2D internal flux compatibility equation of the flux Green element method for transient nonlinear potential problems

This article presents the derivation and implementation of the normal directional flux compatibility equation (relationship) at internal nodes when the Green element formulation that consistently provides accurate estimates of the primary variable, and its normal directional derivative (normal flux) is applied in 2D heterogeneous media to steady and transient potential problems. Such a relationship is required to resolve the closure problem due to having fewer integral equations than the number of unknowns at internal nodes. The derivation of the relationship is based on Stokes' theorem, which transforms the contour integral of the normal directional fluxes into a surface integral that is identically zero. The numerical discretization of the compatibility equation is demonstrated with four numerical examples using the six‐node quadratic triangular and the four and eight‐node rectangular elements. The incorporation of triangular elements into the current formulation demonstrates that the internal compatibility equation can be successfully implemented on irregular grids. The direct calculation of the fluxes significantly enhances the accuracy of the formulation, so that high accuracy, exceeding that of the finite element method, is achieved with very coarse spatial discretization. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2010