Solution of incompressible fluid flow problems with heat transfer by means of an efficient RBF-FD meshless approach

Abstract

The localized radial basis function collocation meshless method (LRBFCMM), also known as radial basis function generated finite differences (RBF-FD) meshless method, is employed to solve time-dependent, two-dimensional (2D) incompressible fluid flow problems with heat transfer using multiquadric RBFs. A projection approach is employed to decouple the continuity and momentum equations for which a fully implicit scheme is adopted for the time integration. The node distributions are characterized by non-Cartesian node arrangements and large sizes, i.e., in the order of 10⁵ nodes, while nodal refinement is employed where large gradients are expected, i.e., near the walls. Particular attention is given to the accurate and efficient solution of unsteady flows at high Reynolds or Rayleigh numbers, in order to assess the capability of this specific meshless approach to deal with practical problems. Three benchmark test cases are considered: a lid-driven cavity, a differentially heated cavity and a flow past a circular cylinder between parallel walls. The obtained numerical results compare very favorably with literature references for each of the considered cases. It is concluded that the presented numerical approach can be employed for the efficient simulation of fluid-flow problems of engineering relevance over complex-shaped domains.