NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS IN INCOMPRESSIBLE FLUID FLOW: TREATMENT OF THE VELOCITY-PRESSURE COUPLING

Coupling between the momentum and mass conservation equations for “ incompressible” flows is often the major cause of the slow convergence of iterative solution techniques. Several methods of handling this coupling, some of which are novel, are examined, and results of their application to a test problem are compared. The application is made in a manner that completely isolates the effect of the coupling and leads to a clearer understanding of how the methods perform. Several recommendations are made for potential users.