Open Access

ARTICLE

Grid-Free Vortex Method for Particle-Laden Gas Flow

T. Uchiyama¹

1 Nagoya University, Nagoya, JAPAN

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2011, 7(4), 371-388. https://doi.org/10.3970/fdmp.2011.007.371

Abstract

This study proposes a three-dimensional grid-free method to simulate particle-laden gas flows. It is based on a vortex method. The flow region is not resolved into computational grids, but the gas vorticity field is discretized by vortex elements. The behavior of the vortex element and the particle motion are simultaneously calculated by using the Lagrangian approach. Eight cubic cells are locally allocated around each particle to compute the effect of the particle motion on the gas flow. In each cell, the change in the vorticity due to the particle is calculated, and it is considered by generating a vortex element or changing the strength of the existing vortex elements. This study also applies the grid-free method to simulate a free fall of small spherical solid particles. The particles, initially arranged within a spherical region in an unbounded quiescent air, are made to fall, and their fall induces the air flow around them. The particles are accelerated by the induced downward air flow just after the commencement of their fall. After the acceleration, they are whirled up by a vortex ring produced around the downward air flow. These results are in good agreement with the existing ones, demonstrating the validity of the proposed grid-free method.

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