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Spectral (Finite) Volume Method for One Dimensional Euler Equations

Consider a mesh of unstructured triangular cells. Each cell is called a Spectral Volume (SV), denoted by Si, which is further partitioned into subcells named Control Volumes (CVs), indicated by C(sub i,j). To represent the solution as a polynomial of degree m in two dimensions (2D) we need N = (m+1)(m+2)/2 pieces of independent information, or degrees of freedom (DOFs). The DOFs in a SV method are the volume-averaged mean variables at the N CVs. For example, to build a quadratic reconstruction in 2D, we need at least (2+1)(3+1)/2 = 6 DOFs. There are numerous ways of partitioning a SV, and not every partition is admissible in the sense that the partition may not be capable of producing a degree m polynomial. Once N mean solutions in the CVs of a SV are given, a unique polynomial reconstruction can be obtained.

Wang, Z. J.

Improved Finite-Volume Method for Radiative Hydrodynamics

Fully coupled simulations of hydrodynamics and radiative transfer are essential to a number of fields ranging from astrophysics to engineering applications. Of particular interest in this work are hypersonic atmospheric entries and associated experimental apparatus, e.g., shock tubes and high enthalpy testing facilities. The radiative transfer calculations must supply to the CFD a heating term in the energy equation in the form of the divergence of the radiative heat flux and the radiative heat fluxes to bounding surfaces. It is most efficient to solve the radiative transfer equation on the same grid as the CFD solution, and this work presents an algorithm with improved accuracy for such simulations on structured and unstructured grids compared to more conventional approaches. Results will be shown for shock radiation during hypersonic reentry. Issues of parallelization within a radiation sweep will also be discussed.

Wray, Alan

Face- and Cell-Averaged Nodal-Gradient Approach to Cell-Centered Finite-Volume Method on Mixed Grids

In this paper, the averaged nodal-gradient approach previously developed for triangular grids is extended to mixed triangular-quadrilateral grids. It is shown that the face- averaged approach leads to deteriorated iterative convergence on quadrilateral grids. To develop a convergent solver, we consider cell-averaging instead of face-averaging for quadri- lateral cells. We show that the cell-averaged approach leads to a convergent solver and can be efficiently combined with the face-averaged approach on mixed grids. The method is demonstrated for various inviscid and viscous problems from low to high Mach numbers on two-dimensional mixed grids.

Nishikawa, Hiroaki

A 3-D Nodal-Averaged Gradient Approach for Unstructured-Grid Cell-Centered Finite-Volume Methods for Application to Turbulent Hypersonic Flow

A 2-D nodal weighted least-squares gradient method and a related face-averaged nodal gradient approach that were developed for use with triangular grids are extended to 3-D for use with tetrahedral grids. In addition, a method, developed in 2-D, to stabilize the iterative convergence of these methods on quadrilateral cells is described and extended to 3-D and remedies are investigated to determine the nodal gradient averaging approach most suitable for use with grids made up of hexahedral, prismatic, pyramidal and tetrahedral cells. Moreover, due to an interest in hypersonic flow, a robust multidimensional gradient limiter procedure that is consistent with the stencil used to construct the nodal gradients is described. Finally, we demonstrate that the resulting 3-D methods are sufficiently robust for use in scramjet computations through the solution of three canonical turbulent hypersonic flow problems as well as a physically realistic 3-D scramjet inlet geometry.

Jeffery A White

Comparison of Two Approaches to Constructing Second- and Third-Order Nodal-Gradient Cell-Centered Finite-Volume Methods for Mixed-Element Grids

In this paper, we introduce a third-order nodal-gradient cell-centered finite volume scheme applicable to mixed-element grids based on a single numerical flux per face. Previously, we considered a split-quadrilateral-face approach, where we split each quadrilateral face of a non-tetrahedral cell into two triangles and then apply second- and third-order schemes designed for tetrahedral grids. This approach is relatively simple to implement but expensive because it requires two numerical flux evaluations per quadrilateral face. In this study, we consider another approach, where the surface flux quadrature is performed with a single numerical flux per face with flux corrections. It requires a 3×3 correction matrix to be stored at each face but is more economical than the split-quadrilateral-face approach. The two approaches are compared for three-dimensional flows on irregular hexahedral grids, and their relative merits are discussed.

