Finite Element Spaces Research Articles

From computed tomography to finite element space: A unified bone material mapping strategy

BackgroundThe spatially varying mechanical properties in finite element models of bone are most often derived from bone density data obtained via quantitative computed tomography. The key step is to accurately and efficiently map the density given in voxels to the finite element mesh. MethodsThe density projection is first formulated in least-squares terms and then discretized using a continuous and discontinuous variant of the finite element method. Both discretization variants are compared with the nodal and element approaches known from the literature. FindingsIn terms of accuracy in the L2 norm, energy distance and efficiency, the discontinuous zero-order variant appears to be the most advantageous. The proposed variant sufficiently preserves the spectrum of density at the edges, while keeping computational cost low. InterpretationThe continuous finite element method is analogous to the nodal formulation in the literature, while the discontinuous finite element method is analogous to the element formulation. The two variants differ in terms of implementation, computational cost and ability to preserve the density spectrum. These differences cannot be described and measured by known indirect methods from the literature.

Consistent pressure Poisson splitting methods for incompressible multi-phase flows: eliminating numerical boundary layers and inf-sup compatibility restrictions

For their simplicity and low computational cost, time-stepping schemes decoupling velocity and pressure are highly popular in incompressible flow simulations. When multiple fluids are present, the additional hyperbolic transport equation in the system makes it even more advantageous to compute different flow quantities separately. Most splitting methods, however, induce spurious pressure boundary layers or compatibility restrictions on how to discretise pressure and velocity. Pressure Poisson methods, on the other hand, overcome these issues by relying on a fully consistent problem to compute the pressure from the velocity field. Additionally, such pressure Poisson equations can be tailored so as to indirectly enforce incompressibility, without requiring solenoidal projections. Although these schemes have been extended to problems with variable viscosity, constant density is still a fundamental assumption in existing formulations. In this context, the main contribution of this work is to reformulate consistent splitting methods to allow for variable density, as arising in two-phase flows. We present a strong formulation and a consistent weak form allowing standard finite element spaces. For the temporal discretisation, backward differentiation formulas are used to decouple pressure, velocity and density, yielding iteration-free steps. The accuracy of our framework is showcased through a wide variety of numerical examples, considering manufactured and benchmark solutions, equal-order and mixed finite elements, first- and second-order stepping, as well as flows with one, two or three phases.

Analysis of a finite volume element scheme for solving the model two-phase nonequilibrium flow problem

The paper proposes a hybrid numerical method for solving a model problem of two-phase nonequilibrium flow of an incompressible fluid in a porous medium. This problem is relevant in the modern theory of the motion of multiphase fluids in porous media and has many applications. The studied model is based on the assumption that the relative phase permeabilities and capillary pressure depend not only on saturation, but also on its time derivative. The saturation equation in this problem refers to the type of convection-diffusion with a predominance of convection, which also includes a third-order term to account for the nonequilibrium effects. Due to the hyperbolic nature of the equation, its solution is accompanied by a number of difficulties that lead to the need for an appropriate choice of the solution method. In contrast to previous works, this paper uses a finite volume element method for solving the problem, the construction of which is based on integral balance equations, and an approximate solution is chosen from the finite element space. To discretize the problem, two different dual grids are used based on the main triangulation. In this paper, a number of a priori estimates are obtained which yields the unconditional stability of the scheme as well as its convergence with the second order. The advantages of the approach used include the local conservatism of the scheme, as well as the comparative simplicity of the software implementation of the method. These results are confirmed by a numerical test carried out on the example of a model problem.

Conforming Finite Element DIVDIV Complexes and the Application for the Linearized Einstein--Bianchi System

This paper presents the first family of conforming finite element divdiv complexes on tetrahedral grids in three dimensions. In these complexes, finite element spaces of $H(\text{divdiv},\Omega;\mathbb{S})$ are from a current preprint [Chen and Huang, arXiv: 2007.12399, 2020] while finite element spaces of both $H(\text{symcurl},\Omega;\mathbb{T})$ and $H^1(\Omega;\mathbb{R}^3)$ are newly constructed here. It is proved that these finite element complexes are exact. As a result, they can be used to discretize the linearized Einstein-Bianchi system within the dual formulation.

A Well-Posed First Order System Least Squares Formulation of the Instationary Stokes Equations

In this paper, a well-posed simultaneous space-time First Order System Least Squares formulation is constructed of the instationary incompressible Stokes equations with slip boundary conditions. As a consequence of this well-posedness, the minimization over any conforming triple of finite element spaces for velocities, pressure and stress tensor gives a quasi-best approximation from that triple. The formulation is practical in the sense that all norms in the least squares functional can be efficiently evaluated. Being of least squares type, the formulation comes with an efficient and reliable a posteriori error estimator. In addition, a priori error estimates are derived, and numerical results are presented.

