An equal-order velocity-pressure formulation that does not exhibit spurious pressure modes (Q1100013)

An iterative finite element method is presented for the numerical solution of the two-dimensional laminar Navier-Stokes equations. `Equal' order approximations based on bilinear quadrilateral elements are described with advection terms approximated by a streamline upwind method. The approximations are not really equal order as an ingeneous method where pressure gradients are treated as piecewise constant is used to derive the Poisson equation for the pressure. The governing equations for momentum and pressure are solved in sequence. The method is applied successfully to several standard flow problems such as entrance flow in a duct flow over a backward facing step and flow in a diffuser at Reynolds numbers up to 2000.