APPLICATION OF GALERKIN FINITE ELEMENT METHOD IN THE SOLUTION OF 3D DIFFUSION IN SOLIDS

Abstract

This paper presents the numerical solution by the Galerkin Finite Element Method, on the three-dimensional Laplace and Helmholtz equations, which represent the heat diffusion in solids. For the two applications proposed, the analytical solutions found in the literature review were used in comparison with the numerical solution. The results analysis was made based on the the L2 Norm (average error throughout the domain) and L¥ Norm (maximum error in the entire domain). The two application results, one of the Laplace equation and the Helmholtz equation, are presented and discussed in order to to test the efficiency of the method.