27 W on the lateral walls is a negligible imbalance (in relative
terms). Note that the total heat transfer rate reported on the right wall is
about 1.5% higher than that predicted by the DTRM. The DO and DTRM
values are comparable to each other, while the Rosseland and P-1 values
are both substantially different. The DTRM and DO models are valid across
the range of optical thickness, and the heat transfer rates computed using
them are expected to be closer to the correct heat transfer rate.

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5.2.16 - Postprocessing and Displaying the
DO Solution - 3

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for the DO Model

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5.2.17 - Postprocessing and Displaying All
Four Radiation Modeling Solutions - 1
• In this step, you will read the plot files you saved for all
the solutions and compare them in a single plot.
• Read in all the XY plot files (Display > Plots...).
– Select “File” under “Plots” group box.
– Click “Set Up…”.
• Click “Add...” to open the “Select File” dialog box.
– Select “rad_do.xy”, “rad_dtrm.xy”, “rad_p1.xy”, and “rad_ross.xy” (in this
order) from the “Files” list in the “Select File” dialog box. They will be
added to the “XY File(s)” list. If you accidentally add an incorrect file,
you can select it in this list and click “Remove”.
– Click “OK” in the “Select File” dialog box to load the 4 files. The files will
be listed in the “Files” list in the “File XY Plot” panel.

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5.2.17 - Postprocessing and Displaying All
Four Radiation Modeling Solutions - 2
• Select “rad_do.xy”, “rad_dtrm.xy”, “rad_p1.xy”, and
“rad_ross.xy” one by one from the “Files” list and change their
legend entries into “Y Velocity (do.xy)”, “Y Velocity (dtrm.xy)”,
“Y Velocity (p1.xy)”, and “Y Velocity (ross.xy)” respectively,
remembering to click “Change Legend Entry” after making the
change for each file.
• Select “rad_do.xy” from the “Files” list and click “Curves…”
– Change the marker color, by clicking the “Color” drop-down list
from the “Marker Style” group box and choosing “yellow”.

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5.2.17 - Postprocessing and Displaying All
Four Radiation Modeling Solutions - 3
• Click “Plot” in the “File XY Plot” panel.
• Resize the legend box in the XY plot displayed in the
graphics window so that you can read the information inside
it. To resize the box, press the right mouse button on a corner
and drag the mouse to the desired position.
• Close the “File XY Plot” panel.

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5.2.17 - Postprocessing and Displaying All
Four Radiation Modeling Solutions - 4

• Comparison of Computed y Velocities for αL = 0.2

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5.2.17 - Postprocessing and Displaying All
Four Radiation Modeling Solutions - 5
• Notice that on the previous slide, the velocity profiles for
the P-1 model, DTRM, and DO model are nearly identical
even though the reported wall heat transfer rates are
different. This is because in an optically thin problem, the
velocity field is essentially independent of the radiation
field, and all three models give a flow solution very close
to the non-radiating case. The Rosseland model gives
substantially erroneous solutions for an optically thin
case.

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 1
• In the previous steps you compared the results of four radiation
models for an optically thin (αL = 0.2) medium. It was found that as a
result of the low optical thickness, the velocity fields predicted by the
P-1, DTRM, and DO models were very similar and close to that
obtained in the non-radiating case. The wall heat transfer rates for
DO and DTRM were very close in value, and substantially different
from those obtained with the Rosseland and P-1 models. In this step
you will recalculate a solution (using each radiation model) for an
optically thick (αL = 5.0) medium. This is accomplished by increasing
the value of the absorption coefficient from 0.2 to 5. You will repeat
the process outlined in the steps that follow for each set of case and
data files that you saved earlier in this Case Study.

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 2
• Read in the case and data file saved earlier (e.g.,
rad_ross.cas and rad_ross.dat) (File > Read > Case &
Data...).
• Define the new material property (Define > Materials...).
– Select “air”, under “Materials” group box.
– Click “Create/Edit…”.
• Enter “5” for the “Absorption Coefficient” in the “Materials” panel.
This will result in an optical thickness of αL = 5.0, since L = 1.
• Click “Change/Create” and then close the panel.
• Calculate the new solution, until it converges (Solve >
Run Calculation...).
– Enter “500” for “Number of Iterations”.
– Click “Calculate”.

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 3
• For the DTRM calculation, make sure you read or rewrite
the appropriate ray file you created earlier in this Case
Study. Since the number of “Flow Iterations Per
Radiation Iteration” in the “Radiation Model” panel is 10,
it is sometimes possible that with a restart from the
previous solution, the radiation field will not be updated
for as many as 9 iterations, although ANSYS Fluent will
report that the solution is converged. If this happens,
continue to click the “Calculate” button until the radiation
field is updated and the solution proceeds for multiple
iterations.

