Object-oriented implementation of p-adaptive finite element method

A finite element analysis methodology employing p-adaptivity is proposed. Object-oriented design and methodologies are used to implement the finite element package. The p-refinement phase is facilitated through the addition and deletion of general serendipity element edge nodes. Zienkiewicz-Zhu (ZZ) error estimator is used to determine the localized error. A modified superconvergent patch recovery technique is implemented to recover highly accurate nodal gradients utilized in the error estimation phase. Another variation to the ZZ error estimator, suggested by Blacker (12), is also tested.The object-oriented design leads to easier maintainability and extensibility. The advantage of object-oriented design is the ability to try new solvers, new elements and new problem types with minimum programming effort and time.The source code for the thesis is written in Fortran 90, with a graphical user interface (GUI) written in Java. The user interface performs pre-processing and post-processing. The Java user interface can add networking capabilities to the program. This method has been successfully applied to some benchmark problems.