A stabilized mixed finite element method for Darcy flow based on a multiscale decomposition of the solution

Recently Masud and Hughes proposed a stabilized mixed finite element formulation for Darcy flow. An interesting feature of this formulation is that there are no mesh-dependent parameters. In the present work we provide a derivation of this formulation based on a multiscale decomposition of the solution. We also extend the work of Masud and Hughes to three-dimensional problems and show the convergence rates for various three-dimensional finite elements. We also show that this formulation passes three-dimensional constant-flow patch tests for distorted element geometries (i.e., elements with non-constant Jacobian). Robustness of this formulation is illustrated by performing numerical simulations on complex geometries. 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.