A numerical eigenvalue study of preconditioned non‐equilibrium transport equations

The finite element integration of non‐equilibrium contaminant transport in porous media yields sparse, unsymmetric, real or complex equations, which may be solved by iterative projection methods, such as Bi‐CGSTAB and TFQMR, on condition that they are effectively preconditioned. To ensure a fast convergence, the eigenspectrum of the preconditioned equations has to be very compact around unity. Compactness is generally measured by the spectral condition number. In difficult advection‐dominated problems, however, the condition number may be large and nevertheless, convergence may be good. A numerical study of the preconditioned eigenspectrum of a representative test case is performed using the incomplete triangular factorization. The results show that preconditioning eliminates most of the original complex eigenvalues, and that compactness is not necessarily jeopardized by a large condition number. Quite surprisingly, it is shown that the preconditioned complex problem may have a more compact real eigenspectrum than the equivalent real problem. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of high speed non‐equilibrium chemically reacting gas flows. Part I. Physical modeling and sensitivity studies

In this part, a theoretical model for high speed flow of chemically reacting gases out of thermal and chemical equilibrium is presented. The main features of the physical model are discussed together with details for a new form of the kinetic rate coefficients for non‐equilibrium flows and presentation of a two‐layer radiation model used for a plasma torch problem. This model is implemented in a new hybrid finite volume/finite element scheme, which is developed in Part II. Results from this physical model are compared with experiments and other results in the literature for an arcjet and non‐equilibrium nozzle test case. Sensitivity studies are included for the nozzle problem to simulate the influence of the rate coefficients. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vortex particle‐in‐cell method for three‐dimensional viscous unbounded flow computations

A new vortex particle‐in‐cell (PIC) method is developed for the computation of three‐dimensional unsteady, incompressible viscous flow in an unbounded domain. The method combines the advantages of the Lagrangian particle methods for convection and the use of an Eulerian grid to compute the diffusion and vortex stretching. The velocity boundary conditions used in the method are of Dirichlet‐type, and can be calculated using the vorticity field on the grid by the Biot–Savart equation. The present results for the propagation speed of the single vortex ring are in good agreement with the Saffman's model. The applications of the method to the head‐on and head‐off collisions of the two vortex rings show good agreement with the experimental and numerical literature. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit two‐dimensional non‐hydrostatic model for free‐surface flows

An implicit finite volume model in sigma coordinate system is developed to simulate two‐dimensional (2D) vertical free surface flows, deploying a non‐hydrostatic pressure distribution. The algorithm is based on a projection method which solves the complete 2D Navier–Stokes equations in two steps. First the pressure term in the momentum equations is excluded and the resultant advection–diffusion equations are solved. In the second step the continuity and the momentum equation with only the pressure terms are solved to give a block tri‐diagonal system of equation with pressure as the unknown. This system can be solved by a direct matrix solver without iteration. A new implicit treatment of non‐hydrostatic pressure, similar to the lower layers is applied to the top layer which makes the model free of any hydrostatic pressure assumption all through the water column. This treatment enables the model to evaluate both free surface elevation and wave celerity more accurately. A series of numerical tests including free‐surface flows with significant vertical accelerations and nonlinear behaviour in shoaling zone are performed. Comparison between numerical results, analytical solutions and experimental data demonstrates a satisfactory performance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical approximation of a degenerated non‐conservative multifluid model: relaxation scheme

The present work is devoted to the numerical approximation of a system which arises when modelling a two‐phase flow in a pipeline. Two particular difficulties are of special interest, the non‐conservativity and the weakly hyperbolicity of this system. Some elementary waves are characterized and a relaxation system, unconditionally hyperbolic, is proposed. The stability criteria of the resulting relaxation method are achieved by a Chapmann–Enskog‐like expansion. A numerical scheme based on the relaxation system is proposed and computations are performed on a shock tube. Validation is performed by comparison with the exact solution and also to the solution from a modified HLL scheme. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional modeling of non‐hydrostatic free‐surface flows on unstructured grids

