Euler Solver Research Articles

Flow over traveling and rotating cylinders using a hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian solver

Hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian solvers have gained increasing attention in the field of external aerodynamics, particularly when dealing with strong body–vortex interactions. This approach effectively combines the strengths of the Eulerian component, which accurately resolves boundary layer phenomena, and the Lagrangian component, which efficiently evolves the wake downstream. This study builds on our team’s previous work by enhancing the capabilities of a two-dimensional hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian solver. We aim to upgrade our solver which was initially designed for static cases, to now also simulate cases involving moving objects. To ensure the reliability and applicability of a new solver, it is essential to validate its performance in complex cases. Here, the solver is validated across the case of a traveling cylinder and the case of a rotating cylinder in two different rotational speeds at low Reynolds numbers. In the realm of Eulerian solvers, such as OpenFOAM (utilized for the Eulerian component of this hybrid approach), traditional techniques include the use of morphing meshes, overset meshes, and Arbitrary Mesh Interfaces (AMI) to model body motion. The proposed methodology involves extending the Eulerian mesh up to a short distance from the solid boundary and moving it entirely as a solid entity. Then the Lagrangian solver is responsible for calculating the updated boundary conditions, thereby completing the hybrid solver’s functionality. This approach is very similar to the overset mesh technique. However, unlike the traditional method where an Eulerian mesh moves on top of a static one, our method involves the motion of an Eulerian mesh over a Lagrangian grid. We compared the results from our hybrid solver with those from a purely Eulerian solver, specifically OpenFOAM. The comparison demonstrates that our solver can replicate OpenFOAM’s results with high accuracy. Another interesting point highlighted in this study is the presence of high-frequency oscillations in the body forces in hybrid solvers that incorporate the redistribution of Lagrangian particles and do not utilize surface elements such as vortex panels, specifically when dealing with dynamic mesh simulations. When the Eulerian mesh travels on top of the Lagrangian grid of particles, the positions of the particles with respect to the Eulerian mesh continuously change. This results in a constant shift of particles near the solid body, where the highest vorticity is observed. Particles that are close to the solid boundary at one time step may find themselves inside the boundary at the next time step, leading to their removal. This pattern continuously changes during the simulation, causing fluctuations in the boundary conditions of the Eulerian solver and manifesting as oscillations in the forces acting on the body. It is shown that this issue can be alleviated either by increasing the spatial resolution of the Lagrangian solver or by synchronizing the movement of the Lagrangian grid with the motion of the Eulerian mesh. The results of the study make the solver trustworthy and pave the way for more demanding external aerodynamic simulations.

Flow around a pair of 2D cylinders using a hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian solver

The field of external aerodynamics encompasses various engineering disciplines with a significant impact on wind energy technology. Aerodynamic investigations provide insights not only into the characteristics of individual blades or standalone wind turbines but also into entire wind farms. As advancements in wind turbine design continue, understanding the interactions between turbines in close proximity becomes crucial, presenting a multi-body problem. Researchers require efficient and accurate tools to comprehensively study such dynamics. This paper presents a hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian solver designed to leverage the strengths of Eulerian solvers in resolving boundary layers and Lagrangian solvers in convecting wakes downstream without introducing significant numerical diffusion. The solver adeptly handles multi-body simulations, allowing the construction of independent Eulerian meshes that communicate seamlessly through Lagrangian particles. In this way, the computational study of multibody problems does not require very large and dense meshes. Validation in single-body cases has already been conducted, with this paper demonstrating the solver’s application to a pair of cylinders in different configurations. A comparative performance analysis is carried out against pure Eulerian solvers. The results highlight that the hybrid solver efficiently reproduces the accuracy of the Eulerian solver, demonstrating its effectiveness in handling complex aerodynamic simulations.

