Jérôme Breil

A Cell-Centered Lagrangian Scheme for Two-Dimensional Compressible Flow Problems

We present a new Lagrangian cell-centered scheme for two-dimensional compressible flows. The primary variables in this new scheme are cell-centered, i.e., density, momentum, and total energy are defined by their mean values in the cells. The vertex velocities and the numerical fluxes through the cell interfaces are not computed independently, contrary to standard approaches, but are evaluated in a consistent manner due to an original solver located at the nodes. The main new feature of the algorithm is the introduction of four pressures on each edge, two for each node on each side of the edge. This extra degree of freedom allows us to construct a nodal solver which fulfills two properties. First, the conservation of momentum and total energy is ensured. Second, a semidiscrete entropy inequality is provided. In the case of a one-dimensional flow, the solver reduces to the classical Godunov acoustic solver: it can be considered as its two-dimensional generalization. Many numerical tests are presented. They are representative test cases for compressible flows and demonstrate the robustness and the accuracy of this new solver.

A two-dimensional unstructured cell-centered multi-material ALE scheme using VOF interface reconstruction

We present a new cell-centered multi-material arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) scheme to solve the compressible gas dynamics equations on two-dimensional unstructured grid. Our ALE method is of the explicit time-marching Lagrange plus remap type. Namely, it involves the following three phases: a Lagrangian phase wherein the flow is advanced using a cell-centered scheme; a rezone phase in which the nodes of the computational grid are moved to more optimal positions; a cell-centered remap phase which consists of interpolating conservatively the Lagrangian solution onto the rezoned grid. The multi-material modeling utilizes either concentration equations for miscible fluids or the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) capability with interface reconstruction for immiscible fluids. The main original feature of this ALE scheme lies in the introduction of a new mesh relaxation procedure which keeps the rezoned grid as close as possible to the Lagrangian one. In this formalism, the rezoned grid is defined as a convex combination between the Lagrangian grid and the grid resulting from condition number smoothing. This convex combination is constructed through the use of a scalar parameter which is a scalar function of the invariants of the Cauchy-Green tensor over the Lagrangian phase. Regarding the cell-centered remap phase, we employ two classical methods based on a partition of the rezoned cell in terms of its overlap with the Lagrangian cells. The first one is a simplified swept face-based method whereas the second one is a cell-intersection-based method. Our multi-material ALE methodology is assessed through several demanding two-dimensional tests. The corresponding numerical results provide a clear evidence of the robustness and the accuracy of this new scheme.

ReALE: A reconnection-based arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian method

Abstract We present a new reconnection-based arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. The main elements in a standard ALE simulation are an explicit Lagrangian phase in which the solution and grid are updated, a rezoning phase in which a new grid is defined, and a remapping phase in which the Lagrangian solution is transferred (conservatively interpolated) onto the new grid. In standard ALE methods the new mesh from the rezone phase is obtained by moving grid nodes without changing connectivity of the mesh. Such rezone strategy has its limitation due to the fixed topology of the mesh. In our new method we allow connectivity of the mesh to change in rezone phase, which leads to general polygonal mesh and allows to follow Lagrangian features of the mesh much better than for standard ALE methods. Rezone strategy with reconnection is based on using Voronoi tessellation. We demonstrate performance of our new method on series of numerical examples and show it superiority in comparison with standard ALE methods without reconnection.

A cell-centered diffusion scheme on two-dimensional unstructured meshes

We propose a new cell-centered diffusion scheme on unstructured meshes. The main feature of this scheme lies in the introduction of two normal fluxes and two temperatures on each edge. A local variational formulation written for each corner cell provides the discretization of the normal fluxes. This discretization yields a linear relation between the normal fluxes and the temperatures defined on the two edges impinging on a node. The continuity of the normal fluxes written for each edge around a node leads to a linear system. Its resolution allows to eliminate locally the edge temperatures as function of the mean temperature in each cell. In this way, we obtain a small symmetric positive definite matrix located at each node. Finally, by summing all the nodal contributions one obtains a linear system satisfied by the cell-centered unknowns. This system is characterized by a symmetric positive definite matrix. We show numerical results for various test cases which exhibit the good behavior of this new scheme. It preserves the linear solutions on a triangular mesh. It reduces to a classical five-point scheme on rectangular grids. For non orthogonal quadrangular grids we obtain an accuracy which is almost second order on smooth meshes.

