A symmetric integrated radial basis function method for solving differential equations

In this article, integrated radial basis functions (IRBFs) are used for Hermite interpolation in the solution of differential equations, resulting in a new meshless symmetric RBF method. Both global and local approximation-based schemes are derived. For the latter, the focus is on the construction of compact approximation stencils, where a sparse system matrix and a high-order accuracy can be achieved together. Cartesian-grid-based stencils are possible for problems defined on nonrectangular domains. Furthermore, the effects of the RBF width on the solution accuracy for a given grid size are fully explored with a reasonable computational cost. The proposed schemes are numerically verified in some elliptic boundary-value problems governed by the Poisson and convection-diffusion equations. High levels of the solution accuracy are obtained using relatively coarse discretisations

Coupled/combined compact IRBF schemes for fluid flow and FSI problems

The thesis is concerned with the development of compact approximation methods based on Integrated Radial Basis Functions (IRBFs) and their applications in fluid flows and FSI problems. The contributions include (i) new compact IRBF stencils where first- and second-order derivatives are included; (ii) a preconditioning technique where a preconditioner to enhance the stability of the flat IRBF solutions; and, (iii) the incorporation of the proposed stencils into the immersed boundary methods. Numerical experiments show the present schemes generally produce more accurate solutions and better convergence rates than existing methods (e.g. FDM, high-order compact FDM and compact IRBF methods)

Compact non-symmetric and symmetric stencils based on integrated radial basis functions for differential problems

This PhD project is concerned with the development of compact local stencils based on integrated radial basis functions (IRBFs) for both spatial and temporal discretisations of partial differential equations (PDEs), and their applications in heat transfer and fluid flows. The proposed approximation stencils are effective and efficient since (i) Cartesian grids are employed to represent both rectangular and non-rectangular domains; (ii) high levels of accuracy of the solution and sparseness of the resultant algebraic system are achieved together; and (iii) time derivatives are discretised with high order approximation. For spatial discretisation, a compact non-symmetric flat-IRBF stencil is developed. Significant improvements in the matrix condition number, solution accuracy and convergence rate with grid refinement over the usual approaches are obtained. Furthermore, IRBFs are used for Hermite interpolation in the solution of PDEs, resulting in symmetric stencils defined on structured/random nodes. For temporal discretisation, a compact IRBF stencil is proposed, where the time derivative is approximated in terms of, not only nodal function values at the current and previous time levels, but also nodal derivative values at the previous time level. When dealing with moving boundary problems (e.g. particulate suspensions and fluid structure interacting problems), to avoid the grid regeneration issue, an IRBF-based domain embedding method is also developed, where a geometrically-complex domain is extended to a larger, but simpler shaped domain, and a body force is introduced into the momentum equations to represent the moving boundaries. The proposed methods are verified in the solution of differential problems defined on simply- and multiply-connected domains. Accurate results are achieved using relatively coarse Cartesian grids and relatively large time steps. The rate of convergence with grid refinement can be up to the order of about 5. Converged solutions are obtained in the simulation of highly nonlinear fluid flows and they are in good agreement with benchmark/well-known existing solutions

A time discretization scheme based on integrated radial basis functions for heat transfer and fluid flow problems

This paper reports a new numerical procedure, which is based on integrated radial basis functions (IRBFs) and Cartesian grids, for solving time-dependent differential problems that can be defined on non-rectangular domains. For space discretisations, compact five-point IRBF stencils [Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 235, pp. 302-321, 2013] are utilised. For time discretisations, a two-point IRBF scheme is proposed, where the time derivative is approximated in terms of not only nodal function values at the current and previous time levels but also nodal derivative values at the previous time level. This allows functions other than a linear one to also be captured well on a time step. The use of the RBF width as an additional parameter to enhance the approximation quality with respect to time is also explored. Various kinds of test problems of heat transfer and fluid flows are conducted to demonstrate attractiveness of the present compact approximations

Compact approximation stencils based on integrated flat radial basis functions

This paper presents improved ways of constructing compact integrated radial basis function (CIRBF) stencils, based on extended precision, definite integrals, higher-order IRBFs and minimum number of derivative equations, to enhance their performance over large values of the RBF width. The proposed approaches are numerically verified through second-order linear differential equations in one and two variables. Significant improvements in the matrix condition number, solution accuracy and convergence rate with grid refinement over the usual approaches are achieved

