In this work we study the performance of some variational multiscale models (VMS) in the large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. We consider VMS models obtained by different subgrid scale ...approximations which include either static or dynamic subscales, linear or nonlinear multiscale splitting, and different choices of the subscale space. After a brief review of these models, we discuss some implementation aspects particularly relevant to the simulation of turbulent flows, namely the use of a skew symmetric form of the convective term and the computation of projections when orthogonal subscales are used. We analyze the energy conservation (and numerical dissipation) of the alternative VMS formulations, which is numerically evaluated. In the numerical study, we have considered three well known problems: the decay of homogeneous isotropic turbulence, the Taylor–Green vortex problem and the turbulent flow in a channel. We compare the results obtained using different VMS models, paying special attention to the effect of using orthogonal subscale spaces. The VMS results are also compared against classical LES scheme based on filtering and the dynamic Smagorinsky closure. Altogether, our results show the tremendous potential of VMS for the numerical simulation of turbulence. Further, we study the sensitivity of VMS to the algorithmic constants and analyze the behavior in the small time step limit. We have also carried out a computational cost comparison of the different formulations. Out of these experiments, we can state that the numerical results obtained with the different VMS formulations (as far as they converge) are quite similar. However, some choices are prone to instabilities and the results obtained in terms of computational cost are certainly different. The dynamic orthogonal subscales model turns out to be best in terms of efficiency and robustness.
In this work, we develop a high-performance numerical framework for the large eddy simulation (LES) of incompressible flows. The spatial discretization of the nonlinear system is carried out using ...mixed finite element (FE) schemes supplemented with symmetric projection stabilization of the convective term and a penalty term for the divergence constraint. These additional terms introduced at the discrete level have been proved to act as implicit LES models. In order to perform meaningful wall-unresolved simulations, we consider a weak imposition of the boundary conditions using a Nitsche’s-type scheme, where the tangential component penalty term is designed to act as a wall law. Next, segregated Runge–Kutta (SRK) schemes (recently proposed by the authors for laminar flow problems) are applied to the LES simulation of turbulent flows. By the introduction of a penalty term on the trace of the acceleration, these methods exhibit excellent stability properties for both implicit and explicit treatment of the convective terms. SRK schemes are excellent for large-scale simulations, since they reduce the computational cost of the linear system solves by splitting velocity and pressure computations at the time integration level, leading to two uncoupled systems. The pressure system is a Darcy-type problem that can easily be preconditioned using a traditional block-preconditioning scheme that only requires a Poisson solver. At the end, only coercive systems have to be solved, which can be effectively preconditioned by multilevel domain decomposition schemes, which are both optimal and scalable. The framework is applied to the Taylor–Green and turbulent channel flow benchmarks in order to prove the accuracy of the convection-stabilized mixed FEs as LES models and SRK time integrators. The scalability of the preconditioning techniques (in space only) has also been proven for one step of the SRK scheme for the Taylor–Green flow using uniform meshes. Moreover, a turbulent flow around a NACA profile is solved to show the applicability of the proposed algorithms for a realistic problem.
The variational multiscale method thought as an implicit large eddy simulation model for turbulent flows has been shown to be an alternative to the widely used physical-based models. This method is ...traditionally combined with equal-order velocity–pressure pairs, since it provides pressure stabilization. In this work, we consider a different approach, based on inf–sup stable elements and convection-only stabilization. In order to do so, we consider a symmetric projection stabilization of the convective term using an orthogonal subscale decomposition. The accuracy and efficiency of this method compared with residual-based algebraic subgrid scales and orthogonal subscales methods for equal-order interpolation is assessed in this paper. Moreover, when inf–sup stable elements are used, the grad–div stabilization term has been shown to be essential to guarantee accurate solutions. Hence, a study of the influence of such term in the large eddy simulation of turbulent incompressible flows is also performed. Furthermore, a recursive block preconditioning strategy has been considered for the resolution of the problem with an implicit treatment of the projection terms. Two different benchmark tests have been solved: the Taylor–Green Vortex flow with Re=1600, and the Turbulent Channel Flow at Reτ=395 and Reτ=590.
In this work we present a novel monolithic Finite Element method for the hydroelastic analysis of very large floating structures (VLFS) with arbitrary shapes that is stable, energy conserving, and ...overcomes the need of an iterative algorithm. The new formulation enables a fully monolithic solution of the linear free‐surface flow, described by linear potential flow, coupled with floating thin structures, described by the Euler–Bernoulli beam or Poisson–Kirchhoff plate equations. The formulation presented in this work is general in the sense that solutions can be found in the frequency and time domains, it overcomes the need of using elements with C1$$ {C}^1 $$ continuity by employing a continuous/discontinuous Galerkin approach, and it is suitable for finite elements of arbitrary order. We show that the proposed approach can accurately describe the hydroelastic phenomena of VLFS with a variety of tests, including structures with elastic joints, variable bathymetry, and arbitrary structural shapes.
