Error estimates for two‐level penalty finite volume method for the stationary Navier–Stokes equations

Two‐level penalty finite volume method for the stationary Navier–Stokes equations based on the P₁ ? P₀ element is considered in this paper. The method involves solving one small penalty Navier–Stokes problem on a coarse mesh with mesh size H = ?^{1 / 4}h^{1 / 2}, a large penalty Stokes problem on a fine mesh with mesh size h, where 0 < ? < 1 is a penalty parameter. The method we study provides an approximate solution with the convergence rate of same order as the penalty finite volume solution (u_?h,p_?h), which involves solving one large penalty Navier–Stokes problem on a fine mesh with the same mesh size h. However, our method can save a large amount of computational time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.