(45a) Proteus – An efficient computational scheme for the simulation of dense particulate flows

A new and efficient direct numerical method is introduced for the simulation of dense/interacting particulate flows. The method combines desired elements of the immersed boundary method (IBM), the direct forcing method (DFM) and uses the solving techniques of the Lattice Boltzmann method. Adding a forcing term in the momentum equation enforces the no-slip condition on the boundary of a moving particle. By applying the direct forcing scheme, "Proteus" eliminates the need for the determination of free parameters, such as the stiffness coefficient in the penalty scheme or the two relaxation parameters in the adaptive-forcing scheme. The method presents a significant improvement over both the LBM and the previously introduced immersed-boundary-lattice-Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) where the forcing term was computed using a penalty method and a user-defined parameter. Two examples of the application of this novel method are presented in an animated form: a) the interaction of a single particle with a plane horizontal boundary and b) the settling of a group of more than 1000 interacting and colliding particles in an enclosure.