CDS&E: Collaborative Research: Fast Numerical Simulations of Low Void Fraction Disperse Multiphase Systems using Event-Triggered Communication

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Disperse flows involve multiphase fluids where one phase consists of particles, including bubbles and drops, suspended in another contiguous phase. Disperse flows arise in many problems of practical interest in engineering and the natural environment. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) have proven to be indispensable in understanding such flows. However, for flows with more concentrated particles (i.e. low void fractions), it becomes computationally expensive to simulate interactions between particles. Even state-of-the-art simulations take much too long for them to become commonplace. This project will develop new computational methods, based on ideas from control theory, to speed up such simulations and use them to conduct an in-depth study of disperse multiphase systems with low void fractions. The primary intellectual merit of the project lies in using computation algorithms that reduce communication among multiple processing elements for conducting large-scale simulations of heterogeneous multiphase systems - in particular, low void fraction disperse systems where the inclusion of many particles requires large computational domains and long computational times to collect converged statistical quantities. Such averaged data is critical for the construction of reduced order models used for industrial predictions. This project will aid in better understanding of multiphase flows and systems that are critical in energy conversion, material processing, the chemical industry, atmospheric processes, and living systems, as well as develop novel computational strategies based on event-triggered communications between processors to improve the efficiency of parallel computations. Further, people will be educated in both their development and use, and educational material aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for new researchers will be developed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.