Stabilized immersed isogeometric analysis for the Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard equations, with applications to binary-fluid flow through porous media

Binary-fluid flows can be modeled using the Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard equations, which represent the boundary between the fluid constituents by a diffuse interface. The diffuse-interface model allows for complex geometries and topological changes of the binary-fluid interface. In this work, we propose an immersed isogeometric analysis framework to solve the Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard equations on domains with geometrically complex external binary-fluid boundaries. The use of optimal-regularity B-splines results in a computationally efficient higher-order method. The key features of the proposed framework are a generalized Navier-slip boundary condition for the tangential velocity components, Nitsche's method for the convective impermeability boundary condition, and skeleton- and ghost-penalties to guarantee stability. A binary-fluid Taylor-Couette flow is considered for benchmarking. Porous medium simulations demonstrate the ability of the immersed isogeometric analysis framework to model complex binary-fluid flow phenomena such as break-up and coalescence in complex geometries

Computational phase-field modeling

Phase-field modeling is emerging as a promising tool for the treatment of problems with interfaces. The classical description of interface problems requires the numerical solution of partial differential equations on moving domains in which the domain motions are also unknowns. The computational treatment of these problems requires moving meshes and is very difficult when the moving domains undergo topological changes. Phase-field modeling may be understood as a methodology to reformulate interface problems as equations posed on fixed domains. In some cases, the phase-field model may be shown to converge to the moving-boundary problem as a regularization parameter tends to zero, which shows the mathematical soundness of the approach. However, this is only part of the story because phase-field models do not need to have a moving-boundary problem associated and can be rigorously derived from classical thermomechanics. In this context, the distinguishing feature is that constitutive models depend on the variational derivative of the free energy. In all, phase-field models open the opportunity for the efficient treatment of outstanding problems in computational mechanics, such as, the interaction of a large number of cracks in three dimensions, cavitation, film and nucleate boiling, tumor growth or fully three-dimensional air-water flows with surface tension. In addition, phase-field models bring a new set of challenges for numerical discretization that will excite the computational mechanics community

PetIGA: A framework for high-performance isogeometric analysis

We present PetIGA, a code framework to approximate the solution of partial differential equations using isogeometric analysis. PetIGA can be used to assemble matrices and vectors which come from a Galerkin weak form, discretized with Non-Uniform Rational B-spline basis functions. We base our framework on PETSc, a high-performance library for the scalable solution of partial differential equations, which simplifies the development of large-scale scientific codes, provides a rich environment for prototyping, and separates parallelism from algorithm choice. We describe the implementation of PetIGA, and exemplify its use by solving a model nonlinear problem. To illustrate the robustness and flexibility of PetIGA, we solve some challenging nonlinear partial differential equations that include problems in both solid and fluid mechanics. We show strong scaling results on up to 4096 cores, which confirm the suitability of PetIGA for large scale simulations

Thermodynamically consistent modeling and simulation of multiphase flows

textMultiphase flow is a familiar phenomenon from daily life and occupies an important role in physics, engineering, and medicine. The understanding of multiphase flows relies largely on the theory of interfaces, which is not well understood in many cases. To date, the Navier-Stokes-Korteweg equations and the Cahn-Hilliard equation have represented two major branches of phase-field modeling. The Navier-Stokes-Korteweg equations describe a single component fluid material with multiple states of matter, e.g., water and water vapor; the Cahn-Hilliard type models describe multi-component materials with immiscible interfaces, e.g., air and water. In this dissertation, a unified multiphase fluid modeling framework is developed based on rigorous mathematical and thermodynamic principles. This framework does not assume any ad hoc modeling procedures and is capable of formulating meaningful new models with an arbitrary number of different types of interfaces. In addition to the modeling, novel numerical technologies are developed in this dissertation focusing on the Navier-Stokes-Korteweg equations. First, the notion of entropy variables is properly generalized to the functional setting, which results in an entropy-dissipative semi-discrete formulation. Second, a family of quadrature rules is developed and applied to generate fully discrete schemes. The resulting schemes are featured with two main properties: they are provably dissipative in entropy and second-order accurate in time. In the presence of complex geometries and high-order differential terms, isogeometric analysis is invoked to provide accurate representations of computational geometries and robust numerical tools. A novel periodic transformation operator technology is also developed within the isogeometric context. It significantly simplifies the procedure of the strong imposition of periodic boundary conditions. These attributes make the proposed technologies an ideal candidate for credible numerical simulation of multiphase flows. A general-purpose parallel computing software, named PERIGEE, is developed in this work to provide an implementation framework for the above numerical methods. A comprehensive set of numerical examples has been studied to corroborate the aforementioned theories. Additionally, a variety of application examples have been investigated, culminating with the boiling simulation. Importantly, the boiling model overcomes several challenges for traditional boiling models, owing to its thermodynamically consistent nature. The numerical results indicate the promising potential of the proposed methodology for a wide range of multiphase flow problems.Computational Science, Engineering, and Mathematic

Boundary-Conforming Free-Surface Flow Computations: Interface Tracking for Linear, Higher-Order and Isogeometric Finite Elements

The simulation of certain flow problems requires a means for modeling a free fluid surface; examples being viscoelastic die swell or fluid sloshing in tanks. In a finite-element context, this type of problem can, among many other options, be dealt with using an interface-tracking approach with the Deforming-Spatial-Domain/Stabilized-Space-Time (DSD/SST) formulation. A difficult issue that is connected with this type of approach is the determination of a suitable coupling mechanism between the fluid velocity at the boundary and the displacement of the boundary mesh nodes. In order to avoid large mesh distortions, one goal is to keep the nodal movements as small as possible; but of course still compliant with the no-penetration boundary condition. Standard displacement techniques are full velocity, velocity in a specific coordinate direction, and velocity in normal direction. In this work, we investigate how the interface-tracking approach can be combined with isogeometric analysis for the spatial discretization. If NURBS basis functions of sufficient order are used for both the geometry and the solution, both a continuous normal vector as well as the velocity are available on the entire boundary. This circumstance allows the weak imposition of the no-penetration boundary condition. We compare this option with an alternative that relies on strong imposition at discrete points. Furthermore, we examine several coupling methods between the fluid equations, boundary conditions, and equations for the adjustment of interior control point positions.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figure