An adaptive multigrid finite-volume scheme for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

An algorithm for the solutions of the two-dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations is presented. The algorithm can be used to compute both steady-state and time-dependent flow problems. It is based on an artificial compressibility method and uses higher-order upwind finite-volume techniques for the convective terms and a second-order finite-volume technique for the viscous terms. Three upwind schemes for discretizing convective terms are proposed here. An interesting result is that the solutions computed by one of them is not sensitive to the value of the artificial compressibility parameter. A second-order, two-step Runge–Kutta integration coupling with an implicit residual smoothing and with a multigrid method is used for achieving fast convergence for both steady- and unsteady-state problems. The numerical results agree well with experimental and other numerical data. A comparison with an analytically exact solution is performed to verify the space and time accuracy of the algorithm.     

Multigrid solution of the Navier–Stokes equations on highly stretched grids

Relaxation-based multigrid solvers for the steady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are examined to determine their computational speed and robustness. Four relaxation methods were used as smoothers in a common tailored multigrid procedure. The resulting solvers were applied to three two-dimensional flow problems, over a range of Reynolds numbers, on both uniform and highly stretched grids. In all cases the L₂ norm of the velocity changes is reduced to 10^?6 in a few 10's of fine-grid sweeps. The results of the study are used to draw conciusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual relaxation methods as well as those of the overall multigrid procedure when used as a solver on highly stretched grids.     

Stretched Cartesian grids for solution of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

Two Cartesian grid stretching functions are investigated for solving the unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using the pressure–velocity formulation. The first function is developed for the Fourier method and is a generalization of earlier work. This function concentrates more points at the centre of the computational box while allowing the box to remain finite. The second stretching function is for the second‐order central finite difference scheme, which uses a staggered grid in the computational domain. This function is derived to allow a direct discretization of the Laplacian operator in the pressure equation while preserving the consistent behaviour exhibited by the uniform grid scheme. Both functions are analysed for their effects on the matrix of the discretized pressure equation. It is shown that while the second function does not spoil the matrix diagonal dominance, the first one can. Limits to stretching of the first method are derived for the cases of mappings in one and two directions. A limit is also derived for the second function in order to prevent a strong distortion of a sine wave. The performances of the two types of stretching are examined in simulations of periodic co‐flowing jets and a time developing boundary layer. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multigrid method for steady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations based on partial flux splitting

Flux splitting is applied to the convective part of the steady Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow. Partial upwind differences are introduced in the split first-order part, while central differences are used in the second-order part. The discrete set of equations obtained is positive, so that it can be solved by collective variants of relaxation methods. The partial upwinding is optimized in the same way as for a scalar convection–diffusion equation, but involving several Peclet numbers. It is shown that with the optimum partial upwinding accurate results can be obtained. A full multigrid method in W-cycle form, using red–black successive under-relaxation, injection and bilinear interpolation, is described. The efficiency of this method is demonstrated.     

The fundamental solution method for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

A complete boundary integral formulation for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with time discretization by operator splitting is developed using the fundamental solutions of the Helmholtz operator equation with different order. The numerical results for the lift and the drag hysteresis associated with a NACA0012 aerofoil oscillating in pitch show good agreement with available experimental data. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An overlapping control volume method for the Navier–Stokes equations on non‐staggered grids

An algorithm, based on the overlapping control volume (OCV) method, for the solution of the steady and unsteady two‐dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in complex geometry is presented. The primitive variable formulation is solved on a non‐staggered grid arrangement. The problem of pressure–velocity decoupling is circumvented by using momentum interpolation. The accuracy and effectiveness of the method is established by solving five steady state and one unsteady test problems. The numerical solutions obtained using the technique are in good agreement with the analytical and benchmark solutions available in the literature. On uniform grids, the method gives second‐order accuracy for both diffusion‐ and convection‐dominated flows. There is little loss of accuracy on grids that are moderately non‐orthogonal. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of incompressible massively separated viscous flows using unsteady Navier–Stokes equations

The unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are formulated in terms of vorticity and stream-function in generalized curvilinear orthogonal co-ordinates to facilitate analysis of flow configurations with general geometries. The numerical method developed solves the conservative form of the vorticity transport equation using the alternating direction implicit method, whereas the streamfunction equation is solved by direct block Gaussian elimination. The method is applied to a model problem of flow over a backstep in a doubly infinite channel, using clustered conformal co-ordinates. One-dimensional stretching functions, dependent on the Reynolds number and the asymptotic behaviour of the flow, are used to provide suitable grid distribution in the separation and reattachment regions, as well as in the inflow and outflow regions. The optimum grid distribution selected attempts to honour the multiple length scales of the separated flow model problem. The asymptotic behaviour of the finite differenced transport equation near infinity is examined and the numerical method is carefully developed so as to lead to spatially second-order-accurate wiggle-free solutions, i.e. with minimum dispersive error. Results have been obtained in the entire laminar range for the backstep channel and are in good agreement with the available experimental data for this flow problem, prior to the onset of three-dimensionality in the experiment.     

