Adaptive mesh refinement for hyperbolic partial differential equations (Q792075)

An adaptive numerical method for hyperbolic partial differential equations is presented. Based upon Richardson-type estimates of the local truncation error, refined grids are created or removed during the process. The composite grid consists of a hierarchy of rotated uniform rectangular refined meshes. This makes it possible to approximate discontinuities such as moving shock fronts with arbitrary orientations. The finer grids have also smaller step sizes in time thus maintaining the ratio of space/time differencing. Various integrating schemes can be used on component grids. The interaction between grids is performed by injections and interpolations. Data structures for the composite grid are briefly but clearly described. Numerical examples in one and two space dimensions show that the adaptive method is superior to the use of a conventional uniform grid both in the terms of computational time and approximation of the solution.