Direct calculations of waves in fluid flows using a high-order compact difference scheme

The solution of the unsteady Euler equations by a sixth-order compact difference scheme combined with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is investigated. Closed-form expressions for the amplification factors and their corresponding dispersion correlations are obtained by Fourier analysis of the fully discretized, two-dimensional Euler equations, and the numerical dissipation, dispersion, and anisotropic effects are assessed. It is found that the CFL limit for stable calculations is about 0.8. For a CFL number equal to 0.6, the smallest wavelength which is resolved without numerical damping is about 6 to 8 grid nodes. For phase speeds corresponding to acoustic waves, the corresponding time period is resolved by about 200 to 300 time steps. Three numerical examples of waves in compressible flow are included.