Comparison of cellular automata and finite volume techniques for simulation of incompressible flows in complex geometries

Abstract

A cellular automata method for the prediction of incompressible fluid flows is presented and its practical relevance is investigated by comparing it with a standard finite volume solver. The cellular automata approach is based on an advanced lattice Boltzmann technique for a discrete microscopic description of the fluid flow. The finite volume solution procedure solves the macroscopic Navier–Stokes equations by means of an advanced multigrid pressure-correction technique on block-structured grids. Advantages and disadvantages of the cellular automata technique are discussed and quantitative comparative results related to accuracy, convergence properties and computing times are given for test cases with varying geometrical complexity. As a practical application of the method, results for the numerical simulation of the flow in a porous sedimentary layer are given. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.