Simple nonconforming brick element for 3D Stokes equations

A simple nonconforming brick element is proposed for 3D Stokes equations. This element has 15 degrees of freedom and reaches the lowest approximation order. In the mixed scheme for Stokes equations, we adopt our new element to approximate the velocity, along with the discontinuous piecewise constant element for the pressure. The stability of this scheme is proved and thus the optimal convergence rate is achieved. A numerical example verifies our theoretical analysis.     

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.     

Error analysis of a fully discrete finite element variational multiscale method for time‐dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

A finite element variational multiscale method based on two local Gauss integrations is applied to solve numerically the time‐dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A significant feature of the method is that the definition of the stabilization term is derived via two local Guass integrations at element level, making it more efficient than the usual projection‐based variational multiscale methods. It is computationally cheap and gives an accurate approximation to the quantities sought. Based on backward Euler and Crank–Nicolson schemes for temporal discretization, we derive error bounds of the fully discrete solution which are first and second order in time, respectively. Numerical tests are also given to verify the theoretical predictions and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2013     

A new family of stable mixed finite elements for the 3D Stokes equations

A natural mixed-element approach for the Stokes equations in the velocity-pressure formulation would approximate the velocity by continuous piecewise-polynomials and would approximate the pressure by discontinuous piecewise-polynomials of one degree lower. However, many such elements are unstable in 2D and 3D. This paper is devoted to proving that the mixed finite elements of this - type when satisfy the stability condition--the Babuska-Brezzi inequality on macro-tetrahedra meshes where each big tetrahedron is subdivided into four subtetrahedra. This type of mesh simplifies the implementation since it has no restrictions on the initial mesh. The new element also suits the multigrid method.

     

Mixed finite element methods for incompressible flow: Stationary Stokes equations

In this article, we develop and analyze a mixed finite element method for the Stokes equations. Our mixed method is based on the pseudostress‐velocity formulation. The pseudostress is approximated by the Raviart‐Thomas (RT) element of index k ≥ 0 and the velocity by piecewise discontinuous polynomials of degree k. It is shown that this pair of finite elements is stable and yields quasi‐optimal accuracy. The indefinite system of linear equations resulting from the discretization is decoupled by the penalty method. The penalized pseudostress system is solved by the H(div) type of multigrid method and the velocity is then calculated explicitly. Alternative preconditioning approaches that do not involve penalizing the system are also discussed. Finally, numerical experiments are presented. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2010     

Analysis of the immersed boundary method for a finite element Stokes problem

Convergence results are presented for the immersed boundary (IB) method applied to a model Stokes problem. As a discretization method, we use the finite element method. First, the immersed force field is approximated using a regularized delta function. Its error in the W^{?1, p} norm is examined for 1 ≤ p < n/(n ? 1), with n representing the space dimension. Subsequently, we consider IB discretization of the Stokes problem and examine the regularization and discretization errors separately. Consequently, error estimate of order h^{1 ? α} in the W^{1, 1} × L¹ norm for the velocity and pressure is derived, where α is an arbitrary small positive number. The validity of those theoretical results is confirmed from numerical examples.     

Superconvergence of nonconforming finite element method for the Stokes equations

This article derives a general superconvergence result for nonconforming finite element approximations of the Stokes problem by using a least‐squares surface fitting method proposed and analyzed recently by Wang for the standard Galerkin method. The superconvergence result is based on some regularity assumption for the Stokes problem and is applicable to any nonconforming stable finite elements with regular but nonuniform partitions. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 143–154, 2002; DOI 10.1002/num.1036     

On the convergence of finite element solutions to the interface problem for the Stokes system

The Stokes system with a discontinuous coefficient (Stokes interface problem) and its finite element approximations are considered. We firstly show a general error estimate. To derive explicit convergence rates, we introduce some appropriate assumptions on the regularity of exact solutions and on a geometric condition for the triangulation. We mainly deal with the MINI element approximation and then consider P1-iso-P2/P1 element approximation. Results are expected to give an instructive remark in numerical analysis for two-phase flow problems.     

Iterative methods in penalty finite element discretizations for the Steady Navier–Stokes equations

Three penalty finite element methods are designed to solve numerically the steady Navier–Stokes equations, where the Stokes, Newton, and Oseen iteration methods are used, respectively. Moreover, the stability analysis and error estimate for these nine algorithms are provided. Finally, the numerical tests confirm the theoretical results of the presented algorithms. Meanwhile, the numerical investigations are provided to show that the proposed methods are efficient for solving the steady Navier–Stokes equations with the different viscosity. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 74‐94, 2014     

A superconvergent nonconforming mixed finite element method for the Navier–Stokes equations

