Singular finite element methods

Singularities which arise in the solution to elliptic systems are often of great technological importance. This is certainly the case in models of fracture of structures. A survey of the ways singularities are modeled is presented with special emphasis on the effects due to nonlinearities

Convergence of Adaptive Finite Element Methods

Adaptive finite element methods (FEMs) have been widely used in applications for over 20 years now. In practice, they converge starting from coarse grids, although no mathematical theory has been able to prove this assertion. Ensuring an error reduction rate based on a posteriori error estimators, together with a reduction rate of data oscillation (information missed by the underlying averaging process), we construct a simple and efficient adaptive FEM for elliptic partial differential equations. We prove that this algorithm converges with linear rate without any preliminary mesh adaptation nor explicit knowledge of constants. Any prescribed error tolerance is thus achieved in a finite number of steps. A number of numerical experiments in two and three dimensions yield quasi-optimal meshes along with a competitive performance. Extensions to higher order elements and applications to saddle point problems are discussed as well.Fil: Morin, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Nochetto, Ricardo Horacio. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Siebert, Kunibert G.. Universität Heidelberg

Finite element methods for surface PDEs

In this article we consider finite element methods for approximating the solution of partial differential equations on surfaces. We focus on surface finite elements on triangulated surfaces, implicit surface methods using level set descriptions of the surface, unfitted finite element methods and diffuse interface methods. In order to formulate the methods we present the necessary geometric analysis and, in the context of evolving surfaces, the necessary transport formulae. A wide variety of equations and applications are covered. Some ideas of the numerical analysis are presented along with illustrative numerical examples

Programming of Finite Element Methods in MATLAB

We discuss how to implement the linear finite element method for solving the Poisson equation. We begin with the data structure to represent the triangulation and boundary conditions, introduce the sparse matrix, and then discuss the assembling process. We pay special attention to an efficient programming style using sparse matrices in MATLAB

Discrete mechanics Based on Finite Element Methods

Discrete Mechanics based on finite element methods is presented in this paper. We also explore the relationship between this discrete mechanics and Veselov discrete mechanics. High order discretizations are constructed in terms of high order interpolations.Comment: 14 pages, 0 figure

Fillet Weld Stress Using Finite Element Methods

Average elastic Von Mises equivalent stresses were calculated along the throat of a single lap fillet weld. The average elastic stresses were compared to initial yield and to plastic instability conditions to modify conventional design formulas is presented. The factor is a linear function of the thicknesses of the parent plates attached by the fillet weld

Consistent local projection stabilized finite element methods

This work establishes a formal derivation of local projection stabilized methods as a result of an enriched Petrov-Galerkin strategy for the Stokes problem. Both velocity and pressure finite element spaces are enhanced with solutions of residual-based local problems, and then the static condensation procedure is applied to derive new methods. The approach keeps degrees of freedom unchanged while gives rise to new stable and consistent methods for continuous and discontinuous approximation spaces for the pressure. The resulting methods do not need the use of a macro-element grid structure and are parameter-free. The numerical analysis is carried out showing optimal convergence in natural norms, and moreover, two ways of rendering the velocity field locally mass conservative are proposed. Some numerics validate the theoretical results