Patent Publication Number: US-5255212-A

Title: Method of predicting a physical quantity of a fluid or a magnetofluid

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a method of predicting or calculating physical quantities of a fluid or a magnetofluid which are utilized in wind channel (air duct) experiments during product development of automobiles and airplanes, or in the control of injection molding processes of plastic resins. 
     A physical quantity f of a fluid or a magnetofluid which propagates through space at a velocity u is governed by the fundamental equation: 
     
         ∂f/∂t+(u·∇)f=0 (1) 
    
     where t is the time variable, and ∇ is the nabla vector (∂/∂x, ∂/∂y, ∂/∂z). During product development of automobiles or airplanes, or in injection molding of plastics, it often becomes necessary to solve the above equation numerically and predict the time evolution of the spatial profile of a physical quantity f of a fluid or a magnetofluid from an initial spatial profile thereof. In the case where the velocity u is constant, the equation (1) can be solved analytically and there is no need for a numerical method of solution. However, when the velocity u is a function of the space variable (u=u(x,y,z)) and thus varies over the space, or is a function of space and time (u=u(x,y,z,t)) and thus varies over the space and time, there is no known general method of obtaining an analytic solution and hence it becomes necessary to solve the equation (1) approximately by means of a numerical method. 
     One such numerical method, known as the cubic-interpolated pseudoparticle (CIP) method, is disclosed, for example, in T. Yabe and E. Takei: &#34;A New Higher-Order Godunov Method for General Hyperbolic Equations&#34;, Journal of Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 57, No. 8, August 1988, pp. 2598-2601, the disclosure of which article is incorporated herein by reference. According to the CIP method, a grid or mesh of a predetermined mesh spacing (Δx and Δt) is set over the space and time, and the time evolution of the spatial profile of the physical quantity f is calculated numerically from the initial profile. At each step of repeated calculations, each evolution of the spatial profile of the physical quantity f over a very short time Δt is calculated. By repeating a predetermined number of such calculations, the spatial profile of the physical quantity f after a predetermined interval of time can be obtained. 
     FIG. 1 shows a numerical solution (represented by a dotted curve) of one-dimensional non-attenuating triangular wave motion obtained by the CIP method disclosed in the above-mentioned article. The solution has been obtained after 1000 steps of repeated calculations of the time evolutions of the spatial profile of a triangular wave, each time step corresponding to the time increment Δt. For comparison, the solid curve represents the analytic or the true solution. The calculated or predicted height of the triangular wave profile is 0.91584, as opposed to the true height 1.0000 of the analytic solution. Thus, the prediction contains an error of about 8%. This result shows the fact that prediction precision suffers deterioration due to the numerical viscosity. 
     The generally adopted measure for enhancing the prediction precision of the numerical solution has been to reduce the mesh spacings and to increase the number of mesh points of the mesh or grid. 
     The above numerical method of solving the fundamental equation has the following disadvantage. If the number of mesh points is not large enough, the prediction precision tends to deteriorate in the region where the physical quantity f or the inclination thereof (∂f/∂x, ∂f/∂y, ∂f/∂z) varies abruptly and hence where the prediction errors tend to be generated due to the numerical viscosity. On the other hand, if the number of mesh points are increased to guarantee a precise solution, the time required for the calculation increases unduly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a numerical method of solving an initial value problem of the fundamental equation (1), by which a precise solution can be obtained without undue increase in the time needed for completing the calculation. 
