High-order BEM for potential transonic flows (Q1270804)

We present a high-order boundary element method (BEM) for the analysis of the steady two-dimensional full-potential transonic equation. The use of a high-order (piecewise cubic on the boundary and piecewise bi-cubic in the field) numerical formulation, the main novelty of the present work, is important in two respects: first, the convergence of the solution as \(h\) vanishes is faster than the zeroth-order (the piecewise constant) one, yielding more accurate results with coarser grid resolutions. In addition, in supercritical flows, the derivation of the velocity field from the high-order representation for potential gives, in the vicinity of the shock, a sharper discontinuity, and allows for an in-depth analysis of the shock properties. Both aspects are analyzed in the present paper through applications to steady, two-dimensional full-potential flows.