Basic smoothing procedures for the multigrid treatment of elliptic 3D operators (Q1088389)

Anisotropy in partial differential equations can have adverse effects on the convergence rate of multigrid methods based on pointwise relaxation and standard coarsening. For two-dimensional problems, simple remedies are well-known: use of either semi-coarsening of (alternating) line relaxation cures potential trouble. But in three dimensions, these troubles are compounded by the greater number of cases of anisotropy. This paper studies the behavior of various combinations of semi- coarsening and line and plane relaxation applied to those cases. The study involves both theoretical and numerical analysis for the model Poisson problem. An important aspect of the work is the demonstration that plane relaxation, using two dimensional multigrid as the solver and standard coarsening, inexpensive and effective remedy for anisotropy in three dimensions.