Streamline Upwind Petrov-Galerkin Method Research Articles

Vectorial finite element method for neutron transport solving with preconditioning GMRES acceleration

This work proposed a vectorial finite element method (VFEM) for solving neutron transport equation with high accuracy and convergence. The Streamline Upwind Petrov–Galerkin method is used to establish the VFEM for accuracy, and the traditional discrete-ordinate neutron transport equation is organized in vectorial form for high stability and convergence. To further improve the convergence efficiency of VFEM, the preconditioning GMRES is introduced for solving the VFEM linear system, and different preconditioners are imposed, including the Jacobian and Block-Jacobian. Numerical results showed that the proposed VFEM has high accuracy and adaptability for multi-group and multi-dimensional neutron transport simulation. Further performance analyses showed that the proposed VFEM has higher efficiency than the traditional finite element method, while the application of preconditioning GMRESs can further improve the convergence efficiency. This work can provide an innovative and effective unstructured-mesh neutron transport solution format, and provide a valuable reference for further improvement of other numerical methods.

The moving finite element method with streamline-upwind Petrov–Galerkin for magnetohydrodynamic flows problems at high Hartmann numbers

It is widely acknowledged that both the streamline-upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method and moving mesh method can enhance the stability of finite element method in solving convection-dominated convection–diffusion problems. However, in the case of strong convection-dominated conditions, they still exhibit numerical oscillations and the solutions will not even converge. In order to address similar phenomena observed in solving magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow problems at high Hartmann numbers with strong convective dominance, the MHD equation was first decoupled into two convection–diffusion equations. Subsequently, a new approach called the moving mesh streamline-upwind Petrov–Galerkin method (MM-SUPG) was proposed by coupling the moving mesh technique with SUPG method. The MM-SUPG method contains two independent part: the finite element method with SUPG for solving the decoupled MHD equation and a mesh-redistribution algorithm. To verify its effectiveness for solving the MHD equation at high Hartmann number, a classical MHD fluid flow problem was numerically tested using both the MM-SUPG method and the moving finite element method (MFEM). Compared to the MFEM, the proposed method not only yields stable numerical solutions under strong convective dominance while reducing unnecessary false oscillations, but also improves calculation accuracy to some extent using the same mesh.

A framework to model the hydraulic fracturing with thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling based on the variational phase-field approach

In this research, a numerical framework for hydraulic fracturing has been formulated, incorporating thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled effects. While previous studies have reported various hydraulic fracturing models based on the phase-field method, a THM coupling scheme grounded in the variational phase-field approach remains unexplored. The THM coupling is of paramount importance for understanding underground fracture propagation. This study’s principal innovation lies in its extension of the variational phase field model, introducing it to a thermoporoelastic medium, thereby integrating fluid flow and heat transfer elements in fractured materials. In our advanced model, the fluid flow and heat transfer in the matrix and fracture are modeled independently. Subsequently, employing a set of reasonable assumptions, we introduce unified flow and heat transfer equations derived from phase-field calculus. A pivotal contribution of our work is the development of an iterative solution algorithm based on the fixed stress method, pivotal for tackling the THM coupled system. The proposed equations are discretized employing the FEM. Additionally, to address the numerical oscillations in advection-dominant issues that manifest in the heat transfer model, we have applied a generalized Streamline Upwind Petrov Galerkin method for 8-node elements. The accuracy of fracture propagation was assessed by comparing the numerical results of the evolution of fracture length, fracture width at the injection point, and the injection pressure under the K regime with the corresponding analytical solution. Furthermore, the process of heat transfer within a fractured domain, often referred to as the Barends problem, has been studied by proposed model. Additionally, some numerical experiments were conducted to gain insights into the intricate interplay between the thermal–hydraulic–mechanical system during hydraulic fracturing, thereby further emphasizing the significance of our advanced model.

Adaptive Finite Element Simulation of Double-Diffusive Convection

Double-diffusive convection plays an important role in many physical phenomena of practical importance. However, the numerical simulation of these phenomena is challenging since fine meshes are often required to capture the flow physics. Hence, several different numerical methods have been employed in the past. This work reports the development and application of an adaptive finite element method for the simulation of these phenomena, thereby avoiding the need for the use of very fine meshes over the whole domain. The weak formulation of the conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy and species concentration is used. The Boussinesq approximation relates the density of the fluid to the temperature and/or the species concentration. A second-order backward difference method is used for time discretization and the Galerkin method is employed for spatial discretization. Both adaptive time step and grid refinement techniques are employed, and the code is parallelized using MPI. Three different stabilization methods of the convective-diffusion equations are compared; namely, the streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method, and two modified methods aimed at diminishing spurious oscillations that include an artificial diffusion term. This diffusion term may be either isotropic or orthogonal to the streamlines. The addition of artificial isotropic diffusion to the SUPG method provides enhanced stability. The method is applied to double-diffusive finger convection in a sucrose-salt aqueous mixture and a stratified salt solution heated from below. The method accurately reproduces the experimentally observed temporal evolution of the salt fingers in the former case and the location of the interfaces between convective and non-convective zones in the latter.

