Development of Direct Multifrontal Solvers for Combustion Problems
Mandhapati Raju, James S. T’ien · Numerical Heat Transfer Part B Fundamentals · 2008
Navier-Stokes finite-volume formulations are usually solved using segregated methods. Development of sparse direct solvers using multifrontal solvers has significantly reduced the computational time of direct solution methods. This study demonstrates the performance of multifrontal solvers in the context of finite-volume formulations for combustion problems. Here UMFPACK (Unsymmetric Multi-Frontal PACKage) has been used to solve the fully coupled linear system. The use of direct solvers can significantly reduce the computational time (subject to its memory limitations). The efficiency of multifrontal solvers is first demonstrated for a differential cavity benchmark problem and then extended to an axisymmetric candle flame. The feasibility of using multifrontal solvers for three-dimensional problems is also discussed.