Abstract
This paper is an extension of previous study[1] on a development of a divergence-free element method using a hermite interpolated stream function. Divergence-free velocity bases defined on rectangles derived herein produce pointwise divergence-free flow fields. Hence the explicit imposition of continuity constraint is not necessary and the Galerkin finite element formulation for velocities does not involve the pressure. The divergence-free element of the previous study employed hermite (serendipity) cubic for interpolation of stream function, and it has been noted a possible discontinuity in variables along element interfaces. This deficiency can be removed by use of a hermite bicubic interpolated stream function, which requires four degrees-of-freedom at each element corners. Those degrees-of-freedom are the unknown variable, its x- and y-derivatives and its cross derivative. Detailed derivations are presented for both solenoidal and irrotational basis functions from the hermite bicubic interpolated stream function. Numerical tests are performed on the lid-driven cavity flow, and results are compared with those from hermite serendipity cubics and a stabilized finite element method by Illinca et al[2].
