TY - JOUR T1 - On the $P_1$ Powell-Sabin Divergence-Free Finite Element for the Stokes Equations AU - Shangyou Zhang JO - Journal of Computational Mathematics VL - 3 SP - 456 EP - 470 PY - 2008 DA - 2008/06 SN - 26 DO - http://doi.org/ UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/jcm/8636.html KW - Powell Sabin triangles, Mixed finite elements, Stokes, Divergence-free element. AB -
The stability of the $P_1$-$P_0$ mixed-element is established on general Powell-Sabin triangular grids. The piecewise linear finite element solution approximating the velocity is divergence-free pointwise for the Stokes equations. The finite element solution approximating the pressure in the Stokes equations can be obtained as a byproduct if an iterative method is adopted for solving the discrete linear system of equations. Numerical tests are presented confirming the theory on the stability and the optimal order of convergence for the $P_1$ Powell-Sabin divergence-free finite element method.