Coupled FEM and meshless radial point interpolation method

Abstract

The advantages of the meshless and finite element methods were combined in a coupled finite element and meshless radial point interpolation method. Since only the node information is needed in a meshless method, this overcomes the difficulties resulting from element distortion and mesh regeneration in the FEM, when analyzing crack propagation and local large deformation problems. The element-free galerkin method (EFG) and the radial point interpolation method (RPIM) results are consistent with standard results for the cantilever beam problem, but the RPIM is more efficient. A coupled FEM and RPIM method for a semi-infinite plane problem were found to be more efficient than the RPIM alone. Comparison of these numerical results with closed-form solution shows that this approach is accurate and efficient.