Superconvergence of finite difference approximations for convection–diffusion problems

An Erratum has been published for this article in Numerical Linear Algebra with Applications 8 (4) 2001, iii–iv. We are concerned with numerical solutions of convection–diffusion equations. The convergence behaviour of numerical solutions is considered by using the finite difference approximation with respect to spatial variables and implicit method with respect to time variable. It is shown that superconvergence occurs near a part of the boundary which has Dirichlet's data. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Patch‐wise local projection stabilized finite element methods for convection–diffusion–reaction problems

In this article, we develop patch‐wise local projection‐stabilized conforming and nonconforming finite element methods for the convection–diffusion–reaction problems. It is a composition of the standard Galerkin finite element method, the patch‐wise local projection stabilization, and weakly imposed Dirichlet boundary conditions on the discrete solution. In this paper, a priori error analysis is established with respect to a patch‐wise local projection norm for the conforming and the nonconforming finite element methods. The numerical experiments confirm the efficiency of the proposed stabilization technique and validate the theoretical convergence rates.     

Adaptive characteristic finite element approximation of convection–diffusion optimal control problems

In this article, a characteristic finite element approximation of quadratic optimal control problems governed by linear convection–diffusion equations is given. We derive some a posteriori error estimates for both the control and the state approximations, where the control variable is constrained by pointwise inequality. The derived error estimators are then used as an error indicator to guide the mesh refinement. In this sense, they are very important in developing adaptive finite element algorithm for the optimal control problems. Finally, a numerical example is given to validate the efficiency and reliability of the theoretical results. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2013     

Parallel characteristic finite difference method for convection–diffusion equations

Based on the overlapping domain decomposition, an efficient parallel characteristic finite difference scheme is proposed for solving convection‐diffusion equations numerically. We give the optimal convergence order in error estimate analysis, which shows that we just need to iterate once or twice at each time level to reach the optimal convergence order. Numerical experiments also confirm the theoretical analysis. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 854–866, 2011     

Parallel characteristic finite element method for time‐dependent convection–diffusion problem

Based on the overlapping‐domain decomposition and parallel subspace correction method, a new parallel algorithm is established for solving time‐dependent convection–diffusion problem with characteristic finite element scheme. The algorithm is fully parallel. We analyze the convergence of this algorithm, and study the dependence of the convergent rate on the spacial mesh size, time increment, iteration times and sub‐domains overlapping degree. Both theoretical analysis and numerical results suggest that only one or two iterations are needed to reach to optimal accuracy at each time step. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust hierarchical a posteriori error estimators for stabilized convection–diffusion problems

We construct a hierarchical a posteriori error estimator for a stabilized finite element discretization of convection‐diffusion equations with height Péclet number. The error estimator is derived without the saturation assumption and without any comparison with the classical residual estimator. Besides, it is robust, such that the equivalence between the norm of the exact error and the error estimator is independent of the meshsize or the diffusivity parameter. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2012     

On preconditioned Krylov subspace methods for discrete convection–diffusion problems

We study nonstationary iterative methods for solving preconditioned systems arising from discretizations of the convection–diffusion equation. The preconditioners arise from Gauss–Seidel methods applied to the original system. It is shown that the performance of the iterative solvers is affected by the relationship of the ordering of the underlying grid and the direction of the fow associated with the differential operator. Specifically, only those orderings that follow the fow give fast iterative solvers. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 13 :321–330     

An exponential high‐order compact ADI method for 3D unsteady convection–diffusion problems

In this article, we develop an exponential high order compact alternating direction implicit (EHOC ADI) method for solving three dimensional (3D) unsteady convection–diffusion equations. The method, which requires only a regular seven‐point 3D stencil similar to that in the standard second‐order methods, is second order accurate in time and fourth‐order accurate in space and unconditionally stable. The resulting EHOC ADI scheme in each alternating direction implicit (ADI) solution step corresponding to a strictly diagonally dominant matrix equation can be solved by the application of the one‐dimensional tridiagonal Thomas algorithm with a considerable saving in computing time. Numerical experiments for three test problems are carried out to demonstrate the performance of the present method and to compare it with the classical Douglas–Gunn ADI method and the Karaa's high‐order compact ADI method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2013     