     The above object is accomplished in accordance with the principle of this invention by a numerical method of solving a fundamental differential equation for the propagation of a physical quantity, which comprises the steps of: 
     (a) setting a main mesh over a region of space and time, said main mesh consisting of mesh points separated from each other by predetermined mesh spacings over space and time, respectively; 
     (b) setting initial values of said physical quantity at mesh points of said main mesh over space; 
     (c) calculating magnitude of inclination of said physical quantity at each mesh point of said main mesh over space; 
     (d) setting a sub-mesh in regions of space where the magnitude of inclination of said physical quantity is greater than or at least equal to a first predetermined level, said sub-mesh consisting of mesh points over space and time separated from each other by mesh spacings smaller than the mesh spacings of said main mesh over space and time, respectively; 
     (e) designating as singular points those mesh points of the main mesh at which the magnitude of inclination of the physical quantity is greater than or at least equal to a second predetermined level which is greater than said first predetermined level; 
     (f) calculating, in accordance with a numerical method for solving said differential equation, values of said physical quantity at mesh points of said main mesh after an increment of time equal to the mesh spacing of the main mesh over time; 
     (g) calculating, in accordance with a numerical method for solving said differential equation, values of said physical quantity at mesh points of said sub-mesh after an increment of time equal to said mesh spacing of the main mesh over time; 
     (h) calculating variations of said physical quantity at mesh points of the main mesh that are designated as singular points in the step (e), by means of an approximate analytic function or delta function approximation; 
     (i) correcting values of said physical quantity at mesh points of said main mesh, obtained in the step (f), by means of corresponding data obtained in the steps (g) and (h); and 
     (j) repeating the steps (c) through (i) for a predetermined number of time increments, thereby obtaining values of said physical quantity after a predetermined length of time after an initial time. 
     Preferably, the step (d) comprises the steps of: 
     (d1) classifying the magnitudes of inclination of said physical quantity at the mesh points of the main mesh into a plurality of ranks corresponding to magnitude levels of said physical quantity; and 
     (d2) setting a sub-mesh consisting of mesh points separated from each other by mesh spacings the magnitudes of which correspond to said ranks of the inclinations of the physical quantity. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows the numerical solution obtained by a prior art CIP (cubic interpolated pseudo-particle) method; 
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the numerical method, according to an embodiment of this invention, of solving the fundamental equation governing the propagation of physical quantity of a fluid or magnetofluid; 
     FIG. 3(a) shows the solution of one-dimensional triangular wave motion obtained by a numerical method utilizing a part of the procedure that is characteristic of this invention; and 
     FIG. 3(b) shows the solution of one-dimensional triangular wave motion obtained by a numerical method according to an embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the method of calculating and predicting a physical quantity of a fluid or magnetofluid according to an embodiment of this invention. For simplicity, the following description is limited to the case of one-dimensional space, where the equation (1) for the three-dimensional space reduces to: 
     
