Parallel Computation for Fluid Structure in a Fiber Network, 1996 Engineering Conference Proceedings

Dewei Qi

Western Michigan University

The numerical simulations of lattice Boltzmann (LB) are developed to predict, the structure and transport properties of fluid-fiber system in a. massive parallel computer at the Pittsburgh Su-percomputing Center by using work sharing tech-nique. The algorithm of the LB simulation is par-allel in nature due to the fact that particles col-lide at, a, node and move to its neighbors so that information is locally and independently trans-ferred at each node. No-slip boundary conditions are easily imposed for irregular boundaries by us-ing the bounce-back collision rules. The effects of microstructure of fiber networks on the prmeab-ility have been studied. It is found that the in-plane directional permeability decreases and the z-directional permeability increase with increas-ing the z- directional polar angles of fibers at a constant porosity. The potential use of the fluid dynamic simulation of lattice Boltzmann in the paper industry has been shown in this work.