Speaker:
Xinfeng Gao CSU Mech. Engrg.

Title:
A Fourth-order Finite Volume Scheme with Parallel Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Computational Combustion

Abstract:
This talk focuses on a fourth-order finite-volume scheme for solving the compressible Navier-Stokes equations and a set of species transport equations on a patch-based, structured adaptive mesh refinement grid.  For spatial discretization, finite-volume stencils are derived for the viscous stress tensor operator.  Fourier error analysis and stability analysis are performed for the fourth-order elliptic operator.  For time integration, we use the fourth-order additive Runge-Kutta method to cope with the stiff system due to the viscous diffusion and the chemical kinetics.  At each intermediate stage of the Runge-Kutta method, we also solve a linear system of Helmholtz-type equations.  This fourth-order finite-volume scheme is for direct numerical simulation of some combustion problems focusing on fundamentals and can be extended to perform large eddy simulations.  For application to the practical combustion devices, we will incorporate the embedded boundary method for complex geometry.  Moreover, we will attempt to maximize performance on current heterogeneous architectures featuring CPUs and GPUs.  Doing so ensures that the detailed simulations of combustion remains affordable.

Short Bio:
Xinfeng Gao is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at CSU.  She leads the CFD and Propulsion Laboratory and her research focuses on the development and application of advanced CFD algorithms and the computational combustion modeling.  Together these research eefforts converge toward the design, analysis, and optimization of practical low-emission and high-efficiency chemical propulsion systems.  Xinfeng Gao earned her Ph.D. in Aerospace Sciences and Engineering from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies in 2008. Prior to joining Colorado State University, she was a postdoctoral scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory working with two groups: the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group and the Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering.