In this computational study, stabilized finite element solutions of
convection-dominated steady linear reaction-convection-diffusion
equations are examined. Although the standard Galerkin finite element
method (GFEM) is one of the most robust, efficient, and reliable methods
for many engineering simulations, it suffers from instability issues in
solving convection-dominated problems. To this end, this work deals with
a stabilized version of the standard GFEM, called the
streamline-upwind/Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) formulation, to overcome the
instability issues in solving such problems. The stabilized formulation
is further supplemented with YZβ shock-capturing to provide additional
stability around sharp gradients. A comprehensive set of test
computations is provided to compare the results obtained by using the
GFEM, SUPG, and SUPG-YZβ formulations. It is observed that the GFEM
solutions involve spurious oscillations for smaller values of the
diffusion parameter, as expected. These oscillations are significantly
eliminated when the SUPG formulation is employed. It is also seen that
the SUPG-YZβ formulation provides better solution profiles near steep
gradients, in general.