Tayfun E. Tezduyar

A new strategy for finite element computations involving moving boundaries and interfaces—the deforming-spatial-domain/space-time procedure. I: The concept and the preliminary numerical tests

Abstract A new strategy based on the stabilized space-time finite element formulation is proposed for computations involving moving boundaries and interfaces. In the deforming-spatial-domain/space-time (DSD/ST) procedure the variational formulation of a problem is written over its space-time domain, and therefore the deformation of the spatial domain with respect to time is taken into account automatically. Because the space-time mesh is generated over the space-time domain of the problem, within each time step, the boundary (or interface) nodes move with the boundary (or interface). Whether the motion of the boundary is specified or not, the strategy is nearly the same. If the motion of the boundary is unknown, then the boundary nodes move as defined by the other unknowns at the boundary (such as the velocity or the displacement). At the end of each time step a new spatial mesh covers the new spatial domain. For computational feasibility, the finite element interpolation functions are chosen to be discontinuous in time, and the fully discretized equations are solved one space-time slab at a time.

Incompressible flow computations with stabilized bilinear and linear equal-order-interpolation velocity-pressure elements

Finite element formulations based on stabilized bilinear and linear equal-order-interpolation velocity-pressure elements are presented for computation of steady and unsteady incompressible flows. The stabilization procedure involves a slightly modified Galerkin/least-squares formulation of the steady-state equations. The pressure field is interpolated by continuous functions for both the quadrilateral and triangular elements used. These elements are employed in conjunction with the one-step and multi-step time integration of the Navier-Stokes equations. The three test cases chosen for the performance evaluation of these formulations are the standing vortex problem, the lid-driven cavity flow at Reynolds number 400, and flow past a cylinder at Reynolds number 100.

Stabilized finite element formulations for incompressible flow computations

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses stabilized finite element formulations for incompressible flow computations. Finite element computation of incompressible flows involve two main sources of potential numerical instabilities associated with the Galerkin formulation of a problem. The stabilization techniques that are reviewed more extensively than others are the Galerkin/ least-squares (GLS), streamline-upwind/ Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG), and pressure-stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin (PSPG) formulations. The SUPG stabilization for incompressible flows is achieved by adding to the Galerkin formulation a series of terms, each in the form of an integral over a different element. These integrals involve the product of the residual of the momentum equation and the advective operator acting on the test function. The natural boundary conditions are the conditions on the stress components, and these are the conditions assumed to be imposed at the remaining part of the boundary. The interpolation functions used for velocity and pressure are piecewise bilinear in space and piecewise linear in time. These computations involve no global coefficient matrices, and therefore need substantially less computer memory and time compared to noniterative solution of the fully discrete equations. It is suggested that for two-liquid flows, the solution and variational function spaces for pressure should include the functions that are discontinuous across the interface.

A new strategy for finite element computations involving moving boundaries and interfaces—the deforming-spatial-domain/space-time procedure. II: Computation of free-surface flows, two-liquid flows, and flows with drifting cylinders

New finite element computational strategies for free-surface flows, two-liquid flows, and flows with drifting cylinders are presented. These strategies are based on the deforming spatial-domain/spacetime (DSD/ST) procedure. In the DSD/ST approach, the stabilized variational formulations for these types of flow problem are written over their space-time domains. One of the important features of the approach is that it enables one to circumvent the difficulty involved in remeshing every time step and thus reduces the projection errors introduced by such frequent remeshings. Computations are performed for various test problems mainly for the purpose of demonstrating the computational capability developed for this class of problems. In some of the test cases, such as the liquid drop problem, surface tension is taken into account. For flows involving drifting cylinders, the mesh moving and remeshing schemes proposed are convenient and reduce the frequency of remeshing.

