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Computationalfluiddynamics

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Computationalfluiddynamics,usuallyabbreviatedasCFD,isabranchoffluidmechanicsthatuses
numericalanalysisandalgorithmstosolveandanalyzeproblemsthatinvolvefluidflows.Computersareused
toperformthecalculationsrequiredtosimulatetheinteractionofliquidsandgaseswithsurfacesdefinedby
boundaryconditions.Withhighspeedsupercomputers,bettersolutionscanbeachieved.Ongoingresearch
yieldssoftwarethatimprovestheaccuracyandspeedofcomplexsimulationscenariossuchastransonicor
turbulentflows.Initialexperimentalvalidationofsuchsoftwareisperformedusingawindtunnelwiththefinal
validationcominginfullscaletesting,e.g.flighttests.

Contents
1 Backgroundandhistory
2 Methodology
2.1 Discretizationmethods
2.1.1 Finitevolumemethod
2.1.2 Finiteelementmethod
2.1.3 Finitedifferencemethod
2.1.4 Spectralelementmethod
2.1.5 Boundaryelementmethod
2.1.6 Highresolutiondiscretizationschemes
2.2 Turbulencemodels
2.2.1 ReynoldsaveragedNavierStokes
2.2.2 Largeeddysimulation
2.2.3 Detachededdysimulation
2.2.4 Directnumericalsimulation
2.2.5 Coherentvortexsimulation
2.2.6 PDFmethods
2.2.7 Vortexmethod
2.2.8 Vorticityconfinementmethod
2.2.9 Lineareddymodel
2.3 Twophaseflow
2.4 Solutionalgorithms
2.5 UnsteadyAerodynamics
2.6 BiomedicalEngineering
3 Seealso
4 References
5 Notes
6 Externallinks

Backgroundandhistory
ThefundamentalbasisofalmostallCFDproblemsaretheNavierStokesequations,whichdefinemanysingle
phase(gasorliquid,butnotboth)fluidflows.Theseequationscanbesimplifiedbyremovingtermsdescribing
viscousactionstoyieldtheEulerequations.Furthersimplification,byremovingtermsdescribingvorticity
yieldsthefullpotentialequations.Finally,forsmallperturbationsinsubsonicandsupersonicflows(not
transonicorhypersonic)theseequationscanbelinearizedtoyieldthelinearizedpotentialequations.

Historically,methodswerefirstdevelopedtosolvethelinearized
potentialequations.Twodimensional(2D)methods,usingconformal
transformationsoftheflowaboutacylindertotheflowaboutanairfoil
weredevelopedinthe1930s.[1]
OneoftheearliesttypeofcalculationsresemblingmodernCFDare
thosebyLewisFryRichardson,inthesensethatthesecalculationsused
finitedifferencesanddividedthephysicalspaceincells.Althoughthey
faileddramatically,thesecalculations,togetherwithRichardson'sbook
"Weatherpredictionbynumericalprocess",[2]setthebasisformodern
CFDandnumericalmeteorology.Infact,earlyCFDcalculationsduring
the1940susingENIACusedmethodsclosetothoseinRichardson's
1922book.[3]

Acomputersimulationofhigh
velocityairflowaroundtheSpace
Shuttleduringreentry.

