The Δ-ε Method for the Boltzmann Equation

Abstract

A new numerical method is proposed to solve the Boltzmann equation. A frame is set up by using a discrete velocity approximation in the infinite velocity space, but by considering only those distribution function points which are not too small. The distribution function points may occur anywhere in the infinite discrete velocity space and are not constrained to a pre-specified region. A fourth-order finite difference is used for the convection terms. A Monte Carlo-like method is applied to the discrete velocity model of the collision integral. The effort of the method is proportional to the number of discrete points. Numerical examples are given for the full Boltzmann equation and results for some benchmark problems are compared with analytical or prior solutions.