Numerical study of bifurcation in three-dimensional sudden channel expansions

Bifurcation phenomena in three-dimensional sudden channel expansions are st udied by means of numerical simulation. A highly efficient parallel multigr id finite-volume solver is used on a parallel highperformance vector comput er to allow for carrying out the computationally very demanding simulations with the necessary numerical accuracy. Aspects related to the determinatio n of bifurcation diagrams and bifurcation points, the numerical accuracy of the computations and the efficiency of the numerical method are addressed. A fluid mechanical interpretation of the bifurcation phenomena is given, e specially with respect to variations of the characteristics of the problem geometry. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.