A coupled lattice Boltzmann-finite element approach for two-dimensional fluid–structure interaction

Abstract

In this paper, a systematic approach to couple the lattice Boltzmann and the finite element methods is presented for fluid–structure interaction problems. In particular, elastic structures and weakly compressible viscous fluids are considered. Three partitioned coupling strategies are proposed and the accuracy and convergence properties of the resultant algorithms are numerically investigated together with their computational efficiency. The corotational formulation is adopted to account for structure large displacements. The Time Discontinuous Galerkin method is used as time integration scheme for structure dynamics. The advantages over standard Newmark time integration schemes are discussed. In the lattice Boltzmann solver, an accurate curved boundary condition is implemented in order to properly define the structure position. In addition, moving boundaries are treated by an effective refill procedure.