Thecomputerpoweravailablepaceddevelopmentofthreedimensional
methods.Probablythefirstworkusingcomputerstomodelfluidflow,
asgovernedbytheNavierStokesequations,wasperformedatLos
AlamosNationalLab,intheT3group.[4][5]Thisgroupwasledby
FrancisH.Harlow,whoiswidelyconsideredasoneofthepioneersof
CFD.From1957tolate1960s,thisgroupdevelopedavarietyof
numericalmethodstosimulatetransienttwodimensionalfluidflows,
suchasParticleincellmethod(Harlow,1957),[6]Fluidincellmethod
AsimulationoftheHyperXscramjet
(Gentry,MartinandDaly,1966),[7]Vorticitystreamfunctionmethod
vehicleinoperationatMach7
(JakeFromm,1963),[8]andMarkerandcellmethod(Harlowand
Welch,1965).[9]Fromm'svorticitystreamfunctionmethodfor2D,transient,incompressibleflowwasthefirst
treatmentofstronglycontortingincompressibleflowsintheworld.
ThefirstpaperwiththreedimensionalmodelwaspublishedbyJohnHessandA.M.O.SmithofDouglas
Aircraftin1967.[10]Thismethoddiscretizedthesurfaceofthegeometrywithpanels,givingrisetothisclassof
programsbeingcalledPanelMethods.Theirmethoditselfwassimplified,inthatitdidnotincludeliftingflows
andhencewasmainlyappliedtoshiphullsandaircraftfuselages.ThefirstliftingPanelCode(A230)was
describedinapaperwrittenbyPaulRubbertandGarySaarisofBoeingAircraftin1968.[11]Intime,more
advancedthreedimensionalPanelCodesweredevelopedatBoeing(PANAIR,A502),[12]Lockheed
(Quadpan),[13]Douglas(HESS),[14]McDonnellAircraft(MACAERO),[15]NASA(PMARC)[16]andAnalytical
Methods(WBAERO,[17]USAERO[18]andVSAERO[19][20]).Some(PANAIR,HESSandMACAERO)were
higherordercodes,usinghigherorderdistributionsofsurfacesingularities,whileothers(Quadpan,PMARC,
USAEROandVSAERO)usedsinglesingularitiesoneachsurfacepanel.Theadvantageofthelowerorder
codeswasthattheyranmuchfasteronthecomputersofthetime.Today,VSAEROhasgrowntobeamulti
ordercodeandisthemostwidelyusedprogramofthisclass.Ithasbeenusedinthedevelopmentofmany
submarines,surfaceships,automobiles,helicopters,aircraft,andmorerecentlywindturbines.Itssistercode,
USAEROisanunsteadypanelmethodthathasalsobeenusedformodelingsuchthingsashighspeedtrains
andracingyachts.TheNASAPMARCcodefromanearlyversionofVSAEROandaderivativeofPMARC,
namedCMARC,[21]isalsocommerciallyavailable.
Inthetwodimensionalrealm,anumberofPanelCodeshavebeendevelopedforairfoilanalysisanddesign.
Thecodestypicallyhaveaboundarylayeranalysisincluded,sothatviscouseffectscanbemodeled.Professor
RichardEppleroftheUniversityofStuttgartdevelopedthePROFILEcode,partlywithNASAfunding,which
becameavailableintheearly1980s.[22]ThiswassoonfollowedbyMITProfessorMarkDrela'sXFOIL
code.[23]BothPROFILEandXFOILincorporatetwodimensionalpanelcodes,withcoupledboundarylayer
codesforairfoilanalysiswork.PROFILEusesaconformaltransformationmethodforinverseairfoildesign,
whileXFOILhasbothaconformaltransformationandaninversepanelmethodforairfoildesign.

