Simulation of two‐dimensional contaminant transport with isoparametric Hermitian finite elements

A deformed isoparametric Hermitian element can be used in the simulation of two-dimensional contaminant transport. The degree of freedom arising from the cross derivative may be eliminated in the Galerkin-type finite element formulation, reducing the computational effort per node. Two example problems demonstrate that the Hermitian element gives results which are comparable to those obtained with the zero-order continuous cubic element but requires 25–40% fewer degrees of freedom, depending on the geometrical description of the problem.