The convergence of two numerical schemes for the Navier-Stokes equations

Summary This paper deals with some convergence/stability results concerning two numerical methods for solving the incompressible nonstationary Navier-Stokes equations. The algorithms are of a particular kind in what regards time discretization (more precisely, of the Peaceman-Rachford and the Strang type resp.), and have been obtained by modifying slightly the numerical treatment of the nonlinear terms in other schemes due to Glowinski et al. (1980). We first describe the full discretization of the homogeneous Dirichlet problem using a (general) external approximation of the spatial functional spaces involved (a particular and simple choice of such an approximation is the standardP ₂-Lagrange finite element for the velocity field when the fluid is bidimensional). Then we establish and prove convergence and stability and make some comments on the numerical treatment of other (generally nonhomogeneous) boundary conditions. The theoretical results show that the schemes are (at least) conditionally stable and convergent, which justifies the success of Glowinski's methods.     

Numerical computation of least constants for the Sobolev inequality

Summary Least constantsc for the well-known Sobolev inequality fcf _{m, G} ,fH ^m (G) are obtained in closed form by a reproducing kernel technique, where the Sobolev spaceH ^m (G) for a domainG in ⁿ is defined as the completion ofC ^m (G) with respect to the Sobolev norm given by , where is the norm ofL ₂ (G) and is the supremum norm onG. Numerical values for the case whereG is the ⁿ are given.     

Analysis of some low-order finite element schemes for Mindlin-Reissner and Kirchhoff plates

Summary We set up a framework for analyzing mixed finite element methods for the plate problem using a mesh dependent energy norm which applies both to the Kirchhoff and to the Mindlin-Reissner formulation of the problem. The analysis techniques are applied to some low order finite element schemes where three degrees of freedom are associated to each vertex of a triangulation of the domain. The schemes proceed from the Mindlin-Reissner formulation with modified shear energy.Dedicated to Professor Ivo Babuka on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

On the numerical approximation of finite speed diffusion problems

Summary Lagrangian formulations for the Cauchy problems for the generalized-heat and porous-media equations are introduced and equivalence and existence results discussed. Efficient interface tracking finite difference and finite element discretizations of the Lagrangian formulation are discussed. Mixed Euler-Lagrange formulations for mixed problems and the one phase Stefan problem are presented. Numerical experiments are discussed.Dedicated on the occasion of Prof. Ivo Babuka's 60th birthday     

Convergent numerical approximations of the thermomechanical phase transitions in shape memory alloys

Summary Discrete approximations are constructed to a nonlinear evolutionary system of partial differential equations arising from modelling the dynamics of solid-state phase transitions of thermomechenical nature in the case of one space dimension. The class of problems considered includes the so-called shape memory alloys, in particular. It is shown that the obtained discrete solutions converge to the solution of the original problem, and numerical simulations for the shape memory alloy Au₂₃Cu₃₀Zn₄₇ demonstrate the quality of the discrete model.Partially supported by Research Program RP.1.02Supported by DFG, SPP Anwendungsbezogene Optimierung und Steuerung     

A new class of variational problems arising in the modeling of elastic multi-structures

Summary It is shown howelastic multi-structures that comprise substructures of possibly different dimensions (three-dimensional structures, plates, rods) are modeled bycoupled, pluri-dimensional, variational problems of a new type. Following recent work by the author, H. LeDret, and R. Nzengwa, we describe here in detail one such problem, which is simultaneously posed over a threedimensional open set with a slit and a two-dimensional open set. The numerical analysis of such problems is also discussed and finally, some numerical results are presented.Dedicated to R. S. Varga on the occasion of his sixtieth birthdayInvited lecture,Conference on Approximation Theory and Numerical Linear Algebra, in honor of Richard S. Varga on the occasion of his 60th birthday, March 30–April 1, 1989, Kent State University, Kent, USALaboratoire du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique associé à l'Université Pierre et Marie Curie     

On the determination of higher order terms of singular elastic stress fields near corners

Summary In two-dimensional elasticity stresses at reentrant corners exhibit singular behavior. The stress field is of the form , where (r, ) are polar coordinates centered at the tip of the corner, andf _i (; _i are smooth functions. For practical use of this series the eigenvalues _i (which are generally complex numbers) are required in order of ascending real part. The problem then is to find the roots of a transcendental equation (eigenequation) in the complex plane and arranged in order of ascending real part.A theorem is proved on the number, location and nature of the roots of this equation with the real part in fixed intervals of length . Excellent initial estimates of the real part of the complex roots become available, and so are bounds, within which single real roots exist. This enables the determination of any number of roots in ascending order of real part. The critical angles at which the eigenvalues change nature are also determined. It is shown that for certain cases and for the symmetric mode of deformation, the eigenvalue =1 does not represent a rigid body rotation, therefore it has to be included in the series representation of the stresses. The coefficientsK _i can be determined by recently developed extraction techniques, thus allowing complete determination of the elastic field and enabling its correlation with experimental data on brittle fracture, crack initiation, plastic zone estimation etc.Dedicated to Professor Ivo Babuka on the occasion of his 60th birthdayPresented at the Conference: The Impact of Mathematical Analysis on the Solution of Engineering Problems, 17–19 September 1986, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA     

A numerical method for detecting singular minimizers of multidimensional problems in nonlinear elasticity

Summary In this paper we describe and analyse a numerical method that detects singular minimizers and avoids the Lavrentiev phenomenon for three dimensional problems in nonlinear elasticity. This method extends to three dimensions the corresponding one dimensional method of Ball and Knowles.     

