INFORMATION HIGHWAY AND NUMERICAL HEAT TRANSFER

It is proposed that researchers in the numerical heat transfer community need to realize the trend of the information highway and agree to use a protocol or a module that constitutes the core of a computer program solving heat transfer problems. This will avoid duplicate programming and accelerate the technology advancement of numerical heat transfer. The module for two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes flows is presented and explained. It is further demonstrated that, using this module as the foundation, the user can straightforwardly build up an entire personal computer code by inputting the data, specifying boundary conditions, and outputting the result. Other modules for slightly more compicated problems, such as transient flows with variable viscosity in irregular geometries, are also presented. Other than zoning matches for problems with multizones, the programming task for a user becomes minimal and simple: input, prescribe the boundary conditions, and output. The availability of Navier-Stokes modules is particularly helpful for less experienced numerical researchers, newcomers, and graduate students who have just entered the area of heat transfer and fluid flows.