An assessment of a parallel,finite element method for three‐dimensional,moving‐boundary flows driven by capillarity for simulation of viscous sintering

A parallel, finite element method is presented for the computation of three‐dimensional, free‐surface flows where surface tension effects are significant. The method employs an unstructured tetrahedral mesh, a front‐tracking arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation, and fully implicit time integration. Interior mesh motion is accomplished via pseudo‐solid mesh deformation. Surface tension effects are incorporated directly into the momentum equation boundary conditions using surface identities that circumvent the need to compute second derivatives of the surface shape, resulting in a robust representation of capillary phenomena. Sample results are shown for the viscous sintering of glassy ceramic particles. The most serious performance issue is error arising from mesh distortion when boundary motion is significant. This effect can be severe enough to stop the calculations; some simple strategies for improving performance are tested. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A boundary element method for the solution of finite mobility ratio immiscible displacement in a Hele‐Shaw cell

In this paper, the interaction between two immiscible fluids with a finite mobility ratio is investigated numerically within a Hele‐Shaw cell. Fingering instabilities initiated at the interface between a low‐viscosity fluid and a high‐viscosity fluid are analysed at varying capillary numbers and mobility ratios using a finite mobility ratio model. The present work is motivated by the possible development of interfacial instabilities that can occur in porous media during the process of CO₂ sequestration but does not pretend to analyse this complex problem. Instead, we present a detailed study of the analogous problem occurring in a Hele‐Shaw cell, giving indications of possible plume patterns that can develop during the CO₂ injection. The numerical scheme utilises a boundary element method in which the normal velocity at the interface of the two fluids is directly computed through the evaluation of a hypersingular integral. The boundary integral equation is solved using a Neumann convergent series with cubic B‐Spline boundary discretisation, exhibiting sixth‐order spatial convergence. The convergent series allows the long‐term nonlinear dynamics of growing viscous fingers to be explored accurately and efficiently. Simulations in low‐mobility ratio regimes reveal large differences in fingering patterns compared with those predicted by previous high‐mobility ratio models. Most significantly, classical finger shielding between competing fingers is inhibited. Secondary fingers can possess significant velocity, allowing greater interaction with primary fingers compared with high‐mobility ratio flows. Eventually, this interaction can lead to base thinning and the breaking of fingers into separate bubbles. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of finite amplitude motion of waves and a moored floating body under severe storm conditions

The motion of a moored floating body under the action of wave forces, which is influenced by fluid forces, shape of the floating body and mooring forces, should be analysed as a complex coupled motion system. Especially under severe storm conditions or resonant motion of the floating body it is necessary to consider finite amplitude motions of the waves, the floating body and the mooring lines as well as non-linear interactions of these finite amplitude motions. The problem of a floating body has been studied on the basis of linear wave theory by many researchers. However, the finite amplitude motion under a correlated motion system has rarely been taken into account. This paper presents a numerical method for calculating the finite amplitude motion when a floating body is moored by non-linear mooring lines such as chains and cables under severe storm conditions.     

基于反馈力浸入边界法模拟复杂动边界流动

浸入边界法是模拟流固耦合的重要数值方法之一。本文采用反馈力浸入边界方法,对旋转圆柱和水轮机活动导叶旋转摆动绕流后的动边界流场进行数值模拟。其中,固体边界采用一系列离散的点近似代替,流体为不可压缩牛顿流体,使用笛卡尔自适应加密网格,利用有限差分法进行求解。固体对流场的作用通过构造适宜的反馈力函数实现。本文首先通过旋转圆柱绕流的计算结果同实验结果进行对比,吻合较好,验证了该计算方法的可靠性。然后针对水电站水力过渡过程中水轮机活动导叶旋转摆动绕流后的动边界流场进行数值模拟,得到导叶动态绕流后的流场分布特性和涡结构的演化特性。     

A finite element method for a three-dimensional second-order closure model of turbulent diffusion in a convective boundary layer

A three-dimensional second-order closure dispersion model is used to simulate the plume behaviour of a passive contaminant in a convective boundary layer. A time-splitting finite element method together with a non-linear filtering scheme is used to solve the three-dimensional second-order closure transport equations. The model results show good agreement with laboratory data for a ground level source.     

