Eigenmode analysis of boundary conditions for the one-dimensional preconditioned Euler equations

The effect of local preconditioning on boundary conditions is analyzed for the subsonic, one-dimensional Euler equations. Decay rates for the eigenmodes of the initial boundary value problem are determined for different boundary conditions and different preconditioners whose intent is to accelerate low Mach number computations. Riemann invariant boundary conditions based on the unpreconditioned Euler equations are shown to be reflective when used with preconditioning, and asymptotically, at low Mach numbers, initial disturbances do not decay. Other boundary conditions are shown to be perfectly nonreflective in conjunction with preconditioning. Two-dimensional numerical results confirm the trends predicted by the one-dimensional analysis. © 2000 Academic Press