Fluent Software Training

UDF

Fluent Data Structure and

Macros

Fluent Inc. 04/26/17

 Fluent Software Training
UDF

Data structures in FLUENT

face
Domain

cell cell

Domain Thread

Cell Cell
Cell

Boundary (face thread or zone) Fluid (cell thread or zone)

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The Domain
Domain is the set of connectivity and hierarchy info for the entire data
structure in a given problem. It includes:
all fluid zones (fluid threads)
all solid zones (solid threads)
all boundary zones (boundary threads)
Cell/face - Computational unit, face is one side.
Conservation equations are solved over a cell
Thread - is the collection of cells or faces; defines a
fluid/solid/boundary zone
Note:
FLUENT6 introduces the concept of multi-domain for multiphase
simulations (singlephase simulations uses single domain only)
Each phase has its own Domain-structure
Geometric & common property information will be duplicated among
domains
Multiphase UDF will be discussed later

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The Threads
A Thread is a sub-set of the Domain structure
Individual fluid, solid and each boundary zones are identified as
zones and their datatype is maintained as Thread
Zone and Thread terms are often used interchangeably
But Zone/Thread ID and Thread-datatype are different:
Zones are identified at mesh level with an integer ID in the
Define-Boundary_Condition panel
Threads are Fluent-specific datatype that store structured
information about the mesh, connectivity, models, property, etc. all
in one place
Users identify zones through the ID-s
Zone/Thread-ID and Threads are correlated through macro-s

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Domain and Threads

Wall
Solid-1

Fluid-1
Fluid-2 Porous Outlet
Inlet
Medium
Domain
of
Solid-2
Analysis
Wall

Corresponding Threads
Data set Wall Solid-2

Fluid-2
Inlet

Domain Outlet
Porous
Medium Fluid-1

Solid-1

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Cell and Face Datatypes

Control volumes (equivalent of FEM:Elements) of fluid and solid zones are
called cell in FLUENT
The data structure for the control volumes is typed as cell_t
The data structure for the control volume faces is typed as face_t
A fluid or solid zone is comprised of cells
The Thread that identifies the cells in a Fluid or Solid Thread, is a
Cell-Thread
A boundary zone is comprised of faces of the adjacent control volumes or
cells
The Thread that identifies the faces on a boundary is a
Face-Thread

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Some additional info on Faces

Each Control volume will have a finite number of faces (4 for tets, 6 for
hex and 5 for pyramids, and wedges)
Faces on the boundary are also typed face_t; their ensemble are
listed as boundary face-threads with the fluid & solid cell-
threads under Define-Boundary_Condition panel
Those faces which are inside the flow-domain and do not share any
external boundary are not accessible from GUI (because you do not
need them)
They can still be accessed from User-Defined-Functions

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Cell- & face-Threads, Cell_t & face_t Datatypes

Boundary face-thread
Fluid cell-thread the boundary-face ensemble
the Control-volume
ensemble Internal face-thread
the Internal-face ensemble
associated to cell-threads
Nodes

Type Example Details

Domain *d pointer to the collection of all
threads
Thread *t pointer to a thread
Cell_t c cell identifier
face_t f face identifier
Node *node pointer to a node

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Geometry Macro-s (1)

(c,t) A cell, c of a thread, t A Hex cell
C_NNODES(c, t); No of nodes in a cell Faces
C_NFACES(c, t); No. of faces in a cell
F_NNODES(f, t); No. of nodes in a face Nodes

C_CENTROID(x, c, t); x, y, z-coords of cell centroid

F_CENTROID(x, f, t); x, y, z-coords of face centroid Location of cell variables
C_CENTROID(X,c,t); X: X[3]
F_AREA(A, f, t); Area vector of a face; C_NNODES(c,t) = 8
C_NFACES(c,t) = 6
NV_MAG(A); Area-magnitude F_NNODES(f,t) = 4 each
C_VOLUME(c, t); Volume of a cell
C_VOLUME_2D(c, t); Volume of a 2D cell
(Depth: 1m in 2D; 2* m in 2D-axi)
NODE_X(nn); Node x-coord;
NODE_Y(nn); Node x-coord;
NODE_Z(nn); Node x-coord;

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Looping Macro-s for Geometry (2)

thread_loop_c(t, d); Loop over cell threads
thread_loop_f(t, d); Loop over face threads
begin_c_loop(c, t); Loop over cells in a cell thread
end_c_loop(c, t);
begin_f_loop Loop over faces in a face thread
end_f_loop
f_edge_loop(f, t,en); Loop over edges in a face thread
f_node_loop(f, t,nn); Loop over nodes in a face thread
c_node_loop(c, t,nn); Loop over nodes in a cell thread
c_face_loop(c, t,fn); Loop over faces in a cell thread

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Pointer to a Thread
Given the integer ID of a thread, it is possible to retrieve the pointer to
that thread -
int ID = 1;
Thread *tf = Lookup_Thread(domain, ID);
Conversely, given the pointer to a thread, it is possible to retrieve the
integer ID of that thread -
int ID = 1;
if (THREAD_ID(tf)==1)...

