NeuralFlow solver validation

Independent evidence across the solver

This catalogue presents 45 validation cases from the NeuralFlow validation report dated 8 July 2026, together with an additional one-dimensional charring benchmark based on the published Liu et al. Test-B experiment. Each entry explains the physical capability being examined, the comparison basis and what the reported result demonstrates.

42 retained report cases + charring benchmarkAnalytical, exact, benchmark and experimental evidenceTransient cases use implicit dual time stepping
Validation coverage. NeuralFlow is compared with analytical solutions, established benchmarks and experimental measurements across a broad range of flow, heat-transfer and multiphysics regimes.
Solver coverageConservation, shocks, nozzles, heat transfer, turbulence, reacting flow, particle transport, solid-motor dynamics and high-supersonic aerothermodynamics.
Reference comparisonsAnalytical solutions, established benchmark data and experimental measurements.
Case informationTest objective, mesh size, comparison quantity and result for every case.
Time integrationTransient simulations use implicit dual time stepping.

Transient and conservation

Conservation, wave propagation and vortex transport.

No Flux Test Case

Exact conservation

Purpose. Verify that a closed, uniform field remains unchanged when every boundary flux is zero. Mesh. 500 cells. Evidence and finding. The exact solution is the initial state; the reported density remains uniform at 1.0 throughout the domain.

No Flux Test Case validation figure

Axisymmetric Shock Tube Test Case

Riemann reference

Purpose. Test axisymmetric transient wave propagation through an expansion wave, contact discontinuity and shock. Mesh. 500 cells. Evidence and finding. Density, velocity, pressure and internal-energy profiles are compared with the reference Riemann solution; the principal wave locations and plateau states are reproduced.

Axisymmetric Shock Tube Test Case validation figure

Cylindrical Explosion Test Case

Transient benchmark

Purpose. Test two-dimensional radial expansion of an inviscid pressure discontinuity. Mesh. 10,320 cells. Evidence and finding. Density, radial velocity, pressure and internal energy are compared with the published reference; NeuralFlow follows the expanding cylindrical-wave structure and its main discontinuities.

Cylindrical Explosion Test Case validation figure

Vortex Convection Test Case

Transport benchmark

Purpose. Examine whether a vortex can be advected without excessive numerical diffusion or distortion. Mesh. The mesh count is not specified in the case summary. Evidence and finding. The vorticity profile and initial/final contours show that the transported vortex core remains clearly identifiable with limited distortion.

Vortex Convection Test Case validation figure

Compressible flow, shocks and nozzles

Independent inviscid benchmarks, analytical shock relations and measured nozzle data.

Subsonic Bump Test Case

Published benchmark

Purpose. Validate steady, inviscid subsonic acceleration over a channel bump. Mesh. 3,893 cells. Evidence and finding. Upper- and lower-surface Mach distributions are checked against the published bump-flow reference; NeuralFlow follows the expected acceleration and recovery.

Subsonic Bump Test Case validation figure

Transonic Bump Test Case

Published benchmark

Purpose. Test transonic acceleration and shock formation over a channel bump. Mesh. 13,608 cells. Evidence and finding. Surface Mach distributions and the shock region are compared with the published reference; the report shows the characteristic acceleration, shock and downstream recovery.

Transonic Bump Test Case validation figure

Supersonic Bump Test Case

Published benchmark

Purpose. Test steady inviscid supersonic compression and expansion over the bump. Mesh. 30,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Reference Mach profiles and the expected shock/expansion pattern are reproduced with the main discontinuities in the reported locations.

Supersonic Bump Test Case validation figure

Oblique Shock Test Case

Analytical shock relation

Purpose. Validate a steady oblique shock generated by a 15-degree ramp. Mesh. 165,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Against reference values of 382 K, density 2.277 and Mach 1.874, NeuralFlow reports 377.76 K, 2.231 and 1.898. The respective differences are approximately -1.11%, -2.02% and +1.30%.

Oblique Shock Test Case validation figure

Normal Shock Test Case

Analytical nozzle solution

Purpose. Test acceleration through a supersonic nozzle followed by a normal shock. Mesh. 8,000 cells. Evidence and finding. The axial Mach profile is compared with the analytical nozzle solution; NeuralFlow reproduces the acceleration, shock position and downstream subsonic branch.

