Mutsuto Kawahara

Finite Element Methods in

Incompressible, Adiabatic, and
Compressible Flows
– from fundamental concepts to applications –

December 11, 2015

Springer
Preface

Professor John Tinsley Oden, a professor and the vice president of the Uni-
versity of Texas at Austin in his 2013 speech in Tokyo suggested that the
computational mechanics is, or at least should be, the third piller of Science
and engineering in addition to theory and observation. The anatomy of com-
putational mechanics consists of the mathematical model, the computational
model and actual computation. This book covers a wide range of analyses of
fluid flows, which make use of the mathematical and computational models
in compressible, adiabatic, and compressible flows. The book also touches on
some actual computations. The mathematical models in the fluid flow field
are established based on the conservation principles of mass, momentum,
and energy. In the compressible flow analyses, the governing equation system
can be solved directly with field variables of density, velocity, and energy.
In the incompressible flow analyses, the field variables are velocity and pres-
sure. Introducing the concept of the adiabatic flows, a wide range of fluid
flows without heat conduction can be solved, for which the field variables are
density and velocity, or velocity and pressure.
The finite element method is one of the most widely used computational
methods in engineering. The central aim of this book is to introduce mathe-
matical foundations and comprehensive theories of the finite element method
in the field of incompressible, adiabatic, and compressible flows. Because flow
characteristics are considerably different from the solid materials, the compu-
tational techniques are also different. The finite element method is presented
in its precise form based on the bubble function method, the improved balanc-
ing tensor diffusivity (IBTD) method, stream-line upwind Petrov-Galerkin
(SUPG) method, and the characteristic method in addition to simple Euler
and two step methods. In particular, one key feature of this book is to pro-
vide the analysis of adiabatic flows, which can solve the incompressible flows
using non-mixed interpolation.
The book does not assume that the readers are already familiar with the
finite element methods. By reading through this book, readers should be able
to gain a comprehensive understanding from introductory techniques to ap-

v
vi

plications. The book consists of two parts: Part I introduces the finite element
methods; Part II discusses the latest theories and applications, covering civil,
mechanical, and aero engineering.
Acknowledgements

The author greatly acknowledges his gratefulness to the contributors of the

numerical studies and applications adopted in this book. They include: Dr.
Jun-ichi Mutsuhito (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology), Prof. Takahiko Kurahashi (Nagaoka Institute of Technology),
Mr. Shigeru Watanabe (Mitsui Engineering Co.), Prof. Hiroshi Okumura
(University of Toyama), Dr. Taro Arikawa (Port and Airport Research Insti-
tute), Prof. Akira Maruoka (Hachinohe College of Technology: Chapter 8),
Dr. Ichiro Uchiyama (OCJPN), Mr. Shuichi Nasu (Chuo University), Prof.
Akira Maruoka (Hachinohe College of Technology: Chapter 9), Dr. Kazuya
Nojima (Chuo University: Chapter 10), and Mr. Kazuki Sawanobori (Chap-
ter 11). Mr. Shigeru Watanabe (Mitsui Engineering Co.) offered much needed
help in preparing figures, texts and references. The English is edited by Prof.
Shigeto Kawahara (Keio University). TEX writing is carried out by Mmes.
Chiyoko Sato and Yukiko Nagamine, Uls & Co. The author is especially in-
debted to Dr. Takeyuki Yonezawa, Editor in Chief and Dr. Yuko Sumino,
former editor, Springer Tokyo.

vii
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Purpose and contents of this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Notation and terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Part I Introduction to finite element methods in fluid flows

2 Basic Concepts of Finite Element Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Spring structure: Definitions of the conventions used . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 Deformation equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 Equilibrium equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.5 Compatibility equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.6 Finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.7 Boundary condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.8 Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.9 Systematic formulation of the finite element matrix . . . . . . . . . 22
2.10 Special cases of spring structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.11 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.12 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

3 Pipeline systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2 A pipeline system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3 Local finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.4 Global finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5 Boundary conditions and the final form of the global finite
element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.6 Computer program: pipeline system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.6.1 Flow chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.6.2 Subroutine indata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.6.3 Subroutine stiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

ix
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3.6.4 Subroutine displ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3.6.5 Subroutine outdata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.6.6 Subroutine flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.6.7 Program list: pipeline system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.6.8 Output list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.7 Alternative of main algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.8 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.9 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

4 Potential flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2 Potential flow in a channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.3 Weighted residual equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.4 Interpolation function and weighting function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.5 Local finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.6 Concrete forms of the local finite element matrix . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.7 Global finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.8 An example of the global finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.9 Naming and meaning of the weighted residual equation . . . . . . 75
4.10 Shape function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.11 Meaning of equilibrium of equivalent velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.12 Systematic formulation of the finite element matrix . . . . . . . . . 78
4.13 Computer program: potential flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.13.1 Uniform channel flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.13.2 A flow chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.13.3 Subroutine input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.13.4 Subroutine matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.13.5 Subroutine potent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.13.6 Subroutine velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.13.7 Program list of potential flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.13.8 Output list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.14 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.15 Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

