An improved understanding of the divergence-free constraint for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations leads to the observation that a semi-norm and corresponding equivalence classes of forces are fundamental for their nonlinear dynamics. The recent concept of pressure-robustness allows to distinguish between space discretisations that discretise these equivalence classes appropriately or not. This contribution compares the accuracy of pressure-robust and non-pressure-robust space discretisations for transient high Reynolds number flows, starting from the observation that in generalised Beltrami flows the nonlinear convection term is balanced by a strong pressure gradient. Then, pressure-robust methods are shown to outperform comparable non-pressure-robust space discretisations. Indeed, pressure-robust methods of formal order are comparably accurate than non-pressure-robust methods of formal order on coarse meshes. Investigating the material derivative of incompressible Euler flows, it is conjectured that strong pressure gradients are typical for non-trivial high Reynolds number flows. Connections to vortex-dominated flows are established. Thus, pressure-robustness appears to be a prerequisite for accurate incompressible flow solvers at high Reynolds numbers. The arguments are supported by numerical analysis and numerical experiments.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5802/smai-jcm.44
Classification: 65M12, 65M15, 65M60, 76D05, 76D10, 76D17
Keywords: incompressible Navier–Stokes, pressure-robust methods, Helmholtz–Hodge projector, Discontinuous Galerkin method, divergence-free (div) finite elements, structure-preserving algorithms, high-order methods, (generalised) Beltrami flows, high Reynolds number flows, material derivative
@article{SMAI-JCM_2019__5__89_0,
author = {Nicolas R. Gauger and Alexander Linke and Philipp W. Schroeder},
title = {On high-order pressure-robust space discretisations, their advantages for incompressible high {Reynolds} number generalised {Beltrami} flows and beyond},
journal = {The SMAI journal of computational mathematics},
pages = {89--129},
publisher = {Soci\'et\'e de Math\'ematiques Appliqu\'ees et Industrielles},
volume = {5},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.5802/smai-jcm.44},
zbl = {07090176},
language = {en},
url = {https://smai-jcm.centre-mersenne.org/articles/10.5802/smai-jcm.44/}
}
Nicolas R. Gauger; Alexander Linke; Philipp W. Schroeder. On high-order pressure-robust space discretisations, their advantages for incompressible high Reynolds number generalised Beltrami flows and beyond. The SMAI journal of computational mathematics, Volume 5 (2019) , pp. 89-129. doi : 10.5802/smai-jcm.44. https://smai-jcm.centre-mersenne.org/articles/10.5802/smai-jcm.44/
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