On higher‐order mixed FEM for low Mach number flows: application to a natural convection benchmark problem

We consider higher‐order mixed finite elements with continuous pressures for the computation of stationary compressible flows at low Mach number. The proposed approach is based on a fully coupled treatment of the governing equations and therefore, for steady‐state calculations, does not rely on time‐stepping techniques. The non‐linear problem is solved by means of a quasi‐Newton iteration. The strongly coupled system resulting from higher‐order discretization of the linearized equations requires adequate solvers. We propose a new scheme based on multigrid methods with varying FEM ansatz orders on the grid hierarchy as well as multiplicative smoothers based on blocking techniques. Computational results are described for a benchmark configuration including a flow with heat transfer in the low Mach number regime. Furthermore, the issue of anisotropic grids is addressed in that context. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An adaptive moving finite element method for steady low Mach number compressible combustion problems

This work surveys an r-adaptive moving mesh finite element method for the numerical solution of premixed laminar flame problems. Since the model of chemically reacting flow involves many different modes with diverse length scales, the computation of such a problem is often extremely time-consuming. Importantly, to capture the significant characteristics of the flame structure when using detailed chemistry, a much more stringent requirement on the spatial resolution of the interior layers of some intermediate species is necessary. Here, we propose a moving mesh method in which the mesh is obtained from the solution of so-called moving mesh partial differential equations. Such equations result from the variational formulation of a minimization problem for a given target functional that characterizes the inherent difficulty in the numerical approximation of the underlying physical equations. Adaptive mesh movement has emerged as an area of intense research in mesh adaptation in the last decade. With this approach, points are only allowed to be shifted in space leaving the topology of the grid unchanged. In contrast to methods with local refinement, data structure hence is unchanged and load balancing is not an issue as grid points remain on the processor where they are. We will demonstrate the high potential of moving mesh methods for effectively optimizing the distribution of grid points to reach the required resolution for chemically reacting flows with extremely thin boundary layers.     

Density enhancement mechanism of upwind schemes for low Mach number flows

Many all-speed Roe schemes have been proposed to improve performance in terms of low speeds. Among them,the F-Roe and T-D-Roe schemes have been found to get incorrect density fluctuation in low Mach flows, which is expected to be with the square of Mach number. Asymptotic analysis presents the mechanism of how the density fluctuation problem relates to the incorrect order of terms in the energy equation UΔU. It is known that changing the upwind scheme coefficients of the pressure-difference dissipation term DPand the velocity-difference dissipation term in the momentum equation D~(ρU)to the order of O(c~(-1))and O(c~0) can improve the level of pressure and velocity accuracy at low speeds. This paper shows that corresponding changes in energy equation can also improve the density accuracy in low speeds. We apply this modification to a recently proposed scheme, TV-MAS, to get a new scheme,TV-MAS2. Unsteady Gresho vortex flow, double shear-layer flow, low Mach number flows over the inviscid cylinder, and NACA0012 airfoil show that energy equation modification in these schemes can obtain the expected square Ma scaling of density fluctuations, which is in good agreement with corresponding asymptotic analysis. Therefore, this density correction is expected to be widely implemented into allspeed compressible flow solvers.     

Dual cylinder inviscid vortex sound of low Mach number

The unsteady motions of an inviscid vortex under the influence of a cylinder pair in the presence of a low Mach number mean flow and the corresponding sound generation are examined in the present study. The two cylinders are in close proximity. A semi-analytical approach using the conformal mapping together with the potential theory is adopted. The results show that the vortex will interact intensively with the cylinders under the right combinations of mean flow direction and initial vortex position. Such interactions result in a high rate of change of vortex propagation velocity, strong fluctuating forces on cylinder and strong sound radiations. However, it is found that much stronger acoustic energy radiation will result when the vortex approaches the cylinder pair from the bottom than from the top, unless the mean flow is nearly perpendicular to the horizontal cylinder pair axis. Stronger sound radiation is also observed for the identical cylinder cases in general, except the flow direction is close to some critical values.     

A high‐resolution scheme for low Mach number flows

A method for computing low Mach number flows using high‐resolution interpolation and difference formulas, within the framework of the Marker and Cell (MAC) scheme, is presented. This increases the range of wavenumbers that are properly resolved on a given grid so that a sufficiently accurate solution can be obtained without extensive grid refinement. Results using this scheme are presented for three problems. The first is the two‐dimensional Taylor–Green flow which has a closed form solution. The second is the evolution of perturbations to constant‐density, plane channel flow for which linear stability solutions are known. The third is the oscillatory instability of a variable density plane jet. In this case, unless the sharp density gradients are resolved, the calculations would breakdown. Under‐resolved calculations gave solutions containing vortices which grew in place rather than being convected out. With the present scheme, regular oscillations of this instability were obtained and vortices were convected out regularly. Stable computations were possible over a wider range of sensitive parameters such as density ratio and co‐flow velocity ratio. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.     

