An energy-preserving unconditionally stable fractional step method on collocated grids

Abstract

Preservation of energy is fundamental in order to avoid the introduction of unphysical energy that can lead to unstable simulations. In this work, an energy-preserving unconditionally stable fractional step method on collocated grids is presented as a method which guarantees both preservation of energy and stability of our simulation. Using an algebraic (matrix-vector) representation of the classical incompressible Navier-Stokes equations mimicking the continuous properties of the differential operators, conservation of energy is formally proven. Furthermore, the appearence of unphysical velocities in highly distorted meshes is also adressed. This problem comes from the interpolation of the pressure gradient from faces to cells in the velocity correction equation, and can be corrected by using a proper interpolation.