An adaptive finite element method for Bingham fluid flows around a cylinder

The numerical modeling of the steady flow of a yield stress fluid around a cylinder is presented. Three categories of yielded regions are exhibited. The asymptotic behavior when the cylinder gets close to the wall is investigated. The resolution of variational inequalities describing the flow is based on the augmented Lagrangian method and a mixed finite element method. The localization of yield surfaces is approximated by an anisotropic auto-adaptive mesh procedure. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.