A graphic processing unit implementation for the moment representation of the lattice Boltzmann method

We implement the moment representation of the lattice Boltzmann method in a graphic processing unit (GPU) environment to study the computational performance of three-dimensional fluid flows. The moment representation of the lattice Boltzmann method (MRLBM) uses up to second-order moments of the particle distribution function to regularize and reconstruct it. By adopting this method, there is a reduction in memory usage and global memory transfer and, therefore, increased performance. The results show an increase of up to 40% in speed compared to population schemes. The validation results show there was no loss of accuracy when using single precision for turbulent flows. The adoption of single-precision also enables higher processing speed for GPUs with low double-precision capability and reduces the memory footprint, which can further increase performance. The implementation here presented provides a fast and straightforward environment for fluid simulation by combining single-precision and the MRLBM.