Feature-Based Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Wingtip Vortices

Kasmai, N., Thompson, D., Luke, E., Jankun-Kelly, M., & Machiraju, R. (2011). Feature-Based Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Wingtip Vortices. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids. 66(10), 1274-1294. DOI:10.1002/fld.2312.

Feature-based solution adaptive mesh refinement is an attractive strategy when it is known á priori that the resolution of certain key features is critical to the accuracy of the simulation. In this paper, we apply techniques that are normally employed to visualize vortices to identify regions of the computational domain for mesh refinement. We investigate the impact of three types of refinement strategies: refinement around the vortex core, refinement near the extent surface, which is defined as the surface of maximum local tangential velocity, and refinement inside the extent surface. Based on comparison with experimental data, we demonstrate that it is necessary to refine the region within and near the extent surface to predict accurately the salient characteristics of a vortex.