A Variational Multiscale Method for Particle Dispersion Modeling in the Atmosphere

A LES model is proposed to predict the dispersion of particles in the atmosphere in the context of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) applications. The code relies on the Finite Element Method (FEM) for both the fluid and the dispersed solid phases. Starting from the Navier-Stokes equations and a general description of the FEM strategy, the Streamline Upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method is formulated putting some emphasis on the related assembly matrix and stabilization coefficients. Then, the Variational Multiscale Method (VMS) is presented together with a detailed illustration of its algorithm and hierarchy of computational steps. It is demonstrated that the VMS can be considered as a more general version of the SUPG method. The final part of the work is used to assess the reliability of the implemented predictor/multicorrector solution strategy.

Improving the accuracy of discretisations of the vector transport equation on the lowest-order quadrilateral Raviart-Thomas finite elements

Within finite element models of fluids, vector-valued fields such as velocity or momentum variables are commonly discretised using the Raviart-Thomas elements. However, when using the lowest-order quadrilateral Raviart-Thomas elements, standard finite element discretisations of the vector transport equation typically have a low order of spatial accuracy. This paper describes two schemes that improve the accuracy of transporting such vector-valued fields on two-dimensional curved manifolds.The first scheme that is presented reconstructs the transported field in a higher-order function space, where the transport equation is then solved. The second scheme applies a mixed finite element formulation to the vector transport equation, simultaneously solving for the transported field and its vorticity. An approach to stabilising this mixed vector-vorticity formulation is presented that uses a Streamline Upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method. These schemes are then demonstrated, along with their accuracy properties, through some numerical tests. Two new test cases are used to assess the transport of vector-valued fields on curved manifolds, solving the vector transport equation in isolation. The improvement of the schemes is also shown through two standard test cases for rotating shallow-water models.

On the performance of a Chimera-FEM implementation to treat moving heat sources and moving boundaries in time-dependent problems

Problems with moving sources and moving inner boundaries in transient regime are of high interest in many research fields and engineering applications. One approach to properly tackle such problems is based on the Chimera method for non-matching grids, where each moving object is defined on a fine mesh that moves across the fixed coarse background. In this way, the high gradients around moving sources or boundaries are captured by the fine mesh without need of globally fine fixed meshes or adaptive refinement. In this work, Chimera is implemented in the framework of the finite element method, following an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation for the moving meshes and a standard Eulerian formulation for the fixed background mesh. Further, in case of convection-dominated problems, the scheme is stabilized using the streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin method. The coupling between the moving fine meshes and the coarse fixed one is achieved via Dirichlet boundary conditions and a high-order interpolation algorithm. The performance of the proposed methodology in terms of accuracy and stability is assessed by means of numerical tests to be compared with equivalent problems solved using fixed meshes. Further tests serve to highlight the good performance of the proposed Chimera-based finite element method to address both convection-dominated problems with multiple moving boundaries and sources, and three-dimensional arc welding processes. • An algebraic-based Chimera-FEM scheme for unsteady problems is proposed. • Remeshing is avoided for large movements of heat sources and boundaries. • Advective-dominant problems can be addressed with Chimera-FEM and SUPG. • Good accuracy is obtained compared to conventional one-domain approaches. • The scheme is suitable to be used on 3D welding process simulations.

Uniform stability of the SUPG method for the evolutionary convection–diffusion–reaction equation

To solve the evolutionary convection-diffusion-reaction equation, the implicit Euler method and the streamline upwind Petrov Galerkin (SUPG) method are used for time discretization and space discretization respectively in this paper. Uniform stability is obtained with respect to the temporal and spatial discretization parameters. A new projection is introduced for the stability analysis instead of the common idea of material derivative. The analysis does not require a strict relation between time step and space step, which is usually needed by derivations based on the technique of material derivative. Furthermore, it can handle the case of time-dependent convection and reaction coefficients.

