2.3.2. Recommended Configurations of Boundary Conditions

The following combinations of boundary conditions are all valid configurations commonly used in Ansys CFX. They are listed from the most robust option to the least robust:

  • Most Robust: Velocity/mass flow at an inlet and static pressure at an outlet. The inlet total pressure is an implicit result of the prediction.

  • Robust: Total pressure at an inlet and velocity/mass flow at an outlet. The static pressure at the outlet and the velocity at the inlet are part of the solution.

  • Sensitive to Initial Guess: Total pressure at an inlet and static pressure at an outlet. The system mass flow is part of the solution.

  • Very Unreliable: Static pressure at an inlet and static pressure at an outlet. This combination is not recommended, as the inlet total pressure level and the mass flow are both an implicit result of the prediction (the boundary condition combination is a very weak constraint on the system).

  • Not Possible: Total pressure cannot be specified at an outlet. The total pressure boundary condition is unconditionally unstable when the fluid flows out of the domain where the total pressure is specified.

With more than two inflows or outflows, the other openings should be of the boundary condition type Opening. This is because the flow at these other boundaries could in general be in or out, and the direction will be part of the solution.