A hybrid discontinuous in space and time Galerkin method for wave propagation problems

Medium‐frequency regime and multi‐scale wave propagation problems have been a subject of active research in computational acoustics recently. New techniques have attempted to overcome the limitations of existing discretization methods that tend to suffer from dispersion. One such technique, the discontinuous enrichment method, incorporates features of the governing partial differential equation in the approximation, in particular, the solutions of the homogeneous form of the equation. Here, based on this concept and by extension of a conventional space–time finite element method, a hybrid discontinuous Galerkin method (DGM) for the numerical solution of transient problems governed by the wave equation in two and three spatial dimensions is described. The discontinuous formulation in both space and time enables the use of solutions to the homogeneous wave equation in the approximation. In this contribution, within each finite element, the solutions in the form of polynomial waves are employed. The continuity of these polynomial waves is weakly enforced through suitably chosen Lagrange multipliers. Results for two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional problems, in both low‐frequency and medium‐frequency regimes, show that the proposed DGM outperforms the conventional space–time finite element method. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A domain decomposition method for discontinuous Galerkin discretizations of Helmholtz problems with plane waves and Lagrange multipliers

A nonoverlapping domain decomposition (DD) method is proposed for the iterative solution of systems of equations arising from the discretization of Helmholtz problems by the discontinuous enrichment method. This discretization method is a discontinuous Galerkin finite element method with plane wave basis functions for approximating locally the solution and dual Lagrange multipliers for weakly enforcing its continuity over the element interfaces. The primal subdomain degrees of freedom are eliminated by local static condensations to obtain an algebraic system of equations formulated in terms of the interface Lagrange multipliers only. As in the FETI‐H and FETI‐DPH DD methods for continuous Galerkin discretizations, this system of Lagrange multipliers is iteratively solved by a Krylov method equipped with both a local preconditioner based on subdomain data, and a global one using a coarse space. Numerical experiments performed for two‐ and three‐dimensional acoustic scattering problems suggest that the proposed DD‐based iterative solver is scalable with respect to both the size of the global problem and the number of subdomains. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three‐dimensional discontinuous Galerkin elements with plane waves and Lagrange multipliers for the solution of mid‐frequency Helmholtz problems

Recently, a discontinuous Galerkin finite element method with plane wave basis functions and Lagrange multiplier degrees of freedom was proposed for the efficient solution in two dimensions of Helmholtz problems in the mid‐frequency regime. In this paper, this method is extended to three dimensions and several new elements are proposed. Computational results obtained for several wave guide and acoustic scattering model problems demonstrate one to two orders of magnitude solution time improvement over the higher‐order Galerkin method. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A contact algorithm for the Signorini problem using space–time finite elements

The most common approach in the finite‐element modelling of continuum systems over space and time is to employ the finite‐element discretization over the spatial domain to reduce the problem to a system of ordinary differential equations in time. The desired time integration scheme can then be used to step across the so‐called time slabs, mesh configurations in which every element shares the same degree of time refinement. These techniques may become inefficient when the nature of the initial boundary value problem is such that a high degree of time refinement is required only in specific spatial regions of the mesh. Ideally one would be able to increase the time refinement only in those necessary regions. We achieve this flexibility by employing space–time elements with independent interpolation functions in both space and time. Our method is used to examine the classic contact problem of Signorini and allows us to increase the time refinement only in the spatial region adjacent to the contact interface. We also develop an interface‐tracking algorithm that tracks the contact boundary through the space–time mesh and compare our results with those of Hertz contact theory. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The enriched space–time finite element method (EST) for simultaneous solution of fluid–structure interaction

The paper introduces a weighted residual‐based approach for the numerical investigation of the interaction of fluid flow and thin flexible structures. The presented method enables one to treat strongly coupled systems involving large structural motion and deformation of multiple‐flow‐immersed solid objects. The fluid flow is described by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The current configuration of the thin structure of linear elastic material with non‐linear kinematics is mapped to the flow using the zero iso‐contour of an updated level set function. The formulation of fluid, structure and coupling conditions uniformly uses velocities as unknowns. The integration of the weak form is performed on a space–time finite element discretization of the domain. Interfacial constraints of the multi‐field problem are ensured by distributed Lagrange multipliers. The proposed formulation and discretization techniques lead to a monolithic algebraic system, well suited for strongly coupled fluid–structure systems. Embedding a thin structure into a flow results in non‐smooth fields for the fluid. Based on the concept of the extended finite element method, the space–time approximations of fluid pressure and velocity are properly enriched to capture weakly and strongly discontinuous solutions. This leads to the present enriched space–time (EST) method. Numerical examples of fluid–structure interaction show the eligibility of the developed numerical approach in order to describe the behavior of such coupled systems. The test cases demonstrate the application of the proposed technique to problems where mesh moving strategies often fail. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A discontinuous Galerkin method for a hyperbolic model for convection–diffusion problems in CFD

