Turbulence Effects on Kinetic Equations

It is well known that fluid dynamics can be derived from a kinetic (Boltzmann equation) framework. Here we propose that the variance of a fluctuating kinetic relaxation time be linked to turbulent time scales. It is further proposed that this connection be explored by direct numerical simulation of turbulence.     

Large eddy simulation of turbulent open duct flow using a lattice Boltzmann approach

Large eddy simulations of turbulent open duct flow are performed using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) in conjunction with the Smagorinsky sub-grid scale (SGS) model. A smaller value of the Smagorinsky constant than the usually used one in plain channel flow simulations is used. Results for the mean flow and turbulent fluctuations are compared to experimental data obtained in an open duct of similar dimensions. It is found that the LBM simulation results are in good qualitative agreement with the experiments.     

The variational multiscale method for laminar and turbulent flow

Summary  The present article reviews the variational multiscale method as a framework for the development of computational methods for the simulation of laminar and turbulent flows, with the emphasis placed on incompressible flows. Starting with a variational formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations, a separation of the scales of the flow problem into two and three different scale groups, respectively, is shown. The approaches resulting from these two different separations are interpreted against the background of two traditional concepts for the numerical simulation of turbulent flows, namely direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES). It is then focused on a three-scale separation, which explicitly distinguishes large resolved scales, small resolved scales, and unresolved scales. In view of turbulent flow simulations as a LES, the variational multiscale method with three separated scale groups is refered to as a “variational multiscale LES”. The two distinguishing features of the variational multiscale LES in comparison to the traditional LES are the replacement of the traditional filter by a variational projection and the restriction of the effect of the unresolved scales to the smaller of the resolved scales. Existing solution strategies for the variational multiscale LES are presented and categorized for various numerical methods. The main focus is on the finite element method (FEM) and the finite volume method (FVM). The inclusion of the effect of the unresolved scales within the multiscale environment via constant-coefficient and dynamic subgrid-scale modeling based on the subgrid viscosity concept is also addressed. Selected numerical examples, a laminar and two turbulent flow situations, illustrate the suitability of the variational multiscale method for the numerical simulation of both states of flow. This article concludes with a view on potential future research directions for the variational multiscale method with respect to problems of fluid mechanics.     

An algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method for large eddy simulation of turbulent flow

An algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method is proposed for large eddy simulation of turbulent flow. Level-transfer operators from plain aggregation algebraic multigrid methods are employed for scale separation. In contrast to earlier approaches based on geometric multigrid methods, this purely algebraic strategy for scale separation obviates any coarse discretization besides the basic one. Operators based on plain aggregation algebraic multigrid provide a projective scale separation, enabling an efficient implementation of the proposed method. The application of the algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method to turbulent flow in a channel produces results notably closer to reference (direct numerical simulation) results than other state-of-the-art methods both for mean streamwise and root-mean-square velocities. For predicting highly sensitive components of the Reynolds-stress tensor in the context of turbulent recirculating flow in a lid-driven cavity, the algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method also shows a remarkably good performance in predicting reference results from experiment and direct numerical simulation compared to other methods.     

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of turbulent flow laden with finite-size particles

The paper describes a particle-resolved simulation method for turbulent flow laden with finite size particles. The method is based on the multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann equation. The no-slip boundary condition on the moving particle boundaries is handled by a second-order interpolated bounce-back scheme. The populations at a newly converted fluid lattice node are constructed by the equilibrium distribution with non-equilibrium corrections. MPI implementation details are described and the resulting code is found to be computationally efficient with a good scalability. The method is first validated using unsteady sedimentation of a single particle and sedimentation of a random suspension. It is then applied to a decaying isotropic turbulence laden with particles of Kolmogorov to Taylor microscale sizes. At a given particle volume fraction, the dynamics of the particle-laden flow is found to depend mainly on the effective particle surface area and particle Stokes number. The presence of finite-size inertial particles enhances dissipation at small scales while reducing kinetic energy at large scales. This is in accordance with related studies. The normalized pivot wavenumber is found to not only depend on the particle size, but also on the ratio of particle size to flow scales and particle-to-fluid density ratio.     

