Positivity-preserving high order finite difference WENO schemes for compressible Navier-Stokes equations.

In this paper, we construct a high order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) finite difference discretization for compressible Navier-Stokes (NS) equations, which is rendered positivity-preserving of density and internal energy by a positivity-preserving flux splitting and a scaling positivity-preserving limiter. The novelty of this paper is WENO reconstruction performed on variables from a positivity-preserving convection diffusion flux splitting, which is different from conventional WENO schemes solving compressible NS equations. The core advantages of our proposed method are robustness and efficiency, which especially are suitable for solving tough demanding problems of both compressible Euler and NS equation including low density and low pressure flow regime. Moreover, in terms of computational cost, it is more efficient and easier to implement and extend to multi-dimensional problems than the positivity-preserving high order discontinuous Galerkin schemes and finite volume WENO scheme for solving compressible NS equations on rectangle domain. Benchmark tests demonstrate that the proposed positivity-preserving WENO schemes are high order accuracy, efficient and robust without excessive artificial viscosity for demanding problems involving with low density, low pressure, and fine structure. • A positivity-preserving high order accurate finite difference WENO scheme for compressible N-S equations. • The method is the high order accuracy and positivity-preserving. • WENO reconstruction is performed on variables from a positivity-preserving convection diffusion flux splitting. • The method is robust and suitable for solving the compressible flow with low density and low pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]