Fluid-structure interaction with H(div)H(\text{div})-conforming finite elements

In this paper a novel application of the (high-order) $H(\text{div})$-conforming Hybrid Discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for monolithic fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is presented. The Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) description is derived for $H(\text{div})$-conforming finite elements including the Piola transformation, yielding exact divergence free fluid velocity solutions. The arising method is demonstrated by means of the benchmark problems proposed by Turek and Hron [50]. With hp-refinement strategies singularities and boundary layers are overcome leading to optimal spatial convergence rates

Mechanics-based solution verification for porous media models

This paper presents a new approach to verify accuracy of computational simulations. We develop mathematical theorems which can serve as robust a posteriori error estimation techniques to identify numerical pollution, check the performance of adaptive meshes, and verify numerical solutions. We demonstrate performance of this methodology on problems from flow thorough porous media. However, one can extend it to other models. We construct mathematical properties such that the solutions to Darcy and Darcy-Brinkman equations satisfy them. The mathematical properties include the total minimum mechanical power, minimum dissipation theorem, reciprocal relation, and maximum principle for the vorticity. All the developed theorems have firm mechanical bases and are independent of numerical methods. So, these can be utilized for solution verification of finite element, finite volume, finite difference, lattice Boltzmann methods and so forth. In particular, we show that, for a given set of boundary conditions, Darcy velocity has the minimum total mechanical power of all the kinematically admissible vector fields. We also show that a similar result holds for Darcy-Brinkman velocity. We then show for a conservative body force, the Darcy and Darcy-Brinkman velocities have the minimum total dissipation among their respective kinematically admissible vector fields. Using numerical examples, we show that the minimum dissipation and total mechanical power theorems can be utilized to identify pollution errors in numerical solutions. The solutions to Darcy and Darcy-Brinkman equations are shown to satisfy a reciprocal relation, which has the potential to identify errors in the numerical implementation of boundary conditions

Overview of the Incompressible Navier-Stokes simulation capabilities in the MOOSE Framework

The Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework is a high-performance, open source, C++ finite element toolkit developed at Idaho National Laboratory. MOOSE was created with the aim of assisting domain scientists and engineers in creating customizable, high-quality tools for multiphysics simulations. While the core MOOSE framework itself does not contain code for simulating any particular physical application, it is distributed with a number of physics "modules" which are tailored to solving e.g. heat conduction, phase field, and solid/fluid mechanics problems. In this report, we describe the basic equations, finite element formulations, software implementation, and regression/verification tests currently available in MOOSE's navier_stokes module for solving the Incompressible Navier-Stokes (INS) equations.Comment: 54 pages, 16 figures, includes peer reviewer revision

Discrete models for fluid-structure interactions: the Finite Element Immersed Boundary Method

The aim of this paper is to provide a survey of the state of the art in the finite element approach to the Immersed Boundary Method (FE-IBM) which has been investigated by the authors during the last decade. In a unified setting, we present the different formulation proposed in our research and highlight the advantages of the one based on a distributed Lagrange multiplier (DLM-IBM) over the original FE-IBM

A staggered semi-implicit hybrid FV/FE projection method for weakly compressible flows

In this article we present a novel staggered semi-implicit hybrid finite-volume/finite-element (FV/FE) method for the resolution of weakly compressible flows in two and three space dimensions. The pressure-based methodology introduced in Berm\'udez et al. 2014 and Busto et al. 2018 for viscous incompressible flows is extended here to solve the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Instead of considering the classical system including the energy conservation equation, we replace it by the pressure evolution equation written in non-conservative form. To ease the discretization of complex spatial domains, face-type unstructured staggered meshes are considered. A projection method allows the decoupling of the computation of the density and linear momentum variables from the pressure. Then, an explicit finite volume scheme is used for the resolution of the transport diffusion equations on the dual mesh, whereas the pressure system is solved implicitly by using continuous finite elements defined on the primal simplex mesh. Consequently, the CFL stability condition depends only on the flow velocity, avoiding the severe time restrictions that might be imposed by the sound velocity in the weakly compressible regime. High order of accuracy in space and time of the transport diffusion stage is attained using a local ADER (LADER) methodology. Moreover, also the CVC Kolgan-type second order in space and first order in time scheme is considered. To prevent spurious oscillations in the presence of shocks, an ENO-based reconstruction, the minmod limiter or the Barth-Jespersen limiter are employed. To show the validity and robustness of our novel staggered semi-implicit hybrid FV/FE scheme, several benchmarks are analysed, showing a good agreement with available exact solutions and numerical reference data from low Mach numbers, up to Mach numbers of the order of unity

