Numerical study of transition in the Rayleigh-B&#039 / enard problem of thermal convection between rigid plates heated from below under the influence of gravity with and without rotation is presented. The first numerical approach uses spectral element method with Fourier expansion for horizontal extent and Legendre polynomal for vertical extent for the purpose of generating a database for the subsequent analysis by using Karhunen-Lo&#039 / eve (KL) decomposition. KL decompositions is a statistical tool to decompose the dynamics underlying a database representing a physical phenomena to its basic components in the form of an orthogonal KL basis. The KL basis satisfies all the spatial constraints such as the boundary conditions and the solenoidal (divergence-free) character of the underlying flow field as much as carried by the flow database. The optimally representative character of the orthogonal basis is used to investigate the convective flow for different parameters, such as Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers. The second numerical approach uses divergence free basis functions that by construction satisfy the continuity equation and the boundary conditions in an expansion of the velocity flow field. The expansion bases for the thermal field are constructed to satisfy the boundary conditions. Both bases are based on the Legendre polynomials in the vertical direction in order to simplify the Galerkin projection procedure, while Fourier representation is used in the horizontal directions due to the horizontal extent of the computational domain taken as periodic. Dual bases are employed to reduce the governing Boussinesq equations to a dynamical system for the time dependent expansion coefficients. The dual bases are selected so that the pressure term is eliminated in the projection procedure. The resulting dynamical system is used to study the transitional regimes numerically. The main difference between the two approaches is the accuracy with which the solenoidal character of the flow is satisfied. The first approach needs a numerically or experimentally generated database for the generation of the divergence-free KL basis. The degree of the accuracy for the KL basis in satisfying the solenoidal character of the flow is limited to that of the database and in turn to the numerical technique used. This is a major challenge in most numerical simulation techniques for incompressible flow in literature. It is also dependent on the parameter values at which the underlying flow field is generated. However the second approach is parameter independent and it is based on analytically solenoidal basis that produces an almost exactly divergence-free flow field. This level of accuracy is especially important for the transition studies that explores the regions sensitive to parameter and flow perturbations.

In this thesis, a survey on pseudospectral methods for differential equations is presented. Properties of the classical orthogonal polynomials required in this context are reviewed. Differentiation matrices corresponding to Jacobi, Laguerre,and Hermite cases are constructed. A fairly detailed investigation is made for the Hermite spectral methods, which is applied to the Schr&ouml / dinger eigenvalue equation with several potentials. A discussion of the numerical results and comparison with other methods are then introduced to deduce the effciency of the method.

Recent developments show that derivative free methods are highly demanded by researches for solving optimization problems in various practical contexts. Although well-known optimization methods that employ derivative information can be very effcient, a derivative free method will be more effcient in cases where the objective function is nondifferentiable, the derivative information is not available or is not reliable. Derivative Free Optimization (DFO) is developed for solving small dimensional problems (less than 100 variables) in which the computation of an objective function is relatively expensive and the derivatives of the objective function are not available. Problems of this nature more and more arise in modern physical, chemical and econometric measurements and in engineering applications, where computer simulation is employed for the evaluation of the objective functions. In this thesis, we give an example of the implementation of DFO in an approach for optimizing stirrer configurations, including a parametrized grid generator, a flow solver, and DFO. A derivative free method, i.e., DFO is preferred because the gradient of the objective function with respect to the stirrer&rsquo / s design variables is not directly available. This nonlinear objective function is obtained from the flow field by the flow solver. We present and interpret numerical results of this implementation. Moreover, a contribution is given to a survey and a distinction of DFO research directions, to an analysis and discussion of these. We also state a derivative free algorithm used within a clustering algorithm in combination with non-smooth optimization techniques to reveal the effectiveness of derivative free methods in computations. This algorithm is applied on some data sets from various sources of public life and medicine. We compare various methods, their practical backgrounds, and conclude with a summary and outlook. This work may serve as a preparation of possible future research.

