An Approximate Projection Scheme for Incompressible Flow Using Spectral Elements

An approximate projection scheme based on the pressure correction method is proposed to solve the Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow. The algorithm is applied to the continuous equations; however, there are no problems concerning the choice of boundary conditions of the pressure step. The resulting velocity and pressure are consistent with the original system. For the spatial discretization a high-order spectral element method is chosen. The high-order accuracy allows the use of a diagonal mass matrix, resulting in a very efficient algorithm. The properties of the scheme are extensively tested by means of an analytical test example. The scheme is further validated by simulating the laminar flow over a backward-facing step.