On new and improved semi-numerical techniques for solving nonlinear fluid flow problems.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.Most real world phenomena is modeled by ordinary and/or partial differential equations. Most of these equations are highly nonlinear and exact solutions are not always possible. Exact solutions always give a good account of the physical nature of the phenomena modeled. However, existing analytical methods can only handle a limited range of these equations. Semi-numerical and numerical methods give approximate solutions where exact solutions are impossible to find. However, some common numerical methods give low accuracy and may lack stability. In general, the character and qualitative behaviour of the solutions may not always be fully revealed by numerical approximations, hence the need for improved semi-numerical methods that are accurate, computational efficient and robust. In this study we introduce innovative techniques for finding solutions of highly nonlinear coupled boundary value problems. These techniques aim to combine the strengths of both analytical and numerical methods to produce efficient hybrid algorithms. In this work, the homotopy analysis method is blended with spectral methods to improve its accuracy. Spectral methods are well known for their high levels of accuracy. The new spectral homotopy analysis method is further improved by using a more accurate initial approximation to accelerate convergence. Furthermore, a quasi-linearisation technique is introduced in which spectral methods are used to solve the linearised equations. The new techniques were used to solve mathematical models in fluid dynamics. The thesis comprises of an introductory Chapter that gives an overview of common numerical methods currently in use. In Chapter 2 we give an overview of the methods used in this work. The methods are used in Chapter 3 to solve the nonlinear equation governing two-dimensional squeezing flow of a viscous fluid between two approaching parallel plates and the steady laminar flow of a third grade fluid with heat transfer through a flat channel. In Chapter 4 the methods were used to find solutions of the laminar heat transfer problem in a rotating disk, the steady flow of a Reiner-Rivlin fluid with Joule heating and viscous dissipation and the classical von Kάrmάn equations for boundary layer flow induced by a rotating disk. In Chapter 5 solutions of steady two-dimensional flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in a rectangular domain bounded by two permeable surfaces and the MHD viscous flow problem due to a shrinking sheet with a chemical reaction, were solved using the new methods

An application of modern analytical solution techniques to nonlinear partial differential equations.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.Many physics and engineering problems are modeled by differential equations. In many instances these equations are nonlinear and exact solutions are difficult to obtain. Numerical schemes are often used to find approximate solutions. However, numerical solutions do not describe the qualitative behaviour of mechanical systems and are insufficient in determining the general properties of certain systems of equations. The need for analytical methods is self-evident and major developments were seen in the 1990’s. With the aid of faster processing equipment today, we are able to compute analytical solutions to highly nonlinear equations that are more accurate than numerical solutions. In this study we discuss solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations with focus on non-perturbation analytical methods. The non-perturbation methods of choice are the homotopy analysis method (HAM) developed by Shijun Liao and the variational iteration method (VIM) developed by Ji-Huan He. The aim is to compare the solutions obtained by these modern day analytical methods against each other focusing on accuracy, convergence and computational efficiency. The methods were applied to three test problems, namely, the heat equation, Burgers equation and the Bratu equation. The solutions were compared against both the exact results as well as solutions generated using the finite difference method, in some cases. The results obtained show that the HAM successfully produces solutions which are accurate, faster converging and requires less computational resources than the VIM. However, the VIM still provides accurate solutions that are also in good agreement with the closed form solutions of the test problems. The FDM also produced good results which were used as a further comparison to the analytical solutions. The findings of this study is in agreement with those published in the literature

Wavelet Methods for the Solutions of Partial and Fractional Differential Equations Arising in Physical Problems

