EFG approximation with discontinuous derivatives

A technique for incorporating discontinuities in derivatives into meshless methods is presented. The technique enriches the approximation by adding special shape functions that contain discontinuities in derivatives. The special shape functions have compact support which results in banded matrix equations. The technique is described in element-free Galerkin context, but is easily applicable to other meshless methods and projections. Numerical results for problems in one and two dimensions are reported. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.