Normal shock validation with NeuralFlow and analytical Mach-number comparison and a corrected Mach contour through the nozzle


Isentropic Expansion Test Case

Prandtl-Meyer reference

Purpose. Validate a centered inviscid expansion around a corner. Mesh. 8,154 cells. Evidence and finding. The reference downstream Mach number is 3.237 and NeuralFlow reports 3.1896, a difference of approximately -1.46%; the contour shows the expected expansion fan and increasing Mach number.

Isentropic Expansion Test Case validation figure

Double Throat Nozzle Test Case

Reference profiles

Purpose. Examine the pressure and Mach response through a two-throat nozzle geometry. Mesh. 37,697 cells. Evidence and finding. Wall pressure, symmetry-line pressure and centreline Mach profiles are compared with the report reference, showing the expected acceleration and pressure variation through both restrictions.

Double Throat Nozzle Test Case validation figure

Forward Facing Step Test Case

Woodward-Colella benchmark

Purpose. Test strong-shock capture in a supersonic channel with a forward-facing step. Mesh. 16,128 cells. Evidence and finding. The reported Mach field is assessed against the established benchmark structure and contains the principal incident, reflected and interacting shock systems.

Forward Facing Step Test Case validation figure

Nozzle Flow with Obstacle

Experimental pressure data

Purpose. Test a supersonic nozzle flow disturbed by an exit obstacle or tab. Mesh. 267,200 cells. Evidence and finding. Measured wall-pressure data are compared with the NeuralFlow solution, while the Mach field shows the interaction between the supersonic flow and exit obstacle.

Nozzle obstacle validation with experimental pressure data and NeuralFlow Mach contour

Supersonic Nozzle Flow

Experimental wall pressure

Purpose. Validate internal supersonic nozzle acceleration and wall-pressure development. Mesh. 70,800 cells. Evidence and finding. NeuralFlow wall pressure is compared with the Back-Massier-Gier measurements and follows the measured pressure evolution through the converging-diverging nozzle.

Supersonic Nozzle Flow validation figure

Solid heat transfer

Steady one-dimensional conduction with independent analytical solutions.

Solid Conduction (Const T) Test Case

Analytical conduction

Purpose. Validate steady solid heat conduction with prescribed temperatures. Mesh. 500 cells. Evidence and finding. The computed temperature profile follows the analytical one-dimensional distribution and its linear gradient.

Solid Conduction Constant Temperature Test Case validation figure

Solid Conduction (Const HF) Test Case

Analytical conduction

Purpose. Validate axisymmetric steady conduction with a specified heat flux and an axis boundary condition. Mesh. 500 cells. Evidence and finding. NeuralFlow reproduces the analytical constant-heat-flux temperature gradient.

Solid Conduction Constant Heat Flux Test Case validation figure

Flat-plate family

Laminar, turbulent, thermal, conjugate and supersonic boundary-layer checks.

Laminar Flat Plate (Adiabatic) Test Case

Analytical correlation

Mesh. 4,096 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin-friction and velocity profiles follow laminar flat-plate relations for an adiabatic no-slip wall.

Laminar Flat Plate Adiabatic Test Case plots

Laminar Flat Plate (Cons T) Test Case

Analytical correlation

Mesh. 3,136 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin friction, wall heat flux and velocity development follow the constant-temperature laminar reference.

Laminar Flat Plate Constant Temperature Test Case plots

Laminar Flat Plate (Cons HF) Test Case

Analytical correlation

Mesh. 3,136 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin friction, wall-temperature response and velocity development follow the constant-heat-flux laminar reference.

Laminar Flat Plate Constant Heat Flux Test Case plots

Laminar Flat Plate (CHT) Test Case

Published CHT reference

Mesh. 5,874 cells. Evidence and finding. Coupled fluid-solid heat transfer is checked through skin friction, convection coefficient and velocity profiles against the published conjugate-heat-transfer reference.

Laminar Flat Plate CHT Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Adiabatic) Test Case

Turbulent correlation

Mesh. 13,464 cells. Evidence and finding. With near-wall resolution around y+ = 1, NeuralFlow follows the reference skin-friction and near-wall velocity trends.

