Consistent Local Projection Stabilized Finite Element Methods

Abstract. This work establishes a formal derivation of local projection stabilized methods as a result of an enriched Petrov-Galerkin strategy for the Stokes problem. Both velocity and pressure finite element spaces are enhanced with solutions of residual-based local problems, and then the static condensation procedure is applied to derive new methods. The approach keeps degrees of freedom unchanged while gives rise to new stable and consistent methods for continuous and discontinuous approximation spaces for the pressure. The resulting methods do not need the use of a macro-element grid structure and are parameter-free. The numerical analysis is carried out showing optimal convergence in natural norms, and moreover, two ways of rendering the velocity field locally mass conservative are proposed. Some numerics validate the theoretical results.