A direct method is developed for solving the 2-D planar/axisymmetric Euler equations. The Euler equations are discretized using a finite-volume method with upwind flux splitting schemes, and the resulting nonlinear system of equations are solved using Newton&amp / #8217 / s Method. Both analytical and numerical methods are used for Jacobian calculations. Numerical method has the advantage of keeping the Jacobian consistent with the numerical flux vector without extremely complex or impractical analytical differentiations. However, numerical method may have accuracy problem and may need longer execution time. In order to improve the accuracy of numerical method detailed error analyses were performed. It was demonstrated that the finite-difference perturbation magnitude and computer precision are the most important parameters that affect the accuracy of numerical Jacobians. A relation was developed for optimum perturbation magnitude that can minimize the error in numerical Jacobians. Results show that very accurate numerical Jacobians can be calculated with optimum perturbation magnitude. The effects of the accuracy of numerical Jacobians on the convergence of flow solver are also investigated. In order to reduce the execution time for numerical Jacobian evaluation, flux vectors with perturbed flow variables are calculated for only related cells. A sparse matrix solver based on LU factorization is used for the solution, and to improve the Jacobian matrix solution some strategies are considered. Effects of different flux splitting methods, higher-order discretizations and several parameters on the performance of the solver are analyzed.

For turbulent flow calculations, some of the well-known turbulence models in the literature are applied on a previously developed Navier-Stokes solver designed to handle laminar flows. A finite volume formulation, which is cell-based for inviscid terms and cell-vertex for viscous terms, is used for numerical discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations in conservative form. This formulation is combined with one-step, explicit time marching Lax-Wendroff numerical scheme that is second order accurate in space. To minimize non-physical oscillations resulting from the numerical scheme, second and fourth order artificial smoothing terms are added. To increase the convergence rate of the solver, local time stepping technique is applied. Before applying turbulence models, Navier-Stokes solver is tested for a case of subsonic, laminar flow over a flat plate. The results are in close agreement with Blasius similarity solutions. To calculate turbulent flows, Boussinesq eddy-viscosity approach is utilized. The eddy viscosity (also called turbulent viscosity), which arises as a consequence of this approach, is calculated using Cebeci-Smith, Michel et. al., Baldwin-Lomax, Chien&rsquo / s k-epsilon and Wilcox&rsquo / s k-omega turbulence models. To evaluate the performances of these turbulence models and to compare them with each other, the solver has been tested for a case of subsonic, laminar - transition fixed - turbulent flow over a flat plate. The results are verified by analytical solutions and empirical correlations.

The aim of this study is to extend a parallel Fortran90 code to compute three&ndash / dimensional laminar and turbulent flowfields over rotary wing configurations. The code employs finite volume discretization and the compact, four step Runge-Kutta type time integration technique to solve unsteady, thin&ndash / layer Navier&ndash / Stokes equations. Zero&ndash / order Baldwin&ndash / Lomax turbulence model is utilized to model the turbulence for the computation of turbulent flowfields. A fine, viscous, H type structured grid is employed in the computations. To reduce the computational time and memory requirements parallel processing with distributed memory is used. The data communication among the processors is executed by using the MPI ( Message Passing Interface ) communication libraries. Laminar and turbulent solutions around a two bladed UH &ndash / 1 helicopter rotor and turbulent solution around a flat plate is obtained. For the rotary wing configurations, nonlifting and lifting rotor cases are handled seperately for subsonic and transonic blade tip speeds. The results are, generally, in good agreement with the experimental data.

Multisymplectic integrators like Preissman and six-point schemes and a semi-explicit symplectic method are applied to the coupled nonlinear Schr&ouml / dinger equations (CNLSE). Energy, momentum and additional conserved quantities are preserved by the multisymplectic integrators, which are shown using modified equations. The multisymplectic schemes are backward stable and non-dissipative. A semi-explicit method which is symplectic in the space variable and based on linear-nonlinear, even-odd splitting in time is derived. These methods are applied to the CNLSE with plane wave and soliton solutions for various combinations of the parameters of the equation. The numerical results confirm the excellent long time behavior of the conserved quantities and preservation of the shape of the soliton solutions in space and time.