Finite element methods for the linear regularized 13-moment equations describing slow rarefied gas flows

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the numerical solution of the linear steady-state regularized 13-moment equations in two space dimensions. To facilitate the understanding of the specific challenges, the equations are first divided into two subsystems before the full system is approached. The arising problems mainly stem from the complicated saddle-point structure as well as the non-standard nature of the boundary conditions. A continuous interior penalty method is presented and the pronounced advantages of utilizing high order basis functions in this setting are illustrated. To render the presented approach more efficient, a hybridization technique is presented that originates in the discontinuous Galerkin method.