Geophysics 580
THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR SLOW FLOWS AND OTHER EARTH SCIENCE PROBLEMS:
USING ADINA SOFTWARE

AUTUMN 2001
SLN 4255
2 credits C/NC

CLASS MEETS TUESDAYS 3:30--5:00 in JHN 137

Instructor: Ed Waddington

The Finite Element Method is a versatile numerical method used to solve many types of problems found in the Earth Sciences. It is well adapted for problems of slow flow, heat transport, and elasticity, particularly where the geometry and constitutive properties of the relevant volumes are complicated.
The Glaciology Group has acquired a trial version of ADINA, a commercial FEM package, and we plan to soon have a full version widely available within ESS. One goal of this class is to work together as a group on the "learning curve" to gain familiarity with this software.

In our weekly meetings we will discuss the basis of the Finite Element Method. We will learn how to use the ADINA FEM software to solve problems of slow flows, heat transport, and/or other topics of your choosing.

As a class project, each student will formulate a problem of interest to them, and experiment with ways to solve it using the FEM package. The course will be a mix of lecture, discussion, reading, and participant presentations of concepts and progress on possible research topics that can be helped by FEM.

Topics will include:
- the concepts of Finite Elements, comparisons with other numerical methods such as Finite Differences and Control Volumes
- Variational Principles and Galerkin's Method
- Element types and interpolation functions
- combining simple elements to solve complex problems
- mesh creation
- boundary conditions
- graphical output
- how can ADINA (or other FEM software) help you in your research?

CLASS SCHEDULE

Click for a tutorial written by Tony Gades on setting up an ice sheet model in ADINA.

References:
Huebner, K.H. 1975. The finite element method for engineers. Wiley.

Reddy, J.N. and D.K. Gartling. 2000. The finite element method in heat transfer and fluid dynamics. 2nd Edition. Boca Raton, CRC Press.

Kwon,Young W. and Hyochoong Bang. 2000. Finite Element Method Using Matlab, 2nd Edition. (Hardcover) 624 p. CRC Press.

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    Ed Waddington
    2001/10/04