Mixed \(hp\)-finite element approximations on geometric edge and boundary layer meshes in three dimensions (Q1402137)

The authors establish estimates for the inf-sup constant of the finite-element approximations for solving the Stokes problem in a three-dimensional polyhedral domain. They consider \(hp\) finite elements for the most widely used spaces of type \(Q^{k}-Q^{k-2}\) constructed on hexahedral meshes anisotropically and non-quasi-uniformly refined on faces, edges and corners. In particular, the stability theorems for shape-regular meshes with handling nodes for face, edge and corner patches for geometric boundary layer meshes are proved. The main result says that the inf-sup constant decreases as \(Ck^{-3/2}\) where the constant \(C\) depends on the mesh grading, but is independent on the degree \(k\), the level of refinement and large element aspect ratios.