Stable and efficient FEM-BEM coupling with OSRC regularisation for acoustic wave transmission

TL;DR

This paper introduces an OSRC-based regularisation and preconditioning strategy for FEM-BEM coupling in acoustic wave transmission, enhancing stability at all frequencies and improving solver convergence, especially at high frequencies.

Contribution

It proposes a novel OSRC regulariser and preconditioning method for FEM-BEM coupling, reducing computational costs and improving stability and convergence across frequencies.

Findings

Stable at all frequencies due to OSRC regularisation

Significant improvement in iterative solver convergence

Enhanced computational efficiency at high frequencies

Abstract

The finite element method (FEM) and the boundary element method (BEM) can numerically solve the Helmholtz system for acoustic wave propagation. When an object with heterogeneous wave speed or density is embedded in an unbounded exterior medium, the coupled FEM-BEM algorithm promises to combine the strengths of each technique. The FEM handles the heterogeneous regions while the BEM models the homogeneous exterior. Even though standard FEM-BEM algorithms are effective, they do require stabilisation at resonance frequencies. One such approach is to add a regularisation term to the system of equations. This algorithm is stable at all frequencies but also brings higher computational costs. This study proposes a regulariser based on the on-surface radiation conditions (OSRC). The OSRC operators are also used to precondition the boundary integral operators and combined with incomplete LU factorisations for the volumetric weak formulation. The proposed preconditioning strategy improves the convergence of iterative linear solvers significantly, especially at higher frequencies.