A combined FIC‐TDG finite element approach for the numerical solution of coupled advection–diffusion–reaction equations with application to a bioregulatory model for bone fracture healing

Numerical schemes for the approximative solution of advection–diffusion–reaction equations are often flawed because of spurious oscillations, caused by steep gradients or dominant advection or reaction. In addition, for strong coupled nonlinear processes, which may be described by a set of hyperbolic PDEs, established time stepping schemes lack either accuracy or stability to provide a reliable solution. In this contribution, an advanced numerical scheme for this class of problems is suggested by combining sophisticated stabilization techniques, namely the finite calculus (FIC‐FEM) scheme introduced by Oñate et al. with time‐discontinuous Galerkin (TDG) methods. Whereas the former one provides a stabilization technique for the numerical treatment of steep gradients for advection‐dominated problems, the latter ensures reliable solutions with regard to the temporal evolution. A brief theoretical outline on the superior behavior of both approaches will be presented and underlined with related computational tests. The performance of the suggested FIC‐TDG finite element approach will be discussed exemplarily on a bioregulatory model for bone fracture healing proposed by Geris et al., which consists of at least 12 coupled hyperbolic evolution equations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.