Stochastic simulations of fluid mixing and other applications of the front tracking method

Conference · Fri Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:390775

Glimm, J; Graham, M J; Smith, T M; Tangerman, F ^[1]

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1. State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (United States)

Front tracking is a computational method in which interfaces or embedded geometrical surfaces are given explicit computational degrees of freedom. It is thus a hybrid method, mixing CFD with computational geometry. The authors consider here three applications of Front Tracking to the computations of dynamically evolving surfaces. The first two are fluid instabilities, the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability of steady acceleration of a fluid density discontinuity interface, and the related Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability of impulsive acceleration of such interfaces. Their third test problem is surface evolution governed by the Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) equation, to model the deposition or etching of surfaces in the manufacture of semiconductor chips. Strong evidence is presented for a renormalization group (RNG) fixed point for the RT mixing problems, including a closed form solution of the RNG equations. Recently developed three dimensional computations for the RT problem are presented here. The RM Front Tracking computations have been validated by comparison to laboratory experiments, agreement with newly derived theories (also presented here), and agreement with known solution symmetries. The HJ surface evolution computations are the first, to the authors` knowledge, for this problem using surface based methodology and with a method to handle surface bifurcations and topology changes.

• DOE Contract Number: FG02-90ER25084
• OSTI ID: 390775
• Report Number(s): CONF-960482--; CNN: Grant DAAL03-92-G-0185; Grant DAAL-04-9510414; Grant DMS-9500568; Grant DMS-9312098
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
CALCULATION METHODS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
FLUID FLOW
HYDRAULICS
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES