AN EQUAL-ORDER VELOCITY-PRESSURE ALGORITHM FOR INCOMPRESSIBLE THERMAL FLOWS, PART 2: VALIDATION

The finite-elemem algorithm for the solution of two- and three-dimensional incompressible laminar thermal flows described in Part 1 of the artide is validated by detailed computational experiments carried out for three typicol benchmark problems: flow in lid-driven cavities, natural convection in heated cavities, and stratified flow over backward-facing steps. The numerical simulations concern different values of Reynolds or Raleigh numbers. Both two- and three-dimensional simulations are carried out for each problem, The results, obtained without employing any upwinding techniques, compare very satisfactorily with the avaiWbk literature data, thus confirming, in 011 cases, the reliability of the procedure. Moreover, in spite of the use of equal-order elements for velocity and pressure approximations, the calculated pressure fields never show any sign of checkerboarding