Lagrangian finite element analysis applied to viscous free surface fluid flow

A new Lagrangian finite element formulation is presented for time-dependent incompressible free surface fluid flow problems described by the Navier-Stokes equations. The partial differential equations describing the continuum motion of the fluid are discretized using a Galerkin procedure in conjunction with the finite element approximation. Triangular finite elements are used to represent the dependent variables of the problem. An effective time integration procedure is introduced and provides a viable computational method for solving problems with equality of representation of the pressure and velocity fields. Its success has been attributed to the strict enforcement of the continuity constraint at every stage of the iterative process. The capabilities of the analysis procedure and the computer programs are demonstrated through the solution of several problems in viscous free surface fluid flow. Comparisons of results are presented with previous theoretical, numerical and experimental results.     

A total linearization method for solving viscous free boundary flow problems by the finite element method

In this paper a total linearization method is derived for solving steady viscous free boundary flow problems (including capillary effects) by the finite element method. It is shown that the influence of the geometrical unknown in the totally linearized weak formulation can be expressed in terms of boundary integrals. This means that the implementation of the method is simple. Numerical experiments show that the iterative method gives accurate results and converges very fast.     

An efficient three-dimensional semi-implicit finite element scheme for simulation of free surface flows

An efficient semi-implicit finite element model is proposed for the simulation of three-dimensional flows in stratified seas. The body of water is divided into a number of layers and the two horizontal momentum equations for each layer of water are first integrated vertically. Nine-node Lagrangian quadratic isoparametric elements are employed for spatial discretization in the horizontal domain. The time derivatives are approximated using a second-order-accurate semi-implicit time-stepping scheme. The distinguishing feature of the proposed numerical scheme is that only nodal values on the same vertical line are coupled. Two test cases for which analytic solutions are available are employed to test the proposed scheme. The test results show that the scheme is efficient and stable. A numerical experiment is also included to compare the proposed scheme with a finite difference scheme.     

A net inflow method for incompressible viscous flow with moving free surface

A new finite element procedure called the net inflow method has been developed to simulate time-dependent incompressible viscous flow including moving free surfaces and inertial effects. As a fixed mesh approach with triangular element, the net inflow method can be used to analyse the free surface flow in both regular and irregular domains. Most of the empty elements are excluded from the computational domain, which is adjusted successively to cover the entire region occupied by the liquid. The volume of liquid in a control volume is updated by integrating the net inflow of liquid during each iteration. No additional kinetic equation or material marker needs to be considered. The pressure on the free surface and in the liquid region can be solved explicitly with the continuity equation or implicitly by using the penalty function method. The radial planar free surface flow near a 2D point source and the dam-breaking problem on either a dry bed or a still liquid have been analysed and presented in this paper. The predictions agree very well with available analytical solutions, experimental measurements and/or other numerical results.     

A finite element analysis of a free surface drainage problem of two immiscible fluids

A sharp interface problem arising in the flow of two immiscible fluids, slag and molten metal in a blast furnace, is formulated using a two-dimensional model and solved numerically. This problem is a transient two-phase free or moving boundary problem, the slag surface and the slag–metal interface being the free boundaries. At each time step the hydraulic potential of each fluid satisfies the Laplace equation which is solved by the finite element method. The ordinary differential equations determining the motion of the free boundaries are treated using an implicit time-stepping scheme. The systems of linear equations obtained by discretization of the Laplace equations and the equations of motion of the free boundaries are incorporated into a large system of linear equations. At each time step the hydraulic potential in the interior domain and its derivatives on the free boundaries are obtained simultaneously by solving this linear system of equations. In addition, this solution directly gives the shape of the free boundaries at the next time step. The implicit scheme mentioned above enables us to get the solution without handling normal derivatives, which results in a good numerical solution of the present problem. A numerical example that simulates the flow in a blast furnace is given.     

A parallel two-level finite element method for the Navier-Stokes equations

Based on domain decomposition, a parallel two-level finite element method for the stationary Navier-Stokes equations is proposed and analyzed. The basic idea of the method is first to solve the Navier-Stokes equations on a coarse grid, then to solve the resulted residual equations in parallel on a fine grid. This method has low communication complexity. It can be implemented easily. By local a priori error estimate for finite element discretizations, error bounds of the approximate solution are derived. Numerical results are also given to illustrate the high efficiency of the method.     

A finite element method for the three-dimensional non-steady Navier-Stokes equations

The algorithm for solving the three-dimensional non-steady Navier-Stokes equations by the explicit forward Euler method is shown and the Galerkin finite element formulation is presented. As a numerical example, an entrace flow in a square duct is illustrated.     

A decomposed Crouzeix-Raviart element for the finite element solution of the Navier-Stokes equation

A methodology for the decomposition of the Crouzeix-Raviart finite element into six linear subelements is described. The resulting element is shown to satisfy the Brezzi-Babu?ka compatibility condition. The error bounds are also established. A comparison in accuracy between this and the standard Crouzeix-Raviart element is presented for driven cavity flows. Other results include the execution time for the DCR element and the Crouzeix-Raviart element along with both analytical and numerical integration. It is shown that the decomposed element results in shorter execution times with only marginal changes in accuracy.     

