Comparison between staggered and collocated grids in the finite-volume method performance for single and multi-phase flows

This work presents the numerical results obtained when staggered and collocated grids were used in the finite-volume methods (FVMs) fur four standard flows: developing laminar single-phase flow at the entrance of the tube; developing turbulent single-phase Row at the entrance of the tube; incompressible laminar flow through an orifice plate; and developing turbulent gas-solid flow in a vertical pipe. These test cases were chosen to embody a variety of pattern flows very common in computational fluid dynamics problems (CFD problems). The main aspects analyzed were: the convergence rate, the stability of the pressure-velocity coupling; the dependence of the solution on the grid concentration and on the variation of the under-relaxation parameters; and the capability of reproduction of the experimental data and/or analytical solutions. The paper also presents a discussion of the strategies to apply the collocated and staggered grids and some aspects of the pressure-velocity coupling for both procedures. The numerical results were compared with experimental data or with analytical solutions and they presented a good agreement. The results show that the staggered arrangement of the grid has an advantage when dealing with high pressure gradient and multi-phase flows. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.