The subject of fractional calculus has gained considerable popularity and importance during the past three decades or so, mainly due to its demonstrated applications in numerous seemingly diverse and widespread fields of science and engineering. It deals with derivatives and integrals of arbitrary orders. The fractional derivative has been occurring in many physical problems, such as frequency-dependent damping behavior of materials, motion of a large thin plate in a Newtonian fluid, creep and relaxation functions for viscoelastic materials, the PI D controller for the control of dynamical systems etc. Phenomena in electromagnetics, acoustics, viscoelasticity, electrochemistry, control theory, neutron point kinetic model, anomalous diffusion, Brownian motion, signal and image processing, fluid dynamics and material science are well described by differential equations of fractional order. Generally, nonlinear partial differential equations of fractional order are difficult to solve. So for the last few decades, a great deal of attention has been directed towards the solution (both exact and numerical) of these problems. The aim of this dissertation is to present an extensive study of different wavelet methods for obtaining numerical solutions of mathematical problems occurring in disciplines of science and engineering. This present work also provides a comprehensive foundation of different wavelet methods comprising Haar wavelet method, Legendre wavelet method, Legendre multi-wavelet methods, Chebyshev wavelet method, Hermite wavelet method and Petrov-Galerkin method. The intension is to examine the accuracy of various wavelet methods and their efficiency for solving nonlinear fractional differential equations. With the widespread applications of wavelet methods for solving difficult problems in diverse fields of science and engineering such as wave propagation, data compression, image processing, pattern recognition, computer graphics and in medical technology, these methods have been implemented to develop accurate and fast algorithms for solving integral, differential and integro-differential equations, especially those whose solutions are highly localized in position and scale. The main feature of wavelets is its ability to convert the given differential and integral equations to a system of linear or nonlinear algebraic equations, which can be solved by numerical methods. Therefore, our main focus in the present work is to analyze the application of wavelet based transform methods for solving the problem of fractional order partial differential equations. The introductory concept of wavelet, wavelet transform and multi-resolution analysis (MRA) have been discussed in the preliminary chapter. The basic idea of various analytical and numerical methods viz. Variational Iteration Method (VIM), Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM), Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM), First Integral Method (FIM), Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM), Haar Wavelet Method, Legendre Wavelet Method, Chebyshev Wavelet Method and Hermite Wavelet Method have been presented in chapter 1. In chapter 2, we have considered both analytical and numerical approach for solving some particular nonlinear partial differential equations like Burgers’ equation, modified Burgers’ equation, Huxley equation, Burgers-Huxley equation and modified KdV equation, which have a wide variety of applications in physical models. Variational Iteration Method and Haar wavelet Method are applied to obtain the analytical and numerical approximate solution of Huxley and Burgers-Huxley equations. Comparisons between analytical solution and numerical solution have been cited in tables and also graphically. The Haar wavelet method has also been applied to solve Burgers’, modified Burgers’, and modified KdV equations numerically. The results thus obtained are compared with exact solutions as well as solutions available in open literature. Error of collocation method has been presented in this chapter. Methods like Homotopy Perturbation Method (HPM) and Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM) are very powerful and efficient techniques for solving nonlinear PDEs. Using these methods, many functional equations such as ordinary, partial differential equations and integral equations have been solved. We have implemented HPM and OHAM in chapter 3, in order to obtain the analytical approximate solutions of system of nonlinear partial differential equation viz. the Boussinesq-Burgers’ equations. Also, the Haar wavelet method has been applied to obtain the numerical solution of BoussinesqBurgers’ equations. Also, the convergence of HPM and OHAM has been discussed in this chapter. The mathematical modeling and simulation of systems and processes, based on the description of their properties in terms of fractional derivatives, naturally leads to differential equations of fractional order and the necessity to solve such equations. The mathematical preliminaries of fractional calculus, definitions and theorems have been presented in chapter 4. Next, in this chapter, the Haar wavelet method has been analyzed for solving fractional differential equations. The time-fractional Burgers-Fisher, generalized Fisher type equations, nonlinear time- and space-fractional Fokker-Planck equations have been solved by using two-dimensional Haar wavelet method. The obtained results are compared with the Optimal Homotopy Asymptotic Method (OHAM), the exact solutions and the results available in open literature. Comparison of obtained results with OHAM, Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM), VIM and Operational Tau Method (OTM) has been demonstrated in order to justify the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed schemes. The convergence of two-dimensional Haar wavelet technique has been provided at the end of this chapter. In chapter 5, the fractional differential equations such as KdV-Burger-Kuramoto (KBK) equation, seventh order KdV (sKdV) equation and Kaup-Kupershmidt (KK) equation have been solved by using two-dimensional Legendre wavelet and Legendre multi-wavelet methods. The main focus of this chapter is the application of two-dimensional Legendre wavelet technique for solving nonlinear fractional differential equations like timefractional KBK equation, time-fractional sKdV equation in order to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed wavelet method. Similarly in chapter 6, twodimensional Chebyshev wavelet method has been implemented to obtain the numerical solutions of the time-fractional Sawada-Kotera equation, fractional order Camassa-Holm equation and Riesz space-fractional sine-Gordon equations. The convergence analysis has been done for these wavelet methods. In chapter 7, the solitary wave solution of fractional modified Fornberg-Whitham equation has been attained by using first integral method and also the approximate solutions obtained by optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM) are compared with the exact solutions acquired by first integral method. Also, the Hermite wavelet method has been implemented to obtain approximate solutions of fractional modified Fornberg-Whitham equation. The Hermite wavelet method is implemented to system of nonlinear fractional differential equations viz. the fractional Jaulent-Miodek equations. Convergence of this wavelet methods has been discussed in this chapter. Chapter 8 emphasizes on the application of Petrov-Galerkin method for solving the fractional differential equations such as the fractional KdV-Burgers’ (KdVB) equation and the fractional Sharma-TassoOlver equation with a view to exhibit the capabilities of this method in handling nonlinear equation. The main objective of this chapter is to establish the efficiency and accuracy of Petrov-Galerkin method in solving fractional differential equtaions numerically by implementing a linear hat function as the trial function and a quintic B-spline function as the test function. Various wavelet methods have been successfully employed to numerous partial and fractional differential equations in order to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of these procedures. Analyzing the numerical results, it can be concluded that the wavelet methods provide worthy numerical solutions for both classical and fractional order partial differential equations. Finally, it is worthwhile to mention that the proposed wavelet methods are promising and powerful methods for solving fractional differential equations in mathematical physics. This work also aimed at, to make this subject popular and acceptable to engineering and science community to appreciate the universe of wonderful mathematics, which is in between classical integer order differentiation and integration, which till now is not much acknowledged, and is hidden from scientists and engineers. Therefore, our goal is to encourage the reader to appreciate the beauty as well as the usefulness of these numerical wavelet based techniques in the study of nonlinear physical system

