Performance comparison of the NWF and DC methods for implementing High-Resolution schemes in a fully coupled incompressible flow solver

Abstract

This paper reports on the use of the Normalized Weighting Factor (NWF) method and the Deferred Correction (DC) approach for the implementation of High Resolution (HR) convective schemes in an implicit, fully coupled, pressure-based flow solver. Four HR schemes are realized within the framework of the NWF and DC methods and employed to solve the following three laminar flow problems: (i) lid-driven flow in a square cavity, (ii) sudden expansion in a square cavity, and (iii) flow in a planar T-junction, over three grid systems with sizes of 104, 5×104, and 3×105 control volumes. The merit of both approaches is demonstrated by comparing the computational costs required to solve these problems using the various HR schemes on the different grid systems. Whereas previous attempts to use the NWF method in a segregated flow solver failed to produce converged solutions, current results clearly demonstrate that both methods are suitable for utilization in a coupled flow solver. In terms of CPU efficiency, there is no global and consistent superiority of any method over another even though the DC method outperformed the NWF method in two of the three test problems solved.