Applied Mathematics Commons^™

Mathematical Modeling: Finite Element Analysis And Computations Arising In Fluid Dynamics And Biological Applications, Jorge Reyes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is often the case when attempting to capture real word phenomena that the resulting mathematical model is too difficult and even not feasible to be solved analytically. As a result, a computational approach is required and there exists many different methods to numerically solve models described by systems of partial differential equations. The Finite Element Method is one of them and it was pursued herein.This dissertation focuses on the finite element analysis and corresponding numerical computations of several different models. The first part consists of a study on two different fluid flow models: the main governing model of fluid …

Nystrom Methods For High-Order Cq Solutions Of The Wave Equation In Two Dimensions, Erli Wind-Andersen

Dissertations

An investigation of high order Convolution Quadratures (CQ) methods for the solution of the wave equation in unbounded domains in two dimensions is presented. These rely on Nystrom discretizations for the solution of the ensemble of associated Laplace domain modified Helmholtz problems. Two classes of CQ discretizations are considered: one based on linear multistep methods and the other based on Runge-Kutta methods. Both are used in conjunction with Nystrom discretizations based on Alpert and QBX quadratures of Boundary Integral Equation (BIE) formulations of the Laplace domain Helmholtz problems with complex wavenumbers. CQ in conjunction with BIE is an excellent candidate …

Numerical Analysis And Fluid Flow Modeling Of Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations, Tahj Hill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Navier-Stokes equations (NSE) are an essential set of partial differential equations for governing the motion of fluids. In this paper, we will study the NSE for an incompressible flow, one which density ρ = ρ0 is constant.

First, we will present the derivation of the NSE and discuss solutions and boundary conditions for the equations. We will then discuss the Reynolds number, a dimensionless number that is important in the observations of fluid flow patterns. We will study the NSE at various Reynolds numbers, and use the Reynolds number to write the NSE in a nondimensional form.

We will …

Radial Basis Function Generated Finite Differences For The Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation, Justin Ng

Theses and Dissertations

Solutions to the one-dimensional and two-dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation are obtained numerically using methods based on radial basis functions (RBFs). Periodic boundary conditions are enforced with a non-periodic initial condition over varying domain sizes. The spatial structure of the solutions is represented using RBFs while several explicit and implicit iterative methods for solving ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are used in temporal discretization for the approximate solutions to the NLS equation. Splitting schemes, integration factors and hyperviscosity are used to stabilize the time-stepping schemes and are compared with one another in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy. This thesis shows …

Numerical Simulation For A Rising Bubble Interacting With A Solid Wall: Impact, Bounce, And Thin Film Dynamics, Changjuan Zhang, Jie Li, Li-Shi Luo, Tiezheng Qian

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Using an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method on an adaptive moving unstructured mesh, we carry out numerical simulations for a rising bubble interacting with a solid wall. Driven by the buoyancy force, the axisymmetric bubble rises in a viscous liquid toward a horizontal wall, with impact on and possible bounce from the wall. First, our simulation is quantitatively validated through a detailed comparison between numerical results and experimental data. We then investigate the bubble dynamics which exhibits four different behaviors depending on the competition among the inertial, viscous, gravitational, and capillary forces. A phase diagram for bubble dynamics has been produced using …

Computational Algorithms For Improved Representation Of The Model Error Covariance In Weak-Constraint 4d-Var, Jeremy A. Shaw

Dissertations and Theses

Four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4D-Var) provides an estimate to the state of a dynamical system through the minimization of a cost functional that measures the distance to a prior state (background) estimate and observations over a time window. The analysis fit to each information input component is determined by the specification of the error covariance matrices in the data assimilation system (DAS). Weak-constraint 4D-Var (w4D-Var) provides a theoretical framework to account for modeling errors in the analysis scheme. In addition to the specification of the background error covariance matrix, the w4D-Var formulation requires information on the model error statistics and …

Symmetric Nonconforming Mixed Finite Elements For Linear Elasticity, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Johnny Guzmán

