A time–dependent FEM-BEM coupling method for fluid–structure interaction in 3d

We consider the well-posedness and a priori error estimates of a 3d FEM-BEM coupling method for fluid-structure interaction in the time domain. For an elastic body immersed in a fluid, the exterior linear wave equation for the fluid is reduced to an integral equation on the boundary involving the Poincaré-Steklov operator. The resulting problem is solved using a Galerkin boundary element method in the time domain, coupled to a finite element method for the Lamé equation inside the elastic body. Based on ideas from the time–independent coupling formulation, we obtain an a priori error estimate and discuss the implementation of the proposed method. Numerical experiments illustrate the performance of our scheme for model problems.