878 research outputs found
Spectral/hp element methods: recent developments, applications, and perspectives
The spectral/hp element method combines the geometric flexibility of the
classical h-type finite element technique with the desirable numerical
properties of spectral methods, employing high-degree piecewise polynomial
basis functions on coarse finite element-type meshes. The spatial approximation
is based upon orthogonal polynomials, such as Legendre or Chebychev
polynomials, modified to accommodate C0-continuous expansions. Computationally
and theoretically, by increasing the polynomial order p, high-precision
solutions and fast convergence can be obtained and, in particular, under
certain regularity assumptions an exponential reduction in approximation error
between numerical and exact solutions can be achieved. This method has now been
applied in many simulation studies of both fundamental and practical
engineering flows. This paper briefly describes the formulation of the
spectral/hp element method and provides an overview of its application to
computational fluid dynamics. In particular, it focuses on the use the
spectral/hp element method in transitional flows and ocean engineering.
Finally, some of the major challenges to be overcome in order to use the
spectral/hp element method in more complex science and engineering applications
are discussed
Large-eddy simulation of the flow in a lid-driven cubical cavity
Large-eddy simulations of the turbulent flow in a lid-driven cubical cavity
have been carried out at a Reynolds number of 12000 using spectral element
methods. Two distinct subgrid-scales models, namely a dynamic Smagorinsky model
and a dynamic mixed model, have been both implemented and used to perform
long-lasting simulations required by the relevant time scales of the flow. All
filtering levels make use of explicit filters applied in the physical space (on
an element-by-element approach) and spectral (modal) spaces. The two
subgrid-scales models are validated and compared to available experimental and
numerical reference results, showing very good agreement. Specific features of
lid-driven cavity flow in the turbulent regime, such as inhomogeneity of
turbulence, turbulence production near the downstream corner eddy, small-scales
localization and helical properties are investigated and discussed in the
large-eddy simulation framework. Time histories of quantities such as the total
energy, total turbulent kinetic energy or helicity exhibit different evolutions
but only after a relatively long transient period. However, the average values
remain extremely close
Non-modal analysis of spectral element methods: Towards accurate and robust large-eddy simulations
We introduce a \textit{non-modal} analysis technique that characterizes the
diffusion properties of spectral element methods for linear
convection-diffusion systems. While strictly speaking only valid for linear
problems, the analysis is devised so that it can give critical insights on two
questions: (i) Why do spectral element methods suffer from stability issues in
under-resolved computations of nonlinear problems? And, (ii) why do they
successfully predict under-resolved turbulent flows even without a
subgrid-scale model? The answer to these two questions can in turn provide
crucial guidelines to construct more robust and accurate schemes for complex
under-resolved flows, commonly found in industrial applications. For
illustration purposes, this analysis technique is applied to the hybridized
discontinuous Galerkin methods as representatives of spectral element methods.
The effect of the polynomial order, the upwinding parameter and the P\'eclet
number on the so-called \textit{short-term diffusion} of the scheme are
investigated. From a purely non-modal analysis point of view, polynomial orders
between and with standard upwinding are well suited for under-resolved
turbulence simulations. For lower polynomial orders, diffusion is introduced in
scales that are much larger than the grid resolution. For higher polynomial
orders, as well as for strong under/over-upwinding, robustness issues can be
expected. The non-modal analysis results are then tested against under-resolved
turbulence simulations of the Burgers, Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. While
devised in the linear setting, our non-modal analysis succeeds to predict the
behavior of the scheme in the nonlinear problems considered
On the performance of a high-order multiscale DG approach to LES at increasing Reynolds number
The variational multiscale (VMS) approach based on a high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is used to perform LES of the sub-critical flow past a circular cylinder at Reynolds 3 900, 20 000 and 140 000. The effect of the numerical flux function on the quality of the LES solutions is also studied in the context of very coarse discretizations of the TGV configuration at Re = 20 000. The potential of using p-adaption in combination with DG-VMS is illustrated for the cylinder flow at Re = 140 000 by considering a non-uniform distribution of the polynomial degree based on a recently developed error estimation strategy. The results from these tests demonstrate the robustness of the DG-VMS approach with increasing Reynolds number on a highly curved geometrical configuration
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