Flow past a cylinder using a semi-Lagrangian spectral element method

The two-dimensional flow of a Newtonian fluid past a cylinder is investigated. The governing equations are discretized using a second-order temporal discretization based on the method of characteristics and a spectral element spatial discretization. The resulting discrete systems are symmetric and (semi-) positive definite and are solved using the conjugate gradient method. The performance of the algorithm is examined. The dependence of the drag on the cylinder as a function of the Reynolds number is investigated.