A note on equilibrium boundary conditions in lattice Boltzmann fluid dynamic simulations

Abstract

It is shown that Lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulations using simple equilibrium boundary conditions at solid walls, provide quantitatively accurate results for backward-facing step flows at moderate Reynolds numbers. The basic reason for such favorable behavior is that well-resolved LB simulations operate in the so-called weak non-equilibrium regime, in which shear effects at the scale of a single lattice spacing are weak, meaning by this that the cell-shear time scale is much longer than the molecular time scales, so that the LB collisional relaxation takes place in a quasi-homogeneous velocity field. Due to their simplicity, it is suggested that equilibrium boundary conditions may represent a viable option for the LB simulation of complex flows with solid boundaries at moderate Reynolds numbers.