Multi-purpose interfaces for coupling SPH with other solvers

An algorithm for coupling SPH with an externalsolution is presented. The external solution can be either anotherSPH solution (possibly with different discretization) or a differentnumerical solver or an analytical solution.The interaction between the SPH solver and the externalsolution is achieved through an interface region. The interfaceregion is defined as a fixed portion of the computational domainthat provides a boundary condition for the SPH solver. A ghostfluid, composed by fully lagrangian particles (i.e. ghost particles)covering the interface region, is used to impose the boundarycondition. The ghost particle evolution, including its position, isintegrated in time according to the field of the external solution.The physical quantities of the ghost particles needed in theintegration scheme are obtained through an MLS interpolationon the field of the external solution. When a ghost particle crossesthe boundary of the interface region, entering in the SPH domain, it evolves according to the SPH governing equation. The spatial distribution of the ghost particles can become largely non-uniform due to the forcing by the external solution. Thus, a packing algorithm is applied on the ghost particles in the interface region, to guarantee a particle distribution suitable for SPH operators. Since the ghost particles can exit from the interface region, a seeding algorithm is needed to introduce new ghost-particles. The algorithm is tested on several benchmarks and with the external solutions given by other SPH solvers with different discretizations and by analytical solutions. The technique is deeply investigated in terms of accuracy, efficiency and possible applications. Finally a coupled simulation involving a finite volume solver is presented.