Inf-sup Stability Research Articles

An Unfitted Finite Element Method for Two-Phase Stokes Problems with Slip Between Phases

We present an isoparametric unfitted finite element approach of the CutFEM or Nitsche-XFEM family for the simulation of two-phase Stokes problems with slip between phases. For the unfitted generalized Taylor--Hood finite element pair $\mathbf{P}_{k+1}-P_k$, $k\ge1$, we show an inf-sup stability property with a stability constant that is independent of the viscosity ratio, slip coefficient, position of the interface with respect to the background mesh and, of course, mesh size. In addition, we prove stability and optimal error estimates that follow from this inf-sup property. We provide numerical results in two and three dimensions to corroborate the theoretical findings and demonstrate the robustness of our approach with respect to the contrast in viscosity, slip coefficient value, and position of the interface relative to the fixed computational mesh.

A hybrid high-order method for creeping flows of non-Newtonian fluids

In this paper, we design and analyze a Hybrid High-Order discretization method for the steady motion of non-Newtonian, incompressible fluids in the Stokes approximation of small velocities. The proposed method has several appealing features including the support of general meshes and high-order, unconditional inf-sup stability, and orders of convergence that match those obtained for scalar Leray–Lions problems. A complete well-posedness and convergence analysis of the method is carried out under new, general assumptions on the strain rate-shear stress law, which encompass several common examples such as the power-law and Carreau–Yasuda models. Numerical examples complete the exposition.

ℎ𝑝-version discontinuous Galerkin methods on essentially arbitrarily-shaped elements

We extend the applicability of the popular interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin method discretizing advection-diffusion-reaction problems to meshes comprising extremely general, essentially arbitrarily-shaped element shapes. In particular, our analysis allows for curved element shapes, without the use of non-linear elemental maps. The feasibility of the method relies on the definition of a suitable choice of the discontinuity penalization, which turns out to be explicitly dependent on the particular element shape, but essentially independent on small shape variations. This is achieved upon proving extensions of classical trace and Markov-type inverse estimates to arbitrary element shapes. A further new H 1 − L 2 H^1-L_2 -type inverse estimate on essentially arbitrary element shapes enables the proof of inf-sup stability of the method in a streamline-diffusion-like norm. These inverse estimates may be of independent interest. A priori error bounds for the resulting method are given under very mild structural assumptions restricting the magnitude of the local curvature of element boundaries. Numerical experiments are also presented, indicating the practicality of the proposed approach.

A Reynolds-robust preconditioner for the Scott-Vogelius discretization of the stationary incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

Augmented Lagrangian preconditioners have successfully yielded Reynolds-robust preconditioners for the stationary incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, but only for specific discretizations. The discretizations for which these preconditioners have been designed possess error estimates which depend on the Reynolds number, with the discretization error deteriorating as the Reynolds number is increased. In this paper we present an augmented Lagrangian preconditioner for the Scott–Vogelius discretization on barycentrically-refined meshes. This achieves both Reynolds-robust performance and Reynolds-robust error estimates. A key consideration is the design of a suitable space decomposition that captures the kernel of the grad-div term added to control the Schur complement; the same barycentric refinement that guarantees inf-sup stability also provides a local decomposition of the kernel of the divergence. The robustness of the scheme is confirmed by numerical experiments in two and three dimensions.

Inf-sup stability of the trace $\mathbf {P}_2$–$P_1$ Taylor–Hood elements for surface PDEs

The paper studies a geometrically unfitted finite element method (FEM), known as trace FEM or cut FEM, for the numerical solution of the Stokes system posed on a closed smooth surface. A trace FEM based on standard Taylor-Hood (continuous P2-P1) bulk elements is proposed. A so-called volume normal derivative stabilization, known from the literature on trace FEM, is an essential ingredient of this method. The key result proved in the paper is an inf-sup stability of the trace P2-P1 finite element pair, with the stability constant uniformly bounded with respect to the discretization parameter and the position of the surface in the bulk mesh. Optimal order convergence of a consistent variant of the finite element method follows from this new stability result and interpolation properties of the trace FEM. Properties of the method are illustrated with numerical examples.

