A Multistep Finite Volume Method with Penalty for Thermal Convection Problems in Two or Three Dimensions

The author considers a thermal convection problem with infinite Prandtl number in two or three dimensions. The mathematical model of such problem is described as an initial boundary value problem made up of three partial differential equations. One equation of the convection-dominated diffusion type for the temperature, and another two of the Stokes type for the normalized velocity and pressure. The approximate solution is obtained by a penalty finite volume method for the Stokes equation and a multistep upwind finite volume method for the convection-diffusion equation. Under suitable smoothness of the exact solution, error estimates in some discrete norms are derived.