A moving unstructured staggered mesh method for the simulation of incompressible free-surface flows

A new moving staggered mesh discretization for the numerical simulation of incompressible flow problems involving free-surfaces is presented. The method uses the staggered mesh to obtain speed and conservation properties. Mesh motion provides a high quality mesh in the interior and detailed resolution of the free-surface motion on the surface. Mesh flipping allows for optimal mesh connectivity to be maintained. The method uses an exact projection procedure which reduces the number of unknowns as well as satisfying the continuity constraint without solving a pressure Poisson equation. The implementation of surface tension forces in the staggered mesh framework is discussed. The resulting method is tested against analytical solutions for liquid sloshing and free-surface channel flow. It is also demonstrated on the cases of droplet collision, three-dimensional sloshing, and turbulence next to a free-surface.     

A fixed-mesh method for incompressible flow–structure systems with finite solid deformations

A fixed-mesh algorithm is proposed for simulating flow–structure interactions such as those occurring in biological systems, in which both the fluid and solid are incompressible and the solid deformations are large. Several of the well-known difficulties in simulating such flow–structure interactions are avoided by formulating a single set of equations of motion on a fixed Eulerian mesh. The solid’s deformation is tracked to compute elastic stresses by an overlapping Lagrangian mesh. In this way, the flow–structure interaction is formulated as a distributed body force and singular surface force acting on an otherwise purely fluid system. These forces, which depend on the solid elastic stress distribution, are computed on the Lagrangian mesh by a standard finite-element method and then transferred to the fixed Eulerian mesh, where the joint momentum and continuity equations are solved by a finite-difference method. The constitutive model for the solid can be quite general. For the force transfer, standard immersed-boundary and immersed-interface methods can be used and are demonstrated. We have also developed and demonstrated a new projection method that unifies the transfer of the surface and body forces in a way that exactly conserves momentum; the interface is still effectively sharp for this approach. The spatial convergence of the method is observed to be between first- and second-order, as in most immersed-boundary methods for membrane flows. The algorithm is demonstrated by the simulations of an advected elastic disk, a flexible leaflet in an oscillating flow, and a model of a swimming jellyfish.     

Simulation of surface tension in 2D and 3D with smoothed particle hydrodynamics method

The methods for simulating surface tension with smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method in two dimensions and three dimensions are developed. In 2D surface tension model, the SPH particle on the boundary in 2D is detected dynamically according to the algorithm developed by Dilts [G.A. Dilts, Moving least-squares particle hydrodynamics II: conservation and boundaries, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering 48 (2000) 1503–1524]. The boundary curve in 2D is reconstructed locally with Lagrangian interpolation polynomial. In 3D surface tension model, the SPH particle on the boundary in 3D is detected dynamically according to the algorithm developed by Haque and Dilts [A. Haque, G.A. Dilts, Three-dimensional boundary detection for particle methods, Journal of Computational Physics 226 (2007) 1710–1730]. The boundary surface in 3D is reconstructed locally with moving least squares (MLS) method. By transforming the coordinate system, it is guaranteed that the interface function is one-valued in the local coordinate system. The normal vector and curvature of the boundary surface are calculated according to the reconstructed boundary surface and then surface tension force can be calculated. Surface tension force acts only on the boundary particle. Density correction is applied to the boundary particle in order to remove the boundary inconsistency. The surface tension models in 2D and 3D have been applied to benchmark tests for surface tension. The ability of the current method applying to the simulation of surface tension in 2D and 3D is proved.     

A grid based particle method for solving partial differential equations on evolving surfaces and modeling high order geometrical motion

We develop numerical methods for solving partial differential equations (PDE) defined on an evolving interface represented by the grid based particle method (GBPM) recently proposed in [S. Leung, H.K. Zhao, A grid based particle method for moving interface problems, J. Comput. Phys. 228 (2009) 7706–7728]. In particular, we develop implicit time discretization methods for the advection–diffusion equation where the time step is restricted solely by the advection part of the equation. We also generalize the GBPM to solve high order geometrical flows including surface diffusion and Willmore-type flows. The resulting algorithm can be easily implemented since the method is based on meshless particles quasi-uniformly sampled on the interface. Furthermore, without any computational mesh or triangulation defined on the interface, we do not require remeshing or reparametrization in the case of highly distorted motion or when there are topological changes. As an interesting application, we study locally inextensible flows governed by energy minimization. We introduce tension force via a Lagrange multiplier determined by the solution to a Helmholtz equation defined on the evolving interface. Extensive numerical examples are also given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

