Finite element approximation of the viscoelastic flow problem: a non-residual based stabilized formulation

In this paper, a three-field finite element stabilized formulation for the incompressible viscoelastic fluid flow problem is tested numerically. Starting from a residual based formulation, a non-residual based one is designed, the benefits of which are highlighted in this work. Both formulations allow one to deal with the convective nature of the problem and to use equal interpolation for the problem unknowns View the MathML sources-u-p (deviatoric stress, velocity and pressure). Additionally, some results from the numerical analysis of the formulation are stated. Numerical examples are presented to show the robustness of the method, which include the classical 4: 1 planar contraction problem and the flow over a confined cylinder case, as well as a two-fluid formulation for the planar jet buckling problem.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Stabilized finite element formulations for the three-field viscoelastic fluid flow problem

The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a powerful numerical tool, that permits the resolution of problems defined by partial differential equations, very often employed to deal with the numerical simulation of multiphysics problems. In this work, we use it to approximate numerically the viscoelastic fluid flow problem, which involves the resolution of the standard Navier-Stokes equations for velocity and pressure, and another tensorial reactive-convective constitutive equation for the elastic part of the stress, that describes the viscoelastic nature of the fluid. The three-field (velocity-pressure-stress) mixed formulation of the incompressible Navier-Stokes problem, either in the elastic and in the non-elastic case, can lead to two different types of numerical instabilities. The first is associated with the incompressibility and loss of stability of the stress field, and the second with the dominant convection. The first type of instabilities can be overcome by choosing an interpolation for the unknowns that satisfies the two inf-sup conditions that restrict the mixed problem, whereas the dominant convection requires a stabilized formulation in any case. In this work, different stabilized schemes of the Sub-Grid-Scale (SGS) type are proposed to solve the three-field problem, first for quasi Newtonian fluids and then for solving the viscoelastic case. The proposed methods allow one to use equal interpolation for the problem unknowns and to stabilize dominant convective terms both in the momentum and in the constitutive equation. Starting from a residual based formulation used in the quasi-Newtonian case, a non-residual based formulation is proposed in the viscoelastic case which is shown to have superior behavior when there are numerical or geometrical singularities. The stabilized finite element formulations presented in the work yield a global stable solution, however, if the solution presents very high gradients, local oscillations may still remain. In order to alleviate these local instabilities, a general discontinuity-capturing technique for the elastic stress is also proposed. The monolithic resolution of the three-field viscoelastic problem could be extremely expensive computationally, particularly, in the threedimensional case with ten degrees of freedom per node. A fractional step approach motivated in the classical pressure segregation algorithms used in the two-field Navier-Stokes problem is presented in the work.The algorithms designed allow one the resolution of the system of equations that define the problem in a fully decoupled manner, reducing in this way the CPU time and memory requirements with respect to the monolithic case. The numerical simulation of moving interfaces involved in two-fluid flow problems is an important topic in many industrial processes and physical situations. If we solve the problem using a fixed mesh approach, when the interface between both fluids cuts an element, the discontinuity in the material properties leads to discontinuities in the gradients of the unknowns which cannot be captured using a standard finite element interpolation. The method presented in this work features a local enrichment for the pressure unknowns which allows one to capture pressure gradient discontinuities in fluids presenting different density values. The stability and convergence of the non-residual formulation used for viscoelastic fluids is analyzed in the last part of the work, for a linearized stationary case of the Oseen type and for the semi-discrete time dependent non-linear case. In both cases, it is shown that the formulation is stable and optimally convergent under suitable regularity assumptions.El Método de los Elementos Finitos (MEF) es una herramienta numérica de gran alcance, que permite la resolución de problemas definidos por ecuaciones diferenciales parciales, comúnmente utilizado para llevar a cabo simulaciones numéricas de problemas de multifísica. En este trabajo, se utiliza para aproximar numéricamente el problema del flujo de fluidos viscoelásticos, el cual requiere la resolución de las ecuaciones básicas de Navier-Stokes y otra ecuación adicional constitutiva tensorial de tipo reactiva-convectiva, que describe la naturaleza viscoelástica del fluido. La formulación mixta de tres campos (velocidad-presión-tensión) del problema de Navier-Stokes, tanto en el caso elástico como en el no-elástico, puede conducir a dos tipos de inestabilidades numéricas. El primer grupo, se asocia con la incompresibilidad del fluido y la pérdida de estabilidad del campo de tensiones, y el segundo con la convección dominante. El primer tipo de inestabilidades, se puede solucionar eligiendo un tipo de interpolación entre las incógnitas que satisfaga las dos condiciones inf-sup que restringen el problema mixto, mientras que la convección dominante requiere del uso de formulaciones estabilizadas en cualquier caso. En el trabajo, se proponen diferentes esquemas estabilizados del tipo SGS (Sub-Grid-Scales) para resolver el problema de tres campos, primero para fluidos del tipo cuasi-newtonianos y luego para resolver el caso viscoelástico. Los métodos estabilizados propuestos permiten el uso de igual interpolación entre las incógnitas del problema y estabilizan la convección dominante, tanto en la ecuación de momento como en la ecuación constitutiva. Comenzando desde una formulación de tipo residual usada en el caso cuasi-newtoniano, se propone una formulación no-residual para el caso viscoelástico que muestra un comportamiento superior en presencia de singularidades numéricas y geométricas. En general, una formulación estabilizada produce una solución estable global, sin embargo, si la solución presenta gradientes elevados, oscilaciones locales se pueden mantener. Con el objetivo de aliviar este tipo de inestabilidades locales, se propone adicionalmente una técnica general de captura de discontinuidades para la tensión elástica. La resolución monolítica del problema de tres campos viscoelástico puede llegar a ser extremadamente costosa computacionalmente, sobre todo, en el caso tridimensional donde se tienen diez grados de libertad por nodo. Un enfoque de paso fraccionado motivado en los algorítmos clásicos de segregación de la presión usados en el caso del problema de dos campos de Navier-Stokes, se presenta en el trabajo, el cual permite la resolución del sistema de ecuaciones que definen el problema de una manera completamente desacoplada, lo que reduce los tiempos de cálculo y los requerimientos de memoria, respecto al caso monolítico. La simulación numérica de interfaces móviles que envuelve los problemas de dos fluidos, es un tópico importante en un gran número de procesos industriales y situaciones físicas. Si se resuelve el problema utilizando un enfoque de mallas fijas, cuando la interfaz que separa los dos fluidos corta un elemento, la discontinuidad en las propiedades materiales da lugar a discontinuidades en los gradientes de las incógnitas que no pueden ser capturados utilizando una formulación estándar de interpolación. Un enriquecimiento local para la presión se presenta en el trabajo, el cual permite la captura de gradientes discontinuos en la presión, asociados a fluidos de diferentes densidades. La estabilidad y la convergencia de la formulación no-residual utilizada para fluidos viscoelásticos es analizada en la última parte del trabajo, para un caso linealizado estacionario del tipo Oseen y para un problema transitorio no-lineal semi-discreto. En ambos casos, se logra mostrar que la formulación es estable y de convergencia óptima bajo supuestos de regularidad adecuados.Postprint (published version

