A two-dimensional finite element method for simulating the constitutive response and microstructure of polycrystals during high temperature plastic deformation

We describe a finite element method designed to model the mechanisms that cause superplastic deformation. Our computations account for grain boundary sliding, grain boundary diffusion, grain boundary migration, and surface diffusion, as well as thermally activated dislocation creep within the grains themselves. Front tracking and adaptive mesh generation are used to follow changes in the grain structure. The method is used to solve representative boundary value problems to illustrate its capabilities.     

The partition‐of‐unity method for linear diffusion and convection problems: accuracy,stabilization and multiscale interpretation

We investigate the effectiveness of the partition‐of‐unity method (PUM) for convection–diffusion problems. We show that for the linear diffusion equation, an exponential enrichment function based on an approximation of the analytic solution leads to improved accuracy compared to the standard finite‐element method. It is illustrated that this approach can be more efficient than using polynomial enrichment to increase the order of the scheme. We argue that the PUM enrichment, can be interpreted as a subgrid‐scale model in a multiscale framework, and that the choice of enrichment function has consequences for the stabilization properties of the method. The exponential enrichment is shown to function as a near optimal subgrid‐scale model for linear convection. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability Analysis of Diffusive Displacement in Three-Layer Hele-Shaw Cell or Porous Medium

We study the linear stability of three-layer Hele-Shaw flow, which models the secondary oil recovery by polymer flooding, in the presence of a diffusion process and a variable viscosity in the middle layer (denoted by M.L.). Then the hydrodynamic stability of the flow is related with the advection–diffusion equation of the species. The diffusion coefficient and the viscosity in M.L. are used as parameters for minimizing the Saffman–Taylor instability. This model was studied also by Daripa and Pa?a (Transp Porous Med 70(1):11–23, 2007). A particular basic solution was considered. The stabilizing effect of diffusion was proved, by using a variational formulation of the stability system. However, this analytical method was not giving sufficient conditions for improving the stability; the obtained upper bound of the growth constant (in time) of the perturbations was depending on the eigenfunctions of the stability system. In this paper, we improve the above result. We use a discretization method and obtain a classical algebraic eigenvalue problem, equivalent with the Sturm-Liouville system which governs the flow stability. A generalization of the Gerschgorin’s localization theorem is given and two estimates of the growth constant are obtained, not depending on the eigenfunctions. The new estimates are used to obtain sufficient conditions for improving the stability. These conditions are given in terms of the viscosity profile, the diffusion coefficient, the injection velocity, and the M.L. length. We conclude that a strong diffusion process improves the stability in the range of large wavenumbers. In the range of small wavenumbers, a stability improvement is obtained if the viscosity jump on the M.L.–oil interface is small enough and the length of M.L. is large enough.     

Traveling Waves for a Biological Reaction-Diffusion Model

We investigate the existence of traveling wave solutions for a system of reaction–diffusion equations that has been used as a model for microbial growth in a flow reactor and for the diffusive epidemic population. The existence of traveling waves was conjectured early but only has been proved recently for sufficiently small diffusion coefficient by the singular perturbation technique. In this paper we show the existence of traveling waves for an arbitrary diffusion coefficient. Our approach is a shooting method with the aid of an appropriately constructed Liapunov function.Dedicated to Professor Shui-Nee Chow on the occasion of his 60th birthday.Wenzhang Huang-Research was supported in part by NSF Grant DMS-0204676.     

On the composite Riemann problem for multi‐material fluid flows

We develop an Eulerian fixed grid numerical method for calculating multi‐material fluid flows. This approach relates to the class of interface capturing methods. The fluid is treated as a heterogeneous mixture of constituent materials, and the material interface is implicitly captured by a region of mixed cells that have arisen owing to numerical diffusion. To suppress this numerical diffusion, we propose a composite Riemann problem (CRP), which describes the decay of an initial discontinuity in the presence of a contact point between two different fluids, which is located off the initial discontinuity point. The solution to the CRP serves to calculate multi‐material no mixed numerical flux without introducing any material diffusion. We discuss the CRP solution and its implementation in the multi‐material fluid Godunov method. Numerical results show that a simple framework of the CRP greatly improves capturing material interfaces in the Godunov method and reproduces many of the advantages of more complicated interface tracking multi‐material treatments. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Turbulent thermal diffusion in a multi-fan turbulence generator with imposed mean temperature gradient