A boundary element formulation for natural convection problems

This paper presents a boundary element formulation employing a penalty function technique for two-dimensional steady thermal convection problems. By regarding the convective and buoyancy force terms in Navier-Stokes equations as body forces, the standard elastostatics analysis can be extended to solve the Navier-Stokes equations. In a similar manner, the standard potential analysis is extended to solve the energy transport equation. Finally, some numerical results are included, for typical natural convection problems, in order to demonstrate the efficiency of the present method.     

Bulk viscosity damping for accelerating convergence of low Mach number Euler solvers

In solution of the Euler equations in the steady state external flows, error or residual waves are blamed for decelerating the convergence. These waves may be damped by adding a bulk viscosity term to the momentum equations. We analyse effects of this term on the linearized differential equations, and study its explicit and implicit implementation in one and two space dimensions. Optimum values of the bulk viscosity damping (BVD) are discussed. After generalization to two space dimensions, its performance both alone and in combination with a soft wall boundary condition and residual smoothing in central differencing codes is reviewed. It is shown that BVD is complementary to them, and acts independently of them. Finally, application of BVD in solution of low Mach number flows is considered, to show how it can strongly stabilize and accelerate these low Mach number computations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of the noise generated by a low Mach number, low Reynolds number jet

In this paper we study the sound field produced by a turbulent round jet with a Mach number of 0.6 based on the centerline velocity and the ambient speed of sound c_∞. The turbulent flow field is found by solving the fully compressible Navier–Stokes equations with help of high-order compact finite difference schemes. It is shown that the simulated flow field is in good agreement with experiments. The corresponding sound field has been obtained with help of the Lighthill equation using two different formulations for the Lighthill stress tensor T_ij. In the first formulation of T_ij the fluctuating density is taken into account. In the second formulation the density is assumed to be constant. As an additional check we have also performed an acoustic calculation using a formulation in which a homogeneous wave equation is solved. The boundary conditions for this homogeneous wave equation are obtained from the numerical simulation of the Navier–Stokes equation. The results obtained with both formulations of the Lighthill stress tensor are nearly identical. This implies that an incompressible formulation of the conservations laws could be used to predict jet noise at low Mach numbers.     

低马赫数下斜爆轰波的结构

利用Euler方程和两步化学反应模型,对低马赫数入流时的驻定斜爆轰波进行了数值模拟,并重点研究了斜爆轰波的驻定过程和结构。数值结果显示,当入流马赫数较低时,即使其本身是附体的,在诱导区后侧的高压区的作用下,斜爆轰波也会从其起始位置向来流方向运动。在这种情况下,斜爆轰波会驻定在靠近斜面前缘的位置,诱导区的长度仅有1 mm左右。通过设置初始条件,让斜爆轰波在斜面前缘附近被触发,则其将一直维持在靠近斜面前缘的位置。     

An adaptive remeshing technique for laminar natural convection problems

 An adaptive remeshing procedure based on interpolation error has been developed for solving laminar natural convection problems. A simple relation between the Rayleigh number and the equilibration constant is introduced to increase the efficiency of the method. Unstructured meshes have been regenerated based on an initial solution and used in the calculations. This avoids the expensive mesh sensitivity study. Two typical natural convection problems are solved to demonstrate the present technique. Excellent performance has been observed at moderate and high Rayleigh numbers although present method gives good results over the whole range of Rayleigh numbers considered. Received on 27 October 2000 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

An adaptation of the low Mach number approximation for supercritical fluid buoyant flows

This Note describes an acoustic filtering of the equations governing the supercritical fluid buoyant flow driven by a weak heating. The resulting low Mach number approximation takes into account the compressibility of the fluid with respect to the hydrostatic pressure. Using the direct numerical simulation of a supercritical fluid flow in the Rayleigh–Bénard configuration, we show that the density stratification may be taken into account without further numerical effort and is fundamental for the prediction of the convective instability threshold induced by a weak heating. To cite this article: G. Accary et al., C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

Coriolis effect on convection for a low Prandtl number fluid

The problem of finite-amplitude thermal convection in a horizontal layer of a low Prandtl number heated from below and rotating about a vertical axis is studied. Linear stability and weak non-linear theories are used to investigate analytically the Coriolis effect on gravity-driven convection. The non-linear steady problem is solved by perturbation techniques, and the preferred mode of convection is determined by a stability analysis. Finite-amplitude results, obtained by using a weak amplitude, correspond to both stationary and oscillatory convections. These amplitude equations permit to identify from the post-transient conditions that the fluid is subject to Pitchfork bifurcation in the stationary convection and Hopf bifurcation in the oscillatory convection. Thereafter, in the small perturbations hypothesis, an amplitude solution is evaluated and drawn in time and space scales.     

