Boundary conditions for subsonic compressible Navier-Stokes calculations

Abstract

A systematic study of inflow and outflow boundary conditions for the numerical solution of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is presented. Combinations of several representative inflow and outflow boundary conditions are applied in the solution of subsonic flow over a flat plate in a finite computational domain. These boundary conditions are evaluated in terms of their effect on the accuracy of the solution and the rate of convergence to a steady state. It is shown that errors in the data specified at the inflow boundary can produce significant errors in the computed flow field. It is also shown that a non-reflecting outflow boundary condition can significantly reduce the total computational time required.