Ray Effect and False Scattering in the Discrete Ordinates Method
Abstract
A discussion on the ray effect and false scattering occurring in discrete ordinates solution of the radiative transfer equation is presented in this article. Ray effect arises from the approximation of a continuously varying angular nature of radiation by a specified set of discrete angular directions. It is independent of the spatial discretization practice. False scattering, on the other hand, is a consequence of the spatial discretization practice and is independent of the angular discretization practice. In multidimensional computations, when a beam is not aligned with the grid line, false scattering smears the radiative intensity field. It reduces the appearance of unwanted bumps, but does not eliminate ray effect. An inappropriate view of false scattering is also presented. Four sample problems are used to explain these two effects.
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Keeping angular discretization coarse can lead to significant errors in the computed radiation field, particularly for small or diffuse light sources.
“In order to save computational resources, the angular discretization might be kept coarse, which, however, can lead to significant errors in the computed radiation field, particularly in case of small or diffuse light sources [204-206].”
From Modeling and Simulation of Photobioreactors with Computational Fluid Dynamics—A Comprehensive Review (2022) · cites this paper as [204]
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- Authors
- Chai, J. C., Lee, H. S., & Patankar, S. V.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Glenn Research Center (US)
- ORCID
- Chai, John C.
- Venue
- Numerical Heat Transfer, Part B: Fundamentals
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1993-12
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 373-389
- ISSN
- 1040-7790 (ISSN-L)
- 1521-0626
- OpenAlex
- W2024416429
- Cited by
- 282
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 2.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Numerical Heat Transfer Part B Fundamentals (publishedVersion)
- University of Huddersfield Repository (University of Huddersfield) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Radiative Heat Transfer Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Heat Transfer and Numerical Methods
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design › Computer Graphics and Visualization Techniques
- Keywords
- ray effects, discrete ordinates method, radiative transfer equation, angular discretization, spatial discretization, 3D radiative transfer, beam misalignment
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