Corrected Navier-Stokes equations for compressible flows

TL;DR

This paper introduces a correction to the Navier-Stokes equations that enhances their accuracy in modeling shock structures, rarefied gas flows, and heat flux, especially under compressible conditions, without adding empirical parameters.

Contribution

A novel correction to the Navier-Stokes equations that accounts for viscous stress proportional to momentum gradient under compression, improving accuracy in complex flow regimes.

Findings

Accurately models shock structures.

Improves prediction of rarefied gas flows.

Enhances heat flux rate accuracy.

Abstract

For gas flows, the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations are established by mathematically expressing conservations of mass, momentum and energy. The advantage of the NS equations over the Euler equations is that the NS equations have taken into account the viscous stress caused by the thermal motion of molecules. The viscous stress arises from applying Isaac Newton's second law to fluid motion, together with the assumption that the stress is proportional to the gradient of velocity1. Thus, the assumption is the only empirical element in the NS equations, and this is actually the reason why the NS equations perform poorly under special circumstances. For example, the NS equations cannot describe rarefied gas flows and shock structure. This work proposed a correction to the NS equations with an argument that the viscous stress is proportional to the gradient of momentum when the flow is under compression, with zero additional empirical parameters. For the first time, the NS equations have been capable of accurately solving shock structure and rarefied gas flows. In addition, even for perfect gas, the accuracy of the prediction of heat flux rate is greatly improved. The corrected NS equations can readily be used to improve the accuracy in the computation of flows with density variations which is common in nature.