Convergence of Extrapolated BDF2 Finite Element Schemes for Unsteady Penetrative Convection Model

Extrapolated two-step backward difference (BDF2) in time and finite element in space discretization for the unsteady penetrative convection model is analyzed. Penetrative convection model employs a nonlinear equation of state making the problem more nonlinear. Optimal order error estimates are derived for the semi-discrete finite element spatial discretization. Two time discretization schemes based on linear extrapolation are proposed and analyzed, namely a coupled and a decoupled scheme. In particular, we show that although both schemes are unconditionally nonlinearly stable, the decoupled scheme converges unconditionally whereas coupled scheme requires that the time step be sufficiently small for convergence. These time discretization schemes can be implemented efficiently in practice, saving computational memory. Numerical computations and numerical convergence checks are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and the accuracy of the schemes.