Least-square Switching Process for Accurate and Efficient Gradient Estimation on Unstructured Grid

Abstract

An accurate and efficient gradient estimation method on unstructured grid is presented by proposing a switching process between two Least-Square methods. Diverse test cases show that the gradient estimation by Least-Square methods exhibit better characteristics compared to Green-Gauss approach. Based on the investigation, switching between the two Least-Square methods, whose merit complements each other, is pursued. The condition number of the Least-Square matrix is adopted as the switching criterion, because it shows clear correlation with the gradient error, and it can be easily calculated from the geometric information of the grid. To illustrate switching process on general grid, condition number is analyzed using stencil vectors and trigonometric relations. Then, the threshold of switching criterion is established. Finally, the capability of Switching Weighted Least-Square method is demonstrated through various two- and three-dimensional applications.