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The purpose of this work is to develop a universal computer program (solver) which solves kinetic Boltzmann equation for simulations of rarefied gas flows in complexly shaped devices. The structure of the solver is described in details. Its efficiency is demonstrated on an example of calculations of a modern many tubes Knudsen pump. The kinetic Boltzmann equation is solved by finite-difference method on discrete grid in spatial and velocity spaces. The differential advection operator is approximated by finite difference method. The calculation of the collision integral is based on the conservative projection method.

In the developed computational program the unstructured spatial mesh is generated using GMSH and may include prisms, tetrahedrons, hexahedrons and pyramids. The mesh is denser in areas of flow with large gradients of gas parameters. A three-dimensional velocity grid consists of cubic cells of equal volume.

A huge amount of calculations requires effective parallelization of the algorithm which is implemented in the program with the use of Message Passing Interface (MPI) technology. An information transfer from one node to another is implemented as a kind of boundary condition. As a result, every MPI node contains the information about only its part of the grid.

The main result of the work is presented in the graph of pressure difference in 2 reservoirs connected by a multitube Knudsen pump from Knudsen number. This characteristic of the Knudsen pump obtained by numerical methods shows the quality of the pump. Distributions of pressure, temperature and gas concentration in a steady state inside the pump and the reservoirs are presented as well.

The correctness of the solver is checked using two special test solutions of more simple boundary problems — test with temperature distribution between 2 planes with different temperatures and test with conservation of total gas mass.

The correctness of the obtained data for multitube Knudsen pump is checked using denser spatial and velocity grids, using more collisions in collision integral per time step.

The article proposes a model for assessing the potential strength of a composite material based on modern fibers with brittle fracture.

Materials consisting of parallel cylindrical fibers that are quasi-statically stretched in one direction are simulated. It is assumed that the sample is not less than 100 pieces, which corresponds to almost significant cases. It is known that the fibers have a distribution of ultimate deformation in the sample and are not destroyed at the same moment. Usually the distribution of their properties is described by the Weibull–Gnedenko statistical distribution. To simulate the strength of the composite, a model of fiber breaks accumulation is used. It is assumed that the fibers united by the polymer matrix are crushed to twice the inefficient length — the distance at which the stresses increase from the end of the broken fiber to the middle one. However, this model greatly overestimates the strength of composites with brittle fibers. For example, carbon and glass fibers are destroyed in this way.

In some cases, earlier attempts were made to take into account the stress concentration near the broken fiber (Hedgepest model, Ermolenko model, shear analysis), but such models either required a lot of initial data or did not coincide with the experiment. In addition, such models idealize the packing of fibers in the composite to the regular hexagonal packing.

The model combines the shear analysis approach to stress distribution near the destroyed fiber and the statistical approach of fiber strength based on the Weibull–Gnedenko distribution, while introducing a number of assumptions that simplify the calculation without loss of accuracy.

It is assumed that the stress concentration on the adjacent fiber increases the probability of its destruction in accordance with the Weibull distribution, and the number of such fibers with an increased probability of destruction is directly related to the number already destroyed before. All initial data can be obtained from simple experiments. It is shown that accounting for redistribution only for the nearest fibers gives an accurate forecast.

This allowed a complete calculation of the strength of the composite. The experimental data obtained by us on carbon fibers, glass fibers and model composites based on them (CFRP, GFRP), confirm some of the conclusions of the model.

The paper provides a method for selecting the composition of a refrigerant with a given isobaric cooling curve using an artificial neural network (ANN). This method is based on the use of 1D layers of a convolutional neural network. To train the neural network, we applied a technological model of a simple heat exchanger in the UniSim design program, using the Peng – Robinson equation of state.We created synthetic database on isobaric boiling curves of refrigerants of different compositions using the technological model. To record the database, an algorithm was developed in the Python programming language, and information on isobaric boiling curves for 1 049 500 compositions was uploaded using the COM interface. The compositions have generated by Monte Carlo method. Designed architecture of ANN allows select composition of a mixed refrigerant by 101 points of boiling curve. ANN gives mole flows of mixed refrigerant by composition (methane, ethane, propane, nitrogen) on the output layer. For training ANN, we used method of cyclical learning rate. For results demonstration we selected MR composition by natural gas cooling curve with a minimum temperature drop of 3 К and a maximum temperature drop of no more than 10 К, which turn better than we predicted via UniSim SQP optimizer and better than predicted by $k$-nearest neighbors algorithm. A significant value of this article is the fact that an artificial neural network can be used to select the optimal composition of the refrigerant when analyzing the cooling curve of natural gas. This method can help engineers select the composition of the mixed refrigerant in real time, which will help reduce the energy consumption of natural gas liquefaction.

