Improving the accuracy of discretisations of the vector transport equation on the lowest-order quadrilateral Raviart-Thomas finite elements

DOI10.1016/J.JCP.2022.111834arXiv2207.03519MaRDI QIDQ6404322FDOQ6404322

Publication date: 7 July 2022

Abstract: Within finite element models of fluids, vector-valued fields such as velocity or momentum variables are commonly discretised using the Raviart-Thomas elements. However, when using the lowest-order quadrilateral Raviart-Thomas elements, standard finite element discretisations of the vector transport equation typically have a low order of spatial accuracy. This paper describes two schemes that improve the accuracy of transporting such vector-valued fields on two-dimensional curved manifolds. The first scheme that is presented reconstructs the transported field in a higher-order function space, where the transport equation is then solved. The second scheme applies a mixed finite element formulation to the vector transport equation, simultaneously solving for the transported field and its vorticity. An approach to stabilising this mixed vector-vorticity formulation is presented that uses a Streamline Upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) method. These schemes are then demonstrated, along with their accuracy properties, through some numerical tests. Two new test cases are used to assess the transport of vector-valued fields on curved manifolds, solving the vector transport equation in isolation. The improvement of the schemes is also shown through two standard test cases for rotating shallow-water models.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Numerical methods for partial differential equations, boundary value problems (65Nxx) Numerical methods for partial differential equations, initial value and time-dependent initial-boundary value problems (65Mxx) Basic methods in fluid mechanics (76Mxx)

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