Discontinuous Galerkin method for solving the black‐oil problem in porous media

We introduce a new algorithm for solving the three‐component three‐phase flow problem in two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional heterogeneous media. The oil and gas components can be found in the liquid and vapor phases, whereas the aqueous phase is only composed of water component. The numerical scheme employs a sequential implicit formulation discretized with discontinuous finite elements. Capillarity and gravity effects are included. The method is shown to be accurate and robust for several test problems. It has been carefully designed so that calculation of appearance and disappearance of phases does not require additional steps.     

The Bernoulli Integral for a Certain Class of Non‐Stationary Viscous Vortical Flows of Incompressible Fluid

It has been shown in our paper [1] that there is a wide class of 3D motions of incompressible viscous fluid which can be described by one scalar function dabbed the quasi‐potential. This class of fluid flows is characterized by three‐component velocity field having two‐component vorticity field; both these fields can depend of all three spatial variables and time, in general. Governing equations for the quasi‐potential have been derived and simple illustrative example of 3D flow has been presented. Here, we derive the Bernoulli integral for that class of flows and compare it against the known Bernoulli integrals for the potential flows or 2D stationary vortical flows of inviscid fluid. We show that the Bernoulli integral for this class of fluid motion possesses unusual features: it is valid for the vortical nonstationary motions of a viscous incompressible fluid. We present a new very nontrivial analytical example of 3D flow with two‐component vorticity which hardly can be obtained by any of known methods. In the last section, we suggest a generalization of the developed concept which allows one to describe a certain class of 3D flows with the 3D vorticity.     

A discrete duality finite volume discretization of the vorticity‐velocity‐pressure stokes problem on almost arbitrary two‐dimensional grids

We present an application of the discrete duality finite volume method to the numerical approximation of the vorticity‐velocity‐pressure formulation of the two‐dimensional Stokes equations, associated to various nonstandard boundary conditions. The finite volume method is based on the use of discrete differential operators obeying some discrete duality principles. The scheme may be seen as an extension of the classical Marker and Cell scheme to almost arbitrary meshes, thanks to an appropriate choice of degrees of freedom. The efficiency of the scheme is illustrated by numerical examples over unstructured triangular and locally refined nonconforming meshes, which confirm the theoretical convergence analysis led in the article. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1–30, 2015     

Enhanced algorithms for implementing the spectral discretization of the vorticity‐velocity‐pressure formulation of Stokes problem

In this paper, we deal with the numerical resolution of spectral discretization of the vorticity‐velocity‐pressure formulation of Stokes problem in a square or a cube provided with nonstandard boundary conditions, which involve the normal component of the velocity and the tangential components of the vorticity. Therefore, we propose two algorithms: the Uzawa algorithm and the global resolution. We implemented the two algorithms and compared their results. With global resolution, we obtained a very good accuracy with a small number of iteration.     

An application of a boundary element method to natural convection

The direct boundary element method is applied to the numerical modelling of thermal fluid flow in a transient state. The Navier-Stokes equations are considered under the Boussinesq approximation and the viscous thermal flow equations are expressed in terms of stream function, vorticity, and temperature in two dimensions. Boundary integral equations are derived using logarithmic potential and time-dependent heat potential as fundamental solutions. Boundary unknowns are discretized by linear boundary elements and flow domains are divided into a series of triangular cells. Charged points are translated upstream in the numerical evaluation of convective terms. Unknown stream function, vorticity, and temperature are staggered in the computational scheme.

Simple iteration is found to converge to the quasi steady-state flow. Boundary solutions for two-dimensional examples at a Reynolds number 100 and Grashoff number 10⁷ are obtained.     

