A hybrid finite volume/finite element method for incompressible generalized Newtonian fluid flows on unstructured triangular meshes

This paper presents a hybrid finite volume/finite element method for the incompressible generalized Newtonian fluid flow (Power-Law model). The collocated (i.e. non-staggered) arrangement of variables is used on the unstructured triangular grids, and a fractional step projection method is applied for the velocity-pressure coupling. The cell-centered finite volume method is employed to discretize the momentum equation and the vertex-based finite element for the pressure Poisson equation. The momentum interpolation method is used to suppress unphysical pressure wiggles. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the current hybrid scheme has second order accuracy in both space and time. Results on flows in the lid-driven cavity and between parallel walls for Newtonian and Power-Law models are also in good agreement with the published solutions.