AnintermediatestepbetweenPanelCodesandFullPotentialcodeswerecodesthatusedtheTransonicSmall
Disturbanceequations.Inparticular,thethreedimensionalWIBCOcode,[24]developedbyCharlieBoppeof
GrummanAircraftintheearly1980shasseenheavyuse.
DevelopersturnedtoFullPotentialcodes,aspanelmethodscouldnotcalculatethenonlinearflowpresentat
transonicspeeds.ThefirstdescriptionofameansofusingtheFullPotentialequationswaspublishedbyEarll
MurmanandJulianColeofBoeingin1970.[25]FrancesBauer,PaulGarabedianandDavidKornoftheCourant
InstituteatNewYorkUniversity(NYU)wroteaseriesoftwodimensionalFullPotentialairfoilcodesthatwere
widelyused,themostimportantbeingnamedProgramH.[26]AfurthergrowthofProgramHwasdevelopedby
BobMelnikandhisgroupatGrummanAerospaceasGrumfoil.[27]AntonyJameson,originallyatGrumman
AircraftandtheCourantInstituteofNYU,workedwithDavidCaugheytodeveloptheimportantthree
dimensionalFullPotentialcodeFLO22[28]in1975.ManyFullPotentialcodesemergedafterthis,culminating
inBoeing'sTranair(A633)code,[29]whichstillseesheavyuse.
ThenextstepwastheEulerequations,whichpromisedtoprovidemoreaccuratesolutionsoftransonicflows.
ThemethodologyusedbyJamesoninhisthreedimensionalFLO57code[30](1981)wasusedbyothersto
producesuchprogramsasLockheed'sTEAMprogram[31]andIAI/AnalyticalMethods'MGAEROprogram.[32]
MGAEROisuniqueinbeingastructuredcartesianmeshcode,whilemostothersuchcodesusestructured
bodyfittedgrids(withtheexceptionofNASA'shighlysuccessfulCART3Dcode,[33]Lockheed'sSPLITFLOW
code[34]andGeorgiaTech'sNASCARTGT).[35]AntonyJamesonalsodevelopedthethreedimensional
AIRPLANEcode[36]whichmadeuseofunstructuredtetrahedralgrids.
Inthetwodimensionalrealm,MarkDrelaandMichaelGiles,thengraduatestudentsatMIT,developedthe
ISESEulerprogram[37](actuallyasuiteofprograms)forairfoildesignandanalysis.Thiscodefirstbecame
availablein1986andhasbeenfurtherdevelopedtodesign,analyzeandoptimizesingleormultielement
airfoils,astheMSESprogram.[38]MSESseeswideusethroughouttheworld.AderivativeofMSES,forthe
designandanalysisofairfoilsinacascade,isMISES,[39]developedbyHarold"Guppy"Youngrenwhilehe
wasagraduatestudentatMIT.
TheNavierStokesequationsweretheultimatetargetofdevelopment.Twodimensionalcodes,suchasNASA
Ames'ARC2Dcodefirstemerged.Anumberofthreedimensionalcodesweredeveloped(ARC3D,
OVERFLOW,CFL3DarethreesuccessfulNASAcontributions),leadingtonumerouscommercialpackages.

Methodology
Inalloftheseapproachesthesamebasicprocedureisfollowed.
Duringpreprocessing
Thegeometry(physicalbounds)oftheproblemisdefined.
Thevolumeoccupiedbythefluidisdividedintodiscretecells(themesh).Themeshmaybe
uniformornonuniform.
Thephysicalmodelingisdefinedforexample,theequationsofmotion+enthalpy+radiation+
speciesconservation
Boundaryconditionsaredefined.Thisinvolvesspecifyingthefluidbehaviourandpropertiesatthe
boundariesoftheproblem.Fortransientproblems,theinitialconditionsarealsodefined.
Thesimulationisstartedandtheequationsaresolvediterativelyasasteadystateortransient.
Finallyapostprocessorisusedfortheanalysisandvisualizationoftheresultingsolution.

Discretizationmethods

Thestabilityoftheselecteddiscretisationisgenerallyestablishednumericallyratherthananalyticallyaswith
simplelinearproblems.Specialcaremustalsobetakentoensurethatthediscretisationhandlesdiscontinuous
solutionsgracefully.TheEulerequationsandNavierStokesequationsbothadmitshocks,andcontactsurfaces.
Someofthediscretizationmethodsbeingusedare:
Finitevolumemethod
Thefinitevolumemethod(FVM)isacommonapproachusedinCFDcodes,asithasanadvantageinmemory
usageandsolutionspeed,especiallyforlargeproblems,highReynoldsnumberturbulentflows,andsource
termdominatedflows(likecombustion).[40]
Inthefinitevolumemethod,thegoverningpartialdifferentialequations(typicallytheNavierStokesequations,
themassandenergyconservationequations,andtheturbulenceequations)arerecastinaconservativeform,
andthensolvedoverdiscretecontrolvolumes.Thisdiscretizationguaranteestheconservationoffluxesthrough
aparticularcontrolvolume.Thefinitevolumeequationyieldsgoverningequationsintheform,

where isthevectorofconservedvariables, isthevectoroffluxes(seeEulerequationsorNavierStokes


