Adaptive finite element solution for the heat conduction with a moving heat source

Abstract

We have demonstrated that some of the parabolic type problems encountered in such branches of engineering as heat conductions with a moving source can be analyzed successfully by means of the finite element method. Adapted mesh generation technique is implemented for solving heat transfer involving a moving heat source so that small elements can be used in areas of large time rates of change of temperature. It has been adjusted to steep gradients of the solution with respect to the relatively large time interval. A program has been developed for the case of two-dimensional triangular elements, and algorithm is possessed a number of usual advantages that made solutions very divergent. Numerical results have shown that the adaptive gridding scheme is effective in localizing oscillations due to the sharp gradients or discontinuities in the solution. Furthermore, the numerical results near the region of moving source from the present method are under and over estimated the solution of traditional finite element method by almost 3% respectively. The several examples are given to illustrate the validity and practicality of the method. The results of various sample solutions are evaluated and discussed.