SUPG finite element computation of viscous compressible flows based on the conservation and entropy variables formulations

In this article, we present our investigation and comparison of the SUPG-stabilized finite element formulations for computation of viscous compressible flows based on the conservation and entropy variables. This article is a sequel to the one on inviscid compressible flows by Le Beau et al. (1992). For the conservation variables formulation, we use the SUPG stabilization technique introduced in Aliabadi and Tezduyar (1992), which is a modified version of the one described in Le Beau et al. (1992). The formulation based on the entropy variables is same as the one introduced in Hughes et al. (1986). The two formulations are tested on three different problems: adiabatic flat plate at Mach 2.5, Reynolds number 20,000; Mach 3 compression corner at Reynolds number 16,800; and Mach 6 NACA 0012 airfoil at Reynolds number 10,000. In all cases, we show that the results obtained with the two formulations are very close. This observation is the same as the one we had in Le Beau et al. (1992) for inviscid flows.