Mesh update strategies in parallel finite element computations of flow problems with moving boundaries and interfaces

Abstract We present strategies to update the mesh as the spatial domain changes its shape in computations of flow problems with moving boundaries and interfaces. These strategies are used in conjunction with the stabilized space-time finite element formulations introduced earlier for computation of flow problems with free surfaces, two-liquid interfaces, moving mechanical components, and fluid-structure and fluid-particle interactions. In these mesh update strategies, based on the special and automatic mesh moving schemes, the frequency of remeshing is minimized to reduce the projection errors and to minimize the cost associated with mesh generation and parallelization set-up. These costs could otherwise become overwhelming in 3D problems. We present several examples of these mesh update strategies being used in massively parallel computation of incompressible flow problems.

Finite element methods for first-order hyperbolic systems with particular emphasis on the compressible Euler equations

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element formulation is presented for first-order hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with particular emphasis on the compressible Euler equations. Applications of the methodology are made to one- and two-dimensional steady and unsteady flows with shocks. Results obtained suggest the potential of the type of methods developed.

Finite element stabilization parameters computed from element matrices and vectors

Abstract We propose new ways of computing the stabilization parameters used in the stabilized finite element methods such as the streamline-upwind/Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) and pressure-stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin (PSPG) formulations. The parameters are computed based on the element-level matrices and vectors, which automatically take into account the local length scales, advection field and the Reynolds number. We describe how we compute these parameters in the context of first a time-dependent advection–diffusion equation and then the Navier–Stokes equations of unsteady incompressible flows.

Finite element methods for flow problems with moving boundaries and interfaces

SummaryThis paper is an overview of the finite element methods developed by the Team for Advanced Flow Simulation and Modeling (T*AFSM) [http://www.mems.rice.edu/TAFSM/] for computation of flow problems with moving boundaries and interfaces. This class of problems include those with free surfaces, two-fluid interfaces, fluid-object and fluid-structure interactions, and moving mechanical components. The methods developed can be classified into two main categories. The interface-tracking methods are based on the Deforming-Spatial-Domain/Stabilized Space-Time (DSD/SST) formulation, where the mesh moves to track the interface, with special attention paid to reducing the frequency of remeshing. The interface-capturing methods, typically used for free-surface and two-fluid flows, are based on the stabilized formulation, over non-moving meshes, of both the flow equations and the advection equation governing the time-evolution of an interface function marking the location of the interface. In this category, when it becomes neccessary to increase the accuracy in representing the interface beyond the accuracy provided by the existing mesh resolution around the interface, the Enhanced-Discretization Interface-Capturing Technique (EDICT) can be used to to accomplish that goal. In development of these two classes of methods, we had to keep in mind the requirement that the methods need to be applicable to 3D problems with complex geometries and that the associated large-scale computations need to be carried out on parallel computing platforms. Therefore our parallel implementations of these methods are based on unstructured grids and on both the distributed and shared memory parallel computing approaches. In addition to these two main classes of methods, a number of other ideas and methods have been developed to increase the scope and accuracy of these two classes of methods. The review of all these methods in our presentation here is supplemented by a number numerical examples from parallel computation of complex, 3D flow problems.

Mesh Moving Techniques for Fluid-Structure Interactions With Large Displacements

In computation of fluid-structure interactions, we use mesh update methods consisting of mesh-moving and remeshing-as-needed. When the geometries lire complex and the structural displacements are large, it becomes even more important that the mesh moving techniques lire designed with the objective to reduce the frequency of remeshing. To that end, we present here mesh moving techniques where the motion of the nodes is governed by the equations of elasticity, with selective treatment of mesh deformation based on element sizes as well as deformation modes in terms of shape and volume changes. We also present results from application of these techniques to a set of two-dimensional test cases.

Parallel finite-element computation of 3D flows

The authors describe their work on the massively parallel finite-element computation of compressible and incompressible flows with the CM-200 and CM-5 Connection Machines. Their computations are based on implicit methods, and their parallel implementations are based on the assumption that the mesh is unstructured. Computations for flow problems involving moving boundaries and interfaces are achieved by using the deformable-spatial-domain/stabilized-space-time method. Using special mesh update schemes, the frequency of remeshing is minimized to reduce the projection errors involved and also to make parallelizing the computations easier. This method and its implementation on massively parallel supercomputers provide a capability for solving a large class of practical problems involving free surfaces, two-liquid interfaces, and fluid-structure interactions.<<ETX>>