A fictitious domain/mortar element method for fluid-structure interaction

A new method for the computational analysis of fluid-structure interaction of a Newtonian fluid with slender bodies is developed. It combines ideas of the fictitious domain and the mortar element method by imposing continuity of the velocity field along an interface by means of Lagrange multipliers. The key advantage of the method is that it circumvents the need for compli cated mesh movement strategies common in arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE ) methods, usually used for this purpose. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.