A Novel Dynamics Lattice Boltzmann Method for Gas Flows

Abstract

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), where discrete velocities are specifically assigned to ensure that a particle leaves one lattice node always resides on another lattice node, has been developed for decades as a powerful numerical tool to solve the Boltzmann equation for gas flows. The efficient implementation of LBM requires that the discrete velocities be isotropic and that the lattice nodes be homogeneous. These requirements restrict the applications of the currently-used LBM schemes to incompressible and isothermal flows. Such restrictions defy the original physics of Boltzmann equation. Much effort has been devoted in the past decades to remove these restrictions, but of less success. In this paper, a novel dynamic lattice Boltzmann method (DLBM) that is free of the incompressible and isothermal restrictions is proposed and developed to simulate gas flows. This is achieved through a coordinate transformation featured with Galilean translation and thermal normalization. The transformation renders the normalized Maxwell equilibrium distribution with directional isotropy and spatial homogeneity for the accurate and efficient implementation of the Gaussian-Hermite quadrature. The transformed Boltzmann equation contains additional terms due to local convection and acceleration. The velocity quadrature points in the new coordinate system are fixed while the correspondent points in the physical space change from time to time and from position to position. By this dynamic quadrature nature in the physical space, we term this new scheme as the dynamic quadrature scheme. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with the dynamic quadrature scheme is named as the dynamic lattice Boltzmann method (DLBM). The transformed Boltzmann equation is then solved in the new coordinate system based on the fixed quadrature points. Validations of the DLBM have been carried with several benchmark problems. Cavity flows problem are used. Excellent agreements are obtained as compared with those obtained from the conventional schemes. Up to date, the DLBM algorithm can run up to Mach number at 0.3 without suffering from numerical instability. The application of the DLBM to the Rayleigh-Bernard thermal instability problem is illustrated, where the onset of 2D vortex rolls and 3D hexagonal cells are well-predicted and are in excellent agreement with the theory. In summary, a novel dynamic lattice Boltzmann method (DLBM) has been proposed with algorithm developed for numerical simulation of gas flows. This new DLBM has been demonstrated to have removed the incompressible and isothermal restrictions encountered by the traditional LBM.