Yanbiao Gan

Two-dimensional lattice Boltzmann model for compressible flows with high Mach number

In this paper we present an improved lattice Boltzmann model for compressible Navier–Stokes system with high Mach number. The model is composed of three components: (i) the discrete-velocity-model by M. Watari and M. Tsutahara [Phys. Rev. E 67 (2003) 036306], (ii) a modified Lax–Wendroff finite difference scheme where reasonable dissipation and dispersion are naturally included, (iii) artificial viscosity. The improved model is convenient to compromise the high accuracy and stability. The included dispersion term can effectively reduce the numerical oscillation at discontinuity. The added artificial viscosity helps the scheme to satisfy the von Neumann stability condition. Shock tubes and shock reflections are used to validate the new scheme. In our numerical tests the Mach numbers are successfully increased up to 20 or higher. The flexibility of the new model makes it suitable for tracking shock waves with high accuracy and for investigating nonlinear nonequilibrium complex systems.

Lattice Boltzmann study on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: roles of velocity and density gradients.

A two-dimensional lattice Boltzmann model with 19 discrete velocities for compressible fluids is proposed. The fifth-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory (5th-WENO) finite difference scheme is employed to calculate the convection term of the lattice Boltzmann equation. The validity of the model is verified by comparing simulation results of the Sod shock tube with its corresponding analytical solutions [G. A. Sod, J. Comput. Phys. 27, 1 (1978).]. The velocity and density gradient effects on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) are investigated using the proposed model. Sharp density contours are obtained in our simulations. It is found that the linear growth rate γ for the KHI decreases by increasing the width of velocity transition layer D(v) but increases by increasing the width of density transition layer D(ρ). After the initial transient period and before the vortex has been well formed, the linear growth rates γ(v) and γ(ρ), vary with D(v) and D(ρ) approximately in the following way, lnγ(v)=a-bD(v) and γ(ρ)=c+elnD(ρ)(D(ρ)D(ρ)(E) the linear growth rate γ(ρ) does not vary significantly any more. One can use the hybrid effects of velocity and density transition layers to stabilize the KHI. Our numerical simulation results are in general agreement with the analytical results [L. F. Wang et al., Phys. Plasma 17, 042103 (2010)].

Phase separation in thermal systems: a lattice Boltzmann study and morphological characterization.

We investigate thermal and isothermal symmetric liquid-vapor separations via a fast Fourier transform thermal lattice Boltzmann (FFT-TLB) model. Structure factor, domain size, and Minkowski functionals are employed to characterize the density and velocity fields, as well as to understand the configurations and the kinetic processes. Compared with the isothermal phase separation, the freedom in temperature prolongs the spinodal decomposition (SD) stage and induces different rheological and morphological behaviors in the thermal system. After the transient procedure, both the thermal and isothermal separations show power-law scalings in domain growth, while the exponent for thermal system is lower than that for isothermal system. With respect to the density field, the isothermal system presents more likely bicontinuous configurations with narrower interfaces, while the thermal system presents more likely configurations with scattered bubbles. Heat creation, conduction, and lower interfacial stresses are the main reasons for the differences in thermal system. Different from the isothermal case, the release of latent heat causes the changing of local temperature, which results in new local mechanical balance. When the Prandtl number becomes smaller, the system approaches thermodynamical equilibrium much more quickly. The increasing of mean temperature makes the interfacial stress lower in the following way: σ=σ(0)[(T(c)-T)/(T(c)-T(0))](3/2), where T(c) is the critical temperature and σ(0) is the interfacial stress at a reference temperature T(0), which is the main reason for the prolonged SD stage and the lower growth exponent in the thermal case. Besides thermodynamics, we probe how the local viscosities influence the morphology of the phase separating system. We find that, for both the isothermal and thermal cases, the growth exponents and local flow velocities are inversely proportional to the corresponding viscosities. Compared with the isothermal case, the local flow velocity depends not only on viscosity but also on temperature.

Lattice Boltzmann study of thermal phase separation: Effects of heat conduction, viscosity and Prandtl number

We investigate the effects of heat conduction, viscosity, and Prandtl number on thermal liquid-vapor separation via a lattice Boltzmann model for van der Waals fluids. The set of Minkowski measures on the density field enables to divide exactly the stages of the spinodal decomposition (SD) and domain growth. The duration tSD of the SD stage decreases with increasing the heat conductivity κT but increases with increasing the viscosity η. The two relations can be fitted by tSD=a+b/κT and tSD=c+dη+(eη)3, respectively, where a, b, c, d and e are fitting parameters. For fixed Prandtl number Pr, when η is less than a critical value ηc, tSD shows an inverse power-law relationship with η. However, when η>ηc, tSD for Pr>1 shows qualitatively different behavior. From the evolution of the Peclet number Pe, the separation procedure can also be divided into two stages. During the first stage, the convection effects become more dominant with time over those of the diffusivity, while they are reverse in the second stage.

Nonequilibrium thermohydrodynamic effects on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in compressible flows

The effects of compressibility on Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) are investigated by inspecting the interplay between thermodynamic and hydrodynamic nonequilibrium phenomena (TNE, HNE, respectively) via a discrete Boltzmann model. Two effective approaches are presented, one tracking the evolution of the local TNE effects and the other focusing on the evolution of the mean temperature of the fluid, to track the complex interfaces separating the bubble and the spike regions of the flow. It is found that both the compressibility effects and the global TNE intensity show opposite trends in the initial and the later stages of the RTI. Compressibility delays the initial stage of RTI and accelerates the later stage. Meanwhile, the TNE characteristics are generally enhanced by the compressibility, especially in the later stage. The global or mean thermodynamic nonequilibrium indicators provide physical criteria to discriminate between the two stages of the RTI.

Lattice Boltzmann kinetic modeling and simulation of thermal liquid–vapor system

We present a highly efficient lattice Boltzmann (LB) kinetic model for thermal liquid–vapor system. Three key components are as below: (i) a discrete velocity model (DVM) by Kataoka et al. [Phys. Rev. E69, 035701(R) (2004)]; (ii) a forcing term Ii aiming to describe the interfacial stress and recover the van der Waals (VDW) equation of state (EOS) by Gonnella et al. [Phys. Rev. E76, 036703 (2007)] and (iii) a Windowed Fast Fourier Transform (WFFT) scheme and its inverse by our group [Phys. Rev. E84, 046715 (2011)] for solving the spatial derivatives, together with a second-order Runge–Kutta (RK) finite difference scheme for solving the temporal derivative in the LB equation. The model is verified and validated by well-known benchmark tests. The results recovered from the present model are well consistent with previous ones [Phys. Rev. E84, 046715 (2011)] or theoretical analysis. The usage of less discrete velocities, high-order RK algorithm and WFFT scheme with 16th-order in precision makes the model more efficient by about 10 times and more accurate than the original one.