A postprocessed error estimate and an adaptive procedure for the semidiscrete finite element method in dynamic analysis

In the paper we present a postprocessed type of a posteriori error estimate and a h-version adaptive procedure for the semidiscrete finite element method in dynamic analysis. In space the super-convergent patch recovery technique is used for determining higher-order accurate stresses and, thus, a spatial error estimate. In time a postprocessing technique is developed for obtaining a local error estimate for one step time integration schemes (the HHT-α method). Coupling the error estimate with a mesh generator, a h-version adaptive finite element procedure is presented for two-dimensional dynamic analysis. It updates the spatial mesh and time step automatically so that the discretization errors are controlled within specified tolerances. Numerical studies on different problems are presented for demonstrating the performances of the proposed adaptive procedure.     

An adaptive hp-version of the finite element method applied to flame propagation problems

This paper describes an adaptive hp-version mesh refinement strategy and its application to the finite element solution of one-dimensional flame propagation problems. The aim is to control the spatial and time discretization errors below a prescribed error tolerance at all time levels. In the algorithm, the optimal time step is first determined in an adaptive manner by considering the variation of the computable error in the reaction zone. Later, the method uses a p-version refinement till the computable a posteriori error is brought down below the tolerance. During the p-version, if the maximum allowable degree of approximation is reached in some elements of the mesh without satisfying the global error tolerance criterion, then conversion from p- to h-version is performed. In the conversion procedure, a gradient based non-uniform h-version refinement has been introduced in the elements of higher degree approximation. In this way, p-version and h-version approaches are used alternately till the a posteriori error criteria are satisfied. The mesh refinement is based on the element error indicators, according to a statistical error equi-distribution procedure. Numerical simulations have been carried out for a linear parabolic problem and premixed flame propagation in one-space dimension. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial mesh adaptation in semidiscrete finite element analysis of linear elastodynamic problems

A spatial mesh adaptation procedure in semidiscrete finite element analysis of 2D linear elastodynamic problems is presented. The procedure updates, through an automatic remeshing scheme, the spatial mesh when found necessary in order to gain control of the spatial discretization error from time to time. An a posteriori error estimate developed by Zienkiewicz and Zhu (1987) for elliptic problems is extended to dynamic analysis to estimate the spatial discretization error at a certain time, which is found to be reasonable by analyzing an a priori error estimate. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the performance of the procedure. It is indicated that the extended error estimation and the procedure are capable of monitoring the moving of steep stress regions by updating the spatial mesh according to a prescribed error tolerance, thus providing a reliable finite element solution in an efficient manner.     

A p‐hierarchical adaptive procedure for the scaled boundary finite element method

This paper describes a p‐hierarchical adaptive procedure based on minimizing the classical energy norm for the scaled boundary finite element method. The reference solution, which is the solution of the fine mesh formed by uniformly refining the current mesh element‐wise one order higher, is used to represent the unknown exact solution. The optimum mesh is assumed to be obtained when each element contributes equally to the global error. The refinement criteria and the energy norm‐based error estimator are described and formulated for the scaled boundary finite element method. The effectivity index is derived and used to examine quality of the proposed error estimator. An algorithm for implementing the proposed p‐hierarchical adaptive procedure is developed. Numerical studies are performed on various bounded domain and unbounded domain problems. The results reflect a number of key points. Higher‐order elements are shown to be highly efficient. The effectivity index indicates that the proposed error estimator based on the classical energy norm works effectively and that the reference solution employed is a high‐quality approximation of the exact solution. The proposed p‐hierarchical adaptive strategy works efficiently. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the duality of finite element discretization error control in computational Newtonian and Eshelbian mechanics

In this paper, goal-oriented a posteriori error estimators of the averaging type are presented for the error obtained while approximately evaluating theJ-integral in nonlinear elastic fracture mechanics. Since the value of the J-integral is one component of the material force acting on the crack tip of a pre-cracked elastic body, the appropriate mechanical framework to be chosen is the one named after Eshelby rather than classical Newtonian mechanics. However, in a finite element setting, the discretized Eshelby problem is generally not solved explicitly. Rather, its solution is approximated by the finite element solution of the corresponding discretized dual Newton problem. As a consequence, discrete material forces arise not only at the crack tip but also at other nodes of the current finite element mesh. It is the objective of this paper to establish goal-oriented a posteriori error estimators in both the framework of Eshelbian and Newtonian mechanics and to elaborate their dual relations. This allows to control the error of the J-integral while, at the same time, no further discrete material forces arise during the adaptive mesh refinement process which could lead to misleading mechanical interpretations of the results obtained by the finite element method. The paper is concluded by numerical examples that illustrate our theoretical results. Dedicated to the memory of the esteemed colleague Professor Karl Popp, University of Hannover, who unexpectedly passed away on April 24, 2005.     

