Development of Lattice Boltzmann Flux Solver for Simulation of Incompressible Flows

A lattice Boltzmann flux solver (LBFS) is presented in this work for simulation of incompressible viscous and inviscid flows. The new solver is based on Chapman-Enskog expansion analysis, which is the bridge to link Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations and lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE). The macroscopic differential equations are discretized by the finite volume method, where the flux at the cell interface is evaluated by local reconstruction of lattice Boltzmann solution from macroscopic flow variables at cell centers. The new solver removes the drawbacks of conventional lattice Boltzmann method such as limitation to uniform mesh, tie-up of mesh spacing and time interval, limitation to viscous flows. LBFS is validated by its application to simulate the viscous decaying vortex flow, the driven cavity flow, the viscous flow past a circular cylinder, and the inviscid flow past a circular cylinder. The obtained numerical results compare very well with available data in the literature, which show that LBFS has the second order of accuracy in space, and can be well applied to viscous and inviscid flow problems with non-uniform mesh and curved boundary.     

General Propagation Lattice Boltzmann Model for the Boussinesq Equation

A general propagation lattice Boltzmann model is used to solve Boussinesq equations. Different local equilibrium distribution functions are selected, and the macroscopic equation is recovered with second order accuracy by means of the Chapman–Enskog multi-scale analysis and the Taylor expansion technique. To verify the effectiveness of the present model, some Boussinesq equations with initial boundary value problems are simulated. It is shown that our model can remain stable and accurate, which is an effective algorithm worthy of promotion and application.     

A time-reversal lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper we address the time-reversed simulation of viscous flows by the lattice Boltzmann method (LB). The theoretical derivation of the reversed LB from the Boltzmann equation is detailed, and the method implemented for weakly compressible flows using the D2Q9 scheme. The implementation of boundary conditions is also discussed. The accuracy and stability are illustrated by four test cases, namely the propagation of an acoustic wave in a medium at rest and in an uniform mean flow, the Taylor–Green vortex decay and the vortex pair–wall collision.     

Lattice Boltzmann method for three-dimensional moving particles in a Newtonian fluid

A lattice Boltzmann method is developed to simulate three-dimensional solid particle motions in fluids. In the present model, a uniform grid is used and the exact spatial location of the physical boundary of the suspended particles is determined using an interpolation scheme. The numerical accuracy and efficiency of the proposed lattice Boltzmann method is demonstrated by simulating the sedimentation of a single sphere in a square cylinder. Highly accurate simulation results can be achieved with few meshes, compared with the previous lattice Boltzmann methods. The present method is expected to find applications on the flow systems with moving boundaries, such as the blood flow in distensible vessels, the particle－flow interaction and the solidification of alloys.     

Lattice Boltzmann computational fluid dynamics in three dimensions

The recent development of the lattice gas method and its extension to the lattice Boltzmann method have provided new computational schemes for fluid dynamics. Both methods are fully paralleled and can easily model many different physical problems, including flows with complicated boundary conditions. In this paper, basic principles of a lattice Boltzmann computational method are described and applied to several three-dimensional benchmark problems. In most previous lattice gas and lattice Boltzmann methods, a face-centered-hyper-cubic lattice in four-dimensional space was used to obtain an isotropic stress tensor. To conserve computer memory, we develop a model which requires 14 moving directions instead of the usual 24 directions. Lattice Boltzmann models, describing two-phase fluid flows and magnetohydrodynamics, can be developed based on this simpler 14-directional lattice. Comparisons between three-dimensional spectral code results and results using our method are given for simple periodic geometries. An important property of the lattice Boltzmann method is that simulations for flow in simple and complex geometries have the same speed and efficiency, while all other methods, including the spectral method, are unable to model complicated geometries efficiently.     

Gas Flow in Microchannels – A Lattice Boltzmann Method Approach

Gas flow in microchannels can often encounter tangential slip motion at the solid surface even under creeping flow conditions. To simulate low speed gas flows with Knudsen numbers extending into the transition regime, alternative methods to both the Navier–Stokes and direct simulation Monte Carlo approaches are needed that balance computational efficiency and simulation accuracy. The lattice Boltzmann method offers an approach that is particularly suitable for mesoscopic simulation where details of the molecular motion are not required. In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann method has been applied to gas flows with finite Knudsen number and the tangential momentum accommodation coefficient has been implemented to describe the gas-surface interactions. For fully-developed channel flows, the results of the present method are in excellent agreement with the analytical slip-flow solution of the Navier–Stokes equations, which are valid for Knudsen numbers less than 0.1. The present paper demonstrates that the lattice Boltzmann approach is a promising alternative simulation tool for the design of microfluidic devices.     

