Lattice Boltzmann in micro- and nano- flow simulations

This paper was presented at the 2nd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2009), which was held at Brunel University, West London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IPEM, the Italian Union of Thermofluid dynamics, the Process Intensification Network, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.One of the fundamental difficulties in micro- and nano-flow simulations is that the validity’s of the continuum assumption and the hydro-dynamic equations start to become questionable in this flow regime. The lower-level kinetic/molecular alternatives are often either prohibitively expensive for practical purposes or poorly justified from a fundamental perspective. The lattice Boltzmann (LB) method, which originated from a simplistic Boolean kinetic model, is recently shown to converge asymptotically to the continuum Boltzmann-BGK equation and therefore offers a theoretically sound and computationally effective approach for micro- and nano-flow simulations. In addition, its kinetic nature allows certain microscopic physics to be modeled at the macroscopic level, leading to a highly efficient model for multiphase flows with phase transitions. With the inherent computational advantages of a lattice model, e.g., the algorithm simplicity and parallelizability, the ease of handling complex geometry and so on, the LB method has found many applications in various areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and matured to the extend of commercial applications. In this talk, I shall give an introduction to the LB method with the emphasis given to the theoretical justifications for its applications in micro- and nano-flow simulations. Some recent examples will also be reported

Coupled DEM-LBM method for the free-surface simulation of heterogeneous suspensions

The complexity of the interactions between the constituent granular and liquid phases of a suspension requires an adequate treatment of the constituents themselves. A promising way for numerical simulations of such systems is given by hybrid computational frameworks. This is naturally done, when the Lagrangian description of particle dynamics of the granular phase finds a correspondence in the fluid description. In this work we employ extensions of the Lattice-Boltzmann Method for non-Newtonian rheology, free surfaces, and moving boundaries. The models allows for a full coupling of the phases, but in a simplified way. An experimental validation is given by an example of gravity driven flow of a particle suspension

Numerical simulations of compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence in stratified fluids

We present results from numerical simulations of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence, performed using a recently proposed lattice Boltzmann method able to describe consistently a thermal compressible flow subject to an external forcing. The method allowed us to study the system both in the nearly-Boussinesq and strongly compressible regimes. Moreover, we show that when the stratification is important, the presence of the adiabatic gradient causes the arrest of the mixing process.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Proceedings of II Conference on Turbulent Mixing and Beyond (TMB-2009

Accuracy analysis of high-order lattice Boltzmann models for rarefied gas flows

In this work, we have theoretically analyzed and numerically evaluated the accuracy of high-order lattice Boltzmann (LB) models for capturing non-equilibrium effects in rarefied gas flows. In the incompressible limit, the LB equation is shown to be able to reduce to the linearized Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) equation. Therefore, when the same Gauss–Hermite quadrature is used, LB method closely resembles the discrete velocity method (DVM). In addition, the order of Hermite expansion for the equilibrium distribution function is found not to be directly correlated with the approximation order in terms of the Knudsen number to the BGK equation for incompressible flows. Meanwhile, we have numerically evaluated the LB models for a standing-shear-wave problem, which is designed specifically for assessing model accuracy by excluding the influence of gas molecule/surface interactions at wall boundaries. The numerical simulation results confirm that the high-order terms in the discrete equilibrium distribution function play a negligible role in capturing non-equilibrium effect for low-speed flows. By contrast, appropriate Gauss–Hermite quadrature has the most significant effect on whether LB models can describe the essential flow physics of rarefied gas accurately. Our simulation results, where the effect of wall/gas interactions is excluded, can lead to conclusion on the LB modeling capability that the models with higher-order quadratures provide more accurate results. For the same order Gauss–Hermite quadrature, the exact abscissae will also modestly influence numerical accuracy. Using the same Gauss–Hermite quadrature, the numerical results of both LB and DVM methods are in excellent agreement for flows across a broad range of the Knudsen numbers, which confirms that the LB simulation is similar to the DVM process. Therefore, LB method can offer flexible models suitable for simulating continuum flows at the Navier–Stokes level and rarefied gas flows at the linearized Boltzmann model equation level

Mesoscopic simulations at the physics-chemistry-biology interface

We discuss the Lattice Boltzmann-Particle Dynamics (LBPD) multiscale paradigm for the simulation of complex states of flowing matter at the interface between Physics, Chemistry and Biology. In particular, we describe current large-scale LBPD simulations of biopolymer translocation across cellular membranes, molecular transport in ion channels and amyloid aggregation in cells. We also provide prospects for future LBPD explorations in the direction of cellular organization, the direct simulation of full biological organelles, all the way to up to physiological scales of potential relevance to future precision-medicine applications, such as the accurate description of homeostatic processes. It is argued that, with the advent of Exascale computing, the mesoscale physics approach advocated in this paper, may come to age in the next decade and open up new exciting perspectives for physics-based computational medicine.Comment: 65 pages, 24 figure

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of soft matter systems

This article concerns numerical simulations of the dynamics of particles immersed in a continuum solvent. As prototypical systems, we consider colloidal dispersions of spherical particles and solutions of uncharged polymers. After a brief explanation of the concept of hydrodynamic interactions, we give a general overview over the various simulation methods that have been developed to cope with the resulting computational problems. We then focus on the approach we have developed, which couples a system of particles to a lattice Boltzmann model representing the solvent degrees of freedom. The standard D3Q19 lattice Boltzmann model is derived and explained in depth, followed by a detailed discussion of complementary methods for the coupling of solvent and solute. Colloidal dispersions are best described in terms of extended particles with appropriate boundary conditions at the surfaces, while particles with internal degrees of freedom are easier to simulate as an arrangement of mass points with frictional coupling to the solvent. In both cases, particular care has been taken to simulate thermal fluctuations in a consistent way. The usefulness of this methodology is illustrated by studies from our own research, where the dynamics of colloidal and polymeric systems has been investigated in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium situations.Comment: Review article, submitted to Advances in Polymer Science. 16 figures, 76 page

Boundary induced non linearities at small Reynolds Numbers

We investigate the influence of boundary slip velocity in Newtonian fluids at finite Reynolds numbers. Numerical simulations with Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and Finite Differences method (FDM) are performed to quantify the effect of heterogeneous boundary conditions on the integral and local properties of the flow. Non linear effects are induced by the non homogeneity of the boundary condition and change the symmetry properties of the flow inducing an overall mean flow reduction. To explain the observed drag modification, reciprocal relations for stationary ensembles are used, predicting a reduction of the mean flow rate from the creeping flow to be proportional to the fourth power of the friction Reynolds number. Both numerical schemes are then validated within the theoretical predictions and reveal a pronounced numerical efficiency of the LBM with respect to FDM.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure