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The stabilization parameters of the methods like the Streamline-Upwind/Petrov–Galerkin, Pressure-Stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin, and the Variational Multiscale method typically involve two local length scales. They are the advection and diffusion length scales, appearing in the expressions for the advective and diffusive limits of the stabilization parameter. The advection length scale has always been in the flow direction. The diffusion length scales in use have mostly been just element-geometry-dependent, but there is good justification for also making that direction-dependent, so that the spatial variation of the solution is taken into account somehow. The length scale in the solution-gradient direction, which was introduced in 2001, was intended for making sure that near solid surfaces, the element length in the surface-normal direction is selected even if that is not the minimum element length. It was also intended for making sure that in a 2D computation with a 3D mesh, there would be no dependence on the element length in the third direction. With the same objectives, and with better invariance properties, we are now introducing the direction-dependent diffusion length scale calculated from the strain-rate tensor. We accomplish those objectives, get invariance with respect to switching to a different inertial reference frame, and the element length in the surface-normal direction, even when the surface is undergoing rotation, is selected as the diffusion length scale.

We present a T-splines computational method and its implementation where structures with different parametric dimensions are connected with continuity and smoothness. We derive the basis functions in the context of connecting structures with 2D and 1D parametric dimensions. Derivation of the basis functions with a desired smoothness involves proper selection of a scale factor for the knot vector of the 1D structure and results in new control-point locations. While the method description focuses on $$C^0$$ C 0 and $$C^1$$ C 1 continuity, paths to higher-order continuity are marked where needed. In presenting the method and its implementation, we refer to the 2D structure as “membrane” and the 1D structure as “cable.” It goes without saying that the method and its implementation are applicable also to other 2D–1D cases, such as shell–cable and shell–beam structures. We present test computations not only for membrane–cable structures but also for shell–cable structures. The computations demonstrate how the method performs.

In this second part of a two-part article, we present spacecraft parachute structural mechanics computations with the T-splines computational method introduced in the first part. The method and its implementation, which was also given in the first part, are for computations where structures with different parametric dimensions are connected with continuity and smoothness. The basis functions of the method were derived in the context of connecting structures with 2D and 1D parametric dimensions. In the first part, the 2D structure was referred to as “membrane” and the 1D structure as “cable.” The method and its implementation, however, are certainly applicable also to other 2D–1D cases, and the test computations presented in the first part included shell–cable structures. Similarly, the spacecraft parachute computations presented here are with both the membrane and shell models of the parachute canopy fabric. The computer model used in the computations is for a subscale, wind-tunnel version of the Disk–Gap–Band parachute. The computations demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in 2D–1D structural mechanics computation of spacecraft parachutes.

The superior accuracy isogeometric analysis (IGA) brought to computations in fluid and solid mechanics has been yielding higher fidelity in computational aerodynamics. The increased accuracy we achieve with the IGA is in the flow solution, in representing the problem geometry, and, when we use the IGA basis functions also in time in a space–time (ST) framework, in representing the motion of solid surfaces. It is of course as part of a set of methods that the IGA has been very effective in computational aerodynamics, including complex-geometry aerodynamics. The set of methods we have been using can be categorized into those that serve as a core method, those that increase the accuracy, and those that widen the application range. The core methods are the residual-based variational multiscale (VMS), ST-VMS and arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian VMS methods. The IGA and ST-IGA are examples of the methods that increase the accuracy. The complex-geometry IGA mesh generation method is an example of the methods that widen the application range. The ST Topology Change method is another example of that. We provide an overview of these methods for IGA-based computational aerodynamics and present examples of the computations performed. In computational flow analysis with moving solid surfaces and contact between the solid surfaces, it is a challenge to represent the boundary layers with an accuracy attributed to moving-mesh methods and represent the contact without leaving a mesh protection gap.

In this lead article of the special issue, we provide a brief summary of the research developments in Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). We focus on the use of IGA in combination with stabilized and variational multiscale methods in fluids. We highlight the key developments and present results in IGA-based CFD that makes this technology attractive for the computational analysis of complex, unsteady and, often turbulent, flows encountered in modern science and engineering applications. We cover both incompressible and compressible flows, numerical method development and performance evaluation using benchmark problems, and applications ranging from stratified environmental flows over complex terrains to concrete-blast fluid–structure interaction. A short synopsis of each article in the special issue is also provided to help reader quickly see what is in the special issue.

We present method-evaluation incompressible-flow computations with Space–Time Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA) and higher-order basis functions in time. The computational-methods platform is made of the ST Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, the ST-IGA with IGA basis functions in space and time, and local length scales and stabilization parameters targeting isogeometric discretization. The computations are for 2D flow past a circular cylinder at Reynolds number 100, which has an easily discernible vortex shedding frequency and widely published lift and drag coefficients and Strouhal number. We compute with quadratic basis functions in space and polynomial orders of 1, 2, 3, and 4 in time, for four different time-step sizes, and with six different sets of expressions for the stabilization parameters. The computations yield a comprehensive set of method-evaluation data that can serve as reference. They also show computational-cost efficiency in using higher-order functions in time.

