Combined three‐dimensional lattice Boltzmann method and discrete element method for modelling fluid–particle interactions with experimental assessment

A general algorithmic framework is established in this paper for numerical simulations of three‐dimensional fluid–particle interaction problems with a large number of moving particles in turbulent flows using a combined lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and discrete element method (DEM). In this approach, the fluid field is solved by the extended three‐dimensional LBM with the incorporation of the Smagorinsky turbulence model, while particle interactions are modelled by the DEM. The hydrodynamic interactions between fluid and particles are realized through the extension of an existing two‐dimensional fluid–particle hydrodynamic interaction scheme. The main computational aspects comprise the lattice Boltzmann formulation for the solution of fluid flows, the incorporation of a large eddy simulation‐based turbulence model within the framework of the three‐dimensional LBM for turbulent flows, the moving boundary condition for hydrodynamic interactions between fluid and moving particles, and the discrete element modelling of particle‐particle interactions. To assess the solution accuracy of the proposed approach, a much simplified laboratory model of vacuum dredging systems for mineral recovery is employed. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data available. It shows that the overall correspondence between numerical results and experimental measurements is good and thus indicates, to a certain extent, the solution accuracy of the proposed methodology. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Instability and treatments of the coupled discrete element and lattice Boltzmann method by the immersed moving boundary scheme

The immersed moving boundary (IMB) scheme has been extensively used to couple the discrete element method (DEM) with the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). In the literature, only the formulation of IMB for lattice nodal cells covered by a single-solid particle was given. The treatment of situations where a nodal cell is covered by two or more solid particles is seldom discussed. It is found that some numerical instability can occur for such situations due to an inappropriate computation of the weighting function in the IMB formulation. This work presents an enhanced treatment that can resolve the issue and validates it using some benchmark tests. Furthermore, to avoid the extra costs associated with the treatment and simplify the complicated procedure introduced, a simplified IMB scheme is proposed. The accuracy of both enhanced and simplified IMB schemes are validated by test cases including single-particle sedimentation, two-particle drafting-kissing-tumbling phenomenon, and multiple-particle sedimentation. Then, the robustness of both schemes is examined and discussed using a specially designed flow past cylinders test. The simplified IMB scheme is proved to be robust and sufficiently accurate and simpler and more effective than the enhanced scheme.     

An improved immersed moving boundary for hydrodynamic force calculation in lattice Boltzmann method

Particles suspension is considerably prevalent in petroleum industry and chemical engineering. The efficient and accurate simulation of such a process is always a challenge for both the traditional computational fluid dynamics and lattice Boltzmann method. Immersed moving boundary (IMB) method is promising to resolve this issue by introducing a particle-fluid interaction term in the standard lattice Boltzmann equation, which allows for the smooth hydrodynamic force calculation even for a large grid size relative to the solid particle. Although the IMB method was proved good for stationary particles, the deviation of hydrodynamic force on moving particles exists. In this work, we reveal the physical origin of this problem first and figure out that the internal fluid effect on the hydrodynamic force calculation is not counted in the previous IMB. An improved immersed moving boundary method is therefore proposed by considering the internal fluid correction, which is easy to implement with the little extra computation cost. A 2D single elliptical particle and a 3D sphere sedimentation in Newtonian fluid is simulated directly for the validation of the corrected model by excellent agreements with the standard data.     

Immersed smoothed finite element method for two dimensional fluid–structure interaction problems

A novel method called immersed smoothed FEM using three‐node triangular element is proposed for two‐dimensional fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems with largely deformable nonlinear solids placed within incompressible viscous fluid. The fluid flows are solved using the semi‐implicit characteristic‐based split method. Smoothed FEMs are employed to calculate the transient responses of solids based on explicit time integration. The fictitious fluid with two assumptions is introduced to achieve the continuous form of the FSI conditions. The discrete formulations to calculate the FSI forces are obtained in terms of the characteristic‐based split scheme, and the algorithm based on a set of fictitious fluid mesh is proposed for evaluating the FSI force exerted on the solid. The accuracy, stability, and convergence properties of immersed smoothed FEM are verified by numerical examples. Investigations on the mesh size ratio indicate that the stability is fairly independent of the wide range of the mesh size ratio. No additional volume correction is required to satisfy the incompressible constraints. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupling of finite element and boundary integral methods for a capsule in a Stokes flow

