A HYBRID METHOD FOR TERMINATING THE FINITE-ELEMENT MESH (ELECTROSTATIC CASE)

The finite-element or finite-difference techniques are well known for the solution of Maxwell's equation in differential form. But terminati ng the problems is a major challenge. Though there have been several t echniques presented [1, 2], this new approach allows for the terminati ng surface to encapsulate the body very tightly. In this proposed meth od, the finite-element technique is used for open-region problems, whe reas an integral equation solution approach using the Green's function is applied to enforce the radiation condition. At each iteration cycl e, field sources within the domain are evaluated and their potential a t the terminating surface is calculated. The proposed method leads to increased computational efficiency of the finite-element method. It ca n be generalized for the case of inhomogeneous and nonlinear media, fo r static and dynamic fields. Typical numerical results are presented f or the solution of the Laplace equation to illustrate the accuracy of the technique. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.