Efficient non-linear solid-fluid interaction analysis by an iterative BEM/FEM coupling

An iterative coupling of finite element and boundary element methods for the time domain modelling of coupled fluid–solid systems is presented. While finite elements are used to model the solid, the adjacent fluid is represented by boundary elements. In order to perform the coupling of the two numerical methods, a successive renewal of the variables on the interface between the two subdomains is performed through an iterative procedure until the final convergence is achieved. In the case of local non-linearities within the finite element subdomain, it is straightforward to perform the iterative coupling together with the iterations needed to solve the non-linear system. In particular a more efficient and a more stable performance of the new coupling procedure is achieved by a special formulation that allows to use different time steps in each subdomain