A Coupled Solid-Fluid Method for Modeling Subduction

2007

International audience; We present a novel dynamic approach for solid/fluid coupling by joining two different numerical methods: Boundary Element Method (BEM) and Finite Element Method (FEM). FEM results describe the thermo-mechanical evolution of the solid while the fluid is solved with the BEM. The bidirectional feedback between the two domains evolves along a Lagrangian interface where the FEM domain is embedded inside the BEM domain. The feedback between the two codes is based on the calculation of a specific drag tensor for each boundary/finite element. The approach is presented here to solve the complex problem of the descent of a cold subducting oceanic plate into a hot fluid like ma…