3-D adaptive mesh refinement using nonconforming elements

The conventional method of analysis for nonconforming mesh with 3-D brick elements is improved in order to avoid the error due to the multiapproximation of potential. The method of adaptive mesh refinement using the nonconforming elements is described, and it is applied to a nonlinear magnetostatic model. It is shown that the error in potential at a nonconforming node due to multiapproximation can be avoided by improving the conventional method of analysis for the nonconforming mesh. The accuracy of the flux density using the novel adaptive mesh refinement scheme is improved compared with that using an ordinary conforming mesh with the same number of unknowns. Although the proposed method needs about twice as much CPU time as the conventional method, the mesh can be created automatically