Adaptive numerical methods for reacting flows (Q1073683)

The advantages and disadvantages of adapting the numerical grid for certain classes of problems has been discussed with the use of examples, physical proofs, and numerical experiments. The major unifying aspect of the subject is the appearance of asymptotically thin regions in space which must be resolved because of their important internal structure. A very good example of this type of problem is convection/diffusion regions in general and flames in particular. For these problems adaptive grid methods are shown to offer very large advantages in efficiency and accuracy, and definitely represent an attractive area for future research. The major problem areas are shown to be the choice of adaptive strategy, geometry and grid non-orthogonality.