Coupled Finite Element Based Lattice Boltzmann Equation and Structural Finite Elements for Fluid-Structure Interaction Application

A computational technique was developed for analysis of fluid-structure interaction. The fluid flow was solved using the lattice Boltzmann method which found to be computationally simple and efficient. In order to apply the lattice Boltzmann method to irregular shapes of fluid domains, the finite element based lattice Boltzmann method was developed. In addition, the turbulent model was also implemented into the lattice Boltzmann formulation. Structures were analyzed using either beam or shell elements depending of the nature of the structures. Then, coupled transient fluid flow and structural dynamics were solved one after another for each time step. Numerical examples for both 2-D and 3-D fluid-structure interaction problems were presented to demonstrate the developed techniques.