An idealized subdivision of a physical fluid channel used in computational models and flow analysis. When a main pipe or duct has multiple side openings, engineers split the main volume into discrete theoretical paths, assigning one to each exit. This simplifies the calculation of pressure drops and mass flow rates across complex manifolds or heat exchangers without requiring a full three-dimensional mesh.
The CFD simulation kept crashing until we simplified the manifold geometry into a series of pseudochannels.
Related terms
CFD
Computational Fluid Dynamics, the use of software to simulate and analyze fluid flow and heat transfer.
Computational fluid dynamics
The use of numerical analysis and algorithms to solve and analyze problems involving fluid flow.
Manifold
A pipe or chamber with multiple openings that distributes or gathers fluid.