Turbulent Flat Plate Adiabatic Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Const T) Test Case

Turbulent correlation

Mesh. 13,056 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin friction, wall heat flux and velocity development follow the constant-temperature turbulent reference.

Turbulent Flat Plate Constant Temperature Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Const HF) Test Case

Turbulent correlation

Mesh. 13,056 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin friction, wall temperature and velocity show the expected constant-heat-flux turbulent development.

Turbulent Flat Plate Constant Heat Flux Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Adiabatic y+) Test Case

Wall-treatment study

Mesh. 13,464 cells for y+ = 1, 3 and 20; 10,744 cells for y+ = 110. Evidence and finding. The report documents how the wall treatment behaves over the tested first-cell spacings.

Turbulent Flat Plate Adiabatic y plus Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (CHT y+) Test Case

Published CHT reference

Mesh. 15,270 / 6,030 / 4,710 / 2,400 cells for y+ = 3 / 20 / 30 / 100. Evidence and finding. Wall-temperature profiles are compared with the published conjugate-heat-transfer reference across multiple near-wall resolutions.

Turbulent Flat Plate CHT y plus Test Case plots

Laminar Flat Plate (Adiabatic SS) Test Case

Compressible correlation

Mesh. 25,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Compressible skin friction and adiabatic recovery-temperature behaviour follow the supersonic laminar reference.

Laminar Flat Plate Adiabatic Supersonic Test Case plots

Laminar Flat Plate (ConstT SS) Test Case

Compressible correlation

Mesh. 25,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin friction, heat flux and near-cell temperature follow the constant-temperature supersonic laminar reference.

Laminar Flat Plate Constant Temperature Supersonic Test Case plots

Laminar Flat Plate (ConstHF SS) Test Case

Compressible correlation

Mesh. 25,000 cells. Evidence and finding. NeuralFlow follows the reference skin-friction and temperature profiles for a constant-heat-flux supersonic laminar wall.

Laminar Flat Plate Constant Heat Flux Supersonic Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Adiabatic SS) Test Case

Compressible correlation

Mesh. 25,000 cells. Evidence and finding. At approximately y+ = 16, NeuralFlow captures the reference compressible turbulent skin friction and recovery temperature.

Turbulent Flat Plate Adiabatic Supersonic Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Cons T SS) Test Case

Compressible correlation

Mesh. 25,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Skin friction, heat flux and near-cell temperature follow the constant-temperature supersonic turbulent reference.

Turbulent Flat Plate Constant Temperature Supersonic Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Cons HF SS) Test Case

Compressible correlation

Mesh. 25,000 cells. Evidence and finding. NeuralFlow follows the expected constant-heat-flux compressible aerodynamic and thermal development.

Turbulent Flat Plate Constant Heat Flux Supersonic Test Case plots

Turbulent Flat Plate (Adiabatic SS y+) Test Case

Wall-treatment study

Mesh. 25,000 cells per subcase. Evidence and finding. The y+ range from 1 to 256 documents the consistency and limits of the supersonic adiabatic wall treatment.

Turbulent Flat Plate Adiabatic Supersonic y plus Test Case plots

Experimental, reacting and particle flows

Wind-tunnel, laboratory and published dispersed-phase comparisons.

Axisymmetric HB2 Test Case

Wind-tunnel correlation

Purpose. Validate Mach-3 axisymmetric external aerodynamics on the HB-2 correlation body. Mesh. 13,761 cells. Evidence and finding. The retained drag comparison uses the published supersonic wind-tunnel correlation; the NeuralFlow Mach-3 point lies close to the measured drag trend.

Axisymmetric HB2 Test Case validation figure

RAE2822 Transonic Airfoil Test Case

Wind-tunnel measurements

Purpose. Validate turbulent transonic external flow and shock formation over the RAE2822 airfoil. Mesh. 20,061 cells. Evidence and finding. Surface pressure coefficient is compared with the AGARD wind-tunnel measurements; NeuralFlow reproduces the measured surface trend and transonic shock region.

RAE2822 Transonic Airfoil Test Case validation figure

Mixing Layer Test Case

Laboratory experiment

Purpose. Validate a steady turbulent compressible mixing layer between streams of different velocity. Mesh. 10,800 cells. Evidence and finding. The transverse velocity profile is checked against the Goebel-Dutton experiment; NeuralFlow captures the measured transition and shear-layer location.

