Hybrid Nodal Integral / Finite Element Method for Time-Dependent Convection Diffusion Equation

Nodal integral methods (NIM) are a class of efficient coarse mesh methods that use transverse averaging to reduce the governing partial differential equation(s) (PDE) into a set of ordinary differential equations (ODE). The standard application of NIM is restricted to domains that have boundaries parallel to one of the coordinate axes/palnes (in 2D/3D). The hybrid nodal-integral/finite-element method (NI-FEM) reported here has been developed to extend the application of NIM to arbitrary domains. NI-FEM is based on the idea that the interior region and the regions with boundaries parallel to the coordinate axes (2D) or coordinate planes (3D) can be solved using NIM, and the rest of the domain can be discretized and solved using FEM. The crux of the hybrid NI-FEM is in developing interfacial conditions at the common interfaces between the NIM regions and FEM regions. We here report the development of hybrid NI-FEM for the time-dependent convection-diffusion equation (CDE) in arbitrary domains. Resulting hybrid numerical scheme is implemented in a parallel framework in Fortran and solved using PETSc. The preliminary approach to domain decomposition is also discussed. Numerical solutions are compared with exact solutions, and the scheme is shown to be second order accurate in both space and time. The order of approximations used for the development of the scheme are also shown to be second order. The hybrid method is more efficient compared to standalone conventional numerical schemes like FEM.