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Numerical simulations of falling leaves using a pseudo-spectral method with volume penalization

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Abstract

The dynamics of falling leaves is studied by means of numerical simulations. The two-dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, coupled with the equations governing solid body dynamics, are solved using a Fourier pseudo-spectral method with volume penalization to impose no-slip boundary conditions. Comparison with other numerical methods is made. Simulations performed for different values of the Reynolds number show that its decrease stabilizes the free fall motion.

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Correspondence to Dmitry Kolomenskiy.

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Communicated by H. Aref

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Kolomenskiy, D., Schneider, K. Numerical simulations of falling leaves using a pseudo-spectral method with volume penalization. Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 24, 169–173 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-009-0171-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-009-0171-0

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