Use of GCG methods for the efficient solution of matrix problems arising from the FVM formulation of radiative transfer

Abstract

Preconditioned generalized conjugate gradient (GCG) iterative methods are applied to the solution of large, sparse, and unsymmetric linear algebraic equations resulting from the application of the finite-volume method to the problem of radiative heat transfer in an absorbing, emitting, and scattering gray medium, with the boundary surfaces reflecting radiation in both diffuse and specular regimes. The governing radiative transfer equation, which is a complicated integro-differential equation, has been discretized using the S N finite-volume method (FVM). Different variants of GCG methods have been tested on a problem of 2-D radiation in a cylinder, and efficiencies of the methods have been compared. Numerical results indicate that preconditioning suggested in the article dramatically improves the performance of the GCG methods. Results on test problems based on S 8 FVM agree well with exact results reported in the literature.