A PROCEDURE FOR A POSTERIORI ERROR ESTIMATION FOR H-P FINITE-ELEMENT METHODS

A new approach to a posteriori error estimation is outlined which is applicable to general h-p finite element approximations of general classes of boundary value problems. The approach makes use of duality arguments and is based on the element residual method (ERM). Important aspects of the method are that it provides a systematic approach toward deriving element boundary conditions for the ERM; it leads to an upper bound for the global error in an appropriate energy norm; and it is valid for non-uniform and irregular h-p meshes. In the present exposition, a brief outline of the theoretical foundations of the method is given together with the results of its application to several representative problems. These results show that the approach is applicable to general linearly elliptic systems, including unsymmetrical operators, and that the method is valid for broad classes of linear and non-linear problems.