Trott, David W.Gobbert, Matthias2023-10-102023-10-102010Trott, David W. & Matthias K. Gobbert. “Conducting Finite Element Convergence Studies Using COMSOL 4.0.” In Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2010 Boston (2010). https://www.comsol.com/paper/conducting-finite-element-convergence-studies-using-comsol-4-0-8054.http://hdl.handle.net/11603/30060Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference 2010 BostonIn order to gauge how reasonable a finite element solution to a partial differential equation is on a given mesh, a common strategy is to refine the mesh, compute the solution on the finer mesh, and use the solutions on the two meshes for a qualitative comparison. The theory of the finite element method (FEM) makes these comparisons quantitative by estimating the convergence order of the FEM error on a sequence of progressively finer meshes. We will show how to carry out convergence studies of this type in the graphical user interface of COMSOL 4.0 on the example of Lagrange elements of varying polynomial degrees, which will also bring out the benefit of using higher order elements.6 pagesen-USThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.Text