Incompressible moving boundary flows with the finite volume particle method

Mesh-free methods offer the potential for greatly simplified modeling of flow with moving walls and phase interfaces. The finite volume particle method (FVPM) is a mesh-free technique based on interparticle fluxes which are exactly analogous to intercell fluxes in the mesh-based finite volume method. Consequently, the method inherits many of the desirable properties of the classical finite volume method, including implicit conservation and a natural introduction of boundary conditions via appropriate flux terms. In this paper, we describe the extension of FVPM to incompressible viscous flow with moving boundaries. An arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian approach is used, in conjunction with the mesh-free discretisation, to facilitate a straightforward treatment of moving bodies. Non-uniform particle distribution is used to concentrate computational effort in regions of high gradients. The underlying method for viscous incompressible flow is validated for a lid-driven cavity problem at Reynolds numbers of 100 and 1000. To validate the simulation of moving boundaries, flow around a translating cylinder at Reynolds numbers of 20, 40 and 100 is modeled. Results for pressure distribution, surface forces and vortex shedding frequency are in good agreement with reference data from the literature and with FVPM results for an equivalent flow around a stationary cylinder. These results establish the capability of FVPM to simulate large wall motions accurately in an entirely mesh-free framework.     

基于“新息误差”的粒子流滤波算法

在粒子滤波（PF）过程中存在粒子权值退化、维度灾难、计算成本高等问题。粒子流滤波通过构造对数同伦函数避免了粒子权值退化问题，但是在求解边值问题时过于依赖观测方程，当噪声较大时效果较差。针对上述问题，提出了一种改进的粒子流滤波算法。首先，该算法在粒子流动的过程中引入了一种“新息误差”结构，使每个粒子的更新相互独立；其次，利用Galerkin有限元法求得边值问题的数值解，从而消除了拟合样本先验可能导致的数值不稳定问题；最后，分别在通用非线性滤波模型和机动目标跟踪模型中对改进的算法进行了性能测试。仿真结果表明，改进的算法可以抑制系统对观测信息的依赖性，在噪声增大的情况下也能得到相对较好的结果，有效改善了滤波精度，而在多维目标跟踪情况下算法的计算效率与滤波精度高于标准粒子滤波。     

基于“新息误差”的粒子流滤波算法

在粒子滤波（PF）过程中存在粒子权值退化、维度灾难、计算成本高等问题。粒子流滤波通过构造对数同伦函数避免了粒子权值退化问题,但是在求解边值问题时过于依赖观测方程,当噪声较大时效果较差。针对上述问题,提出了一种改进的粒子流滤波算法。首先,该算法在粒子流动的过程中引入了一种“新息误差”结构,使每个粒子的更新相互独立;其次,利用Galerkin有限元法求得边值问题的数值解,从而消除了拟合样本先验可能导致的数值不稳定问题;最后,分别在通用非线性滤波模型和机动目标跟踪模型中对改进的算法进行了性能测试。仿真结果表明,改进的算法可以抑制系统对观测信息的依赖性,在噪声增大的情况下也能得到相对较好的结果,有效改善了滤波精度,而在多维目标跟踪情况下算法的计算效率与滤波精度高于标准粒子滤波。     

Comparative study of different numerical approaches in space–time CESE framework for high-fidelity flow simulations

With the advancement of computer hardware, the trend of research in computational fluid dynamics is moving towards development of highly accurate, unstructured-mesh compatible, robust and efficient numerical methods for simulating problems involving strong transient effects and relatively complex geometries as well as physics. The space–time conservation element and solution element method is a genuinely multi-dimensional, unstructured-mesh compatible numerical framework, which was built from a consistent and synergetic integration of conservation laws in the space–time domain to avoid the limitations of conventional schemes, such as the use of 1-D flux reconstruction with a Riemann solver. It has been shown that the framework can be used for time-accurate simulations of a variety of problems involving unsteady waves, strong flow discontinuities, and their interactions with remarkable accuracy. However, this method at its current state has encountered the challenge in balancing the robustness and numerical accuracy when highly stretched meshes were used in viscous flow simulation. In this paper, we briefly discuss various numerical approaches developed for this framework thus far as well as their strengths and weaknesses, and conduct a comparative study of their numerical accuracies using some 2-D viscous benchmark test cases. The application of this method in realistic, complex 3-D problems is also included here to demonstrate its computational efficiency in large-scale computing.     