We introduce a new numerical method to model the fluid–structure interaction between a microcapsule and an external flow. An explicit finite element method is used to model the large deformation of the capsule wall, which is treated as a bidimensional hyperelastic membrane. It is coupled with a boundary integral method to solve for the internal and external Stokes flows. Our results are compared with previous studies in two classical test cases: a capsule in a simple shear flow and in a planar hyperbolic flow. The method is found to be numerically stable, even when the membrane undergoes in‐plane compression, which had been shown to be a destabilizing factor for other methods. The results are in very good agreement with the literature. When the viscous forces are increased with respect to the membrane elastic forces, three regimes are found for both flow cases. Our method allows a precise characterization of the critical parameters governing the transitions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The lattice Boltzmann method and the finite volume method applied to conduction–radiation problems with heat flux boundary conditions

This article deals with the implementation of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) in conjunction with the finite volume method (FVM) for the solution of conduction–radiation problems with heat flux and temperature boundary conditions. Problems in 1‐D planar and 2‐D rectangular geometries have been considered. The radiating–conducting participating medium is absorbing, emitting and scattering. In the 1‐D planar geometry, the south boundary is subjected to constant heat flux, while in the 2‐D geometry the south and/or the north boundary is at constant heat flux condition. The remaining boundaries are at prescribed temperatures. The energy equation is solved using the LBM and the radiative information for the same is computed using the FVM. In the direct method, by prescribing temperatures at the boundaries, the temperature profile and heat flux are calculated. The computed heat flux values are imposed at the boundaries to establish the correctness of the numerical code in the inverse method. Effects of various parameters such as the extinction coefficient, the scattering albedo, the conduction–radiation parameter, the boundary emissivity and the total heat flux and boundary temperatures are studied on the distributions of temperature, radiative and conductive heat fluxes. The results of the LBM in conjunction with the FVM have been found to compare very well with those available in the literature. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unified fractional step method for Lagrangian analysis of quasi‐incompressible fluid and nonlinear structure interaction using the PFEM

The fractional step method (FSM) is an efficient solution technique for the particle finite element method, a Lagrangian‐based approach to simulate fluid–structure interaction (FSI). Despite various refinements, the applicability of the FSM has been limited to low viscosity flow and FSI simulations with a small number of equations along the fluid–structure interface. To overcome these limitations, while incorporating nonlinear response in the structural domain, an FSM that unifies structural and fluid response in the discrete governing equations is developed using the quasi‐incompressible formulation. With this approach, fluid and structural particles do not need to be treated separately, and both domains are unified in the same system of equations. Thus, the equations along the fluid–structure interface do not need to be segregated from the fluid and structural domains. Numerical examples compare the unified FSM with the non‐unified FSM and show that the computational cost of the proposed method overcomes the slow convergence of the non‐unified FSM for high values of viscosity. As opposed to the non‐unified FSM, the number of iterations required for convergence with the unified FSM becomes independent of viscosity and time step, and the simulation run time does not depend on the size of the FSI interface. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional modelling and simulation of magnetorheological fluids

