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Advantages of a conservative velocity interpolation (CVI) scheme for particle-in-cell methods with application in geodynamic modeling

Wang, H.; Agrusta, R.; van Hunen, J.

Advantages of a conservative velocity interpolation (CVI) scheme for particle-in-cell methods with application in geodynamic modeling Thumbnail


Authors

H. Wang

R. Agrusta



Abstract

The particle-in-cell method is generally considered a flexible and robust method to model the geodynamic problems with chemical heterogeneity. However, velocity interpolation from grid points to particle locations is often performed without considering the divergence of the velocity field, which can lead to significant particle dispersion or clustering if those particles move through regions of strong velocity gradients. This may ultimately result in cells void of particles, which, if left untreated, may, in turn, lead to numerical inaccuracies. Here we apply a two-dimensional conservative velocity interpolation (CVI) scheme to steady state and time-dependent flow fields with strong velocity gradients (e.g., due to large local viscosity variation) and derive and apply the three-dimensional equivalent. We show that the introduction of CVI significantly reduces the dispersion and clustering of particles in both steady state and time-dependent flow problems and maintains a locally steady number of particles, without the need for ad hoc remedies such as very high initial particle densities or reseeding during the calculation. We illustrate that this method provides a significant improvement to particle distributions in common geodynamic modeling problems such as subduction zones or lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary dynamics.

Citation

Wang, H., Agrusta, R., & van Hunen, J. (2015). Advantages of a conservative velocity interpolation (CVI) scheme for particle-in-cell methods with application in geodynamic modeling. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 16(6), 2015-2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gc005824

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 15, 2015
Online Publication Date Jun 12, 2015
Publication Date Jun 12, 2015
Deposit Date Nov 20, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Issue 6
Pages 2015-2023
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gc005824

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Published Journal Article (3.7 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2015. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.





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