Gas-kinetic numerical study of complex flow problems covering various flow regimes

The Boltzmann simplified velocity distribution function equation, as adapted to various flow regimes, is described on the basis of the Boltzmann–Shakhov model from the kinetic theory of gases in this study. The discrete velocity ordinate method of gas-kinetic theory is studied and applied to simulate complex multi-scale flows. On the basis of using the uncoupling technique on molecular movements and collisions in the DSMC method, the gas-kinetic finite difference scheme is constructed by extending and applying the unsteady time-splitting method from computational fluid dynamics, which directly solves the discrete velocity distribution functions. The Gauss-type discrete velocity numerical quadrature technique for flows with different Mach numbers is developed to evaluate the macroscopic flow parameters in the physical space. As a result, the gas-kinetic numerical algorithm is established for studying the three-dimensional complex flows with high Mach numbers from rarefied transition to continuum regimes. On the basis of the parallel characteristics of the respective independent discrete velocity points in the discretized velocity space, a parallel strategy suitable for the gas-kinetic numerical method is investigated and, then, the HPF (High Performance Fortran) parallel programming software is developed for simulating gas dynamical problems covering the full spectrum of flow regimes. To illustrate the feasibility of the present gas-kinetic numerical method and simulate gas transport phenomena covering various flow regimes, the gas flows around three-dimensional spheres and spacecraft-like shapes with different Knudsen numbers and Mach numbers are investigated to validate the accuracy of the numerical methods through HPF parallel computing. The computational results determine the flow fields in high resolution and agree well with the theoretical and experimental data. This computing, in practice, has confirmed that the present gas-kinetic algorithm probably provides a promising approach for resolving hypersonic aerothermodynamic problems with the complete spectrum of flow regimes from the gas-kinetic point of view for solving the mesoscopic Boltzmann model equation.     

Application of lattice Boltzmann method in free surface flow simulation of micro injection molding

The filling flow in micro injection molding was simulated by using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). A tracking algorithm for free surface to handle the complex interaction between gas and liquid phases in LBM was used for the free surface advancement. The temperature field in the filling flow is also analyzed by combining the thermal lattice Boltzmann model and the free surface method. To simulate the fluid flow of polymer melt with a high Prandtl number and high viscosity, a modified lattice Boltzmann scheme was adopted by introducing a free parameter in the thermal diffusion equation to overcome the restriction of the thermal relaxation time. The filling flow simulation of micro injection molding was successfully performed in the study.     

Estimation of a semi-physical GLBE model using dual EnKF learning algorithm coupled with a sensor network design strategy: Application to air field monitoring

In this paper, we present the fusion of two complementary approaches for modeling and monitoring the spatio-temporal behavior of a fluid flow system. We also propose a mobile sensor deployment strategy to produce the most accurate estimate of the true system state. For this purpose, deterministic and statistical information was used. We adopted a filtering method based on a semi-physical model which derives from a fluid flow numerical model known as lattice Boltzmann model (LBM). The a priori physical knowledge was introduced by the Navier–Stokes equations which were discretized by the lattice Boltzmann approach. Moreover, its multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) variant not only improved the stability, but also enabled the introduction of additional degrees of freedom to be estimated like the synaptic weights of a neural network. The statistical knowledge was then introduced into the model by performing a sequential learning of these parameters and an estimation of the speed field of the fluid flow starting from measurements. The low spatial density of measurements, the large amount of data inherent to environmental issues and the nonlinearity of the generalized lattice Boltzmann equations (GLBEs) enjoined us to use the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) for the recursive estimation procedure. A dual state-parameter estimation which results in a significantly reduced computation time was used by combining two filters consecutively activated in the same iteration. Finally, we proposed to complete the lack of spatial information of the sparse-observation network by adding a mobile sensor, which was routed to the location where the cell-by-cell output estimation error was the highest. Experimental results in the context of the standard lid-driven cavity problem revealed the presence of few zones of interest, where fixed sensors can be deployed to increase performances in terms of convergence speed and estimation quality. Finally, the study showed the feasibility of introducing some additional parameters which act as degrees of freedom, to perform large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows without numerical instabilities.     

Time-scale joint representation of DNS and LES numerical data

A spectral analysis and a multiscale study are performed on the numerical data obtained from direct numerical simulation and large-eddy simulation of the turbulent flow in a cubical lid-driven cavity. The analyzed data or signals are picked at three specific points inside the cavity allowing to investigate three drastically different flow regimes over time: laminar, transitional and turbulent. In comparison with direct numerical simulation, large-eddy simulation not only have a reduced resolution in space but also in time. In this context a wavelet analysis is chosen to study signals from large-eddy simulation, to provide a ‘local’ analysis of transient turbulent events. A time-scale joint representation is generated by continuous wavelet transform and compared with the time-scale joint representation of the direct numerical simulation. In this framework, the main objective of this study is to confirm the correlation between the computed physical quantities and those expected theoretically.     

Non-body-fitted Cartesian-mesh simulation of highly turbulent flows using multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method

This paper presents a lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) based study aimed at numerical simulation of highly turbulent and largely inclined flow around obstacles of curved geometry using non-body-fitted Cartesian meshes. The approach features (1) combining the interpolated bounce-back scheme with the LBM of multi-relaxation-time (MRT) type to enable the use of simple Cartesian mesh for the flow cases even with complex geometries; and (2) incorporating the Spalart–Allmaras (SA) turbulence model into LBM in order to represent the turbulent flow effect. The numerical experiments are performed corresponding to flows around an NACA0012 airfoil at Re=5×10⁵ and around a flat plate at Re=2×10⁴, respectively. The agreement between all simulation results obtained from this study and the data provided by other literature demonstrates the reliability of the enhanced LBM proposed in this paper for simulating, simply on Cartesian meshes, complex flows that may involve bodies of curved boundary, high Reynolds number, and large angle of attack.     

