Using a cubic B-spline method in conjunction with a one-step optimized hybrid block approach to solve nonlinear partial differential equations

In this paper, we develop an optimized hybrid block method which is combined with a modified cubic B-spline method, for solving non-linear partial differential equations. In particular, it will be applied for solving three well-known problems, namely, the Burgers equation, Buckmaster equation and FitzHugh–Nagumo equation. Most of the developed methods in the literature for non-linear partial differential equations have not focused on optimizing the time step-size and a very small value must be considered to get accurate approximations. The motivation behind the development of this work is to overcome this trade-off up to much extent using a larger time step-size without compromising accuracy. The optimized hybrid block method considered is proved to be A-stable and convergent. Furthermore, the obtained numerical approximations have been compared with exact and numerical solutions available in the literature and found to be adequate. In particular, without using quasilinearization or filtering techniques, the results for small viscosity coefficient for Burgers equation are found to be accurate. We have found that the combination of the two considered methods is computationally efficient for solving non-linear PDEs.