Effect of errors in the spatial geometry for temperature dependent Stokes flow

A priori bounds are established for the solution to the problem of Stokes f low in a bounded domain, for a viscous, heat conducting, incompressible flu id, when changes in the spatial geometry are admitted. These bounds demonst rate how the velocity field and the temperature field depend on changes in the spatial geometry and also yield a convergence theorem in terms of bound ary perturbations. The results have a direct bearing on an error analysis f or a numerical approximation to non-isothermal Stokes flow when the boundar y of a complicated domain is approximated by a simpler one, e.g., in the pr ocedure of triangulation combined with finite elements. (C) Elsevier, Paris .