Superconvergence for a mixed finite elmenent method for elastic wave propagation in a plane domain

Summary A higher order mixed finite element method is introduced to approximate the solution of wave propagation in a plane elastic medium. A quasi-projection analysis is given to obtain error estimates in Sobolev spaces of nonpositive index. Estimates are given for difference quotients for a spatially periodic problem and superconvergence results of the same type as those of Bramble and Schatz for Galerkin methods are derived.     

On the numerical treatment of viscous flows against bodies with corners and edges by boundary element and multigrid methods

Summary The slow viscous flow past a spatial body with corners and edges is investigated mathematically and numerically by means of a boundary element method. For the resulting algebraic system a multigrid solver is designed and analyzed. Due to an improved bound on the rate of convergence it proves to be preferable to that introduced earlier for related problems. A numerical example illustrates some of the proposed methods.     

The treatment of nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions by thep-version of the finite element method

Summary The paper addresses the problem of the implementation of nonhomogeneous essential Dirichlet type boundary conditions in thep-version of the finite element method.Partially supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N-00014-85-K-0169Research partially supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, USAF, under Grant Number AFOSR 85-0322     

Analysis of the Kleiser-Schumann method

Summary The Kleiser-Schumann algorithm for the approximation of the Stokes problem by Fourier/Legendre polynomials is analized. Stability when the degree of the polynomials increases is established, whereas error estimates in Sobolev spaces are proven.The research of this author has been partially supported by the U.S. Army through its European Research Office under contract No. DAJA-84-C-0035     

Convergence and comparison analysis of some numerical Schwarz methods

Summary Domain decomposition methods are a natural means for solving partial differential equations on multi-processors. The spatial domain of the equation is expressed as a collection of overlapping subdomains and the solution of an associated equation is solved on each of these subdomains. The global solution is then obtained by piecing together the subsolutions in some manner. For elliptic equations, the global solution is obtained by iterating on the subdomains in a fashion that resembles the classical Schwarz alternating method. In this paper, we examine the convergence behavior of different subdomain iteration procedures as well as different subdomain approximations. For elliptic equations, it is shown that certain iterative procedures are equivalent to block Gauss-Siedel and Jacobi methods. Using different subdomain approximations, an inner-outer iterative procedure is defined.M-matrix analysis yields a comparison of different inner-outer iterations.Dedicated to the memory of Peter HenriciThis work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48     

Spectral Tau approximation of the two-dimensional stokes problem

Summary We analyse the Spectral Tau method for the approximation of the Stokes system on a square with Dirichlet boundary conditions. We provide an error estimate, in the norm of the Sobolev spaceH ^s, for the approximation of a divergence free vector field with polynomial divergence free vector fields. We apply this result to prove some convergence estimates for the solution of the discrete Stokes problem.This work has been partially supported by the U.S. Army through its European Research Office under contract No. DAJA-84-C 0035     

Some new families of finite elements for the stokes equations

Summary We introduce a way of using the mixed finite element families of Raviart, Thomas and Nedelec [13, 14], and Brezzi et al. [5–7], for constructing stable and optimally convergent discretizations for the Stokes problem.     

An asymptotic finite element method for improvement of solutions of boundary layer problems

Summary A scheme that uses singular perturbation theory to improve the performance of existing finite element methods is presented. The proposed scheme improves the error bounds of the standard Galerkin finite element scheme by a factor of O(ⁿ⁺¹) (where is the small parameter andn is the order of the asymptotic approximation). Numerical results for linear second order O.D.E.'s are given and are compared with several other schemes.     

Convergence and nonlinear stability of the Lagrange-Galerkin method for the Navier-Stokes equations

Summary The Lagrange-Galerkin method is a numerical technique for solving convection — dominated diffusion problems, based on combining a special discretisation of the Lagrangian material derivative along particle trajectories with a Galerkin finite element method. We present optimal error estimates for the Lagrange-Galerkin mixed finite element approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations in a velocity/pressure formulation. The method is shown to be nonlinearly stable.     

Theh,p andh-p versions of the finite element method in 1 dimension

Summary This paper is the first one in the series of three which are addressing in detail the properties of the three basic versions of the finite element method in the one dimensional setting The main emphasis is placed on the analysis when the (exact) solution has singularity of x-type. The first part analyzes thep-version, the second theh-version and generalh-p version and the final third part addresses the problems of the adaptiveh-p version.Supported by the NSF Grant DMS-8315216Partially supported by ONR Contract N00014-85-K-0169     

A practical finite element approximation of a semi-definite Neumann problem on a curved domain

Summary This paper considers the finite element approximation of the semi-definite Neumann problem: –·(u)=f in a curved domain ⁿ (n=2 or 3), on and , a given constant, for dataf andg satisfying the compatibility condition . Due to perturbation of domain errors ( ^h ) the standard Galerkin approximation to the above problem may not have a solution. A remedy is to perturb the right hand side so that a discrete form of the compatibility condition holds. Using this approach we show that for a finite element space defined overD ^h , a union of elements, with approximation powerh ^k in theL ² norm and with dist (, ^h )Ch ^k , one obtains optimal rates of convergence in theH ¹ andL ² norms whether ^h is fitted ( ^h D ^h ) or unfitted ( ^h D ^h ) provided the numerical integration scheme has sufficient accuracy.Partially supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant #DMS-8501397, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research