Non-conforming Finite Elements for Flexible Discretization with Applications to Aeroacoustics

Abstract

The non-conforming Finite Element (FE) method allows the coupling of two or more sub-domains with quite different mesh sizes. Therewith, we gain the flexibility to choose for each sub-domain an optimal grid. The two proposed methods - Mortar and Nitsche-type mortaring - fulfill the physical conditions along the non-conforming interfaces. We exploit this capability and apply it to real engineering applications in aeroacoustics. The results clearly demonstrate the superiority of the non-conforming FE method over the standard FE method concerning pre-processing, mesh generation flexibility, accuracy and computational time.