A magnetorheological fluid (MR fluid) is a type of smart fluid composed of micrometer‐sized magnetizable particles suspended in a carrier fluid. The rheological properties of an MR fluid can be greatly altered upon application of an external magnetic field. This paper presents a computational framework for the numerical study of MR fluids, in which a two‐stage modelling and simulation strategy is proposed to achieve reasonable accuracy and computational efficiency. At the first stage for simulating the particle chain formation, the particle dynamics plays a major role whereas the hydrodynamics of the fluid flow is of secondary importance. Thus an MR fluid is modelled in the context of the discrete element method and the simple Stokes formula is adopted for the hydrodynamic interaction. At the second stage, the formulated particle chains are applied as the initial configuration for simulating the rheological properties of the fluid under different shear loading conditions. A combined lattice Boltzmann and discrete element approach is employed to fully resolve the fluid field and the hydrodynamic interactions between the fluid and the particles. Some relevant magnetic models are comprehensively reviewed and the mutual dipole model is employed in this work to account for the magnetic interactions between the particles. The proposed solution procedure is illustrated via a set of numerical simulations for a representative volume element of an MR fluid. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A discrete splitting finite element method for numerical simulations of incompressible Navier–Stokes flows

The presence of the pressure and the convection terms in incompressible Navier–Stokes equations makes their numerical simulation a challenging task. The indefinite system as a consequence of the absence of the pressure in continuity equation is ill‐conditioned. This difficulty has been overcome by various splitting techniques, but these techniques incur the ambiguity of numerical boundary conditions for the pressure as well as for the intermediate velocity (whenever introduced). We present a new and straightforward discrete splitting technique which never resorts to numerical boundary conditions. The non‐linear convection term can be treated by four different approaches, and here we present a new linear implicit time scheme. These two new techniques are implemented with a finite element method and numerical verifications are made. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The particle finite element method: a powerful tool to solve incompressible flows with free‐surfaces and breaking waves

Particle Methods are those in which the problem is represented by a discrete number of particles. Each particle moves accordingly with its own mass and the external/internal forces applied to it. Particle Methods may be used for both, discrete and continuous problems. In this paper, a Particle Method is used to solve the continuous fluid mechanics equations. To evaluate the external applied forces on each particle, the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using a Lagrangian formulation are solved at each time step. The interpolation functions are those used in the Meshless Finite Element Method and the time integration is introduced by an implicit fractional‐step method. In this manner classical stabilization terms used in the momentum equations are unnecessary due to lack of convective terms in the Lagrangian formulation. Once the forces are evaluated, the particles move independently of the mesh. All the information is transmitted by the particles. Fluid–structure interaction problems including free‐fluid‐surfaces, breaking waves and fluid particle separation may be easily solved with this methodology. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A saturated discrete particle model and characteristic-based SPH method in granular materials

Based on the discrete particle model for solid-phase deformation of granular materials consisting of dry particulate assemblages, a discrete particle–continuum model for modelling the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour in saturated granular materials is developed. The motion of the interstitial fluid is described by two parallel continuum schemes governed by the averaged incompressible N–S equations and Darcy's law, respectively, where the latter one can be regarded as a degraded case of the former. Owing to the merits in both Lagrangian and mesh-free characters, the characteristic-based smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is proposed in this paper for modelling pore fluid flows relative to the deformed solid phase that is modelled as packed assemblages of interacting discrete particles. It is assumed that the formulation is Lagrangian with the co-ordinate system transferring with the movement of the solid particles. The assumed continuous fluid field is discretized into a finite set of Lagrangian (material) points with their number equal to that of solid particles situated in the computational domain. An explicit meshless scheme for granular materials with interstitial water is formulated. Numerical results illustrate the capability and performance of the present model in modelling the fluid–solid interaction and deformation in granular materials saturated with water. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

低温回热制冷机内交变流动与换热的格子-Boltzmann方法模拟

采用格子-Boltzmann方法(LBM)分别通过对二维通道及多孔介质内交变流动与换热进行了数值模拟,以研究低温回热制冷机中脉冲管内及回热器内交变流动与换热规律.结果表明:二维通道交变流动结果与解析解吻合得很好.当交变流动数较大时,出现速度环形效应,温度表现为周期波动变化.多孔介质内各点速度总体均呈现交替波动变化,但振...     

