A shape optimisation method of a body located in adiabatic flows

The purpose of this study is to derive an optimal shape of a body located in adiabatic flow. In this study, we use the equation of motion, the equation of continuity and the pressure–density relation derived from the Poisson’s law as the governing equation. The formulation is based on an optimal control theory in which a performance function of fluid force is taken into consideration. The performance function should be minimised satisfying the governing equations. This problem can be solved without constraints by using the adjoint equation with adjoint variables corresponding to the state equation. The performance function is defined by the drag and lift forces acting on the body. The weighted gradient method is applied as a minimisation technique, the Galerkin finite element method is used as a spatial discretisation and the implicit scheme is used as a temporal discretisation to solve the state equations. The mixed interpolation, the bubble function for velocity and the linear function for density, is employed as the interpolation. The optimal shape is obtained for a body in adiabatic flows.     

An operator splitting algorithm for the three-dimensional advection–diffusion equation

Operator splitting algorithms are frequently used for solving the advection–diffusion equation, especially to deal with advection dominated transport problems. In this paper an operator splitting algorithm for the three-dimensional advection–diffusion equation is presented. The algorithm represents a second-order-accurate adaptation of the Holly and Preissmann scheme for three-dimensional problems. The governing equation is split into an advection equation and a diffusion equation, and they are solved by a backward method of characteristics and a finite element method, respectively. The Hermite interpolation function is used for interpolation of concentration in the advection step. The spatial gradients of concentration in the Hermite interpolation are obtained by solving equations for concentration gradients in the advection step. To make the composite algorithm efficient, only three equations for first-order concentration derivatives are solved in the diffusion step of computation. The higher-order spatial concentration gradients, necessary to advance the solution in a computational cycle, are obtained by numerical differentiations based on the available information. The simulation characteristics and accuracy of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated by several advection dominated transport problems. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

可压缩多介质粘性流体的数值计算

将考虑热传导和粘性情况下的Navier Stokes方程描述的物理过程分解成3个子过程进行数值计算,即把整个流量计算分解成无粘性流量、粘性流量和热流量3部分,采用多介质流体高精度parabolic piecewise method（PPM）方法、二阶空间中心差方法和两步Rung-Kutta时间推进方法相结合进行数值计算。给出了激波管中Riemann问题和二维、三维Richtmyer-Meshkov界面不稳定性的Navier Stokes方程和Euler方程对比计算结果,显示了粘性对界面不稳定性的影响。     

Finite element analysis of density flow using the velocity correction method

A finite element method is proposed for the analysis of density flow which is induced by a difference of density. The method employs the idea that density variation can be pursued by using markers distributed in the flow field. For the numerical integration scheme, the velocity correction method is successfully used, introducing a potential for the correction of velocity. This method is useful because one can use linear interpolation functions for velocity, pressure and potential based on the triangular finite element. The final equations can be formulated using the quasi-explicit finite element method. A flume in a tank with sloping bottom has been analysed by the present method. The computed results show extremely good agreement with the experimental observations.     

A one-dimensional moving grid solution for the coupled non-linear equations governing multiphase flow in porous media. 1: Model development

A straightforward moving grid finite element method is developed to solve the one-dimensional coupled system of non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs) governing two- and three-phase flow in porous media. The method combines features from a number of self-adaptive grid techniques. These techniques are the equidistribution, the moving grid finite element and the local grid refinement/coarsening methods. Two equidistribution criteria, based on solution gradient and curvature, are employed and nodal distributions are computed iterativcly. Using the developed approach, an intermingle-free nodal distribution is guaranteed. The method involves examination of a single representative gradient to facilitate the application of moving grid algorithms to solve a non-linear coupled set of PDEs and includes a feature to limit mass balance error during nodal redistribution. The finite element part of the developed algorithm is verified against an existing finite difference model. A numerical simulation example involving a single-front two-phase flow problem is presented to illustrate model performance. Additional simulation examples are given in Part 2 of this paper. These examples include single and double moving fronts in two- and three-phase flow systems incorporating source/sink terms. Simulation sensitivity to the moving grid parameters is also explored in Part 2.     

