Entropic Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of the Flow Past Square Cylinder

Minimal Boltzmann kinetic models, such as lattice Boltzmann, are often used as an alternative to the discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations for hydrodynamic simulations. Recently, it was argued that modeling sub-grid scale phenomena at the kinetic level might provide an efficient tool for large scale simulations. Indeed, a particular variant of this approach, known as the entropic lattice Boltzmann method (ELBM), has shown that an efficient coarse-grained simulation of decaying turbulence is possible using these approaches. The present work investigates the efficiency of the entropic lattice Boltzmann in describing flows of engineering interest. In order to do so, we have chosen the flow past a square cylinder, which is a simple model of such flows. We will show that ELBM can quantitatively capture the variation of vortex shedding frequency as a function of Reynolds number in the low as well as the high Reynolds number regime, without any need for explicit sub-grid scale modeling. This extends the previous studies for this set-up, where experimental behavior ranging from $Re\sim O(10)$ to $Re\leq 1000$ were predicted by a single simulation algorithm.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Transitional flows with the entropic lattice Boltzmann method

The accuracy and performance of entropic multi-relaxation time lattice Boltzmann models are assessed for transitional flows of engineering interest. A simulation of the flow over a low-Reynolds-number SD7003 airfoil at Re = 6 × 104 , at an angle of attack α = 4 ◦ , is performed and thoroughly compared to available numerical and experimental data. In order to include blockage and curvature effects, simulations of the flow in a low-pressure turbine passage composed of T106 blade profiles, at a chord Reynolds number of Re = 6 × 104 or Re = 1.48 × 105 , for different free-stream turbulence intensities are presented. Using a multi-domain grid refinement strategy in combination with Grad’s boundary conditions yields good agreement for all simulations. The results demonstrate that the entropic lattice Boltzmann model is a viable, parameter-free alternative to modelling approaches such as large-eddy simulations with similar resolution requirements.ISSN:0022-1120ISSN:1469-764

Entropic multi-relaxation time lattice Boltzmann model for complex flows

Entropic lattice Boltzmann methods were introduced to overcome the stability issues of lattice Boltzmann models for high Reynolds number turbulent flows. However, to date their validity has been investigated only for simple flows due to the lack of appropriate boundary conditions. We present here an extension of these models to complex flows involving curved and moving boundaries in three dimensions. Apart from a thorough investigation of resolved and under-resolved simulations for periodic flow and turbulent flow in a round pipe, we study in detail the set-up of a simplified internal combustion engine with a valve/piston arrangement. This arrangement allows us to probe the non-trivial interactions between various flow features such as jet breakup, jet–wall interaction, and formation and breakup of large vortical structures, among others. Besides an order of magnitude reduction in computational costs, when compared to state-of-the-art direct numerical simulations (DNS), these methods come with the additional advantage of using static Cartesian meshes also for moving objects, which reduces the complexity of the scheme. Going beyond first-order statistics, a detailed comparison of mean and root-mean-square velocity profiles with high-order spectral element DNS simulations and experimental data shows excellent agreement, highlighting the accuracy and reliability of the method for resolved simulations. Moreover, we show that the implicit subgrid features of the entropic lattice Boltzmann method can be utilized to further reduce the grid sizes and the computational costs, providing an alternative to modern modelling approaches such as large-eddy simulations for complex flows.ISSN:0022-1120ISSN:1469-764