On the distributed Lagrange multiplier/fictitious domain method for rigid‐particle‐laden flows: a proposition for an alternative formulation of the Lagrange multipliers

The distributed Lagrange multiplier/fictitious domain method proposed for the direct numerical simulation of particle‐laden flows is considered in this work. First, it is demonstrated that improved accuracy is obtained with a coupled numerical scheme, whereby the pressure and the Lagrange multiplier fields enforcing incompressibility and rigid body motion, respectively, are calculated and applied together. However, the convergence characteristics of the iterative solution of the coupled scheme are poor because symmetric but indefinite and poorly conditioned matrices are produced. An analysis is then presented, which suggests that the cause for the matrix pathologies lies in the interaction of the respective matrix operators enforcing incompressibility and rigid body motion. On the basis of this analysis, an alternative formulation is developed for the Lagrange multipliers, being now composed of a set of forces distributed only on the particle boundary together with a set of couples distributed within the particle core. The new formulation is tested with several types of flows with stationary or moving particles under creeping or finite Reynolds number conditions and it is demonstrated that it produces correct results and better conditioned matrices, thus enabling faster and more reliable convergence of the conjugate gradient method. The analysis and tests, therefore, support the expectation that the proposed formulation is promising and worthy of further study and improvement. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An immersed boundary method for fluid flows around rigid objects

In this paper, we present an immersed boundary method for solving fluid flow problems in the presence of static and moving rigid objects. A FEM is used starting from a base mesh that does not represent exactly rigid objects (non?body?conforming mesh). At each time step, the base mesh is locally modified to provide a new mesh fitting the boundary of the rigid objects. The mesh is also locally improved using edge swapping to enhance the quality of the elements. The Navier–Stokes equations are then solved on this new mesh. The velocity of moving objects is imposed through standard Dirichlet boundary conditions. We consider a number of test problems and compare the numerical solutions with those obtained on classical body?fitted meshes whenever possible. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A fictitious domain/distributed Lagrange multiplier method for the particulate flow of Oldroyd-B fluids: A positive definiteness preserving approach

In this article we present a numerical method for simulating the sedimentation of circular particles in a two-dimensional channel filled with an Oldroyd-B fluid. We have combined a fictitious domain/distributed Lagrange multiplier method with a factorization approach from Lozinski and Owens [J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 112 (2003) 161] via an operator splitting technique. The new scheme preserves the positive definiteness of the conformation tensor at the discrete level. The method is validated by performing a convergence study which shows that the results are independent of the mesh and time step sizes. Our results show that when the elasticity number (E) is less than a critical value (which depends upon the blockage ratio), two particles will sediment in the channel-like particles in Newtonian fluids; when the elasticity number is greater than the critical value, chains are formed for the case of two particles sedimenting in an Oldroyd-B fluid and the center line is aligned with the falling direction. These results agree with those presented in [P.Y. Huang, H.H. Hu, and D.D. Joseph, J. Fluid Mech. 362 (1998) 297]. For the cases of three and six particles, when the elasticity number is greater than a critical value and the viscoelastic Mach number is less than one, chains are also formed and move to the center of the channel.     

A three-dimensional fictitious domain method for incompressible fluid flow problems

A new Galerkin finite element method for the solution of the Navier–Stokes equations in enclosures containing internal parts which may be moving is presented. Dubbed the virtual finite element method, it is based upon optimization techniques and belongs to the class of fictitious domain methods. Only one volumetric mesh representing the enclosure without its internal parts needs to be generated. These are rather discretized using control points on which kinematic constraints are enforced and introduced into the mathematical formulation by means of Lagrange multipliers. Consequently, the meshing of the computational domain is much easier than with classical finite element approaches. First, the methodology will be presented in detail. It will then be validated in the case of the two-dimensional Couette cylinder problem for which an analytical solution is available. Finally, the three-dimensional fluid flow inside a mechanically agitated vessel will be investigated. The accuracy of the numerical results will be assessed through a comparison with experimental data and results obtained with a standard finite element method. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solving high Reynolds‐number viscous flows by the general BEM and domain decomposition method

In this paper, the domain decomposition method (DDM) and the general boundary element method (GBEM) are applied to solve the laminar viscous flow in a driven square cavity, governed by the exact Navier–Stokes equations. The convergent numerical results at high Reynolds number Re = 7500 are obtained. We find that the DDM can considerably improve the efficiency of the GBEM, and that the combination of the domain decomposition techniques and the parallel computation can further greatly improve the efficiency of the GBEM. This verifies the great potential of the GBEM for strongly non‐linear problems in science and engineering. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A fictitious domain approach for the Stokes problem based on the extended finite element method

