A multigrid procedure for three-dimensional flows on non-orthogonal collocated grids

The development of a multigrid solution algorithm for the computation of three-dimensional laminar fully-elliptic incompressible flows is presented. The procedure utilizes a non-orthogonal collocated arrangement of the primitive variables in generalized curvilinear co-ordinates. The momentum and continuity equations are solved in a decoupled manner and a pressure-correction equation is used to update the pressures such that the fluxes at the cell faces satisfy local mass continuity. The convergence of the numerical solution is accelerated by the use of a Full Approximation Storage (FAS) multigrid technique. Numerical computations of the laminar flow in a 90° strongly curved pipe are performed for several finite-volume grids and Reynolds numbers to demonstrate the efficiency of the present numerical scheme. The rates of convergence, computational times, and multigrid performance indicators are reported for each case. Despite the additional computational overhead required in the restriction and prolongation phases of the multigrid cycling, the superior convergence of the present algorithm is shown to result in significantly reduced overall CPU times.     

A finite volume Navier-Stokes algorithm for adaptive grids

A compact, finite volume, time-marching scheme for the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations of viscous fluid flow is presented. The scheme is designed for unstructured (locally refined) quadrilateral meshes. An earlier inviscid equation (Euler) scheme is employed for the convective terms and the emphasis is on treatment of the viscous terms. An essential feature of the algorithm is that all necessary operations are restricted to within each cell, which is very important when dealing with unstructured grids. Numerical issues which have to be addressed when developing a Navier-Stokes scheme are investigated. These issues are not limited to the particular Navier-Stokes scheme developed in the present work but are general problems. Specifically, the extent of the numerical molecule, which is related to the compactness of the scheme and to its suitability for unstructured grids, is examined. An approach which considers suppression of odd-even mode decoupling of the solution when designing a scheme is presented. In addition, accuracy issues related to grid stretching as well as boundary layer solution contamination due to artificial dissipation are addressed. Although the above issues are investigated with respect to the specific scheme presented, the conclusions are valid for an entire class of finite volume algorithms. The Navier-Stokes solver is validated through test cases which involve comparisons with analytical, numerical and experimental results. The solver is coupled to an adaptive algorithm for high-Reynolds-number aerofoil flow computations.     

Computation of fluid flow with a parallel multigrid solver

A finite volume numerical method for the prediction of fluid flow and heat transfer in simple geometries was parallelized using a domain decomposition approach. The method is implicit, uses a colocated arrangement of variables and is based on the SIMPLE algorithm for pressure-velocity coupling. Discretization is based on second-order central difference approximations. The algebraic equation systems are solved by the ILU method of Stone.¹ To accelerate the convergence, a multigrid technique was used. The efficiency was examined on three different parallel computers for laminar flow in a pipe with an orifice and natural convection in a closed cavity. It is shown that the total efficiency is made up of three major factors: numerical efficiency, parallel efficiency and load-balancing efficiency. The first two factors were thoroughly investigated, and a model for predicting the parallel efficiency on various computers is presented. Test calculations indicate reasonable total efficiency and favourable dependence on grid size and the number of processors.     

Parallel adaptive refinement for unsteady flow calculations on 3D unstructured grids

A parallel adaptive refinement algorithm for three‐dimensional unstructured grids is presented. The algorithm is based on an hierarchical h‐refinement/derefinement scheme for tetrahedral elements.The algorithm has been fully parallelized for shared‐memory platforms via a domain decomposition of the mesh at the algebraic level. The effectiveness of the procedure is demonstrated with applications which involve unsteady compressible fluid flow. A parallel speedup study of the algorithm also is included. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluid flow and heat transfer test problems for non-orthogonal grids: Bench-mark solutions

Four problems of fluid flow and heat transfer were designed in which non-orthogonal, boundary-fitted grids were to be used. These are proposed to serve as test cases for testing new solution methods. This paper presents solutions of the test problems obtained by using a multigrid finite volume method with grids of up to 320 × 320 control volumes. Starting from zero fields, iterations were performed until the sum of the absolute residuals had fallen seven orders of magnitude, thus ensuring that the variable values did not change to six most significant digits. By comparing the solutions for successive grids at moderate Reynolds and Rayleigh numbers, the discretization errors were estimated to be lower than 0·1%. The results presented in this paper may thus serve for comparison purposes as bench-mark solutions.     

Simulation of three-dimensional unsteady viscous free surface flow around a ship model

We present here a numerical method for solving the free surface flow around a ship at forward speed in calm water. The fluid is assumed to be Newtonian and the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved by a finite difference method. Modelization of turbulence is achieved by the algebraic model proposed by Baldwin and Lomax. Fully non-linear free surface conditions are satisfied in the model and a method to avoid the incompatibility between free surface conditions and no-slip conditions at the waterline is proposed. Numerical results obtained for a Wigley hull are compared with experimental results.     

