An all Mach number semi-implicit hybrid Finite Volume/Virtual Element method for compressible viscous flows on Voronoi meshes

We present a novel high order semi-implicit hybrid finite volume/virtual element numerical scheme for the solution of compressible flows on Voronoi tessellations. The method relies on the operator splitting of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations into three sub-systems: a convective sub-system solved explicitly using a finite volume (FV) scheme, and the viscous and pressure sub-systems which are discretized implicitly with the aid of a virtual element method (VEM). Consequently, the time step restriction of the overall algorithm depends only on the mean flow velocity and not on the fast pressure waves nor on the viscous eigenvalues. As such, the proposed methodology is well suited for the solution of low Mach number flows at all Reynolds numbers. Moreover, the scheme is proven to be globally energy conserving so that shock capturing properties are retrieved in high Mach number flows while being only linearly implicit in time. To reach high order of accuracy in time and space, an IMEX Runge–Kutta time stepping strategy is employed together with high order spatial reconstructions in terms of CWENO polynomials and virtual element space basis functions. The chosen discretization techniques allow the use of general polygonal grids, a useful tool when dealing with complex domain configurations. The new scheme is carefully validated in both the incompressible limit and the high Mach number regime through a large set of classical benchmarks for fluid dynamics, assessing robustness and accuracy. © 2024 The Authors