A partition-of-unity-based finite element method for level sets

Level set methods have recently gained much popularity to capture discontinuities, including their possible propagation. Typically, the partial differential equations that arise in level set methods, in particular the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, are solved by finite difference methods. However, finite difference methods are less suited for irregular domains. Moreover, it seems slightly awkward to use finite differences for the capturing of a discontinuity, while in a subsequent stress analysis finite elements are normally used. For this reason, we here present a finite element approach to solving the governing equations of level set methods. After a review of the governing equations, the initialization of the level sets, the discretization on a finite domain, and the stabilization of the resulting finite element method will be discussed. Special attention will be given to the proper treatment of the internal boundary condition, which is achieved by exploiting the partition-of-unity property of finite element shape functions. Finally, a quantitative analysis including accuracy analysis is given for a one-dimensional example and a qualitative example is given for a two-dimensional case with a curved discontinuity. Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.