A BENCHMARK COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF FINITE ELEMENT ERROR ESTIMATION

Benchmark solutions are presented for a simple linear elastic boundary value problem, as analysed using a range of finite element mesh configurations. For each configuration, various estimates of local (i.e. element) and global discretization error have been computed. These show that the optimal mesh corresponds not only to minimization of global energy (or L₂) norms of the error, but also to equalization of element errors as well. Hence, this demonstrates why element error equalization proves successful as a criterion for guiding the process of mesh refinement in mesh adaptivity. The results also demonstrate the effectiveness of the stress projection method for smoothing discontinuous stress fields which, for this investigation, are more extreme as a consequence of the assumption of nearly incompressible material behaviour. In this case, lower order smoothing produces a continuous stress field which is in close agreement with the exact solution.     

Convergence analysis of the Q1-finite element method for elliptic problems with non-boundary-fitted meshes

The aim of this paper is to derive a priori error estimates when the mesh does not fit the original domain's boundary. This problematic of the last century (e.g. the finite difference methodology) returns to topical studies with the huge development of domain embedding, fictitious domain or Cartesian-grid methods. These methods use regular structured meshes (most often Cartesian) for non-aligned domains. Although non-boundary-fitted approaches become more and more applied, very few studies are devoted to theoretical error estimates. In this paper, the convergence of a Q₁-non-conforming finite element method is analyzed for second-order elliptic problems with Dirichlet, Robin or Neumann boundary conditions. The finite element method uses standard Q₁-rectangular finite elements. As the finite element approximate space is not contained in the original solution space, this method is referred to as non-conforming. A stair-step boundary defined from the Cartesian mesh approximates the original domain's boundary. The convergence analysis of the finite element method for such a kind of non-boundary-fitted stair-stepped approximation is not treated in the literature. The study of Dirichlet problems is based on similar techniques as those classically used with boundary-fitted linear triangular finite elements. The estimates obtained for Robin problems are novel and use some more technical arguments. The rate of convergence is proved to be in 𝒪(h^1/2) for the H¹-norm for all general boundary conditions, and classical duality arguments allow one to obtain an 𝒪(h) error estimate in the L²-norm for Dirichlet problems. Numerical results obtained with fictitious domain techniques, which impose original boundary conditions on a non-boundary-fitted approximate immersed interface, are presented. These results confirm the theoretical rates of convergence. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mesh refinement and iterative solution methods for finite element computations

Global and element residuals are introduced to determine a posteriori, computable, error bounds for finite element computations on a given mesh. The element residuals provide a criterion for determining where a finite element mesh requires refinement. This indicator is implemented in an algorithm in a finite element research program. There it is utilized to automatically refine the mesh for sample two-point problems exhibiting boundary layer and interior layer solutions. Results for both linear and nonlinear problems are presented. An important aspect of this investigation concerns the use of adaptive refinement in conjunction with iterative methods for system solution. As the mesh is being enriched through the refinement process, the solution on a given mesh provides an accurate starting iterate for the next mesh, and so on. A wide range of iterative methods are examined in a feasibility study and strategies for interweaving refinement and iteration are compared.     

A p-adaptive scaled boundary finite element method based on maximization of the error decrease rate

This study enhances the classical energy norm based adaptive procedure by introducing new refinement criteria, based on the projection-based interpolation technique and the steepest descent method, to drive mesh refinement for the scaled boundary finite element method. The technique is applied to p-adaptivity in this paper, but extension to h- and hp-adaptivity is straightforward. The reference solution, which is the solution of the fine mesh formed by uniformly refining the current mesh, is used to represent the unknown exact solution. In the new adaptive approach, a projection-based interpolation technique is developed for the 2D scaled boundary finite element method. New refinement criteria are proposed. The optimum mesh is assumed to be obtained by maximizing the decrease rate of the projection-based interpolation error appearing in the current solution. This refinement strategy can be interpreted as applying the minimisation steepest descent method. Numerical studies show the new approach out-performs the conventional approach.     

