Coupling of FEM and BEM for a nonlinear interface problem: The h–p version

This article presents some numerical examples for coupling the finite element method (FEM) and the boundary element method (BEM) as analyzed in [11]. This coupling procedure combines the advantages of boundary elements (problems in unbounded regions) and of finite elements (nonlinear problems with inhomogeneous data). In [28], experimental rates of convergence for the h version are presented, where the accuracy of the Galerkin approximation is achieved by refining the mesh. In this article we treat the h–p version, combining an increase of the degree of the piecewise polynomials with a certain mesh refinement. In our model examples, we obtain theoretically and numerically exponential convergence, which indicates a great efficiency in particular if singularities appear. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.