A priori and a posteriori error analyses in the study of viscoelastic problems

In this work, the numerical approximation of a viscoelastic problem is studied. A fully discrete scheme is introduced by using the finite element method to approximate the spatial variable and an Euler scheme to discretize time derivatives. Then, two numerical analyses are presented. First, a priori estimates are proved from which the linear convergence of the algorithm is derived under suitable regularity conditions. Secondly, an a posteriori error analysis is provided extending some preliminary results obtained in the study of the heat equation. Upper and lower error bounds are obtained.     

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF A CONTACT PROBLEM IN RATE-TYPE VISCOPLASTICITY

In this paper, we consider numerical approximations of a contact problem in rate-type viscoplasticity. The contact conditions are described in term of a subdifferential and include as special cases some classical frictionless boundary conditions. The contact problem consists of an evolution equation coupled with a time-dependent variational inequality. Error estimates for both spatially semi-discrete and fully discrete solutions are derived and some convergence results are shown. Under appropriate regularity assumptions on the exact solution, error estimates are obtained.     

A frictionless contact problem for elastic–viscoplastic materials with normal compliance: Numerical analysis and computational experiments

Summary. In this paper we consider a frictionless contact problem between an elastic–viscoplastic body and an obstacle. The process is assumed to be quasistatic and the contact is modeled with normal compliance. We present a variational formulation of the problem and prove the existence and uniqueness of the weak solution, using strongly monotone operators arguments and Banach's fixed point theorem. We also study the numerical approach to the problem using spatially semi-discrete and fully discrete finite elements schemes with implicit and explicit discretization in time. We show the existence of the unique solution for each of the schemes and derive error estimates on the approximate solutions. Finally, we present some numerical results involving examples in one, two and three dimensions. Received May 20, 2000 / Revised version received January 8, 2001 / Published online June 7, 2001     

A posteriori error analysis for the normal compliance problem

In this work, a contact problem between a linear elastic material and a deformable obstacle is numerically analyzed. The contact is modeled using the well-known normal compliance contact condition. The weak formulation leads to a nonlinear variational equation which is approximated by using the finite element method. A priori error estimates are recalled. Then, we define an a posteriori error estimator of residual type to evaluate the accuracy of the finite element approximation of the problem. Upper and lower bounds of the discretization error are proved for this estimator.     

Numerical Analysis of a Problem Involving a Viscoelastic Body with Double Porosity

We study from a numerical point of view a multidimensional problem involving a viscoelastic body with two porous structures. The mechanical problem leads to a linear system of three coupled hyperbolic partial differential equations. Its corresponding variational formulation gives rise to three coupled parabolic linear equations. An existence and uniqueness result, and an energy decay property, are recalled. Then, fully discrete approximations are introduced using the finite element method and the implicit Euler scheme. A discrete stability property and a priori error estimates are proved, from which the linear convergence of the algorithm is derived under suitable additional regularity conditions. Finally, some numerical simulations are performed in one and two dimensions to show the accuracy of the approximation and the behaviour of the solution.     

An a priori error analysis of a type III thermoelastic problem with two porosities

In this work, we study, from the numerical point of view, a type III thermoelastic model with double porosity. The thermomechanical problem is written as a linear system composed of hyperbolic partial differential equations for the displacements and the two porosities, and a parabolic partial differential equation for the thermal displacement. An existence and uniqueness result is recalled. Then, we perform its a priori error numerical analysis approximating the resulting variational problem by using the finite element method and the implicit Euler scheme. The linear convergence of the algorithm is derived under suitable additional regularity conditions. Finally, some numerical simulations are shown to demonstrate the accuracy of the approximations and the dependence of the solution on a coupling coefficient.     

Numerical analysis of a frictional contact problem for viscoelastic materials with long-term memory

We consider a mathematical model which describes the bilateral contact between a deformable body and an obstacle. The process is quasistatic, the material is assumed to be viscoelastic with long memory and the friction is modeled with Tresca’s law. The problem has a unique weak solution. Here we study spatially semi-discrete and fully discrete schemes using finite differences and finite elements. We show the convergence of the schemes under the basic solution regularity and we derive order error estimates. Finally, we present an algorithm for the numerical realization and simulations for a two-dimensional test problem.     

Error estimates for a mixed finite element discretization of some degenerate parabolic equations

We consider a numerical scheme for a class of degenerate parabolic equations, including both slow and fast diffusion cases. A particular example in this sense is the Richards equation modeling the flow in porous media. The numerical scheme is based on the mixed finite element method (MFEM) in space, and is of one step implicit in time. The lowest order Raviart–Thomas elements are used. Here we extend the results in Radu et al. (SIAM J Numer Anal 42:1452–1478, 2004), Schneid et al. (Numer Math 98:353–370, 2004) to a more general framework, by allowing for both types of degeneracies. We derive error estimates in terms of the discretization parameters and show the convergence of the scheme. The features of the MFEM, especially of the lowest order Raviart–Thomas elements, are now fully exploited in the proof of the convergence. The paper is concluded by numerical examples.     

Analysis and finite element approximations for distributed optimal control problems for implicit parabolic equations

This work concerns analysis and error estimates for optimal control problems related to implicit parabolic equations. The minimization of the tracking functional subject to implicit parabolic equations is examined. Existence of an optimal solution is proved and an optimality system of equations is derived. Semi-discrete (in space) error estimates for the finite element approximations of the optimality system are presented. These estimates are symmetric and applicable for higher-order discretizations. Finally, fully-discrete error estimates of arbitrarily high-order are presented based on a discontinuous Galerkin (in time) and conforming (in space) scheme. Two examples related to the Lagrangian moving mesh Galerkin formulation for the convection-diffusion equation are described.     

