Question

For a finite element mesh to be valid, which option is not true regarding the elements used?

(a) The number of elements used is not exact

(b) Elements can be of different orders

(c) Elements can be of different types

(d) The choice of elements and mesh is problem-independent

This question was posed to me during an online interview.

This is a very interesting question from Modelling Considerations in division Interpolation Functions, Numerical Integration and Modelling Considerations of Finite Element Method

Answer 1

Right option is (d) The choice of elements and mesh is problem-independent

To explain: A valid mesh can be coarse (i.e., have few elements) or refined(i.e., have many elements), and may consist of one or more orders and types of elements(e.g., linear and quadratic, triangular and quadrilateral). A judicious choice of element order and type could save computational cost while giving accurate results. It should be noted that the choice of elements and mesh is problem-dependent.