A Cell-Centered Cartesian Grid Projection Method for the Incompressible Euler Equations in Complex Geometries

Ann S. Almgren

John B. Bell

Phillip Colella

Tyler Marthaler


Abstract

Many problems in fluid dynamics require the representation of complicated internal or external boundaries of the flow. Here we present a method for calculating time-dependent incompressible inviscid flow which combines a projection method, using an approximate projection, with a ``Cartesian grid'' approach for representing geometry. In this approach, the body is represented as an interface embedded in a regular Cartesian mesh. The advection step is based on a Cartesian grid algorithm for compressible flow, in which the discretization of the body near the flow uses a volume-of-fluid representation with a redistribution procedure to eliminate time-step restrictions due to small cells where the boundary intersects the mesh. The approximate projection... incorporates knowledge of the body through volume and area fractions. The method is demonstrated on flow past a half-cylinder with vortex shedding.