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.