Incompressible Navier-Stokes solutions by a triangular spectral/p element projection method

The application of the fractional step projection method recently proposed by Guermond and Quartapelle to the numerical approximation of unsteady Navier-Stokes solutions by means of a spectral/p element method is considered. In particular we illustrate the second-order pressure correction technique and evaluate its accuracy properties in some test cases. Stability with respect to the compatibility condition between the approximation spaces for velocity and pressure is also addressed. The high (spectral) accuracy in space and the second-order accuracy in time are verified by two simple test cases with analytical solution. A more interesting problem is solved showing the ability of the method to produce very accurate results also for problems in complex geometries. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.