Finite Elements and Virtual Elements on Classical Meshes

Among Numerical Methods for PDEs, the Virtual Element Methods were introduced recently in order to allow the use of decompositions of the computational domain in polytopes (polygons or polyhedra) of very general shape. The present paper investigates the possible interest in their use (together or in alternative to Finite Element Methods) also for traditional decompositions (in triangles, tetrahedra, quadrilateral or hexahedra). In particular their use looks promising in problems related to high-order PDEs (requiring Cp finite dimensional spaces with p ≥ 1), as well as problems where incompressibility conditions are needed (e.g. Stokes), or problems (like mixed formulation of elasticity problems) where several useful features (symmetry of the stress tensor, possibility to hybridize, inf-sup stability condition, etc.) are requested at the same time.

The method of finite spheres in acoustic wave propagation through nonhomogeneous media: Inf-sup stability conditions

When the method of finite spheres is used for the solution of time-harmonic acoustic wave propagation problems in nonhomogeneous media, a mixed (or saddle-point) formulation is obtained in which the unknowns are the pressure fields and the Lagrange multiplier fields defined at the interfaces between the regions with distinct material properties. Then certain inf-sup conditions must be satisfied by the discretized spaces in order for the finite-dimensional problems to be well-posed. We discuss in this paper the analysis and use of these conditions. Since the conditions involve norms of functionals in fractional Sobolev spaces, we derive ‘stronger’ conditions that are simpler in form. These new conditions pave the way for the inf-sup testing, a tool for assessing the stability of the discretized problems.

An unfitted hybrid high-order method for the Stokes interface problem

Abstract We design and analyze a hybrid high-order method on unfitted meshes to approximate the Stokes interface problem. The interface can cut through the mesh cells in a very general fashion. A cell-agglomeration procedure prevents the appearance of small cut cells. Our main results are inf-sup stability and a priori error estimates with optimal convergence rates in the energy norm. Numerical simulations corroborate these results.

Multi-physics flux coupling for hydraulic fracturing modelling within INMOST platform

AbstractThis work presents an overview of techniques that enable the construction of collocated finite volume method for complex multi-physics models in multiple domains. Each domain is characterized by the properties of heterogeneous media and features a distinctive multi-physics model. Coupling together systems of equations, corresponding to multiple unknowns, results in a vector flux. The finite volume method requires continuity of intradomain and interdomain vector fluxes. The continuous flux is derived using an extension of the harmonic averaging point concept. Often, the collocated coupling of the equations results in a saddle-point problem subject to inf-sup stability issues. These issues are addressed by the eigen-splitting of indefinite matrix coefficients encountered in the flux expression. The application of the techniques implemented within INMOST platform to hydraulic fracturing problem is demonstrated.

Stability and Convergence of Spectral Mixed Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for 3D Linear Elasticity on Anisotropic Geometric Meshes

We consider spectral mixed discontinuous Galerkin finite element discretizations of the Lame system of linear elasticity in polyhedral domains in $${\mathbb {R}}^3$$. In order to resolve possible corner, edge, and corner-edge singularities, anisotropic geometric edge meshes consisting of hexahedral elements are applied. We perform a computational study on the discrete inf-sup stability of these methods, and especially focus on the robustness with respect to the Poisson ratio close to the incompressible limit (i.e. the Stokes system). Furthermore, under certain realistic assumptions (for analytic data) on the regularity of the exact solution, we illustrate numerically that the proposed mixed DG schemes converge exponentially in a natural DG norm.