MATRICS: The implicit matrix-free Eulerian hydrodynamics solver

Context. There exists a zoo of different astrophysical fluid dynamics solvers, most of which are based on an explicit formulation and hence stability-limited to small time steps dictated by the Courant number expressing the local speed of sound. With this limitation, the modeling of low-Mach-number flows requires small time steps that introduce significant numerical diffusion, and a large amount of computational resources are needed. On the other hand, implicit methods are often developed to exclusively model the fully incompressible or 1D case since they require the construction and solution of one or more large (non)linear systems per time step, for which direct matrix inversion procedures become unacceptably slow in two or more dimensions. Aims. In this work, we present a globally implicit 3D axisymmetric Eulerian solver for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations including the energy equation using conservative formulation and a fully simultaneous approach. We use the second-order-in-time backward differentiation formula for temporal discretization as well as the κ scheme for spatial discretization. We implement different limiter functions to prohibit the occurrence of spurious oscillations in the vicinity of discontinuities. Our method resembles the well-known monotone upwind scheme for conservation laws (MUSCL). We briefly present efficient solution methods for the arising sparse and nonlinear system of equations. Methods. To deal with the nonlinearity of the Navier–Stokes equations we used a Newton iteration procedure in which the required Jacobian matrix-vector product was reconstructed with a first-order finite difference approximation to machine precision in a matrix-free way. The resulting linear system was solved either completely matrix-free with a combination of a sufficient Krylov solver and an approximate Jacobian preconditioner or semi-matrix-free with the incomplete lower upper factorization technique as a preconditioner. The latter was dependent on a standalone approximation of the Jacobian matrix, which was optionally calculated and needed solely for the purpose of preconditioning. Results. We show our method to be capable of damping sound waves and resolving shocks even at Courant numbers larger than one. Furthermore, we prove the method’s ability to solve boundary value problems like the cylindrical Taylor-Couette flow (TC), including viscosity, and to model transition flows. To show the latter, we recover predicted growth rates for the vertical shear instability, while choosing a time step orders of magnitude larger than the explicit one. Finally, we verify that our method is second order in space by simulating a simplistic, stationary solar wind.

In-flight anti-icing simulation of electrothermal ice protection systems with inhomogeneous thermal boundary condition

Conventional anti-icing computational solvers calculate the convective heat transfer coefficient using a homogeneous thermal boundary condition, assuming a constant temperature across the surface. However, this approach can lead to inaccuracies in regions with significant temperature variations. To address this limitation, the present study proposes a novel approach that utilizes an inhomogeneous thermal boundary condition, which updates the convective heat transfer coefficient based on the transient wall temperature distribution. We developed a unified finite volume framework that efficiently integrates various in-house solvers, including a compressible Navier-Stokes-Fourier (NSF) airflow solver, a Eulerian droplet impingement solver, a PDE-based ice solver, and a multilayer heat conduction solver. Thermal interaction between the different solvers was modeled using the conjugate heat transfer method. The effects of updating airflow on anti-icing results were investigated by comparing the results obtained by coupled and decoupled solvers. While the decoupled solver computes airflow once and remains unchanged, the coupled solver updates the airflow during the anti-icing simulation. Our findings show that the decoupled solver has the highest deviations from the coupled solver in evaporative anti-icing regimes, where dry regions form within the protection limits. Using coupled solvers in designing ice protection systems in evaporative regimes improves temperature prediction accuracy, enabling designers to reduce safety factors and save energy.

Rigorous benchmarking of an iterative IBM solver by comparison to body-fitted mesh results

This study addresses the validation challenges of Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) solvers by proposing a consistent benchmarking approach. A temporally second-order Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) solver implemented in OpenFOAM is verified against lid-driven cavity flow and flow past static and oscillating cylinders. It then serves as the underlying fluid flow solver for a fully implicit diffusive direct forcing IBM solver that achieves temporal second-order accuracy, verified by the static and oscillating cylinder cases. Leveraging the shared numerical framework, the IBM solver is rigorously validated against ALE using identical settings, parameters, and nearly identical grids across twenty test cases, including stationary cylinder flow (Re = 40, 100, 185), oscillating cylinder in quiescent flow (Re = 100, KC = 5), and transversely oscillating cylinders with varying amplitudes and frequencies (16 cases in total). The IBM solver demonstrates robustness (CFL up to 8) and accuracy over a wide Reynolds number range, with relative drag coefficient errors below 7% for all considered cases. Incorporating body force correction, which reduces slip errors at negligible added computational cost, drastically improves accuracy. Proper Rhie–Chow momentum interpolation, including body forces, is critical in the adopted collocated finite volume method. For unsteady problems, the computational cost is greatly reduced without compromising accuracy by using CFL≈1.5−2 with only two outer iterations. The proposed benchmarking framework can be easily used for validation of other IBM approaches and thus potentially help to advance the state of IBM.

