A simple impedance-infinite element for the finite element solution of the three-dimensional wave equation in unbounded domains (Q1376106)

We develop an accurate impedance-infinite element that can be used either in the frequency- or directly in the time-domain for the modeling and solution of problems described by the scalar three-dimensional wave equation in infinite or semi-infinite domains. The infinite domain is truncated, and the effect of the truncated infinite region is simulated by the introduction of an absorbing boundary condition prescribed on the truncation boundary. A systematic procedure for the construction of a family of such conditions of increasing accuracy and complexity is developed with explicit formulas given for approximations up to the second order. A central feature of this high-order approximation is that it can be expressed, within the context of a finite element formulation, as a set of local infinite elements located at the boundary of the computational domain, with each element defined by a pair of symmetric, time-invariant, stiffness and damping matrices.