Interpolatory Rational Model Order Reduction of Parametric Problems Lacking Uniform Inf-Sup Stability

We present a technique for the approximation of a class of Hilbert space-valued maps which arise within the framework of Model Order Reduction for parametric partial differential equations, whose solution map has a meromorphic structure. Our MOR stategy consists in constructing an explicit rational approximation based on few snapshots of the solution, in an interpolatory fashion. Under some restrictions on the structure of the original problem, we describe a priori convergence results for our technique, hereafter called minimal rational interpolation, which show its ability to identify the main features (e.g. resonance locations) of the target solution map. We also investigate some procedures to obtain a posteriori error indicators, which may be employed to adapt the degree and the sampling points of the minimal rational interpolant. Finally, some numerical experiments are carried out to confirm the theoretical results and the effectiveness of our technique.

Stability evaluation of high-order splitting method for incompressible flow based on discontinuous velocity and continuous pressure

In this work, we deal with high-order solver for incompressible flow based on velocity correction scheme with discontinuous Galerkin discretized velocity and standard continuous approximated pressure. Recently, small time step instabilities have been reported for pure discontinuous Galerkin method, in which both velocity and pressure are discretized by discontinuous Galerkin. It is interesting to examine these instabilities in the context of mixed discontinuous Galerkin–continuous Galerkin method. By means of numerical investigation, we find that the discontinuous Galerkin–continuous Galerkin method shows great stability at the same configuration. The consistent velocity divergence discretization scheme helps to achieve more accurate results at small time step size. Since the equal order discontinuous Galerkin–continuous Galerkin method does not satisfy inf-sup stability requirement, the instability for high Reynolds number flow is investigated. We numerically demonstrate that fine mesh resolution and high polynomial order are required to obtain a robust system. With these conclusions, discontinuous Galerkin–continuous Galerkin method is able to achieve high-order spatial convergence rate and accurately simulate high Reynolds flow. The solver is tested through a series of classical benchmark problems, and efficiency improvement is proved against pure discontinuous Galerkin scheme.

A Nonconforming Nitsche’s Extended Finite Element Method for Stokes Interface Problems

This article studies the nonconforming $$P_{1}/P_{0}$$ Nitsche’s extended finite element method for Stokes interface problems with interface-unfitted meshes. We derive the inf-sup stability result and optimal a priori error estimates in spite of the low regularity of interface problems. It is shown that all results are independent of not only the viscosity parameters but also the position of the interface without other assumption for the interface. Numerical experiments are carried out to validate theoretical results.

The inf-sup stability of the lowest order Taylor–Hood pair on affine anisotropic meshes

Abstract Uniform inf-sup conditions are of fundamental importance for the finite element solution of problems in incompressible fluid mechanics, such as the Stokes and Navier–Stokes equations. In this work we prove a uniform inf-sup condition for the lowest-order Taylor–Hood pairs $\mathbb{Q}_2\times \mathbb{Q}_1$ and $\mathbb{P}_2\times \mathbb{P}_1$ on a family of affine anisotropic meshes. These meshes may contain refined edge and corner patches. We identify necessary hypotheses for edge patches to allow uniform stability and sufficient conditions for corner patches. For the proof, we generalize Verfürth’s trick and recent results by some of the authors. Numerical evidence confirms the theoretical results.

Numerical Analysis for an Energy-stable Total Discretization of a Poromechanics Model with Inf-sup Stability

We consider a previously proposed general nonlinear poromechanical formulation, and we derive a linearized version of this model. For this linearized model, we obtain an existence result and we propose a complete discretization strategy - in time and space - with a special concern for issues associated with incompressible or nearly-incompressible behavior. We provide a detailed mathematical analysis of this strategy, the main result being an error estimate uniform with respect to the compressibility parameter. We then illustrate our approach with detailed simulation results and we numerically investigate the importance of the assumptions made in the analysis, including the fulfillment of specific inf-sup conditions.

Low-Rank Solution Methods for Stochastic Eigenvalue Problems

We study efficient solution methods for stochastic eigenvalue problems arising from discretization of self-adjoint partial differential equations with random data. With the stochastic Galerkin approach, the solutions are represented as generalized polynomial chaos expansions. A low-rank variant of the inverse subspace iteration algorithm is presented for computing one or several minimal eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors of parameter-dependent matrices. In the algorithm, the iterates are approximated by low-rank matrices, which leads to significant cost savings. The algorithm is tested on two benchmark problems, a stochastic diffusion problem with some poorly separated eigenvalues, and an operator derived from a discrete stochastic Stokes problem whose minimal eigenvalue is related to the inf-sup stability constant. Numerical experiments show that the low-rank algorithm produces accurate solutions compared to the Monte Carlo method, and it uses much less computational time than the original algorithm without low-rank approximation.

