An efficient compact difference scheme for solving the streamfunction formulation of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

Recently, a new paradigm for solving the steady Navier–Stokes equations using a streamfunction–velocity formulation was proposed by Gupta and Kalita [M.M. Gupta, J.C. Kalita, A new paradigm for solving Navier–Stokes equations: streamfunction–velocity formulation, J. Comput. Phys. 207 (2005) 52–68], which avoids difficulties inherent in the conventional streamfunction–vorticity and primitive variable formulations. It is discovered that this formulation can reached second-order accurate and obtained accuracy solutions with little additional cost for a couple of fluid flow problems.     

A stable and conservative high order multi-block method for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations

A stable and conservative high order multi-block method for the time-dependent compressible Navier–Stokes equations has been developed. Stability and conservation are proved using summation-by-parts operators, weak interface conditions and the energy method. This development makes it possible to exploit the efficiency of the high order finite difference method for non-trivial geometries. The computational results corroborate the theoretical analysis.     

Compact fourth-order finite volume method for numerical solutions of Navier–Stokes equations on staggered grids

The development of a compact fourth-order finite volume method for solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations on staggered grids is presented. A special attention is given to the conservation laws on momentum control volumes. A higher-order divergence-free interpolation for convective velocities is developed which ensures a perfect conservation of mass and momentum on momentum control volumes. Three forms of the nonlinear correction for staggered grids are proposed and studied. The accuracy of each approximation is assessed comparatively in Fourier space. The importance of higher-order approximations of pressure is discussed and numerically demonstrated. Fourth-order accuracy of the complete scheme is illustrated by the doubly-periodic shear layer and the instability of plane-channel flow. The efficiency of the scheme is demonstrated by a grid dependency study of turbulent channel flows by means of direct numerical simulations. The proposed scheme is highly accurate and efficient. At the same level of accuracy, the fourth-order scheme can be ten times faster than the second-order counterpart. This gain in efficiency can be spent on a higher resolution for more accurate solutions at a lower cost.     

A cell-centered adaptive projection method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in three dimensions

We present a method for computing incompressible viscous flows in three dimensions using block-structured local refinement in both space and time. This method uses a projection formulation based on a cell-centered approximate projection, combined with the systematic use of multilevel elliptic solvers to compute increments in the solution generated at boundaries between refinement levels due to refinement in time. We use an L₀-stable second-order semi-implicit scheme to evaluate the viscous terms. Results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of this approach.     

A Relaxed Dimensional Factorization preconditioner for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

In this paper we introduce a Relaxed Dimensional Factorization (RDF) preconditioner for saddle point problems. Properties of the preconditioned matrix are analyzed and compared with those of the closely related Dimensional Splitting (DS) preconditioner recently introduced by Benzi and Guo [7]. Numerical results for a variety of finite element discretizations of both steady and unsteady incompressible flow problems indicate very good behavior of the RDF preconditioner with respect to both mesh size and viscosity.     

An implicit high-order hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

We present an implicit high-order hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for the steady-state and time-dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The method is devised by using the discontinuous Galerkin discretization for a velocity gradient-pressure–velocity formulation of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with a special choice of the numerical traces. The method possesses several unique features which distinguish itself from other discontinuous Galerkin methods. First, it reduces the globally coupled unknowns to the approximate trace of the velocity and the mean of the pressure on element boundaries, thereby leading to a significant reduction in the degrees of freedom. Moreover, if the augmented Lagrangian method is used to solve the linearized system, the globally coupled unknowns become the approximate trace of the velocity only. Second, it provides, for smooth viscous-dominated problems, approximations of the velocity, pressure, and velocity gradient which converge with the optimal order of k + 1 in the L²-norm, when polynomials of degree k?0 are used for all components of the approximate solution. And third, it displays superconvergence properties that allow us to use the above-mentioned optimal convergence properties to define an element-by-element postprocessing scheme to compute a new and better approximate velocity. Indeed, this new approximation is exactly divergence-free, H (div)-conforming, and converges with order k + 2 for k ? 1 and with order 1 for k = 0 in the L²-norm. Moreover, a novel and systematic way is proposed for imposing boundary conditions for the stress, viscous stress, vorticity and pressure which are not naturally associated with the weak formulation of the method. This can be done on different parts of the boundary and does not result in the degradation of the optimal order of convergence properties of the method. Extensive numerical results are presented to demonstrate the convergence and accuracy properties of the method for a wide range of Reynolds numbers and for various polynomial degrees.     

A multi-block ADI finite-volume method for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in complex geometries

An efficient second-order accurate finite-volume method is developed for a solution of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on complex multi-block structured curvilinear grids. Unlike in the finite-volume or finite-difference-based alternating-direction-implicit (ADI) methods, where factorization of the coordinate transformed governing equations is performed along generalized coordinate directions, in the proposed method, the discretized Cartesian form Navier–Stokes equations are factored along curvilinear grid lines. The new ADI finite-volume method is also extended for simulations on multi-block structured curvilinear grids with which complex geometries can be efficiently resolved. The numerical method is first developed for an unsteady convection–diffusion equation, then is extended for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The order of accuracy and stability characteristics of the present method are analyzed in simulations of an unsteady convection–diffusion problem, decaying vortices, flow in a lid-driven cavity, flow over a circular cylinder, and turbulent flow through a planar channel. Numerical solutions predicted by the proposed ADI finite-volume method are found to be in good agreement with experimental and other numerical data, while the solutions are obtained at much lower computational cost than those required by other iterative methods without factorization. For a simulation on a grid with O(10⁵) cells, the computational time required by the present ADI-based method for a solution of momentum equations is found to be less than 20% of that required by a method employing a biconjugate-gradient-stabilized scheme.     

Absorbing boundary conditions for the Euler and Navier–Stokes equations with the spectral difference method

Two absorbing boundary conditions, the absorbing sponge zone and the perfectly matched layer, are developed and implemented for the spectral difference method discretizing the Euler and Navier–Stokes equations on unstructured grids. The performance of both boundary conditions is evaluated and compared with the characteristic boundary condition for a variety of benchmark problems including vortex and acoustic wave propagations. The applications of the perfectly matched layer technique in the numerical simulations of unsteady problems with complex geometries are also presented to demonstrate its capability.     

Artificial compressibility method revisited: Asymptotic numerical method for incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

The artificial compressibility method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations is revived as a high order accurate numerical method (fourth order in space and second order in time). Similar to the lattice Boltzmann method, the mesh spacing is linked to the Mach number. An accuracy higher than that of the lattice Boltzmann method is achieved by exploiting the asymptotic behavior of the solution of the artificial compressibility equations for small Mach numbers and the simple lattice structure. An easy method for accelerating the decay of acoustic waves, which deteriorate the quality of the numerical solution, and a simple cure for the checkerboard instability are proposed. The high performance of the scheme is demonstrated not only for the periodic boundary condition but also for the Dirichlet-type boundary condition.     

An accurate and efficient method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations using the projection method as a preconditioner

The projection method is a widely used fractional-step algorithm for solving the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. Despite numerous improvements to the methodology, however, imposing physical boundary conditions with projection-based fluid solvers remains difficult, and obtaining high-order accuracy may not be possible for some choices of boundary conditions. In this work, we present an unsplit, linearly-implicit discretization of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on a staggered grid along with an efficient solution method for the resulting system of linear equations. Since our scheme is not a fractional-step algorithm, it is straightforward to specify general physical boundary conditions accurately; however, this capability comes at the price of having to solve the time-dependent incompressible Stokes equations at each timestep. To solve this linear system efficiently, we employ a Krylov subspace method preconditioned by the projection method. In our implementation, the subdomain solvers required by the projection preconditioner employ the conjugate gradient method with geometric multigrid preconditioning. The accuracy of the scheme is demonstrated for several problems, including forced and unforced analytic test cases and lid-driven cavity flows. These tests consider a variety of physical boundary conditions with Reynolds numbers ranging from 1 to 30000. The effectiveness of the projection preconditioner is compared to an alternative preconditioning strategy based on an approximation to the Schur complement for the time-dependent incompressible Stokes operator. The projection method is found to be a more efficient preconditioner in most cases considered in the present work.     

Third order residual distribution schemes for the Navier–Stokes equations

We construct a third order multidimensional upwind residual distribution scheme for the system of the Navier–Stokes equations. The underlying approximation is obtained using standard P² Lagrange finite elements. To discretise the inviscid component of the equations, each element is divided in sub-elements over which we compute a high order residual defined as the integral of the inviscid fluxes on the boundary of the sub-element. The residuals are distributed to the nodes of each sub-element in a multi-dimensional upwind way. To obtain a discretisation of the viscous terms consistent with this multi-dimensional upwind approach, we make use of a Petrov–Galerkin analogy. The analogy allows to find a family of test functions which can be used to obtain a weak approximation of the viscous terms. The performance of this high-order method is tested on flows with high and low Reynolds number.     

