7.9 Pressure Far-Field Boundary Conditions

Pressure far-field conditions are used in FLUENT to model a free-stream condition at infinity, with free-stream Mach number and static conditions being specified. The pressure far-field boundary condition is often called a characteristic boundary condition, since it uses characteristic information (Riemann invariants) to determine the flow variables at the boundaries.

 This boundary condition is applicable only when the density is calculated using the ideal-gas law (see Section  8.3). Using it for other flows is not permitted. To effectively approximate true infinite-extent conditions, you must place the far-field boundary far enough from the object of interest. For example, in lifting airfoil calculations, it is not uncommon for the far-field boundary to be a circle with a radius of 20 chord lengths.

For an overview of flow boundaries, see Section  7.2.

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