What is the Small Parameter ε in the Chapman-Enskog Expansion of the Lattice Boltzmann Method?

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minoru Watari

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is shown to be equivalent to the Navier-Stokes equations by applying the Chapman-Enskog (C-E) expansion, which has been established by pioneer researchers. However, it is still difficult for elementary researchers. There is no clear explanation of the small parameter ε used in the C-E expansion. There are several expressions for the viscosity coefficient; some are unclear on the relationship with ε. There are two expressions on the LBM evolution equation. Elementary researchers are perplexed as to which is correct. The LBM achieves second order accuracy by including the numerical viscosity within the physical viscosity. This is not only difficult for elementary researchers to understand but also sometimes leads senior researchers into making errors. The C-E expansion of the LBM was thoroughly reviewed and is presented as a self-contained form in this paper. It is natural to use the time step Δt as ε. The viscosity coefficient is expressed as μ∝Δxc(τ − 1/2). The viscosity relationship and the second order accuracy were confirmed by numerical simulations. The difference in the two expressions on the LBM evolution is simply one of perspective. They are identical. The difference between the relaxation parameter τD for the discrete Boltzmann equation and τ for the LBM was discussed. While τD is a quantity of time, τ is genuinely nondimensional, which is sometimes overlooked.

2012 ◽  
Vol 698 ◽  
pp. 282-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goncalo Silva ◽  
Viriato Semiao

AbstractThe isothermal Navier–Stokes equations are determined by the leading three velocity moments of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Necessary conditions establishing the hydrodynamic consistency of these moments are provided by multiscale asymptotic techniques, such as the second-order Chapman–Enskog expansion. However, for simulating incompressible hydrodynamics the structure of the forcing term in the LBM is still a discordant issue as far as its correct velocity expansion order is concerned. This work uses the traditional second-order Chapman–Enskog expansion analysis to demonstrate that the truncation order of the forcing term may depend on the time regime in this case. This is due to the fact that LBM does not reproduce exactly the incompressibility condition. It rather approximates it through a weakly compressible or an artificial compressible system. The present study shows that for the artificial compressible setup, as the incompressibility flow condition is singularly perturbed by the time variable, such a connection will also affect the LBM forcing formulation. As a result, for time-independent incompressible flows the LBM forcing must be truncated to first order whereas for a time-dependent case it is convenient to include the second-order term. The theoretical findings are confirmed by numerical tests carried out in several distinct benchmark flows driven by space- and/or time-varying body forces and possessing known analytical solutions. These results are verified for the single relaxation time, the multiple relaxation time and the regularized collision models.


Author(s):  
Joris C. G. Verschaeve

By means of the continuity equation of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, additional physical arguments for the derivation of a formulation of the no-slip boundary condition for the lattice Boltzmann method for straight walls at rest are obtained. This leads to a boundary condition that is second-order accurate with respect to the grid spacing and conserves mass. In addition, the boundary condition is stable for relaxation frequencies close to two.


Author(s):  
Sonam Tanwar

This chapter develops a meshless formulation of lattice Boltzmann method for simulation of fluid flows within complex and irregular geometries. The meshless feature of proposed technique will improve the accuracy of standard lattice Boltzmann method within complicated fluid domains. Discretization of such domains itself may introduce significant numerical errors into the solution. Specifically, in phase transition or moving boundary problems, discretization of the domain is a time-consuming and complex process. In these problems, at each time step, the computational domain may change its shape and need to be re-meshed accordingly for the purpose of accuracy and stability of the solution. The author proposes to combine lattice Boltzmann method with a Galerkin meshfree technique popularly known as element-free Galerkin method in this chapter to remove the difficulties associated with traditional grid-based methods.


2012 ◽  
Vol 700 ◽  
pp. 514-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orestis Malaspinas ◽  
Pierre Sagaut

AbstractThe lattice Boltzmann method has become a widely used tool for the numerical simulation of fluid flows and in particular of turbulent flows. In this frame the inclusion of subgrid scale closures is of crucial importance and is not completely understood from the theoretical point of view. Here, we propose a consistent way of introducing subgrid closures in the BGK Boltzmann equation for large eddy simulations of turbulent flows. Based on the Hermite expansion of the velocity distribution function, we construct a hierarchy of subgrid scale terms, which are similar to those obtained for the Navier–Stokes equations, and discuss their inclusion in the lattice Boltzmann method scheme. A link between our approach and the standard way on including eddy viscosity models in the lattice Boltzmann method is established. It is shown that the use of a single modified scalar relaxation time to account for subgrid viscosity effects is not consistent in the compressible case. Finally, we validate the approach in the weakly compressible case by simulating the time developing mixing layer and comparing with experimental results and direct numerical simulations.


2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya C. Velivelli ◽  
Kenneth M. Bryden

The use of the lattice Boltzmann method in computational fluid dynamics has been steadily increasing. The highly local nature of lattice Boltzmann computations have allowed for easy cache optimization and parallelization. This bestows the lattice Boltzmann method with considerable superiority in computational performance over traditional finite difference methods for solving unsteady flow problems. When solving steady flow problems, the explicit nature of the lattice Boltzmann discretization limits the time step size. The time step size is limited by the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) condition and local gradients in the solution, the latter limitation being more extreme. This paper describes a novel explicit discretization for the lattice Boltzmann method that can perform simulations with larger time step sizes. The new algorithm is applid to the steady Burger’s equation, uux = μ(uxx + uyy), which is a nonlinear partial differential equation containing both convection and diffusion terms. A comparison between the original lattice Boltzmann method and the new algorithm is performed with regard to time for computation and accuracy.


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