Construction of Arbitrary Order Finite Element Degree-of-Freedom Maps on Polygonal and Polyhedral Cell Meshes

We develop a method for generating degree-of-freedom maps for arbitrary order Ciarlet-type finite element spaces for any cell shape. The approach is based on the composition of permutations and transformations by cell sub-entity. Current approaches to generating degree-of-freedom maps for arbitrary order problems typically rely on a consistent orientation of cell entities that permits the definition of a common local coordinate system on shared edges and faces. However, while orientation of a mesh is straightforward for simplex cells and is a local operation, it is not a strictly local operation for quadrilateral cells and, in the case of hexahedral cells, not all meshes are orientable. The permutation and transformation approach is developed for a range of element types, including arbitrary degree Lagrange, serendipity, and divergence- and curl-conforming elements, and for a range of cell shapes. The approach is local and can be applied to cells of any shape, including general polytopes and meshes with mixed cell types. A number of examples are presented and the developed approach has been implemented in open-source libraries.

Explicit Time Stepping for the Wave Equation using CutFEM with Discrete Extension

In this note we develop a fully explicit cut finite element method for the wave equation. The method is based on using a standard leap frog scheme combined with an extension operator that defines the nodal values outside of the domain in terms of the nodal values inside the domain. We show that the mass matrix associated with the extended finite element space can be lumped leading to a fully explicit scheme. We derive stability estimates for the method and provide optimal order a priori error estimates. Finally, we present some illustrating numerical examples.

A non-overlapping domain decomposition method with perfectly matched layer transmission conditions for the Helmholtz equation

It is well-known that the convergence rate of non-overlapping domain decomposition methods (DDMs) applied to the parallel finite-element solution of large-scale time-harmonic wave problems strongly depends on the transmission condition enforced at the interfaces between the subdomains. Transmission operators based on perfectly matched layers (PMLs) have proved to be well-suited for configurations with layered domain partitions. They are shown to be a good compromise between basic impedance conditions, which can lead to slow convergence, and computational expensive conditions based on the exact Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map related to the complementary of the subdomain. Unfortunately, the extension of the PML-based DDM for more general partitions with cross-points (where more than two subdomains meet) is rather tricky and requires some care.In this work, we present a non-overlapping substructured DDM with PML transmission conditions for checkerboard (Cartesian) decompositions that takes cross-points into account. In such decompositions, each subdomain is surrounded by PMLs associated to edges and corners. The continuity of Dirichlet traces at the interfaces between a subdomain and PMLs is enforced with Lagrange multipliers. This coupling strategy offers the benefit of naturally computing Neumann traces, which allows to use the PMLs as discrete operators approximating the exact Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps. Two possible Lagrange multiplier finite element spaces are presented, and the behavior of the corresponding DDM is analyzed on several numerical examples.

Simulating the behaviour of glioblastoma multiforme based on patient MRI during treatments.

Glioblastoma multiforme is a brain cancer that still shows poor prognosis for patients despite the active research for new treatments. In this work, the goal is to model and simulate the evolution of tumour associated angiogenesis and the therapeutic response to glioblastoma multiforme. Multiple phenomena are modelled in order to fit different biological pathways, such as the cellular cycle, apoptosis, hypoxia or angiogenesis. This leads to a nonlinear system with 4 equations and 4 unknowns: the density of tumour cells, the [Formula: see text] concentration, the density of endothelial cells and the vascular endothelial growth factor concentration. This system is solved numerically on a mesh fitting the geometry of the brain and the tumour of a patient based on a 2D slice of MRI. We show that our numerical scheme is positive, and we give the energy estimates on the discrete solution to ensure its existence. The numerical scheme uses nonlinear control volume finite elements in space and is implicit in time. Numerical simulations have been done using the different standard treatments: surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in order to conform to the behaviour of a tumour in response to treatments according to empirical clinical knowledge. We find that our theoretical model exhibits realistic behaviours.

A p‐adaptive, implicit‐explicit mixed finite element method for diffusion‐reaction problems

AbstractA new class of implicit‐explicit (IMEX) methods combined with a ‐adaptive mixed finite element formulation is proposed to simulate the diffusion of reacting species. Hierarchical polynomial functions are used to construct a conforming base for the flux vectors, and a non‐conforming base for the mass concentration of the species. The mixed formulation captures the distinct nonlinearities associated with the flux constitutive equations and the reaction terms. The IMEX method conveniently treats these two sources of nonlinearity implicitly and explicitly, respectively, within a single time‐stepping framework. A reliable a posteriori error estimate is proposed and analyzed. A ‐adaptive algorithm based on the proposed a posteriori error estimate is also constructed. The combination of the proposed residual‐based a posteriori error estimate and hierarchical finite element spaces allows for the formulation of an efficient ‐adaptive algorithm. A series of numerical examples demonstrate the performance of the approach for problems involving travelling waves, and possessing discontinuities and singularities. The flexibility of the formulation is illustrated via selected applications in pattern formation and electrophysiology.

