A Parallel Cellular Automata Lattice Boltzmann Method for Convection-Driven Solidification.

This article presents a novel coupling of numerical techniques that enable three-dimensional convection-driven microstructure simulations to be conducted on practical time scales appropriate for small-size components or experiments. On the microstructure side, the cellular automata method is efficient for relatively large-scale simulations, while the lattice Boltzmann method provides one of the fastest transient computational fluid dynamics solvers. Both of these methods have been parallelized and coupled in a single code, allowing resolution of large-scale convection-driven solidification problems.