Cut finite element methods for complex multi-physics problems
Andre Jurgen Massing
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Abstract:
Many advanced computational problems in engineering and biology
require the numerical solution of multidomain, multidimension, multiphysics and
multimaterial problems with interfaces. When the interface geometry is
highly complex or evolving in time, the generation of conforming
meshes may become prohibitively expensive, thereby severely limiting
the scope of conventional discretization methods.
In this talk we focus on recent, so-called cut finite element methods (CutFEM)
as one possible remedy. The main idea is to design a discretization
method which allows for the embedding of purely surface-based geometry
representations into structured and easy-to-generate background meshes.
In the first part of the talk, we explain how the CutFEM framework leads
to accurate and optimal convergent discretization schemes for a variety
of PDEs posed on complex geometries.
Furthermore, we demonstrate their effectiveness
when discretizing PDEs on evolving domains, including Navier-Stokes equations
and fluid-structure interaction problems with large deformations.
In the second part of the talk, we show that the CutFEM framework can also
be used to discretize surface-bound PDEs as well as mixed-dimensional problems
where PDEs are posed on domains of different topological dimensionality.
As a particular example, we consider
the so-called Extracellular-Membran-Intracellular (EMI) model
which couples an elliptic partial
differential equation on the extra/intracellular domains with a system
of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) over the cell
membranes to model of electrical activity of explicitly resolved brain
cells.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
11:00AM AP&M 2402 and Zoom ID 982 8500 1195