Hybridized enriched space-time finite element method for analysis of thin-walled structures immersed in generalized Newtonian fluids

The paper addresses the numerical treatment of a specific class of fluid-structure interaction problems: flow-immersed thin structures undergoing considerable motion and deformation. The simultaneous solution procedure uses a mixed-hybrid velocity-based formulation of both fluid and structure discretized by a stabilized time-discontinuous space-time finite element method. The continuity at the interface is ensured by a localized mixed-hybrid interface method avoiding Lagrange multipliers and penalty approaches. The XFEM is utilized for enrichment of the approximation space of the fluid variables in order to represent non-smooth (discontinuous) solution features resulting from immersing a thin structure in a fluid. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.