A three‐dimensional numerical model is presented for the simulation of unsteady non‐hydrostatic shallow water flows on unstructured grids using the finite volume method. The free surface variations are modeled by a characteristics‐based scheme, which simulates sub‐critical and super‐critical flows. Three‐dimensional velocity components are considered in a collocated arrangement with a σ‐coordinate system. A special treatment of the pressure term is developed to avoid the water surface oscillations. Convective and diffusive terms are approximated explicitly, and an implicit discretization is used for the pressure term to ensure exact mass conservation. The unstructured grid in the horizontal direction and the σ coordinate in the vertical direction facilitate the use of the model in complicated geometries. Solution of the non‐hydrostatic equations enables the model to simulate short‐period waves and vertically circulating flows. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the use of characteristic‐based split meshfree method for solving flow problems

This study presents characteristic‐based split (CBS) algorithm in the meshfree context. This algorithm is the extension of general CBS method which was initially introduced in finite element framework. In this work, the general equations of flow have been represented in the meshfree context. A new finite element and MFree code is developed for solving flow problems. This computational code is capable of solving both time‐dependent and steady‐state flow problems. Numerical simulation of some known benchmark flow problems has been studied. Computational results of MFree method have been compared to those of finite element method. The results obtained have been verified by known numerical, analytical and experimental data in the literature. A number of shape functions are used for field variable interpolation. The performance of each interpolation method is discussed. It is concluded that the MFree method is more accurate than FEM if the same numbers of nodes are used for each solver. Meshfree CBS algorithm is completely stable even at high Reynolds numbers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HLLC scheme with novel wave‐speed estimators appropriate for two‐dimensional shallow‐water flow on erodible bed

This paper presents a first‐order HLLC (Harten‐Lax‐Van Leer with contact discontinuities) scheme to solve the Saint‐Venant shallow‐water equations, including morphological evolution of the bed by erosion and deposition of sediments. The Exner equation is used to model the morphological evolution of the bed, while a closure equation is needed to evaluate the rate of sediment transport. The system of Saint‐Venant–Exner equations is solved in a fully coupled way using a finite‐volume technique and a HLLC solver for the fluxes, with a novel wave‐speed estimator adapted to the Exner equation. Wave speeds are usually derived by computing the eigenvalues of the full system, which is highly time‐consuming when no analytical expression is available. In this paper, an eigenvalue analysis of the full system is conducted, leading to simple but still accurate wave‐speed estimators. The new numerical scheme is then tested in three different situations: (1) a circular dam‐break flow over movable bed, (2) an one‐dimensional bed aggradation problem simulated on a 2D unstructured mesh and (3) the case of a dam‐break flow in an erodible channel with a sudden enlargement, for which experimental measurements are available. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mathematical modelling of two‐phase non‐Newtonian flow in a helical pipe

Governing equations for a two‐phase 3D helical pipe flow of a non‐Newtonian fluid with large particles are derived in an orthogonal helical coordinate system. The Lagrangian approach is utilized to model solid particle trajectories. The interaction between solid particles and the fluid that carries them is accounted for by a source term in the momentum equation for the fluid. The force‐coupling method (FCM), developed by M.R. Maxey and his group, is adopted; in this method the momentum source term is no longer a Dirac delta function but is spread on a numerical mesh by using a finite‐sized envelop with a spherical Gaussian distribution. The influence of inter‐particle and particle–wall collisions is also taken into account. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit numerical algorithm for solving non‐hydrostatic free‐surface flow problems