Numerical simulation of Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows in bypass

This paper deals with the numerical solution of Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows with biomedical applications. The flows are supposed to be laminar, viscous, incompressible and steady or unsteady with prescribed pressure variation at the outlet. The model used for non-Newtonian fluids is a variant of power law. Governing equations in this model are incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. For numerical solution we use artificial compressibility method with three stage Runge–Kutta method and finite volume method in cell centered formulation for discretization of space derivatives. The following cases of flows are solved: steady Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow through a bypass connected to main channel in 2D, steady Newtonian flow in angular bypass in 3D and unsteady non-Newtonian flow through bypass in 2D. Some 2D and 3D results that could have application in the area of biomedicine are presented.     

High Order Computation of the History Term in the Equation of Motion for a Spherical Particle in a Fluid

The historical evolution of the equation of motion for a spherical particle in a fluid and the search for its general solution are recalled. The presence of an integral term that is nonzero under unsteady motion and viscous conditions allowed simple analytical or numerical solutions for the particle dynamics to be found only in a few particular cases. A general solution to the equation of motion seems to require the use of computational methods. Numerical schemes to handle the integral term of the equation of motion have already been developed. We present here adaptations of a first order method for the implementation at high order, which may employ either fixed or variable computation time steps. Some examples are shown to establish comparisons between diverse numerical methods.     

Manifold method coupled velocity and pressure for Navier-Stokes equations and direct numerical solution of unsteady incompressible viscous flow

Numerical manifold method (NMM) application to direct numerical solution for unsteady incompressible viscous flow Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations was discussed in this paper, and numerical manifold schemes for N-S equations were derived based on Galerkin weighted residuals method as well. Mixed covers with linear polynomial function for velocity and constant function for pressure was employed in finite element cover system. The patch test demonstrated that mixed covers manifold elements meet the stability conditions and can be applied to solve N-S equations coupled velocity and pressure variables directly. The numerical schemes with mixed covers have also been proved to be unconditionally stable. As applications, mixed cover 4-node rectangular manifold element has been used to simulate the unsteady incompressible viscous flow in typical driven cavity and flow around a square cylinder in a horizontal channel. High accurate results obtained from much less calculational variables and very large time steps are in very good agreement with the compact finite difference solutions from very fine element meshes and very less time steps in references. Numerical tests illustrate that NMM is an effective and high order accurate numerical method for unsteady incompressible viscous flow N-S equations.     

Numerical solution of incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using a fractional-step approach

A fractional step method for the solution of steady and unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations is outlined. The method is based on a finite-volume formulation and uses the pressure in the cell center and the mass fluxes across the faces of each cell as dependent variables. Implicit treatment of convective and viscous terms in the momentum equations enables the numerical stability restrictions to be relaxed. The linearization error in the implicit solution of momentum equations is reduced by using three subiterations in order to achieve second order temporal accuracy for time-accurate calculations. In spatial discretizations of the momentum equations, a high-order (third and fifth) flux-difference splitting for the convective terms and a second-order central difference for the viscous terms are used. The resulting algebraic equations are solved with a line-relaxation scheme which allows the use of large time step. A four color ZEBRA scheme is employed after the line-relaxation procedure in the solution of the Poisson equation for pressure. This procedure is applied to a Couette flow problem using a distorted computational grid to show that the method minimizes grid effects. Additional benchmark cases include the unsteady laminar flow over a circular cylinder for Reynolds numbers of 200, and a 3-D, steady, turbulent wingtip vortex wake propagation study. The solution algorithm does a very good job in resolving the vortex core when fifth-order upwind differencing and a modified production term in the Baldwin–Barth one-equation turbulence model are used with adequate grid resolution.     

