Application of 2D adaptive mesh refinement method to estimation of the center of vortices for flow over a wall-mounted plate

Abstract

This paper describes the application of an adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) method to estimate centers of vortices of two-dimensional (2D) incompressible fluid flow over a wall-mounted plate. Following the accuracy verification of the AMR method using the benchmarks of 2D lid-driven cavity flows and backward-facing step flows, this study considers the application of the AMR method to the flow over a wall-mounted plate. The AMR method refines a mesh using numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations computed using an open-source flow solver, Navier2D. The AMR is applied to seven test cases considering flows with different Reynolds numbers ([Formula: see text]) and the estimated centers of vortices after the plate are reported. The results show that AMR can capture the location of the center of vortices within the once refined cells. Furthermore, improved estimation of vortex centers is obtained using twice refined meshes. The AMR aims to get a refined mesh which captures the characteristics of flow with required accuracy at a lower computational cost.