A new adaptive boundary mesh refinement based on simple algorithm

Abstract This paper concerns a new adaptive mesh refinement for boundary element method named “Reverse (Rv) method”. In the existing methods, solution error is reduced by means of increasing the degree of freedom, e.g., adding boundary elements (h-method) and raising the order of interpolation functions (p-method). On the contrary, in the present method, optimal (refined) mesh is determined from relatively fine initial mesh subjected to less or at most equal degrees of freedom. Refreshing algorithm of the new method is reverse to that of the other conventional methods, then it is called “Reverse method”. The purpose of this method is higher efficiency in producing the optimal mesh and, for this object, simpler error estimate and new remeshing methods are employed. Finally, the method is applied to optimal mesh determination for the two-dimensional potential problem.