A SIMPLE INFINITE ELEMENT

Abstract
Infinite elements provide one of the most attractive alternatives for dealing with differential equations in unbounded domains. The region where loads, sources, inhomogeneities and anisotropics exist is modelled by finite elements and the far, uniform region is represented by infinite elements. We propose a new infinite element which can represent any type of decay towards infinity. The element is so simple that explicit expressions can be obtained for the element matrix in many cases, yet large improvements in the accuracy of the solution are obtained as compared with the truncated mesh. Explicit expressions are in fact given for the Laplace equation and 1/rn decay. The element is conforming with linear triangles and bilinear quadrilaterals in two dimensions. The element can be used with any standard finite‐element program without having to modify the shape function library or the numerical quadrature library of the program. The structure or bandwidth of the stiffness matrix of the finite portion of the mesh is not modified when the infinite elements are used. An example problem is solved and the solution found to be better than several other methods in common usage. The proposed method is thus highly recommended.

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