Analysis of an immersed boundary method for three-dimensional flows in vorticity formulation

This article presents numerical analysis and practical considerations for three-dimensional flow computation using an implicit immersed boundary method. The Euler equations, or half a step of the Navier–Stokes equations when using fractional step algorithms, are investigated in their vorticity formulation. The context of flow computation around an arbitrarily shaped body is especially investigated. In conventional immersed boundary methods using vorticity, singular vortex are dispatched over the body surface. In the present study, one prefers using sources of potential velocity field, dispatched on the body, whose nature is not vorticity. Such a formulation is compatible to the Euler equations. In practice, these sources of potential flow produce a velocity through this surface, aiming in practice at cancelling a flow-through velocity. This article focuses on the use of the source-to-flow-through linear application, its properties being the key points for fast convergence. Its self-adjointness, or lack thereof, conditioning and preconditioning aspects are investigated. It follows that computing a velocity field with no-flow-through conditions in complex geometry, when using the source-to-flow-through linear application, can be achieved for 4/3 of the computational cost of standard Poisson equation in a Cartesian box. The robustness of immersed boundaries is especially interesting when used together with vortex-in-cell methods, well known for their robustness in time and their ability to compute accurately convective effects. A few examples, based on real-world geometries, illustrate the method capabilities.