A multi‐energy‐level lattice Boltzmann model for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations

In this paper, we propose a new lattice Boltzmann model for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations. The new model is based on a three‐energy‐level and three‐speed lattice Boltzmann equation by using a method of higher moments of the equilibrium distribution functions. As the 25‐bit model, we obtained the equilibrium distribution functions and the compressible Navier–Stokes equations with the second accuracy of the truncation errors. The numerical examples show that the model can be used to simulate the shock waves, contact discontinuities and supersonic flows around circular cylinder. The numerical results are compared with those obtained by traditional method. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A lattice Boltzmann model for the compressible Euler equations with second‐order accuracy

In this paper, we propose a new lattice Boltzmann model for the compressible Euler equations. The model is based on a three‐energy‐level and three‐speed lattice Boltzmann equation by using a method of higher moments of the equilibrium distribution functions. In order to obtain second‐order accuracy, we employ the ghost field distribution functions to remove the non‐physical viscous parts. We also use the conditions of the higher moment of the ghost field equilibrium distribution functions to obtain the equilibrium distribution functions. In the numerical examples, we compare the numerical results of this scheme with those obtained by other lattice Boltzmann models for the compressible Euler equations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lattice Boltzmann method for the fractional sub‐diffusion equation

A lattice Boltzmann model for the fractional sub‐diffusion equation is presented. By using the Chapman–Enskog expansion and the multiscale time expansion, several higher‐order moments of equilibrium distribution functions and a series of partial differential equations in different time scales are obtained. Furthermore, the modified partial differential equation of the fractional sub‐diffusion equation with the second‐order truncation error is obtained. In the numerical simulations, comparisons between numerical results of the lattice Boltzmann models and exact solutions are given. The numerical results agree well with the classical ones. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparative study of direct‐forcing immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann methods for stationary complex boundaries

In this study, we assess several interface schemes for stationary complex boundary flows under the direct‐forcing immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann methods (IB‐LBM) based on a split‐forcing lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE). Our strategy is to couple various interface schemes, which were adopted in the previous direct‐forcing immersed boundary methods (IBM), with the split‐forcing LBE, which enables us to directly use the direct‐forcing concept in the lattice Boltzmann calculation algorithm with a second‐order accuracy without involving the Navier–Stokes equation. In this study, we investigate not only common diffuse interface schemes but also a sharp interface scheme. For the diffuse interface scheme, we consider explicit and implicit interface schemes. In the calculation of velocity interpolation and force distribution, we use the 2‐ and 4‐point discrete delta functions, which give the second‐order approximation. For the sharp interface scheme, we deal with the exterior sharp interface scheme, where we impose the force density on exterior (solid) nodes nearest to the boundary. All tested schemes show a second‐order overall accuracy when the simulation results of the Taylor–Green decaying vortex are compared with the analytical solutions. It is also confirmed that for stationary complex boundary flows, the sharper the interface scheme, the more accurate the results are. In the simulation of flows past a circular cylinder, the results from each interface scheme are comparable to those from other corresponding numerical schemes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A direct‐forcing pressure‐based lattice Boltzmann method for solving fluid–particle interaction problems

A direct‐forcing immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann method (IB–LBM) is developed to simulate fluid–particle interaction problems. This method uses the pressure‐based LBM to solve the incompressible flow field and the immersed boundary method to handle the fluid–particle interactions. The pressure‐based LBM uses the pressure distribution functions instead of the density distribution functions as the independent dynamic variables. The main idea is to explicitly eliminate the compressible effect due to the density fluctuation. In the IB method, a direct‐forcing method is introduced to capture the particle motion. It directly computes an IB force density at each lattice grid from the differences between the pressure distribution functions obtained by the LBM and the equilibrium pressure distribution functions computed from the particle velocity. By applying this direct‐forcing method, the IB–LBM becomes a purely LBM version. Also, by applying the Gauss theorem, the formulas for computing the force and the torque acting on the particle from the flows are derived from the volume integrals over the particle volume instead of from the surface integrals over the particle surface. The order of accuracy of the IB–LBM is demonstrated on the errors of velocity field, wall stress, and gradients of velocity and pressure. As a demonstration of the efficiency and capabilities of the new method, sedimentation of a large number of spherical particles in an enclosure is simulated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulations of droplet formation in a cross‐junction microchannel by the lattice Boltzmann method

