  Motivated by numerical modeling of ultrasound waves, we investigate robust
conforming finite element discretizations of quasilinear and possibly nonlocal
equations of Westervelt type. These wave equations involve either a strong
dissipation or damping of fractional-derivative type and we unify them into one
class by introducing a memory kernel that satisfies non-restrictive regularity
and positivity assumptions. As the involved damping parameter is relatively
small and can become negligible in certain (inviscid) media, it is important to
develop methods that remain stable as the said parameter vanishes. To this end,
the contributions of this work are twofold. First, we determine sufficient
conditions under which conforming finite element discretizations of (non)local
Westervelt equations can be made robust with respect to the dissipation
parameter. Secondly, we establish the rate of convergence of the semi-discrete
solutions in the singular vanishing dissipation limit. The analysis hinges upon
devising appropriate energy functionals for the semi-discrete solutions that
remain uniformly bounded with respect to the damping parameter.
