A robust compact finite difference framework for simulations of compressible turbulent flows

A robust high-order compact finite difference framework is proposed for simulations of compressible turbulent flows with high spectral resolution using a fully collocated variable storage paradigm. Both inviscid and viscous fluxes are assembled at the edge-staggered grid locations. Nonlinear robustness is attained as a consequence of the intrinsic reduction of aliasing errors in the inviscid fluxes due to the spectral behavior of the compact interpolation schemes. Additional robustness is provided by enhancing the spectral resolution of the viscous flux and its divergence at small scales using purely staggered numerical differentiation. Demonstrative simulations have shown numerical stability of the compact finite difference discretization without any type of solution filtering on both Cartesian and curvilinear meshes. For simulations on a curvilinear mesh, a general metric evaluation approach that satisfies the geometric conservation law is proposed. Additional approaches to combining the proposed scheme with approximate Riemann solvers and artificial diffusivities for shock-capturing are also discussed. Along with theoretical analysis, rigorous evaluation and validation of the methodology on canonical tests, including classic two-dimensional simulations, direct numerical simulations, and large-eddy simulations, are used to confirm robustness and accuracy. •High-order compact finite difference framework with conservative discretization.•Collocated storage and staggered fluxes compatible with shock-capturing schemes.•Achieves enhanced spectral resolution and robustness without solution filtering.•Supports computations on Cartesian and curvilinear meshes.•Suitable for large-eddy simulations and direct numerical simulations.