Continuously bounds-preserving discontinuous Galerkin methods for hyperbolic conservation laws

For finite element approximations of transport phenomena, it is often necessary to apply a form of limiting to ensure that the discrete solution remains well-behaved and satisfies physical constraints. However, these limiting procedures are typically performed at discrete nodal locations, which is not sufficient to ensure the robustness of the scheme when the solution must be evaluated at arbitrary locations (e.g., for adaptive mesh refinement, remapping in arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian solvers, overset meshes, etc.). In this work, a novel limiting approach for discontinuous Galerkin methods is presented which ensures that the solution is continuously bounds-preserving (i.e., across the entire solution polynomial) for any arbitrary choice of basis, approximation order, and mesh element type. Through a modified formulation for the constraint functionals, the proposed approach requires only the solution of a single spatial scalar minimization problem per element for which a highly efficient numerical optimization procedure is presented. The efficacy of this approach is shown in numerical experiments by enforcing continuous constraints in high-order unstructured discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of hyperbolic conservation laws, ranging from scalar transport with maximum principle preserving constraints to compressible gas dynamics with positivity-preserving constraints.

A structure preserving numerical method for the ideal compressible MHD system

We introduce a novel structure-preserving method in order to approximate the compressible ideal Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. This technique addresses the MHD equations using a non-divergence formulation, where the contributions of the magnetic field to the momentum and total mechanical energy are treated as source terms. Our approach uses the Marchuk-Strang splitting technique and involves three distinct components: a compressible Euler solver, a source-system solver, and an update procedure for the total mechanical energy. The scheme allows for significant freedom on the choice of Euler's equation solver, while the magnetic field is discretized using a curl-conforming finite element space, yielding exact preservation of the involution constraints. We prove that the method preserves invariant domain properties, including positivity of density, positivity of internal energy, and the minimum principle of the specific entropy. If the scheme used to solve Euler's equation conserves total energy, then the resulting MHD scheme can be proven to preserve total energy. Similarly, if the scheme used to solve Euler's equation is entropy-stable, then the resulting MHD scheme is entropy stable as well. In our approach, the CFL condition does not depend on magnetosonic wave-speeds, but only on the usual maximum wavespeed from Euler's system. To validate the effectiveness of our method, we solve a variety of ideal MHD problems, showing that the method is capable of delivering second-order accuracy in space for smooth problems, while also offering unconditional robustness in the shock hydrodynamics regime as well.

The Development of a Transient Analysis Platform of Near-Critical CO2 Thermodynamic Systems via an Enthalpy-Based Implicit Continuous Eulerian Approach

This work presents the development and validation of an enthalpy-based implicit continuous Eulerian (ICE) solver, termed the near-critical ICE solver (NICES), for the analysis of near-critical CO2 thermodynamic systems. Traditional approaches relying on pressure and temperature as main inputs for the analysis have limitations in handling CO2 near the critical point, which exhibits unique characteristics and frequent phase changes. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes using enthalpy as a more suitable mathematical modeling approach. The NICES methodology employs the homogeneous equilibrium model and the Span and Wagner equations of state for CO2. This solver demonstrates improved numerical stability and computational speed compared to explicit calculation methods, as validated by frictionless heated pipe scenarios involving phase transitions near the critical point. The enthalpy-based NICES platform can predict thermohydraulics, including multiphase flows, without requiring specialized two-phase flow models.