Third-order scheme

Incorporation of Condensation Heat Transfer in a Flow Network Code

Pure water is distilled from waste water in the International Space Station. The distillation assembly consists of an evaporator, a compressor and a condenser. Vapor is periodically purged from the condenser to avoid vapor accumulation. Purged vapor is condensed in a tube by coolant water prior to entering the purge pump. The paper presents a condensation model of purged vapor in a tube. This model is based on the Finite Volume Method. In the Finite Volume Method, the flow domain is discretized into multiple control volumes and a simultaneous analysis is performed.

Anthony, Miranda

A High-Order Finite Spectral Volume Method for Conservation Laws on Unstructured Grids

A time accurate, high-order, conservative, yet efficient method named Finite Spectral Volume (FSV) is developed for conservation laws on unstructured grids. The concept of a 'spectral volume' is introduced to achieve high-order accuracy in an efficient manner similar to spectral element and multi-domain spectral methods. In addition, each spectral volume is further sub-divided into control volumes (CVs), and cell-averaged data from these control volumes is used to reconstruct a high-order approximation in the spectral volume. Riemann solvers are used to compute the fluxes at spectral volume boundaries. Then cell-averaged state variables in the control volumes are updated independently. Furthermore, TVD (Total Variation Diminishing) and TVB (Total Variation Bounded) limiters are introduced in the FSV method to remove/reduce spurious oscillations near discontinuities. A very desirable feature of the FSV method is that the reconstruction is carried out only once, and analytically, and is the same for all cells of the same type, and that the reconstruction stencil is always non-singular, in contrast to the memory and CPU-intensive reconstruction in a high-order finite volume (FV) method. Discussions are made concerning why the FSV method is significantly more efficient than high-order finite volume and the Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods. Fundamental properties of the FSV method are studied and high-order accuracy is demonstrated for several model problems with and without discontinuities.

Wang, Z. J.

A Finite-Volume "Shaving" Method for Interfacing NASA/DAO''s Physical Space Statistical Analysis System to the Finite-Volume GCM with a Lagrangian Control-Volume Vertical Coordinate

Toward the development of a finite-volume Data Assimilation System (fvDAS), a consistent finite-volume methodology is developed for interfacing the NASA/DAO's Physical Space Statistical Analysis System (PSAS) to the joint NASA/NCAR finite volume CCM3 (fvCCM3). To take advantage of the Lagrangian control-volume vertical coordinate of the fvCCM3, a novel "shaving" method is applied to the lowest few model layers to reflect the surface pressure changes as implied by the final analysis. Analysis increments (from PSAS) to the upper air variables are then consistently put onto the Lagrangian layers as adjustments to the volume-mean quantities during the analysis cycle. This approach is demonstrated to be superior to the conventional method of using independently computed "tendency terms" for surface pressure and upper air prognostic variables.

Lin, Shian-Jiann

Combined forced and free convection in a curved duct

The purpose of this study is to investigate the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a combined forced and free convection flow in a curved duct. Solutions are obtained by solving the low Mach number model of the Navier-Stokes equation using a control volume method. The finite-volume method was developed with the use of a predictor-corrector numerical scheme and some new variations of the classical projection method. Solutions indicated that the existence of a buoyancy force has changed the entire flow structure inside a curved duct. Reversed flow at both inner and outer bend is observed. For moderate Reynolds number, the upstream section of the duct was significantly influenced by the free convection processes. In general, heat transfer is strong at the inner bend of the beginning of the heated section and at the outer bend on the last half of the heated section. The maximum velocity location is strongly influenced by the combined effects of buoyancy and centrifugal forces. A strong buoyancy force can reduce the strength of the secondary flow where it plays an important role in mixing.

Yam, Clement G.

Comparison of three explicit multigrid methods for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

Three explicit multigrid methods, Ni's method, Jameson's finite-volume method, and a finite-difference method based on Brandt's work, are described and compared for two model problems. All three methods use an explicit multistage Runge-Kutta scheme on the fine grid, and this scheme is also described. Convergence histories for inviscid flow over a bump in a channel for the fine-grid scheme alone show that convergence rate is proportional to Courant number and that implicit residual smoothing can significantly accelerate the scheme. Ni's method was slightly slower than the implicitly-smoothed scheme alone. Brandt's and Jameson's methods are shown to be equivalent in form but differ in their node versus cell-centered implementations. They are about 8.5 times faster than Ni's method in terms of CPU time. Results for an oblique shock/boundary layer interaction problem verify the accuracy of the finite-difference code. All methods slowed considerably on the stretched viscous grid but Brandt's method was still 2.1 times faster than Ni's method.

