A Semi-Lagrangian Godunov-Type Method without Numerical Viscosity for Shocks

One of the most important and complex effects in compressible fluid flow simulation is a shock-capturing mechanism. Numerous high-resolution Euler-type methods have been proposed to resolve smooth flow scales accurately and to capture the discontinuities simultaneously. One of the disadvantages of these methods is a numerical viscosity for shocks. In the shock, the flow parameters change abruptly at a distance equal to the mean free path of a gas molecule, which is much smaller than the cell size of the computational grid. Due to the numerical viscosity, the aforementioned Euler-type methods stretch the parameter change in the shock over few grid cells. We introduce a semi-Lagrangian Godunov-type method without numerical viscosity for shocks. Another well-known approach is a method of characteristics that has no numerical viscosity and uses the Riemann invariants or solvers for water hammer phenomenon modeling, but in its formulation the convective terms are typically neglected. We use a similar approach to solve the one-dimensional adiabatic gas dynamics equations, but we split the equations into parts describing convection and acoustic processes separately, with corresponding different time steps. When we are looking for the solution to the one-dimensional problem of the scalar hyperbolic conservation law by the proposed method, we additionally use the iterative Godunov exact solver, because the Riemann invariants are non-conserved for moderate and strong shocks in an ideal gas. The proposed method belongs to a group of particle-in-cell (PIC) methods; to the best of the author’s knowledge, there are no similar PIC numerical schemes using the Riemann invariants or the iterative Godunov exact solver. This article describes the application of the aforementioned method for the inviscid Burgers’ equation, adiabatic gas dynamics equations, and the one-dimensional scalar hyperbolic conservation law. The numerical analysis results for several test cases (e.g., the standard shock-tube problem of Sod, the Riemann problem of Lax, the double expansion wave problem, the Shu–Osher shock-tube problem) are compared with the exact solution and Harten’s data. In the shock for the proposed method, the flow properties change instantaneously (with an accuracy dependent on the grid cell size). The iterative Godunov exact solver determines the accuracy of the proposed method for flow discontinuities. In calculations, we use the iteration termination condition less than 10−5 to find the pressure difference between the current and previous iterations.

On the Dynamics of Low-viscosity Warped Disks around Black Holes

Accretion disks around black holes can become warped by Lense–Thirring precession. When the disk viscosity is sufficiently small, such that the warp propagates as a wave, then steady-state solutions to the linearized fluid equations exhibit an oscillatory radial profile of the disk tilt angle. Here we show, for the first time, that these solutions are in good agreement with three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations, in which the viscosity is isotropic and measured to be small compared to the disk angular semi-thickness, and in the case that the disk tilt—and thus the warp amplitude—remains small. We show, using both the linearized fluid equations and hydrodynamical simulations, that the inner disk tilt can be more than several times larger than the original disk tilt, and we provide physical reasoning for this effect. We explore the transition in disk behavior as the misalignment angle is increased, finding increased dissipation associated with regions of strong warping. For large enough misalignments the disk becomes unstable to disk tearing and breaks into discrete planes. For the simulations we present here, we show that the total (physical and numerical) viscosity at the time the disk breaks is small enough that the disk tearing occurs in the wave-like regime, substantiating that disk tearing is possible in this region of parameter space. Our simulations demonstrate that high spatial resolution, and thus low numerical viscosity, is required to accurately model the warp dynamics in this regime. Finally, we discuss the observational implications of our results.

On the role of numerical viscosity in the study of the local limit of nonlocal conservation laws

We deal with the numerical investigation of the local limit of nonlocal conservation laws. Previous numerical experiments seem to suggest that the solutions of the nonlocal problems converge to the entropy admissible solution of the conservation law in the singular local limit. However, recent analytical results state that (i) in general convergence does not hold because one can exhibit counterexamples; (ii)~convergence can be recovered provided viscosity is added to both the local and the nonlocal equations. Motivated by these analytical results, we investigate the role of numerical viscosity in the numerical study of the local limit of nonlocal conservation laws. In particular, we show that Lax-Friedrichs type schemes may provide the wrong intuition and erroneously suggest that the solutions of the nonlocal problems converge to the entropy admissible solution of the conservation law in cases where this is ruled out by analytical results. We also test Godunov type schemes, less affected by numerical viscosity, and show that in some cases they provide an intuition more in accordance with the analytical results.