A direct comparison between volume and surface tracking methods with a boundary-fitted coordinate transformation and third-order upwinding

A Volume Tracking (VT) and a Front Tracking (FT) algorithm are implemented and compared for locating the interface between two immiscible, incompressible, Newtonian fluids in a tube with a periodically varying, circular cross-section. Initially, the fluids are stationary and stratified in an axisymmetric arrangement so that one is around the axis of the tube (core fluid) and the other one surrounds it (annular fluid). A constant pressure gradient sets them in motion. With both VT and FT, a boundary-fitted coordinate transformation is applied and appropriate modifications are made to adopt either method in this geometry. The surface tension force is approximated using the continuous surface force method. All terms appearing in the continuity and momentum equations are approximated using centered finite differences in space and one-sided forward finite differences in time. In each time step, the incompressibility condition is enforced by a transformed Poisson equation, which is linear in pressure. This equation is solved by either direct LU decomposition or a Multigrid iterative solver. When the two fluids have the same density, the former method is about 3.5 times faster, but when they do not, the Multigrid solver is as much as 10 times faster than the LU decomposition. When the interface does not break and the Reynolds number remains small, the accuracy and rates of convergence of VT and FT are comparable. The well-known failure of centered finite differences arises as the Reynolds number increases and leads to non-physical oscillations in the interface and failure of both methods to converge with mesh refinement. These problems are resolved and computations with Reynolds as large as 500 converged by approximating the convective terms in the momentum equations by third-order upwind differences using Lagrangian Polynomials. When the volume of the core fluid or the Weber number decrease, increasing the importance of interfacial tension and leading to breakup of the interface forming a drop of core fluid, the FT method converges faster with mesh refinement than the VT method and upwinding may be required. Finally, examining the generation of spurious currents around a stationary “bubble” in the tube for Ohnesorge numbers between 0.1 and 10 it is found that the maximum velocity remains approximately the same in spite mesh refinements when VT is applied, whereas it is of the same order of magnitude for the coarsest mesh and monotonically decreases with mesh refinement when FT is applied.     

Efficient solutions to robust, semi-implicit discretizations of the immersed boundary method

The immersed boundary method is a versatile tool for the investigation of flow-structure interaction. In a large number of applications, the immersed boundaries or structures are very stiff and strong tangential forces on these interfaces induce a well-known, severe time-step restriction for explicit discretizations. This excessive stability constraint can be removed with fully implicit or suitable semi-implicit schemes but at a seemingly prohibitive computational cost. While economical alternatives have been proposed recently for some special cases, there is a practical need for a computationally efficient approach that can be applied more broadly. In this context, we revisit a robust semi-implicit discretization introduced by Peskin in the late 1970s which has received renewed attention recently. This discretization, in which the spreading and interpolation operators are lagged, leads to a linear system of equations for the interface configuration at the future time, when the interfacial force is linear. However, this linear system is large and dense and thus it is challenging to streamline its solution. Moreover, while the same linear system or one of similar structure could potentially be used in Newton-type iterations, nonlinear and highly stiff immersed structures pose additional challenges to iterative methods. In this work, we address these problems and propose cost-effective computational strategies for solving Peskin’s lagged-operators type of discretization. We do this by first constructing a sufficiently accurate approximation to the system’s matrix and we obtain a rigorous estimate for this approximation. This matrix is expeditiously computed by using a combination of pre-calculated values and interpolation. The availability of a matrix allows for more efficient matrix–vector products and facilitates the design of effective iterative schemes. We propose efficient iterative approaches to deal with both linear and nonlinear interfacial forces and simple or complex immersed structures with tethered or untethered points. One of these iterative approaches employs a splitting in which we first solve a linear problem for the interfacial force and then we use a nonlinear iteration to find the interface configuration corresponding to this force. We demonstrate that the proposed approach is several orders of magnitude more efficient than the standard explicit method. In addition to considering the standard elliptical drop test case, we show both the robustness and efficacy of the proposed methodology with a 2D model of a heart valve.     