5 Advection-diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.2 Advection-diffusion of substance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.3 Finite element formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.4 Integration in time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.5 Stability condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.5.1 CFL condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.5.2 Explicit scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.5.3 Implicit scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.5.4 Stability with viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.5.5 Stability with second order interpolation function . . . . 114
Contents xi

5.6 SUPG scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

5.7 BTD scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.8 Bubble function scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.9 Characteristic scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.10 Computer program advection diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.10.1 Governing equation of the program advection diffusion 133
5.10.2 Subroutine input-data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.10.3 Subroutine matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.10.4 Subroutine inverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.10.5 Subroutine calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.10.6 Program list of advection diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.10.7 Trial computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
5.11 Numerical study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.12 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

6 Creeping flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
6.2 Creeping flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
6.3 Weighted residual equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.4 Finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
6.5 Area coordinate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6.6 Interpolation function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.7 Concrete forms of finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
6.8 Matrix form of the finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
6.9 Computer program creeping flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
6.9.1 Subroutine input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
6.9.2 Subroutine finite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.9.3 Subroutine bound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.9.4 Subroutine calcul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.9.5 Subroutine result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6.9.6 Program list of creeping flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6.9.7 Trial computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
6.10 An example of mixed interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
6.11 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Part II Computational methods and applications of finite element

method in fluid flows

7 Continuum mechanics of fluid flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
7.2 Description of deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
7.3 Motion, velocity and acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
7.4 Conservation law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
7.5 Conservation of mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
7.6 Conservation of substance transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
xii Contents

7.7 Conservation of momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

7.8 Constitutive equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
7.9 Conservation of energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
7.10 Clausius–Duhem inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
7.11 Helmholtz free energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
7.12 Ideal gass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
7.13 Adiabatic state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
7.14 Interface condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
7.15 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

8 Analysis of Incompressible flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
8.2 Governing equations of incompressible flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
8.3 The weighted residual equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
8.4 The finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
8.5 Bubble function finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
8.5.1 Bubble function interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
8.5.2 Concrete forms of coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
8.5.3 The global form of the finite element method . . . . . . . . 243
8.5.4 stabilized bubble function method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
8.5.5 Linear and virtual bubble functions scheme . . . . . . . . . . 249
8.5.6 Bubble function fractional step finite element method . 252
8.5.7 Two phase flows in Y-shape channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
8.5.8 Coastal waves over detached breakwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
8.6 Improved BTD finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
8.6.1 Improved BTD fractional step finite element method . . 259
8.6.2 Wind flows around girder of long span bridge . . . . . . . . 265
8.7 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

9 Analysis of Adiabatic flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
9.2 Governing equations of adiabatic flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
9.3 Explicit Euler finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
9.3.1 Formulation of explicit Euler finite element method . . . 274
9.3.2 Flows in a cavity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
9.4 Characteristic finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
9.4.1 Characteristic line formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
9.4.2 The algorithm of calculation of the upstream points . . 280
9.5 Density flows in adiabatic two-phase fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
9.5.1 The characteristic finite element method of density
flows in adiabatic two-phase flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
9.5.2 Hermit interpolation function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
9.5.3 Tracking of interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
9.5.4 Two-phase flows in a square container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
9.6 SUPG finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Contents xiii

9.6.1 Conservation form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

9.6.2 Formulation of the SUPG finite element method . . . . . . 292
9.6.3 Computational forms of SUPG finite element method . 294
9.6.4 Comparison of pressure coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
9.7 Acoustic velocity finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
9.7.1 Governing equation of acoustic velocity method . . . . . . 300
9.7.2 Acoustic velocity finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
9.7.3 Integration in time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
9.7.4 Pressure around two dimensional cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . 306
9.8 Solitary wave propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
9.8.1 Two dimensional solitary wave computation . . . . . . . . . 307
9.8.2 Three dimensional solitary wave computation . . . . . . . . 309
9.9 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

10 Analysis of compressible flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
10.2 Governing equation of compressible flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
10.3 Conservation form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
10.4 Bubble function finite element method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
10.4.1 Derivation of artificial viscosity term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
10.4.2 Finite element equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
10.5 SUPG finite element method of compressible flow . . . . . . . . . . . 329
10.5.1 Formulation of the SUPG finite element method . . . . . . 329
10.5.2 Computational forms of SUPG finite elment method . . 332
10.6 Flows around bullet train . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
10.7 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

11 ALE formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
11.2 ALE formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
11.2.1 Material, spatial and referential domains . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
11.2.2 Velocity and convective velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
11.2.3 Governing equations in the ALE formulation . . . . . . . . . 347
11.3 Flows around a girder bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
11.4 Governing Equations in the referential domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
11.5 Summary and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363