Interpolation-supplemented lattice Boltzmann simulation of thermal convection on non-uniform meshes

Abstract

We present a systematic evaluation of an interpolation-supplemented lattice Boltzmann method (ISLBM) for simulating buoyancy-driven thermal convection on non-uniform meshes. The ISLBM extends the standard lattice Boltzmann framework by incorporating quadratic interpolation during the streaming step, enabling flexible mesh refinement near solid boundaries while maintaining algorithmic simplicity and parallel scalability. The method is implemented for a two-dimensional side-heated cavity at high Rayleigh numbers $10^6\le Ra\le 10^8$, and for a three-dimensional side-heated cavity at $10^5\le Ra\le 10^7$, with the Prandtl number fixed at $Pr=0.71$. Benchmark results show that the ISLBM accurately captures thermal and velocity boundary layers, yielding Nusselt and Reynolds numbers in close agreement with high-fidelity reference data. Grid-convergence studies demonstrate nearly third-order accuracy for global quantities and about second-order for local fields. We further assess the computational performance of the in-house LBM solver against two open-source solvers: Nek5000 based on the spectral element method, and OpenFOAM based on the finite volume method. Performance metrics, including million lattice updates per second (MLUPS) and wall-clock time per dimensionless time unit (WCTpDT), indicate that the ISLBM offers one to three orders of magnitude higher efficiency in large-scale simulations. On GPU architectures, the ISLBM retains high computational performance: throughput on non-uniform meshes reaches 60%–70% of that on uniform meshes in terms of MLUPS, while the cost in WCTpDT is about three times higher. These results highlight the potential of interpolation-based LBM approaches for high-fidelity simulations of thermal convection on non-uniform meshes, providing a robust foundation for future extensions to turbulent flows.