THE HP FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD FOR PROBLEMS IN MECHANICS WITH BOUNDARY-LAYERS

We consider the numerical approximation of boundary layer phenomena oc curring in many singularly perturbed problems in mechanics, such as pl ate and shell problems. We present guidelines for the effective resolu tion of such layers in the context of existing, commercial p and hp fi nite element (FE) version codes. We show that if high order, 'spectral ' elements are available, then just two elements are sufficient to app roximate these layers at a near-exponential rate, independently of the problem parameters thickness or Reynolds number. We present hp mesh d esign principles for situations where both corner singularities and bo undary layers are present. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.