Natural convection at very high Rayleigh numbers (Q1075891)

For the ENTWIFE finite element code, authors demonstrate the importance of suitable geometrical choices of the finite elements and of the types of polynomials representing temperature T or pressure p, respectively. Authors employ in particular a nine-noded quadrilateral element with piecewise linear variation of p. Via this approach, they treated successfully the stagnant fluid between boundary layers adjacent to the walls in the case of a Rayleigh number of \(10^{12}\) and T increasing from bottom to top. These choices avoid the mesh-scale oscillations which have been observed in the case of other elements.