Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a finite element approximation of the low Mach number equations coupled with radiative equations to account for radiative heat transfer. For high-temperature flows this coupling can have strong effects on the temperature and velocity fields.

Design/methodology/approach – The basic numerical formulation has been proposed in previous works. It is based on the variational multiscale (VMS) concept in which the unknowns of the problem are divided into resolved and subgrid parts which are modeled to consider their effect into the former. The aim of the present paper is to extend this modeling to the case in which the low Mach number equations are coupled with radiation, also introducing the concept of subgrid scales for the radiation equations.

Findings – As in the non-radiative case, an important improvement in the accuracy of the numerical scheme is observed when the nonlinear effects of the subgrid scales are taken into account. Besides it is possible to show global conservation of thermal energy.

Originality/value – The original contribution of the work is the proposal of keeping the VMS splitting into the nonlinear coupling between the low Mach number and the radiative transport equations, its numerical evaluation and the description of its properties.