2018, Barrenechea, Gabriel R., John, Volker, Knobloch, Petr, Rankin, Richard

Recent results on the numerical analysis of algebraic flux correction (AFC) finite element schemes for scalar convection–diffusion equations are reviewed and presented in a unified way. A general form of the method is presented using a link between AFC schemes and nonlinear edge-based diffusion schemes. Then, specific versions of the method, that is, different definitions for the flux limiters, are reviewed and their main results stated. Numerical studies compare the different versions of the scheme.

2014, Schmeyer, Ellen, Bordás, Róbert, Thévenin, Dominique, John, Volker

A turbulent vortex street in an air flow interacting with a disperse droplet population is investigated in a wind tunnel. Non-intrusive measurement techniques are used to obtain data for the air velocity and the droplet velocity. The process is modeled with a population balance system consisting of the incompressible NavierStokes equations and a population balance equation for the droplet size distribution. Numerical simulations are performed that rely on a variational multiscale method for turbulent flows, a direct discretization of the differential operator of the population balance equation, and a modern technique for the evaluation of the coalescence integrals. After having calibrated two unknown model parameters, a very good agreement of the experimental and numerical results can be observed.

2012, Jenkins, Eleanor W., John, Volker, Linke, Alexander, Rebholz, Leo G.

Grad-div stabilization has been proved to be a very useful tool in discretizations of incompressible flow problems. Standard error analysis for inf-sup stable conforming pairs of finite element spaces predicts that the stabilization parameter should be optimally chosen to be O(1). This paper revisits this choice for the Stokes equations on the basis of minimizing the H1( ) error of the velocity and the L2( ) error of the pressure. It turns out, by applying a refined error analysis, that the optimal parameter choice is more subtle than known so far in the literature. It depends on the used norm, the solution, the family of finite element spaces, and the type of mesh. Depending on the situation, the optimal stabilization parameter might range from being very small to very large. The analytic results are supported by numerical examples.

2017, John, Volker, Knobloch, Petr, Novo, Julia

The contents of this paper is twofold. First, important recent results concerning finite element methods for convection-dominated problems and incompressible flow problems are described that illustrate the activities in these topics. Second, a number of, in our opinion, important problems in these fields are discussed.

2015, Frutos, Javier de, García-Archilla, Bosco, John, Volker, Novo, Julia

The approximation of the time-dependent Oseen problem using inf-sup stable mixed finite elements in a Galerkin method with grad-div stabilization is studied. The main goal is to prove that adding a grad-div stabilization term to the Galerkin approximation has a stabilizing effect for small viscosity. Both the continuous-in-time and the fully discrete case (backward Euler method, the two-step BDF, and CrankNicolson schemes) are analyzed. In fact, error bounds are obtained that do not depend on the inverse of the viscosity in the case where the solution is sufficiently smooth. The bounds for the divergence of the velocity as well as for the pressure are optimal. The analysis is based on the use of a specific Stokes projection. Numerical studies support the analytical results

2013, John, Volker, Suciu, Carina

The accurate and efficient simulation of bi-variate population balance systems is nowadays a great challenge since the domain spanned by the external and internal coordinates is five-dimensional. This report considers direct discretizations of this equation in tensorproduct domains. In this situation, finite difference methods can be applied. The studied model includes the transport of dissolved potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) and of energy (temperature) in a laminar flow field as well as the nucleation and growth of KDP particles. Two discretizations of the coupled model will be considered which differ only in the discretization of the population balance equation: a first order monotone upwind scheme and a third order essentially on-oscillatory (ENO) scheme. The Dirac term on the right-hand side of this equation is discretized with a finite volume method. The numerical results show that much different results are obtained even in the class of direct discretizations.

2010, John, Volker, Novo, Julia

Conditions on the stabilization parameters are explored for different approaches in deriving error estimates for the SUPG finite element stabilization of time-dependent convection-diffusion-reaction equations that is combined with the backward Euler method. Standard energy arguments lead to estimates for stabilization parameters that depend on the length of the time step. The stabilization vanishes in the time-continuous limit. However, based on numerical experiences, this seems not to be the correct behavior. For this reason, the time-continuous case is analyzed under certain conditions on the coefficients of the equation and the finite element method. An error estimate with the standard order of convergence is derived for stabilization parameters of the same form that is optimal for the steady-state problem. Numerical studies support the analytical results.

2022, Frerichs-Mihov, Derk, John, Volker

This note studies a generalization of a post-processing technique and a novel method inspired by the same technique which significantly reduce spurious oscillations in discontinuous Galerkin solutions of convection-diffusion equations in the convection-dominated regime.

2011, Hackbusch, Wolfgang, John, Volker, Khachatryan, Aram, Suciu, Carina

A population balance system which models the synthesis of urea is studied in this paper. The equations for the flow field, the mass and the energy balances are given in a three-dimensional domain and the equation for the particle size distribution (PSD) in a four-dimensional domain. This problem is convection-dominated and aggregation-driven. Both features require the application of appropriate numerical methods. This paper presents a numerical approach for simulating the population balance system which is based on finite element schemes, a finite difference method and a modern method to evaluate convolution integrals that appear in the aggregation term. Two experiments are considered and the numerical results are compared with experimental data. Unknown parameters in the aggregation kernel have to be calibrated. For appropriately chosen parameters, good agreements are achieved of the experimental data and the numerical results computed with the proposed method. A detailed study of the computational results reveals the influence of different parts of the aggregation kernel.

2015, John, Volker, Linke, Alexander, Merdon, Christian, Neilan, Michael, Rebholz, Leo G.

The divergence constraint of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations is revisited in the mixed finite element framework. While many stable and convergent mixed elements have been developed throughout the past four decades, most classical methods relax the divergence constraint and only enforce the condition discretely. As a result, these methods introduce a pressure-dependent consistency error which can potentially pollute the computed velocity. These methods are not robust in the sense that a contribution from the right-hand side, which in fluences only the pressure in the continuous equations, impacts both velocity and pressure in the discrete equations. This paper reviews the theory and practical implications of relaxing the divergence constraint. Several approaches for improving the discrete mass balance or even for computing divergence-free solutions will be discussed: grad-div stabilization, higher order mixed methods derived on the basis of an exact de Rham complex, H(div)-conforming finite elements, and mixed methods with an appropriate reconstruction of the test functions. Numerical examples illustrate both the potential effects of using non-robust discretizations and the improvements obtained by utilizing pressure-robust discretizations.