Mathematical aspects of finite element methods for incompressible viscous flows

Mathematical aspects of finite element methods are surveyed for incompressible viscous flows, concentrating on the steady primitive variable formulation. The discretization of a weak formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations are addressed, then the stability condition is considered, the satisfaction of which insures the stability of the approximation. Specific choices of finite element spaces for the velocity and pressure are then discussed. Finally, the connection between different weak formulations and a variety of boundary conditions is explored

On substructuring algorithms and solution techniques for the numerical approximation of partial differential equations

Substructuring methods are in common use in mechanics problems where typically the associated linear systems of algebraic equations are positive definite. Here these methods are extended to problems which lead to nonpositive definite, nonsymmetric matrices. The extension is based on an algorithm which carries out the block Gauss elimination procedure without the need for interchanges even when a pivot matrix is singular. Examples are provided wherein the method is used in connection with finite element solutions of the stationary Stokes equations and the Helmholtz equation, and dual methods for second-order elliptic equations

New discretization and solution techniques for incompressible viscous flow problems

Several topics arising in the finite element solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are considered. Specifically, the question of choosing finite element velocity/pressure spaces is addressed, particularly from the viewpoint of achieving stable discretizations leading to convergent pressure approximations. The role of artificial viscosity in viscous flow calculations is studied, emphasizing work by several researchers for the anisotropic case. The last section treats the problem of solving the nonlinear systems of equations which arise from the discretization. Time marching methods and classical iterative techniques, as well as some modifications are mentioned

A variational framework for flow optimization using semi-norm constraints

When considering a general system of equations describing the space-time evolution (flow) of one or several variables, the problem of the optimization over a finite period of time of a measure of the state variable at the final time is a problem of great interest in many fields. Methods already exist in order to solve this kind of optimization problem, but sometimes fail when the constraint bounding the state vector at the initial time is not a norm, meaning that some part of the state vector remains unbounded and might cause the optimization procedure to diverge. In order to regularize this problem, we propose a general method which extends the existing optimization framework in a self-consistent manner. We first derive this framework extension, and then apply it to a problem of interest. Our demonstration problem considers the transient stability properties of a one-dimensional (in space) averaged turbulent model with a space- and time-dependent model "turbulent viscosity". We believe this work has a lot of potential applications in the fluid dynamics domain for problems in which we want to control the influence of separate components of the state vector in the optimization process.Comment: 30 page

Active Control of Boundary-Layer Instabilities: Use of Sensors and Spectral Controller

Full Navier-Stokes equations were conducted to determine the feasibility of automating the control of wave instabilities within a flat plate boundary layer with sensors, actuators, and a spectral controller. The results indicate that a measure of wave cancellation can be obtained for small and large amplitude instabilities without feedback; however, feedback is required to optimize the control amplitude and phase for exact wave cancellation

Error estimates for the numerical approximation of Dirichlet boundary control for semilinear elliptic equations

We study the numerical approximation of boundary optimal control problems governed by semilinear elliptic partial differential equations with pointwise constraints on the control. The control is the trace of the state on the boundary of the domain, which is assumed to be a convex, polygonal, open set in R2. Piecewise linear finite elements are used to approximate the control as well as the state. We prove that the error estimates are of order O(h1−1/p) for some p > 2, which is consistent with the W1−1/p,p(Γ)-regularity of the optimal control

A self-contained, automated methodology for optimal flow control validated for transition delay

This paper describes a self-contained, automated methodology for flow control along with a validation of the methodology for the problem of boundary layer instability suppression. The objective of control is to match the stress vector along a portion of the boundary to a given vector; instability suppression is achieved by choosing the given vector to be that of a steady base flow, e.g., Blasius boundary layer. Control is effected through the injection or suction of fluid through a single orifice on the boundary. The present approach couples the time-dependent Navier-Stokes system with an adjoint Navier-Stokes system and optimality conditions from which optimal states, i.e., unsteady flow fields, and control, e.g., actuators, may be determined. The results demonstrate that instability suppression can be achieved without any a priori knowledge of the disturbance, which is significant because other control techniques have required some knowledge of the flow unsteadiness such as frequencies, instability type, etc

On the Lawrence–Doniach and Anisotropic Ginzburg–Landau Models for Layered Superconductors

The authors consider two models, the Lawrence-Doniach and the anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau models for layered superconductors such as the recently discovered high-temperature superconductors. A mathematical description of both models is given and existence results for their solution are derived. The authors then relate the two models in the sense that they show that as the layer spacing tends to zero, the Lawrence-Doniach model reduces to the anisotropic Ginzburg- Landau model. Finally, simplified versions of the models are derived that can be used to accurately simulate high-temperature superconductors

Error estimates for the discretization of the velocity tracking problem

In this paper we are continuing our work (Casas and Chrysafinos, SIAM J Numer Anal 50(5):2281–2306, 2012), concerning a priori error estimates for the velocity tracking of two-dimensional evolutionary Navier–Stokes flows. The controls are of distributed type, and subject to point-wise control constraints. The discretization scheme of the state and adjoint equations is based on a discontinuous time-stepping scheme (in time) combined with conforming finite elements (in space) for the velocity and pressure. Provided that the time and space discretization parameters, t and h respectively, satisfy t = Ch2, error estimates of order O(h2) and O(h 3/2 – 2/p ) with p > 3 depending on the regularity of the target and the initial velocity, are proved for the difference between the locally optimal controls and their discrete approximations, when the controls are discretized by the variational discretization approach and by using piecewise-linear functions in space respectively. Both results are based on new duality arguments for the evolutionary Navier–Stokes equations