A new 3D OpenFoam solver with improved resolution for hyperbolic systems on hybrid unstructured grids

Abstract

Although the accuracy and the robustness of discretized schemes solving hyperbolic systems have been greatly improved over the last two decades, devising a low-dissipative and non-oscillatory method remains a challenge. Especially, it is algorithmically complicated and computationally expensive to extend and apply high-resolution non-oscillatory schemes to 3D hybrid unstructured grids. Therefore, in this work we develop accurate, practical, and robust 3D hybrid unstructured OpenFoam solvers which can be applied in wide industrial applications. Different from existing 3D high order numerical solvers of which reconstruction schemes are based on polynomials of high degree, the proposed 3D scheme employs a polynomial function and a hyperbolic tangent basis function as two candidates for reconstruction functions. The MUSCL (Monotone Upstream-centered Schemes for Conservation law) scheme with the MLP (Multi-dimensional Limiting Process) slope limiter is adopted as the polynomial function. The multi-dimensional THINC (Tangent of Hyperbola for INterface Capturing) function with quadratic surface representation and Gaussian quadrature, so-called THINC/QQ, is used as the non-polynomial reconstruction candidate. With these reconstruction candidates, a multi-stage boundary variation diminishing (BVD) algorithm which significantly minimizes numerical dissipation is designed on 3D unstructured grids to select the final reconstruction function. With this accurate and robust reconstruction scheme, then we developed new solvers for simulating inviscid high speed compressible single-phase flow and two-phase flow via the implementation of the proposed scheme and algorithm into the open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, OpenFOAM. The solver with the proposed low-dissipative scheme, named as EulerEquationFoam-M-TQ-BVD, is constructed with the density-based solver for inviscid high speed compressible flow simulations. To simulate compressible multi-material flow with moving material interfaces, a solver named as FiveEquationFoam-M-TQ-BVD is developed based on mechanical-equilibrium diffusive interface model and MieGrüneisen equation of state. The performance of new solvers is evaluated through wide range benchmark tests and are compared with existing high order schemes such as the third-order WENO (Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory) scheme. The new solvers produce superior solution across critical points, contact discontinuities and material interfaces. Moreover, in comparison with WENO schemes, the proposed solver enjoys algorithmic simplicity and greater flexibility in 3D hybrid unstructured grids. Thus, this work provides accurate, practical and robust numerical solvers for high speed compressible single- and multi-material flow simulations.