A cure for the sonic point glitch

Among the various numerical schemes developed since the '80s for the computation of the compressible Euler equations, the vast majority produce in certain cases spurious pressure glitches at sonic points. This flaw is particularly visible in the computation of transonic expansions and leads to unphysical "expansion shocks" when the flow undergoes rapid change of direction. The analysis of this flaw is presented, based on a series of numerical experiments. For Flux-Vector Splitting methods, it is suggested that it is not the order of differentiability of the numerical flux which is crucial but the way the pressure at an interface is calculated. A new way of evaluating the pressure at the interface is proposed, based upon kinetic theory, and is applied to most current available algorithms including Flux Vector Splitting and Flux-Difference Splitting methods as well as recent hybrid schemes (AUSM, HUS)

On the positivity of fvs schemes

Over the last ten years, robustness of schemes has raised an increasing interest among the CFD community. One mathematical aspect of scheme robustness is the positivity preserving property. At high Mach numbers, solving the conservative Euler equations can lead to negative densities or internal energy. Some schemes such as the flux vector splitting (FVS) schemes are known to avoid this drawback. In this study, a general method is detailed to analyze the positivity of FVS schemes. As an application, three classical FVS schemes (Van Leer's, Hänel's variant and Steger and Warming's) are proved to be positively conservative under a CFL-like condition. Finally, it is proved that for any FVS scheme, there is an intrinsic incompatibility between the desirable property of positivity and the exact resolution of contact discontinuities

Spectral Volume Method: application to Euler equations and performance appraisal

The compact high-order "Spectral Volume Method" designed for conservation laws on unstructured grids is presented. Its spectral reconstruction is exposed briefly and its applications to the Euler equations are presented through several test cases to assess its accuracy and stability. Comparisons with usual methods such as MUSCL show the superiority of SVM. The SVM method arises as a high-order accurate scheme, geometrically flexible and computationally efficient

Assessment of the Spectral Volume Method on inviscid and viscous flows

The compact high-order "Spectral Volume Method" designed for conservation laws on unstructured grids is presented. Its spectral reconstruction is exposed briefly and its applications to the Euler equations are presented through several test cases to assess its accuracy and stability. Comparisons with classical methods such as MUSCL show the superiority of SVM. The SVM method arises as a high-order accurate scheme, geometrically flexible and computationally efficient

A matrix stability analysis of the carbuncle phenomenon

The carbuncle phenomenon is a shock instability mechanism which ruins all efforts to compute grid-aligned shock waves using low-dissipative upwind schemes. The present study develops a stability analysis for two-dimensional steady shocks on structured meshes based on the matrix method. The numerical resolution of the corresponding eigenvalue problem confirms the typical odd–even form of the unstable mode and displays a Mach number threshold effect currently observed in computations. Furthermore, the present method indicates that the instability of steady shocks is not only governed by the upstream Mach number but also by the numerical shock structure. Finally, the source of the instability is localized in the upstream region, providing some clues to better understand and control the onset of the carbuncle

Positivity of flux vector splitting schemes

Over the last ten years, robustness of schemes has raised an increasing interest among the CFD community. One mathematical aspect of scheme robustness is the positivity preserving property. At high Mach numbers, solving the conservative Euler equations can lead to negative densities or internal energy. Some schemes such as the flux vector splitting (FVS) schemes are known to avoid this drawback. In this study, a general method is detailed to analyze the positivity of FVS schemes. As an application, three classical FVS schemes (Van Leer's, Hänel's variant, and Steger and Warming's) are proved to be positively conservative under a CFL-like condition. Finally, it is proved that for any FVS scheme, there is an intrinsic incompatibility between the desirable property of positivity and the exact resolution of contact discontinuities

Numerical study on parametrical design of long shrouded contra-rotating propulsion system in hovering

