A numerical method for the study of nonlinear stability of axisymmetric flows based on the vector potential

We develop in this paper a numerical method to simulate three-dimensional incompressible flows based on a decomposition of the flow into an axisymmetric part, in terms of the stream function and the circulation, and a non-axisymmetric part in terms of a potential vector function. The method is specially suited for the study of nonlinear stability of axially symmetric flows because one may follow neatly the raising of the different non-axisymmetric modes, their nonlinear development, and their nonlinear interaction. The numerical technique combines finite differences on a non-uniform grid in the axial direction, a Chebyshev spectral collocation technique in the radial direction, and a Fourier spectral method in the azimuthal direction for the non-axisymmetric vector potential. As an example to check the efficiency and accuracy of the method we apply it to the flow inside a rotating circular pipe, and compare the resulting travelling waves with previous stability results for this problem, for different values of the Reynolds and the swirl numbers. 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.