An implicit algorithm for the ideal MHD equations

Conference · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:63085

Jones, O S; Eberhardt, D S ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

The authors are developing a new implicit algorithm for solving the ideal MHD equations. The algorithm is based upon the lower-upper symmetric-Gauss-Seidel method which was originally developed for solving the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations of gas dynamics. In the authors method, the ideal MHD equations are solved as a coupled set of hyperbolic equations. The flux terms are split according to the positive and negative eigenvalues of the flux Jacobians so that the implicit operator can be approximately factored into lower and upper triangular matrices. This splitting eliminates the need to invert block diagonal matrices and thus is more efficient than other implicit methods based on approximate factorizations. The authors have incorporated this algorithm into a finite-volume code for solving the axisymmetric ideal MHD equations. Results are shown for code validation runs on simple geometries and compared with results form a typical explicit algorithm. In the future the authors plan to extend this algorithm to solve the full three-dimensional, non-ideal MHD equations.

• OSTI ID: 63085
• Report Number(s): CONF-940604--; ISBN 0-7803-2006-9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
ALGORITHMS
CALCULATION METHODS
COMPUTER CODES
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS