Boundary-Conforming Finite Element Methods for Twin-Screw Extruders using Spline-Based Parameterization Techniques
Abstract
This paper presents a novel spline-based meshing technique that allows for usage of boundary-conforming meshes for unsteady flow and temperature simulations in co-rotating twin-screw extruders. Spline-based descriptions of arbitrary screw geometries are generated using Elliptic Grid Generation. They are evaluated in a number of discrete points to yield a coarse classical mesh. The use of a special control mapping allows to fine-tune properties of the coarse mesh like orthogonality at the boundaries. The coarse mesh is used as a 'scaffolding' to generate a boundary-conforming mesh out of a fine background mesh at run-time. Storing only a coarse mesh makes the method cheap in terms of memory storage. Additionally, the adaptation at run-time is extremely cheap compared to computing the flow solution. Furthermore, this method circumvents the need for expensive re-meshing and projections of solutions making it efficient and accurate. It is incorporated into a space-time finite element framework. We present time-dependent test cases of non-Newtonian fluids in 2D and 3D for complex screw designs. They demonstrate the potential of the method also for arbitrarily complex industrial applications.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1905.11829,
title = {Boundary-Conforming Finite Element Methods for Twin-Screw Extruders using Spline-Based Parameterization Techniques},
author = {Jochen Hinz and Jan Helmig and Matthias Möller and Stefanie Elgeti},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1905.11829},
year = {2020}
}