The superconvergence for a nonconforming mixed finite element approximation of the Navier–Stokes equations is analyzed in this article. The velocity field is approximated by the constrained nonconforming rotated Q₁ (CNRQ₁) element, and the pressure is approximated by the piecewise constant functions. Under some regularity assumptions, the superconvergence estimates for both the velocity in broken H¹‐norm and the pressure in L²‐norm are obtained. Some numerical examples are presented to demonstrate our theoretical results. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 646–660, 2016     

Penalty finite element approximations for the Stokes equations by L2 projection

This paper considers the penalty finite element method for the Stokes equations, based on some stable finite elements space pair (X_h, M_h) that do satisfy the discrete inf–sup condition. Theoretical results show that the penalty error converges as fast as one should expect from the order of the elements. Moreover, the penalty finite element method by L² projection can improve the penalty error estimates. Finally, we confirm these results by a series of numerical experiments. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low‐order stabilized finite element methods for the unsteady Stokes/Navier‐Stokes equations with friction boundary conditions

In this paper, we consider low‐order stabilized finite element methods for the unsteady Stokes/Navier‐Stokes equations with friction boundary conditions. The time discretization is based on the Euler implicit scheme, and the spatial discretization is based on the low‐order element (P₁−P₁ or P₁−P₀) for the approximation of the velocity and pressure. Moreover, some error estimates for the numerical solution of fully discrete stabilized finite element scheme are obtained. Finally, numerical experiments are performed to confirm our theoretical results.     

Superconvergence of a 3D finite element method for stationary Stokes and Navier‐Stokes problems

For the Poisson equation on rectangular and brick meshes it is well known that the piecewise linear conforming finite element solution approximates the interpolant to a higher order than the solution itself. In this article, this type of supercloseness property is established for a special interpolant of the Q₂ ? P element applied to the 3D stationary Stokes and Navier‐Stokes problem, respectively. Moreover, applying a Q₃ ? P postprocessing technique, we can also state a superconvergence property for the discretization error of the postprocessed discrete solution to the solution itself. Finally, we show that inhomogeneous boundary values can be approximated by the Lagrange Q₂‐interpolation without influencing the superconvergence property. Numerical experiments verify the predicted convergence rates. Moreover, a cost‐benefit analysis between the two third‐order methods, the post‐processed Q₂ ? P discretization, and the Q₃ ? P discretization is carried out. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2005     

Convergence of a finite element/ALE method for the Stokes equations in a domain depending on time

We consider the approximation of the unsteady Stokes equations in a time dependent domain when the motion of the domain is given. More precisely, we apply the finite element method to an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation of the system. Our main results state the convergence of the solutions of the semi-discretized (with respect to the space variable) and of the fully-discrete problems towards the solutions of the Stokes system.     

Finite element error analysis of a variational multiscale method for the Navier-Stokes equations

The paper presents finite element error estimates of a variational multiscale method (VMS) for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The constants in these estimates do not depend on the Reynolds number but on a reduced Reynolds number or on the mesh size of a coarse mesh. This work is partially supported by NSF grants DMS9972622, DMS20207627 and INT9814115.     

Stokes型积分-微分方程的Crouzeix-Raviart型非协调三角形各向异性有限元方法

在半离散格式下.研究了Stokes型积分一微分方程的Crouzeix-Raviart型非协调三角形各向异性有限元方法,在不需要传统Ritz-Volterra投影下,通过辅助空间等新的技巧得到了与传统有限元方法相同的误差估计.     

Least‐squares mixed finite element methods for the incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations

Least‐squares mixed finite element schemes are formulated to solve the evolutionary Navier‐Stokes equations and the convergence is analyzed. We recast the Navier‐Stokes equations as a first‐order system by introducing a vorticity flux variable, and show that a least‐squares principle based on L² norms applied to this system yields optimal discretization error estimates. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 441–453, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/num.10015     

Superconvergence analysis of the nonconforming quadrilateral linear-constant scheme for Stokes equations

In this paper, the superconvergence analysis of the nonconforming quadrilateral linear-constant scheme for Stokes Equations is discussed. The superclose property is proven for rectangular meshes; then global superconvergence is derived by applying a postprocessing technique. In addition, some numerical examples are presented to demonstrate our theoretical results. The research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 60474027).     

Connections between discontinuous Galerkin and nonconforming finite element methods for the Stokes equations

We study a discontinuous Galerkin finite element method (DGFEM) for the Stokes equations with a weak stabilization of the viscous term. We prove that, as the stabilization parameter γ tends to infinity, the solution converges at speed γ^?1 to the solution of some stable and well‐known nonconforming finite element methods (NCFEM) for the Stokes equations. In addition, we show that an a posteriori error estimator for the DGFEM‐solution based on the reconstruction of a locally conservative H(div, Ω)‐tensor tends at the same speed to a classical a posteriori error estimator for the NCFEM‐solution. These results can be used to affirm the robustness of the DGFEM‐method and also underline the close relationship between the two approaches. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2011