Direct numerical simulation of saturated deformable porous media using parallel hybrid Lattice–Boltzmann and finite element method

Numerical techniques for modeling saturated deformable porous media have mainly been based on mixture theory or homogenization techniques. However, these techniques rely on phenomenological relationships for the constitutive equations along with assumptions of homogeneous and isotopic material properties to obtain closure. Direct numerical simulations of the multiphasic problem for flow in deformable porous media avoid such assumptions and thus can provide significantly accurate understanding of the physics involved. They serve as a tool to investigate the constitutive relationships in complex geometries. They also allow the validation of the existing mixture theory models and determine their limitations. In this work, a parallel hybrid method using Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) for fluid phase and Finite Element Method (FEM) for solid phase is used for direct numerical simulation of saturated deformable porous media. The method provides a number of unique features including scalability on distributed computing necessary for such a problem. The method has been validated for modeling fluid–structure interactions in complex geometries against a number of experimental and analytical solutions. Further some challenging problems has been chosen to show the capability of the method. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupled FE–BE method for eigenvalue analysis of elastic structures submerged in an infinite fluid domain

For thin elastic structures submerged in heavy fluid, e.g., water, a strong interaction between the structural domain and the fluid domain occurs and significantly alters the eigenfrequencies. Therefore, the eigenanalysis of the fluid–structure interaction system is necessary. In this paper, a coupled finite element and boundary element (FE–BE) method is developed for the numerical eigenanalysis of the fluid–structure interaction problems. The structure is modeled by the finite element method. The compressibility of the fluid is taken into consideration, and hence the Helmholtz equation is employed as the governing equation and solved by the boundary element method (BEM). The resulting nonlinear eigenvalue problem is converted into a small linear one by applying a contour integral method. Adequate modifications are suggested to improve the efficiency of the contour integral method and avoid missing the eigenvalues of interest. The Burton–Miller formulation is applied to tackle the fictitious eigenfrequency problem of the BEM, and the optimal choice of its coupling parameter is investigated for the coupled FE–BE method. Numerical examples are given and discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the developed FE–BE method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of dispersion in two‐dimensional tidal flows

A lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to problems of dispersion in two‐dimensional water flows. The water flow is modelled by shallow water equations. A two‐distribution lattice Boltzmann equation algorithm is presented to solve the pollutant transport problem within the framework of shallow water flow. One distribution models the shallow water flow. The other distribution models the pollutant transport. Flow characteristics and concentration profiles of dispersive species are obtained at various flow regimes. For fast water flow, the concentration profiles are highly affected by the flow advection and become completely different from those at slow water flow. Numerical results are presented for pollutant transport in bounded and open channel flows. The proposed LBM is also used to simulate a pollution event in the Strait of Gibraltar. The obtained results indicate that the present method is useful for the investigation of transport phenomena by shallow water flows in complex geometries and practical flow problems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A rheological interface model and its space–time finite element formulation for fluid–structure interaction

This contribution discusses extended physical interface models for fluid–structure interaction problems and investigates their phenomenological effects on the behavior of coupled systems by numerical simulation. Besides the various types of friction at the fluid–structure interface the most interesting phenomena are related to effects due to additional interface stiffness and damping. The paper introduces extended models at the fluid–structure interface on the basis of rheological devices (Hooke, Newton, Kelvin, Maxwell, Zener). The interface is decomposed into a Lagrangian layer for the solid‐like part and an Eulerian layer for the fluid‐like part. The mechanical model for fluid–structure interaction is based on the equations of rigid body dynamics for the structural part and the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations for viscous flow. The resulting weighted residual form uses the interface velocity and interface tractions in both layers in addition to the field variables for fluid and structure. The weak formulation of the whole coupled system is discretized using space–time finite elements with a discontinuous Galerkin method for time‐integration leading to a monolithic algebraic system. The deforming fluid domain is taken into account by deformable space–time finite elements and a pseudo‐structure approach for mesh motion. The sensitivity of coupled systems to modification of the interface model and its parameters is investigated by numerical simulation of flow induced vibrations of a spring supported fluid‐immersed cylinder. It is shown that the presented rheological interface model allows to influence flow‐induced vibrations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.