The numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for 3-dimensional, unsteady, incompressible flows by compact schemes (Q1117782)

This paper describes a numerical method for solving the Navier-Stokes equations for unsteady, incompressible, 3-dimensional flows using velocity-vorticity variables and irregular Cartesian grids. The method involves solving Cauchy-Riemann type equations for the velocity and transport-diffusion equations for the vorticity whose solenoidal vorticity components are obtained by solving a Poisson equation for a suitably chosen scalar potential. The importance of boundary conditions is examined. The difference equations are solved by iterations in order to permit exploitation of parallel and vector computing methods. Numerical experiments confirm the second-order spatial and temporal accuracy of the method.