A collocation finite element method for potential problems in irregular domains

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Abstract
A potentially powerful numerical method for solving certain boundary value problems is developed. The method combines the simplicity of orthogonal collocation with the versatility of deformable finite elements. Bicubic Hermite elements with four degrees‐of‐freedom per node are used. A subparametric transformation permits the precise positioning of the collocation points for maximum accuracy as well as a unique representation of irregular boundaries. It is shown that by taking advantage of the boundary conditions, a minimum number of collocation points can be used.The method is particularly suitable for potential and mass transport problems where a C1 continuous solution is required. In contrast to the Galerkin approach, it does not require the evaluation of basis function products and numerical integration, also the coefficient matrix contains only about half as many non‐zero terms as the corresponding Galerkin coefficient matrix. This results in approximately a 90 per cent reduction in formulation and a 50 per cent reduction in solution operation, as compared with the Galerkin finite element method, for this type of problem. Examples show that the accuracy of the collocation solution is as good as or better than that of the Galerkin solution.