A class of nonparametric DSSY nonconforming quadrilateral elements

A new class of nonparametric nonconforming quadrilateral finite elements is introduced which has the midpoint continuity and the mean value continuity at the interfaces of elements simultaneously as the rectangular DSSY element [J.Douglas, Jr., J. E. Santos, D. Sheen, and X. Ye. Nonconforming {G}alerkin methods based on quadrilateral elements for second order elliptic problems. ESAIM--Math. Model. Numer. Anal., 33(4):747--770, 1999]. The parametric DSSY element for general quadrilaterals requires five degrees of freedom to have an optimal order of convergence [Z. Cai, J. Douglas, Jr., J. E. Santos, D. Sheen, and X. Ye. Nonconforming quadrilateral finite elements: A correction. Calcolo, 37(4):253--254, 2000], while the new nonparametric DSSY elements require only four degrees of freedom. The design of new elements is based on the decomposition of a bilinear transform into a simple bilinear map followed by a suitable affine map. Numerical results are presented to compare the new elements with the parametric DSSY element.Comment: 20 page

A superconvergent hybridisable discontinuous Galerkin method for linear elasticity

The first superconvergent hybridisable discontinuous Galerkin method for linear elastic problems capable of using the same degree of approximation for both the primal and mixed variables is presented. The key feature of the method is the strong imposition of the symmetry of the stress tensor by means of the well known and extensively used Voigt notation, circumventing the use of complex mathematical concepts to enforce the symmetry of the stress tensor either weakly or strongly. A novel procedure to construct element by element a superconvergent postprocessed displacement is proposed. Contrary to other hybridisable discontinuous Galerkin formulations, the methodology proposed here is able to produce a superconvergent displacement field for low-order approximations. The resulting method is robust and locking-free in the nearly incompressible limit. An extensive set of numerical examples is utilised to provide evidence of the optimality of the method and its superconvergent properties in two and three dimensions and for different element type

A low-order nonconforming method for linear elasticity on general meshes

In this work we construct a low-order nonconforming approximation method for linear elasticity problems supporting general meshes and valid in two and three space dimensions. The method is obtained by hacking the Hybrid High-Order method, that requires the use of polynomials of degree $k\ge1$ for stability. Specifically, we show that coercivity can be recovered for $k=0$ by introducing a novel term that penalises the jumps of the displacement reconstruction across mesh faces. This term plays a key role in the fulfillment of a discrete Korn inequality on broken polynomial spaces, for which a novel proof valid for general polyhedral meshes is provided. Locking-free error estimates are derived for both the energy- and the $L^2$-norms of the error, that are shown to convergence, for smooth solutions, as $h$ and $h^2$, respectively (here, $h$ denotes the meshsize). A thorough numerical validation on a complete panel of two- and three-dimensional test cases is provided.Comment: 26 pages, 6 tables, and 4 Figure

A superconvergent hybridisable discontinuous Galerkin method for linear elasticity

The first super‐convergent hybridisable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method for linear elastic problems capable of using the same degree of approximation for both the primal and mixed variables is presented. The key feature of the method is the strong imposition of the symmetry of the stress tensor by means of the well‐known and extensively used Voigt notation, circumventing the use of complex mathematical concepts to enforce the symmetry of the stress tensor either weakly or strongly. A novel procedure to construct element‐by‐element a super‐convergent post‐processed displacement is proposed. Contrary to other HDG formulations, the methodology proposed here is able to produce a super‐convergent displacement field for low order approximations. The resulting method is robust and locking‐free in the nearly incompressible limit. An extensive set of numerical examples is utilised to provide evidence of the optimality of the method and its super‐convergent properties in two and three dimensions and for different element types

A Selection of Benchmark Problems in Solid Mechanics and Applied Mathematics

In this contribution we provide benchmark problems in the field of computational solid mechanics. In detail, we address classical fields as elasticity, incompressibility, material interfaces, thin structures and plasticity at finite deformations. For this we describe explicit setups of the benchmarks and introduce the numerical schemes. For the computations the various participating groups use different (mixed) Galerkin finite element and isogeometric analysis formulations. Some programming codes are available open-source. The output is measured in terms of carefully designed quantities of interest that allow for a comparison of other models, discretizations, and implementations. Furthermore, computational robustness is shown in terms of mesh refinement studies. This paper presents benchmarks, which were developed within the Priority Programme of the German Research Foundation ‘SPP 1748 Reliable Simulation Techniques in Solid Mechanics—Development of Non-Standard Discretisation Methods, Mechanical and Mathematical Analysis’. © 2020, The Author(s)

Adaptive low and high-order hybridized methods for unsteady incompressible flow simulations

