Towards High Order Octree-Based Finite Element Earthquake Simulations

Leonardo Ramirez-Guzman

Published August 15, 2019, SCEC Contribution #9745, 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #296 (PDF)

Poster Image: 
Recent advances in the use of octrees highlight the advantages and drawbacks of this data structure when used in conjunction with the finite element method to solve large-scale wave propagation problems. Challenges in the incorporation of topographical features and rheologies that rely on strains are among the difficulties found in low-order and nonconforming formulations. Some researchers have proposed approximations to deal with topography and plasticity models, but results vary, and systematic analyses of the accuracy of these efforts are inconclusive. Guaranteed improvement in performance in any implementation involves incrementing the polynomial order of the field approximation, as in most standard finite element codes. In this work we explore and present preliminary results of simple approaches to use octree-based meshes for obtaining embedded tetrahedral meshes, which facilitate the incorporation of topographies and high-order elements without losing the semistructured character of octrees and the inherent advantages in memory usage.

Key Words
finite elements, ground motion simulation

Citation
Ramirez-Guzman, L. (2019, 08). Towards High Order Octree-Based Finite Element Earthquake Simulations. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting.


Related Projects & Working Groups
Computational Science (CS)