equations), isthevolumeofthecontrolvolumeelement,and isthesurfaceareaofthecontrolvolume
element.
Finiteelementmethod
Thefiniteelementmethod(FEM)isusedinstructuralanalysisofsolids,butisalsoapplicabletofluids.
However,theFEMformulationrequiresspecialcaretoensureaconservativesolution.TheFEMformulation
hasbeenadaptedforusewithfluiddynamicsgoverningequations.AlthoughFEMmustbecarefully
formulatedtobeconservative,itismuchmorestablethanthefinitevolumeapproach.[41]However,FEMcan
requiremorememoryandhasslowersolutiontimesthantheFVM.[42]
Inthismethod,aweightedresidualequationisformed:

where istheequationresidualatanelementvertex , istheconservationequationexpressedonan


elementbasis, istheweightfactor,and isthevolumeoftheelement.
Finitedifferencemethod
Thefinitedifferencemethod(FDM)hashistoricalimportanceandissimpletoprogram.Itiscurrentlyonly
usedinfewspecializedcodes,whichhandlecomplexgeometrywithhighaccuracyandefficiencybyusing
embeddedboundariesoroverlappinggrids(withthesolutioninterpolatedacrosseachgrid).

where isthevectorofconservedvariables,and , ,and arethefluxesinthe , ,and directions


respectively.
Spectralelementmethod

Spectralelementmethodisafiniteelementtypemethod.Itrequiresthemathematicalproblem(thepartial
differentialequation)tobecastinaweakformulation.Thisistypicallydonebymultiplyingthedifferential
equationbyanarbitrarytestfunctionandintegratingoverthewholedomain.Purelymathematically,thetest
functionsarecompletelyarbitrarytheybelongtoaninfinitedimensionalfunctionspace.Clearlyaninfinite
dimensionalfunctionspacecannotberepresentedonadiscretespectralelementmeshthisiswherethespectral
elementdiscretizationbegins.Themostcrucialthingisthechoiceofinterpolatingandtestingfunctions.Ina
standard,loworderFEMin2D,forquadrilateralelementsthemosttypicalchoiceisthebilineartestor
interpolatingfunctionoftheform
.Inaspectralelementmethodhowever,the
interpolatingandtestfunctionsarechosentobepolynomialsofaveryhighorder(typicallye.g.ofthe10th
orderinCFDapplications).Thisguaranteestherapidconvergenceofthemethod.Furthermore,veryefficient
integrationproceduresmustbeused,sincethenumberofintegrationstobeperformedinanumericalcodesis
big.Thus,highorderGaussintegrationquadraturesareemployed,sincetheyachievethehighestaccuracywith
thesmallestnumberofcomputationstobecarriedout.AtthetimetherearesomeacademicCFDcodesbased
onthespectralelementmethodandsomemorearecurrentlyunderdevelopment,sincethenewtimestepping
schemesariseinthescientificworld.YoucanrefertotheCCFD(http://ccfd.meil.pw.edu.pl/ccfd/index.php?it
em=7)websitetoseemoviesofincompressibleflowsinchannelssimulatedwithaspectralelementsolverorto
theNumericalMechanics(seebottomofthepage)(http://numericalmechanics.com/page19.php)websitetosee
amovieoftheliddrivencavityflowobtainedwithacompeletelynovelunconditionallystabletimestepping
schemecombinedwithaspectralelementsolver.
Boundaryelementmethod
Intheboundaryelementmethod,theboundaryoccupiedbythefluidisdividedintoasurfacemesh.
Highresolutiondiscretizationschemes
Highresolutionschemesareusedwhereshocksordiscontinuitiesarepresent.Capturingsharpchangesinthe
solutionrequirestheuseofsecondorhigherordernumericalschemesthatdonotintroducespurious
oscillations.Thisusuallynecessitatestheapplicationoffluxlimiterstoensurethatthesolutionistotalvariation
diminishing.

