Accurate Parallel Algorithm for Tracking Inertial Particles in Large-Scale Direct Numerical Simulations of Turbulence

Abstract

Statistics on the motion of small heavy (inertial) particles in turbulent flows with a high Reynolds number are physically fundamental to understanding realistic turbulent diffusion phenomena. An accurate parallel algorithm for tracking particles in large-scale direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of turbulence in a periodic box has been developed to extract accurate statistics on the motion of inertial particles. The tracking accuracy of the particle motion is known to primarily depend on the spatial resolution of the DNS for the turbulence and the accuracy of the interpolation scheme used to calculate the fluid velocity at the particle position. In this study, a DNS code based on the Fourier spectral method and two-dimensional domain decomposition method was developed and optimised for the K computer. An interpolation scheme based on cubic splines is implemented by solving tridiagonal matrix problems in parallel.