Fully coupled finite volume solutions of the incompressible Navier–Stokes and energy equations using an inexact Newton method

An inexact Newton method is used to solve the steady, incompressible Navier–Stokes and energy equation. Finite volume differencing is employed on a staggered grid using the power law scheme of Patankar. Natural convection in an enclosed cavity is studied as the model problem. Two conjugate-gradient -like algorithms based upon the Lanczos biorthogonalization procedure are used to solve the linear systems arising on each Newton iteration. The first conjugate-gradient-like algorithm is the transpose-free quasi-minimal residual algorithm (TFQMR) and the second is the conjugate gradients squared algorithm (CGS). Incomplete lower-upper (ILU) factorization of the Jacobian matrix is used as a right preconditioner. The performance of the Newton- TFQMR algorithm is studied with regard to different choices for the TFQMR convergence criteria and the amount of fill-in allowed in the ILU factorization. Performance data are compared with results using the Newton-CGS algorithm and previous results using LINPACK banded Gaussian elimination (direct-Newton). The inexact Newton algorithms were found to be CPU competetive with the direct-Newton algorithm for the model problem considered. Among the inexact Newton algorithms, Newton-CGS outperformed Newton- TFQMR with regard to CPU time but was less robust because of the sometimes erratic CGS convergence behaviour.     

Exact fully 3D Navier–Stokes solutions for benchmarking

Unsteady analytical solutions to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are presented. They are fully three-dimensional vector solutions involving all three Cartesian velocity components, each of which depends non-trivially on all three co-ordinate directions. Although unlikely to be physically realized, they are well suited for benchmarking, testing and validation of three-dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes solvers. The use of such a solution for benchmarking purposes is described.     

Colocated schemes for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on non‐smooth grids for two‐dimensional problems

The accuracy of colocated finite volume schemes for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on non‐smooth curvilinear grids is investigated. A frequently used scheme is found to be quite inaccurate on non‐smooth grids. In an attempt to improve the accuracy on such grids, three other schemes are described and tested. Two of these are found to give satisfactory results. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method for obtaining benchmark Navier–Stokes solutions

A refinement to an established method for obtaining benchmark Navier–Stokes solutions is presented. Pressure and body forces are derived explicitly such that the momentum equations are satisfied. The problem is reduced to determining a streamfunction in separation of variables form that describes a desired flow pattern. Examples based upon the well‐known shear flow cavity are presented. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Upwind discretization of the steady Navier–Stokes equations

A discretization method is presented for the full, steady, compressible Navier–Stokes equations. The method makes use of quadrilateral finite volumes and consists of an upwind discretization of the convective part and a central discretization of the diffusive part. In the present paper the emphasis lies on the discretization of the convective part. The solution method applied solves the steady equations directly by means of a non-linear relaxation method accelerated by multigrid. The solution method requires the discretization to be continuously differentiable. For two upwind schemes which satisfy this requirement (Osher's and van Leer's scheme), results of a quantitative error analysis are presented. Osher's scheme appears to be increasingly more accurate than van Leer's scheme with increasing Reynolds number. A suitable higher-order accurate discretization of the convection terms is derived. On the basis of this higher-order scheme, to preserve monotonicity, a new limiter is constructed. Numerical results are presented for a subsonic flat plate flow and a supersonic flat plate flow with oblique shock wave–boundary layer interaction. The results obtained agree with the predictions made. Useful properties of the discretization method are that it allows an easy check of false diffusion and that it needs no tuning of parameters.     

Implicit weighted essentially non‐oscillatory schemes for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

A class of lower–upper/approximate factorization (LUAF) implicit weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (ENO; WENO) schemes for solving the two‐dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in a generalized co‐ordinate system is presented. The algorithm is based on the artificial compressibility formulation, and symmetric Gauss–Seidel relaxation is used for computing steady state solutions while symmetric successive overrelaxation is used for treating time‐dependent flows. WENO spatial operators are employed for inviscid fluxes and central differencing for viscous fluxes. Internal and external viscous flow test problems are presented to verify the numerical schemes. The use of a WENO spatial operator not only enhances the accuracy of solutions but also improves the convergence rate for the steady state computation as compared with using the ENO counterpart. It is found that the present solutions compare well with exact solutions, experimental data and other numerical results. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fundamental solutions of the streamfunction–vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations

A new boundary element procedure is developed for the solution of the streamfunction–vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations in two dimensions. The differential equations are stated in their transient version and then discretized via finite differences with respect to time. In this discretization, the non-linear inertial terms are evaluated in a previous time step, thus making the scheme explicit with respect to them. In the resulting discretized equations, fundamental solutions that take into account the coupling between the equations are developed by treating the non-linear terms as in homogeneities. The resulting boundary integral equations are solved by the regular boundary element method, in which the singular points are placed outside the solution domain.     

