A data-driven convergence booster for accelerating and stabilizing pseudo time-stepping

Abstract: This paper introduces a novel data-driven convergence booster that not only accelerates convergence but also stabilizes solutions in cases where obtaining a steady-state solution is otherwise challenging. The method constructs a reduced-order model (ROM) of the solution residual using intermediate solutions and periodically solves a least-square problem in the low-dimensional ROM subspace. The second-order approximation of the residual and the use of normal equation distinguish this work from similar approaches in the literature from the methodology perspective. From the application perspective, in contrast to prior studies that focus on linear systems or idealized problems, we rigorously assess the method's performance on realistic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. In addition to reducing the time complexity of point-iterative solvers for linear systems, we demonstrate substantial reductions in the number of pseudo-time steps required for implicit schemes solving the nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. Across a range of two- and three-dimensional flows-including subsonic inviscid and transonic turbulent cases-the method consistently achieves a 3 to 4 times speedup in wall-clock time. Lastly, the proposed method acts as a robust stabilizer, capable of converging to steady solutions in flows that would otherwise exhibit persistent unsteadiness-such as vortex shedding or transonic buffet-without relying on symmetry boundary conditions.