An immiscible liquid–liquid multiphase flow in a cross‐junction microchannel was numerically studied using the lattice Boltzmann method. An improved, immiscible lattice BGK model was proposed by introducing surface tension force based on the continuum surface force (CSF) method. Recoloring step was replaced by the anti‐diffusion scheme in the mixed region to reduce the side‐effect and control the thickness of the interface. The present method was tested by the simulation of a static bubble. Laplace's law and spurious velocities were examined. The results show that our model is more advantageous for simulations of immiscible fluids than the existing immiscible lattice BGK models. Computational results of multiphase flow in a cross‐junction microchannel were obtained and analyzed based on dimensionless numbers. It is found that the flow pattern is decided mostly by the capillary number at a small inlet flux. However, at the same capillary number, a large inlet flux will lead to much smaller droplet generation. For this case, the flow is determined by both the capillary number and the Weber number. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3D free‐surface flow computation using a RANSE/Fourier–Kochin coupling

A coupling method for numerical calculations of steady free‐surface flows around a body is presented. The fluid domain in the neighbourhood of the hull is divided into two overlapping zones. Viscous effects are taken in account near the hull using Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANSE), whereas potential flow provides the flow away from the hull. In the internal domain, RANSE are solved by a fully coupled velocity, pressure and free‐surface elevation method. In the external domain, potential‐flow theory with linearized free‐surface condition is used to provide boundary conditions to the RANSE solver. The Fourier–Kochin method based on the Fourier–Kochin formulation, which defines the velocity field in a potential‐flow region in terms of the velocity distribution at a boundary surface, is used for that purpose. Moreover, the free‐surface Green function satisfying this linearized free‐surface condition is used. Calculations have been successfully performed for steady ship‐waves past a serie 60 and then have demonstrated abilities of the present coupling algorithm. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A filter‐based,mass‐conserving lattice Boltzmann method for immiscible multiphase flows

Some issues of He–Chen–Zhang lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) method (referred as HCZ model) (J. Comput. Physics 1999; 152 :642–663) for immiscible multiphase flows with large density ratio are assessed in this paper. An extended HCZ model with a filter technique and mass correction procedure is proposed based on HCZ's LBE multiphase model. The original HCZ model is capable of maintaining a thin interface but is prone to generating unphysical oscillations in surface tension and index function at moderate values of density ratio. With a filtering technique, the monotonic variation of the index function across the interface is maintained with larger density ratio. Kim's surface tension formulation for diffuse–interface method (J. Comput. Physics 2005; 204 :784–804) is then used to remove unphysical oscillation in the surface tension. Furthermore, as the density ratio increases, the effect of velocity divergence term neglected in the original HCZ model causes significant unphysical mass sources near the interface. By keeping the velocity divergence term, the unphysical mass sources near the interface can be removed with large density ratio. The long‐time accumulation of the modeling and/or numerical errors in the HCZ model also results in the error of mass conservation of each dispersed phase. A mass correction procedure is devised to improve the performance of the method in this regard. For flows over a stationary and a rising bubble, and capillary waves with density ratio up to 100, the present approach yields solutions with interface thickness of about five to six lattices and no long‐time diffusion, significantly advancing the performance of the LBE method for multiphase flow simulations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hybrid lattice Boltzmann finite‐difference simulation of axisymmetric swirling and rotating flows

The axisymmetric flows with swirl or rotation were solved by a hybrid scheme with lattice Boltzmann method for the axial and radial velocities and finite‐difference method for the azimuthal (or swirl) velocity and the temperature. An incompressible axisymmetric lattice Boltzmann D2Q9 model was proposed to solve the axial and radial velocities through inserting source terms into the two‐dimensional lattice Boltzmann equation. Present hybrid scheme was firstly validated by simulations of Taylor–Couette flows between two concentric cylinders. Then the benchmark problems of melt flow in Czochralski crystal growth were studied and accurate results were obtained. Numerical experiment demonstrated that present axisymmetric D2Q9 model is more stable than the previous axisymmetric D2Q9 model (J. Comp. Phys. 2003; 186 (1):295–307). Hence, compared with the previous model, present numerical method provides a significant advantage in simulation melt flow cases with high Reynolds number and high Grashof number. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multi‐energy‐level lattice Boltzmann model for two‐dimensional wave equation

A lattice Boltzmann model for two‐dimensional wave equation is presented. In this model, we used higher‐order moment method, multi‐scale technique and Chapman–Enskog expansion, and multi‐energy‐level to obtain wave equation and energy conservation equation. As numerical examples, the interference and diffraction of wave are simulated. The numerical results show this model can be used to simulate two‐dimensional wave propagation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann simulations of incompressible flows with freely moving objects