Mixing Layer Test Case validation figure

Supersonic Combustion (BK) Test Case

Experimental species data

Purpose. Validate multispecies supersonic mixing using the inert-gas Burrows-Kurkov configuration. Mesh. 17,180 cells. Evidence and finding. Measured species mass fractions and reported total-temperature data are used; the NeuralFlow profiles reproduce the principal mixing development.

Supersonic Combustion BK Test Case validation figure

Shock Reflection In Supersonic Flow Test Case

Measured wall pressure

Purpose. Test turbulent shock capture in a SCRAMJET-exhaust representation for mixture and multispecies formulations. Mesh. 29,000 and 49,960 cells. Evidence and finding. Measured afterbody pressure is used for the mixture and multispecies formulations. Both formulations reproduce the principal pressure rise associated with the reflected shock.

Shock Reflection In Supersonic Flow Test Case validation figure

Backward Facing Step Flow with Particle

Particle experiment

Purpose. Validate turbulent dispersed-particle transport through a separated backward-facing-step flow. Mesh. 30,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Particle-velocity profiles at four downstream stations are compared with the experiment; NeuralFlow captures the main acceleration and recovery trends.

Backward Facing Step Flow with Particle validation figure

Nozzle Flow with Particle

Published dispersed-flow reference

Purpose. Test a steady laminar gas-particle nozzle flow across subsonic and supersonic regions. Mesh. 10,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Pressure, Mach number, particle density and particle velocity are compared with the published reference; the carrier and dispersed phases reproduce the principal acceleration and particle-response trends.

Nozzle Flow with Particle Test Case validation figure

Flow Instabilities Inside Solid-Propellant Rocket Motors

Published ONERA benchmark

Purpose. Validate unsteady vortex shedding and pressure/velocity oscillations in the ONERA C1 planar and C1x axisymmetric solid-propellant rocket motor configurations. Configuration. The C1 case uses x-velocity probes, while the C1x case uses chamber and downstream pressure probes. Mesh. Not specified in the supplied material. Evidence and finding. NeuralFlow vorticity contours and FFT spectra of x-velocity and pressure are compared with the Kourta (1999) benchmark. The supplied comparison evaluates the dominant frequency bands and associated vortex-shedding structure.

NeuralFlow validation of flow instabilities inside ONERA C1 and C1x solid-propellant rocket motors using vorticity fields and FFT spectra

High-Supersonic Aerodynamics

Experimental aerothermal data

Purpose. Evaluate transient high-supersonic aerothermal response and conjugate heat transfer in a UHTC-copper test article. Operating condition. Mach 4.57, 272 Pa free-stream pressure and 740 K free-stream temperature, evaluated to 60 s. Materials. The UHTC region uses thermal conductivity 66 W/mK, density 6,000 kg/m³ and specific heat 628 J/(kg·K); the copper region uses 401 W/mK, 8,920 kg/m³ and 384.91 J/(kg·K). Mesh. Not specified in the supplied material. Evidence and finding. NeuralFlow is compared directly with the supplied experimental temperature histories at probes P1 and P2. The solver captures the heating trend at both locations; the reported final temperature remains below the measured value, with a smaller difference at P2.

NeuralFlow high-supersonic aerodynamics validation with Mach 4.57 flow, UHTC-copper geometry, Mach field, and experimental transient-temperature comparisons at probes P1 and P2

2D SRM Thrust Verification and Size Dynamics

Experimental motor thrust

Purpose. Assess how condensed aluminum-oxide particle size and dynamic breakup/coalescence affect thrust in a representative two-dimensional solid rocket motor operating at approximately 6 MPa chamber pressure. Configuration. Al₂O₃ particles represent about 35% of the combustion-product mass; the study includes pure-gas, fixed 5, 10 and 20 µm particle cases, and dynamic one-group IATE tracking initialized at 20 µm. Mesh. Not specified in the paper. Evidence and finding. The fixed 20 µm model falls to about 95% of the reference thrust, while dynamic IATE gives the closest numerical agreement with measured motor thrust by reducing particle size in the high-shear, strongly accelerating nozzle region and limiting thermal and momentum lag.