Existence and approximation results for shape optimization problems in rotordynamics

We consider a shape optimization problem in rotordynamics where the mass of a rotor is minimized subject to constraints on the natural frequencies. Our analysis is based on a class of rotors described by a Rayleigh beam model including effects of rotary inertia and gyroscopic moments. The solution of the equation of motion leads to a generalized eigenvalue problem. The governing operators are non-symmetric due to the gyroscopic terms. We prove the existence of solutions for the optimization problem by using the theory of compact operators. For the numerical treatment of the problem a finite element discretization based on a variational formulation is considered. Applying results on spectral approximation of linear operators we prove that the solution of the discretized optimization problem converges towards the solution of the continuous problem if the discretization parameter tends to zero. Finally, a priori estimates for the convergence order of the eigenvalues are presented and illustrated by a numerical example.     

凹角区域双曲外问题的精确人工边界条件

研究一类凹角区域双曲型外问题的数值方法.先用Newmark方法对时间进行离散化,在每个时间步求解一个椭圆外问题.然后引入人工边界,并获得精确的人工边界条件.给出半离散化问题的变分问题,证明了变分问题的适定性,并给出了误差估计.最后给出数值例子,以示该方法的可行性与有效性.     

Damageable contact between an elastic body and a rigid foundation

In this work, the contact problem between an elastic body and a rigid obstacle is studied, including the development of material damage which results from internal compression or tension. The variational problem is formulated as a first-kind variational inequality for the displacements coupled with a parabolic partial differential equation for the damage field. The existence of a unique local weak solution is stated. Then, a fully discrete scheme is introduced using the finite element method to approximate the spatial variable and an Euler scheme to discretize the time derivatives. Error estimates are derived on the approximate solutions, from which the linear convergence of the algorithm is deduced under suitable regularity conditions. Finally, three two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate the accuracy and the behaviour of the scheme.     

Numerical analysis of a quasi-static contact problem for a thermoviscoelastic beam

In this paper we revisit a quasi-static contact problem of a thermoviscoelastic beam between two rigid obstacles which was recently studied in [1]. The variational problem leads to a coupled system, composed of an elliptic variational inequality for the vertical displacement and a linear variational equation for the temperature field. Then, its numerical resolution is considered, based on the finite element method to approximate the spatial variable and the implicit Euler scheme to discretize the time derivatives. Error estimates are proved from which, under adequate regularity conditions, the linear convergence is derived. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented to show the accuracy of the algorithm and the behavior of the solution.     

A second order backward difference method with variable steps for a parabolic problem

The numerical solution of a parabolic problem is studied. The equation is discretized in time by means of a second order two step backward difference method with variable time step. A stability result is proved by the energy method under certain restrictions on the ratios of successive time steps. Error estimates are derived and applications are given to homogenous equations with initial data of low regularity.     

On the influence of numerical integration on mixed finite element approximations of a Maxwell eigenvalue problem

The behaviour of electromagnetic resonances in cavities is modelled by a Maxwell eigenvalue problem (EVP). In the present work, we rewrite the corresponding variational problem, as it arises with a view to the application of a finite element method, in a mixed formulation. For the modelling of realistic problems the integrals occurring in this mixed formulation often cannot be evaluated exactly. We take into account the error arising from numerical quadrature and show convergence to the approximations using exact integration. Finally, some numerical results are presented.     

A combined mixed and discontinuous Galerkin method for compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media

In this paper, we present a numerical scheme for solving the coupled system of compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media. The flow equation is solved by the mixed finite element method, and the transport equation is approximated by a discontinuous Galerkin method. The scheme is continuous in time and a priori hp error estimates is presented.     

The spectral methods for parabolic Volterra integro-differential equations

In this paper we study the numerical solutions to parabolic Volterra integro-differential equations in one-dimensional bounded and unbounded spatial domains. In a bounded domain, the given parabolic Volterra integro-differential equation is converted to two equivalent equations. Then, a Legendre-collocation method is used to solve them and finally a linear algebraic system is obtained. For an unbounded case, we use the algebraic mapping to transfer the problem on a bounded domain and then apply the same presented approach for the bounded domain. In both cases, some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.     

An asymptotic behavior and a posteriori error estimates for the generalized Schwartz method of advection-diffusion equation

In this paper, a posteriori error estimates for the generalized Schwartz method with Dirichlet boundary conditions on the interfaces for advection-diffusion equation with second order boundary value problems are proved by using the Euler time scheme combined with Galerkin spatial method. Furthermore, an asymptotic behavior in Sobolev norm is deduced using Benssoussan-Lions' algorithm. Finally, the results of some numerical experiments are presented to support the theory.     

Lattice Boltzmann model for two-dimensional unsteady Burgers’ equation

In this paper, a special lattice Boltzmann model is proposed to simulate two-dimensional unsteady Burgers’ equation. The maximum principle and the stability are proved. The model has been verified by several test examples. Excellent agreement is obtained between numerical predictions and exact solutions. The cases of steep oblique shock waves are solved and compared with the two-point compact scheme results. The study indicates that lattice Boltzmann model is highly stable and efficient even for the problems with severe gradients.