Single-Precision and Double-Precision Solvers

Both single-precision and double-precision versions of ANSYS FLUENT are available on all computer platforms. For most cases, the single-precision solver will be sufficiently accurate, but certain types of problems may benefit from the use of a double-precision version. Several examples are listed below:

If your geometry has features of very disparate length scales (e.g., a very long, thin pipe), single-precision calculations may not be adequate to represent the node coordinates.

If your geometry involves multiple enclosures connected via small-diameter pipes (e.g., automotive manifolds), mean pressure levels in all but one of the zones can be quite large (since you can set only one global reference pressure location). Double-precision calculations may therefore be necessary to resolve the pressure differences that drive the flow, since these will typically be much smaller than the pressure levels.

For conjugate problems involving high thermal-conductivity ratios and/or high-aspect-ratio meshes, convergence and/or accuracy may be impaired with the single-precision solver, due to inefficient transfer of boundary information.

For multiphase problems where the population balance model is used to resolve particle size distributions, which could have statistical moments whose values span many orders of magnitude.