SIMULATION OF 2D EXTERNAL VISCOUS FLOWS BY MEANS OF A DOMAIN DECOMPOSITION METHOD

Two-dimensional external viscous flows are numerically approximated by means of a domain decomposition technique which combines a vortex method and a finite differences method. The vortex method is used in the flow region which is dominated by convective effects, whereas the finite differences method is used in the flow region where viscous diffusion effects are dominant. Meanwhile, a new vortex method which is suitable for approximating first-order linear hyperbolic problems supplemented with Dirichlet boundary conditions is presented. Comparison with numerical and experimental data show that the method is well adapted for calculating two-dimensional external flows at moderate Reynolds numbers. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc.