An error indicator for the element free Galerkin method

In this paper we present an error indicator for the Element Free Galerkin ( EFG) method, whose evaluation is computationally so simple that it can be r eadily implemented in existing EFG codes. The error indicator works very we ll in all numerical examples for 2-D potential and elasticity problems that are presented here, for regular and irregular grid of nodes. Moreover, it was demonstrated that this method is very simple in terms of economy and gi ves a good performance. The results show the error in EFG approximation may be estimated via the error indicator described in this paper. The indicato r allows the global energy norm error to be estimated and also gives a good evaluation of local errors. It can thus be combined with a full adaptive p rocess of refinement or, more simply, provide guidance for cloud of points redesign. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.