Turbulencemodels
Incomputationalmodelingofturbulentflows,onecommonobjectiveistoobtainamodelthatcanpredict
quantitiesofinterest,suchasfluidvelocity,foruseinengineeringdesignsofthesystembeingmodeled.For
turbulentflows,therangeoflengthscalesandcomplexityofphenomenainvolvedinturbulencemakemost
modelingapproachesprohibitivelyexpensivetheresolutionrequiredtoresolveallscalesinvolvedin
turbulenceisbeyondwhatiscomputationallypossible.Theprimaryapproachinsuchcasesistocreate
numericalmodelstoapproximateunresolvedphenomena.Thissectionlistssomecommonlyused
computationalmodelsforturbulentflows.
Turbulencemodelscanbeclassifiedbasedoncomputationalexpense,whichcorrespondstotherangeofscales
thataremodeledversusresolved(themoreturbulentscalesthatareresolved,thefinertheresolutionofthe
simulation,andthereforethehigherthecomputationalcost).Ifamajorityoralloftheturbulentscalesarenot
modeled,thecomputationalcostisverylow,butthetradeoffcomesintheformofdecreasedaccuracy.
Inadditiontothewiderangeoflengthandtimescalesandtheassociatedcomputationalcost,thegoverning
equationsoffluiddynamicscontainanonlinearconvectiontermandanonlinearandnonlocalpressure
gradientterm.Thesenonlinearequationsmustbesolvednumericallywiththeappropriateboundaryandinitial
conditions.
ReynoldsaveragedNavierStokes

ReynoldsaveragedNavierStokes(RANS)equationsaretheoldestapproachtoturbulencemodeling.An
ensembleversionofthegoverningequationsissolved,whichintroducesnewapparentstressesknownas
Reynoldsstresses.Thisaddsasecondordertensorofunknownsforwhichvariousmodelscanprovidedifferent
levelsofclosure.ItisacommonmisconceptionthattheRANSequationsdonotapplytoflowswithatime
varyingmeanflowbecausetheseequationsare'timeaveraged'.Infact,statisticallyunsteady(ornonstationary)
flowscanequallybetreated.ThisissometimesreferredtoasURANS.ThereisnothinginherentinReynolds
averagingtoprecludethis,buttheturbulencemodelsusedtoclosetheequationsarevalidonlyaslongasthe
timeoverwhichthesechangesinthemeanoccurislargecomparedtothetimescalesoftheturbulentmotion
containingmostoftheenergy.
RANSmodelscanbedividedintotwobroadapproaches:
Boussinesqhypothesis
ThismethodinvolvesusinganalgebraicequationfortheReynoldsstresseswhichincludedetermining
theturbulentviscosity,anddependingonthelevelofsophisticationofthemodel,solvingtransport
equationsfordeterminingtheturbulentkineticenergyanddissipation.Modelsincludek(Launderand
Spalding),[43]MixingLengthModel(Prandtl),[44]andZeroEquationModel(CebeciandSmith).[44]The
modelsavailableinthisapproachareoftenreferredtobythenumberoftransportequationsassociated
withthemethod.Forexample,theMixingLengthmodelisa"ZeroEquation"modelbecauseno
transportequationsaresolvedthe
isa"TwoEquation"modelbecausetwotransportequations(one
for andonefor )aresolved.
Reynoldsstressmodel(RSM)
ThisapproachattemptstoactuallysolvetransportequationsfortheReynoldsstresses.Thismeans
introductionofseveraltransportequationsforalltheReynoldsstressesandhencethisapproachismuch
morecostlyinCPUeffort.
Largeeddysimulation
Largeeddysimulation(LES)isatechniqueinwhichthesmallest
scalesoftheflowareremovedthroughafilteringoperation,and
theireffectmodeledusingsubgridscalemodels.Thisallowsthe
largestandmostimportantscalesoftheturbulencetoberesolved,
whilegreatlyreducingthecomputationalcostincurredbythe
smallestscales.Thismethodrequiresgreatercomputational
resourcesthanRANSmethods,butisfarcheaperthanDNS.

Volumerenderingofanonpremixedswirl
flameassimulatedbyLES.

