Analytical solutions of the lattice Boltzmann BGK model

Analytical solutions of the two dimensional triangular and square lattice Boltzmann BGK models have been obtained for the plain Poiseuille flow and the plain Couette flow. The analytical solutions are written in terms of the characteristic velocity of the flow, the single relaxation time $\tau$ and the lattice spacing. The analytic solutions are the exact representation of these two flows without any approximation.Comment: 10 pages, no postscript figure provide

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of segregating binary fluid mixtures in shear flow

We apply lattice Boltzmann method to study the phase separation of a two-dimensional binary fluid mixture in shear flow. The algorithm can simulate systems described by the Navier-Stokes and convection-diffusion equations. We propose a new scheme for imposing the shear flow which has the advantage of preserving mass and momentum conservation on the boundary walls without introducing slip velocities. Our main results concern the presence of two typical lenght scales in the phase separation process, corresponding to domains with two different thicknesses. Our simulations at low viscosity confirm previous results only valid in the limit of infinite viscosity.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure

A new discrete velocity method for Navier-Stokes equations

The relation between Latttice Boltzmann Method, which has recently become popular, and the Kinetic Schemes, which are routinely used in Computational Fluid Dynamics, is explored. A new discrete velocity model for the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible fluid flow is presented by combining both the approaches. The new scheme can be interpreted as a pseudo-compressibility method and, for a particular choice of parameters, this interpretation carries over to the Lattice Boltzmann Method.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Non-Ideal Fluids

A lattice Boltzmann scheme able to model the hydrodynamics of phase separation and two-phase flow is described. Thermodynamic consistency is ensured by introducing a non-ideal pressure tensor directly into the collision operator. We also show how an external chemical potential can be used to supplement standard boundary conditions in order to investigate the effect of wetting on phase separation and fluid flow in confined geometries. The approach has the additional advantage of reducing many of the unphysical discretisation problems common to previous lattice Boltzmann methods.Comment: 11 pages, revtex, 4 Postscript figures, uuencode

Absorbing boundary and free-surface conditions in the phononic lattice solid by interpolation

We have recently developed a new lattice-Boltzmann-based approach for modelling compressional wave propagation in heterogeneous media, which we call the phononic lattice solid by interpolation (PLSI). In this paper, we propose an absorbing boundary condition for the PLSI method in which the microscopic reflection coefficients at the boundaries of a model are set to zero and viscous layers are added to the boundaries. Numerical simulation examples using the PLSI method and comparisons with exact solutions demonstrate that artificial boundary reflections can be almost completely eliminated when the incidence angle is less than approximately 70°. Beyond this angle, remanent artificial boundary reflections become visible. We propose four methods for modelling free-surface reflections in PLSI simulations. In the first three methods, special collision rules at a free surface are specified to take into account the effect of a free surface on quasi-particle movements (i.e. wave propagation). They are termed the specular bouncing, backward bouncing I, and combined bouncing methods. They involve quasi-particle reflections with a coefficient of - 1 and require the free surface to be located exactly along lattice nodes. For the fourth method, we modify the backward bouncing I model for the case when a free surface is located at any position along lattice links and thus term it the backward bouncing II model. It uses the reflection coefficient at the free surface to calculate the reflected number densities during PLSI simulations. Hence, the free surface is handled in the same way as an interface within a model. Numerical examples and comparisons with exact solutions show that these four methods used at the microscopic scale are all appropriate for modelling macroscopic waves reflected from free surfaces

Simulating Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamics on a Cellular-Automata Machine

We demonstrate how three-dimensional fluid flow simulations can be carried out on the Cellular Automata Machine 8 (CAM-8), a special-purpose computer for cellular-automata computations. The principal algorithmic innovation is the use of a lattice-gas model with a 16-bit collision operator that is specially adapted to the machine architecture. It is shown how the collision rules can be optimized to obtain a low viscosity of the fluid. Predictions of the viscosity based on a Boltzmann approximation agree well with measurements of the viscosity made on CAM-8. Several test simulations of flows in simple geometries -- channels, pipes, and a cubic array of spheres -- are carried out. Measurements of average flux in these geometries compare well with theoretical predictions.Comment: 19 pages, REVTeX and epsf macros require

Phase separating binary fluids under oscillatory shear

We apply lattice Boltzmann methods to study the segregation of binary fluid mixtures under oscillatory shear flow in two dimensions. The algorithm allows to simulate systems whose dynamics is described by the Navier-Stokes and the convection-diffusion equations. The interplay between several time scales produces a rich and complex phenomenology. We investigate the effects of different oscillation frequencies and viscosities on the morphology of the phase separating domains. We find that at high frequencies the evolution is almost isotropic with growth exponents 2/3 and 1/3 in the inertial (low viscosity) and diffusive (high viscosity) regimes, respectively. When the period of the applied shear flow becomes of the same order of the relaxation time $T_R$ of the shear velocity profile, anisotropic effects are clearly observable. In correspondence with non-linear patterns for the velocity profiles, we find configurations where lamellar order close to the walls coexists with isotropic domains in the middle of the system. For particular values of frequency and viscosity it can also happen that the convective effects induced by the oscillations cause an interruption or a slowing of the segregation process, as found in some experiments. Finally, at very low frequencies, the morphology of domains is characterized by lamellar order everywhere in the system resembling what happens in the case with steady shear.Comment: 1 table and 12 figures in .gif forma