Pressure based finite volume method for calculation of compressible viscous gas flows

A pressure based, iterative finite volume method is developed for calculation of compressible, viscous, heat conductive gas flows at all speeds. The method does not need the use of under-relaxation coefficient in order to ensure a convergence of the iterative process. The method is derived from a general form of system of equations describing the motion of compressible, viscous gas. An emphasis is done on the calculation of gaseous microfluidic problems. A fast transient process of gas wave propagation in a two-dimensional microchannel is used as a benchmark problem. The results obtained by using the new method are compared with the numerical solution obtained by using SIMPLE (iterative) and PISO (non-iterative) methods. It is shown that the new iterative method is faster than SIMPLE. For the considered problem the new method is slightly faster than PISO as well. Calculated are also some typical microfluidic subsonic and supersonic flows, and the Rayleigh–Bénard convection of a rarefied gas in continuum limit. The numerical results are compared with other analytical and numerical solutions.