Approximation of the two-fluid flow problem for viscoelastic fluids using the level set method and pressure enriched finite element shape functions

The numerical simulation of complex flows has been a subject of intense research in the last years with important industrial applications in many fields. In this paper we present a finite element method to solve the two immiscible fluid flow problems using the level set method. When the interface between both fluids cuts an element, the discontinuity in the material properties leads to discontinuities in the gradients of the unknowns which cannot be captured using a standard finite element interpolation. The method presented in this work features a local enrichment for the pressure unknowns which allows one to capture pressure gradient discontinuities in fluids presenting different density values. The method is tested on two problems: the first example consists of a sloshing case that involves the interaction of a Giesekus and a Newtonian fluid. This example shows that the enriched pressure functions permit the exact resolution of the hydrostatic rest state. The second example is the classical jet buckling problem used to validate our method. To permit the use of equal interpolation between the variables, we use a variational multiscale formulation proposed recently by Castillo and Codina (2014) [21], that has shown very good stability properties, permitting also the resolution of the jet buckling flow problem in the the range of Weissenberg number 0 < We < 100, using the Oldroyd-B model without any sign of numerical instability. Additional features of the work are the inclusion of a discontinuity capturing technique for the constitutive equation and some comparisons between a monolithic resolution and a fractional step approach to solve the viscoelastic fluid flow problem from the point of view of computational requirements. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Postprint (author's final draft

