Second-order Accuracy Research Articles

New higher-order accurate super-compact scheme for three-dimensional natural convection and entropy generation

Exploring natural convection in three dimensions through numerical analysis has become essential for gaining a deeper understanding of this process compared to studying it in just two dimensions. This paper presents an enhanced analysis of three-dimensional (3D) natural convection phenomena within an air-filled cubical cavity, with a primary focus on heat transfer characteristics. The distinguishing feature of this research lies in the pioneering application of the newly developed higher-order accurate super-compact finite difference scheme to study 3D natural convection and entropy generation. This numerical method is renowned for its fourth-order spatial accuracy and second-order temporal accuracy. The super-compact scheme employs 19 grid points at the current time level (nth time level) while utilizing just seven grid points from the subsequent time level [(n+1)th time level. The flow is considered to be 3D, time-varying, laminar, and incompressible. First, the newly developed numerical code has undergone validation through quantitative and qualitative comparisons with existing results. Then, we analyze the flow phenomena and heat transfer dynamics within the cavity for various Rayleigh numbers (102≤Ra≤105) with a fixed Prandtl number (Pr = 0.71) by using this scheme. Various parameters such as local Nusselt numbers, averaged Nusselt numbers, local entropy, Bejan number, streamlines, and isotherm dispersion are studied in this work. It is found that as the Rayleigh number (Ra) increases, the Bejan number (Be) decreases, while the total entropy increases. When the Ra is less than or equal to 104, the Be remains above 0.5, indicating that irreversibility primarily arises from heat transfer. However, as we transition to Ra=105, the Be falls below 0.5, signaling that irreversibility is now predominantly driven by viscous effects. To the best of our knowledge, this research marks a pioneering effort by introducing the application of the higher order super-compact (HOSC) scheme for the examination of heat transfer within a 3D cubic cavity, thus endowing our work with a truly novel and pioneering character. It is worth mentioning that, before this study, there has been no precedent in the exploration of heat transfer using the super-compact scheme, thus endowing our work with a truly novel and pioneering character.

An efficient second-order cell-centered Lagrangian discontinuous Galerkin method for two-dimensional elastic-plastic flows

An efficient second-order cell-centered Lagrangian discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for solving two-dimensional (2D) elastic-plastic flows with the hypo-elastic constitutive model and von Mises yield condition is presented. First, starting from the governing equations of conserved quantities in the Euler framework, the integral weak formulation of them in the Lagrangian framework is derived. Next, the DG method is used for spatial discretization of both the weak formulation of conserved quantities and the evolution equation of deviatoric stress tensor. The Taylor basis functions defined in the reference coordinates provide the piecewise polynomial expansion of the variables, including the conserved quantities and the deviatoric stress tensor. The vertex velocities and Cauchy stress tensor on the edges are computed using a nodal solver equipped with a variant of Li's new Harten-Lax-van Leer-contact approximate Riemann solver [Li et al., “An HLLC-type approximate Riemann solver for two-dimensional elastic-perfectly plastic model,” J. Comput. Phys. 448, 110675 (2022)], in which the longitudinal wave velocity in the plastic state is modified. Then the vertex velocities and Cauchy stress tensor on the edges are used to compute numerical fluxes. A second-order total variation diminishing Runge–Kutta scheme is used for time discretization of both the governing equations of conserved quantities and the evolution equation of deviatoric stress tensor. After solving the evolution equation of deviatoric stress tensor, a radial return algorithm is performed at the Gauss points of each element according to the von Mises yield condition. And then the coefficients of the DG expansion for the deviatoric stress tensor on each element are modified by a least squares procedure using the deviatoric stress tensors at these Gauss points. To achieve second-order accuracy, the least squares procedure is used for piecewise linear reconstruction of conserved quantities and the deviatoric stress tensor, and the Barth–Jespersen limiter is used to suppress the nonphysical numerical oscillation near the discontinuities. After that, the coefficients of the DG expansion are modified through L2 projection using the reconstructed polynomials. Finally, a second-order cell-centered Lagrangian DG scheme is established. Several tests demonstrate that the new scheme achieves second-order accuracy with good robustness, and that the DG method of updating the deviatoric stress tensor has comparable accuracy and much higher efficiency with mesh refinement compared with previous works.

