High-Order Output-Based Adaptive Simulations of Turbulent Flow in Two Dimensions

Abstract

Output-based high-order adaptive results are presented for several benchmark two-dimensional turbulent-flow simulations. The discretization is a high-order discontinuous Galerkin finite element method, and the equations solved are compressible Navier–Stokes, Reynolds-averaged with a modified version of the Spalart–Allmaras one-equation model. Mesh refinement requirements are studied through automated output-based adaptation in which a discrete adjoint solution associated with an output (e.g., the drag coefficient) weights a fine-space residual and automatically selects the elements that need more resolution. The roles of high-order and mesh anisotropy are also investigated. Finally, differences are investigated between two mesh refinement strategies: hanging-node refinement of structured meshes versus metric-based remeshing of unstructured triangles.