An Analysis of the Rayleigh-Stokes problem for a Generalized Second-Grade Fluid

We study the Rayleigh-Stokes problem for a generalized second-grade fluid which involves a Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative in time, and present an analysis of the problem in the continuous, space semidiscrete and fully discrete formulations. We establish the Sobolev regularity of the homogeneous problem for both smooth and nonsmooth initial data $v$, including $v\in L^2(\Omega)$. A space semidiscrete Galerkin scheme using continuous piecewise linear finite elements is developed, and optimal with respect to initial data regularity error estimates for the finite element approximations are derived. Further, two fully discrete schemes based on the backward Euler method and second-order backward difference method and the related convolution quadrature are developed, and optimal error estimates are derived for the fully discrete approximations for both smooth and nonsmooth initial data. Numerical results for one- and two-dimensional examples with smooth and nonsmooth initial data are presented to illustrate the efficiency of the method, and to verify the convergence theory.Comment: 23 pp, 4 figures. The error analysis of the fully discrete scheme is shortene

FEEDBACK BOUNDARY OF 4:1 ROUNDED CONTRACTION SLIP FLOW FOR OLDROYD-B FLUID BY FINITE ELEMENT

The driven force feedback in viscoelastic flow is a technique to enforce converged solution of Oldroyd-B fluid on the basis of semi-implicit TaylorGalerkin finite element method for 4:1 contraction geometry with rounded corner meshes. Meanwhile in the numerical computation, the Phan-Thien slip rule is applied to complete the slip velocity along the die wall. After application of the slip condition, the severe stress near die exit and the vortex size around contraction corner are clearly reduced. This simulation is modeled with the Navier-Stokes and Oldroyd-B equations in two-dimensional planar isothermal incompressible creeping flow. The non-linear differential models are discretised to system of linear equations with semi-implicit Taylor-Galerkin finite element method. In addition, the Streamline-Upwind/Petrov-Galerkin and velocity gradient recovery are accuracy and the stability schemes to stabilize an approximate solution. The optimal slip velocity is modified step by step by critical slip coefficient to set the slip condition at the wall and when the solutions of slip and no- slip cases are compared with analytic solution, the outcome of slip condition shows better conformity to real results

Numerical analysis of the Taylor Galerkin Pressure Correction (TGPC) finite element method for Newtonian fluid

In this study, a time stepping Taylor Galerkin Pressure Correction finite element scheme (TGPC) is investigated on the basis of incompressible Newtonian flows. Naiver-Stoke partial differential equations have been used to describe the motion of the fluid. The equations consist of a time-dependent continuity equation for conservation of mass and time-dependent conservation of momentum equations. Examples considered include a start-up of Poiseuille flow in a rectangular channel for the Newtonian fluid. In that context, three different meshes 2×2, 5×5 and 10×10 are implemented to investigate the effect mesh refinements on the accuracy of the solution. In addition, the behaviour of velocity and pressure are reported in this study. Keywords: Finite element methods, Taylor expansion, Naiver-Stoke equations, Newtonian fluid, Galerkin metho

Unsteady nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic micropolar transport phenomena with hall and ion-slip current effects : numerical study

Unsteady viscous two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic micropolar flow, heat and mass transfer from an infinite vertical surface with Hall and Ion-slip currents is investigated theoretically and numerically. The simulation presented is motivated by electro-conductive polymer (ECP) materials processing in which multiple electromagnetic effects arise. The primitive boundary layer conservation equations are transformed into a non-similar system of coupled non-dimensional momentum, angular momentum, energy and concentration equations, with appropriate boundary conditions. The resulting two-point boundary value problem is solved numerically by an exceptionally stable and welltested implicit finite difference technique. A stability analysis is included for restrictions of the implicit finite difference method (FDM) employed. Validation with a Galerkin finite element method (FEM) technique is included. The influence of various parameters is presented graphically on primary and secondary shear stress, Nusselt number, Sherwood number and wall couple stress. Secondary (cross flow) shear stress is strongly enhanced with greater magnetic parameter (Hartmann number) and micropolar wall couple stress is also weakl y enhanced for small time values with Hartmann number. Increasing thermo-diffusive Soret number suppresses both Nusselt and Sherwood numbers whereas it elevates both primary and secondary shear stress and at larger time values also increases the couple stress. Secondary shear stress is strongly boosted with Hall parameter. Ion slip effect induces a weak modification in primary and secondary shear stress distributions. The present study is relevant to electroconductive non-Newtonian (magnetic polymer) materials processing systems

Mini-Workshop: Interface Problems in Computational Fluid Dynamics

Multiple difficulties are encountered when designing algorithms to simulate flows having free surfaces, embedded particles, or elastic containers. One difficulty common to all of these problems is that the associated interfaces are Lagrangian in character, while the fluid equations are naturally posed in the Eulerian frame. This workshop explores different approaches and algorithms developed to resolve these issues