We studied experimentally the effect of turbulent thermal diffusion in a multi-fan turbulence generator which produces a nearly homogeneous and isotropic flow with a small mean velocity. Using particle image velocimetry and image processing techniques, we showed that in a turbulent flow with an imposed mean vertical temperature gradient (stably stratified flow) particles accumulate in the regions with the mean temperature minimum. These experiments detected the effect of turbulent thermal diffusion in a multi-fan turbulence generator for relatively high Reynolds numbers. The experimental results are in compliance with the results of the previous experimental studies of turbulent thermal diffusion in oscillating grid turbulence (Buchholz et al. 2004; Eidelman et al. 2004). We demonstrated that the turbulent thermal diffusion is an universal phenomenon. It occurs independently of the method of turbulence generation, and the qualitative behavior of particle spatial distribution in these very different turbulent flows is similar. Competition between turbulent fluxes caused by turbulent thermal diffusion and turbulent diffusion determines the formation of particle inhomogeneities.     

Diffusive Effects on Recovery of Light Oil by Medium Temperature Oxidation

Volatile oil recovery by means of air injection is studied as a method to improve recovery from low permeable reservoirs. We consider the case in which the oil is directly combusted into small products, for which we use the term medium temperature oil combustion. The two-phase model considers evaporation, condensation and reaction with oxygen. In the absence of thermal, molecular and capillary diffusion, the relevant transport equations can be solved analytically. The solution consists of three waves, i.e., a thermal wave, a medium temperature oxidation (MTO) wave and a saturation wave separated by constant state regions. A striking feature is that evaporation occurs upstream of the combustion reaction in the MTO wave. The purpose of this paper is to show the effect of diffusion mechanisms on the MTO process. We used a finite element package (COMSOL) to obtain a numerical solution; the package uses fifth-order Lagrangian base functions, combined with a central difference scheme. This makes it possible to model situations at realistic diffusion coefficients. The qualitative behavior of the numerical solution is similar to the analytical solution. Molecular diffusion lowers the temperature of the MTO wave, but creates a small peak near the vaporization region. The effect of thermal diffusion smoothes the thermal wave and widens the MTO region. Capillary diffusion increases the temperature in the upstream part of the MTO region and decreases the efficiency of oil recovery. At increasing capillary diffusion the recovery by gas displacement gradually becomes higher, leaving less oil to be recovered by combustion. Consequently, the analytical solution with no diffusion and numerical solutions at a high capillary diffusion coefficient become different. Therefore high numerical diffusion, significant in numerical simulations especially in coarse gridded simulations, may conceal the importance of combustion in recovering oil.     

Creep flow, diffusion, and electromigration in small scale interconnects

This paper proposes a three-dimensional electromigration model for void evolution in small scale interconnects. Concurrent kinetics of creep flow and surface diffusion as well as the effect of the surrounding material is considered to provide better understanding of the evolution process. The multiple kinetics and energetics are incorporated into a diffusive interface model. A semi-implicit Fourier spectral method and the preconditioned biconjugate-gradient method are proposed for the computations to achieve high efficiency and numerical stability. We systematically studied kinetic processes in diffusion dominated to creep dominated regime. Which process dominates, as revealed by the analysis, is determined by a combination of viscosity, mobility, interconnect thickness, and void radius. Previous studies on electromigration suggest that a circular void subjected to an electron wind force and surface diffusion is always stable against any small shape perturbation. Our simulations show that a shape that is stable in surface diffusion can become unstable in a creep dominated process, which leads to a quite different void morphology. A spherical void can evolve into a bowl shape and further break into smaller voids. It is also shown that the interconnect geometry has an important effect.     

On Vertical Diffusion of Gases in a Horizontal Reservoir

Exact and approximate solutions to vertical diffusion in gravity-stable, ideal gas mixtures in gas reservoirs, depleted oil reservoirs, or drained aquifers are presented, and characteristic times of diffusion are obtained. Our solutions also can be used to test numerical simulators that model diffusion after gas injection. First, we consider isothermal, countercurrent vertical diffusion of carbon dioxide and methane in a horizontally homogeneous reservoir. Initially, the bottom part of the reservoir, with no flow boundaries at the top and bottom, is filled with CO₂ and the upper part with CH₄. At time equal zero, the two gases begin to diffuse. We obtain the exact solution to the initial and boundary-value problem using Fourier series method. For the same problem, we also obtain an approximate solution using the integrated mass balance method. The latter solution has a particularly simple structure, provides a good approximation and retains the important features of the exact solution. Its simplicity allows one to perform calculations that are difficult and non-transparent with the Fourier series method. It also can be used to test numerical algorithms. Furthermore, we consider diffusion of CO₂ with partitioning into connate water. We show that at reservoir pressures the CO₂ retardation by water cannot be neglected. The diffusion-retardation problem is modelled by a non-linear diffusion equation whose self-similar solution is obtained. Finally, we obtain a self-similar solution to a nonlinear diffusion problem. This solution is a good approximation at early times, before the diffusing gases reach considerable concentrations at the top and bottom boundaries of the reservoir.     

