A solution-adaptive lattice Boltzmann method for two-dimensional incompressible viscous flows

A stencil adaptive lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is developed in this paper. It incorporates the stencil adaptive algorithm developed by Ding and Shu [26] for the solution of Navier–Stokes (N–S) equations into the LBM calculation. Based on the uniform mesh, the stencil adaptive algorithm refines the mesh by two types of 5-points symmetric stencils, which are used in an alternating sequence for increased refinement levels. The two types of symmetric stencils can be easily combined to form a 9-points symmetric structure. Using the one-dimensional second-order interpolation recently developed by Wu and Shu [27] along the straight line and the D2Q9 model, the adaptive LBM calculation can be effectively carried out. Note that the interpolation coefficients are only related to the lattice velocity and stencil size. Hence, the simplicity of LBM is not broken down and the accuracy is maintained. Due to the use of adaptive technique, much less mesh points are required in the simulation as compared to the standard LBM. As a consequence, the computational efficiency is greatly enhanced. The numerical simulation of two dimensional lid-driven cavity flows is carried out. Accurate results and improved efficiency are reached. In addition, the steady and unsteady flows over a circular cylinder are simulated to demonstrate the capability of proposed method for handling problems with curved boundaries. The obtained results compare well with data in the literature.