Application of higher-order numerical methods to the boundary-layer equations

A fourth-order method is presented for calculating numerical solutions to parabolic, partial differential equations in two variables or ordinary differential equations. The method is the natural extension of the second-order Keller Box Scheme to fourth order and is demonstrated with application to the incompressible, laminar and turbulent boundary-layer equations for both attached and separated flows. The efficiency of the present method is compared with other higher-order methods; namely, the Keller Box Scheme with Richardson extrapolation, the method of deferred corrections, the three-point spline methods, and a modified finite-element method. For equivalent accuracy, numerical results show the present method to be more efficient than the other higher-order methods for both laminar and turbulent flows.