A finite element method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations using the method of characteristics

We present a simple and efficient finite element method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations in primitive variables V, p. It uses (a) an explicit advection step, by upwind differencing. Improvement with regard to the classical upwind differencing scheme of the first order is realized by accurate calculation of the characteristic curve across several elements, and higher order interpolation; (b) an implicit diffusion step, avoiding any theoretical limitation on the time increment, and (c) determination of the pressure field by solving the Poisson equation. Two laminar flow calculations are presented and compared to available numerical and experimental results.     

Lagrangian formulation for finite element analysis of quasi‐incompressible fluids with reduced mass losses

We present a Lagrangian formulation for finite element analysis of quasi‐incompressible fluids that has excellent mass preservation features. The success of the formulation lays on a new residual‐based stabilized expression of the mass balance equation obtained using the finite calculus method. The governing equations are discretized with the FEM using simplicial elements with equal linear interpolation for the velocities and the pressure. The merits of the formulation in terms of reduced mass loss and overall accuracy are verified in the solution of 2D and 3D quasi‐incompressible free‐surface flow problems using the particle FEM ( www.cimne.com/pfem ). Examples include the sloshing of water in a tank, the collapse of one and two water columns in rectangular and prismatic tanks, and the falling of a water sphere into a cylindrical tank containing water. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective lumping finite element method for nearshore current

A finite element method for the analysis of nearshore current, which is one of the principal currents in coastal seas, is presented in this paper. Because the nearshore current is induced by the variable distribution of the surface waves, it is necessary to analyse two main characteristics of the wave, i.e. direction and height. The current can be computed using the resulting wave characteristics. The present method makes it possible to employ procedures for which the same methods of solution are applicable for all basic equations of wave direction, height and current flow. The linear interpolation function is used for the discretization of spatial variables and a selective lumping two step explicit scheme is employed for the numerical integration in time. The numerical solutions obtained are compared with analytical, experimental and observed ones. From these comparative studies, it is concluded that the present finite element method provide a useful tool for the analysis of nearshore current.     

Numerical simulation of unsteady multidimensional free surface motions by level set method

This paper presents a numerical method that couples the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with the level set method in a curvilinear co‐ordinate system for study of free surface flows. The finite volume method is used to discretize the governing equations on a non‐staggered grid with a four‐step fractional step method. The free surface flow problem is converted into a two‐phase flow system on a fixed grid in which the free surface is implicitly captured by the zero level set. We compare different numerical schemes for advection of the level set function in a generalized curvilinear format, including the third order quadratic upwind interpolation for convective kinematics (QUICK) scheme, and the second and third order essentially non‐oscillatory (ENO) schemes. The level set equations of evolution and reinitialization are validated with benchmark cases, e.g. a stationary circle, a rotating slotted disk and stretching of a circular fluid element. The coupled system is then applied to a travelling solitary wave, and two‐ and three‐dimensional dam breaking problems. Some interesting free surface phenomena are revealed by the computational results, such as, the large free surface vortices, air entrapment and splashing of the water surge front. The computational results are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions and experimental data, where they are available. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Potential flow around obstacles using the scaled boundary finite‐element method

The scaled boundary finite‐element method is a novel semi‐analytical technique, combining the advantages of the finite element and the boundary element methods with unique properties of its own. The method works by weakening the governing differential equations in one co‐ordinate direction through the introduction of shape functions, then solving the weakened equations analytically in the other (radial) co‐ordinate direction. These co‐ordinate directions are defined by the geometry of the domain and a scaling centre. The method can be employed for both bounded and unbounded domains. This paper applies the method to problems of potential flow around streamlined and bluff obstacles in an infinite domain. The method is derived using a weighted residual approach and extended to include the necessary velocity boundary conditions at infinity. The ability of the method to model unbounded problems is demonstrated, together with its ability to model singular points in the near field in the case of bluff obstacles. Flow fields around circular and square cylinders are computed, graphically illustrating the accuracy of the technique, and two further practical examples are also presented. Comparisons are made with boundary element and finite difference solutions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A two‐phase flow interface capturing finite element method