Tesi en modalitat de cotutela: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya i Università degli Studi di PaviaSimulations of incompressible flows are performed on a daily basis to solve problems of practical and industrial interest in several fields of engineering, including automotive, aeronautical, mechanical and biomedical applications. Although finite volume (FV) methods are still the preferred choice by the industry due to their efficiency and robustness, sensitivity to mesh quality and limited accuracy represent two main bottlenecks of these approaches. This is especially critical in the context of transient phenomena, in which FV methods show excessive numerical diffusion. In this context, there has been a growing interest towards high-order discretisation strategies in last decades. In this PhD thesis, a high-order adaptive hybidisable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method is proposed for the approximation of steady and unsteady laminar incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Voigt notation for symmetric second-order tensors is exploited to devise an HDG method for the Cauchy formulation of the momentum equation with optimal convergence properties, even when low-order polynomial degrees of approximation are considered. In addition, a postprocessing strategy accounting for rigid translational and rotational modes is proposed to construct an element-by-element superconvergent velocity field. The discrepancy between the computed and postprocessed velocities is utilised to define a local error indicator to drive degree adaptivity procedures and accurately capture localised features of the flow. The resulting HDG solver is thus extended to the case of transient problems via high-order time integration schemes, namely the explicit singly diagonal implicit Runge-Kutta (ESDIRK) schemes. In this context, the embedded explicit step is exploited to define an inexpensive estimate of the temporal error to devise an efficient timestep control strategy. Finally, in order to efficiently solve the global problem arising from the HDG discretisation, a preconditioned iterative solver is proposed. This is critical in the context of high-order approximations in three-dimensional domains leading to large-scale problems, especially in transient simulations. A block diagonal preconditioner coupled with an inexpensive approximation of the Schur complement of the matrix is proposed to reduce the computational cost of the overall HDG solver. Extensive numerical validation of two and three-dimensional steady and unsteady benchmark tests of viscous laminar incompressible flows is performed to validate the proposed methodology.Simulaciones de flujo incompresible se emplean a diario para resolver problemas de interés práctico e industrial en varios campos de la ingeniería, p.ej. en aplicaciones automovilísticas, aeronáuticas, mecánicas y biomédicas. Aunque los métodos de volúmenes finitos (FV) siguen siendo la opción preferida por la industria debido a su eficiencia y robustez, la sensibilidad a la calidad de la malla y la baja precisión representan dos limitaciones importantes para estas técnicas. Estas limitaciones son todavía más críticas en el contexto de simulaciones de fenómenos transitorios, donde los FV están penalizados por su excesiva difusión numérica. En este contexto, las estrategias de discretización de alto orden han ganado una popularidad creciente en las últimas décadas para problemas transitorios dónde se necesitan soluciones precisas. Esta tesis propone un método de Galerkin discontinuo híbrido (HDG), de alto orden y adaptativo para la aproximación de las ecuaciones de Navier-Stokes incomprensible laminar, en el caso estacionario y transitorio en el entorno de aplicaciones ingenieriles. Para ello, la notación de Voigt para tensores simétricos de segundo orden (habituales en mecánica de los medios continuos) permite introducir un método HDG para la formulación de Cauchy de la ecuación de momento. La novedad de este resultado reside en la convergencia óptima alcanzada por el método, incluso para aproximaciones de orden polinómico bajo. Además, se desarrolla una estrategia de post-proceso local para construir elemento a elemento un campo de velocidad súper-convergente, tomando en cuenta los modos rígidos de traslación y rotación. La discrepancia entre el campo de velocidad calculado y el súper-convergente, obtenido a través del post-proceso, permite definir un indicador del error local. De esta forma, se desarrolla una estrategia para realizar adecuar elemento a elemento el grado de la aproximación polinómica y así mejorar la precisión adaptándose a las características localizadas del flujo. Seguidamente, se extiende el método HDG propuesto al tratamiento de problemas dependientes del tiempo. Más concretamente, se consideran los esquemas de integración temporal de alto orden explicit singly diagonal implicit Runge-Kutta (ESDIRK). En este contexto, se utiliza el paso explícito embedded para calcular una estimación computacionalmente eficiente del error temporal y definir una estrategia de adaptividad del paso de tiempo. Finalmente, se desarrolla un precondicionador adaptado a la estrategia HDG que acelera la convergencia del método iterativo empleado y, de esta forma, obtener resoluciones eficaces del problema global surgido de la discretización HDG. Es importante resaltar la importancia de una herramienta de resolución eficiente para problemas de gran escala en el contexto de aproximaciones de alto orden y en dominios tridimensionales. Estas herramientas se hacen aún más criticas en simulaciones transitorias. Más concretamente, se proponen un precondicionador diagonal por bloques y una aproximación eficiente del complemento Schur de la matriz para reducir el coste computacional del método HDG. Para validar la metodología propuesta, se realizan varias simulaciones numéricas de flujo incompresible laminar viscoso, para problemas estacionarios y transitorios, en dos y tres dimensiones.Postprint (published version

Weak Galerkin finite element methods for elasticity and coupled flow problems

Includes bibliographical references.2020 Summer.We present novel stabilizer-free weak Galerkin finite element methods for linear elasticity and coupled Stokes-Darcy flow with a comprehensive treatment of theoretical results and the numerical methods for each. Weak Galerkin finite element methods take a discontinuous approximation space and bind degrees of freedom together through the discrete weak gradient, which involves solving a small symmetric positive-definite linear system on every element of the mesh. We introduce notation and analysis using a general framework that highlights properties that unify many existing weak Galerkin methods. This framework makes analysis for the methods much more straightforward. The method for linear elasticity on quadrilateral and hexahedral meshes uses piecewise constant vectors to approximate the displacement on each cell, and it uses the Raviart-Thomas space for the discrete weak gradient. We use the Schur complement to simplify the solution of the global linear system and increase computational efficiency further. We prove first-order convergence in the L2 norm, verify our analysis with numerical experiments, and compare to another weak Galerkin approach for this problem. The method for coupled Stokes-Darcy flow uses an extensible multinumerics approach on quadrilateral meshes. The Darcy flow discretization uses a weak Galerkin finite element method with piecewise constants approximating pressure and the Arbogast-Correa space for the weak gradient. The Stokes domain discretization uses the classical Bernardi-Raugel pair. We prove first-order convergence in the energy norm and verify our analysis with numerical experiments. All algorithms implemented in this dissertation are publicly available as part of James Liu's DarcyLite and Darcy+ packages and as part of the deal.II library