NEW HYBRID LAPLACE TRANSFORM FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD FOR 3-DIMENSIONAL TRANSIENT HEAT-CONDUCTION PROBLEM

The paper presents results obtained by the implementation of a new hybrid Laplace transform/finite element method developed by the authors. The present method removes the time derivatives from the governing differential equation using the Laplace transform and then solves the associated equation with the finite element method. Previously reported hybrid Laplace transform/finite element methods1 have been confined to one nodal solution at a time. When applied to many nodes it takes an excessive amount of computer time. By using a similarity transform method on the matrix of the complex number coefficients this restriction is removed and the reported new method provides a more useful tool for the solution of linear transient problems. Test examples are used to show that the basic accuracy is comparable to that obtainable by analytical, finite difference and finite element methods.