Basic function scheme of polynomial type (Q1047245)

The authors propose a new method to discretize differentiation equations on unstructured grids. On each element, a function is interpolated at some collocation points inside the element using the basic functions. This induces approximations of the derivatives of the function by simply differentiate the basic function expansion. Polynomial type basic functions of order one and two are used. This idea are then extended to discretize differential operators. At the mesh nodes, a weighted sum of the element approximations is used for central approximations of an operator. To obtain upwind schemes, an upwind coefficient is assigned to each node as the quotient of the upwind area and the total area of a node in an element. The scheme is applied to the Euler equations of compressible flow. To suppress spurious oscillations near shock waves, combinations of central and upwind schemes are used in the vicinity of the discontinuities. The particular combination used depends on whether a point is up or downstream of the shock and a technique to judge this for a grid point is presented. In the examples the scheme is combined with some adaptation techniques to resolve shocks.