A matrix-free high-order discontinuous Galerkin compressible Navier-Stokes solver: A performance comparison of compressible and incompressible formulations for turbulent incompressible flows

Both compressible and incompressible Navier-Stokes solvers can be used and are used to solve incompressible turbulent flow problems. In the compressible case, the Mach number is then considered as a solver parameter that is set to a small value, $\mathrm{M}\approx 0.1$, in order to mimic incompressible flows. This strategy is widely used for high-order discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. The present work raises the question regarding the computational efficiency of compressible DG solvers as compared to a genuinely incompressible formulation. Our contributions to the state-of-the-art are twofold: Firstly, we present a high-performance discontinuous Galerkin solver for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations based on a highly efficient matrix-free implementation that targets modern cache-based multicore architectures. The performance results presented in this work focus on the node-level performance and our results suggest that there is great potential for further performance improvements for current state-of-the-art discontinuous Galerkin implementations of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Secondly, this compressible Navier-Stokes solver is put into perspective by comparing it to an incompressible DG solver that uses the same matrix-free implementation. We discuss algorithmic differences between both solution strategies and present an in-depth numerical investigation of the performance. The considered benchmark test cases are the three-dimensional Taylor-Green vortex problem as a representative of transitional flows and the turbulent channel flow problem as a representative of wall-bounded turbulent flows

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

Efficiency of high-performance discontinuous Galerkin spectral element methods for under-resolved turbulent incompressible flows

The present paper addresses the numerical solution of turbulent flows with high-order discontinuous Galerkin methods for discretizing the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The efficiency of high-order methods when applied to under-resolved problems is an open issue in literature. This topic is carefully investigated in the present work by the example of the 3D Taylor-Green vortex problem. Our implementation is based on a generic high-performance framework for matrix-free evaluation of finite element operators with one of the best realizations currently known. We present a methodology to systematically analyze the efficiency of the incompressible Navier-Stokes solver for high polynomial degrees. Due to the absence of optimal rates of convergence in the under-resolved regime, our results reveal that demonstrating improved efficiency of high-order methods is a challenging task and that optimal computational complexity of solvers, preconditioners, and matrix-free implementations are necessary ingredients to achieve the goal of better solution quality at the same computational costs already for a geometrically simple problem such as the Taylor-Green vortex. Although the analysis is performed for a Cartesian geometry, our approach is generic and can be applied to arbitrary geometries. We present excellent performance numbers on modern, cache-based computer architectures achieving a throughput for operator evaluation of 3e8 up to 1e9 DoFs/sec on one Intel Haswell node with 28 cores. Compared to performance results published within the last 5 years for high-order DG discretizations of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations, our approach reduces computational costs by more than one order of magnitude for the same setup

A Fast Hybrid Pressure-Correction Algorithm for Simulating Incompressible Flows by Projection Methods

For simulating incompressible flows by projection methods. it is generally accepted that the pressure-correction stage is the most time-consuming part of the flow solver. The objective of the present work is to develop a fast hybrid pressure-correction algorithm for numerical simulation of incompressible flows around obstacles in the context of projection methods. The key idea is to adopt different numerical methods/discretizations in the sub-steps of projection methods. Here, a classical second-order time-marching projection method which consists of two sub-steps is chosen for the purpose of demonstration. In the first sub-step, the momentum equations are discretized on unstructured grids and solved by conventional numerical methods, here, a meshless method. In the second sub-step (pressure-correction), the proposed algorithm adopts a double discretization system and combines the weighted least squares approximation with the essence of immersed boundary methods. Such a design allows us to develop a FFT-based solver to speed up the solution of the pressure Poisson equation for flow cases with obstacles, while keeping the implementation of boundary conditions for the momentum equations as easy as conventional numerical methods do with unstructured grids. Numerical experiments of five test cases have been performed to verify and validate the proposed hybrid algorithm and evaluate its computational performance. The results show that the new FFT-based hybrid algorithm is working and robust, and it is significantly faster than the multigrid-based reference method. The hybrid algorithm opens an avenue for the development of next-generation high-performance parallel computational fluid dynamics solvers for incompressible flows

Time-Accurate, Unstructured-Mesh Navier-Stokes Computations with the Space-Time CESE Method

Application of the newly emerged space-time conservation element solution element (CESE) method to compressible Navier-Stokes equations is studied. In contrast to Euler equations solvers, several issues such as boundary conditions, numerical dissipation, and grid stiffness warrant systematic investigations and validations. Non-reflecting boundary conditions applied at the truncated boundary are also investigated from the stand point of acoustic wave propagation. Validations of the numerical solutions are performed by comparing with exact solutions for steady-state as well as time-accurate viscous flow problems. The test cases cover a broad speed regime for problems ranging from acoustic wave propagation to 3D hypersonic configurations. Model problems pertinent to hypersonic configurations demonstrate the effectiveness of the CESE method in treating flows with shocks, unsteady waves, and separations. Good agreement with exact solutions suggests that the space-time CESE method provides a viable alternative for time-accurate Navier-Stokes calculations of a broad range of problems