Decoupled energy‐law preserving numerical schemes for the Cahn–Hilliard–Darcy system

We study two novel decoupled energy‐law preserving and mass‐conservative numerical schemes for solving the Cahn‐Hilliard‐Darcy system which models two‐phase flow in porous medium or in a Hele–Shaw cell. In the first scheme, the velocity in the Cahn–Hilliard equation is treated explicitly so that the Darcy equation is completely decoupled from the Cahn–Hilliard equation. In the second scheme, an intermediate velocity is used in the Cahn–Hilliard equation which allows for the decoupling. We show that the first scheme preserves a discrete energy law with a time‐step constraint, while the second scheme satisfies an energy law without any constraint and is unconditionally stable. Ample numerical experiments are performed to gauge the efficiency and robustness of our scheme. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 936–954, 2016     

Interval vortex methods

By means of the integral version of vortex equation, the technique of Green's function, and the vorticity‐to‐velocity map, a new kind of interval methods for solving the initial‐periodic boundary value problem of two‐dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equation is introduced, which consists of both an approximate scheme and a set of pointwise intervals covering the exact solution. The convergence theorem corresponding to the scheme is proved, and the order of error width for the two‐sided bounds is also considered. Finally, a simple numerical example illustrates our corroboration. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1368–1396, 2014     

Coupling harmonic functions‐finite elements for solving the stream function‐vorticity Stokes problem

We consider the bidimensional Stokes problem for incompressible fluids in stream function‐vorticity form. The classical finite element method of degree one usually used does not allow the vorticity on the boundary of the domain to be computed satisfactorily when the meshes are unstructured and does not converge optimally. To better approach the vorticity along the boundary, we propose that harmonic functions obtained by integral representation be used. Numerical results are very satisfactory, and we prove that this new numerical scheme leads to an optimal convergence rate of order 1 for the natural norm of the vorticity and, under higher regularity assumptions, from 3/2 to 2 for the quadratic norm of the vorticity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2004.     

基于非结构自适应网格的复合有限体积法

利用文献[1]中将Lax-Wendroff格式和Lax-Friedrichs格式整体复合作用构成二维无结构网格上的复合型有限体积法,同时利用Delaunay方法,根据流场流动特性变化的梯度值为指示器对网格进行加密和粗化,实现自适应,并将此方法应用到二维浅水波方程的求解上,进行了二维部分溃坝,倾斜水跃的数值实验.结果表明,该方法是一个计算稳定、能适应复杂的求解域、能很好地捕捉激波、且计算速度快的算法.     

Application of a multi-component Eulerian approach to capture interface evolution and vorticity generation in compressible multiphase flow

The hyperbolic Eularian model is used as a mathematical framework for compressible multiphase flows. The formulation was obtained after an averaging process of the single phase Navier-Stokes equations. The closure of multi-component system leads to the volume fraction equation containing a non-conservative term and a pressure equilibrium condition. As a result the model equations cannot be written in a conservative form. To solve the equations a finite volume Godunov type computational approach is developed which uses an approximate Riemann solver combined with a numerical scheme to tackle the non-conservative terms. The approach accounts for pressure non-equilibrium. It enables resolving interfaces separating compressible fluids and captures the baroclinic source of vorticity generation. The computations are performed for various initial conditions and compared with theoretical and experimental data for a shock-bubble interaction problem. The investigated cases include acoustic wave transmission through isolated bubbles of helium and krypton. The numerical results illustrate the characteristic features of the evolving interfaces. The impulsively generated flow perturbations are dominated by the reflection and refraction of the shock and by the vorticity generation within the media. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On behavior of two-dimensional non-plane parallel turbulent flows of inviscid gas

The time behavior of two-dimensional flows of inviscid gas in which the velocity component normal to the plane of independent variables and the vorticity components parallel to this plane are different from zero, is investigated. Equations of such flows form two different subsystems. The first subsystem describes a plane parallel (“primary”) flow without the third velocity component, and is independent of the second subsystem consisting of a single equation for the third velocity component and determining the “secondary” flow. The flows are analyzed with sufficient detail without using numerical integration which carries with it unavoidable errors, and without linearization, both of which are employed to a lesser or greater degree in the study of the evolution of vortical structures (see /1–6/).     

