Fast, nonlinear network flow solvers for fluid and thermal transient analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a fast nonlinear solver for the prediction of transients in network flows.Design/methodology/approach – Broyden method‐based nonlinear solvers are developed to solve the system of conservation equation for fluids by judiciously exploiting physical coupling among the equations.Findings – To demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of the solvers, two test cases of practical engineering interest were solved. The results obtained by the solvers were verified against analytical results for a simplified case. The performance of the solvers was found to be comparable or better than existing solvers.Originality/value – The proposed solver enables predictions of fluid and thermal transients in complex flow networks feasible in reduced computational time.

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