For multiscale gas flows, the kinetic-continuum hybrid method is usually used to balance the computational accuracy and efficiency. However, the kinetic-continuum coupling is not straightforward since the coupled methods are based on different theoretical frameworks. In particular, it is not easy to recover the nonequilibrium information required by the kinetic method, which is lost by the continuum model at the coupling interface. Therefore, we present a multiscale lattice Boltzmann (LB) method that deploys high-order LB models in highly rarefied flow regions and low-order ones in less rarefied regions. Since this multiscale approach is based on the same theoretical framework, the coupling precess becomes simple. The nonequilibrium information will not be lost at the interface as low-order LB models can also retain this information. The simulation results confirm that the present method can achieve modeling accuracy with reduced computational cost.

• Received 13 August 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.046701