A direction splitting scheme for Navier-Stokes-Boussinesq system in spherical shell geometries

Abstract: This paper introduces a formally second-order direction-splitting method for solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes-Boussinesq system in a spherical shell region. The equations are solved on overset Yin-Yang grids, combined with spherical coordinate transforms. This approach allows to avoid the singularities at the poles and keeps the grid size relatively uniform. The downside is that the spherical shell is subdivided into two equally sized, overlapping subdomains that requires the use of Schwarz-type iterations. The temporal second order accuracy is achieved via an Artificial Compressibility (AC) scheme with bootstrapping. The spatial discretization is based on second order finite differences on the Marker-And-Cell (MAC) stencil. The entire scheme is implemented in parallel using a domain decomposition iteration, and a direction splitting approach for the local solves. The stability, accuracy and weak scalability of the method is verified on a manufactured solution of the Navier-Stokes-Boussinesq system and on the Landau solution of the Navier-Stokes equations on the sphere.