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At least 19 records

An adaptive mesh-moving and refinement procedure for one-dimensional conservation laws

We examine the performance of an adaptive mesh-moving and /or local mesh refinement procedure for the finite difference solution of one-dimensional hyperbolic systems of conservation laws. Adaptive motion of a base mesh is designed to isolate spatially distinct phenomena, and recursive local refinement of the time step and cells of the stationary or moving base mesh is performed in regions where a refinement indicator exceeds a prescribed tolerance. These adaptive procedures are incorporated into a computer code that includes a MacCormack finite difference scheme wih Davis' artificial viscosity model and a discretization error estimate based on Richardson's extrapolation. Experiments are conducted on three problems in order to qualify the advantages of adaptive techniques relative to uniform mesh computations and the relative benefits of mesh moving and refinement. Key results indicate that local mesh refinement, with and without mesh moving, can provide reliable solutions at much lower computational cost than possible on uniform meshes; that mesh motion can be used to improve the results of uniform mesh solutions for a modest computational effort; that the cost of managing the tree data structure associated with refinement is small; and that a combination of mesh motion and refinement reliably produces solutions for the least cost per unit accuracy.

Biswas, Rupak↗

A moving mesh finite difference method for equilibrium radiation diffusion equations

An efficient moving mesh finite difference method is developed for the numerical solution of equilibrium radiation diffusion equations in two dimensions. The method is based on the moving mesh partial differential equation approach and moves the mesh continuously in time using a system of meshing partial differential equations. The mesh adaptation is controlled through a Hessian-based monitor function and the so-called equidistribution and alignment principles. Several challenging issues in the numerical solution are addressed. Particularly, the radiation diffusion coefficient depends on the energy density highly nonlinearly. This nonlinearity is treated using a predictor–corrector and lagged diffusion strategy. Moreover, the nonnegativity of the energy density is maintained using a cutoff method which has been known in literature to retain the accuracy and convergence order of finite difference approximation for parabolic equations. Numerical examples with multi-material, multiple spot concentration situations are presented. Numerical results show that the method works well for radiation diffusion equations and can produce numerical solutions of good accuracy. It is also shown that a two-level mesh movement strategy can significantly improve the efficiency of the computation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DISCO: A 3D MOVING-MESH MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS CODE DESIGNED FOR THE STUDY OF ASTROPHYSICAL DISKS

This work presents the publicly available moving-mesh magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code DISCO. DISCO is efficient and accurate at evolving orbital fluid motion in two and three dimensions, especially at high Mach numbers. DISCO employs a moving-mesh approach utilizing a dynamic cylindrical mesh that can shear azimuthally to follow the orbital motion of the gas. The moving mesh removes diffusive advection errors and allows for longer time-steps than a static grid. MHD is implemented in DISCO using an HLLD Riemann solver and a novel constrained transport (CT) scheme that is compatible with the mesh motion. DISCO is tested against a wide variety of problems, which are designed to test its stability, accuracy, and scalability. In addition, several MHD tests are performed which demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the new CT approach, including two tests of the magneto-rotational instability, one testing the linear growth rate and the other following the instability into the fully turbulent regime.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

AREPO-RT : radiation hydrodynamics on a moving mesh

We introduce AREPO-RT , a novel radiation hydrodynamic (RHD) solver for the unstructured moving-mesh code AREPO . Our method solves the moment-based radiative transfer equations using the M1 closure relation. We achieve second-order convergence by using a slope-limited linear spatial extrapolation and a first-order time prediction step to obtain the values of the primitive variables on both sides of the cell interface. A Harten–Lax–van Leer flux function, suitably modified for moving meshes, is then used to solve the Riemann problem at the interface. The implementation is fully conservative and compatible with the individual time-stepping scheme of AREPO . It incorporates atomic hydrogen (H) and helium (He) thermochemistry, which is used to couple the ultraviolet radiation field to the gas. Additionally, infrared (IR) radiation is coupled to the gas under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium between the gas and the dust. We successfully apply our code to a large number of test problems, including applications such as the expansion of HII regions, radiation pressure-driven outflows, and the levitation of optically thick layer of gas by trapped IR radiation. The new implementation is suitable for studying various important astrophysical phenomena, such as the effect of radiative feedback in driving galactic scale outflows, radiation-driven dusty winds in high-redshift quasars, or simulating the reionization history of the Universe in a self-consistent manner.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Three-dimensional Boltzmann-Hydro Code for Core-collapse in Massive Stars. II. The Implementation of Moving-mesh for Neutron Star Kicks

