Local vorticity computation approach in double distribution functions based lattice Boltzmann methods for flow and scalar transport

Computation of vorticity, or the skew-symmetric velocity gradient tensor, in conjunction with the strain rate tensor, plays an important role in the flow classification, in vortical structure identification and in the modeling of various complex fluids and flows. For the simulation of flows accompanied by the advection-diffusion transport of a scalar field (e.g., temperature), double distribution functions (DDF) based lattice Boltzmann (LB) methods, involving a pair of LB schemes are commonly used. We present a new local vorticity computation approach by introducing an intensional anisotropy of the scalar flux in the third order, off-diagonal moment equilibria of the LB scheme for the scalar field, and then combining the second order non-equilibrium components of both the LB methods. As such, any pair of lattice sets in the DDF formulation that can independently support the third order off-diagonal moments would enable local determination of the complete flow kinematics, with the LB methods for the fluid motion and the transport of the passive scalar respectively providing the necessary moment relationships to determine the symmetric and skew-symmetric components of the velocity gradient tensor. Since the resulting formulation is completely local and do not rely on any finite difference approximations for velocity derivatives, it is by design naturally suitable for parallel computation. As an illustration of our approach, we formulate a DDF-LB scheme for local vorticity computation using a pair of multiple relaxation times (MRT) based collision approaches on two-dimensional, nine velocity (D2Q9) lattices, where the necessary moment relationships to determine the velocity gradient tensor and the vorticity are established via a Chapman-Enskog analysis. Simulations of various benchmark flows demonstrate good accuracy of the predicted vorticity fields using our approach against available solutions, including numerical results, with a second order convergence. Furthermore, extensions of our formulation for a variety of collision models, including those based on cascaded and non-cascaded central moments, to enable local vorticity computation are presented.     

Effect of collision and velocity model of lattice Boltzmann model on three-dimensional turbulent flow simulation

Various collision and velocity models of the lattice Boltzmann model (LBM) were compared to determine their effects on the efficiency of a three-dimensional homogeneous isotropic decaying turbulent flow simulation. We determined that a decrease in the number of velocities, in particular, 13-velocities, which can be used in the quasi-equilibrium lattice Boltzmann and in the multiple-relaxation time models (MRT), could considerably decrease the computational effort. However, decreasing the number of velocities deteriorates the stability and the accuracy of the results. By comparing the collision models, we also determined that the stability of the entropic lattice Boltzmann model (ELBM), and 19- and 27- velocity MRT is much higher than in other models. However, the numerical viscosity introduced by the ELBM underestimates the enstrophy, and the computational effort increases because of the calculation overhead required to solve the additional equations if special care is not given to the calculation.     

THE NUMERICAL STUDY OF LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD BASED ON DIFFERENT GRID STRUCTURE

传统的格子波尔兹曼方法(lattice-Boltzmann method, LBM)通常基于标准均匀网格, 这主要取决于速度的空 间离散格式.均匀网格结构的特点, 使LBM在处理具有复杂边界的问题时遇到较大的困难, 从而限制了它的应用.另外, 对于较为复杂的流动, 其流场存在流动变化剧烈和平缓的区域, 在流动变化剧烈的区域, 往往需要足够的网格点才能更好地捕捉到流场信息, 而均匀网格会使得网格数量过多, 这会增加计算量, 但网格数量过少又无法获得必要的流场信息, 使LBM的计算效率降低.为了解决上述问题, 用不同的网格结构, 以顶盖驱动的腔体内流、柱体绕流和翼型绕流为例, 探讨了提高LBM算法的计算效率和适用性问题.     

Investigation of incompressible flow within ½ circular cavity using lattice Boltzmann method

A wall‐driven incompressible viscous flow in a ½ circular cavity is simulated, based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The treatment of curved boundary with second‐order accuracy is used. The force evaluation is based on the momentum‐exchange method. The streamlines and vorticity contours and the velocity component along the central line of a semi‐circular cavity are obtained for different Reynolds numbers. The numerical results show that the LBM can capture the formation of primary, secondary and tertiary vortices exactly as the Reynolds number increases and has a great agreement with those of current literatures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unstructured lattice Boltzmann method in three dimensions

