High-order Spectral Method Research Articles

On the Origin of Görtler Vortices in Flow over a Multi-Element Airfoil

The flow characteristics of a 30P30N three-element high-lift airfoil at low Reynolds numbers O104 are examined through three-dimensional simulations using a high-order spectral element method. This study primarily investigates the flow structures of the slat cove and Görtler vortices formed on the upper surface of the main airfoil. Spanwise instability grows exponentially in the slat cove with a constant wavelength, corresponding to that of the subsequently formed Görtler vortices. Görtler number calculations show that curvature-induced centrifugal instability at the slat cusp leads to the subsequent formation of Görtler vortices. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is used to analyze the development of flow structures in the slat cove in different time ranges. At early time, the flow in the slat cove is dominated by shear layers that evolve into spanwise perturbations. These perturbations further evolve into distinct bell-shaped structures close to the slat cusp and are advected to the upper surface of the main airfoil, leading to the formation of Görtler vortices.

Effects of nonlinearity on the crest shape of extreme irregular sea waves: Nonlinear harmonic separation and analysis

This work highlights the effects of nonlinearity on the crest shape of extreme directional water wave events in infinite and finite water depths. HOS-ocean, a High-Order Spectral code developed for solving the deterministic propagation of nonlinear wavefields in open ocean [Ducrozet et al., “HOS-ocean: Open-source solver for nonlinear waves in open ocean based on High-Order Spectral method,” Comput. Phys. Commun. 203, 245–254 (2016)], is used for comparisons with linear simulations. Nonlinear wave harmonics were extracted combining and extending previous methods [Fitzgerald et al., “Phase manipulation and the harmonic components of ringing forces on a surface-piercing column,” Proc. R. Soc. A 470, 20130847 (2014) and Hann et al., “A new set of focused wave linear combinations to extract non-linear wave harmonics,” in Proceedings of 29th International Workshop on Water Waves and Floating Bodies, 2014], showing the contribution of various orders of nonlinearity. The work shows that “walls of water,” [Adcock et al., “Nonlinear dynamics of wave-groups in random seas: Unexpected walls of water in the open ocean,” Proc. R. Soc. A 471, 20150660 (2015) and Adcock et al., “On the shape of large wave-groups on deep water—The influence of bandwidth and spreading,” Phys. Fluids 28, 106601 (2016)], a significant increase in the crest width, are also formulated in finite water depths. Mainly responsible for this is the first order harmonic, with significant energy transfers away from components propagating at an angle, which are more pronounced in finite water depths. As nonlinearity increases, higher order harmonics (>second) become, as expected, more significant. In deep water, rapid energy transfers lead to a broadening of the spectrum which is reflected in the increase in the first order amplitude sum and hence increased crest elevations at the point of the large event. However, in finite water depths, energy transfers are gradually leading to a narrowing of the spectrum around the spectral peak and to a general broadening of the spectrum at the higher harmonics; reflected in the significant decrease in the first order amplitude sum and hence a decrease in crest elevations at the point of the large event, also aided by the larger increase in the out-of-phase difference terms (zeroth harmonic).

Efficient dimension-by-dimension adaptive TENO-based limiter and troubled-cell indicator for nodal-based high-order spectral difference method

A new targeted essentially non-oscillatory (TENO) limiter with adaptive dissipation has been developed for the 3rd- and 4th-order spectral difference method. This limiter can potentially be useful for other nodal-based discontinuous high-order methods as well. Unlike traditional WENO limiters for these methods which limit low-order moments one by one, the new limiter is based on a direct convex combination of reconstruction polynomial candidates. This strategy ensures the good computational efficiency for high order reconstructions. The reconstruction stencils only involve nodal values from the target cell and its neighbors sharing faces with it. The reconstruction employs Hermite polynomials, making the new limiter compact. It can be implemented in a dimension-by-dimension manner for multi-dimensional problems, which is consistent with the spectral difference method. To further enhance efficiency, a TENO-based troubled-cell indicator is also developed to only activate limiters in troubled cells. Extensive one-dimensional and two-dimensional numerical experiments validate the performance of the new TENO-based limiter and indicator. In summary, the limiter is much less dissipative than WENO limiters and can resolve richer small-scale flow structures on coarse meshes. The indicator precisely marks out troubled cells, slightly improving over the KXRCF indicator.

A reduction-consistent phase field model for non-isothermal multiphase flows of N immiscible incompressible fluids

In this study, we developed a reduction-consistent phase field model for non-isothermal incompressible N-phase flows. The model is based on the high-order spectral element method. To account for thermocapillary effects, we reformulated the continuum surface force model specifically for N-phase flows. In order to enhance computational efficiency, time-independent coefficient matrices for all variables involved were reconstructed, and an unsymmetrized multifrontal LU factorization was employed to solve the linear algebraic equations, which is derived by discretization. To verify the model effectiveness in calculating surface tension and describing three-phase interfacial dynamics, we conducted several experiments, including the stationary two-droplet example, the three-phase droplet spreading, and the equilibrium morphology of double emulsion droplet. Through these experiments, both the reduction-consistency and robustness of our model were demonstrated. Moreover, we validated the proposed model's applicability to non-isothermal three-phase flows by investigating the thermocapillary migration of single droplet and two droplets of different phases. Notably, we explored the thermocapillary migration of three-phase double droplets, focusing particularly on how the encapsulation process affects overall thermocapillary motion. Our findings indicate that the interaction between the two vortices near the interfaces of the two droplets strongly influences their migration behavior.

Spatial evolution of the double-wave-group focusing influenced by the co- and counter-propagating current

Wave–current interaction has always been a challenging topic in fluid mechanics. The research on bimodal waves has received much more attention recently, but their evolutions influenced by underlying currents are not yet clear. This study aims to investigate the effects of co- and counter-propagating currents on spatial evolution using a fully nonlinear wave-current tank based on the high-order spectral method. The process of the wave focus is significantly shortened by the counter-propagating current, resulting in a sharper crest focus, followed by the trough focus. Concurrently, the decrease in the total envelope height and width is accelerated before wave focus and then the increase is decelerated, accompanied by a delay in the envelope profile transition from the backward-leaning to the forward-leaning. The co-propagating current exhibits the opposite phenomenon. The analysis of the spectral energy distribution aids in clarifying the variation of the envelope profile. The energy redistribution, characterized by a downshift of the frequency band, and a decreased energy distribution at the second peak, along with the slightly larger value of the root mean square frequency, indicates that the energy back-flow is obstructed by the counter-propagating current. These findings contribute to our understanding of the current effect on the focused double-wave-group, providing valuable insights for future research and applications in this field.

GPU Implementation and Optimization of a High-Order Spectral Difference Method for Aeroacoustic Problems

GPU Implementation and Optimization of a High-Order Spectral Difference Method for Aeroacoustic Problems

Algebraically stable SDIRK methods with controllable numerical dissipation for first/second-order time-dependent problems

In this paper, a family of four-stage singly diagonally implicit Runge-Kutta methods are proposed to solve first-/second-order time-dependent problems, exhibiting the following numerical properties: fourth-order accuracy in time, unconditional stability, controllable numerical dissipation, and adaptive time step selection. The BN-stability condition is employed as a constraint to optimize parameters in the Butcher table, having significant benefits, and hence is recommended for nonlinear dynamics problems in contrast to existing methods. Numerical examples involving both first- and second-order linear/nonlinear dynamics problems validate the proposed method, and numerical results reveal that the proposed methods are free from the order reduction phenomenon when applied to nonlinear dynamics problems. The performance of adaptive time-stepping using the embedded scheme is further illustrated by the phase-field modeling problem. Additionally, the advantages and disadvantages of three-stage third-order accurate algebraically stable methods are discussed. The proposed high-order time integration can be readily integrated into high-order spatial discretization methods, such as the high-order spectral element method employed in this paper, to obtain high-order discretization in space and time dimensions.