Flow simulations on porous media, reconstructed from Micro-Computerised Tomography (μCT) scans, is becoming a common tool to compute the permeability of rocks. Still, some conditions need to be met ...to obtain accurate results. Only if the sample size is equal or larger than the Representative Elementary Volume will the computed effective permeability be representative of the rock at a continuum scale. Moreover, the numerical discretisation of the digital rock needs to be fine enough to reach numerical convergence. In the particular case of using Finite Elements (FE) and cartesian meshes, studies have shown that the meshes should be at least two times finer than the original image resolution in order to reach the simulation’s mesh convergence. These two conditions and the increased resolution of μCT-scans to observe finer details of the microstructure, can lead to extremely computationally expensive numerical simulations. In order to reduce this cost, we couple a FE numerical model for Stokes flow in porous media with an unfitted boundary method for cartesian meshes, which allows to improve results precision for coarse meshes. Indeed, this method enables to obtain a definition of the pore–grain interface as precise as for a conformal mesh, without a computationally expensive and complex mesh generation for μCT-scans of rocks. From the benchmark of three different rock samples, we observe a clear improvement of the mesh convergence for the permeability value using the unfitted boundary method on cartesian meshes. An accurate permeability value is obtained for a mesh coarser than the initial image resolution. The method is then applied to a large sample of a high-resolution μCT-scan to showcase its advantage.
•An unfitted boundary method is developed for pore-scale flow simulators on μCT scans.•The method improves the accuracy of coarsening for μCT scans permeability computation.•The efficiency of the method is shown for different types of rock samples.
•The shifted boundary method (SBM) is extended to free-surface problems for the Navier-Stokes equations.•The SBM variational formulation is weighted by element's volume fraction of active ...fluid.•Spurious pressure oscillations in time are prevented by the volume fraction weighting procedure.•The mass conservation error decays quadratically with the mesh size, for linear FEMs.•Extensive numerical testing is performed in two and three dimensions.
The Shifted Boundary Method (SBM) belongs to the class of unfitted (or immersed, or embedded) finite element methods and was recently introduced for the Poisson, linear advection/diffusion, Stokes, Navier-Stokes, acoustics, and shallow-water equations. By reformulating the original boundary value problem over a surrogate (approximate) computational domain, the SBM avoids integration over cut cells and the associated problematic issues regarding numerical stability and matrix conditioning. Accuracy is maintained by modifying the original boundary conditions using Taylor expansions. Hence the name of the method, that shifts the location and values of the boundary conditions. In this article, we extend the SBM to the simulation of incompressible Navier-Stokes flows with moving free-surfaces, by appropriately weighting its variational form with the elemental volume fraction of active fluid. This approach prevents spurious pressure oscillations in time, which would otherwise be produced if the total active fluid volume were to change abruptly over a time step. In fact, the proposed weighted SBM method induces small mass (i.e., volume) conservation errors, which converge quadratically in the case of piecewise-linear finite element interpolations, as the grid is refined. We present an extensive set of two- and three-dimensional tests to demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of the method.
Summary
In this article, we develop a dynamic version of the variational multiscale (D‐VMS) stabilization for nearly/fully incompressible solid dynamics simulations of viscoelastic materials. The ...constitutive models considered here are based on Prony series expansions, which are rather common in the practice of finite element simulations, especially in industrial/commercial applications. Our method is based on a mixed formulation, in which the momentum equation is complemented by a pressure equation in rate form. The unknown pressure, displacement, and velocity are approximated with piecewise linear, continuous finite element functions. To prevent spurious oscillations, the pressure equation is augmented with a stabilization operator specifically designed for viscoelastic problems, in that it depends on the viscoelastic dissipation. We demonstrate the robustness, stability, and accuracy properties of the proposed method with extensive numerical tests in the case of linear and finite deformations.
The numerical simulation of physical phenomena and engineering problems can be affected by numerical errors and various types of uncertainties. Characterizing the former in computational frameworks ...involving system parameter uncertainties becomes a key issue. In this work, we study the behavior of new variational multiscale (VMS) error estimators for the propagation of parametric uncertainties in a Convection–Diffusion–Reaction (CDR) problem. A sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the performance of the error estimator with respect to the mesh discretization and physical parameters (here, the viscosity value and advection velocity). Three different manufactured analytical solutions are considered as benchmarking tests. Next, the performance of the VMS error estimators is evaluated for the CDR problem with uncertain input parameters. For this purpose, two probabilistic models are constructed for the viscosity and advection direction, and the uncertainties are propagated using a polynomial chaos expansion approach. A convergence analysis is specifically carried out for different configurations, corresponding to regimes where the CDR operator is either smooth or non-smooth. An assessment of the proposed error estimator is finally conducted for the three tests, considering both the viscous- and convection-dominated regimes.
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