Different methodologies for coupled BEM and FEM with implementation on parallel computers (Q4371002)

The boundary element method (BEM) and the finite element method (FEM) may be computationally expensive if complex problems are to be solved, thus there is a need for implementing them on fast computer architectures, especially on parallel computers. Because BEM and FEM are complementary to each other, the coupling of these methods is widely used. A parallel FE-BE-code and its implementation on a distributed memory system (Parsytec MultiCluster2) is described. As model problems, we assume linear elasticity for the boundary element method and elastoplasticity for the finite element method. Two coupling methods are proposed. First, we show by numerical examples that a multiplicative Schwarz method for coupling BEM with FEM is very well suited for parallel implementation. Furthermore, we treat a symmetric coupling of Galerkin-BEM and mixed finite elements of Raviart-Thomas type leading to improved stress approximation. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0877.00013].