Discontinuous Finite Volume Method Research Articles

Provably Positive Central Discontinuous Galerkin Schemes via Geometric Quasilinearization for Ideal MHD Equations

In the numerical simulation of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), keeping the pressure and density always positive is essential for both physical considerations and numerical stability. This is however a challenging task, due to the underlying relation between such a positivity-preserving (PP) property and the magnetic divergence-free (DF) constraint as well as the strong nonlinearity of the MHD equations. In this paper, we present the first rigorous PP analysis of the central discontinuous Galerkin (CDG) methods and construct arbitrarily high-order provably PP CDG schemes for ideal MHD. By the recently developed geometric quasilinearization (GQL) approach, our analysis reveals that the PP property of standard CDG methods is closely related to a discrete magnetic DF condition, whose form was unknown prior to our analysis and differs from that for the noncentral discontinuous Galerkin (DG) and finite volume methods in [K. Wu, SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 56 (2018), pp. 2124–2147]. The discovery of this relation lays the foundation for the design of our PP CDG schemes. In the one-dimensional (1D) case, the discrete DF condition is naturally satisfied, and we rigorously prove that the standard CDG method is PP under a condition that can be enforced easily with an existing PP limiter. However, in the multidimensional cases, the corresponding discrete DF condition is highly nontrivial, yet critical, and we analytically prove that the standard CDG method, even with the PP limiter, is not PP in general, as it generally fails to meet the discrete DF condition. We address this issue by carefully analyzing the structure of the discrete divergence terms and then constructing new locally DF CDG schemes for Godunov’s modified MHD equations with an additional source term. The key point is to find out the suitable discretization of the source term such that it exactly cancels out all the terms in the discovered discrete DF condition. Based on the GQL approach, we prove in theory the PP property of the new multidimensional CDG schemes under a CFL condition. The robustness and accuracy of the proposed PP CDG schemes are further validated by several demanding 1D, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional numerical MHD examples, including the high-speed jets and blast problems with very low plasma beta.

A Priori Error Estimate of a Discontinuous Finite Volume Method for the Obstacle Problem

A Priori Error Estimate of a Discontinuous Finite Volume Method for the Obstacle Problem

A bound-preserving high order scheme for variable density incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

For numerical schemes to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with variable density, it is a critical property to preserve the bounds of density. A bound-preserving high order accurate scheme can be constructed by using high order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods or finite volume methods with a bound-preserving limiter for the density evolution equation, with any popular numerical method for the momentum evolution. In this paper, we consider a combination of a continuous finite element method for momentum evolution and a bound-preserving DG method for density evolution. Fully explicit and explicit-implicit strong stability preserving Runge-Kutta methods can be used for the time discretization for the sake of bound-preserving. Numerical tests on representative examples are shown to demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme.

(Multi)wavelets increase both accuracy and efficiency of standard Godunov-type hydrodynamic models: Robust 2D approaches

Multiwavelets (MW) enable the compression, analysis and assembly of model data on a multiresolution grid within Godunov-type solvers based on second-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG2) and first-order finite volume (FV1) methods. Multiwavelet adaptivity has been studied extensively with one-dimensional (1D) hydrodynamic models (Kesserwani et al., 2019), revealing that MWDG2 can be 20 times faster than uniform DG2 and 2 times faster than uniform FV1, while preserving the accuracy and robustness of the underlying formulation. The potential of the MWDG2 scheme has yet to be studied for two-dimensional (2D) modelling, but this requires a design that robustly and efficiently solves the 2D shallow water equations (SWE) with complex source terms and wetting and drying. This paper presents a two-dimensional MWDG2 scheme that: (1) adopts a slope-decoupled DG2 solver as a reference scheme, for its ability to deliver well-balanced piecewise-planar solutions shaped by a simplified 3-component basis; and, (2) adapts the multiresolution analysis of multiwavelets for compatibility with the slope-decoupled DG2 basis. A scaled reformulation of slope-decoupled DG2 is presented alongside two multiwavelet approaches that yield MWDG2 schemes with similar properties, and a Haar wavelet FV1 (HFV1) variant for adapting piecewise-constant model data. The performance of the adaptive HFV1 and MWDG2 solvers is explored alongside their uniform counterparts, while analysing their accuracy, efficiency, grid-coarsening ability, reliability in handling wet-dry fronts across steep bed-slopes, and ability to capture features relevant to practical hydraulic modelling. The results indicate a particular multiwavelet approach that allows the MWDG2 scheme to exploit its grid-coarsening ability for the widest range of flow types. Results also indicate that the proposed (multi)wavelet-based adaptive schemes are even more efficient for the 2D case. Accompanying model software is openly available online.

