A 3-D ADAPTIVE MESH REFINEMENT USING VARIABLE-NODE SOLID TRANSITION-ELEMENTS

An automated three-dimensional adaptive h-refinement strategy using th e solid transition elements with variable midside nodes at edges and f aces of the element is presented. The basic behaviour of these transit ion elements were improved by addition of associated non-conforming mo des. By introducing these transition elements, some difficulties assoc iated with imposing displacement constraints on irregular nodes to enf orce interelement compatibility in the conventional adaptive h-refinem ent are easily overcome. A superconvergent patch recovery technique is also extended to three-dimensional problem. Numerical examples show t he, effectiveness of the proposed adaptive mesh refinement scheme usin g transition elements.