This article presents the results of an analytical and computer study of the chaotic evolution of a regular velocity field generated by a large-scale harmonic forcing. The authors obtained an analytical solution for the flow stream function and its derivative quantities (velocity, vorticity, kinetic energy, enstrophy and palinstrophy). Numerical modeling of the flow evolution was carried out using the OpenFOAM software package based on incompressible model, as well as two inhouse implementations of CABARET and McCormack methods employing nearly incompressible formulation. Calculations were carried out on a sequence of nested meshes with 64², 128², 256², 512², 1024² cells for two characteristic (asymptotic) Reynolds numbers characterizing laminar and turbulent evolution of the flow, respectively. Simulations show that blow-up of the analytical solution takes place in both cases. The energy characteristics of the flow are discussed relying upon the energy curves as well as the dissipation rates. For the fine mesh, this quantity turns out to be several orders of magnitude less than its hydrodynamic (viscous) counterpart. Destruction of the regular flow structure is observed for any of the numerical methods, including at the late stages of laminar evolution, when numerically obtained distributions are close to analytics. It can be assumed that the prerequisite for the development of instability is the error accumulated during the calculation process. This error leads to unevenness in the distribution of vorticity and, as a consequence, to the variance vortex intensity and finally leads to chaotization of the flow. To study the processes of vorticity production, we used two integral vorticity-based quantities — integral enstrophy ($\zeta$) and palinstrophy $(P)$. The formulation of the problem with periodic boundary conditions allows us to establish a simple connection between these quantities. In addition, $\zeta$ can act as a measure of the eddy resolution of the numerical method, and palinstrophy determines the degree of production of small-scale vorticity.

This work is devoted to the numerical study of high-speed mixing layers of compressible flows. The problem under consideration has a wide range of applications in practical tasks and, despite its apparent simplicity, is quite complex in terms of modeling. Because in the mixing layer, as a result of the instability of the tangential discontinuity of velocities, the flow passes from laminar flow to turbulent mode. Therefore, the obtained numerical results of the considered problem strongly depend on the adequacy of the used turbulence models. In the presented work, this problem is studied based on the two-fluid approach to the problem of turbulence. This approach has arisen relatively recently and is developing quite rapidly. The main advantage of the two-fluid approach is that it leads to a closed system of equations, when, as is known, the long-standing Reynolds approach leads to an open system of equations. The paper presents the essence of the two-fluid approach for modeling a turbulent compressible medium and the methodology for numerical implementation of the proposed model. To obtain a stationary solution, the relaxation method and Prandtl boundary layer theory were applied, resulting in a simplified system of equations. In the considered problem, high-speed flows are mixed. Therefore, it is also necessary to model heat transfer, and the pressure cannot be considered constant, as is done for incompressible flows. In the numerical implementation, the convective terms in the hydrodynamic equations were approximated by the upwind scheme with the second order of accuracy in explicit form, and the diffusion terms in the right-hand sides of the equations were approximated by the central difference in implicit form. The sweep method was used to implement the obtained equations. The SIMPLE method was used to correct the velocity through the pressure. The paper investigates a two-liquid turbulence model with different initial flow turbulence intensities. The obtained numerical results showed that good agreement with the known experimental data is observed at the inlet turbulence intensity of $0.1 < I < 1 \%$. Data from known experiments, as well as the results of the $k − kL + J$ and LES models, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed turbulence model. It is demonstrated that the two-liquid model is as accurate as known modern models and more efficient in terms of computing resources.

The paper simulates a mixture of gases in a multi-stage micro-pump and evaluates its effectiveness at separating the components of the mixture. A device in the form of a long channel with a series of transverse plates is considered. A temperature difference between the sides of the plates induces a radiometric gas flow within the device, and the differences in masses of the gases lead to differences in flow velocities and to the separation of the mixture. Modeling is based on the numerical solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation, for which a splitting scheme is used, i. e., the advection equation and the relaxation problem are solved separately in alternation. The calculation of the collision integral is performed using the conservative projection method. This method ensures the strict fulfillment of the laws of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy, as well as the important asymptotic property of the equality of the integral of the Maxwell function to zero. Explicit first-order and second-order TVD-schemes are used to solve the advection equation. The calculations were performed for a neon-argon mixture using a model of solid spheres with real molecular diameters and masses. Software has been developed to allow calculations on personal computers and cluster systems. The use of parallelization leads to faster computation and constant time per iteration for devices of different sizes, enabling the modeling of large particle systems. It was found that the value of mixture separation, i. e. the ratio of densities at the ends of the device linearly depends on the number of cascades in the device, which makes it possible to estimate separation for multicascade systems, computer modeling of which is impossible. Flows and distributions of gas inside the device during its operation were analyzed. It was demonstrated that devices of this kind with a sufficiently large number of plates are suitable for the separation of gas mixtures, given that they have no moving parts and are quite simple in manufacture and less subject to wear.

