Multigrid for two-sided fractional differential equations discretized by finite volume elements on graded meshes

It is known that the solution of a conservative steady-state two-sided fractional diffusion problem can exhibit singularities near the boundaries. As consequence of this, and due to the conservative nature of the problem, we adopt a finite volume elements discretization approach over a generic non-uniform mesh. We focus on grids mapped by a smooth function which consist in a combination of a graded mesh near the singularity and a uniform mesh where the solution is smooth. Such a choice gives rise to Toeplitz-like discretization matrices and thus allows a low computational cost of the matrix-vector product and a detailed spectral analysis. The obtained spectral information is used to develop an ad-hoc parameter free multigrid preconditioner for GMRES, which is numerically shown to yield good convergence results in presence of graded meshes mapped by power functions that accumulate points near the singularity. The approximation order of the considered graded meshes is numerically compared with the one of a certain composite mesh given in literature that still leads to Toeplitz-like linear systems and is then still well-suited for our multigrid method. Several numerical tests confirm that power graded meshes result in lower approximation errors than composite ones and that our solver has a wide range of applicability

Adaptive mesh refinement method for CFD applications

The main objective of this thesis is the development of an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) algorithm for computational fluid dynamics simulations using hexahedral and tetrahedral meshes. This numerical methodology is applied in the context of large-eddy simulations (LES) of turbulent flows and direct numerical simulations (DNS) of interfacial flows, to bring new numerical research and physical insight. For the fluid dynamics simulations, the governing equations, the spatial discretization on unstructured grids and the numerical schemes for solving Navier-Stokes equations are presented. The equations follow a discretization by conservative finite-volume on collocated meshes. For the turbulent flows formulation, the spatial discretization preserves symmetry properties of the continuous differential operators and the time integration follows a self-adaptive strategy, which has been well tested on unstructured grids. Moreover, LES model consisting of a wall adapting local-eddy-viscosity within a variational multi-scale formulation is used for the applications showed in this thesis. For the two-phase flow formulation, a conservative level-set method is applied for capturing the interface between two fluids and is implemented with a variable density projection scheme to simulate incompressible two-phase flows on unstructured meshes. The AMR algorithm developed in this thesis is based on a quad/octree data structure and keeps a relation of 1:2 between levels of refinement. In the case of tetrahedral meshes, a geometrical criterion is followed to keep the quality metric of the mesh on a reasonable basis. The parallelization strategy consists mainly in the creation of mesh elements in each sub-domain and establishes a unique global identification number, to avoid duplicate elements. Load balance is assured at each AMR iteration to keep the parallel performance of the CFD code. Moreover, a mesh multiplication algorithm (MM) is reported to create large meshes, with different kind of mesh elements, but preserving the topology from a coarser original mesh. This thesis focuses on the study of turbulent flows and two-phase flows using an AMR framework. The cases studied for LES of turbulent flows applications are the flow around one and two separated square cylinders, and the flow around a simplified car model. In this context, a physics-based refinement criterion is developed, consisting of the residual velocity calculated from a multi-scale decomposition of the instantaneous velocity. This criteria ensures grid adaptation following the main vortical structures and giving enough mesh resolution on the zones of interest, i.e., flow separation, turbulent wakes, and vortex shedding. The cases studied for the two-phase flows are the DNS of 2D and 3D gravity-driven bubble, with a particular focus on the wobbling regime. A study of rising bubbles in the wobbling regime and the effect of dimensionless numbers on the dynamic behavior of the bubbles are presented. Moreover, the use of tetrahedral AMR is applied for the numerical simulation of gravity-driven bubbles in complex domains. On this topic, the methodology is validated on bubbles rising in cylindrical channels with different topology, where the study of these cases contributed to having new numerical research and physical insight in the development of a rising bubble with wall effects.El objetivo principal de esta tesis es el desarrollo de un algoritmo adaptativo de refinamiento de malla (AMR) para simulaciones de dinámica de fluidos computacional utilizando mallas hexaédricas y tetraédricas. Esta metodología numérica se aplica en el contexto de simulaciones Large-eddie (LES) de flujos turbulentos y simulaciones numéricas directas (DNS) de flujos interfaciales, para traer nuevas investigaciones numéricas y entendimiento físicas. Para las simulaciones de dinámica de fluidos, se presentan las ecuaciones governantes, la discretización espacial en mallas no estructuradas y los esquemas numéricos para resolver las ecuaciones de Navier-Stokes. Las ecuaciones siguen una discretización conservativa por volumenes finitos en mallas colocadas. Para la formulación de flujos turbulentos, la discretización espacial preserva las propiedades de simetría de los operadores diferenciales continuos y la integración de tiempo sigue una estrategia autoadaptativa, que ha sido bien probada en mallas no estructuradas. Además, para las aplicaciones que se muestran en esta tesis, se utiliza el modelo LES que consiste en una viscosidad local que se adapta a la pared dentro de una formulación multiescala variable. Para la formulación de flujo de dos fases, se aplica un método de conjunto de niveles conservador para capturar la interfaz entre dos fluidos y se implementa con un esquema de proyección de densidad variable para simular flujos de dos fases incompresibles en mallas no estructuradas. El algoritmo AMR desarrollado en esta tesis se basa en una estructura de datos de quad / octree y mantiene una relación de 1: 2 entre los niveles de refinamiento. En el caso de las mallas tetraédricas, se sigue un criterio geométrico para mantener la calidad de la malla en una base razonable. La estrategia de paralelización consiste principalmente en la creación de elementos de malla en cada subdominio y establece un número de identificación global único, para evitar elementos duplicados. El equilibrio de carga está asegurado en cada iteración de AMR para mantener el rendimiento paralelo del código CFD. Además, se ha desarrollado un algoritmo de multiplicación de malla (MM) para crear mallas grandes, con diferentes tipos de elementos de malla, pero preservando la topología de una malla original más pequeña. Esta tesis se centra en el estudio de flujos turbulentos y flujos de dos fases utilizando un marco AMR. Los casos estudiados para aplicaciones de LES de flujos turbulentos son el flujo alrededor de uno y dos cilindros separados de sección cuadrada, y el flujo alrededor de un modelo de automóvil simplificado. En este contexto, se desarrolla un criterio de refinamiento basado en la física, que consiste en la velocidad residual calculada a partir de una descomposición de escala múltiple de la velocidad instantánea. Este criterio garantiza la adaptación de la malla siguiendo las estructuras vorticales principales y proporcionando una resolución de malla suficiente en las zonas de interés, es decir, separación de flujo, estelas turbulentas y desprendimiento de vórtices. Los casos estudiados para los flujos de dos fases son el DNS de la burbuja impulsada por la gravedad en 2D y 3D, con un enfoque particular en el régimen de oscilación. Además, el uso de AMR tetraédrico se aplica para la simulación numérica de burbujas impulsadas por la gravedad en dominios complejos. En este tema, la metodología se valida en burbujas que ascienden en canales cilíndricos con topología diferente, donde el estudio de estos casos contribuyó a tener una nueva investigación numérica y una visión física en el desarrollo de una burbuja con efectos de pared