The parametrical study of Shrouded Contra-rotating Rotor was done in this paper based on 2D axisymmetric simulations. The calculations were made with an actuator disk as double rotor model. It objects to explore and quantify the effects of different shroud geometry parameters mainly using the performance of power loading (PL), which could evaluate the whole propulsion system capability as 5 Newton total thrust generation for hover demand. The numerical results show that: The increase of nozzle radius is desired but limited by the flow separation, its optimal design is around 1.15 times rotor radius, the viscosity effects greatly constraint the influence of nozzle shape, the divergent angle around 10.5° performs best for any chosen nozzle length; The parameters of inlet such as leading edge curvature, radius and internal shape do not affect thrust greatly but play an important role in pressure distribution which could produce most part of shroud thrust, they should be chosen according to the reduction of adverse pressure gradients to avoid the risk of boundary separation

Robustesse et précision des schémas décentrés pour les écoulements compressibles

L'étude des schémas numériques pour les équations d'Euler compressibles est un préalable à la simulation d'écoulements visqueux par les équations de Navier-Stokes. Elle a été décomposée en trois étapes : l'étude des schémas existants, leurs fondements, qualités et défauts ; l'analyse de la propriété convoitée de positivité ; et l'étude de phénomènes encore mystérieux, consiférés comme pathologiques et nommé carbuncle. Dans la première partie, un regard critique mais constructif est porté sur la plupart de schémas décentrés : les schémas FVS, FDS, les méthodes intégrales ou hybrides. Des variantes sont proposées dans le but d'améliorer vees méthodes. Dans la seconde partie, une caractérisation théorique de la robustesse est détaillée, en particulier dans le cadre des schémas FVS : la positivité. Une condition nécessaire et suffisante est exhibée. Elle permet de démontrer la positivité des schémas de Steger et Warming et de deux formulations du schéma de van Leer. De plus, l'incompatibilité de cette propriété avec la résolution exacte des discontinuités de contact est démontrée pour les schémas FVS. Après une description du phénomène du carbuncle, la troisième partie est consacrée à une étude approfondie du comportement des schméas. Enfin, une analyse précise du caractère instable du phénomène sera fournie et comparée avec les résultats théoriques récents de Robinet (1999)

Shock wave instability and the carbuncle phenomenon: same intrinsic origin ?

The theoretical linear stability of a shock wave moving in an unlimited homogeneous environment has been widely studied during the last fifty years. Important results have been obtained by Dyakov (1954), Landau & Lifchitz (1959) and then by Swan & Fowles (1975) where the fluctuating quantities are written as normal modes. More recently, numerical studies on upwind finite difference schemes have shown some instabilities in the case of the motion of an inviscid perfect gas in a rectangular channel. The purpose of this paper is first to specify a mathematical formulation for the eigenmodes and to exhibit a new mode which was not found by the previous stability analysis of shock waves. Then, this mode is confirmed by numerical simulations which may lead to a new understanding of the so-called carbuncle phenomenon

Methodology of numerical coupling for transient conjugate heat transfer

This paper deals with the construction of a conservative method for coupling a fluid mechanics solver and a heat diffusion code. This method has been designed for unsteady applications. Fluid and solid computational domains are simultaneously integrated by dedicated solvers. A coupling procedure is periodically called to compute and update the boundary conditions at the solid/fluid inter- face. First, the issue of general constraints for coupling methods is addressed. The concept of interpolation scheme is introduced to define the way to compute the interface conditions. Then, the case of the Finite Volume Method is thoroughly studied. The properties of stability and accuracy have been optimized to define the best coupling boundary conditions: the most robust method consists in assigning a Dirichlet condition on the fluid side of the interface and a Robin condition on the solid side. The accuracy is very dependent on the interpolation scheme. Moreover, conservativity has been specifically addressed in our methodology. This numerical property is made possible by the use of both the Finite Volume Method and the corrective method proposed in the current paper. The corrective method allows the cancellation of the possible difference between heat fluxes on the two sides of the interface. This method significantly improves accuracy in transient phases. The corrective process has also been designed to be as robust as possible. The verification of our coupling method is extensively discussed in this article: the numerical results are compared with the analytical solution of an infinite thick plate in a suddenly accelerated flow (and with the results of other coupling approaches)