A Parallelized Node-Centered Finite Volume Method for Computing Radiative Heat Transfer on 3D Unstructured Hybrid Grids

An algorithm for the computation of radiative heat transfer for absorbing, emitting and either isotropically or anisotropically scattering gray medium in three dimensions is developed. Radiative transfer equation is solved using a node-centered finite volume method in combination with an edge-based data structure, while scattering phase function is defined by Legendre polynomial expansions. Hybrid unstructured grids are used, due to their good viscous layer resolving capability, considering that our final objective is the analysis of coupled heat transfer-fluid flow problems. In addition, domain decomposition approach with message passing interface model is utilized, in order the proposed algorithm to be implemented in a parallel computational system. Numerical results reveal that the present methodology has a good performance in terms of accuracy, geometric flexibility, and computational efficiency.