Certified Reduced Basis Approximation for the Coupling of Viscous and Inviscid Parametrized Flow Models

We present a model order reduction approach for parametrized laminar flow problems including viscous boundary layers. The viscous effects are captured by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in the vicinity of the boundary layer, whereas a potential flow model is used in the outer region. By this, we provide an accurate model that avoids imposing the Kutta condition for potential flows as well as an expensive numerical solution of a global viscous model. To account for the parametrized nature of the problem, we apply the reduced basis method. The accuracy of the reduced order model is ensured by rapidly computable a posteriori error estimates. The main contributions of this paper are the combination of an offline-online splitting with the domain decomposition approach, reducing both offline and online computational loads and a new kernel interpolation method for the approximation of the stability factor in the online evaluation of the error estimate. The viability of our approach is demonstrated by numerical experiments for the section of a NACA airfoil.     

On modelling angular momentum and vorticity in compressible fluid flow

The conservation of angular momentum and the preservation of vorticity are examined in particle-in cell and finite difference solutions to the equations for viscous, compressible flow. Both methods are found to conserve angular momentum in the solution of the Lagrangian equations of motion to O(Δt²). In the modeling of convection, however, the finite difference method has computational diffusion that is absent in the particle-in-cell method. In numerical experiments, the effect of computational diffusion is shown to be greater as the number of grid points is decreased.     

Computation of the integrated flow of particles between polygons

To quantify the flow of particles over a heterogeneous area, some models require the integration of a pointwise dispersal function over source and target polygons. This calculation is a non-trivial task and may require a great deal of computing time. In this paper, an efficient and accurate algorithm is presented to integrate general individual dispersal functions between pairs of convex or non-convex polygons. Geometric calculations are performed using standard tools from computational geometry. Numerical integration is then performed either by a grid method or by an adaptive cubature method. The procedure is illustrated with a case study. It is shown that the cubature method is much more efficient than the grid method and that its error estimates are accurate. The algorithm is implemented in a C++ program, Califlopp.     

Modified kinetic flux vector splitting (m-KFVS) method for compressible flows

To resolve many flow features accurately, like accurate capture of suction peak in subsonic flows and crisp shocks in flows with discontinuities, to minimise the loss in stagnation pressure in isentropic flows or even flow separation in viscous flows require an accurate and low dissipative numerical scheme. The first order kinetic flux vector splitting (KFVS) method has been found to be very robust but suffers from the problem of having much more numerical diffusion than required, resulting in inaccurate computation of the above flow features. However, numerical dissipation can be reduced by refining the grid or by using higher order kinetic schemes. In flows with strong shock waves, the higher order schemes require limiters, which reduce the local order of accuracy to first order, resulting in degradation of flow features in many cases. Further, these schemes require more points in the stencil and hence consume more computational time and memory. In this paper, we present a low dissipative modified KFVS (m-KFVS) method which leads to improved splitting of inviscid fluxes. The m-KFVS method captures the above flow features more accurately compared to first order KFVS and the results are comparable to second order accurate KFVS method, by still using the first order stencil.     

基于物理的波浪实时模拟方法

为解决广域范围内波浪状态的实时计算和可视化问题,结合无粘滞流体力学的物理模型,提出了一种以三角形为控制单元的有限体积简化算法。该算法的优点在于：以不规则边界区域的非规则三角网格为基础,通过简化通量向量分裂方法获得三角形控制单元的边界数值通量,能快速逼近二维浅水方程的解进而模拟非规则边界浅水的实时流动。实验结果显示,所提方法能在符合现实世界物理规律的前提下较好地实现大规模波浪的实时可视化模拟。     

