An accurate FIC-FEM formulation for the 1D advection–diffusion–reaction equation

Abstract In this paper we present an accurate stabilized FIC-FEM formulation for the 1D advection–diffusion–reaction equation in the exponential and propagation regimes using two stabilization parameters . Both the steady-state and transient solutions are considered. The stabilized formulation is based on the standard Galerkin FEM solution of the governing differential equations derived via the Finite Increment Calculus (FIC) method. The steady-state problem is considered first. The optimal value of the two stabilization parameters ensuring an exact (nodal) FEM solution using uniform meshes of linear 2-noded elements is obtained. In the absence of the absorption term the formulation simplifies to the standard one-parameter Petrov–Galerkin method for the advection–diffusion problem. For the diffusion–reaction case one stabilization parameter is just needed and the diffusion-type stabilization term is identical to that obtained by Felippa and Onate (2007) using a variational FIC approach. A procedure for computing the stabilization parameters for the transient problem is proposed. The accuracy of the new FIC-FEM formulation is demonstrated in the solution of steady-state and transient 1D advection–diffusion–radiation problems for a the range of physical parameters and boundary conditions.