Stable Mixed Finite Element Research Articles

Unconditionally stable mixed finite element methods for Darcy flow

Unconditionally stable finite element methods for Darcy flow are derived by adding least squares residual forms of the governing equations to the classical mixed formulations. The proposed methods are free of mesh dependent stabilization parameters and allow the use of the classical continuous Lagrangian finite element spaces of any order for the velocity and the potential. Stability, convergence and error estimates are derived and numerical experiments are presented to demonstrate the flexibility of the proposed finite element formulations and to confirm the predicted rates of convergence.

A Mixed Finite Element Method for Elasticity in Three Dimensions

We describe a stable mixed finite element method for linear elasticity in three dimensions.

RECTANGULAR MIXED FINITE ELEMENTS FOR ELASTICITY

We present a family of stable rectangular mixed finite elements for plane elasticity. Each member of the family consists of a space of piecewise polynomials discretizing the space of symmetric tensor fields in which the stress field is sought, and another to discretize the space of vector fields in which the displacement is sought. These may be viewed as analogues in the case of rectangular meshes of mixed finite elements recently proposed for triangular meshes. As for the triangular case the elements are closely related to a discrete version of the elasticity differential complex.

A new family of stable mixed finite elements for the 3D Stokes equations

A natural mixed-element approach for the Stokes equations in the velocity-pressure formulation would approximate the velocity by continuous piecewise-polynomials and would approximate the pressure by discontinuous piecewise-polynomials of one degree lower. However, many such elements are unstable in 2D and 3D. This paper is devoted to proving that the mixed finite elements of this P k \mathbf {P}_k - P k − 1 P_{k-1} type when k ≥ 3 k \ge 3 satisfy the stability condition—the Babuška-Brezzi inequality on macro-tetrahedra meshes where each big tetrahedron is subdivided into four subtetrahedra. This type of mesh simplifies the implementation since it has no restrictions on the initial mesh. The new element also suits the multigrid method.

Stable hp mixed finite elements based on the Hellinger-Reissner principle

In the Hellinger-Reissner formulation for linear elasticity, both the displacement u and the stress σ are taken as unknowns, giving rise to a saddle point problem. We present new pairings of quadrilateral 'trunk' finite element spaces for this method and prove stability (and optimality) in terms of both h and p. The effect of mesh shape regularity on the stability constant is explicitly tracked. Our results provide a theoretical basis for recent numerical experiments (in the context of a mixed p formulation for viscoelasticity) that showed these spaces worked well computationally.

Stable hp mixed finite elements based on the Hellinger–Reissner principle

In the Hellinger–Reissner formulation for linear elasticity, both the displacement u and the stress σ are taken as unknowns, giving rise to a saddle point problem. We present new pairings of quadrilateral ‘trunk’ finite element spaces for this method and prove stability (and optimality) in terms of both h and p. The effect of mesh shape regularity on the stability constant is explicitly tracked. Our results provide a theoretical basis for recent numerical experiments (in the context of a mixed p formulation for viscoelasticity) that showed these spaces worked well computationally.

Mixed finite elements for elasticity

There have been many efforts, dating back four decades, to develop stable mixed finite elements for the stress-displacement formulation of the plane elasticity system. This requires the development of a compatible pair of finite element spaces, one to discretize the space of symmetric tensors in which the stress field is sought, and one to discretize the space of vector fields in which the displacement is sought. Although there are number of well-known mixed finite element pairs known for the analogous problem involving vector fields and scalar fields, the symmetry of the stress field is a substantial additional difficulty, and the elements presented here are the first ones using polynomial shape functions which are known to be stable. We present a family of such pairs of finite element spaces, one for each polynomial degree, beginning with degree two for the stress and degree one for the displacement, and show stability and optimal order approximation. We also analyze some obstructions to the construction of such finite element spaces, which account for the paucity of elements available.

A mixed finite element method for nonlinear elasticity: two-fold saddle point approach and a-posteriori error estimate

We extend the applicability of stable mixed finite elements for linear plane elasticity, such as PEERS, to a mixed variational formulation of hyperelasticity. The present approach is based on the introduction of the strain tensor as a further unknown, which yields a two-fold saddle point nonlinear operator equation for the corresponding weak formulation. We provide the uniqueness of solution for the continuous and discrete schemes, and derive the usual Cea estimate for the associated error. Finally, a reliable a-posteriori error estimate, based on the solution of local Dirichlet problems, and well suited for adaptive computations, is also given.

Dual-mixed hp finite element methods using first-order stress functions and rotations

A two-field dual-mixed variational formulation of three-dimensional elasticity in terms of the non-symmetric stress tensor and the skew-symmetric rotation tensor is considered in this paper. The translational equilibrium equations are satisfied a priori by introducing the tensor of first-order stress functions. It is pointed out that the use of six properly chosen first-order stress function components leads to a (three-dimensional) weak formulation which is analogous to the displacement-pressure formulation of elasticity and the velocity-pressure formulation of Stokes flow. Selection of stable mixed hp finite element spaces is based on this analogy. Basic issues of constructing curvilinear dual-mixed p finite elements with higher-order stress approximation and continuous surface tractions are discussed in the two-dimensional case where the number of independent variables reduces to three, namely two components of a first-order stress function vector and a scalar rotation. Numerical performance of three quadrilateral dual-mixed hp finite elements is presented and compared to displacement-based hp finite elements when the Poisson's ratio converges to the incompressible limit of 0.5. It is shown that the dual-mixed elements developed in this paper are free from locking in the energy norm as well as in the stress computations, both for h- and p-extensions.

A stable mixed finite element method on truncated exterior domains

On se donne un polyedre Ω en R 3 . Denotant par Ω R l'intersection du domaine exterieur R 3 ?Ω avec une balle centree a l'origine et de diametre R, on considere une methode d'elements finis mixtes sur Ω R . Nous montrons que cette methode verifie la condition inf-sup avec une constante qui ne depend pas du parametre R. Ce resultat est utilise en [3] pour discretiser des ecoulements exterieurs de Stokes.