In the present work, we propose to extend to the Stokes problem a fictitious domain approach inspired by extended finite element method and studied for the Poisson problem in a paper of Renard and Haslinger of 2009. The method allows computations in domains whose boundaries do not match. A mixed FEM is used for the fluid flow. The interface between the fluid and the structure is localized by a level‐set function. Dirichlet boundary conditions are taken into account using Lagrange multiplier. A stabilization term is introduced to improve the approximation of the normal trace of the Cauchy stress tensor at the interface and avoid the inf‐sup condition between the spaces for the velocity and the Lagrange multiplier. Convergence analysis is given, and several numerical tests are performed to illustrate the capabilities of the method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A boundary element method for steady viscous fluid flow using penalty function formulation

A new boundary element method is presented for steady incompressible flow at moderate and high Reynolds numbers. The whole domain is discretized into a number of eight-noded cells, for each of which the governing boundary integral equation is formulated exclusively in terms of velocities and tractions. The kernels used in this paper are the fundamental solutions of the linearized Navier–Stokes equations with artificial compressibility. Significant attention is given to the numerical evaluation of the integrals over quadratic boundary elements as well as over quadratic quadrilateral volume cells in order to ensure a high accuracy level at high Reynolds numbers. As an illustration, square driven cavity flows are considered for Reynolds numbers up to 1000. Numerical results demonstrate both the high convergence rate, even when using simple (direct) iterations, and the appropriate level of accuracy of the proposed method. Although the method yields a high level of accuracy in the primary vortex region, the secondary vortices are not properly resolved. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A promising boundary element formulation for three‐dimensional viscous flow

In this paper, a new set of boundary‐domain integral equations is derived from the continuity and momentum equations for three‐dimensional viscous flows. The primary variables involved in these integral equations are velocity, traction, and pressure. The final system of equations entering the iteration procedure only involves velocities and tractions as unknowns. In the use of the continuity equation, a complex‐variable technique is used to compute the divergence of velocity for internal points, while the traction‐recovery method is adopted for boundary points. Although the derived equations are valid for steady, unsteady, compressible, and incompressible problems, the numerical implementation is only focused on steady incompressible flows. Two commonly cited numerical examples and one practical pipe flow problem are presented to validate the derived equations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High‐accuracy upwind method using improved characteristics speeds for incompressible flows

In this study, the Nervier–Stokes equations for incompressible flows, modified by the artificial compressibility method, are investigated numerically. To calculate the convective fluxes, a new high‐accuracy characteristics‐based (HACB) scheme is presented in this paper. Comparing the HACB scheme with the original characteristic‐based method, it is found that the new proposed scheme is more accurate and has faster convergence rate than the older one. The second order averaging scheme is used for estimating the viscose fluxes, and spatially discretized equations are integrated in time by an explicit fourth‐order Runge–Kutta scheme. The lid driven cavity flow and flow in channel with a backward facing step have been used as benchmark problems. It is shown that the obtained results using HACB scheme are in good agreement with the standard solutions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computing the flow around a moving profile by numerically integrating the Navier–Stokes equations

A vorticity velocity formulation is proposed for the solution of the equations for viscous flow around a moving profile. A non-inertial reference frame is used and the velocities are computed from a Poincaré integral formula. The studies are directed towards the need to understand helicopter blade aerodynamics. Worked examples are given which validate the method and programme for laminar flows, at least for low Reynolds numbers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A least-squares finite element method for time-dependent incompressible flows with thermal convection

The time-dependent Navier–Stokes equations and the energy balance equation for an incompressible, constant property fluid in the Boussinesq approximation are solved by a least-squares finite element method based on a velocity–pressure–vorticity–temperature–heat-flux ( u –P–ω–T– q ) formulation discretized by backward finite differencing in time. The discretization scheme leads to the minimization of the residual in the l²-norm for each time step. Isoparametric bilinear quadrilateral elements and reduced integration are employed. Three examples, thermally driven cavity flow at Rayleigh numbers up to 10⁶, lid-driven cavity flow at Reynolds numbers up to 10⁴ and flow over a square obstacle at Reynolds number 200, are presented to validate the method.     

Asymptotic–Newton method for solving incompressible flows

In this paper we present a comparative study of three non-linear schemes for solving finite element systems of Navier–Stokes incompressible flows. The first scheme is the classical Newton–Raphson linearization, the second one is the modified Newton–Raphson linearization and the last one is a new scheme called the asymptotic–Newton method. The relative efficiency of these approaches is evaluated over a large number of examples. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A coupled continuous and discontinuous finite element method for the incompressible flows

In this paper, we develop a coupled continuous Galerkin and discontinuous Galerkin finite element method based on a split scheme to solve the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. In order to use the equal order interpolation functions for velocity and pressure, we decouple the original Navier–Stokes equations and obtain three distinct equations through the split method, which are nonlinear hyperbolic, elliptic, and Helmholtz equations, respectively. The hybrid method combines the merits of discontinuous Galerkin (DG) and finite element method (FEM). Therefore, DG is concerned to accomplish the spatial discretization of the nonlinear hyperbolic equation to avoid using the stabilization approaches that appeared in FEM. Moreover, FEM is utilized to deal with the Poisson and Helmholtz equations to reduce the computational cost compared with DG. As for the temporal discretization, a second‐order stiffly stable approach is employed. Several typical benchmarks, namely, the Poiseuille flow, the backward‐facing step flow, and the flow around the cylinder with a wide range of Reynolds numbers, are considered to demonstrate and validate the feasibility, accuracy, and efficiency of this coupled method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A posteriori pointwise error estimation for compressible fluid flows using adjoint parameters and Lagrange remainder