Adaptive finite element computation of dielectric and mechanical intensity factors in piezoelectrics with impermeable cracks

The paper deals with the application of an adaptive, hierarchic‐iterative finite element technique to solve two‐dimensional electromechanical boundary value problems with impermeable cracks in piezoelectric plates. In order to compute the dielectric and mechanical intensity factors, the interaction integral technique is used. The iterative finite element solver takes advantage of a sequence of solutions on hierarchic discretizations. Based on an a posteriori error estimation, the finite element mesh is locally refined or coarsened in each step. Two crack configurations are investigated in an infinite piezoelectric plate: A finite straight crack and a finite kinked crack. Fast convergence of the numerical intensity factors to the corresponding analytical solution is exemplarily proved during successive adaptive steps for the first configuration. Similar tendency can be observed for the second configuration. Furthermore, the computed intensity factors for the kinks are found to coincide well with the corresponding analytical values. In order to simulate the kinks spreading from a straight crack, the finite element mesh is modified automatically with a specially developed algorithm. This forms the basis for a fully adaptive simulation of crack propagation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive selection of polynomial degrees on a finite element mesh

The problem of finding a nearly optimal distribution of polynomial degrees on a fixed finite element mesh is discussed. An a posteriori error estimator based on the minimum complementary energy principle is proposed which utilizes the displacement vector field computed from the finite element solution. This estimator, designed for p- and hp-extensions, is conceptually different from estimators based on residuals or patch recovery which are designed for h-extension procedures. The quality of the error estimator is demonstrated by examples. The results show that the effectivity index is reasonably close to unity and the sequences of p-distributions obtained with the error indicators closely follow the optimal trajectory. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A FAST NUMERICAL METHOD FOR ISOTHERMAL RESIN TRANSFER MOLD FILLING

An efficient numerical scheme is presented for simulating isothermal flow in resin transfer molding. The problem involves transient, free surface flow of an incompressible fluid into a non-deforming porous medium. A new variant of the Control Volume Finite Element (CVFE) algorithm is explained in detail. It is shown how the pressure solutions at each time step can be obtained by adding a single row and column to the Cholesky factorization of the stiffness matrix derived from a finite element formulation for the pressure field. This approach reduces the computation of a new pressure solution at each time step to essentially just two sparse matrix back-substitutions. The resulting performance improvement facilitates interactive simulation and the solution of inverse problems which require many simulations of the filling problem. The computational complexity of the calculation is bounded by O(n^2⋅5), where n is the number of nodes in the finite element mesh. A 100-fold speedup over a conventional CVFE implementation was obtained for a 2213-node problem.     

Refined h-adaptive finite element procedure for large deformation geotechnical problems

Adaptive finite element procedures automatically refine, coarsen, or relocate elements in a finite element mesh to obtain a solution with a specified accuracy. Although a significant amount of research has been devoted to adaptive finite element analysis, this method has not been widely applied to nonlinear geotechnical problems due to their complexity. In this paper, the h-adaptive finite element technique is employed to solve some complex geotechnical problems involving material nonlinearity and large deformations. The key components of h-adaptivity including robust mesh generation algorithms, error estimators and remapping procedures are discussed. This paper includes a brief literature review as well as formulation and implementation details of the h-adaptive technique. Finally, the method is used to solve some classical geotechnical problems and results are provided to illustrate the performance of the method.     

The post-processing approach in the finite element method—part 1: Calculation of displacements,stresses and other higher derivatives of the displacements

This is the first in a series of three papers in which we discuss a method for ‘post-processing’ a finite element solution to obtain high accuracy approximations for displacements, stresses, stress intensity factors, etc. Rather than take the values of these quantities ‘directly’ from the finite element solution, we evaluate certain weighted averages of the solution over the entire region. These yield approximations are of the same order of accuracy as the strain energy. We obtain error estimates, and also present some numerical examples to illustrate the practical effectiveness of the technique. In the third paper of this series we address the matters of adaptive mesh selection and a posteriori error estimation.     

