A finite element method for degenerate two-phase flow in porous media. Part II: Convergence

Abstract

Abstract Convergence of a finite element method with mass-lumping and flux upwinding is formulated for solving the immiscible two-phase flow problem in porous media. The method approximates directly the wetting phase pressure and saturation, which are the primary unknowns. Well-posedness is obtained in [J. Numer. Math., 29(2), 2021]. Theoretical convergence is proved via a compactness argument. The numerical phase saturation converges strongly to a weak solution in L2 in space and in time whereas the numerical phase pressures converge strongly to weak solutions in L2 in space almost everywhere in time. The proof is not straightforward because of the degeneracy of the phase mobilities and the unboundedness of the derivative of the capillary pressure.