Recent developments in the computation of compressible low Mach number flows

The computation of low speed flows can usualy be performed by incompressible models or various Low Mach number approximations (Boussinesq, Anelastic, etc). However, there is a large number of flows where although the velocities are small, compressible effects cannot be ignored and the use of full compressible models is required.Unfortunately, standard finite element or finite volume method experiences various difficulties in the computation of these low Mach number flows. This talk will explain the origin of these difficulties and describe some techniques to circumvent them.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of low Mach number turbulent cavity flows

Theoretical and experimental investigations are conducted for rectangular cavities of varying sizes in low Mach number turbulent flows. Emphasis is put on the characterization of the generation of self-sustained oscillations in order to develop methods of active control applied to the aeroacoustics of cavity flows. A linearized stability analysis for low Mach number flows is proposed in which the interface of the cavity is modeled by a vorticity layer. Subsequently, the cavity flow is investigated experimentally in a subsonic wind tunnel, using pressure measurements and a phase-locked particle image velocimetry system. Experimental results indicate that the oscillation process is governed by convective waves, with no definite influence of convected vortical structures. The good agreement between the experimental data and the predictions given by the model allows the identification of the oscillations of the cavity interface via the parameters issued from the theoretical analysis.List of symbols c speed of sound, m/s - f frequency, Hz - G Greens function - h displacement of the vorticity layer, m - K_R Rayleigh conductivity of the aperture, m - k₀ acoustic wavenumber, rad/m - k,n, Rossiter formula parameters - M Mach number of the freestream - pressure, Pa - Q volume flux, m³/s - Re_L Reynolds number Re_L=UL/ - Re_x1 Reynolds number Re_x1=Ux₁/ - Re Reynolds number Re=U/ - S frequency based Strouhal number - T period, s - t time, s - U,U,U^± freestream velocity, m/s - v velocity, m/s - W,L,D model cavity dimensions, m - w,l,d analytical cavity dimensions, m - x,y Cartesian coordinates, m - boundary-layer thickness, m - vorticity thickness, m - * boundary-layer displacement thickness, m - ,^± velocity potential, m²/s - acoustic wavelength, m - kinematic viscosity, m²/s - boundary-layer momentum thickness, m - ₀ density, kg/m³ - pulsation based Strouhal number - angular frequency, rad/s - vorticity, s ^–1 - , non-dimensional coordinates x₁,y₁ - non-dimensional displacement h     

A novel slightly compressible model for low Mach number perfect gas flow calculation

By analyzing the characteristics of low Mach number perfect gas flows, a novel Slightly Compressible Model (SCM) for low Mach number perect gas flows is derived. In view of numerical calculations, this model is proved very efficient, for it is kept within thep-v frame but does not have to satisfy the time consuming divergence-free condition in order to get the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation solution. Writing the equations in the form of conservation laws, we have derived the characteristic systems which are necessary for numerical calculations. A cell-centered finite-volume method with flux difference upwind-biased schemes is used for the equation solutions and a new Exact Newton Relaxation (ENR) implicit method is developed. Various computed results are presented to validate the present model. Laminar flow solutions over a circular cylinder with wake developing and vortex shedding are presented. Results for inviscid flow over a sphere are compared in excellent agreement with the exact analytic incompressible solution. Three-dimensional viscous flow solutions over sphere and prolate spheroid are also calculated and compared well with experiments and other incompressible solutions. Finally, good convergent performances are shown for sphere viscous flows. The project supported by the Basic Research on Frontier Problems in Fluid and Aerodynamics in China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19772069)     