This paper proposes a hyperbolic model for convection–diffusion transport problems in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The hyperbolic model is based on the so‐called Cattaneo's law. This is a time‐dependent generalization of Fick's and Fourier's laws that was originally proposed to solve pure‐diffusive heat transfer problems. We show that the proposed model avoids the infinite speed paradox that is inherent in the standard parabolic model. A high‐order upwind discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is developed and applied to classic convection‐dominated test problems. The quality of the numerical results is remarkable, since the discontinuities are very well captured without the appearance of spurious oscillations. These results are compared with those obtained by using the standard parabolic model and the local DG (LDG) method and with those given by the parabolic model and the Bassi–Rebay scheme. Finally, the applicability of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by solving a practical case in engineering. We simulate the evolution of pollutant being spilled in the harbour of A Coruña (northwest of Spain, EU). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solving the advection–diffusion equation on unstructured meshes with discontinuous/mixed finite elements and a local time stepping procedure

Explicit schemes are known to provide less numerical diffusion in solving the advection–diffusion equation, especially for advection‐dominated problems. Traditional explicit schemes use fixed time steps restricted by the global CFL condition in order to guarantee stability. This is known to slow down the computation especially for heterogeneous domains and/or unstructured meshes. To avoid this problem, local time stepping procedures where the time step is allowed to vary spatially in order to satisfy a local CFL condition have been developed. In this paper, a local time stepping approach is used with a numerical model based on discontinuous Galerkin/mixed finite element methods to solve the advection–diffusion equation. The developments are detailed for general unstructured triangular meshes. Numerical experiments are performed to show the efficiency of the numerical model for the simulation of (i) the transport of a solute on highly unstructured meshes and (ii) density‐driven flow, where the velocity field changes at each time step. The model gives stable results with significant reduction of the computational cost especially for the non‐linear problem. Moreover, numerical diffusion is also reduced for highly advective problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of implicit and explicit hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin methods for the acoustic wave equation

We describe implicit and explicit formulations of the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for the acoustic wave equation based on state‐of‐the‐art numerical software and quantify their efficiency for realistic application settings. In the explicit scheme, the trace of the acoustic pressure is computed from the solution on the two elements adjacent to the face at the old time step. Tensor product shape functions for quadrilaterals and hexahedra evaluated with sum factorization are used to ensure low operation counts. For applying the inverse mass matrix of Lagrangian shape functions with full Gaussian quadrature, a new tensorial technique is proposed. As time propagators, diagonally implicit and explicit Runge–Kutta methods are used, respectively. We find that the computing time per time step is 25 to 200 times lower for the explicit scheme, with an increasing gap in three spatial dimensions and for higher element degrees. Our experiments on realistic 3D wave propagation with variable material parameters in a photoacoustic imaging setting show an improvement of two orders of magnitude in terms of time to solution, despite stability restrictions on the time step of the explicit scheme. Operation counts and a performance model to predict performance on other computer systems accompany our results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Higher‐order extensions of a discontinuous Galerkin method for mid‐frequency Helmholtz problems

Recently, a discontinuous Galerkin method with plane wave basis functions and Lagrange multiplier degrees of freedom was proposed for the efficient solution of Helmholtz problems in the mid‐frequency regime. In this paper, this method is extended to higher‐order elements. Performance results obtained for various two‐dimensional problems highlight the advantages of these elements over classical higher‐order Galerkin elements such as Q₂ and Q₄ for the discretization of interior and exterior Helmholtz problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hybridized discontinuous Petrov–Galerkin scheme for scalar conservation laws

We present a hybridized discontinuous Petrov–Galerkin (HDPG) method for the numerical solution of steady and time‐dependent scalar conservation laws. The method combines a hybridization technique with a local Petrov–Galerkin approach in which the test functions are computed to maximize the inf‐sup condition. Since the Petrov–Galerkin approach does not guarantee a conservative solution, we propose to enforce this explicitly by introducing a constraint into the local Petrov–Galerkin problem. When the resulting nonlinear system is solved using the Newton–Raphson procedure, the solution inside each element can be locally condensed to yield a global linear system involving only the degrees of freedom of the numerical trace. This results in a significant reduction in memory storage and computation time for the solution of the matrix system, albeit at the cost of solving the local Petrov–Galerkin problems. However, these local problems are independent of each other and thus perfectly scalable. We present several numerical examples to assess the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the HDPG method outperforms the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for problems involving discontinuities. Moreover, for the test case proposed by Peterson, the HDPG method provides optimal convergence of order k + 1. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An energy-based discontinuous Galerkin method for coupled elasto-acoustic wave equations in second-order form

We consider wave propagation in a coupled fluid-solid region separated by a static but possibly curved interface. The wave propagation is modeled by the acoustic wave equation in terms of a velocity potential in the fluid, and the elastic wave equation for the displacement in the solid. At the fluid solid interface, we impose suitable interface conditions to couple the two equations. We use a recently developed energy-based discontinuous Galerkin method to discretize the governing equations in space. Both energy conserving and upwind numerical fluxes are derived to impose the interface conditions. The highlights of the developed scheme include provable energy stability and high order accuracy. We present numerical experiments to illustrate the accuracy property and robustness of the developed scheme.     

