A locally mass conserving quadratic velocity, linear pressure element

Abstract: By supplementing the pressure space for the Taylor-Hood element a triangular element that satisfies continuity over each element is produced. Making a novel extension of the patch argument to prove stability, this element is shown to be globally stable and give optimal rates of convergence on a wide range of triangular grids. This theoretical result is extended in the discussion given in the appendix, showing how optimal convergence rates can be obtained on all grids. Two examples are presented, one illustrating the convergence rates and the other illustrating difficulties with the Taylor-Hood element which are overcome by the element presented here.