Details are given of the development of a two‐dimensional vertical numerical model for simulating unsteady free‐surface flows, using a non‐hydrostatic pressure distribution. In this model, the Reynolds equations and the kinematic free‐surface boundary condition are solved simultaneously, so that the water surface elevation can be integrated into the solution and solved for, together with the velocity and pressure fields. An efficient numerical algorithm has been developed, deploying implicit parameters similar to those used in the Crank–Nicholson method, and generating a block tri‐diagonal algebraic system of equations. The model has been applied to simulate a range of unsteady flow problems involving relatively strong vertical accelerations. The results show that the numerical algorithm described is able to produce accurate predictions and is also easy to apply. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A deconvolution‐based fourth‐order finite volume method for incompressible flows on non‐uniform grids

This paper is concerned with the development of a new high‐order finite volume method for the numerical simulation of highly convective unsteady incompressible flows on non‐uniform grids. Specifically, both a high‐order fluxes integration and the implicit deconvolution of the volume‐averaged field are considered. This way, the numerical solution effectively stands for a fourth‐order approximation of the point‐wise one. Moreover, the procedure is developed in the framework of a projection method for the pressure–velocity decoupling, while originally deriving proper high‐order intermediate boundary conditions. The entire numerical procedure is discussed in detail, giving particular attention to the consistent discretization of the deconvolution operation. The present method is also cast in the framework of approximate deconvolution modelling for large‐eddy simulation. The overall high accuracy of the method, both in time and space, is demonstrated. Finally, as a model of real flow computation, a two‐dimensional time‐evolving mixing layer is simulated, with and without sub‐grid scales modelling. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive non‐conformal mesh refinement and extended finite element method for viscous flow inside complex moving geometries

Two different techniques to analyze non‐Newtonian viscous flow in complex geometries with internal moving parts and narrow gaps are compared. The first technique is a non‐conforming mesh refinement approach based on the fictitious domain method (FDM), and the second one is the extended finite element method (XFEM). The refinement technique uses one fixed reference mesh, and to impose continuity across non‐conforming regions, constraints using Lagrangian multipliers are used. The size of elements locally in the high shear rate regions is reduced to increase accuracy. FDM is shown to have limitations; therefore, XFEM is applied to decouple the fluid from the internal moving rigid bodies. In XFEM, the discontinuous field variables are captured by using virtual degrees of freedom that serve as enrichment and by applying special integration over the intersected elements. The accuracy of the two methods is demonstrated by direct comparison with results of a boundary‐fitted mesh applied to a two‐dimensional cross section of a twin‐screw extruder. Compared with non‐conforming FDM, XFEM shows a considerable improvement in accuracy around the rigid body, especially in the narrow gap regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of under‐relaxation factors on turbulent flow simulations

Under‐relaxation factors are significant parameters affecting the convergence of a numerical scheme. Some earlier work has been done to optimize these parameters, but this was restricted to special flow domains, and the range of changes for under‐relaxation factors and convective algorithms are limited. In this paper, the effects of changing under‐relaxation factors for different variables, different convective schemes and grid sizes on the convergence of the numerical solution of three 2D turbulent flow situations are studied. These three flows are duct flow, trench flow and inclined free falling jet flow. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Well‐balanced finite difference weighted essentially non‐oscillatory schemes for the blood flow model

The blood flow model maintains the steady‐state solutions, in which the flux gradients are non‐zero but exactly balanced by the source term. In this paper, we design high order finite difference weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) schemes to this model with such well‐balanced property and at the same time keeping genuine high order accuracy. Rigorous theoretical analysis as well as extensive numerical results all indicate that the resulting schemes verify high order accuracy, maintain the well‐balanced property, and keep good resolution for smooth and discontinuous solutions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient discretization of pressure‐correction equations on non‐orthogonal grids

