Local and parallel finite element algorithms based on two-grid discretizations

A number of new local and parallel discretization and adaptive finite element algorithms are proposed and analyzed in this paper for elliptic boundary value problems. These algorithms are motivated by the observation that, for a solution to some elliptic problems, low frequency components can be approximated well by a relatively coarse grid and high frequency components can be computed on a fine grid by some local and parallel procedure. The theoretical tools for analyzing these methods are some local a priori and a posteriori estimates that are also obtained in this paper for finite element solutions on general shape-regular grids. Some numerical experiments are also presented to support the theory.

     

Streamline diffusion finite element method for stationary incompressible magnetohydrodynamics

In this article, a streamline diffusion finite element method is proposed and analyzed for stationary incompressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. This method is stable for any combinations of velocity, pressure, and magnet finite element spaces, without requiring Ladyzenskaja‐Babu?ka‐Brezzi (LBB) condition. The well‐posedness and convergence (at optimal error rate) of this scheme are proved in terms of some conditions. Two numerical experiments are illustrated to validate our theoretical analysis and show the streamline diffusion finite element approach is effective for solving the MHD problems. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1877–1901, 2014     

Local and parallel finite element algorithms for the Steklov eigenvalue problem

Based on the work of Xu and Zhou [Math Comput 69 (2000) 881–909], we propose and analyze in this article local and parallel finite element algorithms for the Steklov eigenvalue problem. We also prove a local error estimate which is suitable for the case that the locally refined region contains singular points lying on the boundary of domain, which is an improvement of the existing results. Numerical experiments are reported finally to validate our theoretical analysis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 399–417, 2016     

Stability of a finite element method for 3D exterior stationary Navier-Stokes flows

We consider numerical approximations of stationary incompressible Navier-Stokes flows in 3D exterior domains, with nonzero velocity at infinity. It is shown that a P1-P1 stabilized finite element method proposed by C. Rebollo: A term by term stabilization algorithm for finite element solution of incompressible flow problems, Numer. Math. 79 (1998), 283–319, is stable when applied to a Navier-Stokes flow in a truncated exterior domain with a pointwise boundary condition on the artificial boundary.     

Local and parallel finite element method for solving the biharmonic eigenvalue problem of plate vibration

In this paper, we establish a new local and parallel finite element discrete scheme based on the shifted‐inverse power method for solving the biharmonic eigenvalue problem of plate vibration. We prove the local error estimation of finite element solution for the biharmonic equation/eigenvalue problem and prove the error estimation of approximate solution obtained by the local and parallel scheme. When the diameters of three grids satisfy H⁴ = ?(w²) = ?(h), the approximate solutions obtained by our schemes can achieve the asymptotically optimal accuracy. The numerical experiments show that the computational schemes proposed in this paper are effective to solve the biharmonic eigenvalue problem of plate vibration.     

Local and Parallel Finite Element Algorithms Based on Two-Grid Discretizations for Nonlinear Problems

In this paper, some local and parallel discretizations and adaptive finite element algorithms are proposed and analyzed for nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems in both two and three dimensions. The main technique is to use a standard finite element discretization on a coarse grid to approximate low frequencies and then to apply some linearized discretization on a fine grid to correct the resulted residual (which contains mostly high frequencies) by some local/parallel procedures. The theoretical tools for analyzing these methods are some local a priori and a posteriori error estimates for finite element solutions on general shape-regular grids that are also obtained in this paper.     

A semi‐discrete defect correction finite element method for unsteady incompressible magnetohydrodynamics equations

In this report, we give a semi‐discrete defect correction finite element method for the unsteady incompressible magnetohydrodynamics equations. The defect correction method is an iterative improvement technique for increasing the accuracy of a numerical solution without applying a grid refinement. Firstly, the nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics equations is solved with an artificial viscosity term. Then, the numerical solutions are improved on the same grid by a linearized defect‐correction technique. Then, we give the numerical analysis including stability analysis and error analysis. The numerical analysis proves that our method is stable and has an optimal convergence rate. In order to show the effect of our method, some numerical results are shown. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local free boundary problem for viscous compressible magnetohydrodynamics

We consider the motion of viscous compressible magnetohydrodynamics fluid in a domain bounded by a free surface. In the external domain, there is electromagnetic field generated by some currents that keeps the magnetohydrodynamics flow in the bounded domain. Then on the free surface, transmission conditions for electromagnetic fields are imposed. In this paper, we prove the existence of local regular solutions by the method of successive approximations. The L₂ approach is used. This helps us to treat the transmission conditions.     

