Having said that, it is a clear introduction to the subject regarding implicit finite volume calculations. It definitely provides enough detail to cobble together a working code if one so desires and nicely covers a lot of small extras that are important in understanding the development of the method. However, it really does not advance the subject much beyond Patankar's book (1980) and it is a little distressing that it misses out on recent advances to this area of CFD. Most notably is that it presents the only solution to pressure-velocity coupling problem to be the staggered grid : well yes that method is robust, but since before 1990 people have been successfully writing robust codes using co-located grids which are really a lot more friendly to work with (especially if one is considering unstructured grids). Also more modern matrix solution methods are currently usually used than are mentioned in the book. Also it does not mention the advantages of multi-grid methods. But all of these are quibbles for a book titled, "An Introduction ..."

For the professional practioner or those looking for a more encompassing and up to date book on the topic I recommend they look at the book by Ferzinger and Peric. However that book is much more advanced in the presentation of the material and might not be suitable to some people as an introduction.

21 of 23 found the following review helpful:


A good introduction to CFD  Apr 12, 2000 By Andrew Campbell
Having first started to read Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow by Patankar and finding it a little complex, this book set out the fundamentals in a logical way. The use of examples throughout the book were a good learning tool.

A good introductory book to using CFD.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


An excellent start to CFD  Apr 22, 2008 By Richard Jones
An excellent place to start for the recent engineering graduate. Leads on from the basic numerical techniques, fluid theory and matrix solutions you learn in your undergraduate courses.
This book will allow you to begin to use CFD codes.
In order to develop a deeper understanding of the codes you are using, or to write your own codes the next step is Ferziger and Peric's "Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics" AND Wilcox's "Turbulence Modeling for CFD".

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Very good  Mar 11, 2007 By Christopher Calebrese
Very clear introduction to the finite volume method, with worked examples at the end of a topic to illustrate the points being discussed.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:


well written, many irritating typos  Oct 21, 2007 By apecar
fairly readable text, not too dense. only problem is the numerous typos throughout the equations.

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