Finite Difference Discretization of a Fourth Order Partial Differential Term

Hypatio
Messages
147
Reaction score
1
What is a finite-difference discretization for the partial differential term:

\frac{\partial^4\phi}{\partial x^2\partial y^2}

Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
There are as usual an infinite number, the choice of which depends upon the situation. A common choice would be
u(x-1,y+1) -2u(x+0,y+1) +u(x+1,y+1)
-2u(x-1,y+0) +4u(x+0,y+0) -2u(x+1,y+0)
+u(x-1,y-1) -2u(x+0,y-1) +u(x+1,y-1)
 
Last edited:
lurflurf said:
There are as usual an infinite number, the choice of which depends upon the situation. A common choice would be
u(x-1,y+1) -2u(x+0,y+1) u(x+1,y+1)
-2u(x-1,y+0) +4u(x+0,y+0) -2u(x+1,y+0)
u(x-1,y-1) -2u(x+0,y-1) u(x+1,y-1)

Thanks, but is there a formulation which does not use bivariate (?) terms? eg. 2u(x+0,y+1)*u(x+1,y+1)

I do not understand how it is possible to create a solvable matrix with a mix of bivariate terms in it, which is what I am trying to to do (stress function solution using gaussian elimination).
 
Last edited:
^Sorry that was implied addition not implied multiplication. Writen out in full we have
16uxxyy~u(x-1,y+1)-2u(x+0,y+1)+u(x+1,y+1)-2u(x-1,y+0)+4u(x+0,y+0)-2u(x+1,y+0)+u(x-1,y-1) -2u(x+0,y-1) +u(x+1,y-1)

or unscaled

(4st)2 uxxyy~u(x-s,y+t)-2u(x+0,y+t)+u(x+s,y+t)-2u(x-s,y+0)+4u(x+0,y+t)-2u(x+s,y+0)+u(x-s,y-t) -2u(x+0,y-t) +u(x+s,y-t)

A higher order or biased expansion could be used if needed.
 
Ah, thank you for alleviating my fears, and for the help.
 
Thread 'Direction Fields and Isoclines'
I sketched the isoclines for $$ m=-1,0,1,2 $$. Since both $$ \frac{dy}{dx} $$ and $$ D_{y} \frac{dy}{dx} $$ are continuous on the square region R defined by $$ -4\leq x \leq 4, -4 \leq y \leq 4 $$ the existence and uniqueness theorem guarantees that if we pick a point in the interior that lies on an isocline there will be a unique differentiable function (solution) passing through that point. I understand that a solution exists but I unsure how to actually sketch it. For example, consider a...

Similar threads

Back
Top