Vectorized poisson solvers for the Navier–Stokes equations

The advent of vector and massively parallel computers offers researchers the possibility of enormous gains in execution time for scientific and engineering programs. From the numerical point of view, such programs are frequently based on the inversion of sparse, diagonally banded matrices. Conventional scalar solvers often perform poorly on vector machines due to short effective vector lengths, and thus appropriate methods must be chosen for use with vector machines. In this paper a number of commonly used solvers are tested for the Navier–Stokes equations, in both scalar and vector form, on two vector architecture machines. A new method is presented which performs well in both vector and scalar form on a range of vector architectures.     

A stabilized finite element method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using a hierarchical basis

Stabilized finite element methods have been shown to yield robust, accurate numerical solutions to both the compressible and incompressible Navier–Stokes equations for laminar and turbulent flows. The present work focuses on the application of higher‐order, hierarchical basis functions to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using a stabilized finite element method. It is shown on a variety of problems that the most cost‐effective simulations (in terms of CPU time, memory, and disk storage) can be obtained using higher‐order basis functions when compared with the traditional linear basis. In addition, algorithms will be presented for the efficient implementation of these methods within the traditional finite element data structures. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An ILU smoother for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general co-ordinates

The solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in general two- and three-dimensional domains using a multigrid method is considered. Because a great variety of boundary-fitted grids may occur, robustness is at a premium. Therefore a new ILU smoother called CILU (collective ILU) is described, based on r-transformations. In CILU the matrix that is factorized is block-structured, with blocks corresponding to the set of physical variables. A multigrid algorithm using CILU as smoother is investigated. The performance of the algorithm in two and three dimensions is assessed by numerical experments. The results show that CILU is a good smoother for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations discretized on general non-orthogonal curvilinear grids.     

Finite volume computation of incompressible turbulent flows in general co-ordinates on staggered grids

A brief review of the computation of incompressible turbulent flow in complex geometries is given. A 2D finite volume method for the calculation of turbulent flow in general curvilinear co-ordinates is described. This method is based on a staggered grid arrangement and the contravariant flux componets are chosen as primitive variables. Turbulence is modelled either by the standard k–ε model or by a k–ε model based on RNG theory. Convection is approximated with central differences for the mean flow quantities and a TVD-type MUSCL scheme for the turbulence equations. The sensitivity of the method to the grid properties is investigated. An application of this method to a complex turbulent flow is presented. The results of computations are compared with experimental data and other numerical solutions and are found to be satisfactory.     

A fractional-step method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations related to a predictor–multicorrector algorithm

An implicit fractional-step method for the numerical solution of the time-dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in primitive variables is studied in this paper. The method, which is first-order-accurate in the time step, is shown to converge to an exact solution of the equations. By adequately splitting the viscous term, it allows the enforcement of full Dirichlet boundary conditions on the velocity in all substeps of the scheme, unlike standard projection methods. The consideration of this method was actually motivated by the study of a well-known predictor–multicorrector algorithm, when this is applied to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A new derivation of the algorithm in a general setting is provided, showing in what sense it can also be understood as a fractional-step method; this justifies, in particular, why the original boundary conditions of the problem can be enforced in this algorithm. Two different finite element interpolations are considered for the space discretization, and numerical results obtained with them for standard benchmark cases are presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Orthogonal grid generation for Navier–Stokes computations

Body conforming orthogonal grids were generated using a fast hyperbolic method for aerofoils, and were used to solve the Navier–Stokes equation in the generalized orthogonal system for the first time for time accurate simulation of incompressible flow. For grid generation, the Beltrami equation and the definition equation for the orthogonality are solved using a finite difference method. The grids generated around aerofoils by this method have better orthogonality than the results published by earlier investigators. The Navier–Stokes equation at Reynolds numbers of 3000 and 35 000 for NACA 0012 and NACA 0015 respectively, have been solved as an application. The obtained results match quite well with the corresponding experimental results. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.