AN ITERATIVE FINITE ELEMENT-BOUNDARY ELEMENT ALGORITHM

A domain decomposition algorithm coupling the finite element and bound ary element methods is presented in this paper. This algorithm is iter ative in nature. It essentially involves subdivision of the problem do main into subregions being respectively modeled by the two methods, as well as restoration of the original problem with continuity and equil ibrium being satisfied along the interface. An arbitrary displacement vector is first assigned to the interface of the boundary element subd omain. Then, the energy equivalent nodal forces of the solved interfac e tractions are treated as the boundary conditions for the finite elem ent subdomain to solve for the interface displacements. The solution i s achieved when these two sets of displacements converge. To speed up the rate at which the algorithm converges, a relaxation of the displac ement data at the interface is employed for the next iteration. Strate gies for static and dynamic choices of relaxed displacements are addre ssed, and the validity of the algorithm is verified by solving an exam ple problem. Numerical solutions of the test problem obtained using th e proposed algorithm are compared with solutions from the finite and b oundary element methods.