Numerical Comparison of IFM and LRBF Methods for Shock Boundary Layer Interaction
Freeman Nyathi*, Marcia Moremedi G and Serge Neossi Nguetchue N
Abstract
This study presents the first systematic quantitative comparison of the well-established Implicit Factorized Method (IFM) and the highorder Localized Radial Basis Function (LRBF) meshless method for simulating shock wave boundary layer interaction (SWBLI). The investigation focuses on a canonical case: an imposed oblique shock impinging on a laminar flat plate boundary layer in a two-dimensional domain.
We benchmark three LRBF kernel types (Gaussian, Multiquadric, and Polyharmonic Splines) against a Beam-Warming type IFM scheme. Key physical metrics, including wall pressure (Cp) and skin friction (Cf ) coefficients, separation bubble length, and flow field structures, are rigorously analyzed. Quantitative error analysis using both L2 and L∞ norms reveals that the LRBF methods, particularly with the Gaussian kernel, offer significantly higher accuracy in predicting peak pressure and resolving the primary separation zone. While computationally more intensive per step, the LRBF method’s high fidelity and flexibility in handling complex geometries highlight its potential as a powerful tool for multi-scale aerodynamic simulations.