Analogue of the Cole-Hopf transform for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations and its application

We consider the Navier–Stokes equations written in the stream function in two dimensions and vector potentials in three dimensions, which are critical dependent variables. On this basis, we introduce an analogue of the Cole-Hopf transform, which exactly reduces the Navier–Stokes equations to the heat equations with a potential term (i.e. the nonlinear Schrödinger equation at imaginary times). The following results are obtained. (i) A regularity criterion immediately obtains as the boundedness of condition for the potential term when the equations are recast in a path-integral form by the Feynman-Kac formula. (ii) This in turn gives an additional characterisation of possible singularities for the Navier–Stokes equations. (iii) Some numerical results for the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations are presented to demonstrate how the potential term captures near-singular structures. Finally, we extend this formulation to higher dimensions, where the regularity issues are markedly open.     

A low numerical dissipation immersed interface method for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations

A numerical method to solve the compressible Navier–Stokes equations around objects of arbitrary shape using Cartesian grids is described. The approach considered here uses an embedded geometry representation of the objects and approximate the governing equations with a low numerical dissipation centered finite-difference discretization. The method is suitable for compressible flows without shocks and can be classified as an immersed interface method. The objects are sharply captured by the Cartesian mesh by appropriately adapting the discretization stencils around the irregular grid nodes, located around the boundary. In contrast with available methods, no jump conditions are used or explicitly derived from the boundary conditions, although a number of elements are adopted from previous immersed interface approaches. A new element in the present approach is the use of the summation-by-parts formalism to develop stable non-stiff first-order derivative approximations at the irregular grid points. Second-order derivative approximations, as those appearing in the transport terms, can be stiff when irregular grid points are located too close to the boundary. This is addressed using a semi-implicit time integration method. Moreover, it is shown that the resulting implicit equations can be solved explicitly in the case of constant transport properties. Convergence studies are performed for a rotating cylinder and vortex shedding behind objects of varying shapes at different Mach and Reynolds numbers.     

An efficient method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on irregular domains with no-slip boundary conditions,high order up to the boundary

Common efficient schemes for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, such as projection or fractional step methods, have limited temporal accuracy as a result of matrix splitting errors, or introduce errors near the domain boundaries (which destroy uniform convergence to the solution). In this paper we recast the incompressible (constant density) Navier–Stokes equations (with the velocity prescribed at the boundary) as an equivalent system, for the primary variables velocity and pressure. equation for the pressure. The key difference from the usual approaches occurs at the boundaries, where we use boundary conditions that unequivocally allow the pressure to be recovered from knowledge of the velocity at any fixed time. This avoids the common difficulty of an, apparently, over-determined Poisson problem. Since in this alternative formulation the pressure can be accurately and efficiently recovered from the velocity, the recast equations are ideal for numerical marching methods. The new system can be discretized using a variety of methods, including semi-implicit treatments of viscosity, and in principle to any desired order of accuracy. In this work we illustrate the approach with a 2-D second order finite difference scheme on a Cartesian grid, and devise an algorithm to solve the equations on domains with curved (non-conforming) boundaries, including a case with a non-trivial topology (a circular obstruction inside the domain). This algorithm achieves second order accuracy in the L^∞ norm, for both the velocity and the pressure. The scheme has a natural extension to 3-D.     

A reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin method for the compressible Navier–Stokes equations on arbitrary grids

A reconstruction-based discontinuous Galerkin (RDG) method is presented for the solution of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations on arbitrary grids. The RDG method, originally developed for the compressible Euler equations, is extended to discretize viscous and heat fluxes in the Navier–Stokes equations using a so-called inter-cell reconstruction, where a smooth solution is locally reconstructed using a least-squares method from the underlying discontinuous DG solution. Similar to the recovery-based DG (rDG) methods, this reconstructed DG method eliminates the introduction of ad hoc penalty or coupling terms commonly found in traditional DG methods. Unlike rDG methods, this RDG method does not need to judiciously choose a proper form of a recovered polynomial, thus is simple, flexible, and robust, and can be used on arbitrary grids. The developed RDG method is used to compute a variety of flow problems on arbitrary meshes to demonstrate its accuracy, efficiency, robustness, and versatility. The numerical results indicate that this RDG method is able to deliver the same accuracy as the well-known Bassi–Rebay II scheme, at a half of its computing costs for the discretization of the viscous fluxes in the Navier–Stokes equations, clearly demonstrating its superior performance over the existing DG methods for solving the compressible Navier–Stokes equations.     

