Mortar methods

Abstract: A novel domain decomposition approach for the parallel finite element solution of equilibrium equations is presented. The spatial domain is partitioned into a set of totally disconnected subdomains, each assigned to an individual processor. Lagrange multipliers are introduced to enforce compatibility at the interface nodes. In the static case, each floating subdomain induces a local singularity that is resolved in two phases. First, the rigid body modes are eliminated in parallel from each local problem and a direct scheme is applied concurrently to all subdomains in order to recover each partial local solution. Next, the contributions of these modes are related to the Lagrange multipliers through an orthogonality condition. A parallel conjugate projected gradient algorithm is developed for the solution of the coupled system of local rigid modes components and Lagrange multipliers, which completes the solution of the problem. When implemented on local memory multiprocessors, this proposed method of tearing and interconnecting requires less interprocessor communications than the classical method of substructuring. It is also suitable for parallel/vector computers with shared memory. Moreover, unlike parallel direct solvers, it exhibits a degree of parallelism that is not limited by the bandwidth of the finite element system of equations.

Abstract: Domain decomposition methods are iterative methods for the solution of linear or nonlinear systems that use explicit information about the geometry, discretization, and/or partial differential equations that underlie the discrete systems. Considerable research in domain decomposition methods for partial differential equations has been carried out in the past dozen years. Recently, these techniques have begun to be applied to “real-world” engineering problems. This chapter summarizes basic ideas of domain decomposition methods. Though no particular applications are discussed, references are furnished to several recent uses of domain decomposition.

Abstract: The present paper deals with a variant of a non conforming domain decomposition technique: the mortar finite element method. In the opposition to the original method this variant is never conforming because of the relaxation of the matching constraints at the vertices (and the edges in 3D) of subdomains. It is shown that, written under primal hybrid formulation, the approximation problem, issued from a discretization of a second order elliptic equation in 2D, is nonetheless well posed and provides a discrete solution that satisfies optimal error estimates with respect to natural norms. Finally the parallelization advantages consequence of this variant are also addressed.