Strategies involving the local defect correction multi-level refinement method for solving three-dimensional linear elastic problems

The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of the local defect correction multi-grid method (Hackbusch, 1984 [31]) on solid mechanics test cases showing local singularities and derived from an industrial context. The levels of local refinement are automatically obtained recursively, using Zienkiewicz and Zhu's a posteriori error estimator. Choices of the prolongation operator, the refinement ratio and criterion are discussed in order to give the most satisfactory performances. Comparisons with an h-adaptive refinement method show the efficiency of the tool presented here, in terms of its accuracy and the memory space and processor time required. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.