Implicit BDF2 dual time-stepping positivity-preserving entropy-stable schemes for unsteady compressible viscous flows

Abstract: This paper presents a rigorous extension of the explicit, high-order, positivity-preserving, and entropy-stable spectral collocation schemes developed in Upperman 2023 and Yamaleev 2023 for the 3D compressible Navier-Stokes equations to a time-implicit formulation. The time derivative terms are discretized by using the second-order implicit backward difference formula (BDF2) that is well suited for solving time-variable viscous flows at high Reynolds numbers. The nonlinear system of discrete equations resulting from the BDF2 discretization at each physical timestep is solved using a dual time-stepping (DTS) technique. The BDF2 DTS scheme is entropy-stable and positivity-preserving in the pseudotime and provides unconditional stability properties in the physical time. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the positivity-preserving BDF2 DTS scheme as compared with its explicit counterpart are presented for supersonic flows with strong shock waves and contact discontinuities.