A modified weak Galerkin (MWG) finite element method is developed for solving the biharmonic equation. This method uses the same finite element space as that of the discontinuous Galerkin method, the space of discontinuous polynomials on polytopal meshes. But its formulation is simple, symmetric, positive definite, and parameter independent, without any of six inter-element face-integral terms in the formulation of the discontinuous Galerkin method. Optimal order error estimates in a discrete H2 norm are established for the corresponding finite element solutions. Error estimates in the L2 norm are also derived with a sub-optimal order of convergence for the lowest-order element and an optimal order of convergence for all high-order of elements. The numerical results are presented to confirm the theory of convergence.
Ming Cui, Xiu Ye, Shangyou Zhang
. A Modified Weak Galerkin Finite Element Method for the Biharmonic Equation on Polytopal Meshes[J]. Communications on Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2021
, 3(1)
: 91
-105
.
DOI: 10.1007/s42967-020-00071-9
1. Dong, Z.: Discontinuous Galerkin methods for the biharmonic problem on polygonal and polyhedral meshes. Int. J. Numer. Anal. Model. 16, 825–845 (2019)
2. Georgoulis, E., Houston, P.: Discontinuous Galerkin methods for the biharmonic problem. IMA J. Numer. Anal. 29, 573–594 (2009)
3. Georgoulis, E., Houston, P., Virtanen, J.: An a posteriori error indicator for discontinuous Galerkin approximations of fourth-order elliptic problems. IMA J. Numer. Anal. 31, 281–298 (2011)
4. Hu, J., Huang, Y., Zhang, S.: The lowest order differentiable finite element on rectangular grids. SIAM Numer. Anal. 49(4), 1350–1368 (2011)
5. Hu, J., Zhang, S.: The minimal conforming Hk finite element spaces on Rn rectangular grids. Math. Comput. 84(292), 563–579 (2015)
6. Mozolevski, I., Suli, E., Bosing, P.: hp-version a priori error analysis of interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin finite element approximations to the biharmonic equation. J. Sci. Comput. 30, 465–491 (2007)
7. Mozolevski, I., Suli, E.: A priori error analysis for the hp-version of the discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for the biharmonic equation. Comput. Methods Appl. Math. 3, 596–607 (2003)
8. Mu, L., Wang, J., Ye, X.: A weak Galerkin finite element method for biharmonic equations on polytopal meshes. Numer. Methods PDE 30, 1003–1029 (2014)
9. Mu, L., Wang, X., Ye, X.: A modified weak Galerkin finite element method for the Stokes equations. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 275, 79–90 (2015)
10. Suli, E., Mozolevski, I.: hp-version interior penalty DGFEMs for the biharmonic equation. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 196, 1851–1863 (2007)
11. Wang, J., Ye, X.: A weak Galerkin mixed finite element method for second-order elliptic problems. Math. Comput. 83, 2101–2126 (2014)
12. Wang, J., Ye, X.: A weak Galerkin finite element method for second-order elliptic problems. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 241, 103–115 (2013)
13. Wang, X., Malluwawadu, N., Gao, F., McMillan, T.: A modified weak Galerkin finite element method. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 217, 319–327 (2014)
14. Ye, X., Zhang, S.: A conforming discontinuous Galerkin finite element method. Int. J. Numer. Anal. Model. 17(1), 110–117 (2020)
15. Ye, X., Zhang, S.: A conforming discontinuous Galerkin finite element method: part II. Int. J. Numer. Anal. Model. 17(2), 281–296 (2020)
16. Ye, X., Zhang, S.: A stabilizer free weak Galerkin method for the biharmonic equation on polytopal meshes. J. Comput. Appl. Math. 371, 112699 (2020)
17. Zhang, S.: A C1-P2 finite element without nodal basis. ESAIM: M2AN 42, 175–192 (2008)
18. Zhang, S.: A family of 3D continuously differentiable finite elements on tetrahedral grids. Appl. Numer. Math. 59(1), 219–233 (2009)
19. Zhang, S.: A family of differentiable finite elements on simplicial grids in four space dimensions. Math. Numer. Sin. 38(3), 309–324 (2016)