The finite element formulation of the Lagrangian form of the mass conservation equation is given
by:
When transformed into the ALE formulation it gives:
Applying a Galerkin variation form for the solution of Equation 2:
Where, is the Weighting function.
Using a finite volume formulation
Where, =1
= constant density over control volume
.
Therefore:
Using the divergence theorem leads to:
Further expansion gives:
This formula is still valid if density is not assumed uniform over volume .Figure 1. Mass Flux Across a Surface
The density, , is given computed:
Where, is the upwind coefficient given on the input card.
If =0, there is no upwind.
Therefore, .
If =1, there is full upwind.
The smaller the upwind factor, the faster the solution; however, the solution is more stable with
a large upwind factor. This upwind coefficient can be tuned with parameter from
/UPWIND keyword (not recommended, this keyword has been obsolete as of
version 2018).