For simulating freely moving problems, conventional immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann methods encounter two major difficulties of an extremely large flow domain and the incompressible limit. To remove these two difficulties, this work proposes an immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann flux solver (IB‐LBFS) in the arbitrary Lagragian–Eulerian (ALE) coordinates and establishes a dynamic similarity theory. In the ALE‐based IB‐LBFS, the flow filed is obtained by using the LBFS on a moving Cartesian mesh, and the no‐slip boundary condition is implemented by using the boundary condition‐enforced immersed boundary method. The velocity of the Cartesian mesh is set the same as the translational velocity of the freely moving object so that there is no relative motion between the plate center and the mesh. This enables the ALE‐based IB‐LBFS to study flows with a freely moving object in a large open flow domain. By normalizing the governing equations for the flow domain and the motion of rigid body, six non‐dimensional parameters are derived and maintained to be the same in both physical systems and the lattice Boltzmann framework. This similarity algorithm enables the lattice Boltzmann equation‐based solver to study a general freely moving problem within the incompressible limit. The proposed solver and dynamic similarity theory have been successfully validated by simulating the flow around an in‐line oscillating cylinder, single particle sedimentation, and flows with a freely falling plate. The obtained results agree well with both numerical and experimental data. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A fully hydrodynamic model for three‐dimensional,free‐surface flows

The hydrostatic pressure assumption has been widely used in studying water movements in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. While this assumption is valid in many cases and has been successfully used in numerous studies, there are many cases where this assumption is questionable. This paper presents a three‐dimensional, hydrodynamic model for free‐surface flows without using the hydrostatic pressure assumption. The model includes two predictor–corrector steps. In the first predictor–corrector step, the model uses hydrostatic pressure at the previous time step as an initial estimate of the total pressure field at the new time step. Based on the estimated pressure field, an intermediate velocity field is calculated, which is then corrected by adding the non‐hydrostatic component of the pressure to the estimated pressure field. A Poisson equation for non‐hydrostatic pressure is solved before the second intermediate velocity field is calculated. The final velocity field is found after the free surface at the new time step is computed by solving a free‐surface correction equation. The numerical method was validated with several analytical solutions and laboratory experiments. Model results agree reasonably well with analytical solutions and laboratory results. Model simulations suggest that the numerical method presented is suitable for fully hydrodynamic simulations of three‐dimensional, free‐surface flows. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two‐dimensional flow past circular cylinders using finite volume lattice Boltzmann formulation

In this article, an extension to the total variation diminishing finite volume formulation of the lattice Boltzmann equation method on unstructured meshes was presented. The quadratic least squares procedure is used for the estimation of first‐order and second‐order spatial gradients of the particle distribution functions. The distribution functions were extrapolated quadratically to the virtual upwind node. The time integration was performed using the fourth‐order Runge–Kutta procedure. A grid convergence study was performed in order to demonstrate the order of accuracy of the present scheme. The formulation was validated for the benchmark two‐dimensional, laminar, and unsteady flow past a single circular cylinder. These computations were then investigated for the low Mach number simulations. Further validation was performed for flow past two circular cylinders arranged in tandem and side‐by‐side. Results of these simulations were extensively compared with the previous numerical data. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The simulation of turbulent particle‐laden channel flow by the Lattice Boltzmann method

We perform direct numerical simulation of three‐dimensional turbulent flows in a rectangular channel, with a lattice Boltzmann method, efficiently implemented on heavily parallel general purpose graphical processor units. After validating the method for a single fluid, for standard boundary layer problems, we study changes in mean and turbulent properties of particle‐laden flows, as a function of particle size and concentration. The problem of physical interest for this application is the effect of water droplets on the turbulent properties of a high‐speed air flow, near a solid surface. To do so, we use a Lagrangian tracking approach for a large number of rigid spherical point particles, whose motion is forced by drag forces caused by the fluid flow; particle effects on the latter are in turn represented by distributed volume forces in the lattice Boltzmann method. Results suggest that, while mean flow properties are only slightly affected, unless a very large concentration of particles is used, the turbulent vortices present near the boundary are significantly damped and broken down by the turbulent motion of the heavy particles, and both turbulent Reynolds stresses and the production of turbulent kinetic energy are decreased because of the particle effects. We also find that the streamwise component of turbulent velocity fluctuations is increased, while the spanwise and wall‐normal components are decreased, as compared with the single fluid channel case. Additionally, the streamwise velocity of the carrier (air) phase is slightly reduced in the logarithmic boundary layer near the solid walls. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A coupled immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann method with smoothed point interpolation method for fluid‐structure interaction problems

The immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann method has been verified to be an effective tool for fluid‐structure interaction simulation associated with thin and flexible bodies. The newly developed smoothed point interpolation method (S‐PIM) can handle the largely deformable solids owing to its softened model stiffness and insensitivity to mesh distortion. In this work, a novel coupled method has been proposed by combining the immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann method with the S‐PIM for fluid‐structure interaction problems with large‐displacement solids. The proposed method preserves the simplicity of the lattice Boltzmann method for fluid solvers, utilizes the S‐PIM to establish the realistic constitutive laws for nonlinear solids, and avoids mesh regeneration based on the frame of the immersed boundary method. Both two‐ and three‐dimensional numerical examples have been carried out to validate the accuracy, convergence, and stability of the proposed method in consideration of comparative results with referenced solutions.     