We present a newly developed moving-mesh technique for the multi-dimensional Boltzmann-Hydro code for the simulation of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). What makes this technique different from others is the fact that it treats not only hydrodynamics but also neutrino transfer in the language of the 3 + 1 formalism of general relativity (GR), making use of the shift vector to specify the time evolution of the coordinate system. This means that the transport part of our code is essentially general relativistic, although in this paper it is applied only to the moving curvilinear coordinates in the flat Minknowski spacetime, since the gravity part is still Newtonian. The numerical aspect of the implementation is also described in detail. Employing the axisymmetric two-dimensional version of the code, we conduct two test computations: oscillations and runaways of proto-neutron star (PNS). We show that our new method works fine, tracking the motions of PNS correctly. We believe that this is a major advancement toward the realistic simulation of CCSNe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

2-D moving mesh modeling of lithium dryout in open surface liquid metal flow applications

Liquid lithium displays increasing promise as a replacement for solid plasma facing components (PFCs) in fusion device applications. The Liquid Metal Infused Trench (LiMIT) system, developed at the University of Illinois (UIUC), has demonstrated how thermoelectric magnetohydrodynamics (TEMHD) can be harnessed to drive liquid lithium flow in an open surface PFC. However, in the highest heat flux applications, large local acceleration is created via TEMHD, and the sudden increase in velocity can cause the liquid level to expose the underlying solid, eliminating the protective benefits of the lithium. In order to study potential mitigation strategies, a 2-D COMSOL Multiphysics model was developed using the moving mesh module to capture free surface flow. The model depicts the development of the dryout phenomenon for 2 test cases – slow (1 cm/s) and medium (10 cm/s) flow in 5 mm deep trenches – including the liquid level reduction under the high heat flux and the pileup of slower flow both upstream and downstream of the heat stripe. The effectiveness of trench shaping dryout mitigation strategies is examined. For the slow flow case, it is shown that a 1.8 mm ledge placed under the heat stripe will stop dryout, and for the medium flow case, a 2.7 mm ledge is required to mitigate the effect. This model can be used to identify strategies for increasing the viable heat load for open surface liquid lithium PFCs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Simulating dust grain-radiation coupling on a moving mesh

ABSTRACT We present a model for the interaction between dust and radiation fields in the radiation hydrodynamic code arepo-rt, which solves the moment-based radiative transfer equations on an unstructured moving mesh. Dust is directly treated using live simulation particles, each of which represent a population of grains that are coupled to hydrodynamic motion through a drag force. We introduce methods to calculate radiation pressure on and photon absorption by dust grains. By including a direct treatment of dust, we are able to calculate dust opacities and update radiation fields self-consistently based on the local dust distribution. This hybrid scheme coupling dust particles to an unstructured mesh for radiation is validated using several test problems with known analytic solutions, including dust driven via spherically symmetric flux from a constant luminosity source and photon absorption from radiation incident on a thin layer of dust. Our methods are compatible with the multifrequency scheme in arepo-rt, which treats UV, optical photons as single scattered and IR photons as multi scattered. At IR wavelengths, we model heating of and thermal emission from dust. Dust and gas are not assumed to be in local thermodynamic equilibrium but transfer energy through collisional exchange. We estimate dust temperatures by balancing these dust-radiation and dust-gas energy exchange rates. This framework for coupling dust and radiation can be applied in future radiation hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Moving-mesh Simulations of Star-forming Cores in Magneto-gravo-turbulence

Star formation in our Galaxy occurs in molecular clouds that are self-gravitating, highly turbulent, and magnetized. We study the conditions under which cloud cores inherit large-scale magnetic field morphologies and how the field is governed by cloud turbulence. We present four moving-mesh simulations of supersonic, turbulent, isothermal, self-gravitating gas with a range of magnetic mean-field strengths characterized by the Alfvénic Mach number M{sub A,0}, resolving prestellar core formation from parsec to a few astronomical unit scales. In our simulations with the turbulent kinetic energy density dominating over magnetic pressure (M{sub A,0}>1), we find that the collapse is approximately isotropic with B ∝ ρ {sup 2/3}, core properties are similar regardless of initial mean-field strength, and the field direction on 100 au scales is uncorrelated with the mean field. However, in the case of a dominant large-scale magnetic field (M{sub A,0}=0.35), the collapse is anisotropic with B ∝ ρ {sup 1/2}. This transition at M{sub A,0}∼1 is not expected to be sharp, but clearly signifies two different paths for magnetic field evolution in star formation. Based on observations of different star-forming regions, we conclude that star formation in the interstellar medium may occur in both regimes. Magnetic field correlation with the mean field extends to smaller scales as M{sub A,0} decreases, making future Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations useful for constraining M{sub A,0} of the interstellar medium.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Parallel-In-Time For Moving Meshes

