Simulate 2D fluid flow around obstacles using lattice Boltzmann. Visualize streamlines, vortices, and Reynolds number effects.
Explore how a two-dimensional flow field bends around an obstacle, separates, and develops a wake. The simulator advances a lattice Boltzmann model and converts its evolving state into visible velocity structures, including streamlines and vortices, while relating the pattern to Reynolds number. It is best for qualitative comparisons between flow regimes, classroom demonstrations, and early intuition rather than a certified prediction for a real device. The common surprise is that an animated streamline is not necessarily the path followed by one fluid parcel when the flow changes with time.
Rather than solving directly for pressure and velocity at every point, a lattice Boltzmann model tracks directional populations on a regular two-dimensional lattice. During each time step those populations propagate to neighboring sites and relax toward a local equilibrium. Their moments yield density and velocity. Boundary rules at obstacle cells redirect the populations, producing deflection, separation, and a downstream wake.
Streamlines are curves tangent to the velocity field at the instant displayed. Closed or tightly curling patterns indicate recirculating regions, while alternating structures downstream can reveal an unsteady wake. Reynolds number, Re = UL / nu, compares inertial and viscous effects using a representative speed U, length L, and kinematic viscosity nu. The visualization permits those effects to be compared in the same 2D setting.
No. It can show plausible 2D behavior and help compare relative changes, but engineering prediction requires known dimensions, fluid properties, inlet and outlet conditions, validated boundary treatment, adequate resolution, and convergence checks. Real wakes may also become three-dimensional. Use this display to form hypotheses or explain mechanisms, not to certify forces, pressure losses, or safety margins.
Not necessarily. Each frame's streamlines describe the direction of the velocity field at that moment. A particle path integrates velocity through time, so it generally does not coincide with a streamline when the flow is unsteady. In a steady velocity field, streamlines and particle paths do coincide, apart from differences in where and when particles are introduced.
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