Convergence Analysis of a Discontinuous Finite Volume Method for the Signorini Problem

We introduce and analyze a discontinuous finite volume method for the Signorini problem. Under suitable regularity assumptions on the exact solution, we derive an optimal a priori error estimate in the energy norm.

Conservative discontinuous finite volume and mixed schemes for a new four-field formulation in poroelasticity

We introduce a numerical method for the approximation of linear poroelasticity equations, representing the interaction between the non-viscous filtration flow of a fluid and the linear mechanical response of a porous medium. In the proposed formulation, the primary variables in the system are the solid displacement, the fluid pressure, the fluid flux, and the total pressure. A discontinuous finite volume method is designed for the approximation of solid displacement using a dual mesh, whereas a mixed approach is employed to approximate fluid flux and the two pressures. We focus on the stationary case and the resulting discrete problem exhibits a double saddle-point structure. Its solvability and stability are established in terms of bounds (and of norms) that do not depend on the modulus of dilation of the solid. We derive optimal error estimates in suitable norms, for all field variables; and we exemplify the convergence and locking-free properties of this scheme through a series of numerical tests.

Discontinuous finite volume element method of two-dimensional unsaturated soil water movement problem

In this paper, a numerical approximation method for the two-dimensional unsaturated soil water movement problem is established by using the discontinuous finite volume method. We prove the optimal error estimate for the fully discrete format. Finally, the reliability of the method is verified by numerical experiments. This method is not only simple to calculate, but also stable and reliable.

An Upwind Local Radial Basis Functions-finite Difference (RBF-FD) Method for Solving Compressible Euler Equation with Application in Finite-rate Chemistry

The main aim of the current paper is to propose an upwind local radial basis functions-finite difference (RBF-FD) method for solving compressible Euler equation. The mathematical formulation of chemically reacting, inviscid, unsteady flows with species conservation equations and finite-rate chemistry is studied. The presented technique is based on the developed idea in [58]. For checking the ability of the new procedure, the compressible Euler equation is solved. This equation has been classified in category of system of advection-diffusion equations. The solutions of advection equations have some shock, thus, special numerical methods should be applied for example discontinuous Galerkin and finite volume methods. Moreover, two problems are given that show the acceptable accuracy and efficiency of the proposed scheme.

A discontinuous finite volume method for a coupled fracture model

In this paper, we present a discontinuous finite volume method for a hybrid-dimensional coupled fracture model on triangular meshes. In matrix and fracture, the pressure is approximated by the discontinuous and continuous piecewise linear elements, and in order to retain local conservation property, the velocity is sought in the discontinuous lowest-order Raviart–Thomas element space and piecewise linear element space. The proposed numerical scheme is only associated with the pressure, so we avoid solving an indefinite saddle-point problem. In addition, the discontinuous method eliminates the continuity of approximate functions across the interelement boundary, so it has the advantage of high localizability and easy handling of complicated geometries. Optimal order error estimates for the pressure and velocity are proved, and numerical experiments are carried out to confirm our theoretical analysis.

Provably positive high-order schemes for ideal magnetohydrodynamics: analysis on general meshes

This paper proposes and analyzes arbitrarily high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) and finite volume methods which provably preserve the positivity of density and pressure for the ideal MHD on general meshes. Unified auxiliary theories are built for rigorously analyzing the positivity-preserving (PP) property of MHD schemes with a HLL type flux on polytopal meshes in any space dimension. The main challenges overcome here include establishing relation between the PP property and discrete divergence of magnetic field on general meshes, and estimating proper wave speeds in the HLL flux to ensure the PP property. In 1D case, we prove that the standard DG and finite volume methods with the proposed HLL flux are PP, under condition accessible by a PP limiter. For multidimensional conservative MHD system, standard DG methods with a PP limiter are not PP in general, due to the effect of unavoidable divergence-error. We construct provably PP high-order DG and finite volume schemes by proper discretization of symmetrizable MHD system, with two divergence-controlling techniques: locally divergence-free elements and a penalty term. The former leads to zero divergence within each cell, while the latter controls the divergence error across cell interfaces. Our analysis reveals that a coupling of them is important for positivity preservation, as they exactly contribute the discrete divergence-terms absent in standard DG schemes but crucial for ensuring the PP property. Numerical tests confirm the PP property and the effectiveness of proposed PP schemes. Unlike conservative MHD system, the exact smooth solutions of symmetrizable MHD system are proved to retain the positivity even if the divergence-free condition is not satisfied. Our analysis and findings further the understanding, at both discrete and continuous levels, of the relation between the PP property and the divergence-free constraint.

