NEW FINITE-DIFFERENCE SOLUTION METHODS FOR WAVE INSTABILITY PROBLEMS

Two finite-difference methods are proposed for solving wave instability problems with and without coupling between momentum and energy equations. Neutral critical stability results are compared with those generated by the Runge-Kutta integration method in conjunction with an orthonormalization procedure. The new finite-difference methods are found to be very accurate, timesaving, and easy to program. They can also be applied to solve systems of high-order ordinary differential equations.