Mixed finite element methods for unilateral problems: convergence analysis and numerical studies

In this paper, we propose and study different mixed variational methods in order to approximate with finite elements the unilateral problems arising in contact mechanics. The discretized unilateral conditions at the candidate contact interface are expressed by using either continuous piecewise linear or piecewise constant Lagrange multipliers in the saddle-point formulation. A priori error estimates are established and several numerical studies corresponding to the different choices of the discretized unilateral conditions are achieved.

     

A posteriori error control in low-order finite element discretisations of incompressible stationary flow problems

Computable a posteriori error bounds and related adaptive mesh-refining algorithms are provided for the numerical treatment of monotone stationary flow problems with a quite general class of conforming and nonconforming finite element methods. A refined residual-based error estimate generalises the works of Verfürth; Dari, Duran and Padra; Bao and Barrett. As a consequence, reliable and efficient averaging estimates can be established on unstructured grids. The symmetric formulation of the incompressible flow problem models certain nonNewtonian flow problems and the Stokes problem with mixed boundary conditions. A Helmholtz decomposition avoids any regularity or saturation assumption in the mathematical error analysis. Numerical experiments for the partly nonconforming method analysed by Kouhia and Stenberg indicate efficiency of related adaptive mesh-refining algorithms.

     

Discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for dynamic linear solid viscoelasticity problems

We consider the usual linear elastodynamics equations augmented with evolution equations for viscoelastic internal stresses. A fully discrete approximation is defined, based on a spatially symmetric or non‐symmetric interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin finite element method, and a displacement‐velocity centred difference time discretisation. An a priori error estimate is given but only the main ideas in the proof of the error estimate are reported here due to the large number of (mostly technical) estimates that are required. The full details are referenced to a technical report. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007     

Error analysis of staggered finite difference finite volume schemes on unstructured meshes

This work combines the consistency in lower‐order differential operators with external approximations of functional spaces to obtain error estimates for finite difference finite volume schemes on unstructured nonuniform meshes. This combined approach is first applied to a one‐dimensional elliptic boundary value problem on nonuniform meshes, and a first‐order convergence rate is obtained, which agrees with the results previously reported. The approach is also applied to the staggered Marker‐and‐Cell scheme for the two‐dimensional incompressible Stokes problem on unstructured meshes. A first‐order convergence rate is obtained, which improves over a previously reported result in that it also holds on unstructured meshes. For both problems considered in this work, the convergence rate is one order higher on meshes satisfying special requirements. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 1159–1182, 2017     

Mixed finite element methods for the Signorini problem with friction

In this article, we propose and study different mixed variational methods in order to approximate the Signorini problem with friction using finite elements. The discretized normal and tangential constraints at the contact interface are expressed by using either continuous piecewise linear or piecewise constant Lagrange multipliers in the saddle?point formulation. A priori error estimates are established and several numerical examples corresponding to the different choices of the discretized normal and tangential constraints are carried out. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2006     

A local parallel superconvergence method for the incompressible flow by coarsening projection

In this article, we investigate a local parallel superconvergence method by coarsening projection for the incompressible Stokes flow. The method is a combination of the local superconvergence technique and the given framework of local parallel method. For the smooth subdomains, the local superconvergence method is applied in a higher order finite dimensional space corresponding to an appropriate coarse mesh on interior domain. Moreover, a useful and flexible local parallel method is designed to obtain the local parallel superconvergence results of presented method, which offset theoretical limitation of the model without the smoothness of the exact solution and a priori regularity of the underlying problem over the whole domain. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 1209–1223, 2015     

