A second-order finite element variational multiscale scheme for the fully discrete unsteady Navier–Stokes equations

Abstract

In this report, we present and study a fully discrete finite element variational multiscale scheme for the unsteady incompressible Navier–Stokes equations where high Reynolds numbers are allowed. The scheme uses conforming finite element pairs for spatial discretization and a three-point difference formula for temporal discretization which is of second-order, where a stabilization term based on two local Gauss integrations is employed to stabilize the numerical scheme. We prove stability of the scheme, derive a priori error estimates for the fully discrete solution, and finally, give some numerical results to verify the theoretical predictions and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed numerical scheme.