Numerical computation of unsteady incompressible flow in complex geometry using a composite multigrid technique

This paper presents a composite multigrid method and its application to a geometrically complex flow. The treatment of the interior boundary conditions within a composite multigrid strategy is described in detail for a 1D model equation. For the Navier-Stokes equations a staggered grid technique is adopted for spatial discretization and a fractional step method is used for the time advance. Lid-driven cavity flows are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.     

On the implementation of symmetric and antisymmetric periodic boundary conditions for incompressible flow

In this paper we consider symmetric and antisymmetric periodic boundary conditions for flows governed by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Classical periodic boundary conditions are studied as well as symmetric and antisymmetric periodic boundary conditions in which there is a pressure difference between inlet and outlet. The implementation of this type of boundary conditions in a finite element code using the penalty function formulation is treated and also the implementation in a finite volume code based on pressure correction. The methods are demonstrated by computation of a flow through a staggered tube bundle.     

非稳态流动的隐式最小二乘等几何方法

对非稳态粘性不可压流动问题提出了一种隐式最小二乘等几何计算方法。该方法先用隐式的向后多步差分格式对Navier-Stokes方程进行时间离散,再用Newton法线性化对流项,最后在每个时间步上用最小二乘等几何方法进行求解。根据该算法编制了计算程序,通过构造解析解的方法验证了程序的正确性,用该程序求解了雷诺数为5000时的非稳态二维顶盖驱动流问题,计算结果捕捉到了流动过程中涡的演化过程,表明本文方法可用于非稳态流动的求解。     

A high-order discontinuous Galerkin method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on arbitrary grids

A high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is proposed in this work for solving the two-dimensional steady and unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes (INS) equations written in conservative form on arbitrary grids. In order to construct the interface inviscid fluxes both in the continuity and in the momentum equations, an artificial compressibility term has been added to the continuity equation for relaxing the incompressibility constraint. Then, as the hyperbolic nature of the INS equations has been recovered, the local Lax-Friedrichs (LLF) flux, which was previously developed in the context of hyperbolic conservation laws, is applied to discretize the inviscid term. Unlike the traditional artificial compressibility method, in this work, the artificial compressibility is introduced only for the construction of the inviscid numerical fluxes; therefore, a consistent discretization of the INS equations is obtained, irrespective of the amount of artificial compressibility used. What is more, as the LLF flux can be obtained directly and straightforward, no numerical iteration for solving an exact Riemann problem is entailed in our method. The viscous term is discretized by the direct DG method, which was developed based on the weak formulation of the scalar diffusion problems on structured grids. The performance and the accuracy of the method are demonstrated by computing a number of benchmark test cases, including both steady and unsteady incompressible flow problems. Due to its simplicity in implementation, our method provides an attractive alternative for solving the INS equations on arbitrary grids.     

Incompressible low-speed-ratio flow in non-uniform distensible tubes

The fluid flow in distensible tubes is analysed by a finite element method based on an uncoupled solution of the equations of wall motion and fluid flow. Special attention is paid to the choice of proper boundary conditions. Computations were made for sinusoidal flow in a distensible uniform tube with the Womersley parameter α = 5, and a ratio between tube radius and wavelenth from 0·0001 to 0·5. The agreement between the numerical results and Womersley's analytic solution depends on the speed ratio between fluid and wave velocity, and is fair for speed ratios up to 0·05. The analysis of the flow field in a distensible tube with a local inhomogeneity revealed a marked influence of wave phenomena and wall motion on the velocity profiles.     

An ILU smoother for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general co-ordinates

The solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general two- and three-dimensional domains using a multigrid method is considered. Because a great variety of boundary-fitted grids may occur, robustness is at a premium. Therefore a new ILU smoother called CILU (collective ILU) is described, based on r-transformations. In CILU the matrix that is factorized is block-structured, with blocks corresponding to the set of physical variables. A multigrid algorithm using CILU as smoother is investigated. The performance of the algorithm in two and three dimensions is assessed by numerical experments. The results show that CILU is a good smoother for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations discretized on general non-orthogonal curvilinear grids.     

An explicit finite volume scheme on staggered grids for the Euler equations: Unstructured meshes,stability analysis,and energy conservation

We set up a numerical strategy for the simulation of the Euler equations, in the framework of finite volume staggered discretizations where numerical densities, energies, and velocities are stored on different locations. The main difficulty relies on the treatment of the total energy, which mixes quantities stored on different grids. The proposed method is strongly inspired, on the one hand, from the kinetic framework for the definition of the numerical fluxes, and, on the other hand, from the discrete duality finite volume (DDFV) framework, which has been designed for the simulation of elliptic equations on complex meshes. The time discretization is explicit and we exhibit stability conditions that guaranty the positivity of the discrete densities and internal energies. Moreover, while the scheme works on the internal energy equation, we can define a discrete total energy which satisfies a local conservation equation. We provide a set of numerical simulations to illustrate the behavior of the scheme.     

