3D adaptive mesh refinement

Abstract

An adaptive finite element (FE) method for the solution of three-dimensional elasto-static problems is described. The computational domain is represented by an assembly of tetrahedral elements and the mesh adaptation is achieved by a 3D bisection method using an error estimator procedure coupled with an automatic 3D mesh generator. The performance of the method is demonstrated using a number of examples. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.