The pointwise error of a finite‐difference calculation of supersonic flow is discussed. The local truncation error is determined by a Taylor series with the remainder being in a Lagrange form. The contribution of the local truncation error to the total pointwise approximation error is estimated via adjoint parameters. It is demonstrated by numerical tests that the results of the numerical calculation of gasdynamics parameter at an observation point may be refined and an error bound may be estimated. The results of numerical tests for the case of parabolized Navier–Stokes are presented as an illustration of the proposed method. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multigrid approach for steady state laminar viscous flows

In this paper, we use the laminar viscous flow in a lid‐driven cavity as an example to describe and verify a numerical scheme for non‐linear partial differential equations. The proposed scheme combines a new analytical method for strongly non‐linear problems, namely the homotopy analysis method, with the multigrid techniques. A family of formulas at different orders is given. At the lowest order, the current approach is the same as the traditional multigrid methods. However, our high‐order scheme needs a fewer number of iterations and less CPU time than the classical ones. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method for obtaining benchmark Navier–Stokes solutions

A refinement to an established method for obtaining benchmark Navier–Stokes solutions is presented. Pressure and body forces are derived explicitly such that the momentum equations are satisfied. The problem is reduced to determining a streamfunction in separation of variables form that describes a desired flow pattern. Examples based upon the well‐known shear flow cavity are presented. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Chebyshev collocation method for the Navier–Stokes equations with application to double-diffusive convection

A Chebyshev collocation method for solving the unsteady two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations in vorticity–streamfunction variables is presented and discussed. The discretization in time is obtained through a class of semi-implicit finite difference schemes. Thus at each time cycle the problem reduces to a Stokes-type problem which is solved by means of the influence matrix technique leading to the solution of Helmholtz-type equations with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Theoretical results on the stability of the method are given. Then a matrix diagonalization procedure for solving the algebraic system resulting from the Chebyshev collocation approximation of the Helmholtz equation is developed and its accuracy is tested. Numerical results are given for the Stokes and the Navier–Stokes equations. Finally the method is applied to a double-diffusive convection problem concerning the stability of a fluid stratified by salinity and heated from below.     

A projection scheme for incompressible multiphase flow using adaptive Eulerian grid: 3D validation

A three‐dimensional finite element method for incompressible multiphase flows with capillary interfaces is developed based on a (formally) second‐order projection scheme. The discretization is on a fixed (Eulerian) reference grid with an edge‐based local h‐refinement in the neighbourhood of the interfaces. The fluid phases are identified and advected using the level‐set function. The reference grid is then temporarily reconnected around the interface to maintain optimal interpolations accounting for the singularities of the primary variables. Using a time splitting procedure, the convection substep is integrated with an explicit scheme. The remaining generalized Stokes problem is solved by means of a pressure‐stabilized projection. This method is simple and efficient, as demonstrated by a wide range of difficult free‐surface validation problems, considered in the paper. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of flow around a thin,flexible obstruction by means of a deforming grid overlapping a fixed grid

This paper presents a numerical method for simulation of coupled flows, in which the fluid interacts with a thin deformable solid, such as flows in cardiovascular valves. The proposed method employs an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method for flow near the solid, embodied in the outflow domain in which the mesh is fixed. The method was tested by modelling a two‐dimensional channel flow with a neo‐Hookean obstacle, an idealization of the coupled flow near a cardiovascular valve. The effects of the Reynolds number and the dimensionless elastic modulus of the material on the wall shear stress, the size of the downstream reverse flows, and the velocity and pressure profiles were investigated. The deformation of the obstacle, the pressure drop across the obstacle, and the size of the top reverse flow increased as the Reynolds number increased. Conversely, increasing the elastic modulus of the obstacle decreased the deformation of the obstacle and the size of the top reverse flows, but did not affect the pressure drop across the obstacle over the range studied. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wet/dry areas method for interfacial (free surface) flow

In this paper, a new numerical method is developed for two‐dimensional interfacial (free surface) flows, based on the control volume method and conservative integral form of the Navier–Stokes equations with a standard staggered grid. The new method deploys two continuity equations, the continuity equation of the mass conservation for better convergence of the implicit scheme and the continuity equation of the volume conservation for the equation of pressure correction. The convection terms (the total momentum flux) on the surfaces of control volume are accurately calculated from the wet area exposed to the water, and the dry area exposed to the air. The numerical results produced by the new numerical method agree very well with the analytical solution, experimental images and experimentally measured velocity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.