On the convergence of the mixed method of Crochet and Marchal for viscoelastic flows (Q583973)

\textit{M. J. Crochet} and \textit{J. M. Marchal} [(*) J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 26, 77-114 (1987; Zbl 0637.76009)] introduced a new mixed finite element method for the numerical simulation of viscoelastic flows. One of the properties of this method is that it gives a good approximation (i.e., of optimal order) of the limiting newtonian case, although a nonclassical one. This paper presents a proof of this result, using the theory of mixed finite element methods as developed by e.g.: \textit{F. Brezzi} [Revue Franc. Autom. Inform. Rech. Operat. 8, R-2, 129-151 (1974; Zbl 0338.90047)]. Its outline goes as follows. In the first section we quickly review the main facts about the approximation of mixed variational problems, in the second we present the problem itself, while in the third we study the discretization of Crochet and Marchal (*).