Dynamic Mesh Simulations in OpenFOAM: A Hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian Approach

The past few decades have witnessed a growing popularity in Eulerian–Lagrangian solvers due to their significant potential for simulating aerodynamic flows, particularly in cases involving strong body–vortex interactions. In this hybrid approach, the two component solvers are mutually coupled in a two-way fashion. Initially, the Lagrangian solver can supply boundary conditions to the Eulerian solver, while the Eulerian solver functions as a corrector for the Lagrangian solution in regions where the latter cannot achieve high accuracy. To utilize such tools effectively, it is vital for them to be capable of handling dynamic mesh movements. This study builds upon the previous research conducted by our team and extends the capabilities of the hybrid solver to handle dynamic meshes. While OpenFOAM, the Eulerian component of this hybrid code, incorporates built-in dynamic mesh properties, certain modifications are necessary to ensure its compatibility with the Lagrangian solver. More specifically, the evolution algorithm of the pimpleFOAM solver needs to be divided into two discrete steps: first, updating the mesh, and later, evolving the solution. This division enables a proper coupling between pimpleFOAM and the Lagrangian solver as an intermediate step. Therefore, the primary objective of this specific paper is to adapt the OpenFOAM solver to meet the demands of the hybrid solver and subsequently validate that the hybrid solver can effectively address dynamic mesh challenges using this approach. This approach introduces a pioneering method for conducting dynamic mesh simulations within the OpenFOAM framework, showcasing its potential for broader applications. To validate the approach, various test cases involving dynamic mesh movements are employed. Specifically, all these cases employ the Lamb–Oseen diffusing vortex, but each case incorporates different types of mesh movements, including translational, rotational, oscillational, and combinations thereof. The results from these cases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed OpenFOAM algorithm, with the maximum relative errors —when compared to the analytical solution across all presented cases—capped at 2.0% for the worst-case scenario. This affirms the algorithm’s capability to successfully handle dynamic mesh simulations with the proposed solver.

A variant of improved discrete velocity method for efficient simulation of flows in entire Knudsen number regimes

In this paper, a variant of the improved discrete velocity method (VIDVM) is proposed for flows in the whole Knudsen number regimes. This method retains the advantage of the improved discrete velocity method (IDVM), which calculates numerical fluxes through a self-adaptive strategy by combining the microscopic reconstruction and the macroscopic reconstruction. Like the IDVM, the microscopic reconstruction for VIDVM is also based on the collisionless Boltzmann solver. However, different from IDVM, the macroscopic reconstruction for VIDVM is established on the Euler solver instead of the Navier–Stokes solver. Considering that the Euler solver merely computes the inviscid fluxes while the Navier–Stokes solver additionally calculates the viscous fluxes, the present method could be more efficient than IDVM. To validate the accuracy and efficiency of the present scheme, some benchmark cases from the continuum regime to the free molecular regime are conducted. Results reveal that the present scheme can predict the flow as well as IDVM, but the present solver is more efficient than IDVM.

Physics-informed neural networks modelling for systems with moving immersed boundaries: Application to an unsteady flow past a plunging foil