On the Babuška–Osborn approach to finite element analysis: $$L^2$$ L 2 estimates for unstructured meshes

This paper is devoted to a long standing issue in the finite element analysis for elliptic problems. The standard approach to $$ L^2$$ bounds uses the $$H^1$$ bound in combination to a duality argument, known as Nitsche’s trick, to recover the optimal a priori order of the method. Although this approach makes perfect sense for quasi-uniform meshes, it does not provide the expected information for unstructured meshes since the final estimate involves the maximum mesh size. Babuska and Osborn (Numer Math 34:41–62, 1980), addressed this issue for a one dimensional problem by introducing a technique based on mesh-dependent norms. The key idea was to see the bilinear form posed on two different spaces; equipped with the mesh dependent analogs of $$L^2$$ and $$H^2$$ and to show that the finite element space is inf-sup stable with respect to these norms. Although this approach is readily extendable to multidimensional setting, the proof of the inf-sup stability with respect to mesh dependent norms is known only in very limited cases. We establish the validity of the inf-sup condition for standard conforming finite element spaces of any polynomial degree under certain restrictions on the mesh variation which however permit unstructured non quasiuniform meshes. As a consequence we derive $$L^2$$ estimates for the finite element approximation via quasioptimal bounds and examine related stability properties of the elliptic projection.

Supercloseness of Continuous Interior Penalty Methods on Shishkin Triangular Meshes and Hybrid Meshes for Singularly Perturbed Problems with Characteristic Layers

A singularly perturbed convection–diffusion problem posed on the unit square is solved using a continuous interior penalty (CIP) method. The mesh used is a Shishkin triangular mesh or a Shishkin hybrid mesh consisting of triangles and rectangles. For the CIP method, a variant of Oswald interpolation operator is introduced for a discrete inf-sup stability, which is proved in a new norm stronger than the the usual CIP norm. This stability and a new cancellation technique enable new supercloseness results for the CIP method: the computed solutions on the triangular mesh and the hybrid mesh are shown to be 3/2 order and 2 order (up to a logarithmic factor) convergent in the new norm to the interpolants of the true solution, respectively. These convergence orders are uniformly valid with respect to the diffusion parameter and imply that for the Shishkin mesh the hybrid mesh is superior to the triangular one. Numerical experiments illustrate these theoretical results.

Inf-Sup Stable Finite Elements on Barycentric Refinements Producing Divergence--Free Approximations in Arbitrary Dimensions

We construct several stable finite element pairs for the Stokes problem on barycentric refinements in arbitrary dimensions. A key feature of the spaces is that the divergence maps the discrete velocity space onto the discrete pressure space; thus, when applied to models of incompressible flows, the pairs yield divergence-free velocity approximations. The key result is a local inf-sup stability that holds for any dimension and for any polynomial degree. With this result, we construct global divergence-free and stable pairs in arbitrary dimension and for any polynomial degree.

Parameter-robust stability of classical three-field formulation of Biot's consolidation model

This paper is devoted to the stability analysis of a classical three-field formulation of Biot's consolidation model where the unknown variables are the displacements, fluid flux (Darcy velocity), and pore pressure. Specific parameter-dependent norms provide the key in establishing the full parameter-robust inf-sup stability of the continuous problem. Therefore, stability results presented here are uniform not only with respect to the Lam\'e parameter $\lambda$, but also with respect to all the other model parameters. This allows for the construction of a uniform block diagonal preconditioner within the framework of operator preconditioning. Stable discretizations that meet the required conditions for full robustness and guarantee mass conservation, both locally and globally, are discussed and corresponding optimal error estimates proven.