A subdomain boundary element method for high‐Reynolds laminar flow using stream function‐vorticity formulation

The paper presents a new formulation of the integral boundary element method (BEM) using subdomain technique. A continuous approximation of the function and the function derivative in the direction normal to the boundary element (further ‘normal flux’) is introduced for solving the general form of a parabolic diffusion‐convective equation. Double nodes for normal flux approximation are used. The gradient continuity is required at the interior subdomain corners where compatibility and equilibrium interface conditions are prescribed. The obtained system matrix with more equations than unknowns is solved using the fast iterative linear least squares based solver. The robustness and stability of the developed formulation is shown on the cases of a backward‐facing step flow and a square‐driven cavity flow up to the Reynolds number value 50 000. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A higher-order boundary element method for three-dimensional potential problems

A method of eliminating the singularities involved in boundary element methods for three-dimensional potential problems is presented and the non-singular expressions of integrals on an element on which the singular point is situated are given for linear and quadratic interpolation functions. Numerical examples are compared with analytical solutions to show that the higher-order interpolations have better precision.     

pFFT快速边界元方法模拟三维声散射

研究了用pFFT快速边界元方法模拟声散射问题的关键技术。采用Burton—Miller方程消除了声学边界元方法中外问题解的不唯一现象。为此,文中研究了采用常量元时该方程中超奇异积分的计算方法。最后,通过对平面声波的刚性圆球声散射的数值模拟,验证了建立的声学pFFT快速边界元方法。     

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.     

Simulation of liquid sloshing in curved‐wall containers with arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian method

There are many challenges in the numerical simulation of liquid sloshing in horizontal cylinders and spherical containers using the finite element method of arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation: tracking the motion of the free surface with the contact points, defining the mesh velocity on the curved wall boundary and updating the computational mesh. In order to keep the contact points slipping along the curved side wall, the shape vector in each time advancement is defined to modify the kinematical boundary conditions on the free surface. A special function is introduced to automatically smooth the nodal velocities on the curved wall boundary based on the liquid nodal velocities. The elliptic partial differential equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions can directly rezone the inner nodal velocities in more than a single freedom. The incremental fractional step method is introduced to solve the finite element liquid equations. The numerical results that stemmed from the algorithm show good agreement with experimental phenomena, which demonstrates that the ALE method provides an efficient computing scheme in moving curved wall boundaries. This method can be extended to 3D cases by improving the technique to compute the shape vector. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluid-structure impact analysis with a mixed method of arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian BE and FE

A mixed method of arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian boundary element and finite element method (ALE-BE-FE method) is proposed for solving fluid-structure impact problems, in which the effect of structural deformation due to hydrodynamic pressure is taken into account. In addition, this method also enables us to analyze the influence of nonlinear free surface conditions on the impact response. Two numerical examples of an impacting cylinder and an impacting wedge into an initially calm water treated as 2-D problems are presented. It shows that the proposed method is effective to obtain a fluid-structure impact solution.This project is financially supported by the National Education Foundation of China.     

Laplace transform-boundary element coupling method for viscous fluid-structure impact analysis

Based on linearized 2-D Navier-Stokes equation, a Laplace transform-boundary element coupling method for viscous fluid-structure impact analysis is proposed. Under assumption of incompressibility for the fluid, the corresponding equivalent boundary integral equation in terms of the potential function and stream function is first established by Lamb's transform in the Laplace transform domain. It enables us to solve impact water problems in frequency domain by the boundary element method, in which the effect of viscous flow on the dynamic response can be taken into account. Then a complete solution of the problem under consideration in time domain is obtained by means of Durbin's formulas for the numerical inversion of the Laplace transform. Finally, a practical example is given to confirm the validity of the present method. Project supported by the National Defence Foundation of Science & Technology of China (No. J14. 8. 1. JW0515).     