Physics informed neural networks (PINNs) have been explored extensively in the recent past for solving various forward and inverse problems for facilitating querying applications in fluid mechanics. However, investigations on PINNs for unsteady flows past moving bodies, such as flapping wings are scarce. Earlier studies mostly relied on transferring the problems to a body-attached frame of reference, which could be restrictive towards handling multiple moving bodies/deforming structures. The present study attempts to couple the benefits of PINNs with a fixed Eulerian frame of reference, and proposes an immersed boundary aware framework for developing surrogate models for unsteady flows past moving bodies. Specifically, high-resolution velocity reconstruction and pressure recovery as a hidden variable are the main goals. The framework has been developed by using downsampled velocity data obtained from prior simulations to train the PINNs model. The efficacy of the velocity reconstruction has been tested against high resolution IBM simulation data, whereas the efficacy of the pressure recovery has been tested against high resolution simulation data from an arbitrary Lagrange Eulerian (ALE) solver. Under the present framework, two PINN variants, (i) a moving-boundary-enabled standard Navier–Stokes based PINN (MB-PINN), and, (ii) a moving-boundary-enabled IBM based PINN (MB-IBM-PINN) have been formulated.Relaxation of physics constraints in PINNs models has been identified to be a useful strategy in improving the predictions. A fluid-solid partitioning of the physics losses in MB-IBM-PINN has been allowed, in order to investigate the effects of solid body points while training. This strategy enables MB-IBM-PINN to match with the performance of MB-PINN under certain loss-weighting conditions. Interestingly, MB-PINN is found to be superior to MB-IBM-PINN when a priori knowledge of the solid body position and velocity is available. To improve the data efficiency of MB-PINN, a physics based data sampling technique has also been investigated. It is observed that a suitable combination of physics constraint relaxation and physics based sampling can achieve a model performance comparable to the case of using all the data points, under a fixed training budget.

Parametric Influence on Rotating Detonation Combustion: Insights from Fast Reactive Euler Simulations

A two-dimensional unsteady reactive Euler solver is employed to model rotating detonation combustion (RDC). A baseline case is chosen, and several combustor geometric and design parameters are varied individually in order to assess their effect on flowfield structure, exhaust flow properties, and performance. The parameters of interest are the perimeter and axial lengths of the combustor annulus, mass flux, outlet throat area, air injector throat area, and equivalence ratio. Quantification of the isentropically available work (IAW) in the exhaust flow is employed as a performance criterion. IAW is primarily affected by mass flux and outlet throat area through the effects of one-dimensional flow and, to a lesser degree, by perimeter and axial length through changes in the fraction of the flow that experiences irreversible shock processing. For all cases in the present study, this fraction appears to be solely determined by the ratio of detonation height to axial length. This ratio is also highly correlated to the angle of the oblique shock and the strength of the flow fluctuations. The predicted wave speed is between 90 and 95% of the Chapman–Jouguet velocity for a range of equivalence ratios between 0.6 and 1.4.

A domain decomposition technique for acoustic wave interactions and scattering

In this work, a two-dimensional domain decomposition technique (DDT) is developed based on an overset method that couples a nonlinear Euler solver with a linearized Euler solver. The nonlinear domain accounts for complex physics in the near field, such as acoustic wave interaction with shock waves and acoustic wave scattering from solid bodies. The linear domain allows the small perturbation waves induced by the nonlinear effects to propagate with minimal numerical dissipation and dispersion while also significantly reducing computational resources. To this end, two scenarios have been considered: (i) wave amplification and modulation in a converging-diverging duct with a standing shock wave and (ii) wave scattering from an incident acoustic wave over a supercritical airfoil. With DDT, these cases show a reduction in computational time by more than 70% compared to their respective fully-nonlinear simulations. The accuracy of the simulations with DDT is found to depend on the extent of overlap between the linear and nonlinear zones. In general, an overlap ratio of at least two is necessary to maintain high order of convergence rate, though still limited by the nonlinear scheme. Furthermore, the implementation of DDT in the external flow case can eliminate numerical noise observed at the far field of the fully-nonlinear counterpart, which do not have any effective non-reflecting boundary treatment.

Bridging Eulerian and Lagrangian Poisson-Boltzmann solvers by ESES.

The Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) model is a widely used electrostatic model for biomolecular solvation analysis. Formulated as an elliptic interface problem, the PB model can be numerically solved on either Eulerian meshes using finite difference/finite element methods or Lagrangian meshes using boundary element methods. Molecular surface generators, which produce the discretized dielectric interfaces between solutes and solvents, are critical factors in determining the accuracy and efficiency of the PB solvers. In this work, we investigate the utility of the Eulerian Solvent Excluded Surface (ESES) software for rendering conjugated Eulerian and Lagrangian surface representations, which enables us to numerically validate and compare the quality of Eulerian PB solvers, such as the MIBPB solver, and the Lagrangian PB solvers, such as the TABI-PB solver. Furthermore, with the ESES software and its associated PB solvers, we are able to numerically validate an interesting and useful but often neglected source-target symmetric property associated with the linearized PB model.

