Error estimates for finite volume element methods for general second‐order elliptic problems

We treat the finite volume element method (FVE) for solving general second order elliptic problems as a perturbation of the linear finite element method (FEM), and obtain the optimal H¹ error estimate, H¹ superconvergence and L^p (1 < p ≤ ∞) error estimates between the solution of the FVE and that of the FEM. In particular, the superconvergence result does not require any extra assumptions on the mesh except quasi‐uniform. Thus the error estimates of the FVE can be derived by the standard error estimates of the FEM. Moreover we consider the effects of numerical integration and prove that the use of barycenter quadrature rule does not decrease the convergence orders of the FVE. The results of this article reveal that the FVE is in close relationship with the FEM. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 693–708, 2003.     

Lp error estimates and superconvergence for covolume or finite volume element methods

We consider convergence of the covolume or finite volume element solution to linear elliptic and parabolic problems. Error estimates and superconvergence results in the L^p norm, 2 ≤ p ≤ ∞, are derived. We also show second‐order convergence in the L^p norm between the covolume and the corresponding finite element solutions and between their gradients. The main tools used in this article are an extension of the “supercloseness” results in Chou and Li [Math Comp 69(229) (2000), 103–120] to the L^p based spaces, duality arguments, and the discrete Green's function method. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 463–486, 2003     

An expanded mixed covolume method for elliptic problems

We consider the mixed covolume method combining with the expanded mixed element for a system of first‐order partial differential equations resulting from the mixed formulation of a general self‐adjoint elliptic problem with a full diffusion tensor. The system can be used to model the transport of a contaminant carried by a flow in porous media. We use the lowest order Raviart‐Thomas mixed element space. We show the first‐order error estimate for the approximate solution in L² norm. We show the superconvergence both for pressure and velocity in certain discrete norms. We also get a finite difference scheme by using proper approximate integration formulas. Finally we give some numerical examples. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2005     

Maximum‐norm superapproximation of the gradient for the trilinear block finite element

For a model elliptic boundary value problem in three dimensions, we give the weak estimate of the first type for trilinear block elements and the estimate for W^1,1‐seminorm of the discrete derivative Green's function over rectangular partitions of the domain, from which we obtain maximum‐norm superapproximation of the gradient for the trilinear block finite element approximation. Furthermore, utilizing this superapproximation, we can also obtain maximum‐norm superconvergence of the gradient. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007     

Finite volume element approximations of nonlocal reactive flows in porous media

In this article, we study finite volume element approximations for two‐dimensional parabolic integro‐differential equations, arising in the modeling of nonlocal reactive flows in porous media. These types of flows are also called NonFickian flows and exhibit mixing length growth. For simplicity, we consider only linear finite volume element methods, although higher‐order volume elements can be considered as well under this framework. It is proved that the finite volume element approximations derived are convergent with optimal order in H¹‐ and L²‐norm and are superconvergent in a discrete H¹‐norm. By examining the relationship between finite volume element and finite element approximations, we prove convergence in L^∞‐ and W^1,∞‐norms. These results are also new for finite volume element methods for elliptic and parabolic equations. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 16: 285–311, 2000     

Biquadratic finite volume element method based on optimal stress points for second order hyperbolic equations

Based on optimal stress points, we develop a full discrete finite volume element scheme for second order hyperbolic equations using the biquadratic elements. The optimal order error estimates in L^∞(H¹), L^∞(L²) norms are derived, in addition, the superconvergence of numerical gradients at optimal stress points is also discussed. Numerical results confirm the theoretical order of convergence. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2013     

Some superconvergence results of high-degree finite element method for a second order elliptic equation with variable coefficients

In this paper, some superconvergence results of high-degree finite element method are obtained for solving a second order elliptic equation with variable coefficients on the inner locally symmetric mesh with respect to a point x ₀ for triangular meshes. By using of the weak estimates and local symmetric technique, we obtain improved discretization errors of O(h ^p+1 |ln h|²) and O(h ^p+2 |ln h|²) when p (≥ 3) is odd and p (≥ 4) is even, respectively. Meanwhile, the results show that the combination of the weak estimates and local symmetric technique is also effective for superconvergence analysis of the second order elliptic equation with variable coefficients.     

Superconvergence for rectangular mixed finite elements

Summary In this paper we prove superconvergence error estimates for the vector variable for mixed finite element approximations of second order elliptic problems. For the rectangular finite elements of Raviart and Thomas [19] and for those of Brezzi et al. [4] we prove that the distance inL ² between the approximate solution and a projection of the exact one is of higher order than the error itself.This result is exploited to obtain superconvergence at Gaussian points and to construct higher order approximations by a local postprocessing.     

Analysis and application of finite volume element methods to a class of partial differential equations

The finite volume element (FVE) methods for a class of partial differential equations are discussed and analyzed in this paper. The new initial values are introduced in the finite volume element schemes, and we obtain optimal error estimates in Lp and W1,p (2?p?∞) as well as some superconvergence estimates in W1,p (2?p?∞). The main results in this paper perfect the theory of the finite volume element methods.     

