A non-conforming finite element method with anisotropic mesh grading for the Stokes problem in domains with edges

The solution of the Stokes problem in three-dimensional domainswith edges has anisotropic singular behaviour which is treatednumerically by using anisotropic finite element meshes. Thevelocity is approximated by Crouzeix–Raviart (nonconformingP₁ ) elements and the pressure by piecewise constants. Thismethod is stable for general meshes (without minimal or maximalangle condition). Denoting by N_e the number of elements in themesh, the interpolation and consistency errors are of the optimalorder h N_e^–1/3 which is proved for tensor product meshes.As a by-product, we analyse also nonconforming prismatic elementswith P₁ [oplus ] span {x₃²} as the local space for the velocitywhere x₃ is the direction of the edge.     

The heterogeneous multiscale finite element method for elliptic homogenization problems in perforated domains

In this contribution we analyze a generalization of the heterogeneous multiscale finite element method for elliptic homogenization problems in perforated domains. The method was originally introduced by E and Engquist (Commun Math Sci 1(1):87–132, 2003) for homogenization problems in fixed domains. It is based on a standard finite element approach on the macroscale, where the stiffness matrix is computed by solving local cell problems on the microscale. A-posteriori error estimates are derived in L ²(Ω) by reformulating the problem into a discrete two-scale formulation (see also, Ohlberger in Multiscale Model Simul 4(1):88–114, 2005) and using duality methods afterwards. Numerical experiments are given in order to numerically evaluate the efficiency of the error estimate.     

A finite element scheme for domains with corners

This paper is concerned with the rate of convergence of the finite element method on polygonal domains in weighted Sobolev spaces. It is shown that the use of different spaces of trial and test functions will restrict the usual low rate of convergence to a neighborhood of each vertex of the polygonal domain.L ₂-convergence and lower bounds on the error are also studied.This research was supported in part by the Atomic Energy Commission under contract no. AEC AT-(40-1)-3443/4.This research was supported in part by the U.S. Naval Academy Research Council.     

A partially penalty immersed interface finite element method for anisotropic elliptic interface problems

In this article, we develop a partially penalty immersed interface finite element (PIFE) method for a kind of anisotropy diffusion models governed by the elliptic interface problems with discontinuous tensor‐coefficients. This method is based on linear immersed interface finite elements (IIFE) and applies the discontinuous Galerkin formulation around the interface. We add two penalty terms to the general IIFE formulation along the sides intersected with the interface. The flux jump condition is weakly enforced on the smooth interface. By proving that the piecewise linear function on an interface element is uniquely determined by its values at the three vertices under some conditions, we construct the finite element spaces. Therefore, a PIFE procedure is proposed, which is based on the symmetric, nonsymmetric or incomplete interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin formulation. Then we prove the consistency and the solvability of the procedure. Theoretical analysis and numerical experiments show that the PIFE solution possesses optimal‐order error estimates in the energy norm and norm.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1984–2028, 2014     

Robust multilevel methods for quadratic finite element anisotropic elliptic problems

This paper discusses a class of multilevel preconditioners based on approximate block factorization for conforming finite element methods employing quadratic trial and test functions. The main focus is on diffusion problems governed by a scalar elliptic partial differential equation with a strongly anisotropic coefficient tensor. The proposed method provides a high robustness with respect to non‐grid‐aligned anisotropy, which is achieved by the interaction of the following components: (i) an additive Schur complement approximation to construct the coarse‐grid operator; (ii) a global block (Jacobi or Gauss–Seidel) smoother complementing the coarse‐grid correction based on (i); and (iii) utilization of an augmented coarse grid, which enhances the efficiency of the interplay between (i) and (ii). The performed analysis indicates the high robustness of the resulting two‐level method. Moreover, numerical tests with a nonlinear algebraic multilevel iteration method demonstrate that the presented two‐level method can be applied successfully in the recursive construction of uniform multilevel preconditioners of optimal or nearly optimal order of computational complexity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The convergence of the cascadic conjugate-gradient method applied to elliptic problems in domains with re-entrant corners

We study the convergence properties of the cascadic conjugate-gradient method (CCG-method), which can be considered as a multilevel method without coarse-grid correction. Nevertheless, the CCG-method converges with a rate that is independent of the number of unknowns and the number of grid levels. We prove this property for two-dimensional elliptic second-order Dirichlet problems in a polygonal domain with an interior angle greater than . For piecewise linear finite elements we construct special nested triangulations that satisfy the conditions of a ``triangulation of type ' in the sense of I. Babuska, R. B. Kellogg and J. Pitkäranta. In this way we can guarantee both the same order of accuracy in the energy norm of the discrete solution and the same convergence rate of the CCG-method as in the case of quasiuniform triangulations of a convex polygonal domain.

