The finite element method is a numerical method widely used in engineering. Experience shows that unreliable computation can lead to very serious consequences. Hence reliability questions stand are at the forefront of engineering and theoretical interests. This book presents the mathematical theory of the finite element method and is the first to focus on the questions of how reliable computed results really are. It addresses among other topics the local behaviour, errors caused by pollution, superconvergence, and optimal meshes. Many computational examples illustrate the importance of the...

This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications MODELING, MESH GENERATION, AND ADAPTIVE NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS is based on the proceedings of the 1993 IMA Summer Program "Modeling, Mesh Generation, and Adaptive Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations." We thank Ivo Babuska, Joseph E. Flaherty, William D. Hen- shaw, John E. Hopcroft, Joseph E. Oliger, and Tayfun Tezduyar for orga- nizing the workshop and editing the proceedings. We also take this oppor- tunity to thank those agencies whose financial support made the summer program possible: the...

This book deals with the impact of uncertainty in input data on the outputs of mathematical models. Uncertain inputs as scalars, tensors, functions, or domain boundaries are considered. In practical terms, material parameters or constitutive laws, for instance, are uncertain, and quantities as local temperature, local mechanical stress, or local displacement are monitored. The goal of the worst scenario method is to extremize the quantity over the set of uncertain input data.

A general mathematical scheme of the worst scenario method, including approximation by finite element methods, is...

Most of the many books on finite elements are devoted either to mathematical theory or to engineering applications, but not to both. This book seeks to bridge the gap by presenting the main theoretical ideas of the finite element method and the analysis of its errors in an accessible way. At the same time it presents computed numbers which not only illustrate the theory but can only be analysed using the theory. This approach, both dual and interacting between theory and computation makes this book unique.
Much research is currently being done into reliability in computational modelling,...

When using numerical simulation to make a decision, how can its reliability be determined? What are the common pitfalls and mistakes when assessing the trustworthiness of computed information, and how can they be avoided?

Whenever numerical simulation is employed in connection with engineering decision-making, there is an implied expectation of reliability: one cannot base decisions on computed information without believing that information is reliable enough to support those decisions. Using mathematical models to show the reliability of computer-generated information is an...

This IMA Volume in Mathematics and its Applications MODELING, MESH GENERATION, AND ADAPTIVE NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS is based on the proceedings of the 1993 IMA Summer Program "Modeling, Mesh Generation, and Adaptive Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations." We thank Ivo Babuska, Joseph E. Flaherty, William D. Hen shaw, John E. Hopcroft, Joseph E. Oliger, and Tayfun Tezduyar for orga nizing the workshop and editing the proceedings. We also take this oppor tunity to thank those agencies whose financial support made the summer program possible: the...