Two-step hybrid conservative remapping for multimaterial arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian methods

We present a new hybrid conservative remapping algorithm for multimaterial Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) methods. The hybrid remapping is performed in two steps. In the first step, only nodes of the grid that lie inside subdomains occupied by single materials are moved. At this stage, computationally cheap swept-region remapping is used. In the second step, nodes that are vertices of mixed cells (cells containing several materials) and vertices of some cells in a buffer zone around mixed cells are moved. At this stage, intersection-based remapping is used. The hybrid algorithm results in computational expense that lies between swept-region and intersection-based remapping We demonstrate the performance of our new method for both structured and unstructured polygonal grids in two dimensions, as well as for cell-centered and staggered discretizations.

Shock ignition: modelling and target design robustness

Shock ignition of a pre-compressed deuterium tritium fuel is considered here. When properly timed, a converging shock launched in the target prior to stagnation time strongly enhances the hot spot pressure. This allows ignition to be reached in a nonisobaric configuration. We show in this work that the igniting mechanism is pressure amplification by shock convergence and shock collision. The shock ignition applied to the HiPER target allows one to study the robustness of this method. It is shown that the spike energy is not a critical parameter and that the spike power delivered on the target depends mainly on the shell implosion velocity. Finally, a family of homothetic targets ignited with a shock wave is studied.

Ejection of spalled layers from laser shock-loaded metals

Dynamic fragmentation of shock-loaded metals is an issue of considerable importance for both basic science and a variety of technological applications, such as inertial confinement fusion, which involves high energy laser irradiation of thin metallic shells. In this context, we present an experimental and numerical study of debris ejection in laser shock-loaded metallic targets (aluminum, gold, and iron) where fragmentation is mainly governed by spall fracture occurring upon tensile loading due to wave interactions inside the sample. Experimental results consist of time-resolved velocity measurements, transverse optical shadowgraphy of ejected debris, and postshock observations of targets and fragments recovered within a transparent gel of low density. They are compared to numerical computations performed with a hydrodynamic code. A correct overall consistency is obtained.

Hydrodynamic and symmetry safety factors of HiPER's targets

Hydrodynamics and robustness of three high yield targets within the HiPER project are presented. Using realistic illumination nonuniformity configuration, hydrodynamic perturbations sensitivity analysis is carried out. A rather simple hydrodynamic perturbation modeling sequence is validated thanks to 2D simulations. 1D simulations post-processed with such a modeling sequence provide a good estimation of the thermonuclear burn. First estimates of hydrodynamic safety factor are given.

A nominally second-order accurate finite volume cell-centered scheme for anisotropic diffusion on two-dimensional unstructured grids

In this paper, we describe a second-order accurate cell-centered finite volume method for solving anisotropic diffusion on two-dimensional unstructured grids. The resulting numerical scheme, named CCLAD (Cell-Centered LAgrangian Diffusion), is characterized by a local stencil and cell-centered unknowns. It is devoted to the resolution of diffusion equation on distorted grids in the context of Lagrangian hydrodynamics wherein a strong coupling occurs between gas dynamics and diffusion. The space discretization relies on the introduction of two half-edge normal fluxes and two half-edge temperatures per cell interface using the partition of each cell into sub-cells. For each cell, the two half-edge normal fluxes attached to a node are expressed in terms of the half-edge temperatures impinging at this node and the cell-centered temperature. This local flux approximation can be derived through the use of either a sub-cell variational formulation or a finite difference approximation, leading to the two variants CCLADS and CCLADNS. The elimination of the half-edge temperatures is performed locally at each node by solving a small linear system which is obtained by enforcing the continuity condition of the normal heat flux across sub-cell interface impinging at the node. The accuracy and the robustness of the present scheme is assessed by means of various numerical test cases.

Progress in indirect and direct-drive planar experiments on hydrodynamic instabilities at the ablation front

Understanding and mitigating hydrodynamic instabilities and the fuel mix are the key elements for achieving ignition in Inertial Confinement Fusion. Cryogenic indirect-drive implosions on the National Ignition Facility have evidenced that the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (RTI) is a driver of the hot spot mix. This motivates the switch to a more flexible higher adiabat implosion design [O. A. Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056313 (2014)]. The shell instability is also the main candidate for performance degradation in low-adiabat direct drive cryogenic implosions [Goncharov et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056315 (2014)]. This paper reviews recent results acquired in planar experiments performed on the OMEGA laser facility and devoted to the modeling and mitigation of hydrodynamic instabilities at the ablation front. In application to the indirect-drive scheme, we describe results obtained with a specific ablator composition such as the laminated ablator or a graded-dopant emulator. In application to ...