         ∂f/∂t+u(∂f/∂x)=0(1)&#39;. 
    
     However, the method can be generalized to the three-dimensional space without any difficulty, as can be apprehended by those skilled in the art. 
     First, at step ST1, the main scale mesh or grid of a predetermined mesh spacing (Δx for the space variable x and Δt for the time variable t) is set over a region of space and time, and the initial values at the main mesh points are set. Namely, the initial values at the respective main mesh points over the space at the initial time point (t=0) are set, and the initial spatial profile is approximated by interpolation. In the one-dimensional case, the main mesh over the space consists of mesh points x i  separated from each other by a mesh spacing Δx. Thus, the initial values of f at the mesh points x i  are given and the initial spatial profile of f between the mesh points is interpolated, for example, by a cubic polynomial. 
     At step ST2, the magnitude of the inclination of the physical quantity f (i.e., ∂f/∂x) is calculated at each mesh point of the main mesh. At step ST3, the magnitude of the inclination of f at each main mesh point is compared with an arbitrarily selected level to determine whether or not it is greater than or at least equal to the first (i.e., the lowest) level. It is noted that the magnitude of the derivative of the inclination of the physical quantity (i.e., the second partial derivative of the physical quantity: ∂ 2  f/∂x 2 ) may be utilized instead of the magnitude of the inclination of the physical quantity, such that second derivatives of the physical quantity are compared with arbitrarily selected levels at subsequent steps ST3 and ST5. At step ST4, a sub-mesh having mesh spacings Δx&#39; and Δt&#39; smaller than those Δx and Δt of the main mesh is set in the space-time regions around or between the main mesh points where the magnitude or the rank of the inclination of the physical quantity f is greater than or at least equal to the first level. 
     Preferably, the mesh points of the sub-mesh are separated from each other by mesh spacings which correspond to the ranks or magnitudes of the inclination of the physical quantity. For example, in the region where the magnitude of inclination of the physical quantity f is in the rank 1 range (i.e., between the first and the second lowest levels), the mesh spacing of the sub-mesh is set at Δt/2 for the time variable t and Δx/2 for the space variable x; in the region where the magnitude of inclination of the physical quantity f is in the rank 2 range (i.e., between the second and the third lowest levels), the mesh spacing of the sub-mesh is set at Δt/4 for the time variable t and Δx/4 for the space variable x; and, generally, in the region where the magnitude of inclination of the physical quantity f is in the rank n range (i.e., between the n&#39;th and the (n+1)th lowest level), the mesh spacing of the sub-mesh is set at Δt/2 n  for the time variable t and Δx/ 2 n   for the space variable x. In this embodiment, n is selected at two (n=2). 
     Further, at step ST5, the magnitude of the inclination of the physical quantity f at each main mesh point is compared with the third level. If it is greater than or at least equal to the third level (i.e., equal to or greater than the rank 3), the mesh point is designated as a singular point. 
     The steps ST2 through ST6 are effected for each main mesh point over the space region. When it is determined at step ST7 that the steps ST2 through ST6 have been performed for all of the main mesh points, the equation (1)&#39; (or (1)) is solved numerically at the main mesh points at step ST8. Thus, at step ST8, the values at the main mesh points over the space after a short interval of time Δt are obtained by a numerical method such as CIP method. Further, at step ST9, the equation (1)&#39; (or (1)) is solved numerically at the sub-mesh points, which are set in step ST4. Thus, the values at the sub-mesh points over the space after a short interval of time Δt are obtained by the numerical method. Furthermore, at step ST10, the variations of the physical quantity f at the main mesh points, which have been designated as singular points at step ST6, are calculated by means of approximate analytic solutions and (Dirac&#39;s) delta function approximations. At step ST11, the values or data calculated at main mesh points are corrected utilizing the data calculated at the corresponding mesh points on the sub-mesh and the corresponding singular points obtained at step ST9 and step ST10. 
     Thus, after a cycle of steps ST8 through ST11 is completed, a numerical solution of the equation (1)&#39; or (1) at the main mesh points after a short interval of time Δt is obtained and a new spatial profile of the physical quantity is interpolated. At step ST12, the count of the time steps (i.e., the number of time increments Δt) is incremented by one, and at step ST13 it is judged whether the count or the number of time steps has reached a predetermined number (which is equal to 1000 in this embodiment), such that the above cycle ST 2 through ST12 is repeated for the predetermined number of time steps. At step ST14, the values (or the spatial profile) of the physical quantity f after a predetermined length of time (equal to 1000 times the time increment Δt) after the initial time point (t=0) are obtained. 
     In the above method of calculation, two procedures are characteristic of this invention: (A) the steps ST3, ST4, and ST9 for setting the sub-mesh and effecting numerical calculations thereat, and (B) the steps ST5, ST6, and ST10 for designating the singular points and effecting approximations thereat by means of analytic or delta functions. The calculations at the step ST8 and the step ST9 can be performed in accordance with the method described in the above mentioned article. 
     FIG. 3 show solutions (represented by dotted curves) of one-dimensional non-attenuating triangular wave motion (which is described by the equation (1)&#39; above, where the velocity u is a constant) after calculations of 1000 time steps. FIG. 3(a) shows the solution obtained by the CIP method with the help of the above mentioned procedure (A) alone, while FIG. 3(b) shows the solution obtained in accordance with the present invention (i.e., by the CIP method with the help of both the above characteristic procedures (A) and (B)). In the case of FIG. 3(a), the predicted height of the triangular wave is 0.98122, compared with the true height of the analytic solution represented by a solid curve, and the prediction error is thus about 2%. In the case of FIG. 3(b), the predicted height of the triangular wave is 0.99992, such that the prediction error is not greater than 0.01%, which is a marked improvement. 
     It is noted that in the case of the triangular waves shown in FIG. 3, the sub-mesh is set only at the three vertices of the triangle in accordance with the procedure of this invention. Thus, there is no undue increase in the time required for the calculation. On the other hand, the precision of the prediction shows marked improvement.