Analysis of second order and unconditionally stable BDF2‐AB2 method for the Navier‐Stokes equations with nonlinear time relaxation

In this study, we first consider a second order time stepping finite element BDF2‐AB2 method for the Navier‐Stokes equations (NSE). We prove that the method is unconditionally stable and O ( Δ t 2 ) accurate. Second, we consider a nonlinear time relaxation model which consists of adding a term “ κ | u − u ¯ | ( u − u ¯ ) ” to the Navier‐Stokes Equations with the algorithm depends on BDF2‐AB2 method. We prove that this method is unconditionally stable, too. We applied the BDF2‐AB2 method to several numeral experiments including flow around the cylinder. We have also applied BDF2‐AB2 method with nonlinear time relaxation to some problems. It is observed that when the equilibrium errors are high, applying BDF2‐AB2 with nonlinear time relaxation method to the problem yields lower equilibrium errors.