Discontinuous finite volume method for compressible miscible displacement problems in porous media

The compressible miscible displacement problem in porous media is modeled by a coupled system of two nonlinear partial differential equations: the pressure equation and the concentration equation are parabolic equation. In this article, we present discontinuous finite volume method for the concentration equation and the pressure equation. The optimal order error estimates for pressure and concentration are obtained in a mesh dependent norm.

Encapsulated high order difference operators on curvilinear non-conforming grids

Constructing stable difference schemes on complex geometries is an arduous task. Even fairly simple partial differential equations end up very convoluted in their discretized form, making them difficult to implement and manage. Spatial discretizations using so called summation-by-parts operators have mitigated this issue to some extent, particularly on rectangular domains, making it possible to formulate stable discretizations in a compact and understandable manner. However, the simplicity of these formulations is lost for curvilinear grids, where the standard procedure is to transform the grid to a rectangular one, and change the structure of the original equation.In this paper we reinterpret the grid transformation as a transformation of the summation-by-parts operators. This results in operators acting directly on the curvilinear grid. Together with previous developments in the field of nonconforming grid couplings we can formulate simple, implementable, and provably stable schemes on general nonconforming curvilinear grids. The theory is applicable to methods on summation-by-parts form, including finite differences, discontinuous Galerkin spectral element, finite volume, and flux reconstruction methods. Time dependent advection–diffusion simulations corroborate the theoretical development.

Error Bounds for Discontinuous Finite Volume Discretisations of Brinkman Optimal Control Problems

We introduce a discontinuous finite volume method for the approximation of distributed optimal control problems governed by the Brinkman equations, where a force field is sought such that it produces a desired velocity profile. The discretisation of state and co-state variables follows a lowest-order scheme, whereas three different approaches are used for the control representation: a variational discretisation, and approximation through piecewise constant and piecewise linear elements. We employ the optimise-then-discretise approach, resulting in a non-symmetric discrete formulation. A priori error estimates for velocity, pressure, and control in natural norms are derived, and a set of numerical examples is presented to illustrate the performance of the method and to confirm the predicted accuracy of the generated approximations under various scenarios.

An optimization-based approach for high-order accurate discretization of conservation laws with discontinuous solutions

This work introduces a novel discontinuity-tracking framework for resolving discontinuous solutions of conservation laws with high-order numerical discretizations that support inter-element solution discontinuities, such as discontinuous Galerkin or finite volume methods. The proposed method aims to align inter-element boundaries with discontinuities in the solution by deforming the computational mesh. A discontinuity-aligned mesh ensures the discontinuity is represented through inter-element jumps while smooth basis functions interior to elements are only used to approximate smooth regions of the solution, thereby avoiding Gibbs' phenomena that create well-known stability issues. Therefore, very coarse high-order discretizations accurately resolve the piecewise smooth solution throughout the domain, provided the discontinuity is tracked. Central to the proposed discontinuity-tracking framework is a discrete PDE-constrained optimization formulation that simultaneously aligns the computational mesh with discontinuities in the solution and solves the discretized conservation law on this mesh. The optimization objective is taken as a combination of the deviation of the finite-dimensional solution from its element-wise average and a mesh distortion metric to simultaneously penalize Gibbs' phenomena and distorted meshes. It will be shown that our objective function satisfies two critical properties that are required for this discontinuity-tracking framework to be practical: (1) possesses a local minima at a discontinuity-aligned mesh and (2) decreases monotonically to this minimum in a neighborhood of radius approximately h/2, whereas other popular discontinuity indicators fail to satisfy the latter. Another important contribution of this work is the observation that traditional reduced space PDE-constrained optimization solvers that repeatedly solve the conservation law at various mesh configurations are not viable in this context since severe overshoot and undershoot in the solution, i.e., Gibbs' phenomena, may make it impossible to solve the discrete conservation law on non-aligned meshes. Therefore, we advocate a gradient-based, full space solver where the mesh and conservation law solution converge to their optimal values simultaneously and therefore never require the solution of the discrete conservation law on a non-aligned mesh. The merit of the proposed method is demonstrated on a number of one- and two-dimensional model problems including the L2 projection of discontinuous functions, Burgers' equation with a discontinuous source term, transonic flow through a nozzle, and supersonic flow around a bluff body. We demonstrate optimal O(hp+1) convergence rates in the L1 norm for up to polynomial order p=6 and show that accurate solutions can be obtained on extremely coarse meshes.

