Multicomponent gas flow computations by a discontinuous Galerkin scheme using L2-projection of perfect gas EOS

A new formulation of multicomponent gas flow computation, suited to a discontinuous Galerkin discretization, is here presented and discussed. The original key feature is the use of L2-projection form of the (perfect gas) equation of state that allows all thermodynamic variables to span the same functional space. This choice greatly mitigates problems encountered by the front-capturing schemes in computing discontinuous flow field, retaining at the same time their conservation properties at the discrete level and ease of use. This new approach, combined with an original residual-based artificial dissipation technique, shows itself capable, through a series of tests illustrated in the paper, to both control the spurious oscillations of flow variables occurring in high-order accurate computations and reduce them increasing the degree of the polynomial representation of the solution. This result is of great importance in computing reacting gaseous flows, where the local accuracy of temperature and species mass fractions is crucial to the correct evaluation of the chemical source terms contained in the equations, even if the presence of the physical diffusivities somewhat brings relief to these problems. The present work can therefore also be considered, among many others already presented in the literature, as the authors' first step toward the construction of a new discontinuous Galerkin scheme for reacting gas mixture flows.