Optimal $L^2$ error analysis of a loosely coupled finite element scheme for thin-structure interactions

Abstract: Finite element methods and kinematically coupled schemes that decouple the fluid velocity and structure displacement have been extensively studied for incompressible fluid-structure interaction (FSI) over the past decade. While these methods are known to be stable and easy to implement, optimal error analysis has remained challenging. Previous work has primarily relied on the classical elliptic projection technique, which is only suitable for parabolic problems and does not lead to optimal convergence of numerical solutions to the FSI problems in the standard $L^2$ norm. In this article, we propose a new stable fully discrete kinematically coupled scheme for incompressible FSI thin-structure model and establish a new approach for the numerical analysis of FSI problems in terms of a newly introduced coupled non-stationary Ritz projection, which allows us to prove the optimal-order convergence of the proposed method in the $L^2$ norm. The methodology presented in this article is also applicable to numerous other FSI models and serves as a fundamental tool for advancing research in this field.