Title: An accurate and efficient method for automatic deformation of unstructured polyhedral grids to simulate the flow induced by the motion of solid objects

Authors: Seongwon Kang; Sang Hyuk Lee; Nahmkeon Hur

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sogang University, Sinsoo 1, Mapo, Seoul 121-742, Korea ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sogang University, Sinsoo 1, Mapo, Seoul 121-742, Korea ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sogang University, Sinsoo 1, Mapo, Seoul 121-742, Korea

Abstract: In the present study, an efficient numerical method to deform an unstructured polyhedral grid for accurate simulations of a flow induced by a moving solid object is proposed. In order to overcome inefficiency of the existing methods based on the vertices of a computational cell, the present approach deforms the polyhedral grids adaptively using a network based on the centre of each computational cell. It is shown that the proposed method provides with an improved efficiency for an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) simulation of a flow with a moving solid object compared to the existing methods based on the vertices. It is also shown that a polyhedral grid results in a better numerical accuracy than a triangular grid. The present numerical methods were applied to flows around a fixed and oscillating circular cylinder with various Reynolds numbers and oscillating frequencies. The produced numerical results were verified against aerodynamic characteristics of the previous numerical studies.

Keywords: unstructured polyhedral grids; spring analogy; computational fluid dynamics; CFD; arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian; ALE; automatic deformation; flow simulation; object motion; solid objects.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2013.053659

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2013 Vol.13 No.3/4, pp.182 - 190

Published online: 31 Oct 2013 *

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