Extending FEniCS to work in higher dimensions using tensor product finite elements

We present a method to extend the finite element library FEniCS to solve problems with domains in dimensions above three by constructing tensor product finite elements. This methodology only requires that the high dimensional domain is structured as a Cartesian product of two lower dimensional subdomains. In this study we consider Dirichlet problems for scalar linear partial differential equations, though the methodology can be extended to non-linear problems. The utilization of tensor product finite elements allows us to construct a global system of linear algebraic equations that only relies on the finite element infrastructure of the lower dimensional subdomains contained in FEniCS. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our methodology in four distinctive test cases. The first test case is a Poisson equation posed in a four dimensional domain which is a Cartesian product of two unit squares solved using the classical Galerkin finite element method. The second test case is the wave equation in space–time, where the computational domain is a Cartesian product of a two dimensional space grid and a one dimensional time interval. In this second case we also employ the Galerkin method. The third test case is an advection dominated advection–diffusion equation where the global domain is a Cartesian product of two one dimensional intervals in which the streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin method is applied to ensure discrete stability. The final test case uses the Galerkin approach to solve a Poisson problem on a Cartesian product of two intervals with a spatially varying, non-separable diffusivity term In all cases, a p=1 basis is used and optimal L2 convergence rates of order hp+1 of the errors are achieved with respect to h refinement.

A new continuous finite element SN method for solving first-order neutron transport equation

A continuous finite element method (FEM) based on B-spline wavelet on the interval (BSWI) is proposed to solve the first-order neutron transport equation with discrete ordinate (SN) angular discretization. Two technologies are applied in this method, one of technologies is that the streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method is utilized to stabilize the first-order neutron transport equation when the FEM is used. Another is that the scaling functions of BSWI are applied to replace the usual Lagrange basis function. Based on the above two technologies, the stabilized weak form of neutron transport equation applying the SUPG technology based on BSWI is derived. Finally, some numerical examples are utilized to verify the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the method can treat the void region problem, and compared the FEM with SUPG technology, it can obtain fast convergence and numerical precision under the condition of much less grid. Overall, this method has good accuracy, high computational efficiency and wide application.

A 3D fully thermo–hydro–mechanical coupling model for saturated poroelastic medium

Thermo–hydro–mechanical (THM) coupling prevails in all sorts of underground activities, and numerical simulation is an effective tool to understand THM coupling. The essence of performing THM coupling simulation lies in solving a system of partial differential equations (PDEs) with displacements (U), pore pressure (P) and temperature (T) as the primary variables. In previous studies, only the UPT and U-PT schemes are reported to solve the system PDEs. Another promising scheme UP-T was rarely explored. In addition, although multiple solution schemes are theoretically possible, the performance thereof varies. Few studies have ever compared the performance of different solution schemes. Moreover, the rock mass in hydrothermal fields is highly permeable wherein heat advection dominates. Advection-dominated heat transfer may lead to numerical oscillation, but how to stabilize the simulation in the 3D case was inadequately reported. In this study, we developed a new THM coupling simulator HENGYI in the context of the finite element method. The UP-T solution scheme was verified to be robust enough to simulate large engineering problems. The Streamline Upwind Petrov Galerkin method was generalized to 3D and applied to HENGYI to address the advection-dominated heat transfer. The performance of the UPT, UP-T and U-PT schemes was compared and the applicability of different solution schemes was found to be highly associated with the degree of coupling between primary variables. Great details are provided regarding the development of HENGYI. Thus HENGYI not only bridges the research gaps mentioned above but also provides a comprehensive understanding of THM coupling simulation techniques.

A machine learning approach to enhance the SUPG stabilization method for advection-dominated differential problems

<abstract><p>We propose using machine learning and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to enhance residual-based stabilization methods for advection-dominated differential problems. Specifically, in the context of the finite element method, we consider the streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) stabilization method and we employ ANNs to optimally choose the stabilization parameter on which the method relies. We generate our dataset by solving optimization problems to find the optimal stabilization parameters that minimize the distances among the numerical and the exact solutions for different data of differential problem and the numerical settings of the finite element method, e.g., mesh size and polynomial degree. The dataset generated is used to train the ANN, and we used the latter "online" to predict the optimal stabilization parameter to be used in the SUPG method for any given numerical setting and problem data. We show, by means of 1D and 2D numerical tests for the advection-dominated differential problem, that our ANN approach yields more accurate solution than using the conventional stabilization parameter for the SUPG method.</p></abstract>

Topology optimization of natural convection heat transfer using SEMDOT algorithm based on the reduced-order model

