(401h) An Efficient Algorithm for Multiscale Flow Simulation of Dilute Polymeric Solutions Using Bead-Spring Chains

A computationally efficient algorithm for multiscale flow simulation of dilute polymer solutions using a bead-spring chain description of polymer molecules will be presented. The algorithm combines a computationally efficient extension of the earlier BCF based semi-implicit method (i.e. about four fold speed up) for multiscale flow simulations using bead-spring dumbbell description [Somasi, M. and Khomami, B., J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., 93, (2000) 339-362] with a highly CPU efficient predictor-corrector scheme for BD simulation of bead-spring chains [Somasi, M., Khomami, B., Woo, N., Hur, J., and Shaqfeh, E., J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., 108, (2002) 227-255]. The fidelity and computational efficiency of the parallel implementation of the algorithm are demonstrated via two benchmark problems, namely, plane Couette and Poiseuille flow problems. The algorithm shows linear speed up with the number of processors and more importantly with the number of segments. In addition, the proposed algorithm is approximately 50 times faster in comparison to the only existing fully implicit method [Ramirez, J. and Laso, M., J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., 127, (2005) 41-49].