Free surface Neumann boundary condition for the advection–diffusion lattice Boltzmann method

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is the derivation and validation of a free surface Neumann boundary condition for the advection–diffusion lattice Boltzmann method. Most literature boundary conditions are applied on straight walls and sometimes on curved geometries or fixed free surfaces, but dynamic free surfaces, especially with fluid motion in normal direction, are hardly addressed. A Chapman–Enskog Expansion is the basis for the derivation of the advection–diffusion equation using the advection–diffusion lattice Boltzmann method and the BGK collision operator. For this numerical scheme, a free surface Neumann boundary condition with no flux in normal direction to the free surface is derived. Finally, the boundary condition is validated in different static and dynamic test scenarios, including a detailed view on the conservation of the diffusive scalar, the normal and tangential flux components to the free surface and the accuracy. The validation scenarios reveal the superiority of the new approach to the compared literature schemes, especially for arbitrary fluid motion.