A parallel finite element variational multiscale method based on fully overlapping domain decomposition for incompressible flows

Based on fully overlapping domain decomposition and a recent variational multiscale method, a parallel finite element variational multiscale method for convection dominated incompressible flows is proposed and analyzed. In this method, each processor computes a local finite element solution in its own subdomain using a global mesh that is locally refined around its own subdomain, where a stabilization term based on two local Gauss integrations is adopted to stabilize the numerical form of the Navier–Stokes equations. Using the technical tool of local a priori estimate for the finite element solution, error bounds of the discrete solution are estimated. Algorithmic parameter scalings are derived. Numerical tests are also given to verify the theoretical predictions and demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 31: 856–875, 2015     

Local and parallel finite element algorithm based on the partition of unity method for the incompressible MHD flow

Based on the partition of unity method (PUM), a local and parallel finite element method is designed and analyzed for solving the stationary incompressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The key idea of the proposed algorithm is to first solve the nonlinear system on a coarse mesh, divide the globally fine grid correction into a series of locally linearized residual problems on some subdomains derived by a class of partition of unity, then compute the local subproblems in parallel, and obtain the globally continuous finite element solution by assembling all local solutions together by the partition of unity functions. The main feature of the new method is that the partition of unity provide a flexible and controllable framework for the domain decomposition. Finally, the efficiency of our theoretical analysis is tested by numerical experiments.     

Two grid finite element discretization method for semi‐linear hyperbolic integro‐differential equations

In this paper, we will investigate a two grid finite element discretization method for the semi‐linear hyperbolic integro‐differential equations by piecewise continuous finite element method. In order to deal with the semi‐linearity of the model, we use the two grid technique and derive that once the coarse and fine mesh sizes H, h satisfy the relation h = H² for the two‐step two grid discretization method, the two grid method achieves the same convergence accuracy as the ordinary finite element method. Both theoretical analysis and numerical experiments are given to verify the results.     

A C0‐weak Galerkin finite element method for fourth‐order elliptic problems

This article proposes and analyzes a C⁰‐weak Galerkin (WG) finite element method for solving the biharmonic equation in two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional. The new WG method uses continuous piecewise‐polynomial approximations of degree for the unknown u and discontinuous piecewise‐polynomial approximations of degree k for the trace of on the interelement boundaries. Optimal error estimates are obtained in H², H¹, and L² norms. Numerical experiments illustrate and confirm the theoretical results. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1090–1104, 2016     

Convergence of goal‐oriented adaptive finite element methods for nonsymmetric problems

In this article, we develop convergence theory for a class of goal‐oriented adaptive finite element algorithms for second‐order nonsymmetric linear elliptic equations. In particular, we establish contraction results for a method of this type for Dirichlet problems involving the elliptic operator with A Lipschitz, symmetric positive definite, with b divergence‐free, and with . We first describe the problem class and review some standard facts concerning conforming finite element discretization and error‐estimate‐driven adaptive finite element methods (AFEM). We then describe a goal‐oriented variation of standard AFEM. Following the recent work of Mommer and Stevenson for symmetric problems, we establish contraction and convergence of the goal‐oriented method in the sense of the goal function. Our analysis approach is signficantly different from that of Mommer and Stevenson, combining the recent contraction frameworks developed by Cascon, Kreuzer, Nochetto, and Siebert; by Nochetto, Siebert, and Veeser; and by Holst, Tsogtgerel, and Zhu. We include numerical results, demonstrating performance of our method with standard goal‐oriented strategies on a convection problem. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 479–509, 2016     

Boundary layer for 3D nonlinear parallel pipe flow of nonhomogeneous incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations

In this paper, we justify the mathematical validity of the Prandtl boundary layer theory for a class of nonlinear parallel pipe flow of nonhomogeneous incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations. The convergence for velocity is shown under various Sobolev norms. In addition, the higher‐order asymptotic expansions are also considered. And the mathematical validity of the Prandtl boundary layer theory for nonlinear parallel pipe flow is generalized to the nonhomogeneous case.