Forced Vibrations In The Medium Frequency Range Solved By A Partition Of Unity Method With Local Information

A new approach for the computation of the forced vibrations up to the medium frequency range is formulated for thin plates. It is based on the partition of unity method (PUM), first proposed by Babuska, and used here to solve the elastodynamic problem. The paper focuses on the introduction of local information in the basis of the PUM coming from previous approximations, in order to enhance the accuracy of the solution. The method may be iterative and generates a PUM approximation leading to smaller models compared with the finite element ones required for a same accuracy level. It shows very promising results, in terms of frequency range, accuracy and computational time. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.