We present an extensive study on boundary layer mesh resolution in flow computation with the Space–Time Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method and isogeometric discretization. The study is in the context of 2D flow past a circular cylinder, at Reynolds number ranging from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text]. It was motivated by the need to have in tire aerodynamics a better understanding of the mesh resolution requirements near the tire surface. The focus in the study is on the normal-direction element length for the first layer of elements near the cylinder, with that length varying by a refinement factor ranging from 2 to 40. The evaluation is based mostly on the velocity profile near the cylinder. As the element length for the first layer is varied, the element lengths for the other layers of the disk-shaped inner mesh are adjusted, with no increase in the number of elements for the refinement factors 2, 3, and 4, and with modest increases only in the radial direction for refinement factors beyond that. The computations are performed with quadratic NURBS basis functions in space and linear basis functions in time. The expressions for the stabilization parameters used in the ST-VMS and for the related local lengths scales are those targeting isogeometric discretization, introduced in recent years. The mesh resolution study is based mostly on the strong enforcement of the Dirichlet boundary conditions on the cylinder, but also includes some computations with the weakly-enforced conditions. We expect that the data generated and observations made will be helpful in setting proper near-surface mesh resolution in VMS-based computations with isogeometric discretization, not only for cylindrical shapes but also for comparable geometries. We furthermore expect that although the data generated and observations made are based on computations with nonmoving meshes, they will also be applicable to computations with moving meshes where the mesh around the solid surface rotates with the surface in the framework of the ST Slip Interface method.

We are introducing the Carrier-Domain Method (CDM) for high-resolution computation of time-periodic long-wake flows, with cost-effectives that makes the computations practical. The CDM is closely related to the Multidomain Method, which was introduced 24 years ago, originally intended also for cost-effective computation of long-wake flows and later extended in scope to cover additional classes of flow problems. In the CDM, the computational domain moves in the free-stream direction, with a velocity that preserves the outflow nature of the downstream computational boundary. As the computational domain is moving, the velocity at the inflow plane is extracted from the velocity computed earlier when the plane’s current position was covered by the moving domain. The inflow data needed at an instant is extracted from one or more instants going back in time as many periods. Computing the long-wake flow with a high-resolution moving mesh that has a reasonable length would certainly be far more cost-effective than computing it with a fixed mesh that covers the entire length of the wake. We are also introducing a CDM version where the computational domain moves in a discrete fashion rather than a continuous fashion. To demonstrate how the CDM works, we compute, with the version where the computational domain moves in a continuous fashion, the 2D flow past a circular cylinder at Reynolds number 100. At this Reynolds number, the flow has an easily discernible vortex shedding frequency and widely published lift and drag coefficients and Strouhal number. The wake flow is computed up to 350 diameters downstream of the cylinder, far enough to see the secondary vortex street. The computations are performed with the Space–Time Variational Multiscale method and isogeometric discretization; the basis functions are quadratic NURBS in space and linear in time. The results show the power of the CDM in high-resolution computation of time-periodic long-wake flows.

This is the first part of a two-part article on a hyperelastic extended Kirchhoff–Love shell model with out-of-plane normal stress. We present the derivation of the new model, with focus on the mechanics of the out-of-plane deformation. Accounting for the out-of-plane normal stress distribution in the out-of-plane direction affects the accuracy in calculating the deformed-configuration out-of-plane position, and consequently the nonlinear response of the shell. The improvement is beyond what we get from accounting for the out-of-plane deformation mapping. By accounting for the out-of-plane normal stress, the traction acting on the shell can be specified on the upper and lower surfaces separately. With that, the new model is free from the “midsurface” location in terms of specifying the traction. We also present derivations related to the variation of the kinetic energy and the form of specifying the traction and moment acting on the upper and lower surfaces and along the edges. We present test computations for unidirectional plate bending, plate saddle deformation, and pressurized cylindrical and spherical shells. We use the neo-Hookean and Fung’s material models, for the compressible- and incompressible-material cases, and with the out-of-plane normal stress and without, which is the plane-stress case.

In this second part of a two-part article, we provide an overview of the heart valve flow analyses conducted with boundary layer and contact representation, made possible with the space–time (ST) computational methods described in the first part. With these ST methods, we are able to represent the boundary layers near moving solid surfaces, including the valve leaflet surfaces, with the accuracy one gets from moving-mesh methods and without the need for leaving a mesh protection gap between the surfaces coming into contact. The challenge of representing the contact between the leaflets without giving up on high-resolution flow representation near the leaflet surfaces has been overcome. The other challenges that have been overcome include the complexities of a near-actual valve geometry, having in the computational model a left ventricle with an anatomically realistic motion and an aorta from CT scans and maintaining the flow stability at the inflow of the ventricle-valve-aorta sequence, where we have a traction boundary condition during part of the cardiac cycle.