Over the last decade, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has evolved into a valuable alternative to continuum computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for the numerical simulation of several complex fluid‐dynamic problems. Recent advances in lattice Boltzmann research have considerably extended the capability of LBM to handle complex geometries. Among these, a particularly remarkable option is represented by cell‐vertex finite‐volume formulations which permit LBM to operate on fully unstructured grids. The two‐dimensional implementation of unstructured LBM, based on the use of triangular elements, has shown capability of tolerating significant grid distortions without suffering any appreciable numerical viscosity effects, to second‐order in the mesh size. In this work, we present the first three‐dimensional generalization of the unstructured lattice Boltzmann technique (ULBE as unstructured lattice Boltzmann equation), in which geometrical flexibility is achieved by coarse‐graining the lattice Boltzmann equation in differential form, using tetrahedrical grids. This 3D extension is demonstrated for the case of 3D pipe flow and moderate Reynolds numbers flow past a sphere. The results provide evidence that the ULBE has significant potential for the accurate calculation of flows in complex 3D geometries. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE RESEARCH PROGRESS OF LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD IN NON-NEWTONIAN FLUID FLOW

格子玻尔兹曼方法（lattice Boltzmann method,LBM）能够直接计算局部剪切速率并可以达到二次精度,因此在非牛顿流动数值模拟中展现出一定优势。尽管已证实LBM 对于非牛顿流动的适用性,但是LBM 需要通过即时调节BGK（Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook）碰撞项中的松弛时间来实时反映黏度改变,当松弛时间接近1/2 时,迭代会出现数值不稳定现象。该文对LBM 在非牛顿流体研究中的进展进行了总结,介绍了增加数值稳定性的方法并对结果的精度进行了比较,在此基础上对LBM 在非牛顿研究中的进一步发展进行了展望。     

Implicit–explicit finite‐difference lattice Boltzmann method with viscid compressible model for gas oscillating patterns in a resonator

Difficulties for the conventional computational fluid dynamics and the standard lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to study the gas oscillating patterns in a resonator have been discussed. In light of the recent progresses in the LBM world, we are now able to deal with the compressibility and non‐linear shock wave effects in the resonator. A lattice Boltzmann model for viscid compressible flows is introduced firstly. Then, the Boltzmann equation with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook approximation is solved by the finite‐difference method with a third‐order implicit–explicit (IMEX) Runge–Kutta scheme for time discretization, and a fifth‐order weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization. Numerical results obtained in this study agree quantitatively with both experimental data available and those using conventional numerical methods. Moreover, with the IMEX finite‐difference LBM (FDLBM), the computational convergence rate can be significantly improved compared with the previous FDLBM and standard LBM. This study can also be applied for simulating some more complex phenomena in a thermoacoustics engine. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lattice‐Boltzmann and meshless point collocation solvers for fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer

The applicability and performance of the lattice‐Boltzmann (LB) and meshless point collocation methods as CFD solvers in flow and conjugate heat transfer processes are investigated in this work. Lid‐driven cavity flow and flow in a slit with an obstacle including heat transfer are considered as case studies. A comparison of the computational efficiency accuracy of the two methods with that of a finite volume method as implemented in a commercial package (ANSYS CFX, ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, PA) is made. Utilizing the analogy between heat and mass transfer, an advection–diffusion LB model was adopted to simulate the heat transfer part of the slit flow problem followed by a rigorous mapping of the mass transfer variables to the heat transfer quantities of interest, thus circumventing the need for a thermal LB model. Direct comparison among the results of the three methods revealed excellent agreement over a wide range of Reynolds and Prandtl number values. Furthermore, an integrated computational scheme is proposed, utilizing the rapid convergence of the LB model in the flow part of the conjugate heat transfer problem with that of the meshless collocation method for the heat transfer part. The meshless treatment remains sufficiently rapid even for conduction‐controlled processes in contrast to the LB method, which is very rapid in the convection‐controlled case only. A single, common computational grid, composed of regularly distributed nodes is used, saving significant computational and coding time and ensuring convergence of the discrete Laplacian operator in the heat transfer part of the computations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of three‐dimensional flows over moving objects by an improved immersed boundary–lattice Boltzmann method

An improved immersed boundary–lattice Boltzmann method (IB–LBM) developed recently [28] was applied in this work to simulate three‐dimensional (3D) flows over moving objects. By enforcing the non‐slip boundary condition, the method could avoid any flow penetration to the wall. In the developed IB–LBM solver, the flow field is obtained on the non‐uniform mesh by the efficient LBM that is based on the second‐order one‐dimensional interpolation. As a consequence, its coefficients could be computed simply. By simulating flows over a stationary sphere and torus [28] accurately and efficiently, the proposed IB–LBM showed its ability to handle 3D flow problems with curved boundaries. In this paper, we further applied this method to simulate 3D flows around moving boundaries. As a first example, the flow over a rotating sphere was simulated. The obtained results agreed very well with the previous data in the literature. Then, simulation of flow over a rotating torus was conducted. The capability of the improved IB–LBM for solving 3D flows over moving objects with complex geometries was demonstrated via the simulations of fish swimming and dragonfly flight. The numerical results displayed quantitative and qualitative agreement with the date in the literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hybrid phase field multiple relaxation time lattice Boltzmann method for the incompressible multiphase flow with large density contrast