A direct comparison between volume and surface tracking methods with a boundary-fitted coordinate transformation and third-order upwinding

A Volume Tracking (VT) and a Front Tracking (FT) algorithm are implemented and compared for locating the interface between two immiscible, incompressible, Newtonian fluids in a tube with a periodically varying, circular cross-section. Initially, the fluids are stationary and stratified in an axisymmetric arrangement so that one is around the axis of the tube (core fluid) and the other one surrounds it (annular fluid). A constant pressure gradient sets them in motion. With both VT and FT, a boundary-fitted coordinate transformation is applied and appropriate modifications are made to adopt either method in this geometry. The surface tension force is approximated using the continuous surface force method. All terms appearing in the continuity and momentum equations are approximated using centered finite differences in space and one-sided forward finite differences in time. In each time step, the incompressibility condition is enforced by a transformed Poisson equation, which is linear in pressure. This equation is solved by either direct LU decomposition or a Multigrid iterative solver. When the two fluids have the same density, the former method is about 3.5 times faster, but when they do not, the Multigrid solver is as much as 10 times faster than the LU decomposition. When the interface does not break and the Reynolds number remains small, the accuracy and rates of convergence of VT and FT are comparable. The well-known failure of centered finite differences arises as the Reynolds number increases and leads to non-physical oscillations in the interface and failure of both methods to converge with mesh refinement. These problems are resolved and computations with Reynolds as large as 500 converged by approximating the convective terms in the momentum equations by third-order upwind differences using Lagrangian Polynomials. When the volume of the core fluid or the Weber number decrease, increasing the importance of interfacial tension and leading to breakup of the interface forming a drop of core fluid, the FT method converges faster with mesh refinement than the VT method and upwinding may be required. Finally, examining the generation of spurious currents around a stationary “bubble” in the tube for Ohnesorge numbers between 0.1 and 10 it is found that the maximum velocity remains approximately the same in spite mesh refinements when VT is applied, whereas it is of the same order of magnitude for the coarsest mesh and monotonically decreases with mesh refinement when FT is applied.     

Three-dimensional,fully adaptive simulations of phase-field fluid models

We present an efficient numerical methodology for the 3D computation of incompressible multi-phase flows described by conservative phase-field models. We focus here on the case of density matched fluids with different viscosity (Model H). The numerical method employs adaptive mesh refinements (AMR) in concert with an efficient semi-implicit time discretization strategy and a linear, multi-level multigrid to relax high order stability constraints and to capture the flow’s disparate scales at optimal cost. Only five linear solvers are needed per time-step. Moreover, all the adaptive methodology is constructed from scratch to allow a systematic investigation of the key aspects of AMR in a conservative, phase-field setting. We validate the method and demonstrate its capabilities and efficacy with important examples of drop deformation, Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, and flow-induced drop coalescence.     

An all-speed relaxation scheme for interface flows with surface tension

We consider interface flows where compressibility and capillary forces (surface tension) are significant. These flows are described by a non-conservative, unconditionally hyperbolic multiphase model. The numerical approximation is based on finite-volume method for unstructured grids. At the discrete level, the surface tension is approximated by a volume force (CSF formulation). The interface physical properties are recovered by designing an appropriate linearized Riemann solver (Relaxation scheme) that prevents spurious oscillations near material interfaces. For low-speed flows, a preconditioning linearization is proposed and the low Mach asymptotic is formally recovered. Numerical computations, for a bubble equilibrium, converge to the required Laplace law and the dynamic of a drop, falling under gravity, is in agreement with experimental observations.     

Modelling two-phase flow in porous media at the pore scale using the volume-of-fluid method

We present a stable numerical scheme for modelling multiphase flow in porous media, where the characteristic size of the flow domain is of the order of microns to millimetres. The numerical method is developed for efficient modelling of multiphase flow in porous media with complex interface motion and irregular solid boundaries. The Navier–Stokes equations are discretised using a finite volume approach, while the volume-of-fluid method is used to capture the location of interfaces. Capillary forces are computed using a semi-sharp surface force model, in which the transition area for capillary pressure is effectively limited to one grid block. This new formulation along with two new filtering methods, developed for correcting capillary forces, permits simulations at very low capillary numbers and avoids non-physical velocities. Capillary forces are implemented using a semi-implicit formulation, which allows larger time step sizes at low capillary numbers. We verify the accuracy and stability of the numerical method on several test cases, which indicate the potential of the method to predict multiphase flow processes.     