Detachededdysimulation
Detachededdysimulations(DES)isamodificationofaRANSmodelinwhichthemodelswitchestoasubgrid
scaleformulationinregionsfineenoughforLEScalculations.Regionsnearsolidboundariesandwherethe
turbulentlengthscaleislessthanthemaximumgriddimensionareassignedtheRANSmodeofsolution.As
theturbulentlengthscaleexceedsthegriddimension,theregionsaresolvedusingtheLESmode.Therefore,
thegridresolutionforDESisnotasdemandingaspureLES,therebyconsiderablycuttingdownthecostofthe
computation.ThoughDESwasinitiallyformulatedfortheSpalartAllmarasmodel(Spalartetal.,1997),itcan
beimplementedwithotherRANSmodels(Strelets,2001),byappropriatelymodifyingthelengthscalewhichis
explicitlyorimplicitlyinvolvedintheRANSmodel.SowhileSpalartAllmarasmodelbasedDESactsasLES
withawallmodel,DESbasedonothermodels(liketwoequationmodels)behaveasahybridRANSLES
model.GridgenerationismorecomplicatedthanforasimpleRANSorLEScaseduetotheRANSLES
switch.DESisanonzonalapproachandprovidesasinglesmoothvelocityfieldacrosstheRANSandtheLES
regionsofthesolutions.
Directnumericalsimulation

Directnumericalsimulation(DNS)resolvestheentirerangeofturbulentlengthscales.Thismarginalizesthe
effectofmodels,butisextremelyexpensive.Thecomputationalcostisproportionalto
.[45]DNSis
intractableforflowswithcomplexgeometriesorflowconfigurations.
Coherentvortexsimulation
Thecoherentvortexsimulationapproachdecomposestheturbulentflowfieldintoacoherentpart,consistingof
organizedvorticalmotion,andtheincoherentpart,whichistherandombackgroundflow.[46]This
decompositionisdoneusingwaveletfiltering.TheapproachhasmuchincommonwithLES,sinceituses
decompositionandresolvesonlythefilteredportion,butdifferentinthatitdoesnotusealinear,lowpassfilter.
Instead,thefilteringoperationisbasedonwavelets,andthefiltercanbeadaptedastheflowfieldevolves.
FargeandSchneidertestedtheCVSmethodwithtwoflowconfigurationsandshowedthatthecoherentportion
oftheflowexhibitedthe

energyspectrumexhibitedbythetotalflow,andcorrespondedtocoherent

structures(vortextubes),whiletheincoherentpartsoftheflowcomposedhomogeneousbackgroundnoise,
whichexhibitednoorganizedstructures.GoldsteinandVasilyev[47]appliedtheFDVmodeltolargeeddy
simulation,butdidnotassumethatthewaveletfiltercompletelyeliminatedallcoherentmotionsfromthe
subfilterscales.ByemployingbothLESandCVSfiltering,theyshowedthattheSFSdissipationwas
dominatedbytheSFSflowfield'scoherentportion.
PDFmethods
Probabilitydensityfunction(PDF)methodsforturbulence,firstintroducedbyLundgren,[48]arebasedon
trackingtheonepointPDFofthevelocity,
,whichgivestheprobabilityofthevelocityatpoint
beingbetween and
.Thisapproachisanalogoustothekinetictheoryofgases,inwhichthe
macroscopicpropertiesofagasaredescribedbyalargenumberofparticles.PDFmethodsareuniqueinthat
theycanbeappliedintheframeworkofanumberofdifferentturbulencemodelsthemaindifferencesoccurin
theformofthePDFtransportequation.Forexample,inthecontextoflargeeddysimulation,thePDFbecomes
thefilteredPDF.[49]PDFmethodscanalsobeusedtodescribechemicalreactions,[50][51]andareparticularly
usefulforsimulatingchemicallyreactingflowsbecausethechemicalsourcetermisclosedanddoesnotrequire
amodel.ThePDFiscommonlytrackedbyusingLagrangianparticlemethodswhencombinedwithlargeeddy
simulation,thisleadstoaLangevinequationforsubfilterparticleevolution.
Vortexmethod
Thevortexmethodisagridfreetechniqueforthesimulationofturbulentflows.Itusesvorticesasthe
computationalelements,mimickingthephysicalstructuresinturbulence.Vortexmethodsweredevelopedasa
gridfreemethodologythatwouldnotbelimitedbythefundamentalsmoothingeffectsassociatedwithgrid
basedmethods.Tobepractical,however,vortexmethodsrequiremeansforrapidlycomputingvelocitiesfrom
thevortexelementsinotherwordstheyrequirethesolutiontoaparticularformoftheNbodyproblem(in
whichthemotionofNobjectsistiedtotheirmutualinfluences).Abreakthroughcameinthelate1980swith
thedevelopmentofthefastmultipolemethod(FMM),analgorithmbyV.Rokhlin(Yale)andL.Greengard
(CourantInstitute).Thisbreakthroughpavedthewaytopracticalcomputationofthevelocitiesfromthevortex
elementsandisthebasisofsuccessfulalgorithms.Theyareespeciallywellsuitedtosimulatingfilamentary
motion,suchaswispsofsmoke,inrealtimesimulationssuchasvideogames,becauseofthefinedetail
achievedusingminimalcomputation.[52]
Softwarebasedonthevortexmethodofferanewmeansforsolvingtoughfluiddynamicsproblemswith
minimaluserintervention.Allthatisrequiredisspecificationofproblemgeometryandsettingofboundaryand
initialconditions.Amongthesignificantadvantagesofthismoderntechnology
Itispracticallygridfree,thuseliminatingnumerousiterationsassociatedwithRANSandLES.
Allproblemsaretreatedidentically.Nomodelingorcalibrationinputsarerequired.