Coupling of OpenFOAM with a Lagrangian vortex particle method for external aerodynamic simulations

In the field of computational aerodynamics, it is vital to develop tools that can accurately, but also efficiently, simulate the flow around bluff objects and calculate the aerodynamic forces acting on them. When strong body–vortex interactions take place, the simulations become more demanding, since complex phenomena appear. To address this issue, hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian solvers have been developed and are increasingly used in the field. In this paper, a Vortex Particle Method (VPM) is coupled with the OpenFOAM software. The Eulerian solver (OpenFOAM) resolves the regions close to the solid boundaries, while the vortex particles evolve the wake downstream, significantly reducing artificial diffusion. The coupling strategy and the validation results of a hybrid code based on the domain decomposition technique are presented. This work is the first to couple OpenFOAM with a Lagrangian solver in the framework of a hybrid solver. Our objective is twofold: to verify the capability of OpenFOAM to run with a VPM and to validate the hybrid solver using benchmark cases. We demonstrate the validation of the solver on the Lamb–Oseen vortex case, the dipole case in the unbounded domain, and the flow around a cylinder at Re = 550. Our results show that coupling OpenFOAM with a VPM can be achieved without complications and efficiently reproduces the results of pure Eulerian simulations.

Shock migration on an oscillating straked delta wing using an unsteady Euler solver

Many investigations, including flight tests, wind tunnel tests, and computational methods have attempted to determine the drivers of limit cycle oscillations (LCO) on the F-16 fighter aircraft. One area of interest has focused on shock-induced trailing-edge separation (SITES) as a driver of limit cycle oscillations. The investigation presented herein aims to expand the understanding of unsteady, nonlinear aerodynamics by studying the flow over a wing undergoing pitch oscillations using Euler computational fluid dynamics with a boundary layer coupling scheme capable of estimating viscous flow effects within the boundary layer. A straked NACA 64A204 delta wing model was used for this analysis. Parameters such as trim angle of attack, pitch amplitude, and Mach number were varied to create 71 unique test cases. Results demonstrate that the same single shock systems at low angles of attack and two shock systems at moderate to high angles of attack that were observed by Cunningham in his wind tunnel tests were also present in this investigation. Patterns of significant shock movement and disappearance were observed within the transonic flow region. Hysteresis of the pitching moment was also found to be present. These findings support the theories that shock movement and SITES may play significant roles in driving LCO.

An unstructured preconditioned central difference finite volume multiphase Euler solver for computing inviscid cavitating flows over arbitrary two- and three-dimensional geometries

In the present work, a numerical method is adopted and applied for simulating the inviscid cavitating flows around two- and three-dimensional geometries on unstructured meshes. The algorithm uses the preconditioned multiphase Euler equations discretized by a cell-centered central difference finite volume scheme with suitable dissipation terms. The interface capturing method with three transport equation-based cavitation models, namely the Merkle et al., Singhal et al. and Kunz et al. models are employed for the mass transfer between the liquid and vapor phases to be calculated. The simulations of the steady inviscid cavitating flows are performed around different two- and three-dimensional geometries, namely the NACA0012, NACA66(MOD) and two-element NACA4412-4415 hydrofoils, the hemispherical head shape body and the twisted NACA0009 hydrofoil, and the results are obtained over these geometries with the three cavitation models used for different flow conditions. The effects of different numerical parameters on the accuracy of the solution are also examined by a sensitivity study. The present results are compared with those of performed by other researchers which exhibit good agreement. It is indicated that the solution method adopted based on the preconditioned finite volume multiphase Euler flow solver on unstructured meshes is capable of accurately predicting the surface pressure distribution and the cavity shape over the arbitrary two- and three-dimensional geometries.