Block‐centered upwind multistep difference method and convergence analysis for numerical simulation of oil reservoir

The three‐dimensional displacement of two‐phase flow in porous media is a preliminary problem of numerical simulation of energy science and mathematics. The mathematical model is formulated by a nonlinear system of partial differential equations to describe incompressible miscible case. The pressure is defined by an elliptic equation, and the concentration is defined by a convection‐dominated diffusion equation. The pressure generates Darcy velocity and controls the dynamic change of concentration. We adopt a conservative block‐centered scheme to approximate the pressure and Darcy velocity, and the accuracy of Darcy velocity is improved one order. We use a block‐centered upwind multistep method to solve the concentration, where the time derivative is approximated by multistep method, and the diffusion term and convection term are treated by a block‐centered scheme and an upwind scheme, respectively. The composite algorithm is effective to solve such a convection‐dominated problem, since numerical oscillation and dispersion are avoided and computational accuracy is improved. Block‐centered method is conservative, and the concentration and the adjoint function are computed simultaneously. This physical nature is important in numerical simulation of seepage fluid. Using the convergence theory and techniques of priori estimates, we derive optimal estimate error. Numerical experiments and data show the support and consistency of theoretical result. The argument in the present paper shows a powerful tool to solve the well‐known model problem.     

On mean flow generation due to oblique reflection of internal waves at a slope

Small‐amplitude expansions are utilized to discuss the mean flow induced by the reflection of a weakly nonlinear internal gravity wave beam at a uniform rigid slope, in the case where the beam planes of constant phase meet the slope at an arbitrary direction, not necessarily parallel to the isobaths, and the flow cannot be taken as two dimensional. Along the vertical, the Eulerian mean flow, due to such an oblique reflection, is equal and opposite to the Stokes drift so the Lagrangian mean flow vanishes, similar to a two‐dimensional reflection. The horizontal Eulerian mean flow, however, is controlled by the mean potential vorticity (PV) and the corresponding Lagrangian mean flow is generally nonzero, in contrast to two‐dimensional flow where PV identically vanishes. For an oblique reflection, furthermore, viscous dissipation can trigger generation of horizontal mean flow via irreversible production of mean PV, a phenomenon akin to streaming.     

Numerical study of a regularized barotropic vorticity model of geophysical flow

We study a Crank–Nicolson in time, finite element in space, numerical scheme for a Bardina regularization of the barotropic vorticity (BV) model. We derive the regularized model from the simplified Bardina model in primitive variables, present a numerical algorithm for it, and prove the algorithm is unconditionally stable with respect to the timestep size and optimally convergent in both space and time. Numerical experiments are provided that verify the theoretical convergence rates, and also that test the model/scheme on a benchmark double‐gyre wind forcing experiment. For the latter test, we find the proposed model/scheme gives a good coarse mesh approximation to the highly resolved direct numerical simulation of the BV model, and compares favorably to related regularization model results. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1492–1514, 2015     

Error estimates for approximations of a gradient dynamics for phase field elastic bending energy of vesicle membrane deformation

In this paper, we study the numerical approximations of a gradient flow associated with a phase field bending elasticity model of a vesicle membrane with prescribed volume and surface area. A spatially semi‐discrete scheme based on a mixed finite element formulation and a fully discrete in space and time scheme are analyzed. Optimal order error estimates are rigorously derived for these numerical schemes without any a priori assumption. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Exploratory Analysis of the Transient and Long-Term Behavior of Small Three-Dimensional Perturbations in the Circular Cylinder Wake

An initial‐value problem (IVP) for arbitrary small three‐dimensional vorticity perturbations imposed on a free shear flow is considered. The viscous perturbation equations are then combined in terms of the vorticity and velocity, and are solved by means of a combined Laplace–Fourier transform in the plane normal to the basic flow. The perturbations can be uniform or damped along the mean flow direction. This treatment allows for a simplification of the governing equations such that it is possible to observe long transients, which can last hundreds time scales. This result would not be possible over an acceptable lapse of time by carrying out a direct numerical integration of the linearized Navier–Stokes equations. The exploration is done with respect to physical inputs as the angle of obliquity, the symmetry of the perturbation, and the streamwise damping rate. The base flow is an intermediate section of the growing two‐dimensional circular cylinder wake where the entrainment process is still active. Two Reynolds numbers of the order of the critical value for the onset of the first instability are considered. The early transient evolution offers very different scenarios for which we present a summary for particular cases. For example, for amplified perturbations, we have observed two kinds of transients, namely (1) a monotone amplification and (2) a sequence of growth–decrease–final growth. In the latter case, if the initial condition is an asymmetric oblique or longitudinal perturbation, the transient clearly shows an initial oscillatory time scale. That increases moving downstream, and is different from the asymptotic value. Two periodic temporal patterns are thus present in the system. Furthermore, the more a perturbation is longitudinally confined, the more it is amplified in time. The long‐term behavior of two‐dimensional disturbances shows excellent agreement with a recent two‐dimensional spatio‐temporal multiscale model analysis and with laboratory data concerning the frequency and wave length of the parallel vortex shedding in the cylinder wake.     