A hybrid phase field multiple relaxation time lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is presented in this paper for simulation of multiphase flows with large density contrast. In the present method, the flow field is solved by a lattice Boltzmann equation. Concurrently, the interface of two fluids is captured by solving the macroscopic Cahn‐Hilliard equation using the upwind scheme. To be specific, for simulation of the flow field, an lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) model developed in Shao et al. (Physical Review E, 89 (2014), 033309) for consideration of density contrast in the momentum equation is used. Moreover, in the present work, the multiple relaxation time collision operator is applied to this LBE to enable simulation of problems with large viscosity contrast or high Reynolds number. For the interface capturing, instead of solving another set of LBE as in many phase field LBMs, the macroscopic Cahn‐Hilliard equation is directly solved by using a weighted essentially non‐oscillatory scheme. In this way, the present hybrid phase field LBM shares full advantages of the phase field LBM while enhancing numerical stability. The ability of the present method to simulate multiphase flow problems with large density contrast is demonstrated by several numerical examples. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lattice Boltzmann modeling of shallow water flows over discontinuous beds

Numerical modeling of shallow water flows over discontinuous beds is presented. The flows are described with the shallow water equations and the equations are solved using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with single relaxation time (Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook‐LBM (BGK‐LBM)) and the multiple relaxation time (MRT‐LBM). The weighted centered scheme for force term together with the bed height for a bed slope is described to improve simulation of flows over discontinuous bed. Furthermore, the resistance stress is added to include the local head loss caused by flow over a step. Four test cases, one‐dimensional tidal over regular bed and steps, dam‐break flows, and two‐dimensional shallow water flow over a square block, are considered to verify the present method. Agreements between predictions and analytical solutions are satisfactory. Furthermore, the performance and CPU cost time of BGK‐LBM and MRT‐LBM are compared and studied. The results have shown that the lattice Boltzmann method is simple and accurate for simulating shallow water flows over discontinuous beds. This demonstrates the capability and applicability of the lattice Boltzmann method in modeling shallow water flows on bed topography with a discontinuity in practical hydraulic engineering. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method for study of two-lid-driven cavity flow solution multiplicity

As a fundamental subject in fluid mechanics, sophisticated cavity flow patterns due to the movement of multi-lids have been routinely analyzed by the computational fluid dynamics community. Unlike those reported computational studies that were conducted using more conventional numerical methods, this paper features employing the multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to numerically investigate the two-dimensional cavity flows generated by the movements of two adjacent lids. The obtained MRT-LBM results reveal a number of important bifurcation flow features, such as the symmetry and steadiness of cavity flows at low Reynolds numbers, the multiplicity of stable cavity flow patterns when the Reynolds number exceeds its first critical value, as well as the periodicity of the cavity flow after the second critical Reynolds number is reached. Detailed flow characteristics are reported that include the critical Reynolds numbers, the locations of the vortex centers, and the values of stream function at the vortex centers. Through systematic comparison against the simulation results obtained elsewhere by using the lattice Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook model and other numerical schemes, not only does the MRT-LBM approach exhibit fairly satisfactory accuracy, but also demonstrates its remarkable flexibility that renders the adjustment of its multiple relaxation factors fully manageable and, thus, particularly accommodates the need of effectively investigating the multiplicity of flow patterns with complex behaviors.     

Numerical simulation of laminar jet-forced flow using lattice Boltzmann method

In the paper, a numerical study on symmetrical and asymmetrical laminar jet-forced flows is carried out by using a lattice Boltzmann method （LBM） with a special boundary treatment. The simulation results are in very good agreement with the available numerical prediction. It is shown that the LBM is a competitive method for the laminar jet-forced flow in terms of computational efficiency and stability.     

