In structure mechanics analysis, finite element methods are now well estab­ lished and well documented techniques; their advantage lies in a higher flexibility, in particular for: (i) The representation of arbitrary complicated boundaries; (ii) Systematic rules for the developments of stable numerical schemes ap­ proximating mathematically wellposed problems, with various types of boundary conditions. On the other hand, compared to finite difference methods, this flexibility is paid by: an increased programming complexity; additional storage require­ ment. The application of finite element methods to fluid mechanics has been lagging behind and is relatively recent for several types of reasons: (i) Historical reasons: the early methods were invented by engineers for the analysis of torsion, flexion deformation of bearns, plates, shells, etc ... (see the historics in Strang and Fix (1972) or Zienckiewicz (1977». (ii) Technical reasons: fluid flow problems present specific difficulties: strong gradients,l of the velocity or temperature for instance, may occur which a finite mesh is unable to properly represent; a remedy lies in the various upwind finite element schemes which recently turned up, and which are reviewed in chapter 2 (yet their effect is just as controversial as in finite differences). Next, waves can propagate (e.g. in ocean dynamics with shallowwaters equations) which will be falsely distorted by a finite non regular mesh, as Kreiss (1979) pointed out. We are concerned in this course with the approximation of incompressible, viscous, Newtonian fluids, i.e. governed by N avier Stokes equations.

Inhalt

Notations.- 1. Elliptic Equations of Order 2: Some Standard Finite Element Methods.- 1.1. A 1-Dimensional Model Problem: The Basic Notions.- 1.2. A 2-Dimensional Problem.- 1.3. The Finite Element Equations.- 1.4. Standard Examples of Finite Element Methods.- 1.4.1. Example 1: The P1-Triangle (Courant's Triangle).- 1.4.2. Example 2: The P2-Triangle.- 1.4.3. Example 3: The Q1-Quadrangle.- 1.4.4. Example 4: The Q2-Quadrangle.- 1.4.5. A Variational Crime: The P1 Nonconforming Element.- 1.5. Mixed Formulation and Mixed Finite Element Methods for Elliptic Equations.- 1.5.1. The One Dimensional Problem.- 1.5.2. A Two Dimensional Problem.- 2. Upwind Finite Element Schemes.- 2.1. Upwind Finite Differences.- 2.2. Modified Weighted Residual (MWR).- 2.3. Reduced Integration of the Advection Term.- 2.4. Computation of Directional Derivatives at the Nodes.- 2.5. Discontinuous Finite Elements and Mixed Interpolation.- 2.6. The Method of Characteristics in Finite Elements.- 2.7. Peturbation of the Advective Term: Bredif (1980).- 2.8. Some Numerical Tests and Further Comments.- 2.8.1. One Dimensional Stationary Advection Equation (56).- 2.8.2. Two Dimensional Stationary Advection Equation.- 2.8.3. Time Dependent Advection.- 3. Numerical Solution of Stokes Equations.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Velocity-Pressure Formulations: Discontinuous Approximations of the Pressure.- 3.2.1. uh: P1 Nonconforming Triangle (§1-4-5); ph: Piecewise Constant.- 3.2.2. uh: P2 Triangle ph: P0 (Piecewise Constant).- 3.2.3. uh: "P2+bubble" Triangle (or Modified P2); ph: Discontinuous P1.- 3.2.4. uh: Q2 Quadrangle; ph: Q1 Discontinuous.- 3.2.5. Numerical Solution by Penalty Methods.- 3.2.6. Numerical Results and Further Comments.- 3.3. Velocity-Pressure Formulations: Continuous Approximation of the Pressure and Velocity.- 3.3.1. Introduction.- 3.3.2. Examples and Error Estimates.- 3.3.3. Decomposition of the Stokes Problem.- 3.4. Vorticity-Pressure-Velocity Formulations: Discontinuous Approximations of Pressure and Velocity.- 3.5. Vorticity Stream-Function Formulation: Decompositions of the Biharmonic Problem.- 4. Navier-Stokes Equations: Accuracy Assessments and Numerical Results.- 4.1. Remarks on the Formulation.- 4.2. A review of the Different Methods.- 4.2.1 Velocity-Pressure Formulations: Discontinuous Approximations of the Pressure.- 4.2.2. Velocity-Pressure Formulations: Continuous Approximations of the Pressure.- 4.2.3. Vorticity-Pressure-Velocity Formulations: Discontinuous Approximations of Pressure and Velocity.- 4.2.4. Vorticity Stream-Function Formulation.- 4.3. Some Numerical Tests.- 4.3.1. The Square Wall Driven Cavity Flow.- 4.3.2. An Engineering Problem: Unsteady 2-D Flow Around and In an Air-Intake.- 5. Computational Problems and Bookkeeping.- 5.1. Mesh Generation.- 5.2. Solution of the Nonlinear Problems.- 5.2.1. Successive Approximations (or Linearization) with Under Relaxation.- 5.2.2. Newton-Raphson Algorithm.- 5.2.3. Conjugate Gradient Method (with Scaling) for Nonlinear Problems.- 5.2.4. A Splitting Technique for the Transient Problem.- 5.3. Iterative and Direct Solvers of Linear Equations.- 5.3.1. Successive Over Relaxation.- 5.3.2. Cholesky Factorizations.- 5.3.3. Out of Core Factorizations.- 5.3.4. Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient.- Appendix 2. Numerical Illustration.- Three Dimensional Case.- References.