Computer Simulation of Two-Dimensional Continuum Flows by the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Method

Abstract

Computer simulations using particles are an attractive method to extract microscopic information of flow phenomena [1]. The molecular dynamics (MD) method, in which Newton's equations of motions are integrated, gives the temporal development of the system. In the MD simulation of fluid flows, the computational region is limited to atomistic scales [2]. On the other hand, the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, in which collisions of particles are made on a probabilistic basis, has a potential of treating a realistic system with a macroscopic scale length retaining the atomistic details. The DSMC method provides an efficient way to integrate the Boltzmann equation from the rarefied gas to the near-continuum region. Bird clarified the validity of the DSMC method in the near-continuum flow region [3]. However, the DSMC method has not been applied to the continuum region and compared with the continuum hydrodynamics.