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 4
• Save the new case and data files using a
different file name (e.g., rad_ross5.cas and
rad_ross5.dat (File > Write > Case & Data...).
• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report
> Result Reports...).
• Plot the y velocity along the horizontal centerline,
and save the plot data to a file (e.g.,
rad_ross5.xy) (Display > Plots...).

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 5
• Compare the computed heat transfer rates for
the four models by plotting the y-velocity profiles
in a single plot (see the next slide). The wall heat
transfer rates predicted by the four radiation
models range from 3.50*105 to 3.98*105 W
(Display > Plots...).
• Please note that you can click “Delete” in the
“File XY Plot” panel to remove the old XY plot
data files.

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 6

• Comparison of Computed y Velocities for αL = 5

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5.2.18 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
an Optically Thick Medium - 7
• The XY plots of y velocity are nearly identical for the P-1
model, DO model, and DTRM. The Rosseland model
gives somewhat different velocities, but is still within 10%
of the other results. The Rosseland and P-1 models are
suitable for the optically thick limit; the DTRM and DO
models are valid across the range of optical thicknesses.
Consequently, they yield similar answers at αL = 5. For
many applications with large optical thicknesses, the
Rosseland and P-1 models provide a simple low-cost
alternative.

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 1
• In the previous steps you compared the results of four radiation
models for optically thin (αL = 0.2) and optically thick (αL = 5) media.
• The Surface-to-Surface (S2S) radiation model can be used to
account for the radiation exchange in an enclosure of gray-diffuse
surfaces. The energy exchange between two surfaces depends in
part on their size, separation distance, and orientation. These
parameters are accounted for by a geometric function called a “view
factor".
• The S2S model assumes that all surfaces are gray and diffuse. Thus
according to the gray body model, if a certain amount of radiation is
incident on a surface, then a fraction is reflected, a fraction is
absorbed, and a fraction is transmitted. The main assumption of the
S2S model is that any absorption, emission, or scattering of radiation
by the medium can be ignored. Therefore “surface-to-surface"
radiation, only, needs to be considered for analysis.
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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 2
• For most applications the surfaces in question are
opaque to thermal radiation (in the infrared spectrum), so
the surfaces can be considered opaque. For gray,
diffuse, and opaque surfaces it is valid to assume that
the emissivity is equal to the absorptivity and that
reflectivity is equal to 1 minus the emissivity.
• When the S2S model is used, you also have the option
to define a “non-participating boundary zones“ which
allows you to disable the view factor calculation for walls
with negligible emission/absorption or walls that have
uniform temperature. The main advantage of this option
is to speed up the view factor calculation and the
radiosity calculation.
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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 3
• In this step you will calculate a solution for αL = 0 using
the S2S radiation model without non-participating
boundary zones. In the next step you will use the DTRM
and DO models for αL = 0, and compare the results of
the three models. The Rosseland and P-1 models are
not considered here as they have been shown (earlier in
the Case Study) to be inappropriate for optically thin
media. Later in the Case Study you will calculate a
solution for S2S model with non-participating boundary
zones and compare the results with the solution for S2S
model for a non-participating medium that is calculated
here.

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 5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 4
• Read in one of the case and data file saved earlier (e.g.,
rad_dtrm5.cas and rad_dtrm5.dat) (File > Read > Case &
Data...).
• Define the S2S model and the view factor and cluster
parameters (Define > Models...).
– Select Radiation – Discrete Transfer (DTRM).
– Click “Edit…”.
• Select Surface to Surface (S2S) in the Model list. The “Radiation
Model” panel will expand to show additional inputs for the S2S
model.
• Click “Settings...” in the “View Factors and Clustering” group box to
open the “View Factors and Clustering” panel. You will then define
the view factors and clustering parameters.
– Click “OK” to accept all the default settings and close the “View Factor
and Clustering” panel.
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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 5
• The S2S radiation model is computationally very expensive when
there are a large number of radiating surfaces. The number of
radiating surfaces is reduced by clustering surfaces into surface
“clusters". The surface clusters are made by starting from a face and
adding its neighbors and their neighbors until a specified number of
faces per surface cluster is collected. For 2D problems, view factor
calculations can only be done on a “Face to Face” basis and surface
clustering option is not available. The default value of “1” for “Faces
Per Surface Cluster” is therefore used for such cases. For large 3D
problems you can assign the number of “Faces Per Surface Cluster”
to reduce the memory requirement for the view factor file that is
saved in a later step. This may also lead to some reduction in the
computational expense. However, this is at the cost of some
accuracy.