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a family of mixed methods for linear elasticity that yield exactly symmetric, but only weakly conforming, stress approximations. The method is presented in both two and three dimensions (on triangular and tetrahedral meshes). The method is efficiently implementable by hybridization. The degrees of freedom of the Lagrange multipliers, which approximate the displacements at the faces, solve a symmetric positive-definite system. The design and analysis of this method is motivated by a new set of unisolvent degrees of freedom for symmetric polynomial matrices. These new degrees of freedom are also used to give a new simple calculation of the …

Analysis Of Hdg Methods For Stokes Flow, Bernardo Cockburn, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Ngoc Cuong Nguyen, Jaume Peraire, Francisco-Javier Sayas

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, we analyze a hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for numerically solving the Stokes equations. The method uses polynomials of degree $ k$ for all the components of the approximate solution of the gradient-velocity-pressure formulation. The novelty of the analysis is the use of a new projection tailored to the very structure of the numerical traces of the method. It renders the analysis of the projection of the errors very concise and allows us to see that the projection of the error in the velocity superconverges. As a consequence, we prove that the approximations of the velocity gradient, the …

A Projection-Based Error Analysis Of Hdg Methods, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Bernardo Cockburn, Francisco-Javier Sayas

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We introduce a new technique for the error analysis of hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) methods. The technique relies on the use of a new projection whose design is inspired by the form of the numerical traces of the methods. This renders the analysis of the projections of the discretization errors simple and concise. By showing that these projections of the errors are bounded in terms of the distance between the solution and its projection, our studies of influence of the stabilization parameter are reduced to local analyses of approximation by the projection. We illustrate the technique on a specific HDG …

Polynomial Extension Operators. Part Ii, Leszek Demkowicz, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Joachim Schöberl

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Consider the tangential trace of a vector polynomial on the surface of a tetrahedron. We construct an extension operator that extends such a trace function into a polynomial on the tetrahedron. This operator can be continuously extended to the trace space of H(curl ). Furthermore, it satisfies a commutativity property with an extension operator we constructed in Part I of this series. Such extensions are a fundamental ingredient of high order finite element analysis.

Multigrid Convergence For Second Order Elliptic Problems With Smooth Complex Coefficients, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Joseph E. Pasciak

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The finite element method when applied to a second order partial differential equation in divergence form can generate operators that are neither Hermitian nor definite when the coefficient function is complex valued. For such problems, under a uniqueness assumption, we prove the continuous dependence of the exact solution and its finite element approximations on data provided that the coefficients are smooth and uniformly bounded away from zero. Then we show that a multigrid algorithm converges once the coarse mesh size is smaller than some fixed number, providing an efficient solver for computing discrete approximations. Numerical experiments, while confirming the theory, …

Locally Conservative Fluxes For The Continuous Galerkin Method, Bernardo Cockburn, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Haiying Wang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The standard continuous Galerkin (CG) finite element method for second order elliptic problems suffers from its inability to provide conservative flux approximations, a much needed quantity in many applications. We show how to overcome this shortcoming by using a two step postprocessing. The first step is the computation of a numerical flux trace defined on element inter- faces and is motivated by the structure of the numerical traces of discontinuous Galerkin methods. This computation is non-local in that it requires the solution of a symmetric positive definite system, but the system is well conditioned independently of mesh size, so it …

Error Analysis Of Variable Degree Mixed Methods For Elliptic Problems Via Hybridization, Bernardo Cockburn, Jay Gopalakrishnan

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A new approach to error analysis of hybridized mixed methods is proposed and applied to study a new hybridized variable degree Raviart-Thomas method for second order elliptic problems. The approach gives error estimates for the Lagrange multipliers without using error estimates for the other variables. Error estimates for the primal and flux variables then follow from those for the Lagrange multipliers. In contrast, traditional error analyses obtain error estimates for the flux and primal variables first and then use it to get error estimates for the Lagrange multipliers. The new approach not only gives new error estimates for the new …

A Characterization Of Hybridized Mixed Methods For Second Order Elliptic Problems, Bernardo Cockburn, Jay Gopalakrishnan

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, we give a new characterization of the approximate solution given by hybridized mixed methods for second order self-adjoint elliptic problems. We apply this characterization to obtain an explicit formula for the entries of the matrix equation for the Lagrange multiplier unknowns resulting from hybridization. We also obtain necessary and sufficient conditions under which the multipliers of the Raviart–Thomas and the Brezzi–Douglas–Marini methods of similar order are identical.