JuliaFEM.jl/src/elements

Elements Module

This module implements finite elements following Ciarlet's mathematical definition, adapted for computational efficiency.

Ciarlet's Finite Element Triple (K, P, Σ)

Mathematical Definition

A finite element is a triple (K, P, Σ) where:

• K ⊂ ℝⁿ: Compact, connected reference domain (geometric set)
• P: Finite-dimensional space of functions on K
• Σ = {σ₁, ..., σₙ}: Set of linear functionals σᵢ : P → ℝ (dual basis)

Computational Implementation

We use (K, P, S) where:

• K: Reference domain type (e.g., Triangle{3}, Tetrahedron{4}) - exact match
• P: Polynomial space type (e.g., Lagrange{1}, Lagrange{2}) - exact match
• S: Field specification → uniquely determines Σ (computational encoding)

Why S Instead of Σ?

S does not equal Σ, but S determines Σ uniquely.

For standard Lagrange elements:

S specification	Resulting Σ functionals	Example
Float64, Vertex	σᵢ(u) = u(vertex_i)	Point evaluation (nodal values)
Vec{3}, Vertex	σᵢ(u) = uₐ(vertex_i), α=1,2,3	Vector point evaluation
Float64, Cell	σ(u) = (1/|K|) ∫_K u dx	Cell-average functional
Float64, Edge	σ(u) = ∫_edge u ds	Edge integral functional

Rationale:

1. Functionals are never instantiated in computational FEM
2. S contains the essential information: quantity type + entity location
3. Given (K, P, S), the functionals Σ are uniquely determined
4. Type-level encoding = zero runtime cost

Element Structure

struct Element{K<:AbstractTopology, P<:AbstractBasis, S<:DOFSet, N}
    id::UInt                    # Element identifier (mesh index)
    dof_indices::NTuple{N,UInt64}  # Flat tuple of global DOF indices
end

Design Philosophy

Everything mathematical lives in the types. The instance holds only:

• Identification (id)
• Assignment (dof_indices)

No connectivity, no coordinates stored in element! Mesh holds geometric data.

Type Stability via @generated Constructor

The dof_indices field is typed as NamedTuple (without parameters), but the @generated constructor ensures the concrete type is inferred:

@generated function Element{K,P,S}(id::UInt, dof_indices::D) where {K,P,S,D<:NamedTuple}
    # Julia infers D = @NamedTuple{u::NTuple{12, Int64}} from the argument
    # Field access elem.dof_indices.u returns NTuple{12, Int64} (type-stable!)
end

This achieves zero-allocation performance without adding a 4th type parameter.

Field Specifications

Single-Field Elements

# Heat conduction (scalar field at vertices)
S = @NamedTuple{T::Tuple{Float64, Vertex}}
Element{Triangle{3}, Lagrange{1}, S}(UInt(1), (T=(1, 2, 3),))

# 2D elasticity (vector field at vertices)
S = @NamedTuple{u::Tuple{Vec{2}, Vertex}}
Element{Triangle{3}, Lagrange{1}, S}(UInt(1), (u=(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6),))

Multi-Field Elements

# Thermo-mechanical coupling
S = @NamedTuple{
    T::Tuple{Float64, Vertex},      # Temperature at vertices
    u::Tuple{Vec{3}, Vertex}         # Displacement at vertices
}

Element{Tetrahedron{4}, Lagrange{1}, S}(
    UInt(1),
    (T=(1,2,3,4), u=(5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16))
)

# Access fields directly
elem.dof_indices.T  # (1, 2, 3, 4)
elem.dof_indices.u  # (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)

DOF Extraction

Two extraction strategies for getting element DOFs from global solution:

Flat Extraction

Returns scalars grouped by field:

u_global = [1.0, 2.0, ..., 20.0]
dofs = extract_element_dofs(elem, u_global)
# Returns: (u = (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, ..., 12.0),)

Structured Extraction

Returns quantities matching field type (Vec, Tensor, etc.):

dofs = extract_element_dofs_structured(elem, u_global)
# Returns: (u = (Vec{3}(1,2,3), Vec{3}(4,5,6), Vec{3}(7,8,9), Vec{3}(10,11,12)),)

Use case: Structured extraction is for interpolation where tuple length must match shape function count:

u_interp = N1 * u1 + N2 * u2 + N3 * u3 + N4 * u4

Both are zero-allocation (5.5 ns) thanks to type stability and @generated functions.

Local-Global DOF Mapping

For coupled multi-field assembly:

# Element with 2 fields: T (4 DOFs) + u (12 DOFs) = 16 total
map = local_to_global_map(elem)
# map[1:4] = [1,2,3,4]       Temperature DOFs
# map[5:16] = [10,...,21]    Displacement DOFs

# Assembly loop
K_local = zeros(16, 16)  # Fully coupled local matrix
# ... fill K_local with physics coupling (∂T/∂u, ∂u/∂T, etc.) ...
for i in 1:16, j in 1:16
    K_global[map[i], map[j]] += K_local[i, j]
end

Field-Specific DOF Ranges

Extract local DOF ranges for field blocks (compile-time computation):

T_range = field_dof_range(elem, :T)  # 1:4
u_range = field_dof_range(elem, :u)  # 5:16

# Extract field-field coupling block
K_Tu = K_local[T_range, u_range]  # 4×12 temperature-displacement coupling

The range is computed at compile time via @generated - zero runtime cost.

Type Queries

topology_type(elem)  # Tetrahedron{4}
basis_type(elem)     # Lagrange{1}
dof_type(elem)       # @NamedTuple{T::Tuple{Float64,Vertex}, u::Tuple{Vec{3},Vertex}}
nnodes(elem)         # 4

Performance Notes

Type Stability Achievement

The key to zero allocations was ensuring elem.dof_indices has a concrete type:

Before (BAD):

dof_indices::NamedTuple  # Type instability!
# Field access returns Any → heap allocation

After (GOOD):

@generated function Element{K,P,S}(id::UInt, dof_indices::D) where {K,P,S,D<:NamedTuple}
    # Julia infers D = @NamedTuple{u::NTuple{12,Int64}}
    # Field access returns NTuple{12,Int64} → stack allocation!
end

Benchmark Results

Flat extraction:       5.472 ns (0 allocations: 0 bytes)
Structured extraction: 5.474 ns (0 allocations: 0 bytes)

Compared to original implementation: 300× faster, zero allocations.

Files in This Module

• elements.jl - Element struct, constructors, type queries
• extract_element_dofs.jl - DOF extraction (flat and structured)
• README.md - This file (module documentation)

See Also

• docs/src/developer/dof_extraction.md - Detailed DOF extraction design
• test/elements/test_extract_element_dofs.jl - Comprehensive test suite