Krylov implicit integration factor methods for spatial discretization on high dimensional unstructured meshes: Application to discontinuous Galerkin methods

Integration factor methods are a class of “exactly linear part” time discretization methods. In [Q. Nie, Y.-T. Zhang, R. Zhao, Efficient semi-implicit schemes for stiff systems, Journal of Computational Physics, 214 (2006) 521–537], a class of efficient implicit integration factor (IIF) methods were developed for solving systems with both stiff linear and nonlinear terms, arising from spatial discretization of time-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs) with linear high order terms and stiff lower order nonlinear terms. The tremendous challenge in applying IIF temporal discretization for PDEs on high spatial dimensions is how to evaluate the matrix exponential operator efficiently. For spatial discretization on unstructured meshes to solve PDEs on complex geometrical domains, how to efficiently apply the IIF temporal discretization was open. In this paper, we solve this problem by applying the Krylov subspace approximations to the matrix exponential operator. Then we apply this novel time discretization technique to discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods on unstructured meshes for solving reaction–diffusion equations. Numerical examples are shown to demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency and robustness of the method in resolving the stiffness of the DG spatial operator for reaction–diffusion PDEs. Application of the method to a mathematical model in pattern formation during zebrafish embryo development shall be shown.     

Stabilization of cell-centered compressible Lagrangian methods using subzonal entropy

This work deals with the stabilization of early stages of Lagrangian calculations of compressible gas dynamics in the context of cell-centered discretization. We describe a totally conservative algorithm based on an entropy analysis of the distortion of a Lagrangian mesh. It prevents the tangling of the mesh, while remaining consistent and conservative in mass, momentum, and total energy. The method described can be applied to any cell-centered Lagrangian scheme. In this article, we detail the extension to the cell-centered Glace scheme published in Carré et al. (2009) [G. Carré, S. Del Pino, B. Després, E. Labourasse, A cell-centered Lagrangian hydrodynamics scheme on general unstructured meshes in arbitrary dimension, J. Comput. Phys. 228 (2009) 5160–5183]. Numerical tests are proposed to assess the accuracy and robustness.     

A low numerical dissipation immersed interface method for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations

A numerical method to solve the compressible Navier–Stokes equations around objects of arbitrary shape using Cartesian grids is described. The approach considered here uses an embedded geometry representation of the objects and approximate the governing equations with a low numerical dissipation centered finite-difference discretization. The method is suitable for compressible flows without shocks and can be classified as an immersed interface method. The objects are sharply captured by the Cartesian mesh by appropriately adapting the discretization stencils around the irregular grid nodes, located around the boundary. In contrast with available methods, no jump conditions are used or explicitly derived from the boundary conditions, although a number of elements are adopted from previous immersed interface approaches. A new element in the present approach is the use of the summation-by-parts formalism to develop stable non-stiff first-order derivative approximations at the irregular grid points. Second-order derivative approximations, as those appearing in the transport terms, can be stiff when irregular grid points are located too close to the boundary. This is addressed using a semi-implicit time integration method. Moreover, it is shown that the resulting implicit equations can be solved explicitly in the case of constant transport properties. Convergence studies are performed for a rotating cylinder and vortex shedding behind objects of varying shapes at different Mach and Reynolds numbers.     

基于Level Set方法的双层流体热毛细对流的数值研究

基于Level Set方法建立了双层流体热毛细对流的数学模型,通过变密度二阶投影法求解控制方程,C-N隐式技术用于扩散项更新,三阶龙格库塔技术用于对流项的更新,采用连续表面张力模型(CSF)模拟Marangoni效应。三维数值模拟了微重力环境下双层流体系统中交界面变形的热毛细对流,结果显示,在Marangoni效应的作用下,交界面在热端凸起,在冷端凹陷;随着Marangoni数增大,双层流体交界面的变形率随之增大,对流强度也随之增大;交界面与壁面的接触条件会影响热毛细对流的流场和温度场。     

Modeling and computation of two phase geometric biomembranes using surface finite elements

