The least-squares meshfree method

A new efficient meshfree method is presented in which the first-order least -squares method is employed instead of the Galerkin's method. In the meshfi ree methods based on the Galerkin formulation, the source of many difficult ies is in the numerical integration. The current method, in this respect, h as different characteristics and is expected to remove some of the integrat ion-related problems. It is demonstrated through numerical examples that th e present formulation is highly robust to integration errors. Therefore, nu merical integration can be performed with great ease and effectiveness usin g very simple algorithms. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.