Three-dimensional discrete-velocity BGK model for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been widely used for the simulations of the incompressible Navier–Stokes (NS) equations. The finite difference Boltzmann method (FDBM) in which the discrete-velocity Boltzmann equation is solved instead of the lattice Boltzmann equation has also been applied as an alternative method for simulating the incompressible flows. The particle velocities of the FDBM can be selected independently from the lattice configuration. In this paper, taking account of this advantage, we present the discrete velocity Boltzmann equation that has a minimum set of the particle velocities with the lattice Bharnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) model for the three-dimensional incompressible NS equations. To recover incompressible NS equations, tensors of the particle velocities have to be isotropic up to the fifth rank. Thus, we propose to apply the icosahedral vectors that have 13 degrees of freedom to the particle velocity distributions. Validity of the proposed model (D3Q13BGK) is confirmed by numerical simulations of the shear-wave decay problem and the Taylor–Green vortex problem. With respect to numerical accuracy, computational efficiency and numerical stability, we compare the proposed model with the conventional lattice BGK models (D3Q15, D3Q19 and D3Q27) and the multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) model (D3Q13MRT) that has the same degrees of freedom as our proposal. The comparisons show that the compressibility error of the proposed model is approximately double that of the conventional lattice BGK models, but the computational efficiency of the proposed model is superior to that of the others. The linear stability of the proposed model is also superior to that of the lattice BGK models. However, in non-linear simulations, the proposed model tends to be less stable than the others.     

Three dimensional numerical simulations of long-span bridge aerodynamics, using block-iterative coupling and DES

The design of long-span bridges often depends on wind tunnel testing of sectional or full aeroelastic models. Some progress has been made to find a computational alternative to replace these physical tests. In this paper, an innovative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is presented, where the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is solved through a self-developed code combined with an ANSYS-CFX solver. Then an improved CFD method based on block-iterative coupling is also proposed. This method can be readily used for two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) structure modelling. Detached-Eddy simulation for 3D viscous turbulent incompressible flow is applied to the 3D numerical analysis of bridge deck sections. Firstly, 2D numerical simulations of a thin airfoil demonstrate the accuracy of the present CFD method. Secondly, numerical simulations of a U-shape beam with both 2D and 3D modelling are conducted. The comparisons of aerodynamic force coefficients thus obtained with wind tunnel test results well meet the prediction that 3D CFD simulations are more accurate than 2D CFD simulations. Thirdly, 2D and 3D CFD simulations are performed for two generic bridge deck sections to produce their aerodynamic force coefficients and flutter derivatives. The computed values agree well with the available computational and wind tunnel test results. Once again, this demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed 3D CFD simulations. Finally, the 3D based wake flow vision is captured, which shows another advantage of 3D CFD simulations. All the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed 3D CFD method has good accuracy and significant benefits for aerodynamic analysis and computational FSI studies of long-span bridges and other slender structures.     

The simulation of 3D unsteady incompressible flows with moving boundaries on unstructured meshes

The development of a computational model for the simulation of three-dimensional unsteady incompressible viscous fluid flows with moving boundaries is presented. The numerical model is based upon the solution of the Navier–Stokes equations on unstructured meshes using the artificial compressibility approach. An ALE formulation is adopted and the equations are discretized using a cell vertex finite volume method. The formulation ensures the satisfaction of the geometric conservation law when the mesh is allowed to move. An implicit time discretization is adopted and a dual time approach is employed. Explicit relaxation is used for the sub-iterations, with multigrid acceleration. For moving geometries, the mesh is deformed by adopting a spring analogy, combined with a wall distance function approach. The numerical procedure is validated on a standard problem and is then used for the simulation of flow over a flexible fish-like body.     

Stencil adaptive diffuse interface method for simulation of two-dimensional incompressible multiphase flows

Diffuse interface method is becoming a more and more popular approach for simulation of multiphase flows. As compared to other solvers, it is easy to implement and can keep conservation of mass and momentum. In the diffuse interface method, the interface is not considered as a sharp discontinuity. Instead, it treats the interface as a diffuse layer with a small thickness. This treatment is similar to the shock-capturing method. To have a fine resolution around the interface, one has to use very fine mesh in the computational domain. As a consequence, a large computational effort will be needed. To improve the computational efficiency, this paper incorporates the efficient 5-points stencil adaptive algorithm [1] into the diffuse interface method with local refinement around the interface and then applies the developed method to simulate two-dimensional incompressible multiphase flows. Three cases are chosen to test the performance of the method, including Young-Laplace law for a 2D drop, drop deformation in the shear flow and viscous finger formation. The method is well validated through the comparison with theoretical analysis or earlier results available in the literature. It is shown that the method can obtain accurate results at much lower cost, even for problems with moving contact lines. The improvement of computational efficiency by the stencil adaptive algorithm is demonstrated obviously.     