Usage

int ID = 1; int ID = 1;
Thread *tf = Lookup_Thread(domain,ID); thread_loop_f (tf, domain)
begin_f_loop(f, tf) {
if (THREAD_ID(tf)==1)
{ begin_f_loop(f, tf)
F_CENTROID(FC, f, tf); {
printf("x:%f y:%f",FC[0], FC[1]); F_CENTROID(FC, f, tf);
} printf("x:%f y:%f",FC[0],FC[1]);
end_f_loop(f, tf) }
end_f_loop(f, tf)
}

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Cells across a face and Their Threads

These macros help to identify the neighboring cells of a face
This information may be required of some of the more sophisticated
UDFs that loop through
c0,tc0 f,tf
faces of a boundary thread or
a particular cell
c1,tc1
Associated with a given face f, and its thread tf, are potentially two
adjacent cells denoted c0 and c1(named by right-hand rule).
If the face is on the boundary of the domain, c1 is defined as
NULL and only c0 exists
The following macros return the ID of the cells c0 and c1, as well as the
associated threads:
c0 = F_C0(f,tf); /* returns ID for c0*/
tc0 = THREAD_T0(tf); /* returns the cell thread for c0 */
c1 = F_C1(f,tf); /*returns ID for c1 */
tc1 = THREAD_T1(tf); /* returns the cell thread for c1 */

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Cell Variables (1)

C_R(c,t) Density
C_P(c,t) Pressure
C_U(c,t)
C_V(c,t) Velocity components
C_W(c,t)
C_T(c,t) Temperature
C_H(c,t) Enthalpy
C_K(c,t) Turbulent kinetic energy
C_D(c,t) Turbulent energy dissipation
C_YI(c,t,i) Species mass fraction
C_UDSI(c,t,i) User defined scalar

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Cell Variables (2)

C_DUDX(c,t)
C_DUDY(c,t)
C_DUDZ(c,t)
C_DVDX(c,t)
C_DVDY(c,t) Velocity derivatives
C_DVDZ(c,t)
C_DWDX(c,t)
C_DWDY(c,t)
C_DWDZ(c,t)
C_MU_L(c,t)
C_MU_T(c,t) Viscosities
C_MU_EFF(c,t)
C_DP(c,t)[i] Pressure derivatives
C_D_DENSITY(c,t)[i] Density derivatives

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Cell Variables (3)

C_K_L(c,t)
C_K_T(c,t) Thermal conductivities
C_K_EFF(c,t)
C_CP(c,t) Specific heat
C_RGAS(c,t) Gas constant
C_DIFF_L(c,t,i) Species diffusivity
C_DIFF_EFF(c,t,i)

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Face Variables
F_P(f,t) Pressure
F_U(f,t)
F_V(f,t) Velocity components
F_W(f,t)
F_T(f,t) Temperature
F_H(f,t) Enthalpy
F_K(f,t) Turbulent kinetic energy
F_D(f,t) Turbulent energy dissipation
F_YI(f,t,i) Species mass fraction
F_UDSI(f,t,i) User defined scalar
F_PROFILE(f,t,i) Boundary profile storage

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UDF Macro-s (Types of UDF)

UDFs in FLUENT are available for:

Boundary conditions : Profiles

Fluid and solid zones : Source terms
Fluid/solid, particle, flow : Properties
UDS unsteady, flux, diffusivity : Scalar Functions
Zone and variable specific initialization : Initialization
Adjust, read/write, execute_on_demand : Global Function
Convective & radiative : Wall-heat-flux
(Alternative: profile)
Reaction rates, dpm, slip velocity, : Model Specific Functions

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UDF Macro-s (Types of UDF)

Available UDF Macro-s :
Profiles : DEFINE_PROFILE
Source terms : DEFINE_SOURCE
Properties : DEFINE_PROPERTY
Scalar Functions : DEFINE_UNSTEADY
DEFINE_FLUX
DEFINE_DIFFUSIVITY
Initialization : DEFINE_INIT
Global Functions : DEFINE_ADJUST
DEFINE_ON_DEMAND
DEFINE_RW_FILE
Wall-heat-flux : DEFINE_HEAT_FLUX
Model Specific Functions : DEFINE_DPM_
DEFINE_SR_RATE
DEFINE_VR_RATE
DEFINE_SCAT_PHASE_FUNC
DEFINE_DRIFT_DIAMETER
DEFINE_SLIP_VELOCITY

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The udf.h File

The udf-macros are defined in the udf.h file
udf.h is a fluent header file in the ~/Fluent.Inc/Fluentx.y/src/
directory
udf.h must be included at the top in each and every udf file
A file may contain more than one UDF
User can use multiple files for UDF

Any UDF you might write must use one of the DEFINE_ macro-s from
this udf.h file
Part of the udf.h file from ~/Fluent.Inc/fluentx.y/src directory
#define DEFINE_PROFILE(name, t, i) void name(Thread *t, int i)
#define DEFINE_PROPERTY(name,c,t) real name(cell_t c, Thread *t)
#define DEFINE_SOURCE(name, c, t, dS, i) \
real name(cell_t c, Thread *t, real dS[], int i)
#define DEFINE_INIT(name, domain) void name(Domain *domain)
#define DEFINE_ADJUST(name, domain) void name(Domain *domain)
#define DEFINE_DIFFUSIVITY(name, c, t, i) \
real name(cell_t c, Thread *t, int i)

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