WP E - Reactive, High Speed and Turbulent Flows

Lead: Kai Luo

Lattice Boltzmann Methods for High Speed and Turbulent Flow

Lattice Boltzmann methods have been traditionally used for low Reynolds number flow. Recent developments have extended the LBM to high speed and high Mach number flow as well as turbulent flow. One approach is to develop various high-order LBMs by extending their stability limit. The other is to incorporate "sub-grid scale" models, essentially conducting a large eddy simulation.

Lattice Boltzmann Methods for Reactive Flow

Being a kinetic method, LBM is well suited to simulation of multi-species and/or reactive flow with chemical reactions. A number of techniques have been developed to couple the flow field and the temperature field. One approach is the double distribution model in which the temperature (or enthalpy) field is represented by a separate distribution function within the LBM framework. Another approach is to adopt a hybrid method in which the flow field is determined by LBM while the energy equation is solved by a continuum method such as the finite difference. Multi-step chemistry can also be incorporated in the simulation.

High-end Computing and Real-time Simulation

With its intrinsically high parallel efficiency, LBMs are well placed to exploit the rapidly advancing high-end computing. Real-time simulation refers to the situation where the simulation time on computer is equal to or shorter than the physical time of a physical process so that we can follow or alter a physical process instantaneously. Work in the UKCOMES has combined LBM simulation on GPUs with fast 3D rendering engine to monitor and control   complex flow in realistic environments. Potential applications range from fire fighting to pathogen control in hospitals.