Timeseriessimulations,whicharecrucialforcorrectanalysisofacoustics,arepossible.
Thesmallscaleandlargescaleareaccuratelysimulatedatthesametime.
Vorticityconfinementmethod
Thevorticityconfinement(VC)methodisanEuleriantechniqueusedinthesimulationofturbulentwakes.It
usesasolitarywavelikeapproachtoproduceastablesolutionwithnonumericalspreading.VCcancapturethe
smallscalefeaturestowithinasfewas2gridcells.Withinthesefeatures,anonlineardifferenceequationis
solvedasopposedtothefinitedifferenceequation.VCissimilartoshockcapturingmethods,where
conservationlawsaresatisfied,sothattheessentialintegralquantitiesareaccuratelycomputed.
Lineareddymodel
TheLineareddymodelisatechniqueusedtosimulatetheconvectivemixingthattakesplaceinturbulent
flow.[53]Specifically,itprovidesamathematicalwaytodescribetheinteractionsofascalarvariablewithinthe
vectorflowfield.Itisprimarilyusedinonedimensionalrepresentationsofturbulentflow,sinceitcanbe
appliedacrossawiderangeoflengthscalesandReynoldsnumbers.Thismodelisgenerallyusedasabuilding
blockformorecomplicatedflowrepresentations,asitprovideshighresolutionpredictionsthatholdacrossa
largerangeofflowconditions.

Twophaseflow
Themodelingoftwophaseflowisstillunderdevelopment.Different
methodshavebeenproposedlately.[54][55]TheVolumeoffluidmethod
hasreceivedalotofattentionlately,forproblemsthatdonothave
dispersedparticles,buttheLevelsetmethodandfronttrackingarealso
valuableapproaches.Mostofthesemethodsareeithergoodin
maintainingasharpinterfaceoratconservingmass.Thisiscrucial
sincetheevaluationofthedensity,viscosityandsurfacetensionisbased
onthevaluesaveragedovertheinterface.Lagrangianmultiphase
models,whichareusedfordispersedmedia,arebasedonsolvingthe
Lagrangianequationofmotionforthedispersedphase.

