You can compute the area or mass flow rate, or the integral, standard deviation, flow rate, volume flow rate, area-weighted average, mass-weighted average, custom vector-weighted average, custom vector-based flux, custom vector flux, sum, facet average, facet maximum, facet minimum, uniformity index (weighted by area or mass), vertex average, vertex minimum, and vertex maximum for a selected field variable on selected surfaces in the domain. These surfaces are sets of data points created by Ansys Fluent for each of the zones in your model, or defined by you using the methods described in Creating Surfaces and Cell Registers for Displaying and Reporting Data in the User's Guide, or by using the Text User Interface, described in Text User Interface (TUI) in the User's Guide.
The following list provides information on the data reported for the various surface integrals:
For the vertex average, vertex maximum, and the vertex minimum, Ansys Fluent reports the node values of the selected variable on the selected surface.
For mass flow rate, volume flow rate, and flow rate, Ansys Fluent reports the rate. Of these, flow rate is the only one associated with a selected variable. The values used in the computation depend on the kind of surface selected:
The face flux values are used for face zone surfaces.
The cell values are used for postprocessing surfaces. See Cell Values in the User's Guide for further details.
For all other surface integrals, Ansys Fluent reports the integral, using values that are appropriate for the particular surface:
For face zone surfaces, the face values are used when they are available, that is, when they are calculated by the solver or specified as a boundary condition. Otherwise, the cell values are used. The cell value for non-internal faces (that is, faces that only have
c0and noc1) is thec0value. The cell value for internal faces (that is, faces that havec0andc1) is the average of thec0andc1values.For postprocessing surfaces, the cell values are used. See Cell Values in the User's Guide for further details.
Example uses of several types of surface integral reports are given below:
Area: You can compute the area of a velocity inlet zone, and then estimate the velocity from the mass flow rate:
(25–10)
Area-weighted average: You can find the average value on a solid surface, such as the average heat flux on a heated wall with a specified temperature.
Mass average: You can find the average value on a surface in the flow, such as average enthalpy at a velocity inlet.
Mass flow rate: You can compute the mass flow rate through a velocity inlet zone, and then estimate the velocity from the area, as described above.
Flow rate: To calculate the heat transfer rate through a surface, you can calculate the flow rate of enthalpy.
Integral: You can use integrals for more complex calculations, which may involve the use of the Custom Field Function Calculator Dialog Box, described in Custom Field Functions in the User's Guide, to calculate a function that requires integral computations (for example, swirl number).
Standard deviation: You can find the standard deviation of a specified field variable on a surface, such as enthalpy, viscosity, and velocity.
Volume flow rate: This will report the volume flow rate through the specified surface.
For information about how Ansys Fluent computes surface integrals, see Computing Surface Integrals. Otherwise, for more information about generating a surface integral report, see Generating a Surface Integral Report in the User's Guide.