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 6
• For 2D cases, “Ray Tracing” is the only option available in the “Method”
group box for computing the view factors. For such problems, the number of
rays used with this method is twice the value set for “Resolution” in the
“Parameters” group box. However for 3D cases the number of rays is three
times the square of the “Resolution” value. The “Ray Tracing” “Method” is
only available when “Face to Face” option is used. The other option for
computing the view factors for 3D and axisymmetric cases is the
“Hemicube” in the “Method” group box. When this method is used, the
geometric orientation of surface pairs with respect to each other can be
specified in the “Surfaces” group box. Using the “Blocking” option ensures
that any additional surface that is blocking the view between two opposite
surfaces is considered in the view factor calculation. In the “Nonblocking”
option however the view factor calculation does not account for surfaces that
block the views between the surfaces under consideration. Since this is a
2D case neither of these two options are available for the current problem.

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 7
• Click “Compute/Write/Read...” in the “View Factors and Clustering”
group box to open the “Select File” dialog box and to compute the
view factors. You will specify a file name where the cluster and view
factor parameters will be stored. This step is required if the problem
is being solved for the first time, only. For subsequent calculations
you can read the view factor and cluster information from an existing
file (by clicking on the “Read Existing File…” button).
– Enter “rad_s2s.gz” as the file name for S2S File and click “OK” in the
“Select File” dialog box. The size of the view factor file can be very large
if not compressed. It is highly recommended to compress the view
factor file by providing “.gz” or “.Z” extension after the name (i.e.
“rad_s2s.gz” or rad_s2s.Z”). For small files, you can provide just the
.s2s extension after the name. ANSYS Fluent will print an informational
message describing the progress of the view factor calculation in the
console.
• Click “OK” to close the “Radiation Model” panel.

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 8
• Set the parameters that control the solution
(Solve > Controls...).
– Retain the default values of “0.3” for “Pressure”, “0.7”
for “Momentum”, “1.0” for “Energy” in the “Under-
Relaxation Factors” list.
• Save the case file (rad_s2s.cas) (File > Write >
Case...).

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 9
• Continue the calculation by requesting another 200
iterations (Solve > Run Calculation...).
• Save the data file (rad_s2s.dat) (File > Write > Data...).
• Display velocity vectors of the S2S calculation (see the
next slide) (Display > Graphics and Animation...). Please
note that the following postprocessing steps do not
include detailed instructions because the procedure is
the same one that you followed for the Rosseland model
postprocessing.

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 10

• Velocity Vectors for the S2S Model

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 11

• From “Solution XY Plot” panel, plot the y velocity along

the horizontal centerline, “y = 0.5” under the “Surfaces”
group box (see the next slide), and save the plot data to
a file called rad_s2s.xy (Display > Plots...).
• You may have to reselect “Y Velocity” from the “Y Axis
Function” drop-down lists. Also, remember to first
deselect the “Write to File” option to access the “Plot”
button to generate the plot, before saving it to the above
file name.

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 12

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for the S2S Model

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5.2.19 - S2S Setup, Solution, and
Postprocessing for a Non-Participating
Medium - 13

• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report

> Result Reports ...). The total heat transfer rate
on the right wall is 6.77*105 W.

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5.2.20 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
a Non-Participating Medium - 1
• In this step you will calculate a solution for the αL = 0
case using the DTRM and DO models and then compare
the results with the S2S results.
• Read in the case and data files saved earlier for the
DTRM and DO models (e.g., rad_dtrm.cas and
rad_dtrm.dat) (File > Read > Case & Data...).
• Define the new material property (Define > Materials...).
– Select “air” under “Materials” group box and click “Create/Edit…”.
• For “air”, enter “0” for the “Absorption Coefficient”. This will result in
an optical thickness αL of 0.
• Click “Change/Create” and then close the “Create/Edit Materials”
panel.

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5.2.20 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
a Non-Participating Medium - 2
• Calculate the new solution, until it converges (Solve >
Run Calculation...).
– Enter “500” for “Number of Iterations”
– Click “Calculate”. Once again, for the DTRM calculation, make
sure you read or rewrite the appropriate ray file you created
earlier in this Case Study.
• Save the new case and data files using a different file
name (e.g., rad_dtrm0.cas and rad_dtrm0.dat) (File >
Write > Case & Data...).
• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report > Result
Reports...).