Rich dynamics caused by diffusion

It is an awfully difficult task to design an efficient numerical method for bifurcation diagrams, the graphs of Lyapunov exponents, or the topological entropy about discrete dynamical systems by linear/nonlinear diffusion with the Direchlet/Neumann- boundary conditions. Until now there are less works concerned with such a problem. In this paper, we propose a scheme about bifurcating analysis in a series of discrete-time dynamical systems with linear/nonlinear diffusion terms under the periodic boundary conditions. The complexity of dynamical behaviors caused by the diffusion term are to be determined. Bifurcation diagrams are shown by numerical simulation and chaotic behavior (chaotic Turing patterns) is demonstrated by computing the largest Lyapunov exponent. Our theoretical model can give an interesting case study about the phenomenon: the individuals exhibit a very simple dynamics but the groups with linear/nonlinear coupling can own a complex dynamics including fluctuation, periodicity and even chaotic behavior. We find that diffusion can trigger chaotic behavior in the present system and there exist multiple Turing patterns. It is interesting as regular or chaotic patterns can be reported in this study. Chaotic orbits emerge when exploring further in the diffusion coefficient space, and such a behavior is entirely absent in the corresponding continuous time-space system. The method proposed in the present paper is innovative and the conclusion is novel.

     

Inclusion of Preferential Diffusion in Simulations of Premixed Combustion of Hydrogen/Methane Mixtures with Flamelet Generated Manifolds

In this paper we study the possibility to account for preferential diffusion effects in lean turbulent premixed flames in numerical predictions with reduced chemistry. We studied the situation when hydrogen is added to methane at levels of 20% and 40% by volume in the fuel, at lean combustion (??=?0.7) with air. The base case of pure methane was used as a reference. In this case preferential diffusion effects are negligible. First the sensitivity of the mass burning rate to flame stretch was investigated, in one dimensional computations with detailed chemistry, to set reference values. Then the framework of the Flamelet Generated Manifolds (FGM) was used to construct an adequate chemical method to take preferential diffusion into account, without the need for using detailed chemistry. To that end a generalization of the method was presented in which five controlling variables are required. For this system, proper transport equations and effective Lewis numbers where derived. In practice not all five variables are necessary to include and as a first step we limited the amount in the numerical tests in this study to two controlling variables. The method was then tested in configurations in which there was an interaction of coherent vortices and turbulence with flames. It was demonstrated that a minimum of two controlling variables is needed to account for the changed mass burning rate as function of stretch and curvature. It was shown that one-dimensional FGM as well as one-step Arrhenius kinetics can not describe this relation.     

On a non-linear moving boundary problem for a diffusion–convection equation

We study a one-dimensional free boundary problem for a non-linear diffusion–convection equation whose diffusivity is heterogeneous in space as well as being non-linear. Under the Bäcklund transformation the problem is reduced to an associated free boundary problem. We prove the existence and uniqueness, local in time, of the solution by using the Friedman Rubinstein integral representation method and the Banach contraction theorem.     

The effect of water diffusion on the adhesion of organosilicate glass film stacks

Organosilicate glass (OSG) is a material that is used as a dielectric in advanced integrated circuits. It has a network structure similar to that of amorphous silica where a fraction of the Si-O bonds have been replaced by organic groups. It is well known from prior work that OSG is sensitive to subcritical crack growth as water molecules in the environment are transported to the crack tip and assist in rupturing Si-O bonds at the crack tip. In this study, we demonstrate that exposure of an OSG containing film stack to water prior to fracture results in degradation of the adhesion of the film stack. This degradation is the result of the diffusion of water into the film stack. We propose a quantitative model to predict adhesion degradation as a function of exposure time by coupling the results of independent subcritical crack growth measurements with diffusion concentration profiles. The model agrees well with experimental data and provides a novel method for measuring the water diffusion coefficient in film stacks that contain OSG. This study has important implications for the reliability of advanced integrated circuits.     