Kronecker product approximation preconditioners for convection–diffusion model problems

We consider the iterative solution of linear systems arising from four convection–diffusion model problems: scalar convection–diffusion problem, Stokes problem, Oseen problem and Navier–Stokes problem. We design preconditioners for these model problems that are based on Kronecker product approximations (KPAs). For this we first identify explicit Kronecker product structure of the coefficient matrices, in particular for the convection term. For the latter three model cases, the coefficient matrices have a 2 × 2 block structure, where each block is a Kronecker product or a summation of several Kronecker products. We then use this structure to design a block diagonal preconditioner, a block triangular preconditioner and a constraint preconditioner. Numerical experiments show the efficiency of the three KPA preconditioners, and in particular of the constraint preconditioner that usually outperforms the other two. This can be explained by the relationship that exists between these three preconditioners: the constraint preconditioner can be regarded as a modification of the block triangular preconditioner, which at its turn is a modification of the block diagonal preconditioner based on the cell Reynolds number. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entropy solution theory for fractional degenerate convection–diffusion equations

We study a class of degenerate convection-diffusion equations with a fractional non-linear diffusion term. This class is a new, but natural, generalization of local degenerate convection-diffusion equations, and include anomalous diffusion equations, fractional conservation laws, fractional porous medium equations, and new fractional degenerate equations as special cases. We define weak entropy solutions and prove well-posedness under weak regularity assumptions on the solutions, e.g. uniqueness is obtained in the class of bounded integrable solutions. Then we introduce a new monotone conservative numerical scheme and prove convergence toward the entropy solution in the class of bounded integrable BV functions. The well-posedness results are then extended to non-local terms based on general Lévy operators, connections to some fully non-linear HJB equations are established, and finally, some numerical experiments are included to give the reader an idea about the qualitative behavior of solutions of these new equations.     

A control volume technique based on integrated RBFNs for the convection–diffusion equation

This article reports a new high‐order control‐volume discretization for the convection–diffusion equation in one and two dimensions. Diffusive fluxes at the faces of a control volume and other terms embracing the unknown field variable are all approximated using one‐dimensional integrated radial‐basis‐function networks; line integrals involving these fluxes and other integrals are evaluated using a high‐order numerical integration scheme. The accuracy of the proposed technique is investigated numerically through the solution of several linear and nonlinear test problems, including a benchmark thermally driven cavity flow. High‐order convergence solutions are obtained. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2010     

A Petrov–Galerkin spectral method for fourth‐order problems

In this paper, we consider the Petrov–Galerkin spectral method for fourth‐order elliptic problems on rectangular domains subject to non‐homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. We derive some sharp results on the orthogonal approximations in one and two dimensions, which play important roles in numerical solutions of higher‐order problems. By applying these results to a fourth‐order problem, we establish the H²‐error and L²‐error bounds of the Petrov–Galerkin spectral method. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate the high accuracy of the proposed method and coincide well with the theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A supercloseness result for the discontinuous Galerkin stabilization of convection–diffusion problems on Shishkin meshes

We consider a convection–diffusion problem with Dirichlet boundary conditions posed on a unit square. The problem is discretized using a combination of the standard Galerkin FEM and an h–version of the nonsymmetric discontinuous Galerkin FEM with interior penalties on a layer–adapted mesh with linear/bilinear elements. With specially chosen penalty parameters for edges from the coarse part of the mesh, we prove uniform convergence (in the perturbation parameter) in an associated norm. In the same norm we also establish a supercloseness result. Numerical tests support our theoretical estimates.© 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007     

A uniformly optimal‐order error estimate for a bilinear finite element method for degenerate convection‐diffusion equations