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5.2.20 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
a Non-Participating Medium - 3
• From “Solution XY Plot” panel, plot the y velocity along
the horizontal centerline, and save the plot data to a file
(e.g., rad_dtrm0.xy) (Display > Plots...).
• Compare the computed heat transfer rates for the three
models. For the S2S model, the total heat transfer rate
on the right wall was 6.77*105 W. This is about 4% higher
than that predicted by the DTRM (6.50*105 W) and 2%
higher than DO (6.64*105 W). Although the S2S, DO, and
DTRM values are comparable to each other, this
problem involves enclosure radiative transfer without
participating media. Therefore, the S2S model provides
the most accurate solution.

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5.2.20 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
a Non-Participating Medium - 4
• From “File XY Plot” panel, compare the y-velocity profiles
in a single plot (Display > Plots...).
– Use the “Delete” button in the “File XY Plot” panel to remove the
old XY plot data files.
– Read in all the XY plot files you saved for the S2S (rad_s2s.xy),
DTRM (rad_dtrm0.xy), and DO (rad_do0.xy) models.
– Select “rad_s2s.xy”, “rad_dtrm0.xy”, and “rad_do0.xy” one by
one from the “Files” list and change their legend entries into “Y
Velocity (s2s.xy)”, “Y Velocity (dtrm0.xy)”, and “Y Velocity
(do0.xy)” respectively, remembering to click “Change Legend
Entry” after making the change for each file.

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5.2.20 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
a Non-Participating Medium - 5
– Select “rad_s2s.xy” from the “Files” list and click “Curves…”
• Change the marker color, by clicking the “Color” drop-down list from
the “Marker Style” group box and choosing “yellow”.
– Click “Plot”.
– Resize the legend box in the XY plot displayed in the graphics
window so that you can read the information inside it. To resize
the box, press the right mouse button on a corner and drag the
mouse to the desired position.
– Close the “File XY Plot” panel. As you can see on the next slide,
the velocity profiles for the DTRM, DO, and S2S models are
almost identical even though the wall heat transfer rates are
different.

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5.2.20 - Comparison of Radiation Models for
a Non-Participating Medium - 6

• Comparison of Computed y Velocities for αL = 0

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 1
• As mentioned earlier, when the S2S model is used, you
also have the option to define all non-participating
boundary zones; i.e. you can disable the view factor
calculation for walls with negligible emission/absorption,
or walls that have uniform temperature. Even though the
view factor will not be computed for these walls, they will
still emit radiation at a fixed temperature specified by the
user. The main advantage of this is to speed up the view
factor and the radiosity calculations.

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 2
• For this problem, specify the left wall boundary as the
non-participating wall in S2S radiation. Consequently,
you need to specify the non-participating boundary zone
temperature for the wall boundary that is not participating
in S2S radiation. Note that if multiple wall boundaries are
not participating in S2S radiation and each has a
different temperature, then using this option may not
yield accurate results. This is because the same non-
participating boundary zone temperature is specified for
each of the non-participating walls.

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 3
• Read in the case and data files saved earlier for the S2S
model (rad_s2s.cas, and rad_s2s.dat) (File > Read >
Case & Data...).
• Set the non-participating boundary zone parameters for
the S2S model (Define > Models...).
– Select “Radiation – Off” option under “Models” group box.
– Click “Edit…”.
• Select “Surface to Surface (S2S)” option under “Model” group box.
• Click on “Read Existing File…” button under “View Factors and
Clustering” group box.
– Select “rad_s2s.s2s.gz” file in the “Select File” panel and click “OK”.
This will make sure that the surface to surface radiation model is
chosen.

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 4
• Click on “Settings…” button under “View Factors and Clustering” group
box.
– For “Zones Participating in View Factor Calculation”, Click on “Select…” button
at the bottom of the “View Factors and Clustering” Panel.
» Select “left-wall” under “participating Boundary Zones” and then click on the “Arrow
to the left” button. “left-wall will now appear under “Non-Participating Boundary
Zones”.
» Enter “1000” for “Non-Participating Boundary Zones Temperature (k)” and click
“OK”. Please remember that In the previous radiation model setups for this problem
the left wall temperature boundary condition was also set at 1000 k.
– Click “OK” to close the “View Factors and Clustering” panel.
• In order to write the new view factor file, click on “Compute/Write/Read…”
button under “View Factors and Clustering” group box.
– Enter “rad_s2spe.s2s.gz” file in the “Select File” panel and click “OK”.
• Click “OK” to close the “Radiation Model” panel. ANSYS Fluent will print
an informational message describing the progress of the view factor
calculation.
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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 5
• The view factor file will store the view factors for the radiating
surfaces only. This may help you control the size of the view factor
file as well as the memory required to store view factors in ANSYS
Fluent. Furthermore, the time required to compute the view factors
will reduce as only the view factors for radiating surfaces will be
calculated. You should compute the view factors only when you
have specified the boundaries that will participate in the radiation
model using the “Participating Boundary Zones” panel. If you first
compute the view factors and then make a change to the boundary
conditions, ANSYS Fluent will use the view factor file stored earlier
for calculating a solution, in which case, the changes that you made
to the model will not be used for the calculation. Therefore, you
should recompute the view factors and save the case file whenever
you modify the number of objects that will participate in radiation.

