Block-based adaptive mesh refinement scheme using numerical density of entropy production for three-dimensional two-fluid flows

In this work, we present a fast and parallel finite volume scheme on unstructured meshes applied to complex fluid flow. The mathematical model is based on a three-dimensional compressible low Mach two-phase flows model, combined with a linearised ‘artificial pressure’ law. This hyperbolic system of conservation laws allows an explicit scheme, improved by a block-based adaptive mesh refinement scheme. Following a previous one-dimensional work, the useful numerical density of entropy production is used as mesh refinement criterion. Moreover, the computational time is preserved using a local time-stepping method. Finally, we show through several test cases the efficiency of the present scheme on two- and three-dimensional dam-break problems over an obstacle.     

Adaptive mesh refinement and coarsening for aerodynamic flow simulations

A new mesh refinement technique for unstructured grids is discussed. The new technique presents the important advantage of maintaining the original grid skewness, thanks to the capability of handling hanging nodes. The paper also presents an interpretation of MacCormack's method in an unstructured grid context. Results for a transonic convergent–divergent nozzle, for a convergent nozzle with a supersonic entrance and for transonic flow over a NACA 0012 airfoil are presented and discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of moving interfaces using a level set method coupled with adaptive mesh refinement

A novel numerical scheme is developed by coupling the level set method with the adaptive mesh refinement in order to analyse moving interfaces economically and accurately. The finite element method (FEM) is used to discretize the governing equations with the generalized simplified marker and cell (GSMAC) scheme, and the cubic interpolated pseudo‐particle (CIP) method is applied to the reinitialization of the level set function. The present adaptive mesh refinement is implemented in the quadrangular grid systems and easily embedded in the FEM‐based algorithm. For the judgement on renewal of mesh, the level set function is adopted as an indicator, and the threshold is set at the boundary of the smoothing band. With this criterion, the variation of physical properties and the jump quantity on the free surface can be calculated accurately enough, while the computation cost is largely reduced as a whole. In order to prove the validity of the present scheme, two‐dimensional numerical simulation is carried out in collapse of a water column, oscillation and movement of a drop under zero gravity. As a result, its effectiveness and usefulness are clearly shown qualitatively and quantitatively. Among them, the movement of a drop due to the Marangoni effect is first simulated efficiently with the present scheme. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A gas‐kinetic scheme for the simulation of turbulent flows on unstructured meshes

This paper presents a numerical method for simulating turbulent flows via coupling the Boltzmann BGK equation with Spalart–Allmaras one equation turbulence model. Both the Boltzmann BGK equation and the turbulence model equation are carried out using the finite volume method on unstructured meshes, which is different from previous works on structured grid. The application of the gas‐kinetic scheme is extended to the simulation of turbulent flows with arbitrary geometries. The adaptive mesh refinement technique is also adopted to reduce the computational cost and improve the efficiency of meshes. To organize the unstructured mesh data structure efficiently, a non‐manifold hybrid mesh data structure is extended for polygonal cells. Numerical experiments are performed on incompressible flow over a smooth flat plate and compressible turbulent flows around a NACA 0012 airfoil using unstructured hybrid meshes. These numerical results are found to be in good agreement with experimental data and/or other numerical solutions, demonstrating the applicability of the proposed method to simulate both subsonic and transonic turbulent flows. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A solution adaptive simulation of compressible multi‐fluid flows with general equation of state

The unstructured quadrilateral mesh‐based solution adaptive method is proposed in this article for simulation of compressible multi‐fluid flows with a general form of equation of state (EOS). The five equation model (J. Comput. Phys. 2002; 118 :577–616) is employed to describe the compressible multi‐fluid flows. To preserve the oscillation‐free property of velocity and pressure across the interface, the non‐conservative transport equation is discretized in a compatible way of the HLLC scheme for the conservative Euler equations on the unstructured quadrilateral cell‐based adaptive mesh. Five numerical examples, including an interface translation problem, a shock tube problem with two fluids, a solid impact problem, a two‐dimensional Riemann problem and a bubble explosion under free surface, are used to examine its performance in solving the various compressible multi‐fluid flow problems with either the same types of EOS or different types of EOS. The results are compared with those calculated by the following methods: the method with ROE scheme (J. Comput. Phys. 2002; 118 :577–616), the seven equation model (J. Comput. Phys. 1999; 150 :425–467), Shyue's fluid‐mixture model (J. Comput. Phys. 2001; 171 :678–707) or the method in Liu et al. (Comp. Fluids 2001; 30 :315–337). The comparisons for the test problems show that the proposed method seems to be more accurate than the method in Allaire et al. (J. Comput. Phys. 2002; 118 :577–616) or the seven‐equation model (J. Comput. Phys. 1999; 150 :425–467). They also show that it can adaptively and accurately solve these compressible multi‐fluid problems and preserve the oscillation‐free property of pressure and velocity across the material interface. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical errors of the volume‐of‐fluid interface tracking algorithm

One of the important limitations of the interface tracking algorithms is that they can be used only as long as the local computational grid density allows surface tracking. In a dispersed flow, where the dimensions of the particular fluid parts are comparable or smaller than the grid spacing, several numerical and reconstruction errors become considerable. In this paper the analysis of the interface tracking errors is performed for the volume‐of‐fluid method with the least squares volume of fluid interface reconstruction algorithm. A few simple two‐fluid benchmarks are proposed for the investigation of the interface tracking grid dependence. The expression based on the gradient of the volume fraction variable is introduced for the estimation of the reconstruction correctness and can be used for the activation of an adaptive mesh refinement algorithm. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical solutions of systems with (p,δ)‐structure using local discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods

In this paper, we present LDG methods for systems with (p,δ)‐structure. The unknown gradient and the nonlinear diffusivity function are introduced as auxiliary variables and the original (p,δ) system is decomposed into a first‐order system. Every equation of the produced first‐order system is discretized in the discontinuous Galerkin framework, where two different nonlinear viscous numerical fluxes are implemented. An a priori bound for a simplified problem is derived. The ODE system resulting from the LDG discretization is solved by diagonal implicit Runge–Kutta methods. The nonlinear system of algebraic equations with unknowns the intermediate solutions of the Runge–Kutta cycle is solved using Newton and Picard iterative methodology. The performance of the two nonlinear solvers is compared with simple test problems. Numerical tests concerning problems with exact solutions are performed in order to validate the theoretical spatial accuracy of the proposed method. Further, more realistic numerical examples are solved in domains with non‐smooth boundary to test the efficiency of the method. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.