NEW FINITE-ELEMENT TECHNIQUE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF STEADY VISCOUS-FLOW PROBLEMS

A new finite element technique for two‐dimensional viscous incompressible fluid flow problems is presented in this paper. The vorticity transport equation is integrated in a small control volume, which results in the conservation law of vorticity. The finite element technique is applied to this equation together with the continuity equation, where simple linear triangular elements with three nodes are used for the formulation. Resulting sets of algebraic equations are solved by the use of a kind of relaxation method. Numerical results for viscous flow past a cavity show good agreement with experimental results. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd