Finite Element Approximation of Fluid Structure Interaction Using Taylor-Hood and Scott-Vogelius Elements

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of fluid flow interacting a vibrating solid cylinder described by one degree of freedom system and with fixed airfoil. The problem is described by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations written in the arbitrary Eulerian-Lagrangian (ALE) formulation. The ALE mapping is constructed with the use of a pseudo-elastic approach. The flow problem is numerically approximated by the finite element method (FEM). For discretization of the fluid flow, the results obtained by both the Taylor-Hood (TH) element and the Scott-Vogelius (SV) finite element are compared. The TH element satisfies the Babuška-Brezzi inf-sup condition, which guarantees the stability of the scheme. In the case of the SV element the mesh, that is created as a barycentric refinement of regular triangulation, is used to satisfy the Babuška-Brezzi condition. The numerical results for two benchmark problems are shown.