A posteriori error control in finite element methods via duality techniques: Application to perfect plasticity

In this paper a new technique for a posteriori error control and adaptive mesh design is presented for finite element models in perfect plasticity. The approach is based on weighted a posteriori error estimates derived by duality arguments as proposed in Becker and Rannacher (1996) and Rannacher and Suttmeier (1997) for linear problems. The conventional strategies for mesh refinement in finite element methods are mostly based on a posteriori error estimates for the global energy norm in terms of local residuals of the computed solution. These estimates reflect the approximation properties of the trial functions by local interpolation constants while the stability property of the continuous model enters through a global coercivity constant. However, meshes generated on the basis of such global error estimates are not appropriate in computing local quantities as point values or contour integrals and in the case of nonlinear material behavior. More accurate and efficient error estimation can be achieved by using suitable weights which can be obtained numerically in the course of the refinement process from the solutions of linearized dual problems. This feed-back approach is developed here for primal-mixed finite element models in linear-elastic perfect plasticity.     

Guaranteed energy error bounds for the Poisson equation using a flux‐free approach: Solving the local problems in subdomains

A method to compute guaranteed upper bounds for the energy norm of the exact error in the finite element solution of the Poisson equation is presented. The bounds are guaranteed for any finite element mesh however coarse it may be, not just in the asymptotic regime. The bounds are constructed by employing a subdomain‐based a posteriori error estimate which yields self‐equilibrated residual loads in stars (patches of elements). The proposed approach is an alternative to standard equilibrated residual methods providing sharper bounds. The use of a flux‐free error estimator improves the effectivities of the upper bounds for the energy while retaining the certainty of the bounds. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive Poly-FEM for the analysis of plane elasticity problems

In this work, we present an adaptive polygonal finite element method (Poly-FEM) for the analysis of two-dimensional plane elasticity problems. The generation of meshes consisting of n ? sided polygonal finite elements is based on the generation of a centroidal Voronoi tessellation (CVT). An unstructured tessellation of a scattered point set, that minimally covers the proximal space around each point in the point set, is generated whereby the method also includes tessellation of nonconvex domains. In this work, we propose a region by region adaptive polygonal element mesh generation. A patch recovery type of stress smoothing technique that utilizes polygonal element patches for obtaining smooth stresses is proposed for obtaining the smoothed finite element stresses. A recovery type a ? posteriori error estimator that estimates the energy norm of the error from the recovered solution is then adopted for the Poly-FEM. The refinement of the polygonal elements is then made on an region by region basis through a refinement index. For the numerical integration of the Galerkin weak form over polygonal finite element domains, we resort to classical Gaussian quadrature applied to triangular subdomains of each polygonal element. Numerical examples of two-dimensional plane elasticity problems are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed adaptive Poly-FEM.     

Adaptive computational methods for variational inequalities based on mixed formulations

This work describes concepts for a posteriori error estimation and adaptive mesh design for finite element models where the solution is subjected to inequality constraints. These methods are developed here for several model problems. Based on these examples, unified frameworks are proposed, which provide a systematic way of adaptive error control for problems stated in form of variational inequalities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multilevel solution of the time‐harmonic Maxwell's equations based on edge elements

A widely used approach for the computation of time‐harmonic electromagnetic fields is based on the well‐known double‐curl equation for either E or H , where edge elements are an appealing choice for finite element discretizations. Yet, the nullspace of the curl ‐operator comprises a considerable part of all spectral modes on the finite element grid. Thus standard multilevel solvers are rendered inefficient, as they essentially hinge on smoothing procedures like Gauss–Seidel relaxation, which cannot provide a satisfactory error reduction for modes with small or even negative eigenvalues. We propose to remedy this situation by an extended multilevel algorithm which relies on corrections in the space of discrete scalar potentials. After every standard V‐cycle with respect to the canonical basis of edge elements, error components in the nullspace are removed by an additional projection step. Furthermore, a simple criterion for the coarsest mesh is derived to guarantee both stability and efficiency of the iterative multilevel solver. For the whole scheme we observe convergence rates independent of the refinement level of the mesh. The sequence of nested meshes required for our multilevel techniques is constructed by adaptive refinement. To this end we have devised an a posteriori error indicator based on stress recovery. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

p-convergent finite element approximations in fracture mechanics

The strain energy release rate (G) converges rapidly in finite element approximations in which the finite element mesh is fixed and the order of polynomial displacement interpolations (p) is increased. Numerical experiments indicate that the error inG is very closely estimated, even for small pand very coarse finite element meshes, by an expression of the form k (NDF)^-1 in which k is a mesh dependent constant and NDF is the number of degrees-of-freedom. The method provides for very efficient and accurate computation of G without the use of special techniques.