An approach to evaluation of a parametric portrait of integral equations of the theory of liquids in the RISM approximation was proposed. To obtain all associated solutions the continuation method was used. The equations reduced to a two-centered molecule model for symmetry reasons were deduced for molecular liquids. For molecular liquids, some equations were obtained which could be reduced, for symmetry reasons, to a two-center molecular model. To avoid critical points we changed the dependence of RISM-equations on reverse compressibility. The suggested method was used to perform numerical computations of methane reverse compressibility isotherms with three closures. No bifurcation of solutions was observed in the case of the partially linearized hypernetted chain closure. For other closures bifurcations of solutions were obtained and the model behavior nontypical for simple liquids was observed. In the case of Percus-Yevick closure nonphysical solutions were obtained at low temperature and density. Additional solution branch with a kink in the bifurcation point was obtained in the case of hypernetted chain closure at temperature above the critical point.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of rigid water model TIP4P-EW at ambient conditions were carried out. Delaunay’s simplexes were considered as structural elements of liquid water. Topological criterion which allows to identify the water microstructure in snapshot of MD cell was used to allocate its dense part. Geometrical analysis of water Delaunay’s simplexes indicates their strong flatness in comparison with a regular tetrahedron that is fundamentally different from the results for dense part of simple liquids. The statistics of TIP4P-EW water clusters was investigated depending on their cardinality and connectivity. It is similar to the statistics for simple liquids and the structure of this dense part is also a fractal surface consisting of the free edges of the Delaunay’s simplexes.

This work presents the model of heat wall functions FlowVision (WFFV), which allows simulation of nonisothermal flows of fluid and gas near solid surfaces on relatively coarse grids with use of turbulence models. The work follows the research on the development of wall functions applicable in wide range of the values of quantity y+. Model WFFV assumes smooth profiles of the tangential component of velocity, turbulent viscosity, temperature, and turbulent heat conductivity near a solid surface. Possibility of using a simple algebraic model for calculation of variable turbulent Prandtl number is investigated in this study (the turbulent Prandtl number enters model WFFV as parameter). The results are satisfactory. The details of implementation of model WFFV in the FlowVision software are explained. In particular, the boundary condition for the energy equation used in high-Reynolds number calculations of non-isothermal flows is considered. The boundary condition is deduced for the energy equation written via thermodynamic enthalpy and via full enthalpy. The capability of the model is demonstrated on two test problems: flow of incompressible fluid past a plate and supersonic flow of gas past a plate (M = 3).

Analysis of literature shows that there exists essential ambiguity in experimental data and, as a consequence, in empirical correlations for the Stanton number (that being a dimensionless heat flux). The calculations suggest that the default values of the model parameters, automatically specified in the program, allow calculations of heat fluxes at extended solid surfaces with engineering accuracy. At the same time, it is obvious that one cannot invent universal wall functions. For this reason, the controls of model WFFV are made accessible from the FlowVision interface. When it is necessary, a user can tune the model for simulation of the required type of flow.

The proposed model of wall functions is compatible with all the turbulence models implemented in the FlowVision software: the algebraic model of Smagorinsky, the Spalart-Allmaras model, the SST $k-\omega$ model, the standard $k-\varepsilon$ model, the $k-\varepsilon$ model of Abe, Kondoh, Nagano, the quadratic $k-\varepsilon$ model, and $k-\varepsilon$ model FlowVision.

In the framework of modern non-equilibrium thermodynamics (macroscopic approach of description and mathematical modeling of the dynamics of real physical and chemical processes), the authors developed a potential- flow method for describing and mathematical modeling of real physical and chemical processes applicable in the general case of real macroscopic physicochemical systems. In accordance with the potential-flow method, the description and mathematical modeling of these processes consists in determining through the interaction potentials of the thermodynamic forces driving these processes and the kinetic matrix determined by the kinetic properties of the system in question, which in turn determine the dynamics of the course of physicochemical processes in this system under the influence of the thermodynamic forces in it. Knowing the thermodynamic forces and the kinetic matrix of the system, the rates of the flow of physicochemical processes in the system are determined, and according to these conservation laws the rates of change of its state coordinates are determined. It turns out in this way a closed system of equations of physical and chemical processes in the system. Knowing the interaction potentials in the system, the kinetic matrices of its simple subsystems (individual processes that are conjugate to each other and not conjugate with other processes), the coefficients entering into the conservation laws, the initial state of the system under consideration, external flows into the system, one can obtain a complete dynamics of physicochemical processes in the system. However, in the case of a complex physico-chemical system in which a large number of physicochemical processes take place, the dimension of the system of equations for these processes becomes appropriate. Hence, the problem arises of automating the formation of the described system of equations of the dynamics of physical and chemical processes in the system under consideration. In this article, we develop a library of software data types that implement a user-defined physicochemical system at the level of its design scheme (coordinates of the state of the system, energy degrees of freedom, physico-chemical processes, flowing, external flows and the relationship between these listed components) and algorithms references in these types of data, as well as calculation of the described system parameters. This library includes both program types of the calculation scheme of the user-defined physicochemical system, and program data types of the components of this design scheme (coordinates of the system state, energy degrees of freedom, physicochemical processes, flowing, external flows). The relationship between these components is carried out by reference (index) addressing. This significantly speeds up the calculation of the system characteristics, because faster access to data.