High order approximations of the operator Lyapunov equation have low rank

We present a low-rank greedily adapted hp-finite element algorithm for computing an approximation to the solution of the Lyapunov operator equation. We show that there is a hidden regularity in eigenfunctions of the solution of the Lyapunov equation which can be utilized to justify the use of high order finite element spaces. Our numerical experiments indicate that we achieve eight figures of accuracy for computing the trace of the solution of the Lyapunov equation posed in a dumbbell-domain using a finite element space of dimension of only 10^4 degrees of freedom. Even more surprising is the observation that hp-refinement has an effect of reducing the rank of the approximation of the solution.

Variational Framework for Structure-Preserving Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Methods

In this article we apply a discrete action principle for the Vlasov–Maxwell equations in a structure-preserving particle-field discretization framework. In this framework the finite-dimensional electromagnetic potentials and fields are represented in a discrete de Rham sequence involving general finite element spaces, and the particle-field coupling is represented by a set of projection operators that commute with the differential operators. With a minimal number of assumptions which allow for a variety of finite elements and shape functions for the particles, we show that the resulting variational scheme has a general discrete Poisson structure and thus leads to a semi-discrete Hamiltonian system. By introducing discrete interior products we derive a second type of space discretization which is momentum preserving, based on the same finite elements and shape functions. We illustrate our method by applying it to spline finite elements, and to a new spectral discretization where the particle-field coupling relies on discrete Fourier transforms.

Direct serendipity and mixed finite elements on convex quadrilaterals

The classical serendipity and mixed finite element spaces suffer from poor approximation on nondegenerate, convex quadrilaterals. In this paper, we develop families of direct serendipity and direct mixed finite element spaces, which achieve optimal approximation properties and have minimal local dimension. The set of local shape functions for either the serendipity or mixed elements contains the full set of scalar or vector polynomials of degree r, respectively, defined directly on each element (i.e., not mapped from a reference element). Because there are not enough degrees of freedom for global H^1 or H(text {div}) conformity, exactly two supplemental shape functions must be added to each element when rge 2, and only one when r=1. The specific choice of supplemental functions gives rise to different families of direct elements. These new spaces are related through a de Rham complex. For index rge 1, the new families of serendipity spaces {mathscr {DS}}_{r+1} are the precursors under the curl operator of our direct mixed finite element spaces, which can be constructed to have reduced or full H(text {div}) approximation properties. One choice of direct serendipity supplements gives the precursor of the recently introduced Arbogast–Correa spaces (SIAM J Numer Anal 54:3332–3356, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1137/15M1013705). Other fully direct serendipity supplements can be defined without the use of mappings from reference elements, and these give rise in turn to fully direct mixed spaces. Our development is constructive, so we are able to give global bases for our spaces. Numerical results are presented to illustrate their properties.

A new parameter free partially penalized immersed finite element and the optimal convergence analysis

This paper presents a new parameter free partially penalized immersed finite element method and convergence analysis for solving second order elliptic interface problems. A lifting operator is introduced on interface edges to ensure the coercivity of the method without requiring an ad-hoc stabilization parameter. The optimal approximation capabilities of the immersed finite element space is proved via a novel new approach that is much simpler than that in the literature. A new trace inequality which is necessary to prove the optimal convergence of immersed finite element methods is established on interface elements. Optimal error estimates are derived rigorously with the constant independent of the interface location relative to the mesh. The new method and analysis have also been extended to variable coefficients and three-dimensional problems. Numerical examples are also provided to confirm the theoretical analysis and efficiency of the new method.

A structure preserving front tracking finite element method for the Mullins–Sekerka problem

Abstract We introduce and analyse a fully discrete approximation for a mathematical model for the solidification and liquidation of materials of negligible specific heat. The model is a two-sided Mullins–Sekerka problem. The discretization uses finite elements in space and an independent parameterization of the moving free boundary. We prove unconditional stability and exact volume conservation for the introduced scheme. Several numerical simulations, including for nearly crystalline surface energies, demonstrate the practicality and accuracy of the presented numerical method.

On basis constructions in finite element exterior calculus

We give a systematic self-contained exposition of how to construct geometrically decomposed bases and degrees of freedom in finite element exterior calculus. In particular, we elaborate upon a previously overlooked basis for one of the families of finite element spaces, which is of interest for implementations. Moreover, we give details for the construction of isomorphisms and duality pairings between finite element spaces. These structural results show, for example, how to transfer linear dependencies between canonical spanning sets, or how to derive the degrees of freedom.