A combination of proper orthogonal decomposition–discrete empirical interpolation method (POD–DEIM) and meshless local RBF-DQ approach for prevention of groundwater contamination

The main presented idea is to reduce the used CPU time for employing the local radial basis functions-differential quadrature (LRBF-DQ) method. To this end, the proper orthogonal decomposition–discrete empirical interpolation method (POD–DEIM) has been combined with the LRBF-DQ technique. For checking the ability of the new procedure, the groundwater equation is solved. This equation has been classified in category of system of advection–diffusion equations. The solutions of advection equations have some shock, thus, special numerical methods should be applied for example discontinuous Galerkin and finite volume methods. Moreover, several test problems are given that show the acceptable accuracy and efficiency of the proposed schemes.

The use of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) meshless RBF-FD technique to simulate the shallow water equations

The main aim of this paper is to develop a fast and efficient local meshless method for solving shallow water equations in one- and two-dimensional cases. The mentioned equation has been classified in category of advection equations. The solutions of advection equations have some shock, thus, especial numerical methods should be employed for example discontinuous Galerkin and finite volume methods. Here, based on the proper orthogonal decomposition approach we want to construct a fast meshless method. To this end, we consider shallow water models and obtain a suitable time-discrete scheme based on the predictor-corrector technique. Then by applying the proper orthogonal decomposition technique a new set of basis functions can be built for the solution space in which the size of new solution space is less than the original problem. Thus, by employing the new bases the CPU time will be reduced. Some examples have been studied to show the efficiency of the present numerical technique.

A discontinuous interpolated finite volume approximation of semilinear elliptic optimal control problems

In this article, we describe a discontinuous finite volume method with interpolated coefficients for the numerical approximation of the distributed optimal control problem governed by a class of semilinear elliptic equations with control constraints. The proposed distributed control problem involves three unknown variable: control, state and costate. For the approximation of control, we have adopted three different methodologies: variational discretization, piecewise constant and piecewise linear discretization, while the approximation of state and costate variables is based on discontinuous piecewise linear polynomials. As the resulted scheme is non‐symmetric, optimize‐then‐discretize approach is used to approximate the control problem. Optimal a priori error estimates in suitable natural norms for state, costate and control variables are derived. Moreover, numerical experiments are presented to support the derived theoretical results. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 33: 2090–2113, 2017

Trajectory controllability of a semilinear parabolic system

This paper introduces the trajectory controllability for a semilinear parabolic system in infinite dimensional space setting. Under suitable conditions the trajectory controllability of semilinear system has been established. Numerical experiments are conducted using backward Euler discontinuous finite volume methods with interpolated coefficients to approximate the semilinear system and to illustrate our theoretical results.

A hybrid Hermite-WENO/slope limiter for reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin methods on unstructured grids

Abstract In this paper, we propose a new limiter for reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin or hybrid discontinuous Galerkin and finite volume (Hybrid DG/FV) methods for solving Euler equations on two-dimensional unstructured triangular grids. The concept of hierarchical limiter which consists of two steps is introduced. The limiter firstly reconstructs a Hermite WENO polynomial by taking the advantage of the underlying DG method where the exact low-order (first-order) derivatives are available. The linear weights for the bias polynomials are optimized by a Lagrangian interpolation. To maintain the accuracy of the original methods in the smoothing region, a correction is introduced by using the second-order derivatives which are already computed in the original hybrid DG/FV methods. Then a slope limiter is used for the limitation of all the second-order derivatives. The present limiter is compact as only the von Neumann neighborhoods are required. Numerical results for both smoothing and shock contained problems are provided to validate the good performance of the present limiter.

Convergence Analysis of Discontinuous Finite Volume Methods for Elliptic Optimal Control Problems

In this paper, we discuss the convergence analysis of discontinuous finite volume methods applied to distribute the optimal control problems governed by a class of second-order linear elliptic equations. In order to approximate the control, two different methodologies are adopted: one is the method of variational discretization and second is piecewise constant discretization technique. For variational discretization method, optimal order of convergence in the [Formula: see text]-norm for state, adjoint state and control variables is derived. Moreover, optimal order of convergence in discrete [Formula: see text]-norm is also derived for state and adjoint state variables. Whereas, for piecewise constant approximation of control, first order convergence is derived for control, state and adjoint state variables in the [Formula: see text]-norm. In addition to that, optimal order of convergence in discrete [Formula: see text]-norm is derived for state and adjoint state variables. Also, some numerical experiments are conducted to support the derived theoretical convergence rate.