A combined space–time extended finite element method

The Newmark method for the numerical integration of second order equations has been extensively used and studied along the past fifty years for structural dynamics and various fields of mechanical engineering. Easy implementation and nice properties of this method and its derivatives for linear problems are appreciated but the main drawback is the treatment of discontinuities. Zienkiewicz proposed an approach using finite element concept in time, which allows a new look at the Newmark method. The idea of this paper is to propose, thanks to this approach, the use of a time partition of the unity method denoted Time Extended Finite Element Method (TX‐FEM) for improved numerical simulations of time discontinuities. An enriched basis of shape functions in time is used to capture with a good accuracy the non‐polynomial part of the solution. This formulation allows a suitable form of the time‐stepping formulae to study stability and energy conservation. The case of an enrichment with the Heaviside function is developed and can be seen as an alternative approach to time discontinuous Galerkin method (T‐DGM), stability and accuracy properties of which can be derived from those of the TX‐FEM. Then Space and Time X‐FEM (STX‐FEM) are combined to obtain a unified space–time discretization. This combined STX‐FEM appears to be a suitable technique for space–time discontinuous problems like dynamic crack propagation or other applications involving moving discontinuities. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An energy approach to space–time Galerkin BEM for wave propagation problems

In this paper we consider Dirichlet or Neumann wave propagation problems reformulated in terms of boundary integral equations with retarded potential. Starting from a natural energy identity, a space–time weak formulation for 1D integral problems is briefly introduced, and continuity and coerciveness properties of the related bilinear form are proved. Then, a theoretical analysis of an extension of the introduced formulation for 2D problems is proposed, pointing out the novelty with respect to existing literature results. At last, various numerical simulations will be presented and discussed, showing unconditional stability of the space–time Galerkin boundary element method applied to the energetic weak problem. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-order cut discontinuous Galerkin methods with local time stepping for acoustics

We propose a method to solve the acoustic wave equation on an immersed domain using the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for spatial discretization and the arbitrary derivative method with local time stepping (LTS) for time integration. The method is based on a cut finite element approach of high order and uses level set functions to describe curved immersed interfaces. We study under which conditions and to what extent small time step sizes balance cut instabilities, which are present especially for high-order spatial discretizations. This is done by analyzing eigenvalues and critical time steps for representative cuts. If small time steps cannot prevent cut instabilities, stabilization by means of cell agglomeration is applied and its effects are analyzed in combination with local time step sizes. Based on two examples with general cuts, performance gains of the LTS over the global time stepping are evaluated. We find that LTS combined with cell agglomeration is most robust and efficient.     

A discontinuous Galerkin formulation of non‐linear Kirchhoff–Love shells

Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods provide a means of weakly enforcing the continuity of the unknown‐field derivatives and have particular appeal in problems involving high‐order derivatives. This feature has previously been successfully exploited (Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 2008; 197 :2901–2929) to develop a formulation of linear Kirchhoff–Love shells considering only the membrane and bending responses. In this proposed one‐field method—the displacements are the only unknowns, while the displacement field is continuous, the continuity in the displacement derivative between two elements is weakly enforced by recourse to a DG formulation. It is the purpose of the present paper to extend this formulation to finite deformations and non‐linear elastic behaviors. While the initial linear formulation was relying on the direct linear computation of the effective membrane stress and effective bending couple‐stress from the displacement field at the mid‐surface of the shell, the non‐linear formulation considered implies the evaluation of the general stress tensor across the shell thickness, leading to a reformulation of the internal forces of the shell. Nevertheless, since the interface terms resulting from the discontinuous Galerkin method involve only the resultant couple‐stress at the edges of the shells, the extension to non‐linear deformations is straightforward. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A modification of the Petrov–Galerkin method for the transient convection–diffusion equation

A variation of the Petrov–Galerkin method of solution of a partial differential equation is presented in which the weight function applied to the time derivative term of the transient convection–diffusion equation is different from the weight function applied to the special derivatives. This allows for the formulation of fourth-order explicit and centred difference schemes. Comparison with analytic solutions show that these methods are able to capture steep wave fronts. The ability of the explicit method to capture wave fronts increases as the amount of convective transport increases.