An approach to the connection between subdomains with non‐matching meshes for transient mechanical analysis

This paper describes a general method for coupling non-matching linear finite element meshes in transient dynamic analysis. We propose a method based on Schur's dual formulation whose main advantage is to provide equilibrium as well as kinematic continuity throughout the interface. The essence of our work lies in the particular discretization of the space of Lagrange multipliers and in the validation of the method through two- and three-dimensional static calculations as well as two-dimensional dynamic calculations. An example is also presented and the results are compared to those of the mortar method. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.