基于总能形式的耦合的双分布函数热晶格玻尔兹曼数值方法

双分布函数热晶格玻尔兹曼数值方法在微尺度热流动系统中得到广泛的应用. 本文基于晶格玻尔兹曼平衡分布函数低阶Hermite展开式, 创新性地提出了包含黏性热耗散和压缩功的耦合的双分布函数热晶格玻尔兹曼数值方法, 将能量场内温度的变化以动量源的形式引入晶格波尔兹曼动量演化方程, 实现了能量场与动量场之间的耦合. 研究了考虑黏性热耗散和压缩功的和不考虑的两种热自然对流模型, 重点分析了不同瑞利数和普朗特数下流场内的流动情况以及温度、速度和平均努赛尔数的变化趋势. 本文实验结果与文献结果一致, 验证了本文数值方法的可行性和准确性. 研究结果表明: 随着瑞利数和普朗特数的增大, 方腔内对流传热作用逐渐增强, 边界处形成明显的边界层; 考虑黏性热耗散和压缩功的模型对流作用相对增强, 黏性热耗散和压缩功对自然对流的影响在微尺度流动过程中不能忽略.     

Lattice Boltzmann Model for Free Surface Flow for Modeling Foaming

We present a 2D- and 3D-lattice Boltzmann model for the treatment of free surface flows including gas diffusion. Interface advection and related boundary conditions are based on the idea of the lattice Boltzmann equation. The fluid dynamic boundary conditions are approximated by using the mass and momentum fluxes across the interface, which do not require explicit calculation of gradients. A similar procedure is applied to fulfill the diffusion boundary condition. Simple verification tests demonstrate the correctness of the algorithms. 2D- and 3D-foam evolution examples demonstrate the potential of the method.     

Momentum transfer correction for macroscopic-gradient boundary conditions in lattice Boltzmann methods

The boundary conditions used to represent macroscopic-gradient-related effects in arbitrary geometries with the lattice Boltzmann methods need a trade-off between the complexity of the scheme, due to the loss of localness and the difficulties for directly applying link-based approaches, and the accuracy obtained. A generalization of the momentum transfer boundary condition is presented, in which the arbitrary location of the boundary is addressed with link-wise interpolation (used for Dirichlet conditions) and the macroscopic gradient is taken into account with a finite-difference scheme. This leads to a stable approach for arbitrary geometries that can be used to impose Neumann and Robin boundary conditions. The proposal is validated for stress boundary conditions at walls. Two-dimensional steady and unsteady configurations are used as test case: partial-slip flow between two infinite plates and the slip flow past a circular cylinder.     

Multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model for the convection and anisotropic diffusion equation

A lattice Boltzmann model with a multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) collision operator for the convection–diffusion equation is presented. The model uses seven discrete velocities in three dimensions (D3Q7 model). The off-diagonal components of the relaxation-time matrix, which originate from the rotation of the principal axes, enable us to take into account full anisotropy of diffusion. An asymptotic analysis of the model equation with boundary rules for the Dirichlet and Neumann-type (specified flux) conditions is carried out to show that the model is first- and second-order accurate in time and space, respectively. The results of the analysis are verified by several numerical examples. It is also shown numerically that the error of the MRT model is less sensitive to the variation of the relaxation-time coefficients than that of the classical BGK model. In addition, an alternative treatment for the Neumann-type boundary condition that improves the accuracy on a curved boundary is presented along with a numerical example of a spherical boundary.     

A lattice Boltzmann model for the generalized Burgers-Huxley equation

In this paper we develop a lattice Boltzmann model for the generalized Burgers-Huxley equation (GBHE). By choosing the proper time and space scales and applying the Chapman-Enskog expansion, the governing equation is recovered correctly from the lattice Boltzmann equation, and the local equilibrium distribution functions are obtained. Excellent agreement with the exact solution is observed, and better numerical accuracy is obtained than the available numerical result. The results indicate the present model is satisfactory and efficient. The method can also be applied to the generalized Burgers-Fisher equation and be extended to multidimensional cases.     

Lees–Edwards Boundary Conditions for Lattice Boltzmann

Lees–Edwards boundary conditions (LEbc) for Molecular Dynamics simulations⁽¹⁾ are an extension of the well known periodic boundary conditions and allow the simulation of bulk systems in a simple shear flow. We show how the idea of LEbc can be implemented in isothermal lattice Boltzmann simulations and how LEbc can be used to overcome the problem of a maximum shear rate that is limited to less then 1/L _y (with L _y the transverse system size) in traditional lattice Boltzmann implementations of shear flow. The only previous Lattice Boltzmann implementation of LEbc⁽²⁾ requires a specific fourth order equilibrium distribution. In this paper we show how LEbc can be implemented with the usual quadratic equilibrium distributions.     

Test of the Possible Application of the Half—Way Bounce—Back Boundary Condition for Lattice Boltzmann Methods in Complex Geometry

The way of handling boundary conditions with simple bounce-back rule in the lattice gas and lattice Boltzmann method had been considered as one of the advantage compared with other numerical schemes,The half-way bounce-back rule inherits the advantage of the bounce-back rule and improves the accuracy to the second-order on flat boundaries,In this paper,we test the possible application of the half-way bounce-back rule to the system with complex geometry,Our simulation results show that the half-way bounce-back rule is a good boundary condition in the problems without emphasis on accuracy.     