Stabilization and scalable block preconditioning for the Navier–Stokes equations

This study compares several block-oriented preconditioners for the stabilized finite element discretization of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. This includes standard additive Schwarz domain decomposition methods, aggressive coarsening multigrid, and three preconditioners based on an approximate block LU factorization, specifically SIMPLEC, LSC, and PCD. Robustness is considered with a particular focus on the impact that different stabilization methods have on preconditioner performance. Additionally, parallel scaling studies are undertaken. The numerical results indicate that aggressive coarsening multigrid, LSC and PCD all have good algorithmic scalability. Coupling this with the fact that block methods can be applied to systems arising from stable mixed discretizations implies that these techniques are a promising direction for developing scalable methods for Navier–Stokes.     

A differentially interpolated direct forcing immersed boundary method for predicting incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in time-varying complex geometries

A dispersion-relation-preserving dual-compact scheme developed in Cartesian grids is applied together with the immersed boundary method to solve the flow equations in irregular and time-varying domains. The artificial momentum forcing term applied at certain points in cells containing fluid and solid allows an imposition of velocity condition to account for the motion of solid body. We develop in this study a differential-based interpolation scheme which can be easily extended to three-dimensional simulation. The results simulated from the proposed immersed boundary method agree well with other numerical and experimental results for the chosen benchmark problems. The accuracy and fidelity of the IB flow solver developed to predict flows with irregular boundaries are therefore demonstrated.     

An efficient multi-scale Poisson solver for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with immersed boundaries

The iterative-multi-scale-finite-volume (IMSFV) procedure is applied as an efficient solver for the pressure Poisson equation arising in numerical methods for the simulation of incompressible flows with the immersed-interface method (IIM). Motivated by the requirements of the specific IIM implementation, a modified version of the IMSFV algorithm is presented to allow the solution of problems, in which the varying coefficient of the elliptic equation (e.g. the permeability of the medium in the context of the simulation of flows in porous media) varies over several orders of magnitude or even becomes zero within the integration domain. Furthermore, a strategy is proposed to incorporate the iterative procedure needed by the IIM to converge out constraints at immersed boundaries into the iterative IMSFV cycle. No significant deterioration of performance of the IMSFV method is observed with respect to cases, in which no iterative improvement of the boundary conditions is considered.     

Conservative integral form of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations for a rapidly pitching airfoil

This study provides a simple moving-grid scheme which is based on a modified conservative form of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations for flow around a moving rigid body. The modified integral form is conservative and seeks the solution of the absolute velocity. This approach is different from previous conservative differential forms [1], [2], [3] whose reference frame is not inertial. Keeping the reference frame being inertial results in simpler mathematical derivation to the governing equation which includes one dyadic product of velocity vectors in the convective term, whereas the previous [2], [3] needs to obtain the time derivative with respect to non-inertial frames causing an additional dyadic product in the convective term. The scheme is implemented in a second-order accurate Navier–Stokes solver and maintains the order of the accuracy. After this verification, the scheme is validated for a pitching airfoil with very high frequencies. The simulation results match very well with the experimental results [4], [5], including vorticity fields and a net thrust force. This airfoil simulation also provides detailed vortical structures near the trailing edge and time-evolving aerodynamic forces that are used to investigate the mechanism of the thrust force generation and the effects of the trailing edge shape. The developed moving-grid scheme demonstrates its validity for a rapid oscillating motion.     

A representation of curved boundaries for the solution of the Navier–Stokes equations on a staggered three-dimensional Cartesian grid

A method is presented for representing curved boundaries for the solution of the Navier–Stokes equations on a non-uniform, staggered, three-dimensional Cartesian grid. The approach involves truncating the Cartesian cells at the boundary surface to create new cells which conform to the shape of the surface. We discuss in some detail the problems unique to the development of a cut cell method on a staggered grid. Methods for calculating the fluxes through the boundary cell faces, for representing pressure forces and for calculating the wall shear stress are derived and it is verified that the new scheme retains second-order accuracy in space. In addition, a novel “cell-linking” method is developed which overcomes problems associated with the creation of small cells while avoiding the complexities involved with other cell-merging approaches. Techniques are presented for generating the geometric information required for the scheme based on the representation of the boundaries as quadric surfaces. The new method is tested for flow through a channel placed oblique to the grid and flow past a cylinder at Re=40 and is shown to give significant improvement over a staircase boundary formulation. Finally, it is used to calculate unsteady flow past a hemispheric protuberance on a plate at a Reynolds number of 800. Good agreement is obtained with experimental results for this flow.