Thermal Flow Equation in AcuSolve

Vignesh Lakshmanan

Hello,

I would like to understand what is thermal flow ( in solver controls - active equations, if we enable heat transfer) and when should we enable it.

Thanks 

Junta_20361

hi,

Please refer to acusolve tutorial AcuT3000: enclosed hot cylinder.

In this tutorial, they have explain the meaning of "thermal flow" in the solver control:

The choice generally depends on the degree of coupling, that is, buoyancy, between the momentum and thermal equations; forced convection problems may be solved staggered, while free convection problems usually benefit from the more expensive coupled approach (from acusolve help)

In short, this option is needed when you solve the natural convection problem.