Biomembranes consisting of multiple lipids may involve phase separation phenomena leading to coexisting domains of different lipid compositions. The modeling of such biomembranes involves an elastic or bending energy together with a line energy associated with the phase interfaces. This leads to a free boundary problem for the phase interface on the unknown equilibrium surface which minimizes an energy functional subject to volume and area constraints. In this paper we propose a new computational tool for computing equilibria based on an L² relaxation flow for the total energy in which the line energy is approximated by a surface Ginzburg–Landau phase field functional. The relaxation dynamics couple a nonlinear fourth order geometric evolution equation of Willmore flow type for the membrane with a surface Allen–Cahn equation describing the lateral decomposition. A novel system is derived involving second order elliptic operators where the field variables are the positions of material points of the surface, the mean curvature vector and the surface phase field function. The resulting variational formulation uses H¹ spaces, and we employ triangulated surfaces and H¹ conforming quadratic surface finite elements for approximating solutions. Together with a semi-implicit time discretization of the evolution equations an iterative scheme is obtained essentially requiring linear solvers only. Numerical experiments are presented which exhibit convergence and the power of this new method for two component geometric biomembranes by computing equilibria such as dumbbells, discocytes and starfishes with lateral phase separation.     

二维三温辐射流体力学拉氏计算中的子网格压力方法

研究对应于电子压、离子压、光子压的扰动隅角力的计算方法,提出二维三温辐射流体力学拉氏计算中的两种子网格压力方法,即基于状态方程和基于几何的方法.数值试验表明,这两种方法均能很好地抑制二维三温辐射流体力学拉氏计算中出现的网格非物理畸变.     

A Potential-Based Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Approach for the Dynamic Failure Assessment of Compact and Granular Materials

Computational simulation of solids has experienced a rapid development since the formulation of the finite element method. However a number of problems cannot be properly solved by using the finite element method because a severe mesh distortion in computations of Lagrangian scheme may arise for very large displacements, high speed impact, fragmentation, particulate solids, fluid-structure interaction, leading to lack of consistency between the numerical and the physical problem. The discretization of the problem domain with nodal points without any mesh connectivity would be useful to overcome this difficulty. Moreover the discrete nature of continuum matter—usually observed at the microscale—allows to adopt such a kind of discretization that is natural for granular materials and enables us to model very large deformations, handle damage—such as fracture, crushing, fragmentation, clustering—thanks to the variable interaction between particles.In the context of meshless methods, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshfree particle method based on Lagrangian formulation that has been widely applied to different engineering fields. In the present paper a unified computational potential-based particle method for the mechanical simulation of continuum and granular materials under dynamic condition, is proposed and framed in the SPH-like approaches. The particleparticle and particle-boundary interaction is modelled through force functionals related to the nature of the material being analyzed (solid, granular,...); large geometrical changes of the mechanical system, such as fracture, clustering, granular flow can be easily modelled. Some examples are finally proposed and discussed to underline the potentiality of the approach.     

Direct observation of shear-induced orientational phase coexistence in a lyotropic system using a modified x-ray surface forces apparatus

The second generation x-ray surface forces apparatus (XSFA-II) allows for the first time simultaneous in situ small-angle x-ray scattering and surface force measurements. We have used the XSFA-II to monitor shear-induced orientational transitions in a lyotropic model lubricant system. Upon applying small shear amplitudes (approximately 20 micrometer) to a relatively thick (approximately 800 micrometer) film, we observed evidence for the formation of an orientational boundary layer at the shearing surface. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction revealed the gradual transition to shear-favored orientation by growth of the boundary layer.     

A boundary integral method for simulating the dynamics of inextensible vesicles suspended in a viscous fluid in 2D

We present a new method for the evolution of inextensible vesicles immersed in a Stokesian fluid. We use a boundary integral formulation for the fluid that results in a set of nonlinear integro-differential equations for the vesicle dynamics. The motion of the vesicles is determined by balancing the non-local hydrodynamic forces with the elastic forces due to bending and tension. Numerical simulations of such vesicle motions are quite challenging. On one hand, explicit time-stepping schemes suffer from a severe stability constraint due to the stiffness related to high-order spatial derivatives and a milder constraint due to a transport-like stability condition. On the other hand, an implicit scheme can be expensive because it requires the solution of a set of nonlinear equations at each time step. We present two semi-implicit schemes that circumvent the severe stability constraints on the time step and whose computational cost per time step is comparable to that of an explicit scheme. We discretize the equations by using a spectral method in space, and a multistep third-order accurate scheme in time. We use the fast multipole method (FMM) to efficiently compute vesicle–vesicle interaction forces in a suspension with a large number of vesicles. We report results from numerical experiments that demonstrate the convergence and algorithmic complexity properties of our scheme.