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 6
• Set the parameters that control the solution (Solve >
Controls...).
– Retain the default values of “0.3” for “Pressure”, “0.7” for
“Momentum”, and “1.0” for “Energy” in the “Under-Relaxation
Factors” list.
• Save the case file (rad_s2spe.cas) (File > Write >
Case...).
• Continue the calculation by requesting another 100
iterations (Solve > Run Calculation...). The solution will
converge after approximately 80 additional iterations.
• Save the data file (rad_s2spe.dat) (File > Write > Data...).
• Display velocity vectors of the S2S calculation (see the
next slide) (Display > Graphics and Animations...).

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 7

• Velocity Vectors for the S2S Model with Non-Participating Boundary Zones

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 8
• From “Solution XY Plot” panel, plot the y velocity along the horizontal
centerline (see the next slide), and save the plot data to a file called
“rad_s2spe.xy” (Display > Plots...).
• You may have to reselect “Y Velocity” from the “Y Axis Function”
drop-down lists. Also, remember to first deselect the “Write to File”
option to access the “Plot” button to generate the plot, before saving
it to the above file name.
• Compute the total wall heat transfer rate (Report > Result
Reports...). The total heat transfer rate on the right wall is 6.78*105
W. Note that the total heat transfer rate on the left wall is reported as
1.23*105 because the report utility in version 14 of ANSYS Fluent
does not account for the radiation heat transfer rate by this non-
participating wall in S2S radiation, as it should.

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5.2.21 - S2S Definition, Solution and
Postprocessing with Non-Participating
Boundary Zones - 9

• XY Plot of Centerline y Velocity for the S2S Model with Non-Participating Boundary Zones

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5.2.22 - Comparison of S2S Models with and
without Non-Participating Boundary Zones -
1
• Compare the computed heat transfer rates for the two
S2S models.
• From “File XY Plot” panel, Compare the y-velocity
profiles in a single plot (see the next slide) (Display >
Plots...).
– Use the “Delete” button in the “File XY Plot” panel to remove the
old XY plot data files.
– Read in all the XY plot files you saved for the S2S models
(rad_s2s.xy and rad_s2spe.xy).
– Select “rad_s2s.xy”, and “rad_s2spe.xy” one by one from the
“Files” list and change their legend entries into “Y Velocity
(s2s.xy)”, and “Y Velocity (s2spe.xy)” respectively, remembering
to click “Change Legend Entry” after making the change for each
file.
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5.2.22 - Comparison of S2S Models with and
without Non-Participating Boundary Zones -
2
– Select “rad_s2s.xy” from the “Files” list and click “Curves…”.
• Change the marker color, by clicking the “Color” drop-down list from
the “Marker Style” group box and choosing “yellow”.
– Click “Plot”.
– Resize the legend box in the XY plot displayed in the graphics
window so that you can read the information inside it. To resize
the box, press the right mouse button on a corner and drag the
mouse to the desired position.
– Close the “File XY Plot” panel. As you can see on the next slide,
the velocity profiles for the S2S model without non-participating
boundary zones and the S2S model with non-participating
boundary zones are almost identical.

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5.2.22 - Comparison of S2S Models with and
without Non-Participating Boundary Zones -
3

• Comparison of Computed y Velocities for S2S models

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5.2.23 - Case Study - 5 - Summary
• In this Case Study you studied combined natural convection and
radiation in a square box and compared the performance of four
radiation models in ANSYS Fluent for optically thin and optically
thick cases, and the performance of three radiation models for a
non-participating medium.
• For the optically thin case, the Rosseland and P-1 models are not
appropriate while the DTRM and DO model are applicable and yield
similar results.
• In the optically thick limit, all four models are appropriate and yield
similar results. In this limit, the less computationally-expensive
Rosseland and P-1 models may be adequate for many engineering
applications.
• The S2S radiation model is appropriate for modeling the enclosure
radiative transfer without participating media whereas the methods
for participating radiation may not always be efficient.

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