A new interface capturing algorithm is proposed for the finite element simulation of two‐phase flows. It relies on the solution of an advection equation for the interface between the two phases by a streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) scheme combined with an adaptive mesh refinement procedure and a filtering technique. This method is illustrated in the case of a Rayleigh–Taylor two‐phase flow problem governed by the Stokes equations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stabilised characteristic finite element method for transient Navier–Stokes equations

In this work, we consider a stabilised characteristic finite element method for the time-dependent Navier–Stokes equations based on the lowest equal-order finite element pairs. The diffusion term in these equations is discretised by using finite element method, the temporal differentiation and advection terms are treated by characteristic schemes. Unconditionally stable results and error estimates of optimal order for the velocity and pressure are established. Finally, some numerical results are provided to verify the performance of this method.     

Multi‐material incompressible flow simulation using the moment‐of‐fluid method

This paper compares the numerical performance of the moment‐of‐fluid (MOF) interface reconstruction technique with Youngs, LVIRA, power diagram (PD), and Swartz interface reconstruction techniques in the context of a volume‐of‐fluid (VOF) based finite element projection method for the numerical simulation of variable‐density incompressible viscous flows. In pure advection tests with multiple materials MOF shows dramatic improvements in accuracy compared with the other methods. In incompressible flows where density differences determine the flow evolution, all the methods perform similarly for two material flows on structured grids. On unstructured grids, the second‐order MOF, LVIRA, and Swartz methods perform similarly and show improvement over the first‐order Youngs' and PD methods. For flow simulations with more than two materials, MOF shows increased accuracy in interface positions on coarse meshes. In most cases, the convergence and accuracy of the computed flow solution was not strongly affected by interface reconstruction method. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3D phase field modeling of electrohydrodynamic multiphase flows

A 3D phase field model is developed to investigate the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) two phase flows. The explicit finite difference method, enhanced by parallel computing, is employed to solve the coupled nonlinear governing equations for the electric field, the fluid flow field and free surface deformation. Numerical tests indicate that an appropriate interpolation of densities within the interface is critical in ensuring numerical stability for highly stratified flows. The 3D phase field model compares well with the Taylor theory for the deformation of a single dielectric droplet in an electric field. Computed results show that the deformation of a leaky dielectric droplet in an electric field undergoes various stages before it reaches the final oblate shape. This is caused by the free charge relaxation near the fluid–fluid interface. The coalescence of four droplets in an electric field illustrates a truly 3D deformation behavior and a complex evolving fluid flow field associated with the participating droplets. The coalescence is a result of combined actions produced by the global electric force, the circulatory flows generated by the local electrohydrodynamic stress and the electrically-induced deformation. The 3D phase field model is also applied in modeling of an electrohydrodynamic patterning process for manufacturing nanoscaled structures, in which complex 3D flow structures develop as the electrically-induced deformation evolves.     

Displacement of yield-stress fluids in a fracture

We consider a displacement of several yield-stress fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell. The topic is relevant to the development of a model for the flow of multiple phases inside a narrow fracture with application to hydraulically fracturing a hydrocarbon-bearing underground formation. Existing models for fracturing flows include only pure power-law models without yield stress, and the present work is aimed at filling this gap. The fluids are assumed to be immiscible and incompressible. We consider fluid advection in a plane channel in the presence of density gradients. Gravity is taken into account, so that there can be slumping and gravitational convection. We use the lubrication approximation so that governing equations are reduced to a 2D width-averaged system formed by the quasi-linear elliptic equation for pressure and transport equations for volume concentrations of fluids. The numerical solution is obtained using a finite-difference method. The pressure equation is solved using an iterative algorithm and the Multigrid method, while the transport equations are solved using a second-order TVD flux-limiting scheme with the superbee limiter. This numerical model is validated against three different sets of experiments: (i) gravitational slumping of fluids in a closed Hele-Shaw cell, (ii) viscous fingering of fluids with a high viscosity contrast due to the Saffman–Taylor (S–T) instability in a Hele-Shaw cell at microgravity conditions, (iii) displacement of Bingham fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell with the development of fingers due to the S–T instability. Good agreement is observed between simulations and laboratory data. The model is then used to investigate the joint effect of fingering and slumping. Numerical simulations show that the slumping rate of yield-stress fluid is significantly less pronounced than that of a Newtonian fluid with the same density and viscosity. If a low-viscosity Newtonian fluid is injected after a yield-stress one, the S–T instability at the interface leads to the development of fingers. As a result, fingers penetrating into a fluid with a finite yield stress locally decrease the pressure gradient and unyielded zones develop as a consequence.     

