A Comparison of Numerical Methods for the Rayleigh Equation in Unbounded Domains

A Comparison of Numerical Methods for the Rayleigh Equation in Unbounded Domains
Author: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2018-06-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781721994939

A second-order finite difference and two spectral methods, including a Chebyshev tau and a Chebyshev collocation method were implemented to determine the linear hydrodynamic stability of an unbounded shear flow. The velocity profile of the basic flow in the stability analysis mimicks that of a one-stream free mixing layer. Local and global eigenvalue solution methods are used to determine individual eigenvalues and the eigenvalue spectrum, respectively. The calculated eigenvalue spectrum includes a discrete mode, a continuous spectrum associated with the equation singularity and a continuous spectrum associated with the domain unboundedness. The efficiency and the accuracy of these discretization methods in the prediction of the eigensolutions of the discrete mode were evaluated by comparison with a conventional shooting procedure. Their capabilities in mapping out the continuous eigenvalue spectra are also discussed. Liou, W. W. and Morris, P. J. Glenn Research Center NASA ORDER C-99066-G...