A high-order characteristics/finite element method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

In this paper we consider a discretization of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations involving a second-order time scheme based on the characteristics method and a spatial discretization of finite element type. Theoretical and numerical analyses are detailed and we obtain stability results abnd optimal eror estimates on the velocity and pressure under a time step restriction less stringent than the standard Courant-Freidrichs-Levy condition. Finally, some numerical results obtained wiht the code N3S are shown which justify the interest of this scheme and its advantages with respect to an analogous first-order time scheme. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mixed finite element method of hexahedral elements for Navier-Stokes problem

In this paper, we derive a new mixed element format of hexahedral elements for Navier-Stokes problem in three-dimensional space.     

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.     

A consistent boundary element method for free surface hydrodynamic calculations

Free surface phenomena are described by equations that exhibit two types of non-linearities. The first is inherent to the equations themselves and the second is caused by the application of boundary conditions at a free surface at an unknown location. Numerical calculations usually do not specifically recognize the second non-linearity, nor treat it in a fashion consistent with the more obvious non-linearities in the boundary conditions. A consistent formulation is introduced in the present paper. The field equation is integrated and the free surface boundary conditions are applied on the unknown geometry by means of appropriate series expansions. The consistent formulation introduces improvements in accuracy and computing speed. The method is demonstrated on several hydrodynamic free surface problems and an error analysis is included.     

Low order nonconforming mixed finite element method for nonstationary incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

This paper studies a low order mixed finite element method (FEM) for nonstationary incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The velocity and pressure are approximated by the nonconforming constrained Q ₁ ^rot element and the piecewise constant, respectively. The superconvergent error estimates of the velocity in the broken H ¹-norm and the pressure in the L ²-norm are obtained respectively when the exact solutions are reasonably smooth. A numerical experiment is carried out to confirm the theoretical results.     

A streamline diffusion nonconforming finite element method for the time-dependent linearized Navier-Stokes equations

A nonconforming finite element method of finite difference streamline diffusion type is proposed to solve the time-dependent linearized Navier-Stokes equations. The backward Euler scheme is used for time discretization. Crouzeix-Raviart nonconforming finite element approximation, namely, nonconforming （P1）2 - P0 element, is used for the velocity and pressure fields with the streamline diffusion technique to cope with usual instabilities caused by the convection and time terms. Stability and error estimates are derived with suitable norms.     

A finite element method for analysis of fluid flow,heat transfer and free interfaces in Czochralski crystal growth

A finite element algorithm is presented for simultaneous calculation of the steady state, axisymmetric flows and the crystal, melt/crystal and melt/ambient interface shapes in the Czochralski technique for crystal growth from the melt. The analysis is based on mixed Lagrangian finite element approximations to the velocity, temperature and pressure fields and isoparametric approximations to the interface shape. Galerkin's method is used to reduce the problem to a non-linear algebraic set, which is solved by Newton's method. Sample solutions are reported for the thermophysical properties appropriate for silicon, a low-Prandtl-number semiconductor, and for GGG, a high–Prandtl–number oxide material. The algorithm is capable of computing solutions for both materials at realistic values of the Grashof number, and the calculations are convergent with mesh refinement. Flow transitions and interface shapes are calculated as a function of increasing flow intensity and compared for the two material systems. The flow pattern near the melt/gas/crystal tri-junction has the asymptotic form predicted by an inertialess analysis assuming the meniscus and solidification interfaces are fixed.     

Numerical simulation method for viscoelastic flows with free surfaces—fringe element generation method

To simulate filling flow in injection moulding for viscoelastic fluids, a numerical method, based on a finite element method and a finite volume method, has been developed for incompressible isothermal viscoelastic flow with moving free surfaces. The advantages of this method are, first, good applicability to arbitrarily shaped mould geometries and, second, accurate treatment for boundary conditions on the free surface. Typical filling flows are simulated, namely filling flow into a 1:4 expansion cavity with and without an obstacle. Numerical results predict the position of weld lines and air-traps. The method also indicates the effects of elongational flow on molecular orientation.     

A nonlinear Galerkin/Petrov-least squares mixed element method for the stationary Navier-Stokes equations

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Some improvements on free surface simulation by the particle finite element method

The Lagrangian method has become increasingly popular in numerical simulation of free surface problems. In this paper, after a brief review of a recent Lagrangian method, namely the particle finite element method, some issues are discussed and some improvements are made. The least‐square finite element method is adopted to simplify the solving of the Navier–Stokes equations. An adaptive time method is derived to obtain suitable time steps. A mass correction procedure is imported to improve the mass conservation in long time calculations and time discretization scheme is adopted to decrease the pressure oscillations during the calculations. Finally, the method is used to simulate a series of examples and the results are compared with the commercial FLOW3D code. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.