We prove an optimal‐order error estimate in a degenerate‐diffusion weighted energy norm for bilinear Galerkin finite element methods for two‐dimensional time‐dependent convection‐diffusion equations with degenerate diffusion. In the estimate, the generic constants depend only on certain Sobolev norms of the true solution but not the lower bound of the diffusion. This estimate, combined with a known stability estimate of the true solution of the governing partial differential equations, yields an optimal‐order estimate of the Galerkin finite element method, in which the generic constants depend only on the Sobolev norms of the initial and right side data. Preliminary numerical experiments were conducted to verify these estimates numerically. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2011     

A combined finite volume–finite element scheme for the discretization of strongly nonlinear convection–diffusion–reaction problems on nonmatching grids

We propose and analyze in this paper a numerical scheme for nonlinear degenerate parabolic convection–diffusion–reaction equations in two or three space dimensions. We discretize the time evolution, convection, reaction, and source terms on a given grid, which can be nonmatching and can contain nonconvex elements, by means of the cell‐centered finite volume method. To discretize the diffusion term, we construct a conforming simplicial mesh with the vertices given by the original grid and use the conforming piecewise linear finite element method. In this way, the scheme is fully consistent and the discrete solution is naturally continuous across the interfaces between the subdomains with nonmatching grids, without introducing any supplementary equations and unknowns or using any interpolation at the interfaces. We allow for general inhomogeneous and anisotropic diffusion–dispersion tensors, propose two variants corresponding respectively to arithmetic and harmonic averaging, and use the local Péclet upstream weighting in order to only add the minimal numerical diffusion necessary to avoid spurious oscillations in the convection‐dominated case. The scheme is robust, efficient since it leads to positive definite matrices and one unknown per element, locally conservative, and satisfies the discrete maximum principle under the conditions on the simplicial mesh and the diffusion tensor usual in the finite element method. We prove its convergence using a priori estimates and the Kolmogorov relative compactness theorem and illustrate its behavior on a numerical experiment. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2010     

A new combined finite element‐upwind finite volume method for convection‐dominated diffusion problems

In this article, we develop a combined finite element‐weighted upwind finite volume method for convection‐dominated diffusion problems in two dimensions, which discretizes the diffusion term with the standard finite element scheme, and the convection and source terms with the weighted upwind finite volume scheme. The developed method leads to a totally new scheme for convection‐dominated problems, which overcomes numerical oscillation, avoids numerical dispersion, and has high‐order accuracy. Stability analyses of the scheme are given for the problems with constant coefficients. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the stability and optimal convergence of our proposed method. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 799–818, 2016     

Critical Fujita exponents for a class of nonlinear convection–diffusion equations

In this paper, we establish the blow‐up theorems of Fujita type for a class of homogeneous Neumann exterior problems of quasilinear convection–diffusion equations. The critical Fujita exponents are determined and it is shown that the exponents belong to the blow‐up case under any nontrivial initial data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implicit–explicit multistep characteristic finite element methods for nonlinear convection–diffusion equations

Implicit–explicit multistep characteristic methods are given for convection‐dominated diffusion equations. Multistep difference along characteristics of the one‐order hyperbolic part of the equation is used for discretization in time, and finite element method is used to discrete the space variables. The resulting schemes are consistent, stable and very efficient. Optimal‐rate of convergence is proved. Also, a note is given for a paper published earlier© 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2007     

Nonstandard finite difference schemes for a class of generalized convection–diffusion–reaction equations

In this work, a class of nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) schemes are proposed to approximate the solutions of a class of generalized convection–diffusion–reaction equations. First, in the case of no diffusion, two exact finite difference schemes are presented using the method of characteristics. Based on these two exact schemes, a class of exact schemes are presented by introducing a parameter α. Second, since the forms of these exact schemes are so complicated that they are not convenient to use, a class of NSFD schemes are derived from the exact schemes using numerical approximations. It follows that, under certain conditions about denominator function of time‐step sizes, these NSFD schemes are elementary stable and the solutions are positive and bounded. Third, by means of the Mickens' technique of subequations, a new class of implicit NSFD schemes are constructed for the full convection–diffusion–reaction equations. It is shown that, under certain parameters set, these NSFD schemes are capable of preserving the non‐negativity and boundedness of the analytical solutions. Finally, some numerical simulations are provided to verify the validity of our analytical results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1288–1309, 2015