A dimensional split preconditioner for Stokes and linearized Navier-Stokes equations

In this paper we introduce a new preconditioner for linear systems of saddle point type arising from the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. Our approach is based on a dimensional splitting of the problem along the components of the velocity field, resulting in a convergent fixed-point iteration. The basic iteration is accelerated by a Krylov subspace method like restarted GMRES. The corresponding preconditioner requires at each iteration the solution of a set of discrete scalar elliptic equations, one for each component of the velocity field. Numerical experiments illustrating the convergence behavior for different finite element discretizations of Stokes and Oseen problems are included.