Flow solver files

The following table describes the flow solver files, which are written in the run directory during the solving process.

File name Description
escerr.dat Contains the warnings and error messages issued by the flow solver during a solution.
flowdata.bfd Contains the results shared among all the processes of the flow solver (nodal coordinates, element connectivity, list of variables, etc.), which are passed to the results BUN file.
flowdata_i.bfp Contains the results corresponding to each process from the flow solver, which are passed to the results BUN file. Here, i indicates the process number associated with the current file.
flow.bfi Contains the boundary condition types and values specified on each selected boundary face.
flow.cfn Relates fluid faces to their correspondent coated shell element surfaces. The flow solver uses fluid faces and the thermal solver uses shell element surfaces in the coupled thermal-flow analysis. This file also contains the method that the flow solver uses to compute the initial heat transfer coefficient values for natural convection problems.
flow.csc Exchanges the control parameters between flow and thermal solvers during the simulations.
flow.ent Contains the number and name of each flow boundary conditions and additional information on flow surfaces.
flow.fbc Transfers boundary conditions defined on the faces from the thermal solver to the flow solver through a converter function.
flow.gem

Contains information about geometry:

  • Element geometry definitions
  • Nodal coordinates
flow.ibd Contains the boundary condition types and values specified on each selected immersed boundary when you solve an immersed boundary model.
flow.ibg

Contains the following information when you solve an immersed boundary model:

  • Halo nodes
  • Boundary elements
  • Immersed triangles
flow.icp

Contains the following information when you solve an immersed boundary model in a coupled thermal-flow analysis:

  • Flow surface types
  • Convection properties
  • Flow surfaces information
  • Thermal elements
flow.job Contains the completion status of the run and summarizes the CFD results, when the run terminates successfully.
flow.mgd Contains global summary information about the flow model, number of nodes, and number of elements.
flow.opn Contains a list of face elements that form openings. These face elements are grouped in sets that geometrically form a contiguous opening.
flow.prm

Contains the following solution control parameters, which define the run:

  • Steady-state relaxation timestep
  • Iteration limits and convergence criteria
  • Discretization parameters
  • Advection scheme
  • Turbulence model type
  • Specified advanced parameters
flow.prp

Contains the following information:

  • Material description
  • Fluid material property definition
  • Enclosures material information
  • Variable boundary condition definition
  • Fan head loss information
flow.pst Contains face-based and nodal-based results for post-processing purposes.
flow.restart Stores a selected flow solver memory image that is used for restarting the flow solver.
flow.struct Contains a memory map of the flow solver in the form that is stores in the flow.restart file.
flow.vsi Contains the volumetric boundary condition type and its specified values on the selected polygon body for each volumetric boundary condition in the model.
groups.unv Contains the groups that have an information about warnings and error messages issued by the solver.
ibm.prm Contains advanced parameters used for immersed boundary analysis.
user.prm Contains user-specified optional solver parameters that are not available in the advanced parameters catalog. These parameters, which are provided by the customer support, let you modify the behavior of the flow solver to enhance its capabilities for specific problems. You create the user.prm file using a text editor in your run directory.