Three‐dimensional immersed boundary conditions for moving solids in the lattice‐Boltzmann method

This paper establishes the range of validity for a previously published three‐dimensional moving solid boundary condition for the lattice‐Boltzmann method. This method was reasonably formulated from a mass and momentum balance perspective, but was only verified for a small range of (primarily two‐dimensional) problems. One of the advantages of this boundary condition is that it offers resolution at the sub‐grid scale, allowing for accurate and stable calculation of the force and torque for solids which are moving through a lattice, even for small solid sizes relative to the computational grid size. We verify the boundary condition for creeping flows by comparison to analytical solutions that include both the force and the torque on fixed and moving spheres, and then follow this with comparisons to experimental and empirical results for both fixed as well moving spheres in inertial flows. Finally, we compare simulation results to numerical results of other investigators for the settling of an offset sphere and the drafting–kissing–tumbling of two sedimenting spheres. We found that an accurate calculation of the collision‐operator weighting used to obtain sub‐grid‐scale resolution was necessary in order to prevent spikes in the velocities, forces, and moments when solid objects cross‐computational cells. The wide range of comparisons collected and presented in this paper can be used to establish the validity of other numerical models, in addition to the one examined here. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of vertical grid variability on a free surface flow model

A previously developed numerical model that solves the incompressible, non‐hydrostatic, Navier–Stokes equations for free surface flow is analysed on a non‐uniform vertical grid. The equations are vertically transformed to the σ‐coordinate system and solved in a fractional step manner in which the pressure is computed implicitly by correcting the hydrostatic flow field to be divergence free. Numerical consistency, accuracy and efficiency are assessed with analytical methods and numerical experiments for a varying vertical grid discretization. Specific discretizations are proposed that attain greater accuracy and minimize computational effort when compared to a uniform vertical discretization. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A lattice Boltzmann model for diffusion of binary gas mixtures that includes diffusion slip

This paper describes the development of a lattice Boltzmann (LB) model for a binary gas mixture, and applications to channel flow driven by a density gradient with diffusion slip occurring at the wall. LB methods for single component gases typically use a non‐physical equation of state in which the relationship between pressure and density varies according to the scaling used. This is fundamentally unsuitable for extension to multi‐component systems containing gases of differing molecular masses. Substantial variations in the species densities and pressures may exist even at low Mach numbers; hence, the usual linearized equation of state for small fluctuations is unsuitable. Also, existing methods for implementing boundary conditions do not extend easily to novel boundary conditions, such as diffusion slip. The new model developed for multi‐component gases avoids the pitfalls of some other LB models. A single computational grid is shared by all the species, and the diffusivity is independent of the viscosity. The Navier–Stokes equation for the mixture and the Stefan–Maxwell diffusion equation are both recovered by the model. Diffusion slip, the non‐zero velocity of a gas mixture at a wall parallel to a concentration gradient, is successfully modelled and validated against a simple one‐dimensional model for channel flow. To increase the accuracy of the scheme, a second‐order numerical implementation is needed. This may be achieved using a variable transformation method that does not increase the computational time. Simulations were carried out on hydrogen and water diffusion through a narrow channel for varying total pressure and concentration gradients. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupling of finite volume method and thermal lattice Boltzmann method and its application to natural convection

On the basis of the existing density distribution function reconstruction operator, the temperature distribution operator was derived to calculate heat transfer by coupling the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with the finite volume method. The present coupling model was validated by two‐dimensional natural convection flows with and without an isolated internal vertical plate. The results from the coupling model agree well with those from the pure‐finite volume method, pure‐LBM and references, and all the physical quantities cross the coupled interface smoothly. On the basis of residual history curves, it is likely that the convergence property and the numerical stability of the present model are better than those of the pure‐LBM at fine grid numbers and high Rayleigh numbers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

不同壁面绕流特性的格子Boltzmann模拟研究

为了探讨不同壁面的绕流特性,针对粘性流场中,不同壁面诱导的涡脱落现象以及升阻力系数等流场特性进行了格子Boltzmann数值研究。利用基于分子动理论的格子Boltzmann方法(LBM)求解Navier-Stokes方程,实现对流体运动的描述,针对不同的壁面条件,分别采用不同的格子Boltzmann流-固壁面处理方法。采用Half-way反弹边界条件来处理平直壁面,而曲壁面则采用LBM与有限差分法相结合的形式进行处理,计入了壁面与标准网格不重合对结果造成的影响。开发相应的计算程序,计算结果与已发表文献结果吻合良好,验证了数值模型的正确性。同时,探讨了进出口边界与钝体中心的距离对结果的影响。对比分析了不同壁面的绕流模型中升阻力系数、斯托罗哈数和涡量云图等,并进一步研究了雷诺数条件的影响。结果表明,不同壁面的绕流特性具有明显差异,且同时受雷诺数的显著影响;一般地,平直壁面对于来流作出的响应更迅速。