Numerical investigation from rarefied flow to continuum by solving the Boltzmann model equation

Based on the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) Boltzmann model equation, the unified simplified velocity distribution function equation adapted to various flow regimes can be presented. The reduced velocity distribution functions and the discrete velocity ordinate method are developed and applied to remove the velocity space dependency of the distribution function, and then the distribution function equations will be cast into hyperbolic conservation laws form with non‐linear source terms. Based on the unsteady time‐splitting technique and the non‐oscillatory, containing no free parameters, and dissipative (NND) finite‐difference method, the gas kinetic finite‐difference second‐order scheme is constructed for the computation of the discrete velocity distribution functions. The discrete velocity numerical quadrature methods are developed to evaluate the macroscopic flow parameters at each point in the physical space. As a result, a unified simplified gas kinetic algorithm for the gas dynamical problems from various flow regimes is developed. To test the reliability of the present numerical method, the one‐dimensional shock‐tube problems and the flows past two‐dimensional circular cylinder with various Knudsen numbers are simulated. The computations of the related flows indicate that both high resolution of the flow fields and good qualitative agreement with the theoretical, DSMC and experimental results can be obtained. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analytical and numerical studies of the boundary slip in the immersed boundary‐thermal lattice Boltzmann method

We analytically and numerically investigate the boundary slip, including the velocity slip and the temperature jump, in immersed boundary‐thermal lattice Boltzmann methods (IB‐TLBMs) with the two‐relaxation‐time collision operator. We derive the theoretical equation for the relaxation parameters considering the effect of the advection velocity on the temperature jump of the IB‐TLBMs. The analytical and numerical solutions demonstrate that the proposed iterative correction methods without the computational cost of the sparse matrix solver reduce the boundary slip and boundary‐value deviation as effectively as the implicit correction method for any relaxation time. Because the commonly used multi‐direct forcing method does not consider the contributions of the body force to the momentum flux, it cannot completely eliminate the boundary slip because of the numerical instability for a long relaxation time. Both types of proposed iterative correction methods are more numerically stable than the implicit correction method. In simulations of flow past a circular cylinder and of natural convection, the present iterative correction methods yield adequate results without the errors of the velocity slip, the temperature jump, and the boundary‐value deviation for any relaxation time parameters and for any number of Lagrangian points per length. The combination of the present methods and the two‐relaxation‐time collision operator is suitable for simulating fluid flow with thermal convection in the multiblock method in which the relaxation time increases in inverse proportion to the grid size.     

Implicit–explicit finite‐difference lattice Boltzmann method with viscid compressible model for gas oscillating patterns in a resonator

Difficulties for the conventional computational fluid dynamics and the standard lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to study the gas oscillating patterns in a resonator have been discussed. In light of the recent progresses in the LBM world, we are now able to deal with the compressibility and non‐linear shock wave effects in the resonator. A lattice Boltzmann model for viscid compressible flows is introduced firstly. Then, the Boltzmann equation with the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook approximation is solved by the finite‐difference method with a third‐order implicit–explicit (IMEX) Runge–Kutta scheme for time discretization, and a fifth‐order weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization. Numerical results obtained in this study agree quantitatively with both experimental data available and those using conventional numerical methods. Moreover, with the IMEX finite‐difference LBM (FDLBM), the computational convergence rate can be significantly improved compared with the previous FDLBM and standard LBM. This study can also be applied for simulating some more complex phenomena in a thermoacoustics engine. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of three‐dimensional flows over moving objects by an improved immersed boundary–lattice Boltzmann method

An improved immersed boundary–lattice Boltzmann method (IB–LBM) developed recently [28] was applied in this work to simulate three‐dimensional (3D) flows over moving objects. By enforcing the non‐slip boundary condition, the method could avoid any flow penetration to the wall. In the developed IB–LBM solver, the flow field is obtained on the non‐uniform mesh by the efficient LBM that is based on the second‐order one‐dimensional interpolation. As a consequence, its coefficients could be computed simply. By simulating flows over a stationary sphere and torus [28] accurately and efficiently, the proposed IB–LBM showed its ability to handle 3D flow problems with curved boundaries. In this paper, we further applied this method to simulate 3D flows around moving boundaries. As a first example, the flow over a rotating sphere was simulated. The obtained results agreed very well with the previous data in the literature. Then, simulation of flow over a rotating torus was conducted. The capability of the improved IB–LBM for solving 3D flows over moving objects with complex geometries was demonstrated via the simulations of fish swimming and dragonfly flight. The numerical results displayed quantitative and qualitative agreement with the date in the literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.