A goal-oriented adaptive finite element（FE） method for solving 3D direct current（DC） resistivity modeling problem is presented. The model domain is subdivided into unstructured tetrahedral elements that allow for efficient local mesh refinement and flexible description of complex models. The elements that affect the solution at each receiver location are adaptively refined according to a goal-oriented posteriori error estimator using dual-error weighting approach. The FE method with adapting mesh can easily handle such structures at almost any level of complexity. The method is demonstrated on two synthetic resistivity models with analytical solutions and available results from integral equation method, so the errors can be quantified. The applicability of the numerical method is illustrated on a resistivity model with a topographic ridge. Numerical examples show that this method is flexible and accurate for geometrically complex situations.
The conventional finite-element（FE） method often uses a structured mesh, which is designed according to the user’s experience, and it is not sufficiently accurate and flexible to accommodate complex structures such as dipping interfaces and rough topography. We present an adaptive FE method for 2.5D forward modeling of induced polarization（IP）. In the presented method, an unstructured triangulation mesh that allows for local mesh refinement and flexible description of arbitrary model geometries is used. Furthermore, the mesh refinement process is guided by dual error estimate weighting to bias the refinement towards elements that affect the solution at the receiver locations. After the final mesh is generated, the Jacobian matrix is used to obtain the IP response on 2D structure models. We validate the adaptive FE algorithm using a vertical contact model. The validation shows that the elements near the receivers are highly refined and the average relative error of the potentials converges to 0.4 % and 1.2 % for the IP response. This suggests that the numerical solution of the adaptive FE algorithm converges to an accurate solution with the refined mesh. Finally, the accuracy and flexibility of the adaptive FE procedure are also validated using more complex models.