Particle transport method for convection problems with reaction and diffusion

The paper is devoted to the further development of the particle transport method for the convection problems with diffusion and reaction. Here, the particle transport method for a convection–reaction problem is combined with an Eulerian finite‐element method for diffusion in the framework of the operator‐splitting approach. The technique possesses a special spatial adaptivity to resolve solution singularities possible due to convection and reaction terms. A monotone projection technique is used to transfer the solution of the convection–reaction subproblem from a moving set of particles onto a fixed grid to initialize the diffusion subproblem. The proposed approach exhibits good mass conservation and works with structured and unstructured meshes. The performance of the presented algorithm is tested on one‐ and two‐dimensional benchmark problems. The numerical results confirm that the method demonstrates good accuracy for the convection‐dominated as well as for convection–diffusion problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical diffusion for flow‐aligned unstructured grids with application to estuarine modeling

The benefits of unstructured grids in hydrodynamic models are well understood but in many cases lead to greater numerical diffusion compared with methods available on structured grids. The flexible nature of unstructured grids, however, allows for the orientation of the grid to align locally with the dominant flow direction and thus decrease numerical diffusion. We investigate the relationship between grid alignment and diffusive errors in the context of scalar transport in a triangular, unstructured, 3‐D hydrodynamic code. Analytical results are presented for the 2‐D anisotropic numerical diffusion tensor and verified against idealized simulations. Results from two physically realistic estuarine simulations, differing only in grid alignment, show significant changes in gradients of salinity. Changes in scalar gradients are reflective of reduced numerical diffusion interacting with the complex 3‐D structure of the transporting flow. We also describe a method for utilizing flow fields from an unaligned grid to generate a flow‐aligned grid with minimal supervision. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Finite Increment Calculus method for stabilizing advection‐diffusion equations,analysis and computation of the stabilization parameter

In this work we are concerned with the finite increment calculus (FIC) method. The method has been developed for efficient approximation of advection‐diffusion equations with high Péclet numbers. Since the natural application of FIC is within the framework of the FEM, we consider the BVP in a weak sense on finite dimensional spaces. Here we provide a result on existence and uniqueness of the solution as well as an error analysis. Also we propose a choice of the stabilization parameter. We test the method on some troublesome 2D problems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of the method of identification of the diffusion coefficient on accuracy of modeling bound water transfer in wood

An alternative approach to determining the bound water diffusion coefficient is proposed. It comprises a method for solving the inverse diffusion problem, an improved algorithm for the bound-constrained optimization as well as an alternative submodel for the diffusion coefficient’s dependency on the bound water content. Identification of the diffusion coefficient for Scots pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) using the proposed inverse approach is presented. The accuracy of predicting the diffusion process with the use of the coefficient values determined by traditional sorption methods as well as by the inverse modeling approach is quantified. The similarity approach is used and the local and global relative errors are calculated. The results show that the inverse method provides valuable data on the bound water diffusion coefficient as well as on the boundary condition. The results of the identification can significantly improve the accuracy of mass transfer modeling as studied for drying processes in wood.     

Semi-Analytic Axisymmetric Pressure Distribution in a Consolidating Porous Medium

A semi-analytic solution of the consolidation problem in a finite hollow axisymmetric elastic porous medium is given. According to Biot's theory, we have rigorously derived the consolidation equations and demonstrated that in the axisymmetric problems, the pore pressure diffusion equation can be uncoupled. In the problem of infinite domain, the uncoupled pressure diffusion equation is homogeneous and only the diffusion coefficient is changed. In the problem of finite domain, the uncoupled pressure diffusion equation is nonhomogeneous. In fact, it is a linear differential-integral equation. We solve it by the variables separation method in the time domain.     

Application of hybrid and moment methods to the measurement of moisture diffusion coefficients of building materials

This work proposes two simple dynamic methods that provide an accurate method for measurement of diffusion coefficients in building materials. Experimental measurements of moisture diffusion coefficients covered three commonly used building materials and they were carried out for a range of the relevant parameters, as temperature and relative humidity. The diffusion coefficients obtained by the two dynamic methods show a deviation comparatively to the steady-sate cup method; however, this variance is in accordance with the results presented in literature.     

SIMPLE‐type preconditioners for the Oseen problem

In this paper, the steady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are discretized by the finite element method. The resulting systems of equations are solved by preconditioned Krylov subspace methods. Some new preconditioning strategies, both algebraic and problem dependent are discussed. We emphasize on the approximation of the Schur complement as used in semi implicit method for pressure‐linked equations‐type preconditioners. In the usual formulation, the Schur complement matrix and updates use scaling with the diagonal of the convection–diffusion matrix. We propose a variant of the SIMPLER preconditioner. Instead of using the diagonal of the convection–diffusion matrix, we scale the Schur complement and updates with the diagonal of the velocity mass matrix. This variant is called modified SIMPLER (MSIMPLER). With the new approximation, we observe a drastic improvement in convergence for large problems. MSIMPLER shows better convergence than the well‐known least‐squares commutator preconditioner which is also based on the diagonal of the velocity mass matrix. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.