Feature-driven Cartesian adaptive mesh refinement for vortex-dominated flows

We develop locally normalized feature-detection methods to guide the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) process for Cartesian grid systems to improve the resolution of vortical features in aerodynamic wakes. The methods include: the Q-criterion [1], the lambda(2) method [2], the lambda(ci) method [3], and the lambda(+) method [4]. Specific attention is given to automate the feature identification process by applying a local normalization based upon the shear-strain rate so that they can be applied to a wide range of flow-fields without the need for user intervention. To validate the methods, we assess tagging efficiency and accuracy using a series of static vortex-dominated flow-fields, and use the methods to drive the AMR process for several theoretical and practical simulations. We demonstrate that the adaptive solutions provide comparable accuracy to solutions obtained on uniformly refined meshes at a fraction of the computational cost. Overall, the normalized feature detection methods are shown to be effective in driving the AMR process in an automated and efficient manner. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.