A numerical study of compact approximations based on flat integrated radial basis functions for second-order differential equations

In this paper, we propose a simple but effective preconditioning technique to improve the numerical stability of Integrated Radial Basis Function (IRBF) methods. The proposed preconditioner is simply the inverse of a well-conditioned matrix that is constructed using non-flat IRBFs. Much larger values of the free shape parameter of IRBFs can thus be employed and better accuracy for smooth solution problems can be achieved. Furthermore, to improve the accuracy of local IRBF methods, we propose a new stencil, namely Combined Compact IRBF (CCIRBF), in which (i) the starting point is the fourth-order derivative; and (ii) nodal values of first- and second-order derivatives at side nodes of the stencil are included in the computation of first- and second-order derivatives at the middle node in a natural way. The proposed stencil can be employed in uniform/nonuniform Cartesian grids. The preconditioning technique in combination with the CCIRBF scheme employed with large values of the shape parameter are tested with elliptic equations and then applied to simulate several fluid flow problems governed by Poisson, Burgers, convection-diffusion, and Navier-Stokes equations. Highly accurate and stable solutions are obtained. In some cases, the preconditioned schemes are shown to be several orders of magnitude more accurate than those without preconditioning

A generalised finite difference scheme based on compact integrated radial basis function for flow in heterogeneous soils

In the present paper, we develop a generalised finite difference approach based on compact integrated radial basis function (CIRBF) stencils for solving highly nonlinear Richards equation governing fluid movement in heterogeneous soils. The proposed CIRBF scheme enjoys a high level of accuracy and a fast convergence rate with grid refinement owing to the combination of the integrated RBF approximation and compact approximation where the spatial derivatives are discretised in terms of the information of neighbouring nodes in a stencil. The CIRBF method is first verified through the solution of ordinary differential equations, 2-D Poisson equations and a Taylor-Green vortex. Numerical comparisons show that the CIRBF method outperforms some other methods in the literature. The CIRBF method in conjunction with a rational function transformation method and an adaptive time-stepping scheme is then applied to simulate 1-D and 2-D soil infiltrations effectively. The proposed solutions are more accurate and converge faster than those of the finite different method employed with a second-order central difference scheme. Additionally, the present scheme also takes less time to achieve target accuracy in comparison with the 1D-IRBF and HOC schemes

A control volume scheme using compact integrated radial basis function stencils for solving the Richards equation

A new control volume approach is developed based on compact integrated radial basis function (CIRBF) stencils for solution of the highly nonlinear Richards equation describing transient water flow in variably saturated soils. Unlike the conventional control volume method, which is regarded as second-order accurate, the proposed approach has high-order accuracy owing to the use of a compact integrated radial basis function approximation that enables improved flux predictions. The method is used to solve the Richards equation for transient flow in 1D homogeneous and heterogeneous soil profiles. Numerical results for different boundary conditions, initial conditions and soil types are shown to be in good agreement with Warrick's semi-analytical solution and simulations using the HYDRUS-1D software package. Results obtained with the proposed method were far less dependent upon the grid spacing than the HYDRUS-1D finite element solutions

Compact integrated radial basis function modelling of particulate suspensions

The present Ph.D. thesis is concerned with the development of computational procedures based on Cartesian grids, point collocation, immersed boundary method, and compact integrated radial basis functions (CIRBF), for the simulation of heat transfer and steady/unsteady viscous flows in complex geometries, and their applications for the prediction of macroscopic rheological properties of particulate suspensions. The thesis consists of three main parts. In the first part, integrated radial basis function approximations are developed into compact local form to achieve sparse system matrices and high levels of accuracy together. These stencils are employed for the discretisation of the Navier-Stokes equation in the pressurevelocity formulation. The use of alternating direction implicit (ADI) algorithms to enhance the computational efficiency is also explored. In the second part, compact local IRBF stencils are extended for the simulation of flows in multiply-connected domains, where the direct forcing-immersed boundary (DFIB) method is adopted to handle such complex geometries efficiently. In the third part, the DFIB-CIRBF method is applied for the investigation of suspensions of rigid particles in a Newtonian liquid, and the prediction of their bulk viscosity and stresses. The proposed computational procedures are verified successfully with several test problems in Computational Fluid Dynamics and Computational Rheology. Accurate results are achieved using relatively coarse grids