Hydraulic Transient Analysis of Sewer Pipe Systems Using a Non-Oscillatory Two-Component Pressure Approach

On the basis of the two-component pressure approach, we developed a numerical model to capture mixed transient flows in close conduit systems. To achieve this goal, an innovative Godunov finite-volume numerical scheme is proposed to suppress the spurious numerical oscillations occurring during rapid pipe pressurization. To dissipate the spurious numerical oscillations, we admit artificial numerical viscosity to the numerical scheme through applying a proposed Harten, Lax, and van Leer (HLL) Riemann solver for calculating the numerical fluxes at the computational cell interfaces. The proposed solver controls the magnitude of the numerical viscosity through adjusting the left and right wave velocities. A wave velocity calculator is proposed to optimally distribute the numerical viscosity over several computational cells around the computational cell in which the pressurization front is located. The proposed solver admits significant artificial numerical viscosity when the pipe pressurization is imminent and automatically reduces it in other places; in this way the numerical diffusion and data smearing is minimized. The validity of the proposed model is justified by the aid of several test cases in which the numerical results are compared with both experimental data and the results obtained from analytical methods. The results reveal that the proposed model succeeds in completely removing the spurious numerical oscillations, even when the pipe acoustic speed is over 1000 m/s. The numerical results also show that the model can successfully capture occurrence of negative pressures during the course of transient flow.

Magnetic fields in the formation of the first stars – I. Theory versus simulation

ABSTRACT While magnetic fields are important in contemporary star formation, their role in primordial star formation is unknown. Magnetic fields of the order of 10−16 G are produced by the Biermann battery due to the curved shocks and turbulence associated with the infall of gas into the dark matter minihaloes that are the sites of formation of the first stars. These fields are rapidly amplified by a small-scale dynamo until they saturate at or near equipartition with the turbulence in the central region of the gas. Analytical results are given for the outcome of the dynamo, including the effect of compression in the collapsing gas. The mass-to-flux ratio in this gas is two to three times the critical value, comparable to that in contemporary star formation. Predictions of the outcomes of simulations using smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and grid-based adaptive mesh refinement are given. Because the numerical viscosity and resistivity for the standard resolution of 64 cells per Jeans length are several orders of magnitude greater than the physical values, dynamically significant magnetic fields affect a much smaller fraction of the mass in simulations than in reality. An appendix gives an analytical treatment of free-fall collapse, including that in a constant-density background. Another appendix presents a new method of estimating the numerical viscosity; results are given for both SPH and grid-based codes.

Suppress Numerical Oscillations in Transient Mixed Flow Simulations with a Modified HLL Solver

Transition between free-surface and pressurized flows is an crucial phenomenon in many hydraulic systems, including water distribution systems, urban drainage systems, etc. During the transition, the force exerted on the structures changes drastically, thus it is meaningful to simulate this process. However, severe numerical oscillations are widely observed behind filling-bores, causing unphysical pressure variations and even computation failure. In this paper, some oscillation-suppressing approaches are reviewed and evaluated on a benchmark model. Then a new oscillation-suppressing approach is proposed to admit numerical viscosity when the water surface is at proximity of conduct roof which has first order accuracy. This approach adds numerical viscosity when water surface is at the proximity of conduct roof. It can sufficiently suppress numerical oscillations under an acoustic wave speed of 1000m/s and is simple to apply. In comparison with two experiments, the simulation results of this method show good agreement and little numerical oscillations. The results in this paper can help readers to choose an appropriate oscillation-suppressing method to improve the robustness and accuracy of flow regime transition simulations.