Third-order scale-independent WENO-Z scheme achieving optimal order at critical points

As we found previously, when critical points occur within grid intervals, the accuracy relations of smoothness indicators of WENO-JS would differ from that assuming critical points occurring on grid nodes, and accordingly the global smoothness indicator in WENO-Z scheme will differ from the original one. Based on above understandings, we first discuss several issues regarding current third-order WENO-Z improvements (e.g. WENO-NP3, -F3, -NN3, -PZ3 and -P+3), i.e. the numerical results with scale dependency, the validity of analysis assuming critical points occurring on nodes, and the sensitivity regarding computational time step and initial condition in order convergence studies. By analyses and numerical validations, the defections of present improvements are demonstrated, either scale-dependency of results or failure to recover optimal order when critical points occurring at half nodes, then a generic analysis is provided which considers the first-order critical point occurring within grid intervals. Based on achieved theoretical outcomes, two scale-independent, third-order WENO-Z schemes are proposed which could truly recover the optimal order at critical points: the first one is acquired by limited expansion of grid stencil, deriving new global smoothness indicator and incorporating with the mapping function; the second one is achieved by further expanding grid stencil and employing a different global smoothness indicator. For validating, typical 1-D scalar advection problems, 1-D and 2-D problems by Euler equations are chosen and tested. The consequences verify the optimal order recovery at critical points by proposed schemes and show that: the first scheme outperforms aforementioned third-order WENO-Z improvements in terms of numerical resolution, while the second scheme indicates weak numerical robustness in spite of improved resolution and is mainly of theoretical significance