With steadily growing computational resources available, scientists must develop e ective ways to utilize the increased resources. High performance, highly parallel software has be- come a standard. However until recent years parallelism has focused primarily on the spatial domain. When solving a space-time partial di erential equation (PDE), this leads to a sequential bottleneck in the temporal dimension, particularly when taking a large number of time steps. The XBraid parallel-in-time library was developed as a practical way to add temporal parallelism to existing se- quential codes with only minor modi cations. In this work, a rezoning-type moving mesh is applied to a di usion problem and formulated in a parallel-in-time framework. Tests and scaling studies are run using XBraid and demonstrate excellent results for the simple model problem considered herein.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Recent Enhancements To The FUN3D Flow Solver For Moving-Mesh Applications

An unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver for unstructured grids has been extended to handle general mesh movement involving rigid, deforming, and overset meshes. Mesh deformation is achieved through analogy to elastic media by solving the linear elasticity equations. A general method for specifying the motion of moving bodies within the mesh has been implemented that allows for inherited motion through parent-child relationships, enabling simulations involving multiple moving bodies. Several example calculations are shown to illustrate the range of potential applications. For problems in which an isolated body is rotating with a fixed rate, a noninertial reference-frame formulation is available. An example calculation for a tilt-wing rotor is used to demonstrate that the time-dependent moving grid and noninertial formulations produce the same results in the limit of zero time-step size.

Biedron, Robert T,↗

A Comparison of Classical and Aggregation-Based Algebraic Multigrid Preconditioners for High-Fidelity Simulation of Wind Turbine Incompressible Flows

This paper presents a comparison of parallel strong scaling performance of classical and aggregation algebraic multigrid (AMG) preconditioners in the context of wind turbine simulations. Fluid motion is governed by the incompressible Navier--Stokes equations, discretized in space with control-volume finite elements and in time with an inexact projection scheme using an implicit integrator. A discontinuous-Galerkin sliding-mesh algorithm captures rotor motion. The momentum equations are solved with iterative Krylov methods, preconditioned by symmetric Gauss--Seidel (SGS) in Trilinos and $\ell_1$ SGS in hypre. The mass-continuity equation is solved with GMRES preconditioned by AMG and can account for the majority of simulation time. Reducing this continuity solve time is crucial. Wind turbine simulations present two unique challenges for AMG preconditioned solvers: the computational meshes include strongly anisotropic elements, and mesh motion requires matrix reinitialization and computation of preconditioners at each time step. Detailed timing profiles are presented and analyzed, and best practices are discussed for both classical and aggregation-based AMG. Results are presented for simulations of two different wind turbines with up to 6 billion grid points on two different computer architectures. For moving mesh problems that require linear-system reinitialization, the well-established strategy of amortizing preconditioner setup costs over a large number of time steps to reduce the solve time is no longer valid. Instead, results show that faster time to solution is achieved by reducing preconditioner setup costs at the expense of linear-system solve costs. Standard smoothed aggregation with Chebyshev relaxation was found to perform poorly when compared with classical AMG in terms of solve time and robustness. However, plain aggregation was comparable to classical AMG.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Dust in and around galaxies: dust in cluster environments and its impact on gas cooling

Simulating the dust content of galaxies and their surrounding gas is challenging due to the wide range of physical processes affecting the dust evolution. Here we present cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of a cluster of galaxies, M 200,crit = 6×10 14 M ⊙ , including a novel dust model for the moving mesh code AREPO. This model includes dust production, growth, supernova-shock-driven destruction, ion-collision-driven thermal sputtering, and high-temperature dust cooling through far-infrared reradiation of collisionally deposited electron energies. Adopting a rather low thermal sputtering rate, we find, consistent with observations, a present-day overall dust-to-gas ratio of ~2 × 10 -5 , a total dust mass of ~2×10 9 M ⊙ , and a dust mass fraction of ~3 × 10 -6 . The typical thermal sputtering time-scales within ~100 kpc are around ~10 Myr, and increase towards the outer parts of the cluster to ~10 3 Myr at a cluster-centric distance of 1 Mpc. The condensation of gas-phase metals into dust grains reduces high-temperature metal-line cooling, but also leads to additional dust infrared cooling. The additional infrared cooling changes the overall cooling rate in the outer parts of the cluster, beyond ~1 Mpc, by factors of a few. This results in noticeable changes of the entropy, temperature, and density profiles of cluster gas once dust formation is included. The emitted dust infrared emission due to dust cooling is consistent with observational constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