Compatible finite element spaces for geophysical fluid dynamics

Compatible finite elements provide a framework for preserving important structures in equations of geophysical fluid dynamics, and are becoming important in their use for building atmosphere and ocean models. We survey the application of compatible finite element spaces to geophysical fluid dynamics, including the application to the nonlinear rotating shallow water equations, and the three-dimensional compressible Euler equations. We summarise analytic results about dispersion relations and conservation properties, and present new results on approximation properties in three dimensions on the sphere, and on hydrostatic balance properties.Comment: Revision to version published on DSC

Automatic Variationally Stable Analysis for FE Computations: An Introduction

We introduce an automatic variationally stable analysis (AVS) for finite element (FE) computations of scalar-valued convection-diffusion equations with non-constant and highly oscillatory coefficients. In the spirit of least squares FE methods, the AVS-FE method recasts the governing second order partial differential equation (PDE) into a system of first-order PDEs. However, in the subsequent derivation of the equivalent weak formulation, a Petrov-Galerkin technique is applied by using different regularities for the trial and test function spaces. We use standard FE approximation spaces for the trial spaces, which are C0, and broken Hilbert spaces for the test functions. Thus, we seek to compute pointwise continuous solutions for both the primal variable and its flux (as in least squares FE methods), while the test functions are piecewise discontinuous. To ensure the numerical stability of the subsequent FE discretizations, we apply the philosophy of the discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin (DPG) method by Demkowicz and Gopalakrishnan, by invoking test functions that lead to unconditionally stable numerical systems (if the kernel of the underlying differential operator is trivial). In the AVS-FE method, the discontinuous test functions are ascertained per the DPG approach from local, decoupled, and well-posed variational problems, which lead to best approximation properties in terms of the energy norm. We present various 2D numerical verifications, including convection-diffusion problems with highly oscillatory coefficients and extremely high Peclet numbers, up to a billion. These show the unconditional stability without the need for any upwind schemes nor any other artificial numerical stabilization. The results are not highly diffused for convection-dominated problems ...Comment: Preprint submitted to Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering, Springer Verla

A novel divergence-free Finite Element Method for the MHD Kinematics equations using Vector-potential

We propose a new mixed finite element method for the three-dimensional steady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) kinematics equations for which the velocity of the fluid is given. Although prescribing the velocity field leads to a simpler model than full MHD equations, its conservative and efficient numerical methods are still active research topic. The distinctive feature of our discrete scheme is that the divergence-free conditions for current density and magnetic induction are both satisfied. To reach this goal, we use magnetic vector potential to represent magnetic induction and resort to H(div)-conforming element to discretize the current density. We develop an preconditioned iterative solver based on a block preconditioner for the algebraic systems arising from the discretization. Several numerical experiments are implemented to verify the divergence-free properties, the convergence rate of the finite element scheme and the robustness of the preconditioner.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Modification to Darcy model for high pressure and high velocity applications and associated mixed finite element formulations

The Darcy model is based on a plethora of assumptions. One of the most important assumptions is that the Darcy model assumes the drag coefficient to be constant. However, there is irrefutable experimental evidence that viscosities of organic liquids and carbon-dioxide depend on the pressure. Experiments have also shown that the drag varies nonlinearly with respect to the velocity at high flow rates. In important technological applications like enhanced oil recovery and geological carbon-dioxide sequestration, one encounters both high pressures and high flow rates. It should be emphasized that flow characteristics and pressure variation under varying drag are both quantitatively and qualitatively different from that of constant drag. Motivated by experimental evidence, we consider the drag coefficient to depend on both the pressure and velocity. We consider two major modifications to the Darcy model based on the Barus formula and Forchheimer approximation. The proposed modifications to the Darcy model result in nonlinear partial differential equations, which are not amenable to analytical solutions. To this end, we present mixed finite element formulations based on least-squares formalism and variational multiscale formalism for the resulting governing equations. The proposed modifications to the Darcy model and its associated finite element formulations are used to solve realistic problems with relevance to enhanced oil recovery. We also study the competition between the nonlinear dependence of drag on the velocity and the dependence of viscosity on the pressure. To the best of the authors' knowledge such a systematic study has not been performed

A mass, energy, enstrophy and vorticity conserving (MEEVC) mimetic spectral element discretization for the 2D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

In this work we present a mimetic spectral element discretization for the 2D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations that in the limit of vanishing dissipation exactly preserves mass, kinetic energy, enstrophy and total vorticity on unstructured grids. The essential ingredients to achieve this are: (i) a velocity-vorticity formulation in rotational form, (ii) a sequence of function spaces capable of exactly satisfying the divergence free nature of the velocity field, and (iii) a conserving time integrator. Proofs for the exact discrete conservation properties are presented together with numerical test cases on highly irregular grids