Simulationofbubbleswarmusing
volumeoffluidmethod

Solutionalgorithms
Discretizationinthespaceproducesasystemofordinarydifferentialequationsforunsteadyproblemsand
algebraicequationsforsteadyproblems.Implicitorsemiimplicitmethodsaregenerallyusedtointegratethe
ordinarydifferentialequations,producingasystemof(usually)nonlinearalgebraicequations.Applyinga
NewtonorPicarditerationproducesasystemoflinearequationswhichisnonsymmetricinthepresenceof
advectionandindefiniteinthepresenceofincompressibility.Suchsystems,particularlyin3D,arefrequently
toolargefordirectsolvers,soiterativemethodsareused,eitherstationarymethodssuchassuccessive
overrelaxationorKrylovsubspacemethods.KrylovmethodssuchasGMRES,typicallyusedwith
preconditioning,operatebyminimizingtheresidualoversuccessivesubspacesgeneratedbythepreconditioned
operator.
Multigridhastheadvantageofasymptoticallyoptimalperformanceonmanyproblems.Traditionalsolversand
preconditionersareeffectiveatreducinghighfrequencycomponentsoftheresidual,butlowfrequency
componentstypicallyrequiremanyiterationstoreduce.Byoperatingonmultiplescales,multigridreducesall
componentsoftheresidualbysimilarfactors,leadingtoameshindependentnumberofiterations.
Forindefinitesystems,preconditionerssuchasincompleteLUfactorization,additiveSchwarz,andmultigrid
performpoorlyorfailentirely,sotheproblemstructuremustbeusedforeffectivepreconditioning.[56]Methods
commonlyusedinCFDaretheSIMPLEandUzawaalgorithmswhichexhibitmeshdependentconvergence

rates,butrecentadvancesbasedonblockLUfactorizationcombinedwithmultigridfortheresultingdefinite
systemshaveledtopreconditionersthatdelivermeshindependentconvergencerates.[57]

UnsteadyAerodynamics
CFDmadeamajorbreakthroughinlate70swiththeintroductionofLTRAN2,a2Dcodetomodeloscillating
airfoilsbasedontransonicsmallperturbationtheorybyBallhausandassociates.[58]ItusesaMurmanCole
switchalgorithmformodelingthemovingshockwaves.[59]Lateritwasextendedto3Dwithuseofarotated
differenceschemebyAFWAL/BoeingthatresultedinLTRAN3.[60][61]

BiomedicalEngineering
CFDinvestigationsareusedtoclarifythecharacteristicsofaorticflow
indetailthatareotherwiseinvisibletoexperimentalmeasurements.To
analyzetheseconditions,CADmodelsofthehumanvascularsystem
areextractedemployingmodernimagingtechniques.A3Dmodelis
reconstructedfromthisdataandthefluidflowcanbecomputed.Blood
propertieslikeNonNewtonianbehaviorandrealisticboundary
conditions(e.g.systemicpressure)havetobetakenintoconsideration.
Therefore,makingitpossibletoanalyzeandoptimizetheflowinthe
cardiovascularsystemfordifferentapplications.[62]

Simulationofbloodflowinahuman
aorta

Seealso
AdvancedSimulationLibrary
Bladeelementtheory
Centraldifferencingscheme
Computationalmagnetohydrodynamics
Differenttypesofboundaryconditionsinfluiddynamics
Finiteelementanalysis
Finitevolumemethodforunsteadyflow
Fluidsimulation
Immersedboundarymethod
KIVA(software)
LatticeBoltzmannmethods
Listoffiniteelementsoftwarepackages
Meshfreemethods
Movingparticlesemiimplicitmethod
Multiparticlecollisiondynamics
Multidisciplinarydesignoptimization
Numericalmethodsinfluidmechanics
Smoothedparticlehydrodynamics
StochasticEulerianLagrangianmethod
Turbulencemodeling
Visualization
Windtunnel
Cavitationmodelling
Shapeoptimization

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Notes
Anderson,JohnD.(1995).ComputationalFluidDynamics:TheBasicsWithApplications.
Science/Engineering/Math.McGrawHillScience.ISBN0070016852
Patankar,Suhas(1980).NumericalHeatTransferandFluidFlow.HemisphereSeriesonComputational
MethodsinMechanicsandThermalScience.Taylor&Francis.ISBN0891165223
Shah,TasneemM.SadafSiddiqZafarU.Koreshi."Ananalysisandcomparisonoftubenatural
frequencymodeswithfluctuatingforcefrequencyfromthethermalcrossflowfluidin300MWePWR"
(PDF) .InternationalJournalofEngineeringandTechnology9(9):201205.

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