The Design of Flux-Corrected Transport (FCT) Algorithms For Structured Grids

Summary

A given flux-corrected transport (FCT) algorithm consists of three components: 1) a high order algorithm to which it reduces in smooth parts of the flow; 2) a low order algorithm to which it reduces in parts of the flow devoid of smoothness; and 3) a flux limiter which calculates the weights assigned to the high and low order fluxes in various regions of the flow field. One way of optimizing an FCT algorithm is to optimize each of these three components individually. We present some of the ideas that have been developed over the past 30 years toward this end. These include the use of very high order spatial operators in the design of the high order fluxes, non-clipping flux limiters, the appropriate choice of constraint variables in the critical flux-limiting step, and the implementation of a “failsafe” flux-limiting strategy.

This chapter confines itself to the design of FCT algorithms for structured grids, using a finite volume formalism, for this is the area with which the present author is most familiar. The reader will find excellent material on the design of FCT algorithms for unstructured grids, using both finite volume and finite element formalisms, in the chapters by Professors Löhner, Baum, Kuzmin, Turek, and Möller in the present volume.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy