Stability of some mixed finite element methods for Stokesian flows (Q1080309)

The problems of flow of viscous, incompressible, Stokesian fluids, considered in so-called primitive variables the velocity field and pressure field, are examined in this work. These problems are reduced to some saddle point problems for a functional (perturbed or not), the pressure p representing Lagrange multiplier associated with the incompressibility condition (constraint). An important question related to these formulations is whether or not stable mixed finite element methods exist which converge at optimal rates in the energy and \(L^ 2\)-norms. This paper is oriented at solving this question for a restricted class of problems (considered in rectangular domains) by estimating the stability parameter in the discrete LBB (Ladyszhenskaya, Babuska, Brezzi) condition. The authors present a general constructive technique for estimating this parameter for uniform meshes and for some type of finite elements. The convergence theory is verified when the body force derives from a potential (then the Stokes problem has an exact solution).