Due to the strong nonlinear nature and the mutual effect between the temperature field and the velocity field, it is very difficult to solve the natural convection heat transfer problem. To this end, the Gauss Seidel iterative algorithm based on the reduced-order model is proposed to decouple temperature and pressure. In this paper, the governing equations are discretized by finite element method using bilinear shape functions. To suppress the oscillation of the solution of the governing equations, Streamline Upwind Petrov-Galerkin method (SUPG) is adopted. The main idea of the Gauss Seidel iterative algorithm is: given an initial temperature, pressure and temperature are obtained successively by solving only two nonlinear equations, which greatly improves the computational efficiency. Compared with full order Navier-Stokes model, the Gauss Seidel iterative algorithm for reduced order model has similar results. Then, in order to generate accurate boundaries, Smooth-Edged Material Distribution for Optimizing Topology (SEMDOT) based on density method (SIMP) is studied. Finally, some numerical examples demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

An Experimental Investigation of Viscoelastic Flow in a Contraction Channel.

In order to assess the predictive capability of the S–MDCPP model, which may describe the viscoelastic behavior of the low-density polyethylene melts, a planar contraction flow benchmark problem is calculated in this investigation. A pressure-stabilized iterative fractional step algorithm based on the finite increment calculus (FIC) method is adopted to overcome oscillations of the pressure field due to the incompressibility of fluids. The discrete elastic viscous stress splitting (DEVSS) technique in combination with the streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method are employed to calculate the viscoelastic flow. The equal low-order finite elements interpolation approximations for velocity-pressure-stress variables can be applied to calculate the viscoelastic contraction flows for LDPE melts. The predicted velocities agree well with the experimental results of particle imagine velocity (PIV) method, and the pattern of principal stress difference calculated by the S-MDCPP model has good agreement with the results measured by the flow induced birefringence (FIB) device. Numerical and experimental results show that the S-MDCPP model is capable of accurately capturing the rheological behaviors of branched polymers in complex flow.

Feasibility of streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin angular stabilization of the linear Boltzmann transport equation with magnetic fields

To accurately model dose in a magnetic field, the Lorentz force must be included in the traditional linear Boltzmann transport equation (LBTE). Both angular and spatial stabilization are required to deterministically solve this equation. In this work, a streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method is applied to achieve angular stabilization of the LBTE with magnetic fields. The spectral radius of the angular SUPG method is evaluated using a Fourier analysis method to characterize the convergence properties. Simulations are then performed on homogeneous phantoms and two heterogeneous slab geometry phantoms containing water, bone, lung/air and water for 0.5 T parallel and 1.5 T perpendicular magnetic field configurations. Fourier analysis determined that the spectral radius of the SUPG scheme is unaffected by magnetic field strength and the SUPG free parameter, indicating that the Gauss-Seidel source iteration method is unconditionally stable and the convergence rate is not degraded with increasing magnetic field strength. 100% of simulation points passed a 3D gamma analysis at a 2%/2 mm (3%/3 mm) gamma criterion for both magnetic field configurations in the homogeneous phantom study, with the exception of the 1.5 T perpendicular magnetic field in the pure lung phantom where a 77.4% (87.0%) pass rate was achieved. Simulations in the lung slab geometry phantom resulted in 100% of points passing a 2%/2 mm gamma analysis in a 0.5 T parallel magnetic field, and 97.7% (98.8%) of points passing a 2%/2 mm (3%/3 mm) gamma criterion in a 1.5 T perpendicular magnetic field. For the air slab geometry phantom, 72.1% (79.2%) of points passed a 2%/2 mm gamma criterion in a 0.5 T parallel magnetic field and 90.3% (92.8%) passed the same gamma criterion in a 1.5 T perpendicular magnetic field. While the novel SUPG angular stabilization method shows feasibility in some cases, it was found that the accuracy of this method was degraded for very low density media such as air.

A stabilized finite element method for the Poisson–Nernst–Planck equations in three-dimensional ion channel simulations

The Poisson–Nernst–Planck (PNP) model characterizing the electro-diffusion process is widely used in ion channel simulations. The standard finite element method often fails to converge, due to complicated geometries, strong fixed charges and huge bias of electric potentials or ion concentrations. We propose a novel stabilized finite element method named SUPG–IP, which inherits the upwind characteristic of the streamline-upwind/Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method and the smoothing effect of the interior penalty method. Numerical experiments have demonstrated that the SUPG–IP method has much better performance in positivity preserving and robustness than the standard FE and SUPG methods. Especially, the benchmark simulation of the KcsA ion channel implies that the SUPG–IP method still converges successfully under an unprecedented range of membrane potentials and ion concentrations, while the SUPG method diverges.