A Hybrid Domain Decomposition and Multigrid Method for the Acceleration of Compressible Viscous Flow Calculations on Unstructured Triangular Meshes

This paper is concerned with the formulation and the evaluation of a hybrid solution method that makes use of domain decomposition and multigrid principles for the calculation of two-dimensional compressible viscous flows on unstructured triangular meshes. More precisely, a non-overlapping additive domain decomposition method is used to coordinate concurrent subdomain solutions with a multigrid method. This hybrid method is developed in the context of a flow solver for the Navier-Stokes equations which is based on a combined finite element/finite volume formulation on unstructured triangular meshes. Time integration of the resulting semi-discrete equations is performed using a linearized backward Euler implicit scheme. As a result, each pseudo time step requires the solution of a sparse linear system. In this study, a non-overlapping domain decomposition algorithm is used for advancing the solution at each implicit time step. Algebraically, the Schwarz algorithm is equivalent to a Jacobi iteration on a linear system whose matrix has a block structure. A substructuring technique can be applied to this matrix in order to obtain a fully implicit scheme in terms of interface unknowns. In the present approach, the interface unknowns are numerical fluxes. The interface system is solved by means of a full GMRES method. Here, the local system solves that are induced by matrix-vector products with the interface operator, are performed using a multigrid by volume agglomeration method. The resulting hybrid domain decomposition and multigrid solver is applied to the computation of several steady flows around a geometry of NACA0012 airfoil.     

Numerical solution of the steady incompressible Navier—Stokes equations for the flow past a sphere by a multigrid defect correction technique

A nested non-linear multigrid algorithm is developed to solve the Navier–Stokes equations which describe the steady incompressible flow past a sphere. The vorticity–streamfunction formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations is chosen. The continuous operators are discretized by an upwind finite difference scheme. Several algorithms are tested as smoothing steps. The multigrid method itself provides only a first-order-accurate solution. To obtain at least second-order accuracy, a defect correction iteration is used as outer iteration. Results are reported for Re = 50, 100, 400 and 1000.     

An overlapping control volume method for the Navier–Stokes equations on non‐staggered grids

An algorithm, based on the overlapping control volume (OCV) method, for the solution of the steady and unsteady two‐dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in complex geometry is presented. The primitive variable formulation is solved on a non‐staggered grid arrangement. The problem of pressure–velocity decoupling is circumvented by using momentum interpolation. The accuracy and effectiveness of the method is established by solving five steady state and one unsteady test problems. The numerical solutions obtained using the technique are in good agreement with the analytical and benchmark solutions available in the literature. On uniform grids, the method gives second‐order accuracy for both diffusion‐ and convection‐dominated flows. There is little loss of accuracy on grids that are moderately non‐orthogonal. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Analysis of fluid flow in constricted tubes and ducts using body-fitted non-staggered grids

A finite volume method for the calculation of laminar and turbulent fluid flows inside constricted tubes and ducts is described. The selected finite volume method is based on curvilinear non-orthogonal co-ordinates (body-fitted co-ordinates) and a non-staggered grid arrangement. The grids are either generated by transfinite interpolation or an elliptic grid generator. The method is employed for calculation of laminar flows through a tube, a converging-diverging duct and different constricted tubes by both a two- and a three-dimensional computer program. In addition, turbulent flow through an axisymmetric constricted tube is calculated. Both the power law scheme and the second-order upwind scheme are used. The calculated results are compared with the experimental data and with other numerical solutions.     

Predicting transition in two- and three-dimensional separated flows

This paper is concerned with the numerical prediction of two- and three-dimensional transitional separated flows of turbomachinery interest. The recently proposed single-point transition model based on the use of a laminar kinetic energy transport equation is considered, insofar as it does not require to evaluate any integral parameter, such as boundary-layer thickness, and is thus directly applicable to three-dimensional flows. A well established model, combining a transition-onset correlation with an intermittency transport equation, is also used for comparison. Both models are implemented within a Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solver employing a low-Reynolds-number k–ω turbulence model. The performance of the transition models have been evaluated and tested versus well-documented incompressible flows past a flat plate with semi-circular leading edge, namely: tests T3L2, T3L3, T3L5, and T3LA1 of ERCOFTAC, with different Reynolds numbers and free-stream conditions, the last one being characterized by a non-zero pressure gradient. In all computations, the first model has proven as adequate as or superior to the second one and has been then applied with success to two more complex test cases, for which detailed experimental data are available in the literature, namely: the two- and three-dimensional flows through the T106 linear turbine cascade.