A shape design optimization methodology based on the method of characteristics for rocket nozzles

Even though shape optimization is a powerful tool for designing aerospace vehicles, it can be time-consuming when high-fidelity models are employed. Thus, lower-fidelity simulations covering a wider design space can be a solution for shape optimization in the early design phases. With this in mind, the present work aims to develop a low-fidelity and fast method to conduct nozzle shape optimization. This method consists in using the free-form deformation (FFD) parameterization technique to control the nozzle shape by means of an optimization algorithm to maximize the coefficient of thrust determined by a two-dimensional method of characteristics (MoC). To verify the reliability of the proposed method, a similar optimization process is carried out, recurring to high-fidelity simulations, namely using an Euler solver, in the open-source framework text {SU}^2. This latter optimization process is established as a surrogate-based optimization (SBO) not only to mitigate the text {SU}^2 framework limitations in performing shape optimization on nozzles, but also as a way to reduce the computational power. A good agreement between the results from both methods is achieved, displaying solely a small offset concerning the optimal contour width and the coefficient of thrust. Hence, this proves the usefulness of the developed shape optimization strategy based on the MoC for the preliminary design of nozzles.

A refined numerical investigation of a large equivalent shallow-depth underwater explosion

The large equivalent shallow-depth explosion problem is very significant in the field of naval architecture and ocean engineering, as such explosions can be used to attack and demolish ships and anti-ship missiles. In the current work, a refined numerical study of the flow-field characteristics of a large equivalent shallow-depth explosion is carried out using a self-developed Eulerian finite element solver. First, the numerical model is validated against theoretical results and a small equivalent explosion test in a tank. The numerical results are found to agree well with the theoretical and experimental results. In the next step, the cavitation cut-off effect is added to the underwater explosion model, and the cavitation phenomenon is quantitatively analyzed through the flow-field pressure. In addition, the dynamic characteristics of the bubble and water hump under various initial conditions for different stand-off parameters are analyzed. The effect of gravity on these physical processes is also discussed. The bubble pulsation period, taking into account the free surface effect, is then quantitatively studied and compared with Cole’s experimental formula for an underwater explosion. Overall, when the stand-off parameter γ > 2, the influence of the free surface on the empirical period of the bubble is not significant. Our investigation provides broad insights into shallow-depth underwater explosions from theoretical, experimental, and numerical perspectives.

High-order methods for hypersonic flows with strong shocks and real chemistry

We compare high-order methods including spectral difference (SD), flux reconstruction (FR), the entropy-stable discontinuous Galerkin spectral element method (ES-DGSEM), modal discontinuous Galerkin methods, and WENO to select the best candidate to simulate strong shock waves characteristic of hypersonic flows. We consider several benchmarks, including the Leblanc and modified shock-density wave interaction problems that require robust stabilization and positivity-preserving properties for a successful flow realization. We also perform simulations of the three-species Sod problem with simplified chemistry with the chemical reaction source terms introduced in the Euler equations. The ES-DGSEM scheme exhibits the highest stability, negligible numerical oscillations, and requires the least computational effort in resolving reactive flow regimes with strong shock waves. Therefore, we extend the ES-DGSEM to hypersonic Euler equations by deriving a new set of two-point entropy conservative fluxes for a five-species gas model. In this paper, hypersonic Euler equations refer to the multi-species Euler equations for which the internal energy and thermodynamic properties are computed using the Rigid-Rotor Harmonic-Oscillator model. Stabilization for capturing strong shock waves occurs by blending high-order entropy conservative fluxes with low-order finite volume fluxes constructed using the HLLC Riemann solver. The hypersonic Euler solver is verified using the non-equilibrium chemistry Sod problem. To this end, we adopt the Mutation++ library to compute the reaction source terms, thermodynamic properties, and transport coefficients. We also investigate the effect of real chemistry versus ideal chemistry, and the results demonstrate that the ideal chemistry assumption fails at high temperatures, hence real chemistry must be employed for accurate predictions. Finally, we consider a viscous hypersonic flow problem to verify the transport coefficients and reaction source terms determined by the Mutation++ library.