Mixed Finite Element Methods And Applications

Non-standard finite element methods, in particular mixed methods, are central to many applications. In this text the authors, Boffi, Brezzi and Fortin present a general framework, starting with a finite dimensional presentation, then moving on to formulation in Hilbert spaces and finally considering approximations, including stabilized methods and eigenvalue problems. This book also provides an introduction to standard finite element approximations, followed by the construction of elements for the approximation of mixed formulations in H(div) and H(curl). The general theory is applied to some classical examples: Dirichlet's problem, Stokes' problem, plate problems, elasticity and electromagnetism.

The main purpose of this book is to provide a simple and accessible introduction to the mixed finite element method as a fundamental tool to numerically solve a wide class of boundary value problems arising in physics and engineering sciences. The book is based on material that was taught in corresponding undergraduate and graduate courses at the Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile, during the last 7 years. As compared with several other classical books in the subject, the main features of the present one have to do, on one hand, with an attempt of presenting and explaining most of the details in the proofs and in the different applications. In particular several results and aspects of the corresponding analysis that are usually available only in papers or proceedings are included here.

Introduce every concept in the simplest setting and to maintain a level of treatment that is as rigorous as possible without being unnecessarily abstract. Contains unique recent developments of various finite elements such as nonconforming, mixed, discontinuous, characteristic, and adaptive finite elements, along with their applications. Describes unique recent applications of finite element methods to important fields such as multiphase flows in porous media and semiconductor modelling. Treats the three major types of partial differential equations, i.e., elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic equations.

Research on non-standard finite element methods is evolving rapidly and in this text Brezzi and Fortin give a general framework in which the development is taking place. The presentation is built around a few classic examples: Dirichlet's problem, Stokes problem, Linear elasticity. The authors provide with this publication an analysis of the methods in order to understand their properties as thoroughly as possible.

Since the early 70's, mixed finite elements have been the object of a wide and deep study by the mathematical and engineering communities. The fundamental role of this method for many application fields has been worldwide recognized and its use has been introduced in several commercial codes. An important feature of mixed finite elements is the interplay between theory and application. Discretization spaces for mixed schemes require suitable compatibilities, so that simple minded approximations generally do not work and the design of appropriate stabilizations gives rise to challenging mathematical problems. This volume collects the lecture notes of a C.I.M.E. course held in Summer 2006, when some of the most world recognized experts in the field reviewed the rigorous setting of mixed finite elements and revisited it after more than 30 years of practice. Applications, in this volume, range from traditional ones, like fluid-dynamics or elasticity, to more recent and active fields, like electromagnetism.

Finite element methods are the most popular methods for solving partial differential equations numerically, and despite having a history of more than 50 years, there is still active research on their analysis, application and extension. This book features overview papers and original research articles from participants of the 30th Chemnitz Finite Element Symposium, which itself has a 40-year history. Covering topics including numerical methods for equations with fractional partial derivatives; isogeometric analysis and other novel discretization methods, like space-time finite elements and boundary elements; analysis of a posteriori error estimates and adaptive methods; enhancement of efficient solvers of the resulting systems of equations, discretization methods for partial differential equations on surfaces; and methods adapted to applications in solid and fluid mechanics, it offers readers insights into the latest results.

This book gives an introduction to the finite element method as a general computational method for solving partial differential equations approximately. Our approach is mathematical in nature with a strong focus on the underlying mathematical principles, such as approximation properties of piecewise polynomial spaces, and variational formulations of partial differential equations, but with a minimum level of advanced mathematical machinery from functional analysis and partial differential equations. In principle, the material should be accessible to students with only knowledge of calculus of several variables, basic partial differential equations, and linear algebra, as the necessary concepts from more advanced analysis are introduced when needed. Throughout the text we emphasize implementation of the involved algorithms, and have therefore mixed mathematical theory with concrete computer code using the numerical software MATLAB is and its PDE-Toolbox. We have also had the ambition to cover some of the most important applications of finite elements and the basic finite element methods developed for those applications, including diffusion and transport phenomena, solid and fluid mechanics, and also electromagnetics.​