A two-point difference scheme for computing steady-state solutions to the conservative one-dimensional Euler equations

An implicit finite-difference method is presented for obtaining steady-state solutions to the time-dependent, conservative Euler equations for flows containing shocks. The method uses a two-point central-difference scheme for the flux derivatives with dissipation added at supersonic points via the retarded density concept. Application of the method to 1-dimensional nozzle flow equations for various combinations of subsonic and supersonic boundary conditions show the method to be very efficient. Residuals are typically reduced to machine zero in approximately 35 time steps for 50 mesh points. For 1-dimensional Euler calculations, it is shown that the scheme offers two advantages over the more widely-used three-point schemes. The first is in regard to application of boundary conditions, and the second relates to the fact that the two-point algorithm is well-conditioned for large time steps.