一种空间缆索结构静力分析的解析元法

将空间缆索结构简化为具有拉伸刚度的质点系,给出了缆索结构空间解析元法的基本方程和求解方法,单元间的作用力与坐标变化的关系可以用解析法得到,对所得到的反映结构特性的质点系方程组进行力的平衡迭代,求解方程组.采用自动的动态可变步长的迭代方法,能够提高计算效率,保证收敛.这种方法既考虑了几何非线性,又适用于材料非线性的计算,比有限元法优越之处还在于,它不用求解线性方程组,所以适用范围广,允许求解多自由度的几何可变体系,而有限元法在求解此类问题时经常不收敛.     

Vortex‐in‐cell method combined with a boundary element method for incompressible viscous flow analysis

In this study, an immersed boundary vortex‐in‐cell (VIC) method for simulating the incompressible flow external to two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional bodies is presented. The vorticity transport equation, which is the governing equation of the VIC method, is represented in a Lagrangian form and solved by the vortex blob representation of the flow field. In the present scheme, the treatment of convection and diffusion is based on the classical fractional step algorithm. The rotational component of the velocity is obtained by solving Poisson's equation using an FFT method on a regular Cartesian grid, and the solenoidal component is determined from solving an integral equation using the panel method for the convection term, and the diffusion term is implemented by a particle strength exchange scheme. Both the no‐slip and no‐through flow conditions associated with the surface boundary condition are satisfied by diffusing vortex sheet and distributing singularities on the body, respectively. The present method is distinguished from other methods by the use of the panel method for the enforcement of the no‐through flow condition. The panel method completes making use of the immersed boundary nature inherent in the VIC method and can be also adopted for the calculation of the pressure field. The overall process is parallelized using message passing interface to manage the extensive computational load in the three‐dimensional flow simulations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of 2D external viscous flows by means of a domain decomposition method using an influence matrix technique

Two-dimensional external viscous flows are numerically approximated by means of a domain decomposition method which combines a vortex method and a finite difference method. The vortex method is used in the flow region which is dominated by convective effects, whereas the finite difference method is used in the flow region where viscous diffusion effects are dominant. An influence matrix technique combined with the uniformity condition of the pressure is used to enforce the tangential velocity boundary condition. Comparisons between numerical and experimental data show that the method is well adapted for simulating two-dimensional flows.     

Computational study of the axial instability of rimming flow using Arnoldi method

Axial instability of rimming flow has been investigated by solving a linear generalized eigenvalue problem that governs the evolution of perturbations of two‐dimensional base flow. Using the Galerkin finite element method, full Navier–Stokes equations were solved to calculate base flow and this base flow was perturbed with three‐dimensional disturbances. The generalized eigenproblem formulated from these equations was solved by the implicitly restarted Arnoldi method using shift‐invert technique. This study presents instability curves to identify the critical wavelength of the neutral mode and the critical β, which measures the importance of gravity relative to viscosity. The axial instability of rimming flow is examined and three‐dimensional flow was reconstructed by using eigenvector and growth rate at a critical wave number. The critical β value in the axial instability analysis was observed to be comparable to the onset β value of the transition between the bump and the homogeneous film state in 2‐D base flow calculations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-order ghost-point immersed boundary method for viscous compressible flows based on summation-by-parts operators

A high-order immersed boundary method is devised for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations by employing high-order summation-by-parts difference operators. The immersed boundaries are treated as sharp interfaces by enforcing the solid wall boundary conditions via flow variables at ghost points. Two different interpolation schemes are tested to compute values at the ghost points and a hybrid treatment is used. The first method provides the bilinearly interpolated flow variables at the image points of the corresponding ghost points and the second method applies the boundary condition at the immersed boundary by using the weighted least squares method with high-order polynomials. The approach is verified and validated for compressible flow past a circular cylinder at moderate Reynolds numbers. The tonal sound generated by vortex shedding from a circular cylinder is also investigated. In order to demonstrate the capability of the solver to handle complex geometries in practical cases, flow in a cross-section of a human upper airway is simulated.     

A finite amplitude analysis of tunnel deformation by the finite element method with highly viscous fluid

A finite element method for highly viscous fluid is used to calculate the velocity and stress fields in the surrounding soft rock of a tunnel. In order to fit the calculated values with the measured displacement of tunnel wall, we inverted the boundary forces and the mechanical parameters of the surrounding rocks.