Chima, Rodrick V.

Comparison of three explicit multigrid methods for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

Three explicit multigrid methods, Ni's method, Jameson's finite-volume method, and a finite-difference method based on Brandt's work, are described and compared for two model problems. All three methods use an explicit multistage Runge-Kutta scheme on the fine grid, and this scheme is also described. Convergence histories for inviscid flow over a bump in a channel for the fine-grid scheme alone show that convergence rate is proportional to Courant number and that implicit residual smoothing can significantly accelerate the scheme. Ni's method was slightly slower than the implicitly-smoothed scheme alone. Brandt's and Jameson's methods are shown to be equivalent in form but differ in their node versus cell-centered implementations. They are about 8.5 times faster than Ni's method in terms of CPU time. Results for an oblique shock/boundary layer interaction problem verify the accuracy of the finite-difference code. All methods slowed considerably on the stretched viscous grid but Brandt's method was still 2.1 times faster than Ni's method.

Chima, Rodrick V.

Adaptive grid generation

The fundamental principles of adaptive grid generation for the numerical analysis of physical phenomena described by systems of partial differential equations are examined in an analytical review. Topics addressed include weight functions, equidistribution in one dimension, the specification of coefficients in the linear weight, the attraction to a given grid on a curve, evolutionary forces, and metric notation. Consideration is given to curve-by-curve methods, finite-volume methods, variational methods, and temporal aspects.

Eiseman, Peter R.

Development of a finite volume time marching method

Progress made in the development of a time-marching finite volume method from September 1984 to December 1984 is reported. The objective of the work is to develop and demonstrate a Navier-Stokes approach for transonic flow which includes viscous terms in the finite volume method. The accuracy of the computational method will be verified using a transonic diffuser as a test case. The computational goal is to calculate the flow in sufficient detail and with sufficient accuracy that the loss generating mechanisms can be studied to assess the sources of inefficiency in the transonic diffuser.

Nicholson, Stephen

Finite Volume Numerical Methods for Aeroheating Rate Calculations from Infrared Thermographic Data

The use of multi-dimensional finite volume numerical techniques with finite thickness models for calculating aeroheating rates from measured global surface temperatures on hypersonic wind tunnel models was investigated. Both direct and inverse finite volume techniques were investigated and compared with the one-dimensional semi -infinite technique. Global transient surface temperatures were measured using an infrared thermographic technique on a 0.333-scale model of the Hyper-X forebody in the Langley Research Center 20-Inch Mach 6 Air tunnel. In these tests the effectiveness of vortices generated via gas injection for initiating hypersonic transition on the Hyper-X forebody were investigated. An array of streamwise orientated heating striations were generated and visualized downstream of the gas injection sites. In regions without significant spatial temperature gradients, one-dimensional techniques provided accurate aeroheating rates. In regions with sharp temperature gradients due to the striation patterns two-dimensional heat transfer techniques were necessary to obtain accurate heating rates. The use of the one-dimensional technique resulted in differences of 20% in the calculated heating rates because it did not account for lateral heat conduction in the model.

Daryabeigi, Kamran

Finite Volume Numerical Methods for Aeroheating Rate Calculations from Infrared Thermographic Data

The use of multi-dimensional finite volume heat conduction techniques for calculating aeroheating rates from measured global surface temperatures on hypersonic wind tunnel models was investigated. Both direct and inverse finite volume techniques were investigated and compared with the standard one-dimensional semi-infinite technique. Global transient surface temperatures were measured using an infrared thermographic technique on a 0.333-scale model of the Hyper-X forebody in the NASA Langley Research Center 20-Inch Mach 6 Air tunnel. In these tests the effectiveness of vortices generated via gas injection for initiating hypersonic transition on the Hyper-X forebody was investigated. An array of streamwise-orientated heating striations was generated and visualized downstream of the gas injection sites. In regions without significant spatial temperature gradients, one-dimensional techniques provided accurate aeroheating rates. In regions with sharp temperature gradients caused by striation patterns multi-dimensional heat transfer techniques were necessary to obtain more accurate heating rates. The use of the one-dimensional technique resulted in differences of 20% in the calculated heating rates compared to 2-D analysis because it did not account for lateral heat conduction in the model.

Daryabeigi, Kamran