Many times post processing results requires computing average quantities of variables over a surface or volume. CFD-VIEW V2008.2 made it easy by adding three new calculator functions under the ‘Miscellaneous’ function category as shown in Figure 1.

• average
• vaverage
• aaverage

Figure 1. New averaging functions added to the CFD-VIEW calculator. 

1. average: Nodal average function
• Usage: average(variable_name)
• This can be used on any nodal based elements (line, curve, surfaces or volume)
2. aaverage: Area weighted average function
• Usage: aaverage(variable_name)
• This can be used on all surfaces
3. vaverage: Volume weighted average function

• Usage: vaverage(variable_name)
• This can be used on all volumes

A simple example would be a pipe where we would like to calculate the average velocity or pressure at a particular position downstream from the inlet.  To do so, use the following steps:

1. Create a cut (X, Y, or Z) and position it in the desired location in the geometry, as shown in Figure 2.
2. Go to the calculator tab on the Attribute tool bar, as shown in Figure 3.
3. In the Expression window, right click  and select "average" from the Miscellaneous tools
4. Enter the variable (by typing or selecting from the Variables list under right click in the Expression window) for which you would like to get the average value.
5. Click the calculate button, as highlighted in Figure 3.

Figure 2.  Cut through pipe geometry where we will calculate the average pressure.

Figure 3.  Average pressure usage in CFD-VIEW calculation. 

This is one of the many new features included in the V2008.2 Beta release, which can be downloaded from the Software Download section of the ESI CFD Customer Support Portal. 

Regards,
Kartik Shah
ESI CFD Support Team