8/18/2020 Differences between the Conservative and the Non-Conservative forms of governing equations : Skill Lync

Conservation vs. Non-Conservation Forms of Governing Equations

Created by: siva prasad
Modified on: Sat, 4 Apr, 2020 at 1:22 PM

If you are a beginner in CFD and doing a study on governing equations, you must have come across
terms like conservation and non-conservation forms and wondered what they mean, how they look like
and what their significance is. This article aims to answer all of those questions and give you a lucid
picture of the concept.

But before diving into what each form of the governing equation, it is necessary to understand why the
distinction is being made. In fact, until the 1980s even though the equations existed in both forms, they
were not labeled either conservation or non-conservation and there was no reason to prefer one form
over another. Only as the computers got more advanced, the researchers discovered the difference in the
behavior of these forms when solving them numerically. Therefore, from the theoretical/ mathematical
perspective, both the forms are the same. Both forms suitably represent the fundamental physical
principles of mass conservation, Newton’s second law and energy conservation and using calculus, both
forms can be converted into one another. However, from the numerical perspective, the choice of one
form over another might mean the world of a difference. This will be studied in further sections of this
article.

How does each form look like?

As we discussed earlier, each form will have 3 equations representing the conservation of mass,
momentum and energy. Let us consider the continuity equation derived for an infinitesimal control
volume as shown below;

Non-conservation form

Conservation form

The first difference that can be noticed between both forms is in the time derivative term. The local
derivative in the conservation form is replaced with a substantial derivative in the non-conservation. In
the conservation form, we make the derivation under the assumption that the control volume is fixed. So
the variation of density with time is given by the local derivative. But in the non-conservation form, the
control volume is assumed to be moving. In this case, the time rate of change of density will be the sum

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8/18/2020 Differences between the Conservative and the Non-Conservative forms of governing equations : Skill Lync

of local derivative (variation due to unsteady nature) and the convective derivative (variation due to
moving control volume).

The second difference that can be noticed is the position of the operator. It is called as the
differential/divergence operator whose dot product with a vector gives the divergence (volume intensity
of outward flux) of that vector field. In the non-conservation form, it can be seen that the divergence
operator is applied only to the velocity field and not density(density lies outside the operator) while in the
conservation form the divergence operator is applied on both and there is no variable outside the
divergence operator.

An interesting point to note in the continuity equation in conservation form is that the quantity that the
divergence operator is acting on (i.e., ) is nothing but the mass flux (the rate of mass flow per unit area or
the momentum per unit volume) which makes sense only when the control-volume is not moving. This
feature continues to occur in the momentum and energy equations as well where the divergence operator
acts on momentum flux and energy flux. The differences mentioned above help us distinguish
conservation form against the non-conservation form of equations.

How do we arrive at each form?

In general, there are two approaches to deriving the governing equations in fluid dynamics. In the first
approach, we have a fixed point on space and we record the properties of fluid elements passing through
it. This is known as the Eulerian approach. In the second approach, we follow the fluid particles as they
travel through the flow. This is known as the Lagrangian approach. A pictorial representation of both
approaches is shown in the picture below.

If the Eulerian approach is used, we get the conservation form of equations and conversely with the
Lagrangian approach, we can form the non-conservation form of equations.

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8/18/2020 Differences between the Conservative and the Non-Conservative forms of governing equations : Skill Lync

Why do we prefer one form over another?

For many of the engineering problems, one can just do away with using either of the two forms. But
each form has its own features that make it suitable for some problems more than the others. Let us
compare both forms in various aspects.

Programming Convenience

In terms of programming convenience, the non-conservation form is the better of the two. It is easier to
program because the equations are solved in terms of the primitive variables (rho, V, T) and their values
can be obtained directly. But in the conservation form, the equations expressed in flux variables and
those need to be modified in terms of solution vectors. The equations are solved for the solution vectors
and then the primitive variables are determined from them. This adds a fair amount of complexity while
solving for the governing equations in conservation-form.

Accuracy

As far as accuracy is concerned, when looking at the primitive variables alone, the non-conservation
form is the more accurate of the two. This is because the primitive variables are directly solved for in the
governing equations in non-conservation form. In the conservation form, the primitive variables are only
computed indirectly from the flux variables since the flux variables are directly solved for in the
conservation equations. This causes a loss in accuracy of the primitive variables in the conservation
form. It is important to note that an increased number of calculations will lead to more errors due to the
computers constantly rounding-off decimal values to machine precision. In that respect, if we consider
the flux variables however, the conservation equations are more accurate for the same reasons
mentioned above.

Convergence rate

The primitive variables converge to a numerical steady-state faster when using the non-conservation
form as compared to the conservation one. The fact that the dependent variables are primitive in non-
conservation forms but not in conservation form might be the cause for that. Consequently, the
simulation time for the non-conservation form is shorter than the conservation form.

Stability

The most important difference between the two forms comes in regard to their stability. It is important
to understand that the equations that we solve in CFD may not always be continuous. There might exist
discontinuities in some regions of the domain due to the physical or mathematical nature of the
equations we’re solving. The primitive variables like density, temperature, and velocity might experience
a sudden jump across these discontinuities. When the governing equation is expressed using the
primitive variables (like in non-conservation form), there may develop large gradients in the solution that
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8/18/2020 Differences between the Conservative and the Non-Conservative forms of governing equations : Skill Lync

might cause the solution to blow up. On the other hand, the flux variables possess an interesting
property that they remain constant across shocks or discontinuities. This is phenomena is illustrated by
comparing the behavior of 2 primitive and flux variables across a shock in the picture shown below:

So, if the governing equations are expressed in terms of flux variables (like in conservation form),
irrespective of the gradients existing in primitive variables, the solution will not blow up since flux
variables are the dependent variables here. Therefore, the conservation form offers better stability as
compared to the non-conservation form.

Applications

In CFD problems involving shock-waves, there are two basic approaches to handling shocks. One is
the shock-capturing approach, where the shock-waves appear naturally inside the solution as a result of
the simulation. This approach is usually followed when dealing with complex problems where the

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8/18/2020 Differences between the Conservative and the Non-Conservative forms of governing equations : Skill Lync

location and number of shock-waves are not known. The other is the shock-fitting approach, where the
shock waves are explicitly introduced into the solution as a discontinuity and the disturbance/information
is allowed to propagate upstream and downstream of the shock using special relations. In the shock-
capturing method, where we’re trying to resolve for the shock since the large gradients might cause
instability inside the solution, the conservation form is the better choice. Whereas in the shock-fitting
approach, since we’re introducing the shock ourselves, and if we’re sure that no other discontinuities
exist, the non-conservation form would be the better choice since it is faster, easier to program and gives
more accurate result for the primitive variables.

Conclusion

In conclusion, one form of governing equations will not work for all the problems. While the non-
conservation form gives a more accurate result, the conservation form shows better conservation
properties. While the former works better for shock-fitting applications, the latter works better for shock-
capturing ones. Therefore, the choice of form largely depends on the nature of the problem and the
critical parameters being measured.

References

1. ‘Computations Fluid Dynamics: The Basics and Applications’ - John D. Anderson, JR.

s siva is the author of this solution article.

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