An Analysis of the Blended Three-Step Backward Differentiation Formula Time-Stepping Scheme for the Navier-Stokes-Type System Related to Soret Convection

In this article, we investigate the stability and convergence of a new class of blended three-step Backward Differentiation Formula (BDF) time-stepping scheme for spatially discretized Navier-Stokes-type system modeling Soret driven convective flows. A Galerkin mixed finite element spatial discretization is assumed, and the temporal discretization is by the implicit blended three-step BDF scheme. The blended BDF scheme is more accurate than the classical second order accurate two-step BDF (BDF2) scheme, yet strongly A-stable. We consider an implicit, linearly extrapolated version of the scheme to improve its efficiency. We present optimal finite element error estimates and prove the scheme is unconditionally stable and convergent. Numerical experiments are presented that compare the scheme to the classical BDF2 scheme.