Error estimate of the non-intrusive reduced basis method with finite volume schemes

The context of this paper is the simulation of parameter-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs). When the aim is to solve such PDEs for a large number of parameter values, Reduced Basis Methods (RBM) are often used to reduce computational costs of a classical high fidelity code based on Finite Element Method (FEM), Finite Volume (FVM) or Spectral methods. The efficient implementation of most of these RBM requires to modify this high fidelity code, which cannot be done, for example in an industrial context if the high fidelity code is only accessible as a "black-box" solver. The Non-Intrusive Reduced Basis (NIRB) method has been introduced in the context of finite elements as a good alternative to reduce the implementation costs of these parameter-dependent problems. The method is efficient in other contexts than the FEM one, like with finite volume schemes, which are more often used in an industrial environment. In this case, some adaptations need to be done as the degrees of freedom in FV methods have different meanings. At this time, error estimates have only been studied with FEM solvers. In this paper, we present a generalisation of the NIRB method to Finite Volume schemes and we show that estimates established for FEM solvers also hold in the FVM setting. We first prove our results for the hybrid-Mimetic Finite Difference method (hMFD), which is part the Hybrid Mixed Mimetic methods (HMM) family. Then, we explain how these results apply more generally to other FV schemes. Some of them are specified, such as the Two Point Flux Approximation (TPFA).

A comparative analysis of methods: mimetics, finite differences and finite elements for 1-dimensional stationary problems

Numerical methods are useful for solving differential equations that model physical problems, for example, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, wave propagation, among others; especially when these cannot be solved by means of exact analysis techniques, since such problems present complex geometries, boundary or initial conditions, or involve non-linear differential equations. Currently, the number of problems that are modeled with partial differential equations are diverse and these must be addressed numerically, so that the results obtained are more in line with reality. In this work, a comparison of the classical numerical methods such as: the finite difference method (FDM) and the finite element method (FEM), with a modern technique of discretization called the mimetic method (MIM), or mimetic finite difference method or compatible method, is approached. With this comparison we try to conclude about the efficiency, order of convergence of these methods. Our analysis is based on a model problem with a one-dimensional boundary value, that is, we will study convection-diffusion equations in a stationary regime, with different variations in the gradient, diffusive coefficient and convective velocity.

Modeling the effects of capillary pressure with the presence of full tensor permeability and discrete fracture models using the mimetic finite difference method

Capillary dominated flow or imbibition—whether spontaneous or forced—is an important physical phenomena in understanding the behavior of naturally fractured water-driven reservoirs (NFR’s). When the water flows through the fractures, it imbibes into the matrix and pushes the oil out of the pores due to the difference in the capillary pressure. In this paper, we focus on modeling and quantifying the oil recovered from NFR’s through the imbibition processes using a novel fully implicit mimetic finite difference (MFD) approach coupled with discrete fracture/discrete matrix (DFDM) technique. The investigation is carried out in the light of different wetting states of the porous media (i.e., varying capillary pressure curves) and a full tensor representation of the permeability. The produced results proved the MFD to be robust in preserving the physics of the problem, and accurately mapping the flow path in the investigated domains. The wetting state of the rock affects greatly the oil recovery factors along with the orientation of the fractures and the principal direction of the permeability tensor. We can conclude that our novel MFD method can handle the fluid flow problems in discrete-fractured reservoirs. Future works will be focused on the extension of MFD method to more complex multi-physics simulations.