Enriched finite element spaces for transient conduction heat transfer

Abstract : This paper presents an alternative approach via finite elements to treat numerically the thermal shocks in heat transfer finite element analysis. The method consists in using the standard enriched finite element approaches with time-interpolation. It will be applied here to the transient conduction heat equation where the classical Galerkin method is shown to be unstable. The proposed method consists in adding and eliminating bubbles to the finite element space and then to interpolate the solution to the real time step. This modification is equivalent to the addition of a stabilizing term tuned by a local time-dependent stability parameter, which ensures an oscillating-free solution. To validate this approach, the numerical results obtained in classical 2D and 3D benchmark problems are compared with the Galerkin and the analytical solutions.