A second-order-accuracy finite difference scheme for numerical computation on two-dimensional three-neighboring-node unstructured grids

The computation of the finite difference method in curvilinear coordinates usually necessitates coordinate transformation. Eliminating geometric errors induced by coordinate transformation can be achieved with geometric conservation law. However, no research has been conducted to implement a difference scheme on two-dimensional three-neighboring-node unstructured meshes and achieve a second-order accuracy. In this paper, a new finite difference method is proposed for a numerical simulation on these meshes, and it can achieve a second-order accuracy with the use of the gradient interpolation and the discrete criterion, freezing the metrics and Jacobian at local nodes. The results of several numerical tests demonstrate that the method achieved reliable performance and robustness on unique and randomized unstructured grids for a complex flow with discontinuity, subsonic inflow, and diffraction. The method had comparable accuracy to the second-order difference scheme on structured grids.

Precision in disease dynamics: Finite difference solutions for stochastic epidemics with treatment cure and partial immunity

The complex and ever-changing characteristics of epidemic modelling, particularly when considering random elements, provide a substantial obstacle in creating precise and practical numerical methods for solving differential equations. This study contributes to this effort by introducing an innovative finite difference method for linear and non-linear stochastic and deterministic differential equations. This scheme expands explicitly upon the Euler Maruyama method, improving its precision for the deterministic aspect while ensuring coherence in dealing with stochastic terms. This contribution provides a numerical scheme that can be used to find solutions to linear and non-linear stochastic and deterministic differential equations. The scheme can be considered as the extension of the Euler Maruyama scheme for solving stochastic differential equations. The Euler Maruyama scheme offers a first-order accuracy of the deterministic model. Still, this scheme provides second-order accuracy for the deterministic part, whereas the integration of stochastic terms is the same in both schemes. The scheme is employed in a stochastic diffusive epidemic model with the effect of treatment, cure, and partial immunity. The comparison of the proposed scheme with the existing nonstandard finite difference method is made, and it is shown that the proposed scheme performs better than the nonstandard finite difference method in accuracy for the deterministic differential equations. It is also demonstrated that susceptible people rise whereas infected and recovered people decline by enhancing treatment cure rate. How does the cure rate of the treatment influence the number of the three populations, i.e., S(t), I(t), and R(t)? The results from the numerical simulation have provided useful insights into the dynamics of the epidemic model under various settings. This is particularly useful for influencing any public health plan and intervention. Thus, this work contributes numerical approaches and is an essential tool for epidemiological studies.

The Second-Order Numerical Approximation for a Modified Ericksen–Leslie Model

In this study, two numerical schemes with second-order accuracy in time for a modified Ericksen–Leslie model are constructed. The highlight is based on a novel convex splitting method for dealing with the nonlinear potentials, which is integrated with the second-order backward differentiation formula (BDF2) and leap frog method for temporal discretization and the finite element method for spatial discretization. The unconditional energy stability of both schemes is further demonstrated. Finally, several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed schemes.

Comparison of methods for curvature estimation from volume fractions

This paper evaluates and compares the accuracy and robustness of curvature estimation methods for three-dimensional interfaces represented implicitly by discrete volume fractions on a Cartesian mesh. The height function (HF) method is compared to three paraboloid fitting methods: fitting to the piecewise linear interface reconstruction centroids (PC), fitting to the piecewise linear interface reconstruction volumetrically (PV), and volumetrically fitting (VF) the paraboloid directly to the volume fraction field. A shape-independent test of the curvature estimation is introduced through the use of randomly oriented and shaped paraboloids as reference interfaces. The coupling of the curvature estimation, interface transport, and Navier–Stokes surface tension force is evaluated through the measurement of spurious velocities in simulations of stationary and translating droplets. These studies find that while the curvature error from the VF method converges with second-order accuracy as with the HF method for static interfaces represented by exact volume fractions, the PV method best balances low curvature errors with low computational cost when errors are introduced in the volume fraction field either artificially or through the interface advection and reconstruction steps.

A finite-volume framework to solve the Fokker–Planck equation for fiber orientation kinetics

In this work, a new solver, FPSolve, is developed to study fiber orientation kinetics using the Fokker–Planck (FP) equation. The solver employs the finite-volume method. The FP equation is discretized on unstructured cubed-sphere grids using the centered differencing scheme (CDS) or a blend of the CDS and the upwind differencing scheme. Time integration is performed using a second-order two-stage explicit Runge–Kutta scheme. Different shape factors and rotational diffusion coefficients are implemented to study suspensions in dilute to semiconcentrated regimes. The verification of the solver is performed for the fiber orientation in simple shear flow up to a Peclet number of 105. Grid independence analysis is presented to show the second-order accuracy of FPSolve. It is demonstrated that the solver does not need stabilization by upwinding. Simulations for semiconcentrated suspensions are performed using the model of Ferec et al. (2014). Time-accurate solutions of the FP equation with explicit time stepping for this model are presented for the first time.

