On the convergence order of the finite element error in the kinetic energy for high Reynolds number incompressible flows

The kinetic energy of a flow is proportional to the square of the norm of the velocity. Given a sufficient regular velocity field and a velocity finite element space with polynomials of degree , then the best approximation error in is of order . In this survey, the available finite element error analysis for the velocity error in is reviewed, where is a final time. Since in practice the case of small viscosity coefficients or dominant convection is of particular interest, which may result in turbulent flows, robust error estimates are considered, i.e., estimates where the constant in the error bound does not depend on inverse powers of the viscosity coefficient. Methods for which robust estimates can be derived enable stable flow simulations for small viscosity coefficients on comparatively coarse grids, which is often the situation encountered in practice. To introduce stabilization techniques for the convection-dominated regime and tools used in the error analysis, evolutionary linear convection–diffusion equations are studied at the beginning. The main part of this survey considers robust finite element methods for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations of order , , and for the velocity error in . All these methods are discussed in detail. In particular, a sketch of the proof for the error bound is given that explains the estimate of important terms which determine finally the order of convergence. Among them, there are methods for inf–sup stable pairs of finite element spaces as well as for pressure-stabilized discretizations. Numerical studies support the analytic results for several of these methods. In addition, methods are surveyed that behave in a robust way but for which only a non-robust error analysis is available. The conclusion of this survey is that the problem of whether or not there is a robust method with optimal convergence order for the kinetic energy is still open

Finite elements for scalar convection-dominated equations and incompressible flow problems - A never ending story?

The contents of this paper is twofold. First, important recent results concerning finite element methods for convection-dominated problems and incompressible flow problems are described that illustrate the activities in these topics. Second, a number of, in our opinion, important problems in these fields are discussed

Analysis of a space--time hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for the advection--diffusion problem on time-dependent domains

This paper presents the first analysis of a space--time hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for the advection--diffusion problem on time-dependent domains. The analysis is based on non-standard local trace and inverse inequalities that are anisotropic in the spatial and time steps. We prove well-posedness of the discrete problem and provide a priori error estimates in a mesh-dependent norm. Convergence theory is validated by a numerical example solving the advection--diffusion problem on a time-dependent domain for approximations of various polynomial degree

Finite Element Modeling of Nonstationary Problems of Heat Conduction under Complex Heat Transfer

The article presents a numerical simulation of nonstationary heat conduction problems under complex heat transfer, which includes such heat transfer mechanisms as heat conduction, convection, and radiation. The Stefan-Boltzmann law describes the resulting heat transfer by radiation between two bodies, where the heat transfer coefficient is a function of the body surface temperature. An algorithm and software for solving the heat conduction problem using the finite element method were developed, and the influence of external impacts on the temperature field distribution in the vicinity of an insulated circular hole in the center of the body was studied. The temperature fields were investigated for various boundary conditions in the hole of the plate and the corresponding isotherms were given

A subgrid viscosity Lagrance-Galerkin method for convection-diffusion problems

We present and analyze a subgrid viscosity Lagrange-Galerk in method that combines the subgrid eddy viscosity method proposed in W. Layton, A connection between subgrid scale eddy viscosity and mixed methods. Appl. Math. Comp., 133: 14 7-157, 2002, and a conventional Lagrange-Galerkin method in the framework of P1⊕ cubic bubble finite elements. This results in an efficient and easy to implement stabilized method for convection dominated convection diffusion reaction problems. Numerical experiments support the numerical analysis results and show that the new method is more accurate than the conventional Lagrange-Galerkin one

Numerical analysis of the Oseen-type Peterlin viscoelastic model by the stabilized Lagrange-Galerkin method, Part II: A linear scheme

This is the second part of our error analysis of the stabilized Lagrange-Galerkin scheme applied to the Oseen-type Peterlin viscoelastic model. Our scheme is a combination of the method of characteristics and Brezzi-Pitk\"aranta's stabilization method for the conforming linear elements, which leads to an efficient computation with a small number of degrees of freedom especially in three space dimensions. In this paper, Part II, we apply a semi-implicit time discretization which yields the linear scheme. We concentrate on the diffusive viscoelastic model, i.e. in the constitutive equation for time evolution of the conformation tensor a diffusive effect is included. Under mild stability conditions we obtain error estimates with the optimal convergence order for the velocity, pressure and conformation tensor in two and three space dimensions. The theoretical convergence orders are confirmed by numerical experiments.Comment: See arXiv:1603.01339 for Part I: a nonlinear schem