Energy-preserving finite element methods for a class of nonlinear wave equations

摘要

In this paper for the first time, two kinds of energy-preserving finite element approximation schemes, which are based upon the standard finite element method (FEM) and the mixed FEM, respectively, are developed and analyzed for a class of nonlinear wave equations. The energy conservation and the optimal convergence properties are obtained for both finite element schemes in their respective norms, additionally, the energy-preserving mixed FEM can produce one-order higher approximation accuracy to the flux (the gradient of the primary unknown) in L~2 norm in contrast with that of the standard FEM when the same degree piecewise polynomial is employed to construct their respective finite element spaces, which may likely result in a more accurate and more physical discrete energy conservation. Numerical experiments are carried out to validate all attained theoretical results. Furthermore, the developed energy-preserving finite element methods can be directly applied to the coupled system of nonlinear wave equations, whose energy conservation and optimal convergence properties are also confirmed by our numerical experiments.