Efficient solving method for unsteady incompressible interfacial flow problems

Unsteady interfacial problems, considered in an Eulerian form, are studied. The phenomena are modeled using the incompressible viscous Navier–Stokes equations to get the velocity field and an advection equation to predict interface evolutions. The momentum equation is solved by means of an implicit hybrid augmented Lagrangian–Projection method, whereas an explicit characteristic method coupled with a TVD SUPERBEE scheme is applied to the advection equation. The velocity components and the pressure are discretized on staggered grids with finite volumes. Emphasis is on the accuracy and robustness of the techniques described before. A precise explanation on the validation phase will be given, which uses such tests as the advection of a step function or Zalesak's problem to improve the calculation of the interface. The global approach is used on a physically hard interfacial test with strong disparities between viscosities and densities. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics of nonlinear three-dimensionalwaves on the interface between two fluids in a channel with low-sloping bottom and top

A combined approach is proposed to describe the transformation of three-dimensional disturbances of the interface between two incompressible immiscible fluids of different densities contained in a channel with fixed rigid top and bottom. It is assumed that the wavelengths are moderately large, the amplitudes are small but finite, the top and the bottom can be gently sloping, and capillary effects are small. The system of equations derived is applicable for modeling disturbances simultaneously scattering in arbitrary horizontal directions. Some typical wave problems are numerically solved and the effect of governing parameters is shown.     

A Galerkin finite element algorithm based on third-order Runge-Kutta temporal discretization along the uniform streamline for unsteady incompressible flows

In this paper, for two-dimensional unsteady incompressible flow, the Navier-Stokes equations without convection term are derived by the coordinate transformation along the streamline characteristic. The third-order Runge-Kutta method along the streamline is introduced to discrete the alternative Navier-Stokes equations in time, and spacial discretization is carried out by the Galerkin method, and then, the third-order accuracy finite element method is obtained. Meanwhile, the streamline velocity is uniformly approximated by initial velocity in each time step in order to reduce update frequency of total element matrix and improve calculation efficiency. Finally, some classic unsteady flow examples are calculated and analyzed by different calculation methods, which further demonstrate that the present method has more advantages in stability, permissible time step, dissipation, computational cost, and accuracy. The code can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27706.44484 .     

Parallel finite element simulation of mooring forces on floating objects

The coupling between the equations governing the free‐surface flows, the six degrees of freedom non‐linear rigid body dynamics, the linear elasticity equations for mesh‐moving and the cables has resulted in a fluid‐structure interaction technology capable of simulating mooring forces on floating objects. The finite element solution strategy is based on a combination approach derived from fixed‐mesh and moving‐mesh techniques. Here, the free‐surface flow simulations are based on the Navier–Stokes equations written for two incompressible fluids where the impact of one fluid on the other one is extremely small. An interface function with two distinct values is used to locate the position of the free‐surface. The stabilized finite element formulations are written and integrated in an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian domain. This allows us to handle the motion of the time dependent geometries. Forces and momentums exerted on the floating object by both water and hawsers are calculated and used to update the position of the floating object in time. In the mesh moving scheme, we assume that the computational domain is made of elastic materials. The linear elasticity equations are solved to obtain the displacements for each computational node. The non‐linear rigid body dynamics equations are coupled with the governing equations of fluid flow and are solved simultaneously to update the position of the floating object. The numerical examples includes a 3D simulation of water waves impacting on a moored floating box and a model boat and simulation of floating object under water constrained with a cable. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.