AxisSPH:devising and validating an axisymmetric smoothed particle hydrodynamics code

A two-dimensional axisymmetric implementation of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) technique, called for short AxisSPH, has been described in this thesis, along with a number of basic tests and realistic applications. The main goal of this work was to fill a gap on a topic which has been sca...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Relaño Castillo, Antonio
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/94616
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/94616
https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-94616
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:hidrodinàmica
mètodes numèrics
smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH)
inertial confinement fusion (ICF)
Supernova
Hidrodinàmica -- Mètodes numèrics
Simetria (Física)
Dinàmica de fluids
Fusió nuclear
Supernoves
Física nuclear
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
Descripción
Sumario:A two-dimensional axisymmetric implementation of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) technique, called for short AxisSPH, has been described in this thesis, along with a number of basic tests and realistic applications. The main goal of this work was to fill a gap on a topic which has been scarcely addressed in the published literature concerning SPH. Although the application of AxisSPH to the simulation of real problems is restricted to those systems which display the appropriate symmetry there are, however, many interesting examples of physical systems which evolve following the axisymmetric premise. These examples belong to a variety of scientific and technological areas such as, for example, astrophysics, laboratory astrophysics or inertial confinement fusion. Additionally AxisSPH can be also useful in convergence studies of the standard 3D-SPH technique because the higher resolution achieved in 2D can be used to benchmark the three-dimensional codes. The main improvements implemented in AxisSPH with respect existing axisymmetric SPH formulations are summarized as follows: 1) We have derived simple analytical expressions for correction factors which largely improves the calculation of density and velocity in the vicinity of the z-axis. These expressions and their derivatives were given as a function of an adimensional parameter and do not increase the computational load of the scheme. 2) We have obtained the appropriate expression of the fluid Euler equations containing the new correction functions and their derivatives. Far enough from the singular axis, the scheme reduces to the standard formulation discussed by Brookshaw (2003). 3) A novel expression for the heat conduction term, which has to be added to the energy equation was devised and checked. This new term improves the description of the heat flux for those particles located at the axis neighborhoods. 4) Until now axisymmetric SPH hydrocodes handle artificial viscosity using a crude approach because it was treated as a simple restriction of the standard 3D Cartesian viscosity to 2D. Here we propose to calculate the viscous pressure as a combination of two terms, the first one is the (standard) Cartesian part and the second is the axis-converging part of the viscosity respectively. As expected this last term is of special relevance to simulate implosions. 5) We have developed an original method to incorporate gravity into AxisSPH. First the direct ring to ring force was found as a function of the Euclidean distance between the 2D particles. In second place the gravitational force on a given particle was obtained by summing the contributions of all N particles. We have also developed a more efficient scheme to obtain the gravitational force calculating the potential of the ring, instead the force because it involves lesser algebraic operations. The scheme has been checked using a large number of tests cases. These tests range from very specific oriented to check a particular algorithm or a piece of physics, to rather complex ones intended to analyze the behavior of the scheme in potential real applications (ICF, jets, astrophysics). At least in one case, the head on collision of a pair of white dwarfs, the result of the simulations carried out using AxisSPH brings new, unpublished, scientific material.