A p-adaptation method for compressible flow problems using a goal-based error indicator

We initially calculate a steady-state solution to the governing equations using a low polynomial order and use the goal-based error indicator to identify parts of the computational domain that require improved solution accuracy which is achieved by increasing the approximation order. We demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of our method across a range of polynomial orders by considering a number of examples in two- and three-dimensions and in subsonic and transonic flow regimes. Reductions in both the number of degrees of freedom required to resolve the force coefficients to a given error, as well as the computational cost, are both observed in using the p-adaptive technique.