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.     

A multigrid method for steady incompressible navier-stokes equations based on flux difference splitting

The steady Navier–Stokes equations in primitive variables are discretized in conservative form by a vertex-centred finite volume method Flux difference splitting is applied to the convective part to obtain an upwind discretization. The diffusive part is discretized in the central way. In its first-order formulation, flux difference splitting leads to a discretization of so-called vector positive type. This allows the use of classical relaxation methods in collective form. An alternating line Gauss–Seidel relaxation method is chosen here. This relaxation method is used as a smoother in a multigrid method. The components of this multigrid method are: full approximation scheme with F-cycles, bilinear prolongation, full weighting for residual restriction and injection of grid functions. Higher-order accuracy is achieved by the flux extrapolation method. In this approach the first-order convective fluxes are modified by adding second-order corrections involving flux limiting. Here the simple MinMod limiter is chosen. In the multigrid formulation the second-order discrete system is solved by defect correction. Computational results are shown for the well known GAMM backward-facing step problem and for a channel with a half-circular obstruction.     

AN APPROXIMATE PROJECTION SCHEME FOR INCOMPRESSIBLE FLOW USING SPECTRAL ELEMENTS

An approximate projection scheme based on the pressure correction method is proposed to solve the Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow. The algorithm is applied to the continuous equations; however, there are no problems concerning the choice of boundary conditions of the pressure step. The resulting velocity and pressure are consistent with the original system. For the spatial discretization a high-order spectral element method is chosen. The high-order accuracy allows the use of a diagonal mass matrix, resulting in a very efficient algorithm. The properties of the scheme are extensively tested by means of an analytical test example. The scheme is further validated by simulating the laminar flow over a backward-facing step.     

Numerical investigation of the aerodynamics of the near‐slot film cooling

Fluid injection from slot or holes into cross‐flow produces highly complicated flow fields. Physical situations encountering the above problem range from turbine blade cooling to waste discharge into rivers. In this paper, the flow field created by a two‐dimensional slot cooling geometry is examined using the finite volume approach with a second‐order upwind differencing scheme. The time‐averaged Navier–Stokes equations were solved on a collocated Cartesian grid with a two‐equation model of turbulence. Attempting to solve the flow field by assuming a uniform velocity profile at the slot exit leads to inaccurate results, while extending the solution domain improves significantly the results, but proves to be costly, both in memory and in computing time (particularly in the case of multiple holes). A pressure‐type boundary condition, based on uniform total pressure, is developed for the slot exit (easily applied to a three‐dimensional geometry), which yields more accurate results than the widely used uniform velocity assumption. It is also found that the implementation of low Reynolds number turbulence models on this geometry provides no significant differences from the standard k–ε model. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of pressure correction smoothers for multigrid solution of incompressible flow

We compare the performance of different pressure correction algorithms used as basic solvers in a multigrid method for the solution of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations on non-staggered grids. Numerical tests were performed on several cases of lid-driven cavity flow using four different pressure correction schemes, including the traditional SIMPLE and SIMPLEC methods as well as novel variants, and varying combinations of underrelaxation parameters. The results show that three of the four algorithms tested are robust smoothers for the multigrid solver and that one of the new methods converges fastest in most of the tests. © 1997 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.     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TIME-STEPPING TECHNIQUES FOR THE INCOMPRESSIBLE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS: FROM FULLY IMPLICIT NON-LINEAR SCHEMES TO SEMI-IMPLICIT PROJECTION METHODS

We present a numerical comparison of some time-stepping schemes for the discretization and solution of the non-stationary incompressible Navier– Stokes equations. The spatial discretization is by non-conforming quadrilateral finite elements which satisfy the LBB condition. The major focus is on the differences in accuracy and efficiency between the backward Euler, Crank–Nicolson and fractional-step Θ schemes used in discretizing the momentum equations. Further, the differences between fully coupled solvers and operator-splitting techniques (projection methods) and the influence of the treatment of the nonlinear advection term are considered. The combination of both discrete projection schemesand non-conforming finite elementsallows the comparison of schemes which are representative for many methods used in practice. On Cartesian grids this approach encompasses some well-known staggered grid finite difference discretizations too. The results which are obtained for several typical flow problems are thought to be representative and should be helpful for a fair rating of solution schemes, particularly in long-time simulations.