A Lattice Boltzmann Method Based Numerical Scheme for Microchannel Flows

Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been recently developed into an alternative and promising numerical scheme for modeling fluid physics and fluid flows. The equation is hyperbolic and can be solved locally, explicitly, and efficiently on parallel computers. LBM has been applied to different types of complex flows with varying degree of success, but rarely to micro-scale flow. Due to its small scale, micro-channel flow exhibits many interesting phenomena that are not observed in its macro-scale counterpart. It is known that the Navier-Stokes equations can still be used to treat micro-channel flows if a slip wall boundary condition is assumed. The setting of boundary conditions in LBM has been a difficult task, and reliable boundary setting methods are limited. This paper reports on the development of an algorithm to solve the Boltzmann equation with a splitting method that allows the application of a slip wall boundary condition. Moreover, the fluid viscosity is accounted for as an additional term in the equilibrium particle distribution function, which offers the ability to simulate both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. An LBM based numerical scheme, which is suitable for micro-channel flows, is proposed. A two-dimensional nine-velocity lattice model is developed for the numerical simulation. Validation of the numerical scheme is carried out against micro-channel, micro-tube and driven cavity flows, and excellent agreement is obtained between numerical calculations and analytical solutions of these flows.© 2008 ASME