Symmetric indefinite preconditioners for FE solution of Biot's consolidation problem

Abstract

The finite element discretization of time-dependent Biot's coupled consolidation equations typically gives rise to large symmetric indefinite linear systems. This paper reviews several symmetric indefinite preconditioners developed recently which can be used in conjunction with symmetric iterative methods such as SQMR or PCG. A numerical example shows that SQMR methods preconditioned by the proposed preconditioners are significantly more efficient time-wise than direct solution methods such as multifrontal solver (MA47, HSL2000) for large-scale symmetric indefinite linear systems. Copyright ASCE 2006.