Normalized SRM thrust compared across fixed aluminum-oxide particle sizes and dynamic IATE size tracking

Shock with Particle Test Case

Published reference

Purpose. Test steady dispersed-phase flow through a shock. Mesh. 2,000 cells. Evidence and finding. Carrier pressure and velocity plus particle density and velocity are compared with the published reference. The comparison documents the carrier-flow and particle response through the shock and shows differences within part of the transition region.

Shock with Particle Test Case validation figure

One-dimensional charring material response

Coupled CFD/material benchmark against published particle-free EPDM Test-B conditions.

One-Dimensional Charring — Liu et al. Test B

Experimental ablation reference

Purpose. Assess the coupled compressible-flow / one-dimensional charring response against the published particle-free EPDM Test-B experiment. Published state. Gas temperature 3016 °C (3289.15 K), chamber pressure 6 MPa, gas speed 42 m/s, exposure time 9 s and no particle phase. The reported external ablation rate is 0.121 mm/s.

Reconstruction. NeuralFlow uses a two-dimensional flat-plate reconstruction with a one-dimensional charring wall and a local 0–50 mm comparison interval. Exact coupon dimensions and upstream boundary-layer development are not fully reported in the source paper, so this is not presented as an exact reproduction of the experimental geometry.

Reconstructed Liu et al. Test B CFD setup used for NeuralFlow one-dimensional charring validation

Reconstructed Test-B comparison setup: the published hot-gas state drives the 2-D flat plate, with the primary comparison taken over the local 0–50 mm charring-wall interval.

Evidence and finding. On the fine boundary-layer mesh, the mean equivalent decomposition rate over the comparison interval is 0.121875 mm/s, with mean turbulent-wall y+ = 0.094. On the coarse boundary-layer mesh, the corresponding mean rate is 0.098593 mm/s and mean y+ = 106.36. The fine result is numerically very close to the published 0.121 mm/s measurement, while the coarse case shows stronger streamwise variation and reduced agreement.

NeuralFlow equivalent decomposition rate over the reconstructed 50 mm Liu et al. Test B interval compared with the published scalar

Fine-wall result over the reconstructed 0–50 mm interval. The line is the NeuralFlow equivalent decomposition rate; the published Test-B scalar is shown as the experimental reference.

Interpretation. The published experiment measures external material loss/recession, while the current NeuralFlow quantity is equivalent virgin-to-char decomposition with retained char on a fixed CFD wall. These are related but not identical observables, so the numerical closeness should not be interpreted as a strict ablation prediction error.

Reference. Y. Liu, S. Yang, G. He and J. Li, “An overall ablation model of ethylene-propylene-diene monomer based on porous characteristics in char layer,” Advances in Mechanical Engineering, 8(2), 2016, doi:10.1177/1687814016632415.

Additional SRM validation. The charring model has also been validated against real solid-rocket-motor cases. Those datasets are not shown here because the underlying information is proprietary/classified and publication permission was not available at the time of release.

Lid-driven cavities

Moving-wall viscous-flow benchmarks at Reynolds numbers 100 and 1,000.

Lid Driven Cavity Test Case (Low Re)

Ghia reference

Purpose. Validate low-speed viscous flow with a moving wall at Reynolds number 100. Mesh. 5,944 cells. Evidence and finding. Centreline velocity profiles are compared with the Ghia reference and reproduce the primary recirculation and reference velocity distribution.

Lid Driven Cavity Test Case Low Reynolds validation figure

Lid Driven Cavity Test Case (High Re)

Ghia reference

Purpose. Validate the moving-wall cavity at Reynolds number 1,000. Mesh. 5,944 cells. Evidence and finding. Centreline velocity profiles agree with the Ghia reference trends, including the stronger primary vortex and secondary corner structures.

Lid Driven Cavity Test Case High Reynolds validation figure
42 cases are retained from the 48-case source report. The Liu et al. Test-B one-dimensional charring benchmark is an additional validation-oriented case documented separately. The spherical explosion, transient solid-conduction case, Transonic Converging Duct, both Subsonic Converging Duct inlet variants and Rocket Motor Internal Flow are excluded from the source-report catalogue. The last four were removed because their only quantitative comparator in the report is Ansys Fluent.