ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY STUDY OF LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD FOR STEADY-STATE FLOW SIMULATIONS

Abstract

In this article, a systematic investigation of the lattice Boltzmann method is reported by calculating both two-dimensional and three-dimensional steady-state incompressible flows. Accuracy is determined following a standard estimation procedure, while efficiency is evaluated by comparing with an advanced finite-volume Navier-Stokes solver. The objective of the article is to provide a brief review of the lattice Boltzmann method, to report the accuracy and efficiency of the method, and to identify possible future research directions. Overall, it is found that the accuracy of the lattice Boltzmann method is between first and second order, depending on the boundary conditions used. The regular lattice-based lattice Boltzmann method is still computationally expensive for obtaining steady-state solutions on single-node computers in comparison with the more advanced conventional Navier-Stokes solvers.