Numerical simulation of combustion using mesh-free methods

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

Public Abstract (CTS-0500505) The research involves computational modeling of turbulent combustion for two-dimensional planar or axisymmetric cylindrical-flow problems. The study will focus upon the following aspects: 1. The use of level-set modeling to define the burnt and unburnt interfaces of turbulent flow. 2. In the continuous regions bounded by such interfaces, mesh-free radial basis functions will be used in conjunction with the level-set methodology. The mesh-free radial basis function method will be used to time advance the solution in the interior continuous regions. We shall use the Greedy algorithm developed by Prof. Robert Schaback at Goetingen University. This algorithm is shown to be very efficient since it only uses those data centers important to reduce the residual errors at a fraction of the computational time required by finite element methods. In addition, a moving-data-center scheme will be implemented to further reduce both spatial and temporal truncation errors. This scheme will be constrained to conserve mass, momentum components and total energy at each time advance. We intend to publish our results in two parts: A. A detailed description of the numerical algorithm, and B. Numerical results describing different geometries, placement of obstacles, etc. with emphasis on computational efficiency. It is expected that the results of the research will provide benefits to society, including improved accuracy and efficiency of combustion simulations that are used to predict performance and emissions characteristics of practical combustors. This project is jointly funded by the Chemical and Transport Systems Division and the Division of Mathematical Sciences as part of the NSF Mathematical Sciences Priority Area.