     

A generalized Green's formula for elliptic problems in domains with edges

The usual Green's formula connected with the operator of a boundary-value problem fails when both of the solutions u and v that occur in it have singularities that are too strong at a conic point or at an edge on the boundary of the domain. We deduce a generalized Green's formula that acquires an additional bilinear form in u and v and is determined by the coefficients in the expansion of solutions near singularities of the boundary. We obtain improved asymptotic representations of solutions in a neighborhood of an edge of positive dimension, which together with the generalized Green's formula makes it possible, for example, to describe the infinite-dimensional kernel of the operator of an elliptic problem in a domain with edge. Bibliography: 14 titles. Translated fromProblemy Matematicheskogo Analiza, No. 13, 1992, pp. 106–147.     

Streamline diffusion finite element method for quasilinear elliptic problems

Summary We extend the analysis of the streamline diffusion finite element method to quasilinear elliptic problems of second order. An existence theorem and error estimates are given in the case of branches of nonsingular solutions following a recent abstract approach in [12, 13, 26].     

Superconvergence of finite volume element method for elliptic problems

We study the superconvergence of finite volume element (FVE) method for elliptic problems by using linear trial functions. Under the condition of C-uniform meshes, we first establish a superclose weak estimate for the bilinear form of FVE method. Then, we prove that all interior mesh points are the optimal stress points of interpolation function and further we give the superconvergence result of gradient approximation: $\displaystyle {\max _{P\in S}}\left |\left (\nabla u-\overline {\nabla }u_{h}\right )(P)\right |=O\left (h^{2}\right )\left |\ln h\right |$ , where S is the set of mesh points and $\overline {\nabla }$ denotes the average gradient on elements containing vertex P.     

Singularities of the Laplacian at corners and edges of three-dimensional domains and their treatment with finite element methods

Three-dimensional Poisson problems containing boundary singularities are treated. The forms of the solutions for certain problems of this type are derived, where the domains of the problems can be represented in terms either of spherical- or of cylindrical-polar co-ordinates. These singular forms are used to augment the basis of a standard piecewise polynomial Galerkin space, thus producing an augmented Galerkin technique which is suited to the context of a problem involving a singularity. Error estimates are derived.     

A finite element method for elliptic problems with rapidly oscillating coefficients

In this paper, we consider solving second-order elliptic problems with rapidly oscillating coefficients. Under the assumption that the oscillating coefficients are periodic, on the basis of classical homogenization theory, we present a finite element method whose key is to combine a numerical approximation of the 1-order approximate solution of those equations and a numerical approximation of the classical boundary corrector of those equations from different meshes exploiting the need for different levels of resolution. Numerical experiments are included to illustrate the competitive behavior of the proposed finite element method.     

The hp finite element method for singularly perturbed problems in nonsmooth domains

We consider the numerical approximation of singularly perturbed elliptic boundary value problems over nonsmooth domains. We use a decomposition of the solution that contains a smooth part, a corner layer part and a boundary layer part. Explicit guidelines for choosing mesh‐degree combinations are given that yield finite element spaces with robust approximation properties. In particular, we construct an hp finite element space that approximates all components uniformly, at a near exponential rate. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 15: 63–89, 1999     

An optimal order finite element method for elliptic interface problems

A specific finite element method for problems involving interfaces is presented. The method allows for non fitted meshes and is well adapted for elliptic problems with jumps of coefficients along a closed curve. Error bounds for the presented method show optimal convergence. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A mixed multiscale finite element method for elliptic problems with oscillating coefficients

The recently introduced multiscale finite element method for solving elliptic equations with oscillating coefficients is designed to capture the large-scale structure of the solutions without resolving all the fine-scale structures. Motivated by the numerical simulation of flow transport in highly heterogeneous porous media, we propose a mixed multiscale finite element method with an over-sampling technique for solving second order elliptic equations with rapidly oscillating coefficients. The multiscale finite element bases are constructed by locally solving Neumann boundary value problems. We provide a detailed convergence analysis of the method under the assumption that the oscillating coefficients are locally periodic. While such a simplifying assumption is not required by our method, it allows us to use homogenization theory to obtain the asymptotic structure of the solutions. Numerical experiments are carried out for flow transport in a porous medium with a random log-normal relative permeability to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.     

