Coupled prediction of flows in domains containing a porous medium and free stream

This work deals with a model for coupled predictions of flows in domains containing a fluid–saturated porous medium and free stream. The model is based on the generalized Navier–Stokes equations for an incompressible fluid, obtained by averaging over a representative elementary volume of the porous medium and written for the entire computational domain, consisting of two subdomains differing in its properties. To implement numerically this model, we have developed a computational algorithm based on the finite element method and Newton's method for solving nonlinear equations. It was implemented using the open computational platform FEniCS. The verification of the developed numerical technique was conducted on the known numerical results of other authors. In addition, model predictions of flows in an automobile catalytic converter were performed and discussed.