LES of turbulent square jet flow using an MRT lattice Boltzmann model

In this paper we consider the application of multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) for large-eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. The implementation is discussed in the context of 19-velocity (D3Q19) MRT-LBE model in conjunction with the Smagorinsky subgrid closure model. The MRT-LBE-LES is then tested in the turbulent square jet flow case. We compare MRT-LBE-LES results with (a) single-relaxation-time (SRT) or BGK LBE results and (b) experimental data. Computed results include the distribution of centerline mean streamwise velocity, jet spread, and spanwise profiles of mean streamwise velocity in the near-field region. The phenomenon of axis switching is investigated. The advantages of MRT over SRT are demonstrated. Reasonable agreement between our numerical results and experimental data demonstrate that the MRT-LBE is a potentially viable tool for LES of turbulence.     

Lattice BGK direct numerical simulation of fully developed turbulence in incompressible plane channel flow

Over the last decade, lattice Boltzmann methods have proven to be reliable and efficient tools for the numerical simulation of complex flows. The specifics of such methods as turbulence solvers, however, are not yet completely documented. This paper provides results of direct numerical simulations (DNS), by a lattice Boltzmann scheme, of fully developed, incompressible, pressure-driven turbulence between two parallel plates. These are validated against results from simulations using a standard Chebyshev pseudo-spectral method. Detailed comparisons, in terms of classical one-point turbulence statistics at moderate Reynolds number, with both numerical and experimental data show remarkable agreement.

Consequently, the choice of numerical method has, in sufficiently resolved DNS computations, no dominant effect at least on simple statistical quantities such as mean flow and Reynolds stresses. Since only the method-independent statistics can be credible, the choice of numerical method for DNS should be determined mainly through considerations of computational efficiency. The expected practical advantages of the lattice Boltzmann method, for instance against pseudo-spectral methods, are found to be significant even for the simple geometry and the moderate Reynolds number considered here. This permits the conclusion that the lattice Boltzmann approach is a promising DNS tool for incompressible turbulence.     

Direct numerical and large eddy simulation of longitudinal flow along triangular array of rods using the lattice Boltzmann method

Results of direct numerical (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent longitudinal flow in rod bundles are presented using the lattice Boltzmann method with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook collision operator [P.L. Bhatnagar, E.P. Gross, M. Krook, A model for collision processes in gases. I. Small amplitude processes in charged and neutral one-component systems, Phys. Rev. 94 (1954) 511; Y.H. Qian, d’Humiéres, P. Lallemand, Lattice BGK models for Navier-Stokes equation, Europhys. Lett. 17 (1992) 479] as a computational framework. The problem requires the accurate modeling of curved walls, to which the method proposed by Yu et al. [D. Yu, M.R. Luo, W. Shyy, Viscous flow computations with the method of lattice Boltzmann equation, Prog. Aerospace Sci. 39 (2003) 329] has been applied. The computational domain is a regular hexagonal prism around the rod. Opposite sides of the prism are coupled periodically. In the longitudinal direction periodical boundary conditions are applied and the flow is driven by a body force. Simulations were carried out using two three-dimensional lattices. It has been found that the application of the model with 19 velocities (D3Q19) gives qualitatively false result. However, we have found that the application of the model with 27 links (D3Q27) can provide the proper mean axial velocity profile, and it also predicts the secondary flow patterns deduced from measurements [A.C. Trupp, R.S. Azad, The structure of turbulent flow in triangular array rod bundles, Nucl. Eng. Des. 32 (1975) 47]. Flow pulsation phenomenon is also observed in our simulations just like in some recent measurements of Krauss and Meyer [T. Krauss, L. Meyer, Experimental investigation of turbulent transport of momentum and energy in heated rod bundle, Nucl. Eng. Des. 180 (1998) 185].     

后台阶流动的非均匀格子Boltzmann方法模拟

使用非均匀格子Boltzmann方法对后台阶流动进行了数值模拟.将流体流动区域划分为不同的子区域:对于每个子区域内部,分布函数使用均匀网格计算;对于区域边界,分布函数采用嵌套网格方法进行处理.数值计算结果与其它实验、数值结果相吻合.     

