| Abstract: | In the present paper, the author shows that the predictor/multi‐corrector (PMC) time integration for the advection–diffusion equations induces numerical diffusivity acting only in the streamline direction, even though the equations are spatially discretized by the conventional Galerkin finite element method (GFEM). The transient 2‐D and 3‐D advection problems are solved with the PMC scheme using both the GFEM and the streamline upwind/Petrov Galerkin (SUPG) as the spatial discretization methods for comparison. The solutions of the SUPG‐PMC turned out to be overly diffusive due to the additional PMC streamline diffusion, while the solutions of the GFEM‐PMC were comparatively accurate without significant damping and phase error. A similar tendency was seen also in the quasi‐steady solutions to the incompressible viscous flow problems: 2‐D driven cavity flow and natural convection in a square cavity. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