A general parametric finite element modeling and stress response analysis methods for pipeline system using the nonconforming solid element

In the dynamic topology optimization design of pipeline system, parametric finite element modeling (PFEM) is needed to improve the model reconstruction efficiency. Taking a typical spatial single pipeline as the research object, this paper innovatively presents a PFEM method of pipeline system based on the newly constructed nonconforming solid (Solid-NC) element. The stiffness and mass matrices of the spatial 8-node Solid-NC element with second-order boundary accuracy are obtained by introducing the node-free displacement items and statics condensation method. The PFEM method of the pipeline body is proposed by selecting the straight-line segment lengths as the pipeline shape control parameters. The PFEM method of the pipeline is described in detail, including the node coordinate solutions of straight-line and curved arc segments based on the direction vector method and vector decomposition method, respectively, and the simulation of the clamp mechanical properties considering the actual pre-tightening state of the clamp. Furthermore, the modal analysis is carried out, the node stress response solution is solved based on the stress smoothing method, and the effectiveness of the PFEM method is verified through experiment. Finally, the mesh quality and model reconstruction efficiency of the PFEM method is analyzed, the results show that the developed PFEM method has higher mesh quality and fast model reconstruction speed, and the model reconstruction time is shortened by 544.5 times at most compared with ANSYS software.

Macroscopic finite-difference scheme based on the mesoscopic regularized lattice-Boltzmann method.

In this paper, we develop a macroscopic finite-difference scheme from the mesoscopic regularized lattice Boltzmann (RLB) method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations(NSEs) and convection-diffusion equation(CDE). Unlike the commonly used RLB method based on the evolution of a set of distribution functions, this macroscopic finite-difference scheme is constructed based on the hydrodynamic variables of NSEs (density, momentum, and strain rate tensor) or macroscopic variables of CDE (concentration and flux), and thus shares low memory requirement and high computational efficiency. Based on an accuracy analysis, it is shown that, the same as the mesoscopic RLB method, the macroscopic finite-difference scheme also has a second-order accuracy in space. In addition, we would like to point out that compared with the RLB method and its equivalent macroscopic numerical scheme, the present macroscopic finite-difference scheme is much simpler and more efficient since it is only a two-level system with macroscopic variables. Finally, we perform some simulations of several benchmark problems, and find that the numerical results are not only in agreement with analytical solutions, but also consistent with the theoretical analysis.

The Lattice Boltzmann Method Using Parallel Computation: A Great Potential Solution for Various Complicated Acoustic Problems

This paper proposes the D2Q5 Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) method, in two dimensions with five discrete lattice velocities, for simulating linear sound wave propagation in closed rooms. A second-order linear acoustic equation obtained from the LBM method was used as the model equation. Boundary conditions at the domain boundary use the bounce-back scheme. The LBM numerical calculation algorithm in this paper is relatively simpler and easy to implement. Parallelization with the GPU CUDA was implemented to speed up the execution time. The calculation results show that the use of parallel GPU CUDA programming can accelerate the proposed simulation 27.47 times faster than serial CPU programming. The simulation results are validated with analytical solutions for acoustic pulse reflected by the flat and oblique walls, the comparisons show very good concordance, and the D2Q5 LBM has second-order accuracy. In addition, the simulation results in the form of wavefront propagation images in complicated shaped rooms are also compared with experimental photographs, and the comparison also shows excellent concordance. The numerical results of the D2Q5 LBM are promising and also demonstrate the great capability of the D2Q5 LBM for investigating room acoustics in various complexities.

Primary resonance characteristics of a cylindrical bubble based on the multi-scale method

This paper describes a primary resonance theoretical model for a cylindrical bubble under acoustic excitation. Based on the multi-scale method, an analytical solution of the bubble–wall equation with second-order accuracy is obtained and numerically verified. The oscillation characteristics in the time domain and the frequency response characteristics of the oscillations under primary resonance are analyzed with different amplitudes and frequencies of acoustic excitation and the equilibrium radius of the bubble. This study yields the following primary findings: (1) For the cylindrical bubbles, the primary resonance of the bubble exists in unstable regions. Nonlinear behaviors such as jumps, hysteresis, and multivalued solutions may be widely present. (2) As the amplitude of the acoustic excitation and the bubble equilibrium radius increase, the backbone of the amplitude–frequency response curve bends to the left and the unstable region gradually expands. (3) When the dimensionless amplitude of the acoustic excitation is less than 0.005 and the bubble equilibrium radius is less than 1.0 × 10−5 m, the unstable region of resonance disappears.

On the unique weak solvability of second-order unconditionally stable difference scheme for the system of sine-Gordon equations

In the present paper, a nonlinear system of sine-Gordon equations that describes the DNA dynamics is considered. A novel unconditionally stable second-order accuracy difference scheme corresponding to the system of sine-Gordon equations is presented. In this work, for the first time in the literature, weak solution of this difference scheme is studied. The existence and uniqueness of the weak solution for the difference scheme are proved in the space of distributions, and the methods of variational calculus are applied. The finite-difference method and the fixed point theory are used in combination to perform numerical experiments that verify the theoretical statements.

A Numerical Method Based on Operator Splitting Collocation Scheme for Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

In this paper, a second-order operator splitting method combined with the barycentric Lagrange interpolation collocation method is proposed for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The equation is split into linear and nonlinear parts: the linear part is solved by the barycentric Lagrange interpolation collocation method in space combined with the Crank–Nicolson scheme in time; the nonlinear part is solved analytically due to the availability of a closed-form solution, which avoids solving the nonlinear algebraic equation. Moreover, the consistency of the fully discretized scheme for the linear subproblem and error estimates of the operator splitting scheme are provided. The proposed numerical scheme is of spectral accuracy in space and of second-order accuracy in time, which greatly improves the computational efficiency. Numerical experiments are presented to confirm the accuracy, mass and energy conservation of the proposed method.

Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian finite volume IMEX schemes for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on evolving Chimera meshes

In this article we design a finite volume semi-implicit IMEX scheme for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on evolving Chimera meshes. We employ a time discretization technique that separates explicit and implicit terms, accommodating the multi-scale nature of the governing equations, which involve both time scales of diffusion and advection operators. The finite volume approach for both explicit and implicit terms allows to encode into the nonlinear flux the velocity of displacement of the Chimera mesh via integration on moving cells. The numerical solution is then projected onto the physically meaningful solution manifold of non-solenoidal fields that stems from the energy equation. To attain second-order time accuracy, we employ semi-implicit IMEX Runge-Kutta schemes. These novel schemes are combined with a fractional-step method, thus the governing equations are eventually solved using a projection method to satisfy the divergence-free constraint of the velocity field. The implicit discretization of the viscous terms allows the CFL-type stability condition for the maximum admissible time step to be only defined by the relative fluid velocity referred to the movement of the frame and not depending on the viscous terms. Communication between different grid blocks is enabled through compact exchange of information from the fringe cells of one mesh block to the field cells of the other block. The continuity of the solution is recovered in one-shot during the solution of the arising algebraic systems by not involving neither direct discretization of the differential operators on fringe cells nor an iterative Schwartz-type method. Free-stream preservation property, i.e. compliance with the Geometric Conservation Law (GCL), is respected at the order of the scheme. The accuracy and capabilities of the new numerical schemes are proved through an extensive range of test cases, demonstrating ability to solve relevant benchmarks in the field of incompressible fluids.

Unconditional energy-stable method for the Swift–Hohenberg equation over arbitrarily curved surfaces with second-order accuracy

This paper presents an unconditional energy-stable method for the Swift-Hohenberg equation over arbitrarily curved surfaces. We directly define the Laplace–Beltrami operator on the triangular mesh and its dual mesh, which are the discretizations of regular surface. The direct discretization method has several advantages including intrinsic geometry, convergence property, and mass conservation. A second-order temporal accuracy method has been proposed with the Crank-Nicolson type formulation. We have applied the stabilized splitting method to solve the governing system. Our proposed scheme is easy to implement since the two elliptic equations are both linear with low computational burden. The proposed scheme is provable to be Unconditional energy-stable. Several computational tests are conducted to demonstrate that the numerical method is efficient.

Triply periodic minimal surfaces based topology optimization for the hydrodynamic and convective heat transfer

Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS), possessing diverse and crucial properties for thermal convection analysis, hold significant promise for topology optimization in convective and hydrodynamic systems. This study aims to develop an innovative topology optimization method based on TPMS for channel shape design. We focus on maximizing heat dissipation and mass flux while maintaining a constant mean curvature. The channel structures undergo free evolution during the optimization process, resulting in efficient and intricate geometries based on the TPMS assumption. To incorporate TPMS properties, we modify the original energy formulation, which comprises kinetic energy, thermal energy, and Ginzburg–Landau energy. The governing system encompasses the phase field model, the Darcy–Stokes model, and the reaction–diffusion heat transfer model. The hydrodynamic response within the phase change structure is computed by solving the transient Darcy–Stokes equation augmented with a temperature-dependent diffusion term. To achieve second-order temporal and spatial accuracy, we employ the Crank–Nicolson method for the time scale and the central difference method for the spatial scale. Through the utilization of the Lagrange multiplier method, we establish the unconditional decrease of the discretized original energy. This implies that the proposed scheme can utilize a large time step. To verify the robustness of our proposed method, we conduct several numerical tests from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in enhancing heat and mass transfer capabilities.

