Boundary Conditions for Direct Simulations of Compressible Viscous Flows

Procedures to define boundary conditions for Navier-Stokes equations are discussed. A new formulation using characteristic wave relations through boundaries is derived for the Euler equations and generalized to the Navier-Stokes equations. The emphasis is on deriving boundary conditions compatible with modern non-dissipative algorithms used for direct simulations of turbulent flows. These methods have very low dispersion errors and require precise boundary conditions to avoid numerical instabilities and to control spurious wave reflections at the computational boundaries. The present formulation is an attempt to provide such conditions. Reflecting and non-reflecting boundary condition treatments are presented. Examples of practical implementations for inlet and outlet boundaries as well as slip and no-slip walls are presented. The method applies to subsonic and supersonic flows. It is compared with a reference method based on extrapolation and partial use of Riemann invariants. Test cases described include a ducted shear layer, vortices propagating through boundaries, and Poiseuille flow. Although no mathematical proof of well-posedness is given, the method uses the correct number of boundary conditions required for well-posedness of the Navier-Stokes equations and the examples reveal that it provides a significant improvement over the reference method.