Accurate, geometry-free, computational fluid dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a key numerical method in engineering and physics, with applications ranging from modelling wind flow around cars and wings to modelling the flow of ink through an inkjet printer nozzle. Its global market value reached $1.6 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to $3.1 billion by 2024. Many classes of problem require fluid flow to be modelled in complex time-evolving geometries, or in situations where there are mixes of solid, liquid and gas phases.

In these situations, standard off-the-shelf techniques that rely on adaptive Cartesian grids, or static distorted meshes can become inefficient.

In this project, we will further develop an exciting new geometry-free CFD method that, unlike previous methods used to date, is also accurate. This opens-up new classes of problem for which both "geometry-free" simulations are advantageous, but for which accuracy is also paramount. This includes modelling fluid flow around moving barriers, gears, rotating blades and similar, and water flow along channels and around dams.

We will take a new accurate, geometry-free, CFD technique developed in an STFC funded IAA project - Meshless Finite Volume (MFV) - and implement it in an open-source, optimised, engineering CFD code, DualSPHysics. This is a GPU accelerated code that already includes many useful modules for modelling complex solid, moving, boundaries important for a wide range of CFD applications.

We will also implement a new 'particle splitting' technique in this code, allowing us to efficiently capture small-scale boundary features like rough surfaces and holes. The open-source software licence for DualSPHysics will allow us to maintain our MFV IP. Specifically, our improvements can be used for closed-source commercial applications, allowing us to take our new technology to TRL 8.