A posteriori error analysis of nonconforming finite volume elements for general second‐order elliptic PDEs

In this article, we study the a posteriori H¹ and L² error estimates for Crouzeix‐Raviart nonconforming finite volume element discretization of general second‐order elliptic problems in ?². The error estimators yield global upper and local lower bounds. Finally, numerical experiments are performed to illustrate the theoretical findings. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2011     

Discontinuous finite volume element method for parabolic problems

In this article, we consider the semidiscrete and the backward Euler fully discrete discontinuous finite volume element methods for the second‐order parabolic problems and obtain the optimal order error estimates in a mesh dependent norm and in the L²‐norm. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2010     

Finite volume element method for monotone nonlinear elliptic problems

In this article, we consider the finite volume element method for the monotone nonlinear second‐order elliptic boundary value problems. With the assumptions which guarantee that the corresponding operator is strongly monotone and Lipschitz‐continuous, and with the minimal regularity assumption on the exact solution, that is, u∈H¹(Ω), we show that the finite volume element method has a unique solution, and the finite volume element approximation is uniformly convergent with respect to the H¹ ‐norm. If u∈H^1+ε(Ω),0 < ε ≤ 1, we develop the optimal convergence rate \begin{align*}\mathcal{O}(h^{\epsilon})\end{align*} in the H¹ ‐norm. Moreover, we propose a natural and computationally easy residual‐based H¹ ‐norm a posteriori error estimator and establish the global upper bound and local lower bounds on the error. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2013     

Discontinuous Galerkin finite volume element methods for second‐order linear elliptic problems

In this article, a one parameter family of discontinuous Galerkin finite volume element methods for approximating the solution of a class of second‐order linear elliptic problems is discussed. Optimal error estimates in L² and broken H¹‐ norms are derived. Numerical results confirm the theoretical order of convergences. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009     

Interior maximum norm estimates for finite element discretizations of the Stokes equations

Interior estimates are proved in the L ^∞ norm for stable finite element discretizations of the Stokes equations on translation invariant meshes. These estimates yield information about the quality of the finite element solution in subdomains a positive distance from the boundary. While they have been established for second-order elliptic problems, these interior, or local, maximum norm estimates for the Stokes equations are new. By applying finite differenciation methods on a translation invariant mesh, we obtain optimal convergence rates in the mesh size h in the maximum norm. These results can be used for analyzing superconvergence in finite element methods for the Stokes equations.     

A Priori Error Estimates for Finite Element Methods for H (2,1)-Elliptic Equations

The convergence of finite element methods for linear elliptic boundary value problems of second and forth order is well understood. In this article, we introduce finite element approximations of some linear semi-elliptic boundary value problem of mixed order on a two-dimensional rectangular domain Q. The equation is of second order in one direction and forth order in the other and appears in the optimal control of parabolic partial differential equations if one eliminates the control and the state (or the adjoint state) in the first order optimality conditions. We establish a regularity result and estimate for the finite element error of conforming approximations of this equation. The finite elements in use have a tensor product structure, in one dimension we use linear, quadratic or cubic Lagrange elements in the other dimension cubic Hermite elements. For these elements, we prove the error bound O(h ² + τ ^k ) in the energy norm and O((h ² + τ ^k )(h ² + τ)) in the L ²(Q)-norm.     

Superconvergence of Solution Derivatives of the Shortley–Weller Difference Approximation to Elliptic Equations with Singularities Involving the Mixed Type of Boundary Conditions

This paper presents a superconvergence analysis for the Shortley–Weller finite difference approximation of second-order self-adjoint elliptic equations with unbounded derivatives on a polygonal domain with the mixed type of boundary conditions. In this analysis, we first formulate the method as a special finite element/volume method. We then analyze the convergence of the method in a finite element framework. An O(h ^1.5)-order superconvergence of the solution derivatives in a discrete H ¹ norm is obtained. Finally, numerical experiments are provided to support the theoretical convergence rate obtained.     

解Poisson方程的基于应力佳点的双二次元有限体积法

本文提出了求解Poisson方程的一种新的双二次元有限体积法.新方法与通常的双二次元有限体积法作对偶剖分的方式不同,其主要特点是取应力佳点(Gauss点)作为对偶单元的节点,试探函数空间取双二次有限元空间,检验函数空间取相应于对偶剖分的分片常数函数空间.证明了新方法具有最优的H~1模和L~2模误差估计,讨论了在应力佳点数值梯度的超收敛性估计,并通过数值实验验证了理论分析的结果.     

Finite volume method for the variational inequalities of first and second kinds

We propose and analyze the finite volume method for solving the variational inequalities of first and second kinds. The stability and convergence analysis are given for this method. For the elliptic obstacle problem, we derive the optimal error estimate in the H¹‐norm. For the simplified friction problem, we establish an abstract H¹‐error estimate, which implies the convergence if the exact solution u∈H¹(Ω) and the optimal error estimate if u∈H^{1 + α}(Ω),0 < α≤2. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical Solutions for second-kind Volterra integral equations by Galerkin methods

In this paper, we study the global convergence for the numerical solutions of nonlinear Volterra integral equations of the second kind by means of Galerkin finite element methods. Global superconvergence properties are discussed by iterated finite element methods and interpolated finite element methods. Local superconvergence and iterative correction schemes are also considered by iterated finite element methods. We improve the corresponding results obtained by collocation methods in the recent papers [6] and [9] by H. Brunner, Q. Lin and N. Yan. Moreover, using an interpolation post-processing technique, we obtain a global superconvergence of the O(h ^2r )-convergence rate in the piecewise-polynomial space of degree not exceeding (r–1). As a by-product of our results, all these higher order numerical methods can also provide an a posteriori error estimator, which gives critical and useful information in the code development.     

A posteriori error estimate for a modified weak Galerkin method solving elliptic problems

A residual‐type a posteriori error estimator is proposed and analyzed for a modified weak Galerkin finite element method solving second‐order elliptic problems. This estimator is proven to be both reliable and efficient because it provides computable upper and lower bounds on the actual error in a discrete H¹‐norm. Numerical experiments are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the this error estimator. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 381–398, 2017