Appropriate stabilized Galerkin approaches for solving two-dimensional coupled Burgers’ equations at high Reynolds numbers

This paper aims to seek proper stabilized Galerkin methods for solving the two-dimensional coupled Burgers’ equations at high Reynolds numbers. The stabilization techniques employed here include the streamline upwind/Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method, the spurious oscillations at layers diminishing (SOLD) method and the characteristic Galerkin (CG) method. The first two methods are combined with the Crank–Nicolson scheme for time discretization and the last one is applied in its semi-implicit version. Different from most of the studies on the equations which are usually devoted to improving the accuracy of computed solution in the case of low Reynolds numbers, this paper mainly focuses on keeping the stability of the solution at high Reynolds numbers, which is significant in practical applications and also challenging in numerical computation. We study two problems, equipped with mixed boundary conditions and only Dirichlet boundary conditions, respectively. Numerical experiments reveal that the SUPG method is optimal for the former problem, and the SOLD method is more appropriate for the latter one. In addition, the performances of these methods demonstrate the difference between the two problems, which is seldom mentioned previously and might be helpful to other conventional methods intending to solve the problems at high Reynolds numbers. And last, since SOLD methods have rarely been utilized to solve nonlinear unsteady problems before, this study also indicates the potential of this class of methods to solve nonlinear unsteady convection-dominated problems.

Optimal adaptivity for the SUPG finite element method

For convection dominated problems, the streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin method (SUPG), also named streamline diffusion finite element method (SDFEM), ensures a stable finite element solution even on coarse meshes, i.e., in the preasymptotic range. Based on some a posteriori error estimators from the literature, we formulate an adaptive mesh-refining algorithm for SUPG. We prove that the adaptively generated SUPG solutions converge at asymptotically optimal rates towards the exact solution. The main focus thus is on the mathematical proof that the SUPG stabilization does not spoil the asymptotic convergence behavior of the adaptive scheme.

Numerical comparisons of finite element stabilized methods for a 2D vortex dynamics simulation at high Reynolds number

In this paper, we consider up-to-date and classical Finite Element (FE) stabilized methods for time-dependent incompressible flows. All studied methods belong to the Variational MultiScale (VMS) framework. So, different realizations of stabilized FE-VMS methods are compared using a high Reynolds number vortex dynamics simulation. In particular, a fully Residual-Based (RB)-VMS method is compared with the classical Streamline-Upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method together with grad–div stabilization, a standard one-level Local Projection Stabilization (LPS) method, and a recently proposed LPS method by interpolation. These procedures do not make use of the statistical theory of equilibrium turbulence, and no ad-hoc eddy viscosity modeling is required for all methods. Applications to the simulation of a high Reynolds number flow with vortical structures on relatively coarse grids are showcased, by focusing on a two-dimensional plane mixing-layer flow. Both Inf–Sup Stable (ISS) and Equal Order (EO) H1-conforming FE pairs are explored using a second-order semi-implicit Backward Differentiation Formula (BDF2) in time. Based on the numerical studies conducted, it is concluded that the SUPG method using EO–FE pairs performs best among all methods. Furthermore, there seems to be no reason to extend the SUPG method by the higher order terms of the RB-VMS method.

Fluid-structure interaction simulations of venous valves: A monolithic ALE method for large structural displacements.

Venous valves are bicuspidal valves that ensure that blood in veins only flows back to the heart. To prevent retrograde blood flow, the two intraluminal leaflets meet in the center of the vein and occlude the vessel. In fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations of venous valves, the large structural displacements may lead to mesh deteriorations and entanglements, causing instabilities of the solver and, consequently, the numerical solution to diverge. In this paper, we propose an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) scheme for FSI simulations designed to solve these instabilities. A monolithic formulation for the FSI problem is considered, and due to the complexity of the operators, the exact Jacobian matrix is evaluated using automatic differentiation. The method relies on the introduction of a staggered in time velocity to improve stability, and on fictitious springs to model the contact force of the valve leaflets. Because the large structural displacements may compromise the quality of the fluid mesh as well, a smoother fluid displacement, obtained with the introduction of a scaling factor that measures the distance of a fluid element from the valve leaflet tip, guarantees that there are no mesh entanglements in the fluid domain. To further improve stability, a streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method is employed. The proposed ALE scheme is applied to a two-dimensional (2D) model of a venous valve. The presented simulations show that the proposed method deals well with the large structural displacements of the problem, allowing a reconstruction of the valve behavior in both the opening and closing phase.