任意复杂流-固边界的格子Boltzmann处理方法

本文提出了一种适用于流固耦合领域中任意复杂边界条件的lattice Boltzmann处理方法.该方法基于half-way反弹模型,在流固耦合处构建了一层虚拟边界,并结合有限差分的方法,获取虚拟边界上的变量值.改进后的方法确保了粒子反弹位置与宏观速度采集点的位置相同,计入了实际物理边界与网格线不重合时,偏移量对计算结果的准确影响,而且其适用范围被扩展到了任意静止或运动、平直或弯曲的复杂边界.文中研究了该方法在Poiseuille流、圆柱绕流和Couette流等经典条件下的边界处理能力,结果表明该方法与理论值符合良好,且当实际物理边界与网格线不重合时,与已发表文献中的结果相比,具有更高的精度.     

Star-triangle relation for a three-dimensional model

The solvablesl(n)-chiral Potts model can be interpreted as a three-dimensional lattice model with local interactions. To within a minor modification of the boundary conditions it is an Ising-type model on the body-centered cubic lattice with two- and three-spin interactions. The corresponding local Boltzmann weights obey a number of simple relations, including a restricted star-triangle relation, which is a modified version of the well-known star-triangle relation appearing in two-dimensional models. We show that these relations lead to remarkable symmetry properties of the Boltzmann weight function of an elementary cube of the lattice, related to the spatial symmetry group of the cubic lattice. These symmetry properties allow one to prove the commutativity of the row-to-row transfer matrices, bypassing the tetrahedron relation. The partition function per site for the infinite lattice is calculated exactly.On leave of absence from the Institute for High Energy Physics, Protvino, Moscow Region, 142284, Russia.     

A curved no-slip boundary condition for the lattice Boltzmann method

We present a generalization of the no-slip boundary condition by Lätt et al. [J. Lätt, B. Chopard, O. Malaspinas, M. Deville, A. Michler, Straight velocity boundaries in the lattice Boltzmann method, Physical Review E 77 (5) (2008) 056703] from straight to curved geometries for the lattice Boltzmann Bhatnager–Gross–Krook method (LBGK). The boundary condition is based on a reconstruction of the populations from the density, velocity and rate of strain. For curved boundaries, the reconstruction reduces the question of accuracy to a technical issue of interpolation. We present a method of interpolation allowing a very accurate representation of the curved boundary. The resulting boundary condition is verified for three different test cases: Taylor–Couette flow in-between rotating cylinders, laminar flow around a cylinder and flow past an impulsively started cylinder, demonstrating its second order accuracy and low error constant. The present boundary is stable for relaxation frequencies close to two.     

A lattice Boltzmann method for nonlinear disturbances around an arbitrary base flow

In this paper we address the problem of the time evolution of a perturbation around a steady base flow with the use of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). This approach, named base flow lattice Boltzmann method, is of great interest in particular for aeroacoustic fields where the acoustic perturbation, on the one hand, is almost exclusively influenced by the large scale average structures of the underlying flow, and on the other hand, has a low effect on the large structures. The method is implemented for weakly compressible flows and the results of the base flow lattice Boltzmann are compared with the standard single relaxation time LBM. The boundary conditions for the base flow lattice Boltzmann method are discussed, as well as the implementation of outflow conditions for acoustic waves.     

A Characteristic Non-Reflecting Boundary Treatment in Lattice Boltzmann Method

In lattice Boltzmann methods, disturbances develop at the initial stages of the simulation, the decay characteristics depend mainly on boundary treatment methods; open boundary conditions such as equilibrium and bounce-back schemes potentially generate uncontrollable disturbances. Excessive disturbances originate from non-physical reflecting waves at boundaries. Characteristic boundary conditions utilizing the signs of waves at boundaries which suppress these reflecting waves, as well as their implementation in the lattice Boltzmann method, are introduced herein. The performance of our novel boundary treatment method to effectively suppress excessive disturbances is verified by three different numerical experiments.     

A lattice Boltzmann method for immiscible multiphase flow simulations using the level set method

We consider the lattice Boltzmann method for immiscible multiphase flow simulations. Classical lattice Boltzmann methods for this problem, e.g. the colour gradient method or the free energy approach, can only be applied when density and viscosity ratios are small. Moreover, they use additional fields defined on the whole domain to describe the different phases and model phase separation by special interactions at each node. In contrast, our approach simulates the flow using a single field and separates the fluid phases by a free moving interface. The scheme is based on the lattice Boltzmann method and uses the level set method to compute the evolution of the interface. To couple the fluid phases, we develop new boundary conditions which realise the macroscopic jump conditions at the interface and incorporate surface tension in the lattice Boltzmann framework. Various simulations are presented to validate the numerical scheme, e.g. two-phase channel flows, the Young–Laplace law for a bubble and viscous fingering in a Hele-Shaw cell. The results show that the method is feasible over a wide range of density and viscosity differences.