AN EFFICIENT FINITE ELEMENT-BOUNDARY INTEGRAL METHOD SOLVING ELECTROMAGNETIC SCATTERING PROBLEMS

The "conventional" finite element-boundary integral (FE-BI) method suffers from major drawbacks, one is the huge computer resources required by the dense BI submatrix; the other is the slow convergence rate of the resulting linear system of equations. In this article, both the drawbacks are investigated. First, the integral equation fast Fourier transform (IE-FFT) algorithm with a Gaussian interpolation scheme is employed to deal with the BI part. Second, an effective and simple preconditioner is developed for solving the matrix equation obtained from FE-BI method. Numerical results show that the proposed preconditioner call dramatically speed up the convergence of the FE-BI system, whatever the combined field integral equation (CFIE), the electric field integral equation (EFIE), and the magnetic field integral equation (MFIE) are employed on the truncation boundary. Some examples are given to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 2065-2071, 2009: Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24538