A LIMITER OF DISCONTINUOUS FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR THERMAL RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER

Due to the irregular shape of the high-temperature equipment, the thermal radiation processes are susceptible to discontinuous and shielding effects. Achieving the high accuracy of numerical solution for such processes is still a significant challenge. In this paper, the discontinuous finite element method is developed to discretize the angle and space for the numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation. A limiter, which is based on the Barth–Jespersen limiter borrowing the hierarchical limiting strategy, is imposed for the angular and spatial domains of radiative intensity to suppress the nonphysical oscillations of numerical solutions. Several benchmark problems involving discontinuous boundary conditions or irregular geometrical systems with the participating medium are solved. Besides, by comparing numerical results with exact solutions of radiative intensity in azimuthal angle, it is verified that the limiter can effectively suppress the numerical oscillation caused by the shielding effect. Finally, the three-dimensional angular distributions of radiative intensity on space nodes are depicted. In a word, the limiter, which is specially designed for the discontinuous finite element method, is a useful technical means to solve radiative heat transfer with discontinuous boundary conditions or irregular geometrical systems. © 2022 by Begell House, Inc. www.begellhouse.com.