Projection in negative norms and the regularization of rough linear functionals

In order to construct regularizations of continuous linear functionals acting on Sobolev spaces such as $W_0^{1,q}(\Omega)$, where $1<q<\infty$ and $\Omega$ is a Lipschitz domain, we propose a projection method in negative Sobolev spaces $W^{-1,p}(\Omega)$, $p$ being the conjugate exponent satisfying $p^{-1} + q^{-1} = 1$. Our method is particularly useful when one is dealing with a rough (irregular) functional that is a member of $W^{-1,p}(\Omega)$, though not of $L^1(\Omega)$, but one strives for a regular approximation in $L^1(\Omega)$. We focus on projections onto discrete finite element spaces $G_n$, and consider both discontinuous as well as continuous piecewise-polynomial approximations. While the proposed method aims to compute the best approximation as measured in the negative (dual) norm, for practical reasons, we will employ a computable, discrete dual norm that supremizes over a discrete subspace $V_m$. We show that this idea leads to a fully discrete method given by a mixed problem on $V_m\times G_n$. We propose a discontinuous as well as a continuous lowest-order pair, prove that they are compatible, and therefore obtain quasi-optimally convergent methods. We present numerical experiments that compute finite element approximations to Dirac delta's and line sources. We also present adaptively generate meshes, obtained from an error representation that comes with the method. Finally, we show how the presented projection method can be used to efficiently compute numerical approximations to partial differential equations with rough data.

A cardiac electromechanical model coupled with a lumped-parameter model for closed-loop blood circulation

We propose a novel mathematical and numerical model for cardiac electromechanics, wherein biophysically detailed core models describe the different physical processes concurring to the cardiac function. The core models, once suitably approximated, are coupled by a computationally efficient strategy. Our model is based on: (1) the combination of implicit-explicit (IMEX) schemes to solve the different core cardiac models, (2) an Artificial Neural Network based model, that surrogates a biophysically detailed but computationally demanding microscale model of active force generation and (3) appropriate partitioned schemes to couple the different models in this multiphysics setting. We employ a flexible and scalable intergrid transfer operator, which allows to interpolate Finite Element functions between nested meshes and, possibly, among arbitrary Finite Element spaces for the different core models. Our core 3D electromechanical model of the left ventricle is coupled with a closed-loop 0D model of the vascular network (and the other cardiac chambers) by an approach that is energy preserving. More precisely, we derive a balance law for the mechanical energy of the whole circulatory network. This provides a quantitative insight into the energy utilization, dissipation and transfer among the different compartments of the cardiovascular network and during different stages of the heartbeat. On this ground, a new tool is proposed to validate some energy indicators adopted in the daily clinical practice. A further contribution of this paper is the proposition of a robust algorithm for the reconstruction of the stress-free reference configuration. This feature is fundamental to correctly initialize our electromechanical simulations. As a matter of fact, the geometry acquired from medical imaging typically refers to a configuration affected by residual internal stresses, whereas the elastodynamics equations that govern the mechanics core model are related to a stress-free configuration. To prove the biophysical accuracy of our computational model, we address different scenarios of clinical interest, namely by varying preload, afterload and contractility.

A multiscale domain decomposition approach for parabolic equations using expanded mixed method

We study the multiscale mortar expanded mixed method for second order parabolic partial differential equations. This technique involves non-overlapping domain decomposition which restrict a large problem into smaller pieces. Each block in the domain decomposition is discretized by expanded mixed method. The flux continuity is ensured by constructing a finite element space on the interface between subdomains. A pressure variable is introduced on the interfaces which play the role of Dirichlet boundary condition for each subdomain internal boundary. We demonstrate the unique solvability of discrete problem. We considered both continuous time and discrete time formulation and established a priori error estimates for local subdomain approximations. We derived the optimal order convergence for the appropriate choice of mortar space. An error estimate for mortar pressure variable is also provided. The numerical experiments are performed to show the accuracy and effectiveness of method.

A formal construction of a divergence-free basis in the nonconforming virtual element method for the Stokes problem

We develop a formal construction of a pointwise divergence-free basis in the nonconforming virtual element method of arbitrary order for the Stokes problem introduced in Zhao et al. (SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 57(6):2730–2759, 2019). The proposed construction can be seen as a generalization of the divergence-free basis in Crouzeix-Raviart finite element space (Brenner, Math. Comp. 55(192):411–437, 1990; Thomasset, 1981) to the virtual element space. Using the divergence-free basis obtained from our construction, we can eliminate the pressure variable from the mixed system and obtain a symmetric positive definite system. Several numerical tests are presented to confirm the efficiency and the accuracy of our construction.