A sharp MLS penalty immersed finite element method for fluid-structure interaction of highly deformable slender body in turbulent flow

This paper presents a new computational approach to simulate challenging fluid-structure interactions (FSI) between fluids and slender deformable structures. Key innovations address limitations of standard immersed boundary methods, including spurious forces, stability at low density ratios, and accuracy at high Reynolds numbers. The method couples a sharp interface immersed boundary technique with detached eddy simulation turbulence modelling to enable precise FSI for high Reynolds number flows. A strong coupling partitioned algorithm stabilized by Aitken relaxation significantly enhances stability for low density ratios down to 1. A moving least square compact support domain approximation reduces spurious oscillations from moving geometries while providing second-order accuracy. Adaptive mesh refinement imposes jump conditions on slim deformable bodies and minimizes grid leakage. The proposed method is evaluated on three conventional FSI benchmarks and four experimental cases, confirming its robustness, accuracy, and stability in low and significantly high Reynolds numbers. A more complex fluids engineering case is considered last to test the solution under challenging conditions with fast moving solid boundaries and fast flowing fluid. A thin deformable membrane is forced through a submersible centrifugal pump under standard operating conditions. The solution is shown to produce a stable solution with good collision handling ability.

Implementation and Validation of Explicit Immersed Boundary Method and Lattice Boltzmann Flux Solver in OpenFOAM

In this work, the explicit boundary-condition-enforced immersed boundary method (EIBM) and the lattice Boltzmann flux solver (LBFS) are integrated into OpenFOAM to efficiently solve incompressible flows with complex geometries and moving boundaries. The EIBM applies the explicit technique to greatly improve the computational efficiency of the original boundary-condition-enforced immersed boundary method. In addition, the improved EIBM inherits the accurate interpretation of the no-slip boundary condition and the simple implementation from the original one. The LBFS uses the finite volume method to discretize the recovered macroscopic governing equations from the lattice Boltzmann equation. It enjoys the explicit relationship between the pressure and density, which avoids solving the pressure Poisson equation and thus saves much computational cost. Another attractive feature of the LBFS lies in its simultaneous evaluation of the inviscid and viscous fluxes. OpenFOAM, as an open-source CFD platform, has drawn increasing attention from the CFD community and has been proven to be a powerful tool for various problems. Thus, implementing the EIBM and LBFS into such a popular platform can advance the practical application of these two methods and may provide an effective alternative for complicated incompressible flow problems. The performance of the integrated solver in OpenFOAM is comprehensively assessed by comparing it with the widely used numerical solver in OpenFOAM, namely, the Pressure-Implicit with Splitting of Operators (PISO) algorithm with the IBM. A series of representative test cases with stationary and moving boundaries are simulated. Numerical results confirm that the present method does not have any streamline penetration and achieves the second-order accuracy in space. Therefore, the present method implemented in the open-source platform OpenFOAM may have good potential and can serve as a powerful tool for practical engineering problems.

A space-time second-order method based on modified two-grid algorithm with second-order backward difference formula for the extended Fisher–Kolmogorov equation

In this paper, a modified two-grid algorithm based on block-centred finite difference method is developed for the fourth-order nonlinear extended Fisher–Kolmogorov equation. To further improve the computational efficiency, an effective second-order accurate backward difference formula is considered. The modified two-grid method based on Newton iteration is constructed to linearize the nonlinear system. The method solves a miniature nonlinear system on a coarse grid accompanying a larger time step to get the numerical solution, then computes a linear system constructed by the previous result with the Taylor expansion on a fine grid accompanying a smaller time step to get the correct numerical solution. Theoretical analysis shows that the modified two-grid algorithm can achieve second-order convergence accuracy both in time and space domain. Several numerical experiments are provided to verify the theoretical result and the high efficiency of this approach. The practical problem illustrates the actual applicable value of the algorithm.

Several different ways to increase the accuracy of the numerical solution of the first order wave equation

The article presents several different ways to increase the accuracy of the numerical solution of differential equations. The comparison of schemes with different accuracy for the first order wave equation problem is presented. The schemes of the first order of upwind scheme, the second order of accuracy of McCormack, the third order of accuracy of Warming–Cutler–Lomax, and the scheme of the fourth order of accuracy of Abarbanel–Gotlieb–Turkel were applied. The condensed computational grids for the McCormack scheme are used, and the results using an adaptive grid for the McCormack scheme were compared.