Development of a numerical wave tank of deep ocean engineering basin via high order spectral method

ABSTRACT In this study, we developed a numerical model for simulating wave environments of the deep ocean engineering basin (DOEB) by utilising the high order spectral (HOS) method. The approach employed the pseudospectral basis of the cosine function to automatically account for the tank wall boundary conditions. Additionally, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm was implemented to maximise the numerical efficiency. For selecting an appropriate wave generation technique for the DOEB, which distinguishes itself as a large-scale facility with controllable depth, in contrast to conventional wave basins, two-dimensional wave generation simulations were executed. These simulations entailed the application and subsequent evaluation of the embedded wave generation technique and the additional potential technique. Of these, the embedded wave generation technique, characterised by its suitability for numerical efficiency and adaptability to variable water depths, was chosen for implementation in the DOEB numerical tanks. The Stroke–source converting procedure was established to transform the stroke time history of the wave maker into the input wave source time history for the embedded wave generation technique, with due consideration to phase correction. In order to validate the developed numerical model, a wave generation experiment was conducted, and its results were compared with the numerical simulations. This comparative analysis revealed a high degree of correspondence between the nonlinear simulations and the experimental wave time history, demonstrating the model’s ability to accurately replicate higher-order wave components, including wave–wave interactions. The resulting numerical model serves as a valuable computer-aided tool, enhancing the efficiency of experiments within the DOEB.

Higher-order spectral representation method: New algorithmic framework for simulating multi-dimensional non-Gaussian random physical fields

This study derives a novel higher-order spectral representation method (HOSRM) to represent and simulate multi-dimensional fourth-order non-Gaussian random physical fields. The method primarily extends the traditional second-order spectral representation method (SRM) for simulating non-Gaussian random physical fields by introducing higher-order cumulant function tensors and trispectrum tensors, thereby accomplishing the modeling of fourth-order non-Gaussian random physical fields (symmetric nonlinear physical fields) from a frequency domain perspective. In an endeavor to enhance the simulation efficiency of this theoretical framework, the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm is astutely amalgamated into the simulation. This integration contributes significantly to the augmentation of computational efficiency. Furthermore, exhaustive derivations and proofs are presented for the first-order, second-order, and fourth-order ensemble properties of simulated fourth-order non-Gaussian random physical fields. Subsequently, the reliability and accuracy of the proposed algorithm framework are validated through numerical simulations of two two-dimensional and two three-dimensional non-Gaussian random physical fields. The findings demonstrate that the simulated sample function effectively captures the probability characteristics of the random field, including mean, variance, and kurtosis. Finally, an in-depth analysis of numerical simulation results highlights the difference between the proposed method and the traditional second-order spectral representation method, which further underscores the distinctive attributes and potential superiority of the proposed method.

Enhancing deterministic prediction in unidirectional ocean waves using an Artificial Neural Network with exponential linear unit

The phase-resolved wave prediction based on physical methods is difficult to ensure both accuracy and efficiency simultaneously. In recent years, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been successfully utilized for deterministic ocean wave prediction with efficiency and high precision. In this work, an ANN with the exponential linear unit (ELU) activation function is developed for deterministic wave prediction in unidirectional sea states. High-order Spectral method is used to generate the data on wave elevation. Instead of the traditional rectified linear unit (ReLU), we propose to use ELU as the activation function in the present ANN. Numerical results show that the ANN with the ELU activation function provides a more accurate prediction than the ANN with the ReLU activation function. Based on wave elevation measured at a fixed position, wave elevation prediction at another fixed position and wave elevation prediction in a fixed zone, are both studied by making use of the ANN with the ELU. Moreover, the factors including sea state and time length of wave elevation measured at a fixed position are considered to demonstrate the efficiency of the prediction results.