A comparison study of Chebyshev spectral collocation based methods for solving nonlinear second order evolution equations.

Master of Science in Applied Mathematics. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.In this study Spectral Quasilinearisation Method (SQLM) coupled with finite differ- ence and Bivariate Spectral Quasilinearisation Method (BSQLM) in solving second order nonlinear evolution partial differential equations are compared. Both meth- ods use Newton-Raphson quasilinearisation method (QLM) and Chebyshev spectral collocation based on Lagrange interpolation to solve the governing equations. The Spectral Quasilinearisation Method coupled with finite difference is obtained by ap- plying the spectral collocation method on space derivatives and finite difference of time derivatives while the BSQLM is a Bivariate Lagrange interpolation based scheme in which the spectral collocation method is applied independently to both time and space derivatives. The applicability of these methods is shown by solving a class of second order nonlinear evolution partial differential equations (NPDEs), namely Burgers equation, Burgers-Fisher, Fisher's equation, Newell-Whitehead-Segel equa- tion and Zeldovich equation that arise in some fields of science and engineering. The numerical approximation results are validated for accuracy by comparing them with exact solutions. Tables for Explicit, Implicit and Crank-Nicolson SQLM and BSQLM with their computational times were generated for comparison; the order of accuracy for each method and error graphs are presented

Numerical study of convective fluid flow in porous and non-porous media.

Ph. D. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.Abstract available in PDF file

Proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress

Published proceedings of the 2018 Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME) International Congress, hosted by York University, 27-30 May 2018