Vorticity‐velocity formulations of the Stokes problem in 3D

This work studies the three‐dimensional Stokes problem expressed in terms of vorticity and velocity variables. We make general assumptions on the regularity and the topological structure of the flow domain: the boundary is Lipschitz and possibly non‐connected and the flow domain may be multiply connected. Upon introducing a new variational space for the vorticity, five weak formulations of the Stokes problem are obtained. All the formulations are shown to lead to well‐posed problems and to be equivalent to the primitive variable formulation. The various formulations are discussed by interpreting the test functions for the vorticity (resp. velocity) equation as vector potentials for the velocity (resp. vorticity). Of the five sets of boundary conditions derived in the paper, three are already known, but only for domains with a trivial topological structure, while the remaining two are new. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vorticity‐pressure formulations for the Brinkman‐Darcy coupled problem

We introduce a new variational formulation for the Brinkman‐Darcy equations formulated in terms of the scaled Brinkman vorticity and the global pressure. The velocities in each subdomain are fully decoupled through the momentum equations, and can be later recovered from the principal unknowns. A new finite element method is also proposed, consisting in equal‐order Nédélec and piecewise continuous elements, for vorticity and pressure, respectively. The error analysis for the scheme is carried out in the natural norms, with bounds independent of the fluid viscosity. An adequate modification of the formulation and analysis permits us to specify the presentation to the case of axisymmetric configurations. We provide a set of numerical examples illustrating the robustness, accuracy, and efficiency of the proposed discretization.     

Meshless solution of two-dimensional incompressible flow problems using the radial basis integral equation method

The two-dimensional incompressible fluid flow problems governed by the velocity–vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations were solved using the radial basis integral (RBIE) equation method. The RBIE is a meshless method based on the multi-domain boundary element method with overlapping subdomains. It solves at each node for the potential and its spatial derivatives. This feature of the RBIE is advantageous in solving the velocity–vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations since the calculated velocity gradients can be used to compute the vorticity that is prescribed as a boundary condition to the vorticity transport equation. The accuracy of the numerical solution was examined by solving the test problem with known analytical solution. Two benchmark problems, i.e. the lid driven cavity flow and the thermally driven cavity flow were also solved. The numerical results obtained using the RBIE showed very good agreement with the benchmark solutions.     

Hamiltonian Structure and a Variational Principle for Grounded Abyssal Flow on a Sloping Bottom in a Mid‐Latitude β‐Plane

Observations, numerical simulations, and theoretical scaling arguments suggest that in mid‐latitudes, away from the high‐latitude source regions and the equator, the meridional transport of abyssal water masses along a continental slope correspond to geostrophic flows that are gravity or density driven and topographically steered. These dynamics are examined using a nonlinear reduced‐gravity geostrophic model that describes grounded abyssal meridional flow over sloping topography that crosses the planetary vorticity gradient. It is shown that this model possesses a noncanonical Hamiltonian formulation. General nonlinear steady solutions to the model can be obtained for arbitrary bottom topography. These solutions correspond to nonparallel shear flows that flow across the planetary vorticity gradient. If the in‐flow current along the poleward boundary is strictly equatorward, then no shock can form in the solution in the mid‐latitude domain. It is also shown that the steady solutions satisfy the first‐order necessary conditions for an extremal to a suitably constrained potential energy functional. Sufficient conditions for the definiteness of the second variation of the constrained energy functional are examined. The theory is illustrated with a nonlinear steady solution corresponding to an abyssal flow with upslope and down slope groundings in the height field.