Abstract
We study the superconvergence of the finite volume method for a nonlinear elliptic problem using linear trial functions. Under the condition of C-uniform meshes, we first establish a superclose weak estimate for the bilinear form of the finite volume method. Then, we prove that on the mesh point set S, the gradient approximation possesses the superconvergence: \({\max _{P \in S}}|(\nabla u - \overline \nabla {u_h})(P)| = O({h^2})|\ln h{|^{3/2}}\), where \(\overline \nabla \) denotes the average gradient on elements containing vertex P. Furthermore, by using the interpolation post-processing technique, we also derive a global superconvergence estimate in the H 1-norm and establish an asymptotically exact a posteriori error estimator for the error ‖u − u h ‖1.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
I. Babuška, U. Banerjee, J. E. Osborn: Superconvergence in the generalized finite element method. Numer. Math. 107 (2007), 353–395.
I. Babuška, T. Strouboulis, C. S. Upadhyay, S. K. Gangaraj: Computer-based proof of the existence of superconvergence points in the finite element method; superconvergence of the derivatives in finite element solutions of Laplace’s, Poisson’s, and the elasticity equations. Numer. Methods Partial Differ. Equations 12 (1996), 347–392.
I. Babuška, J. R. Whiteman, T. Strouboulis: Finite Elements. An Introduction to the Method and Error Estimation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011.
R. E. Bank, D. J. Rose: Some error estimates for the box method. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 24 (1987), 777–787.
A. Bergam, Z. Mghazli, R. Verfürth: A posteriori estimates of a finite volume scheme for a nonlinear problem. Numer. Math. 95 (2003), 599–624. (In French.)
C. Bi: Superconvergence of finite volume element method for a nonlinear elliptic problem. Numer. Methods Partial Differ. Equations 23 (2007), 220–233.
C. Bi, V. Ginting: Two-grid finite volume element method for linear and nonlinear elliptic problems. Numer. Math. 108 (2007), 177–198.
J. H. Brandts: Analysis of a non-standard mixed finite element method with applications to superconvergence. Appl. Math., Praha 54 (2009), 225–235.
J. Brandts, M. Křížek: Gradient superconvergence on uniform simplicial partitions of polytopes. IMA J. Numer. Anal. 23 (2003), 489–505.
J. Brandts, M. Křížek: Superconvergence of tetrahedral quadratic finite elements. J. Comput. Math. 23 (2005), 27–36.
Z. Cai: On the finite volume element method. Numer. Math. 58 (1991), 713–735.
P. Chatzipantelidis, V. Ginting, R. D. Lazarov: A finite volume element method for a non-linear elliptic problem. Numer. Linear Algebra Appl. 12 (2005), 515–546.
Z. Chen: Superconvergence of generalized difference method for elliptic boundary value problem. Numer. Math., J. Chin. Univ. 3 (1994), 163–171.
L. Chen: A new class of high order finite volume methods for second order elliptic equations. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 47 (2010), 4021–4043.
Z. Chen, R. Li, A. Zhou: A note on the optimal L 2-estimate of the finite volume element method. Adv. Comput. Math. 16 (2002), 291–303.
S.-H. Chou, D. Y. Kwak, Q. Li: Lp error estimates and superconvergence for covolume or finite volume element methods. Numer. Methods Partial Differ. Equations 19 (2003), 463–486.
J. Douglas, Jr., T. Dupont: A Galerkin method for a nonlinear Dirichlet problem. Math. Comp. 29 (1975), 689–696.
J. Douglas, Jr., T. Dupont, J. Serrin: Uniqueness and comparison theorems for nonlinear elliptic equations in divergence form. Arch Ration. Mech. Anal. 42 (1971), 157–168.
R. E. Ewing, T. Lin, Y. Lin: On the accuracy of the finite volume element method based on piecewise linear polynomials. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 39 (2002), 1865–1888.
I. Hlaváček, M. Křížek: On a nonpotential nonmonotone second order elliptic problem with mixed boundary conditions. Stab. Appl. Anal. Contin. Media 3 (1993), 85–97.
I. Hlaváček, M. Křížek, J. Malý: On Galerkin approximations of a quasilinear non-potential elliptic problem of a nonmonotone type. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 184 (1994), 168–189.
J. Huang, L. Li: Some superconvergence results for the covolume method for elliptic problems. Commun. Numer. Methods Eng. 17 (2001), 291–302.
M. Křížek, P. Neittaanmäki: Mathematical and Numerical Modelling in Electrical Engineering: Theory and Applications. Mathematical Modelling: Theory and Applications 1, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1996.
R. D. Lazarov, I. D. Mishev, P. S. Vassilevski: Finite volume methods for convection-diffusion problems. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 33 (1996), 31–55.
R. Li: Generalized difference methods for a nonlinear Dirichlet problem. SIAMJ. Numer. Anal. 24 (1987), 77–88.
R. Li, Z. Chen, W. Wu: Generalized Difference Methods for Differential Equations: Numerical Analysis of Finite Volume Methods. Pure and Applied Mathematics, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2000.
Q. Lin, Q. D. Zhu: The Preprocessing and Postprocessing for the Finite Element Methods. Shanghai Sci. & Tech. Publishing, Shanghai, 1994. (In Chinese.)
J. Lv, Y. Li: L 2 error estimates and superconvergence of the finite volume element methods on quadrilateral meshes. Adv. Comput. Math. 37 (2012), 393–416.
T. Schmidt: Box schemes on quadrilateral meshes. Computing 51 (1993), 271–292.
E. Süli: Convergence of finite volume schemes for Poisson’s equation on nonuniform meshes. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 28 (1991), 1419–1430.
L. B. Wahlbin: Superconvergence in Galerkin Finite Element Methods. Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1605, Springer, Belin, 1995.
H. Wu, R. Li: Error estimates for finite volume element methods for general second-order elliptic problems. Numer. Methods Partial Differ. Equations 19 (2003), 693–708.
T. Zhang: Finite Element Methods for Partial Differential-Integral Equations. Science Press, Beijing, 2012. (In Chinese.)
T. Zhang, Y. P. Lin, R. J. Tait: On the finite volume element version of Ritz-Volterra projection and applications to related equations. J. Comput. Math. 20 (2002), 491–504.
Q. D. Zhu, Q. Lin: The Superconvergence Theory of Finite Elements. Hunan Science and Technology Publishing House, Changsha, 1989. (In Chinese.)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Dedicated to Professor Ivo Babuška on his 90th birthday
This project was supported in part by the National Basic Research Program (2012CB 955804), the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91430108), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11371081 and 11171251), the State Key Laboratory of Synthetical Automation for Process Industries Fundamental Research Funds (2013ZCX02), and the Major Program of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (ZD1302).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, T., Zhang, S. The gradient superconvergence of the finite volume method for a nonlinear elliptic problem of nonmonotone type. Appl Math 60, 573–596 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10492-015-0112-8
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10492-015-0112-8
Keywords
- finite volume method
- nonlinear elliptic problem
- local and global superconvergence in the W 1,∞-norm
- a posteriori error estimator