A characteristic/finite element algorithm for time-dependent 3-D advection-dominated transport using unstructured grids

✍ Scribed by M.R. Kaazempur-Mofrad; P.D. Minev; C.R. Ethier

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 758 KB
• Volume: 192
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0045-7825
• DOI: 10.1016/s0045-7825(02)00627-8

✦ Synopsis

An algorithm based on operator splitting has been successfully implemented for solving unsteady, advectiondominated transport problems in 3-D. Specifically, the general operator-integration-factor splitting method of Maday et al. is applied to the unsteady advection-diffusion equation with source/sink terms. The algorithm incorporates a 3-D characteristic Galerkin scheme to treat advection, and a standard Galerkin treatment of the diffusion and source/sink terms. Up to third-order operator splitting was implemented and validated against several analytical solutions.

The algorithm showed the expected error behaviour and good performance in modeling advection-dominated transport problems. The practical utility and effectiveness of the proposed numerical scheme was further demonstrated by solving the Graetz-Nusselt problem, i.e. high Peclet number mass/heat transport in a fully developed pipe flow.