An iterative adaptive finite element method for elliptic eigenvalue problems

We consider the task of resolving accurately the n$n$th eigenpair of a generalized eigenproblem rooted in some elliptic partial differential equation (PDE), using an adaptive finite element method (FEM). Conventional adaptive FEM algorithms call a generalized eigensolver after each mesh refinement step. This is not practical in our situation since the generalized eigensolver needs to calculate n$n$ eigenpairs after each mesh refinement step, it can switch the order of eigenpairs, and for repeated eigenvalues it can return an arbitrary linear combination of eigenfunctions from the corresponding eigenspace. In order to circumvent these problems, we propose a novel adaptive algorithm that only calls a generalized eigensolver once at the beginning of the computation, and then employs an iterative method to pursue a selected eigenvalue–eigenfunction pair on a sequence of locally refined meshes. Both Picard’s and Newton’s variants of the iterative method are presented. The underlying partial differential equation (PDE) is discretized with higher-order finite elements (hp$hp$-FEM) but the algorithm also works for standard low-order FEM. The method is described and accompanied with theoretical analysis and numerical examples. Instructions on how to reproduce the results are provided.     

Two-grid finite volume element method for linear and nonlinear elliptic problems

Two-grid finite volume element discretization techniques, based on two linear conforming finite element spaces on one coarse and one fine grid, are presented for the two-dimensional second-order non-selfadjoint and indefinite linear elliptic problems and the two-dimensional second-order nonlinear elliptic problems. With the proposed techniques, solving the non-selfadjoint and indefinite elliptic problem on the fine space is reduced into solving a symmetric and positive definite elliptic problem on the fine space and solving the non-selfadjoint and indefinite elliptic problem on a much smaller space; solving a nonlinear elliptic problem on the fine space is reduced into solving a linear problem on the fine space and solving the nonlinear elliptic problem on a much smaller space. Convergence estimates are derived to justify the efficiency of the proposed two-grid algorithms. A set of numerical examples are presented to confirm the estimates. The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 10601045).     

On the finite element method for elliptic problems with degenerate and singular coefficients

We consider Dirichlet boundary value problems for second order elliptic equations over polygonal domains. The coefficients of the equations under consideration degenerate at an inner point of the domain, or behave singularly in the neighborhood of that point. This behavior may cause singularities in the solution. The solvability of the problems is proved in weighted Sobolev spaces, and their approximation by finite elements is studied. This study includes regularity results, graded meshes, and inverse estimates. Applications of the theory to some problems appearing in quantum mechanics are given. Numerical results are provided which illustrate the theory and confirm the predicted rates of convergence of the finite element approximations for quasi-uniform meshes.

     

Toward anisotropic mesh construction and error estimation in the finite element method

Directional, anisotropic features like layers in the solution of partial differential equations can be resolved favorably by using anisotropic finite element meshes. An adaptive algorithm for such meshes includes the ingredients Error estimation and Information extraction/Mesh refinement. Related articles on a posteriori error estimation on anisotropic meshes revealed that reliable error estimation requires an anisotropic mesh that is aligned with the anisotropic solution. To obtain anisotropic meshes the so‐called Hessian strategy is used, which provides information such as the stretching direction and stretching ratio of the anisotropic elements. This article combines the analysis of anisotropic information extraction/mesh refinement and error estimation (for several estimators). It shows that the Hessian strategy leads to well‐aligned anisotropic meshes and, consequently, reliable error estimation. The underlying heuristic assumptions are given in a stringent yet general form. Numerical examples strengthen the exposition. Hence the analysis provides further insight into a particular aspect of anisotropic error estimation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 625–648, 2002; DOI 10.1002/num.10023     

Gradient WEB-spline finite element method for solving two-dimensional quasilinear elliptic problems

In this paper, a two-dimensional quasilinear elliptic problem of the form -divF(x,▽u)=g(x)$-\mathit{divF}(\mathbf{x}\text{,}▽u)=g(\mathbf{x})$ is considered. This problem is ill-conditioned and we therefore propose a modified iterative algorithm based on coupling of the Sobolev space gradient method and WEB-spline finite element method. Applying the preconditioned iterative method, which has been already provided by Farago and Karatson (2001) [1] reduces the our considered problem to a sequence of linear Poisson’s problems. Then the WEB-spline finite element method is applied to the approximate solution of these Poisson’s problems. In this sense, a convergence theorem is proved and the advantages of this technique than the gradient finite element method (GFEM) is also described. Finally, the presented method is tested on some examples and compared with GFEM. It is shown that the gradient WEB-spline finite element method gives better test results.