Space‐time finite elements and an adaptive strategy for the coupled thermoelasticity problem

Abstract

AbstractA space–time finite element method for the linear thermo‐elasticity problem is outlined. By establishing the appropriate dual problem in space–time, it is possible to establish an exact a posteriori error representation formula based on residuals and the dual solution. In particular, we focus on the error generation in time. An adaptive strategy in the time‐domain is proposed, and its performance is investigated with the aid of a numerical example in 2D. In particular, the excellent precision of the error estimate, in terms of the effectivity index being close to unity, is noted. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.