An adaptive method for the determination of the order of element for acquiring the desired accuracy in 3D elastostatic FEM analysis

An adaptive method for the determination of the order of element (or element order) was developed for the finite element analysis of 3D elastostatic problems. Here the order of element means the order of polynomial function, which interpolates the displacement distribution in the element. This method was based on acquiring the desired accuracy for each finite element. From the numerical experiments, the relationship xi = k(1/p)(beta) was deduced, where xi is the error of the result of the finite element analysis relative to the exact value, p is the order of element, and k and beta are constants. Applying this relationship to the two results of computations with different orders of element, the order of element for the third computation was deduced. A computer program using this adaptive determination method for the order of element was developed and applied to several 3D elastostatic problems of various shapes. The usefulness of the method was illustrated by these application results. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.