Space-time Methods for Time-dependent Partial Differential Equations

Modern discretizations of time-dependent PDEs consider the full problem in the space-time cylinder and aim to overcome limitations of classical approaches such as the method of lines (first discretize in space and then solve the resulting ODE) and the Rothe method (first discretize in time and then solve the PDE). A main advantage of a holistic space-time method is the direct access to space-time adaptivity and to the backward problem (required for the dual problem in optimization or error control). Moreover, this allows for parallel solution strategies simultaneously in time and space. Several space-time concepts where proposed (different conforming and nonconforming space-time finite elements, the parareal method, wavefront relaxation etc.) but this topic has become a rapidly growing field in numerical analysis and scientific computing. In this workshop the focus is the development of adaptive and flexible space-time discretization methods for solving parabolic and hyperbolic space-time partial differential equations

Adaptive Coupling of Finite Element Methods for Simulation of Hydrodynamics and Pollutant Transport in Lakes

Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Entwicklung neuer numerischer Methoden zur Lösung von Problemen der Hydrodynamik in Seen. Für die Berechnung von Transportprozessen von Schadstoffen ist es wichtig Fronten scharf aufzulösen. Dies erfordert eine hohe Genauigkeit in bestimmten Bereichen des Gebiets. Um die erforderliche Genauigkeit zu erreichen und gleichzeitig die Kosten bei der Berechnung moderat zu halten, lösen wir das dreidimensioale Gebiet nicht überall komplett auf. In den Teilen des Gebiet, in denen nur geringe Genauigkeit gefordert wird, genügt eine zweidimensioale Lösung. Für die Bereiche in unserem Gebiet, in denen wir bessere Genauigkeit erzielen wollen, addieren wir zu der zweidimensionalen Lösung eine dreidimensionale Korrektur. Auf diese Weise erreichen wir in gewissen Teilen des Gebiets eine genauere, dreidimensionale Lösung bei moderatem Mehraufwand. Die Gleichungen, die durch diese Kopplung entstehen, werden hergeleitet. Für die Vorkonditionierung des gekoppelten Systems verwenden wir einen Block-Vorkonditionierer. Für die einzelnen Blöcke haben wir einen Mehrgitter-Vorkonditionierer für stetige Finite Elemente auf adaptiv verfeinerten Gittern entwickelt. Dabei geschieht die Glättung nur lokal. Anhand von numerischen Beispielen zeigen wir die Effizienz für Elemente höherer Ordnung

A space-time discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for two-fluid problems

A space-time discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for two fluid flow problems is presented. By using a combination of level set and cut-cell methods the interface between two fluids is tracked in space-time. The movement of the interface in space-time is calculated by solving the level set equation, where the interface geometry is identified with the 0-level set. To enhance the accuracy of the interface approximation the level set function is advected with the interface velocity, which for this purpose is extended into the domain. Close to the interface the mesh is locally refined in such a way that the 0-level set coincides with a set of faces in the mesh. The two fluid flow equations are solved on this refined mesh. The procedure is repeated until both the mesh and the flow solution have converged to a reasonable accuracy.\ud The method is tested on linear advection and Euler shock tube problems involving ideal gas and compressible bubbly magma. Oscillations around the interface are eliminated by choosing a suitable interface flux

Two fluid space-time discontinuous Galerkin finite element method. Part I: numerical algorithm

A novel numerical method for two fluid flow computations is presented, which combines the space-time discontinuous Galerkin finite element discretization with the level set method and cut-cell based interface tracking. The space-time discontinuous Galerkin (STDG) finite element method offers high accuracy, an inherent ability to handle discontinuities and a very local stencil, making it relatively easy to combine with local {\it hp}-refinement. The front tracking is incorporated via cut-cell mesh refinement to ensure a sharp interface between the fluids. To compute the interface dynamics the level set method (LSM) is used because of its ability to deal with merging and breakup. Also, the LSM is easy to extend to higher dimensions. Small cells arising from the cut-cell refinement are merged to improve the stability and performance. The interface conditions are incorporated in the numerical flux at the interface and the STDG discretization ensures that the scheme is conservative as long as the numerical fluxes are conservative