Application of domain decomposition methods to isogeometric analysis

During the past decade various new spatial discretization techniques have been developed. In particular, the usage of NURBS based shape functions, well known to the CAD community, has been adapted to finite element technology. In the present work we use the mortar finite element method for the coupling of nonconforming discretized sub-domains in the framework of nonlinear elasticity. We show that the method can be applied to isogeometric analysis with little effort, once the framework of NURBS based shape functions has been implemented. Furthermore, a specific coordinate augmentation technique allows the design of an energy-momentum scheme for the constrained mechanical system under consideration. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)