An alternative discretization of pressure‐correction equations within pressure‐correction schemes for the solution of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations is introduced, which improves the convergence and robustness properties of such schemes for non‐orthogonal grids. As against standard approaches, where the non‐orthogonal terms usually are just neglected, the approach allows for a simplification of the pressure‐correction equation to correspond to 5‐point or 7‐point computational molecules in two or three dimensions, respectively, but still incorporates the effects of non‐orthogonality. As a result a wide range (including rather high values) of underrelaxation factors can be used, resulting in an increased overall performance of the underlying pressure‐correction schemes. Within this context, a second issue of the paper is the investigation of the accuracy to which the pressure‐correction equation should be solved in each pressure‐correction iteration. The scheme is investigated for standard test cases and, in order to show its applicability to practical flow problems, for a more complex configuration of a micro heat exchanger. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 2D boundary element method for simulating the deformation of axisymmetric compound non‐Newtonian drops

The boundary integral formulation of the solution to the Stokes equations is used to describe the deformation of small compound non‐Newtonian axisymmetric drops suspended in a Newtonian fluid that is subjected to an axisymmetric flow field. The non‐Newtonian stress is treated as a source term in the Stokes equations, which yields an extra integral over the domains containing non‐Newtonian material. By transforming the integral representation for the velocity to cylindrical co‐ordinates and performing the integration over the azimuthal direction analytically, the dimension of the problem can be reduced from three to two. A boundary element method for the remaining two‐dimensional problem aimed at the simulation of the deformation of such axisymmetric compound non‐Newtonian drops is developed. Apart from a numerical validation of the method, simulation results for a drop consisting of an Oldroyd‐B fluid and a viscoelastic material are presented. Moreover, the method is extended to compound drops that are composed of a viscous inner core encapsulated by a viscoelastic material. The simulation results for these drops are verified against theoretical results from literature. Moreover, it is shown that the method can be used to identify the dominant break‐up mechanism of compound drops in relation to the specific non‐Newtonian character of the membrane. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Riemann solver and upwind methods for a two‐phase flow model in non‐conservative form

We present a theoretical solution for the Riemann problem for the five‐equation two‐phase non‐conservative model of Saurel and Abgrall. This solution is then utilized in the construction of upwind non‐conservative methods to solve the general initial‐boundary value problem for the two‐phase flow model in non‐conservative form. The basic upwind scheme constructed is the non‐conservative analogue of the Godunov first‐order upwind method. Second‐order methods in space and time are then constructed via the MUSCL and ADER approaches. The methods are systematically assessed via a series of test problems with theoretical solutions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite difference scheme for the solution of fluid flow problems on non‐staggered grids

A new finite difference methodology is developed for the solution of computational fluid dynamics problems that do not require the use of staggered grid systems. Previous successful and robust non‐staggered methods, which used primitive variables and mass conservation in order to solve the pressure field, either interpolate cell‐face velocities or interpolate the pressure gradients in a special way, usually with an upwind‐bias to avoid the problem of odd–even coupling between the velocity and pressure fields. The new methodology presented does not detail a ‘special interpolation procedure for a primitive variable’, however, it manages to avoid the problem of odd–even coupling. The odd–even coupling is avoided by applying fourth‐order dissipation to the pressure field. It is shown that this approach can be regarded as a modified Rhie and Chow scheme. The method is implemented using a SIMPLE‐type algorithm and is applied to two test problems: laminar flow over a backward‐facing step and laminar flow in a square cavity with a driven lid. Good agreement is obtained between the numerical solutions and the corresponding benchmark solutions. The pressure dissipation term was found to successfully suppress wiggles in the pressure field. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low Reynolds number k–ε model for near‐wall flow

A wall‐distance free k–ε turbulence model is developed that accounts for the near‐wall and low Reynolds number effects emanating from the physical requirements. The model coefficients/functions depend non‐linearly on both the strain rate and vorticity invariants. Included diffusion terms and modified C_ε(1,2) coefficients amplify the level of dissipation in non‐equilibrium flow regions, thus reducing the kinetic energy and length scale magnitudes to improve prediction of adverse pressure gradient flows, involving flow separation and reattachment. The model is validated against a few flow cases, yielding predictions in good agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.