Improved kernel gradient free-smoothed particle hydrodynamics and its applications to heat transfer problems

Kernel gradient free-smoothed particle hydrodynamics (KGF-SPH) is a modified smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method which has higher precision than the conventional SPH. However, the Laplacian in KGF-SPH is approximated by the two-pass model which increases computational cost. A new kind of discretization scheme for the Laplacian is proposed in this paper, then a method with higher precision and better stability, called Improved KGF-SPH, is developed by modifying KGF-SPH with this new Laplacian model. One-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) heat conduction problems are used to test the precision and stability of the Improved KGF-SPH. The numerical results demonstrate that the Improved KGF-SPH is more accurate than SPH, and stabler than KGF-SPH. Natural convections in a closed square cavity at different Rayleigh numbers are modeled by the Improved KGF-SPH with shifting particle positions, and the Improved KGF-SPH results are presented in comparison with those of SPH and finite volume method (FVM). The numerical results demonstrate that the Improved KGF-SPH is a more accurate method to study and model the heat transfer problems.