Abstract

Abstract

In this paper, three-field finite element stabilized formulations are proposed for the numerical solution of incompressible viscoelastic flows. These methods allow one to use equal interpolation for the problem unknowns σ–u–p (elastic deviatoric stress–velocity–pressure) and to stabilize dominant convective terms. Starting from residual-based stabilized formulations, the proposed method introduces a term-by-term stabilization which is shown to have a superior behavior when there are stress singularities. A general discontinuity-capturing technique for the elastic stress component is also proposed, which allows one to eliminate the local oscillations that can appear when the Weissenberg number We is high and the fluid flow finds an abrupt change in the geometry. The formulations are tested in the classical 4:1 planar contraction benchmark up to We=5 in the inertial case, with Reynolds number Re=1, and up to We=6.5 in the quasi non-inertial case, with Re=0.01. The standard Oldroyd-B constitutive model is used for the rheological behavior and linear and quadratic elements for the spatial approximation.

Abstract

In this paper, three different fractional step methods are designed for the three-field viscoelastic flow problem, whose variables are velocity, pressure and elastic stress. The starting point of our methods is the same as for classical pressure segregation algorithms used in the Newtonian incompressible Navier–Stokes problem. These methods can be understood as an inexact LU block factorization of the original system matrix of the fully discrete problem and are designed at the pure algebraic level. The final schemes allow one to solve the problem in a fully decoupled form, where each equation (for velocity, pressure and elastic stress) is solved separately. The first order scheme is obtained from a straightforward segregation of pressure and elastic stress in the momentum equation, whereas the key point for the second order scheme is a first order extrapolation of these variables. The third order fractional step method relies on Yosida's scheme. Referring to the spatial discretization, either the Galerkin method or a stabilized finite element formulation can be used. We describe the fractional step methods first assuming the former, and then we explain the modifications introduced by the stabilized formulation we employ and that has been proposed in a previous work. This discretization in space shows very good stability, permitting in particular the use of equal interpolation for all variables.

Abstract

The numerical simulation of complex flows has been a subject of intense research in the last years with important industrial applications in many fields. In this paper we present a finite element method to solve the two immiscible fluid flow problem using the level set method. When the interface between both fluids cuts an element, the discontinuity in the material properties leads to discontinuities in the gradients of the unknowns which cannot be captured using a standard finite element interpolation. The method presented in this work features a local enrichment for the pressure unknowns which allows one to capture pressure gradient discontinuities in fluids presenting different density values. The method is tested in two problems: the first example consists in a sloshing case that involves the interaction of a Giesekus and a Newtonian fluid. This example shows that the enriched pressure functions permit the exact resolution of the hydrostatic rest state. The second example is the classical jet buckling problem used to validate our method. To permit the use of equal interpolation between the variables, we use a variational multiscale formulation proposed recently by Castillo and Codina in Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 279 (2014) 579–605, that has shown very good stability properties, permitting also the resolution of the jet buckling flow problem in the the range of Weissenberg number 0 < We < 100, using the Oldroyd-B model without any sign of numerical instability. Additional ingredients of the work are the inclusion of a discontinuity capturing technique for the constitutive equation and some comparisons between a monolithic resolution and a fractional step approach to solve the viscoelastic fluid flow problem from the point of view of computational requirements

Abstract

In this paper, a three-field finite element stabilized formulation for the incompressible viscoelastic fluid flow problem is tested numerically. Starting from a residual based formulation, a non-residual based one is designed, the benefits of which are highlighted in this work. Both formulations allow one to deal with the convective nature of the problem and to use equal interpolation for the problem unknowns σ−u−p (deviatoric stress, velocity and pressure). Additionally, some results from the numerical analysis of the formulation are stated. Numerical examples are presented to show the robustness of the method, which include the classical 4: 1 planar contraction problem and the flow over a confined cylinder case, as well as a two-fluid formulation for the planar jet buckling problem.

Abstract

In this paper we present the numerical analysis of a three-field stabilized finite element formulation recently proposed to approximate viscoelastic flows. The three-field viscoelastic fluid flow problem may suffer from two types of numerical instabilities: on the one hand we have the two inf-sup conditions related to the mixed nature problem and, on the other, the convective nature of the momentum and constitutive equations may produce global and local oscillations in the numerical approximation. Both can be overcome by resorting from the standard Galerkin method to a stabilized formulation. The one presented here is based on the subgrid scale concept, in which unresolvable scales of the continuous solution are approximately accounted for. In particular, the approach developed herein is based on the decomposition into their finite element component and a subscale, which is approximated properly to yield a stable formulation. The analyzed problem corresponds to a linearized version of the Navier–Stokes/Oldroyd-B case where the advection velocity of the momentum equation and the non-linear terms in the constitutive equation are treated using a fixed point strategy for the velocity and the velocity gradient. The proposed method permits the resolution of the problem using arbitrary interpolations for all the unknowns. We describe some important ingredients related to the design of the formulation and present the results of its numerical analysis. It is shown that the formulation is stable and optimally convergent for small Weissenberg numbers, independently of the interpolation used.

Abstract

The log-conformation reformulation, originally proposed by Fattal and Kupferman (2004), allows computing incompressible viscoelastic problems with high Weissenberg numbers which are impossible to solve with the typical three-field formulation. By following this approach, in this work we develop a new stabilized finite element formulation based on the logarithmic reformulation using the Variational Multiscale (VMS) method as stabilization technique, together with a modified log-conformation formulation. Our approach follows the term-by-term stabilization proposed by Castillo and Codina (2014) for the standard formulation, which is more effective when there are stress singularities. The formulation can be used when the relaxation parameter is set to zero, and permits a direct steady numerical resolution. The formulation is validated in the classical benchmark flow past a cylinder and in the well-known planar contraction 4:1, achieving very accurate, stable and mesh independent results for highly elastic fluids.