A study of incorporating the multigrid method into the three-dimensional finite element discretization: a modular setting and application

Hwai Ping Cheng, Gour Tsyh Yeh, Jinchao Xu, Ming Hsu Li, Robert Carsel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Increasing the efficiency of solving linear/linearized matrix equations is a key point to save computer time in numerical simulation, especially for three-dimensional problems. The multigrid method has been determined to be efficient in solving boundary-value problems. However, this method is mostly linked to the finite difference discretization, rather than to the finite element discretization. This is because the grid relationship between fine and coarse grids was not achieved effectively for the latter case. Consequently, not only is the coding complicated but also the performance is not satisfactory when incorporating the multigrid method into the finite element discretization. Here we present an approach to systematically prepare necessary information to relate fine and coarse grids regarding the three-dimensional finite element discretization, such that we can take advantage of using the multigrid method. To achieve a consistent approximation at each grid, we use A2h = Ih2h Ah I2hh and b2h = Ih2h bh, starting from the composed matrix equation of the finest grid, to prepare the matrix equations for coarse grids. Such a process is implemented on an element level to reduce the computation to its minimum. To demonstrate the performance, this approach has been used to adapt two existing three-dimensional finite element subsurface flow and transport models, 3DFEM WATER and 3DLEWASTE,to their multigrid version, 3DMGWATER and 3DMGWASTE, respectively. Two example problems, one for each model, are considered for illustration. The computational result shows that the multigrid method can help solve the example problems very efficiently with our presented modular setting. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)499-526
Number of pages28
JournalInternational Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Volume41
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 1998
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Generated from Scopus record by KAUST IRTS on 2023-02-15

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Mathematics
  • General Engineering
  • Numerical Analysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A study of incorporating the multigrid method into the three-dimensional finite element discretization: a modular setting and application'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this