| This work examines alternative time discretizations for the Euler equations and methods for the robust and efficient solution of these discretizations. Specifically, the time-spectral method (TS), quasi-periodic time-spectral method (BDFTS), and spectral-element method in time (SEMT) are derived and examined in detail. For the two time-spectral based methods, focus is given to expanding these methods for more complicated problems than have been typically solved by other authors, including problems with spectral content in a large number of harmonics, gust response problems, and aeroelastic problems. To solve these more complicated problems, it was necessary to implement the flexible variant of the Generalized Minimal Residual method (FGMRES), utilizing the full second-order accurate spatial Jacobian, complete temporal coupling of the chosen time discretization, and fully-implicit coupling of the aeroelastic equations in the cases where they are needed. The FGMRES solver developed utilizes a block-colored Gauss-Seidel (BCGS) preconditioner augmented by a defect-correction process to increase its effectiveness. Exploration of more efficient preconditioners for the FGMRES solver is an anticipated topic for future work in this field.;It was a logical extension to apply this already developed FGMRES solver to the spectral-element method in time, which has some advantages over the spectral methods already discussed. Unlike purely-spectral methods, SEMT allows for bothh- and p-refinement. This property could allow for element clustering around areas of sharp gradients and discontinuities, which in turn could make SEMT more efficient than TS for periodic problems that contain these sharp gradients and would require many time instances to produce a precise solution using the TS method. As such, a preliminary investigation of the SEMT method applied to the Euler equations is conducted and some areas for needed improvement in future work are identified.;In this work, it is shown that many if not most periodic problems can be solved more quickly and more precisely (utilizing the current FGMRES solver) using the time-spectral method than the currently state-of-the-art second-order accurate time-implicit methods. Additionally, the potential efficiency gains of the quasi-periodic time-spectral method for strongly-periodic problems, over time-implicit methods for these same types of problems, is demonstrated. Problems with strong, moving shock waves, high reduced frequencies, and/or content in high harmonics (higher than the 20th harmonic) are particularly difficult to solve efficiently using TS, BDFTS, and SEMT, and future work should focus on solver improvements to address these types of problems in particular. |