Unsteady flow simulation of the Ahmed reference body using a lattice Boltzmann approach

The Ahmed reference body represents a simplified car geometry that can be used to investigate the main flow features in the wake of vehicles. The present work presents unsteady flow simulations at the rear slant angles 25° and 35° using the PowerFLOW 4.0 D3Q19 lattice Boltzmann model. The flow of the wake is discussed and distributions of averaged pressure and velocities are compared with available experimental findings. The resolution requirement is investigated in terms of computational requirement and accuracy achieved. The predictive capability and the feasibility of the very large eddy simulation (VLES) approach within the lattice Boltzmann framework is demonstrated.     

Optimal relaxation collisions for lattice Boltzmann methods

The optimal relaxation time of about 0.8090 has been proposed to balance the efficiency, stability, and accuracy at a given lattice size of numerical simulations with lattice Boltzmann methods. The optimal lattice size for a desired Reynolds number can be refined by reducing the Mach number for incompressible flows. The functioned polylogarithm polynomials are defined and used to express the lattice Boltzmann equations at different time scales and to analyze the impact of relaxation times and lattice sizes on truncation errors. Smaller truncation errors can be achieved when relaxation times are greater than 0.5 and less than 1.0. The steady-state lid-driven cavity flow was chosen to validate the code of lattice Boltzmann procedures. The applications of the optimal relaxation parameters numerically balance the stability, efficiency, and accuracy through Hartmann flow. The optimal relaxation time can also be used to select the initial lattice size for the channel flow over a square cylinder with a given Mach number.     

A thermal lattice Boltzmann model with diffuse scattering boundary condition for micro thermal flows

A lattice Boltzmann model for simulating isothermal micro flows has been proposed by us recently [Niu XD, Chew YT, Shu C. A lattice Boltzmann BGK model for simulation of micro flows. Europhys Lett 2004;67(4):600]. In this paper, we extend the model to simulate the micro thermal flows. In particular, the thermal lattice Boltzmann equation (TLBE) [He X, Chen S, Doolen GD. A novel thermal model for the lattice Boltzmann method in incompressible limit. J Comput Phys 1998;146:282] is used with modification of the relaxation times linking to the Knudsen number. The diffuse scattering boundary condition (DSBC) derived in our early model is extended to consider temperature jump at wall boundaries. Simple theoretical analyses of the DSBC are presented and the results are found to be consistent with the conventional velocity slip and temperature jump boundary conditions. Numerical validations are carried out by simulating two-dimensional thermal Couette flows and developing thermal flows in a microchannel, and the obtained results are found to be in good agreement with those given from the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC), the molecular dynamics (MD) approaches and the Maxwell theoretical prediction.     

Coupling multibody dynamics and computational fluid dynamics on 8192 processor cores

This paper describes a method for the fully resolved simulation of particle laden flows. For this purpose, we discuss the parallelization of large scale coupled fluid structure interaction with up to 37 million geometrically modeled moving objects incorporated in the flow. The simulation is performed using a 3D lattice Boltzmann solver for the fluid flow and a so-called rigid body physics engine for the treatment of the objects. The numerical algorithms and the parallelization are discussed in detail. Furthermore, performance results are presented for test cases on up to 8192 processor cores running on an SGI Altix supercomputer. The approach enables a detailed simulation of large scale particulate flows that are relevant for many industrial applications.     

Free surface flow simulations on GPGPUs using the LBM

In this paper, we present the implementation of a volume-of-fluid-(VOF)-based algorithm for the simulation of free-surface flow problems on general purpose graphical processing units (GPGPUs). For the solution of the flow field and the additional advection equation for the VOF fill level, the lattice Boltzmann method on the basis of an MRT collision operator is used. A Smagorinsky LES model serves to capture the small-scale turbulent structures of the flow. We show that despite the additional non-local operations near the phase interface, we end up with an algorithm with good overall performance, which is suitable for the simulation of demanding real-world engineering applications.     

A parallel lattice Boltzmann method for large eddy simulation on multiple GPUs

To improve the simulation efficiency of turbulent fluid flows at high Reynolds numbers with large eddy dynamics, a CUDA-based simulation solution of lattice Boltzmann method for large eddy simulation (LES) using multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) is proposed. Our solution adopts the “collision after propagation” lattice evolution way and puts the misaligned propagation phase at global memory read process. The latest GPU platform allows a single CPU thread to control up to four GPUs that run in parallel. In order to make use of multiple GPUs, the whole working set is evenly partitioned into sub-domains. We implement Smagorinsky model and Vreman model respectively to verify our multi-GPU solution. These two LES models have different relaxation time calculation behavior and lead to different CUDA implementation characteristics. The implementation based on Smagorinsky model achieves 190 times speedup over the sequential implementation on CPU, while the implementation based on Vreman model archives more than 90 times speedup. The experimental results show that the parallel performance of our multi-GPU solution scales very well on multiple GPUs. Therefore large-scale (up to 10,240 $\times $ 10,240 lattices) LES–LBM simulation becomes possible at a low cost, even using double-precision floating point calculation.