A Characteristic-Based Spectral Element Method for Moving-Domain Problems

In this paper, we present a characteristic-based numerical procedure for simulating incompressible flows in domains with moving boundaries. Our approach utilizes an operator-integration-factor splitting technique to help produce an efficient and stable numerical scheme. Using the spectral element method and an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation, we investigate flows where the convective acceleration effects are non-negligible. Several examples, ranging from laminar to turbulent flows, are considered. Comparisons with a standard, semi-implicit time-stepping procedure illustrate the improved performance of our scheme.