Influence of uniform currents on nonlinear characteristics of double-wave-group focusing

Current is considered to be a crucial environmental factor in producing extreme waves. The study of nonlinear characteristics in wave–current interactions has been explored, but the role of currents in the more complex interaction processes of double-wave-group focusing is not yet known. Based on our previous research about the nonlinear interactions between wave groups, the impact of uniform current on nonlinear characteristics of double-wave-group focusing is to be investigated in this paper. A fully nonlinear numerical model using the high-order spectral method is developed to simulate various currents interacting with focused bimodal waves. Three ranges of variation exist: strongly opposing current, weakly opposing current, and following current. Unlike the conclusion in the unimodal waves, the asymmetries of the wave crest and that of the wave envelope influenced by currents are not synchronous, which is explained by the changes in the asymmetry of the secondary crests received energy from the currents, in addition to those of the magnitude of the maximum crest and the adjacent secondary crests. When opposing currents enhance to a certain level, a dynamic equilibrium between the energy of waves and currents would be achieved, in which the proportion of the linear components to their own is almost equivalent to that in the non-current state, revealing that the majority of nonlinearity generated by wave–current interaction is blocked at that time. These findings can promote an understanding of nonlinear characteristics due to wave–current interactions.

Energy Exascale Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations With the Spectral Element Method

Abstract Development and application of the open-source GPU-based fluid-thermal simulation code, NekRS, are described. Time advancement is based on an efficient kth-order accurate timesplit formulation coupled with scalable iterative solvers. Spatial discretization is based on the high-order spectral element method (SEM), which affords the use of fast, low-memory, matrix-free operator evaluation. Recent developments include support for nonconforming meshes using overset grids and for GPU-based Lagrangian particle tracking. Results of large-eddy simulations of atmospheric boundary layers for wind-energy applications as well as extensive nuclear energy applications are presented.

Sum-frequency triad interactions among surface waves propagating through an ice sheet

We study nonlinear resonant wave–wave interactions which occur when ocean waves propagate into a thin floating ice sheet. Using multiple-scale perturbation analysis, we obtain theoretical predictions of the wave amplitude evolution as a function of distance travelled past the ice edge for a semi-infinite ice sheet. The theoretical predictions are supported by a high-order spectral (HOS) method capable of simulating nonlinear interactions in both open water and the ice sheet. Using the HOS method, the amplitude evolution predictions are extended to multiple (coupled) triad interactions and a single ice sheet of finite length. We relate the amplitude evolution to mechanisms with strong frequency dependence – ice bending strain, related to ice breakup, as well as wave reflection and transmission. We show that, due to sum-frequency interactions, the maximum strain in the ice sheet can be more than twice that predicted by linearised theory. For an ice sheet of finite length, we show that nonlinear wave reflection and transmission coefficients depend on a parameter in terms of wave steepness and ice length, and can have values significantly different than those from linear theory. In particular, we show that nonlinear sum-frequency interactions can appreciably decrease the total wave energy transmitted past the ice sheet. This work has implications for understanding the occurrence of ice breakup, wave attenuation due to scattering in the marginal ice zone and the resulting ice floe size distribution.

High-Order Spectral Irregular Wave Generation Procedure in Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics Numerical Wave Tanks, with Application in a Physical Wave Tank and in Open-Source Field Operation and Manipulation

The accurate generation of a target sea state in numerical or experimental wave tanks is a fundamental line of research for the ocean engineering community. It guarantees the quality and relevance of wave–structure interaction tests. This study presents a reproducible irregular wave generation and qualification procedure, accounting for the nonlinear aspects of wave propagation. It can be used for both numerical simulation and experiments. The presented numerical and experimental results are obtained from the OpenFOAM solver and the Ecole Centrale Nantes wave tank facilities, respectively. The procedure comprises two steps: First, the wavemaker motion is calibrated numerically to generate the target wave spectrum at the position of interest. This is achieved with a wavemaker-equipped nonlinear potential flow solver. The open-source HOS-NWT solver, based on the high-order spectral method, was employed in this study. Then, the corrected wavemaker motion is used directly in the experimental wave tank. OpenFOAM simulations were performed to generate waves with the relaxation method, using wave elevation and velocity field data from HOS-NWT. The procedure was finally tested for mild and extreme breaking sea states. The waves generated by the HOS-NWT solver, the experiment, and the OpenFOAM simulation were compared from both stochastic and deterministic perspectives.

A Spectral/hp-Based Stabilized Solver with Emphasis on the Euler Equations

The solution of compressible flow equations is of interest with many aerospace engineering applications. Past literature has focused primarily on the solution of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) problems with low-order finite element and finite volume methods. High-order methods are more the norm nowadays, in both a finite element and a finite volume setting. In this paper, inviscid compressible flow of an ideal gas is solved with high-order spectral/hp stabilized formulations using uniform high-order spectral element methods. The Euler equations are solved with high-order spectral element methods. Traditional definitions of stabilization parameters used in conjunction with traditional low-order bilinear Lagrange-based polynomials provide diffused results when applied to the high-order context. Thus, a revision of the definitions of the stabilization parameters was needed in a high-order spectral/hp framework. We introduce revised stabilization parameters, τsupg, with low-order finite element solutions. We also reexamine two standard definitions of the shock-capturing parameter, δ: the first is described with entropy variables, and the other is the YZβ parameter. We focus on applications with the above introduced stabilization parameters and analyze an array of problems in the high-speed flow regime. We demonstrate spectral convergence for the Kovasznay flow problem in both L1 and L2 norms. We numerically validate the revised definitions of the stabilization parameter with Sod’s shock and the oblique shock problems and compare the solutions with the exact solutions available in the literature. The high-order formulation is further extended to solve shock reflection and two-dimensional explosion problems. Following, we solve flow past a two-dimensional step at a Mach number of 3.0 and numerically validate the shock standoff distance with results obtained from NASA Overflow 2.2 code. Compressible flow computations with high-order spectral methods are found to perform satisfactorily for this supersonic inflow problem configuration. We extend the formulation to solve the implosion problem. Furthermore, we test the stabilization parameters on a complex flow configuration of AS-202 capsule analyzing the flight envelope. The proposed stabilization parameters have shown robustness, providing excellent results for both simple and complex geometries.

Nonlinear deterministic reconstruction and prediction of remotely measured ocean surface waves

Algorithms for reconstructing and predicting nonlinear ocean wave fields from remote measurements are presented. Three types of synthetic observations are used to quantify the influence of remote measurement modulation mechanisms on the algorithms’ performance. First, the observations correspond to randomly distributed surface elevations. Then, they are related to a marine radar model – the second type takes the wave shadowing modulation into account whereas the third one also includes the tilt modulation. The observations are numerically generated based on unidirectional waves of various steepness values. Linear and weakly nonlinear prediction algorithms based on analytical models are considered, as well as a highly nonlinear algorithm relying on the high-order spectral (HOS) method. Reconstructing surfaces from shadowed observations is found to have an impact limited to the non-visible regions, while tilt modulation affects the reconstruction more generally due to the indirect, more complex extraction of wave information. It is shown that the accuracy of the surface reconstruction mainly depends on the correct modelling of the wave shape nonlinearities. Modelling the nonlinear correction of the dispersion relation, in particular the frequency-dependent wave phase effects in the case of irregular waves, substantially improves the prediction. The suitability of the algorithms for severe wave conditions in finite depth and using non-perfect observations is assessed through wave tank experiments. It shows that only the third-order HOS solution predicts the right amplitude and phase of an emerging extreme wave, emphasizing the relevance of the corresponding physical modelling.

A Graphic Processing Unit–High-Order Spectral (GPU-HOS) Numerical Wave Tank for the Simulation of Directional Wave Field Evolution over a Long Time

Existing numerical models for direct simulations of stochastically directional waves are limited by their computational burden, and only a few of them can be applied to modeling directional waves on account of nonlinear evolutions on large time scales. In response to these drawbacks, this paper proposes a modified rectangular numerical wave tank based on the high-order spectral (HOS) method. Three main arrangements are responsible for the model improvement. Firstly, the relaxation technique is applied on the four sides of the tank for generating and attenuating waves, with an enhancement in the total computational efforts required of less than 5% being achieved. Secondly, for this paper, the HOS method for solving the nonlinear evolution of waves was modified to a GPU-speedup version for the first time, and the speedup increases dramatically (up to 16-fold) when the grid number is O(106). Thirdly, the higher-order Runge–Kutta method with order 8 is adopted for the purpose of suppressing cumulative temporal errors. Furthermore, several numerical results are presented for the validation of the model. With our modified numerical wave tank, the nonlinear evolutions of random directional waves can be efficiently studied over a large time and space scale.

Machine learning for phase-resolved reconstruction of nonlinear ocean wave surface elevations from sparse remote sensing data

Accurate short-term predictions of phase-resolved water wave conditions are crucial for decision-making in ocean engineering. However, the initialization of remote-sensing-based wave prediction models first requires a reconstruction of wave surfaces from sparse measurements like radar. Existing reconstruction methods either rely on computationally intensive optimization procedures or simplistic modelling assumptions that compromise the real-time capability or accuracy of the subsequent prediction process. We therefore address these issues by proposing a novel approach for phase-resolved wave surface reconstruction using neural networks based on the U-Net and Fourier neural operator (FNO) architectures. Our approach utilizes synthetic yet highly realistic training data on uniform one-dimensional grids, that is generated by the high-order spectral method for wave simulation and a geometric radar modelling approach. The investigation reveals that both models deliver accurate wave reconstruction results and show good generalization for different sea states when trained with spatio-temporal radar data containing multiple historic radar snapshots in each input. Notably, the FNO demonstrates superior performance in handling the data structure imposed by wave physics due to its global approach to learn the mapping between input and output in Fourier space.

Adjoint-based high-order spectral method of wave simulation for coastal bathymetry reconstruction

Bathymetry is an important factor affecting wave propagation in coastal environments but is often challenging to measure in practice. We propose a method for inferring coastal bathymetry from spatial variations in surface waves by combining a high-order spectral method for wave simulation and an adjoint-based variational data assimilation method. Recursion-formed adjoint equations are derived to obtain the sensitivity of the wave surface elevation to the underlying bottom topography to any desired order of nonlinear perturbation. We also develop a multiscale optimisation method to eliminate spurious high-wavenumber fluctuations in the reconstructed bathymetry data caused by sensitivity variations over the different length scales of surface waves. The proposed bottom detection method is validated with a realistic coastal wave environment involving complex two-dimensional bathymetry features, non-periodic incident waves and nonlinear broadband multidirectional waves. In numerical experiments at both laboratory and field scales, the bathymetry reconstructed from our method agrees well with the ground truth. We also show that our method is robust against imperfect surface wave data in the presence of limited sampling frequency and noise.

An accurate and efficient HOS-meshfree CFD coupling method for simulating strong nonlinear wave–body interactions

The study on strong nonlinear wave–structure interaction (WSI) is crucial in ocean engineering. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is popular in this field because of its advantages in simulating free surface flow. However, to predict the details of WSI, a high resolution of particles is usually required, which results in a huge computational cost. In this paper, a potential-meshfree CFD weak coupling method based on the High Order Spectral (HOS) and SPH method is developed, which combines the advantages of the former in generating nonlinear waves quickly and accurately and the latter in adapting to strong nonlinear free surface problems. The accuracy of the coupling method was verified through the simulations of regular and irregular waves compared with experiment data. It shows the coupling method can effectively improve computational efficiency and extensively reduce the numerical dissipation. Furthermore, a simulation of the interaction between the focus wave and the floating body was conducted by using the coupling method, the original SPH method and the Constrained Interpolation Profile (CIP) method. Among all numerical methods, the coupling method is the best one for predicting the impact pressure of the floating body and is the only one that can capture the second impacting peak.