Runge-Kutta-Gegenbauer explicit methods for advection-diffusion problems

In this paper, Runge-Kutta-Gegenbauer (RKG) stability polynomials of arbitrarily high order of accuracy are introduced in closed form. The stability domain of RKG polynomials extends in the the real direction with the square of polynomial degree, and in the imaginary direction as an increasing function of Gegenbauer parameter. Consequently, the polynomials are naturally suited to the construction of high order stabilized Runge-Kutta (SRK) explicit methods for systems of PDEs of mixed hyperbolic-parabolic type. We present SRK methods composed of $L$ ordered forward Euler stages, with complex-valued stepsizes derived from the roots of RKG stability polynomials of degree $L$. Internal stability is maintained at large stage number through an ordering algorithm which limits internal amplification factors to $10 L^2$. Test results for mildly stiff nonlinear advection-diffusion-reaction problems with moderate ($\lesssim 1$) mesh P\'eclet numbers are provided at second, fourth, and sixth orders, with nonlinear reaction terms treated by complex splitting techniques above second order.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, 3 table

Simulation of flows with violent free surface motion and moving objects using unstructured grids

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Löhner, R. , Yang, C. and Oñate, E. (2007), Simulation of flows with violent free surface motion and moving objects using unstructured grids. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, 53: 1315-1338. doi:10.1002/fld.1244], which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/fld.1244. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.A volume of fluid (VOF) technique has been developed and coupled with an incompressible Euler/Navier–Stokes solver operating on adaptive, unstructured grids to simulate the interactions of extreme waves and three-dimensional structures. The present implementation follows the classic VOF implementation for the liquid–gas system, considering only the liquid phase. Extrapolation algorithms are used to obtain velocities and pressure in the gas region near the free surface. The VOF technique is validated against the classic dam-break problem, as well as series of 2D sloshing experiments and results from SPH calculations. These and a series of other examples demonstrate that the ability of the present approach to simulate violent free surface flows with strong nonlinear behaviour.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Segregated Runge–Kutta time integration of convection-stabilized mixed finite element schemes for wall-unresolved LES of incompressible flows

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.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Finite element modeling of free surface flow in variable porosity media

The aim of the present work is to present an overview of some numerical procedures for the simulation of free surface flows within a porous structure. A particular algorithm developed by the authors for solving this type of problems is presented. A modified form of the classical Navier–Stokes equations is proposed, with the principal aim of simulating in a unified way the seepage flow inside rockfill-like porous material and the free surface flow in the clear fluid region. The problem is solved using a semi-explicit stabilized fractional step algorithm where velocity is calculated using a 4th order Runge–Kutta scheme. The numerical formulation is developed in an Eulerian framework using a level set technique to track the evolution of the free surface. An edge-based data structure is employed to allow an easy OpenMP parallelization of the resulting finite element code. The numerical model is validated against laboratory experiments on small scale rockfill dams and is compared with other existing methods for solving similar problems.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

Implicit-explicit multistep formulations for finite element discretisations using continuous interior penalty

We consider a finite element method with symmetric stabilisation for the discretisation of the transient convection–diffusion equation. For the time-discretisation we consider either the second order backwards differentiation formula or the Crank–Nicolson method. Both the convection term and the associated stabilisation are treated explicitly using an extrapolated approximate solution. We prove stability of the method and the t2+hp+12 error estimates for the L2-norm under either the standard hyperbolic CFL condition, when piecewise affine (p=1) approximation is used, or in the case of finite element approximation of order p≥1, a stronger, so-called 4/3-CFL, i.e. t≤Ch4/3. The theory is illustrated with some numerical examples

Weighted Error Estimates for Transient Transport Problems Discretized Using Continuous Finite Elements with Interior Penalty Stabilization on the Gradient Jumps

In this paper we consider the semi-discretization in space of a first order scalar transport equation. For the space discretization we use standard continuous finite elements with a stabilization consisting of a penalty on the jump of the gradient over element faces. We recall some global error estimates for smooth and rough solutions and then prove a new local error estimate for the transient linear transport equation. In particular we show that for the stabilized method the effect of non-smooth features in the solution decay exponentially from the space time zone where the solution is rough so that smooth features will be transported unperturbed. Locally the L2-norm error converges with the expected order O(hk+12), if the exact solution is locally smooth. We then illustrate the results numerically. In particular we show the good local accuracy in the smooth zone of the stabilized method and that the standard Galerkin fails to approximate a solution that is smooth at the final time if underresolved features have been present in the solution at some time during the evolution

Differential-Algebraic Equations and Beyond: From Smooth to Nonsmooth Constrained Dynamical Systems

The present article presents a summarizing view at differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) and analyzes how new application fields and corresponding mathematical models lead to innovations both in theory and in numerical analysis for this problem class. Recent numerical methods for nonsmooth dynamical systems subject to unilateral contact and friction illustrate the topicality of this development.Comment: Preprint of Book Chapte

Large-scale simulation of flows with violent free surface motion

A Volume of Fluid (VOF) technique has been developed and coupled with an incompressible Euler/Navier Stokes solver operating on adaptive, unstructured grids to simulate the interactions of extreme waves and three-dimensional structures. The present implementation follows the classic VOF implementation for the liquid-gas system, considering only the liquid phase. Extrapolation algorithms to obtain velocities and pressure in the gas region near the free surface have been implemented. The VOF technique is validated against the classic dam-break problem, as well as series of 2-D sloshing experiments and results from SPH calculations. These and a series of other examples demonstrate that the present CFD method is capable of simulating violent free surface fows with strong nonlinear behaviour.Postprint (published version