A high‐order discontinuous Galerkin solver for low Mach number flows

In this work, we present a high‐order discontinuous Galerkin method (DGM) for simulating variable density flows at low Mach numbers. The corresponding low Mach number equations are an approximation of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations in the limit of zero Mach number. To the best of the authors'y knowledge, it is the first time that the DGM is applied to the low Mach number equations. The mixed‐order formulation is applied for spatial discretization. For steady cases, we apply the semi‐implicit method for pressure‐linked equation (SIMPLE) algorithm to solve the non‐linear system in a segregated manner. For unsteady cases, the solver is implicit in time using backward differentiation formulae, and the SIMPLE algorithm is applied to solve the non‐linear system in each time step. Numerical results for the following three test cases are shown: Couette flow with a vertical temperature gradient, natural convection in a square cavity, and unsteady natural convection in a tall cavity. Considering a fixed number of degrees of freedom, the results demonstrate the benefits of using higher approximation orders. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vortex characteristics in laminar cavity flow at very low Mach number

In the present paper, a laminar cavity is analysed at very low Mach numbers. The characteristics of core-vortices are proposed and commented. The experiments were performed in an open subsonic wind tunnel using particle image velocimetry (PIV). A rectangular cavity with a length-to-depth ratio of 4 was used (shallow and open type). Three different Reynolds numbers, based on cavity depth and free stream velocity, were examined (Re_h=4,000, 9,000 and 13,000). The upstream boundary layer was investigated using classical hot-wire anemometry and was found to be laminar. For each Reynolds number, a total of 1,000 vectors fields were acquired. The results are given in terms of conventional quantities (mean flow velocity, turbulence characteristics, Reynolds shear stress) and also in terms of vortex characteristics (such as probability density function of vortex location, vortex size and vortex circulation). Some of these vortex characteristics are then proposed in a local averaged presentation. The extraction of vortices from instantaneous flow fields has been done through the use of a home-made algorithm based on continuous wavelet analysis.     

Spectral simulations of oscillatory convection at low Prandtl number

Pseudospectral methods are used for the computation of the time-dependent convective flows which arise in shallow cavities filled with low-Prandtí-number liquids when submitted to a horizontal temperature gradient. In similar situations several former numerical results have been shown to disagree about the determination of the threshold of oscillations and about the subsequent supercritical regimes. Two different tau–Chebyshev methods based on the vorticity–streamfunction formulation and using multistep time schemes are considered. Their results are discussed to assess the validity of the solutions. The physical problems concern rectangular cavities which involve either a rigid or a stress-free top wall and either conducting or insulating horizontal walls. Aside from the prediction of the onset of oscillations, which is discussed in the various situations with respect to the results of linear and non-linear analyses and to other computational results, the present study exhibits some bifurcation sequences and a hysteresis cycle at moderate Grashof numbers which are associated to the occurrence of multiple solutions.     

Continuous and discrete adjoint approaches for aerodynamic shape optimization with low Mach number preconditioning

Discrete and continuous adjoint approaches for use in aerodynamic shape optimization problems at all flow speeds are developed and assessed. They are based on the Navier–Stokes equations with low Mach number preconditioning. By alleviating the large disparity between acoustic waves and fluid speeds, the preconditioned flow and adjoint equations are numerically solved with affordable CPU cost, even at the so‐called incompressible flow conditions. Either by employing the adjoint to the preconditioned flow equations or by preconditioning the adjoint to the ‘standard’ flow equations (under certain conditions the two formulations become equivalent, as proved in this paper), efficient optimization methods with reasonable cost per optimization cycle, even at very low Mach numbers, are derived. During the mathematical development, a couple of assumptions are made which are proved to be harmless to the accuracy in the computed gradients and the effectiveness of the optimization method. The proposed approaches are validated in inviscid and viscous flows in external aerodynamics and turbomachinery flows at various Mach numbers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New equations for nonlinear acoustics in a low Mach number and weakly heterogeneous atmosphere

Various scalar equations are proposed, modeling the pressure field in the linear and nonlinear acoustical regimes. They are derived by assuming a flow with a small Mach number and a smaller medium heterogeneity. Such assumptions are well satisfied in the atmospheric boundary layer. Further simplifications can be obtained when less intense turbulent fluctuations are superimposed to a sheared mean flow. In the linear regime, a hierarchy of equations with increasing orders of precision is established. A new equation is found where all terms quadratic with respect to the ambient flow are retained, either related to sound convection by the flow, or to the flow inhomogeneity. Numerical solutions indicate that it is more precise than the equations in the literature for small Mach numbers, but less robust for larger negative Mach numbers. Two generalizations of Lilley’s equation incorporate the effects of turbulent fluctuations. Nonlinear terms are of different origins, either thermodynamical, inertial, or related to the flow shear. For a locally plane wave, they simplify into a single term which appears as the classical Westervelt quadratic nonlinearity convected by the flow. Consequently, all linear equations can easily be generalized to nonlinear ones, such as a new Lilley’s equation augmented with acoustical nonlinearities and turbulent flow fluctuations.