Hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin projection methods for Navier-Stokes and Boussinesq equations

Schemes for the incompressible Navier-Stokes and Boussinesq equations are formulated and derived combining the novel Hybridizable Discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method, a projection method, and Implicit-Explicit Runge-Kutta (IMEX-RK) time-integration schemes. We employ an incremental pressure correction and develop the corresponding HDG finite element discretization including consistent edge-space fluxes for the velocity predictor and pressure correction. We then derive the proper forms of the element-local and HDG edge-space final corrections for both velocity and pressure, including the HDG rotational correction. We also find and explain a consistency relation between the HDG stability parameters of the pressure correction and velocity predictor. We discuss and illustrate the effects of the time-splitting error. We then detail how to incorporate the HDG projection method time-split within standard IMEX-RK time-stepping schemes. Our high-order HDG projection schemes are implemented for arbitrary, mixed–element unstructured grids, with both straight-sided and curved meshes. In particular, we provide a quadrature-free integration method for a nodal basis that is consistent with the HDG method. To prevent numerical oscillations, we develop a selective nodal limiting approach. Its applications show that it can stabilize high-order schemes while retaining high-order accuracy in regions where the solution is sufficiently smooth. We perform spatial and temporal convergence studies to evaluate the properties of our integration and selective limiting schemes and to verify that our solvers are properly formulated and implemented. To complete these studies and to illustrate a range of properties for our new schemes, we employ an unsteady tracer advection benchmark, a manufactured solution for the steady diffusion and Stokes equations, and a standard lock-exchange Boussinesq problem.