Modeling of indoor airflow and dispersion of aerosols using immersed boundary and random flow generation methods

Numerical modeling of environmental flows involves complex geometry, moving bodies, multi-phase flow, and buoyant jet effects. An in-house CFD code has been developed using finite volume and immersed boundary methods. The transport and dispersion of virus-laden aerosols in a ventilated room is investigated by this numerical code. The uniqueness of this numerical code is that it can efficiently compute small-scale turbulent flow in which most commercial CFD software will suffer from large numerical error. Random flow generation (RFG) [33] is an ideal choice for small-scale turbulence for low-Reynolds number flow in a ventilated room. In addition, Lagrangian stochastic (LS) walk model is applied to directly compute probability density function (PDF) of aerosols and estimate the risk factor of aerosol dispersion from a point source. The present study focuses on aerosols with small diameter (<10 μm) in which the effects of evaporation on the dispersion of aerosols could be neglected. Different location of aerosol sources and a typical ventilation layout are discussed in detail. The numerical results with PDF yield more useful quantitative information to assess the risk area of virus transport in a ventilated room than that shown in random trajectories of particles as widely reported in the literature. This study provides valuable information for ventilation control strategies with respiratory protection, such as enhanced air exchange, air filtration rate, and improved airflow patterns to reduce indoor infection risk via airborne virus laden droplets.     

SPH-GPU并行计算在风沙流中的应用

为了实现小尺度范围风沙运动的真实感模拟,采用基于拉格朗日力学无网格形式的光滑粒子流体动力学（smooth particle hydrodynamics,SPH）方法解决了基于欧拉网格法因网格大变形或者变形边界等引起的各种问题,并克服了不能用固定欧拉网格追踪任意单颗粒子运动轨迹的困难,因此该方法在研究风沙运动方面有着独特的优势。然而,随着风沙流动中SPH粒子数目的增加,该方法计算效率低,计算规模大的缺陷在风沙模拟过程中尤为明显。为了提高其计算效率,在CUDA软硬件平台上,建立SPH-GPU并行加速的二维气沙两相耦合模型,对串行的热点程序进行分析,找出最耗时且适合并行的热点程序;其次对GPU并行计算模型进行验证,宏观上得到了沙粒群运动的时空变化规律,微观上得到了典型沙粒的跃移轨迹和变异的尖角轨迹;最后对比了三种不同粒子数下CPU与GPU的计算效率。模拟结果证明SPH-GPU并行计算方法能够进一步应用在风沙流的数值模拟研究中。     

Topological derivatives applied to fluid flow channel design optimization problems

Topology optimization methods application for viscous flow problems is currently an active area of research. A general approach to deal with shape and topology optimization design is based on the topological derivative. This relatively new concept represents the first term of the asymptotic expansion of a given shape functional with respect to the small parameter which measures the size of singular domain perturbations, such as holes and inclusions. In previous topological derivative-based formulations for viscous fluid flow problems, the topology is obtained by nucleating and removing holes in the fluid domain which creates numerical difficulties to deal with the boundary conditions for these holes. Thus, we propose a topological derivative formulation for fluid flow channel design based on the concept of traditional topology optimization formulations in which solid or fluid material is distributed at each point of the domain to optimize the cost function subjected to some constraints. By using this idea, the problem of dealing with the hole boundary conditions during the optimization process is solved because the asymptotic expansion is performed with respect to the nucleation of inclusions – which mimic solid or fluid phases – instead of inserting or removing holes in the fluid domain, which allows for working in a fixed computational domain. To evaluate the formulation, an optimization problem which consists in minimizing the energy dissipation in fluid flow channels is implemented. Results from considering Stokes and Navier-Stokes are presented and compared, as well as two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) designs. The topologies can be obtained in a few iterations with well defined boundaries.