Convergence Requirement:

The approximate solution obtained in FEM will

converge to the exact solution if the interpolation
function satisfies the following Convergence
Requirements:
1. The Field Variable must be continuous within the
elements. This requirement can be satisfied by
choosing continuous function as interpolation
function as interpolation models. The polynomials like
q=a1+a2x+a3x2 are inherently continuous and hence,
they will satisfy the above requirement.
2. All uniform states of the field variable q and its
partial derivatives up to the highest order appearing
in the function I(q) must have representation in the
interpolation polynomial, when in the limit the
element size reduces to zero.
3.The Field variable q and its partial derivatives up to
one order less than the highest order derivative
appearing in the functional I(q) must be continuous at
element boundaries and interfaces.
Convergence Criteria:
The solution obtain from Finite Element Analysis is
always an approximate one and not exact. However,
it is possible to reduce error to a minimum
acceptable level. When this happens, we say that
solution converges.

To ensure convergence following criteria have to be

fulfilled. These criteria pertain to the polynomial
which we assume to be the approximate solution to
the problem in hand.
1. Polynomial should be a complete polynomial i.e
it must contain all the degree from 0 to the
highest order of the derivative used in weak
form. This requirement is necessary to capture
all possible states of the actual solution.
2. The polynomial should be continuous over the
element and also differentiable up to the order
of the derivatives in the weak form. This
requirement ensures non-zero coefficients in
the solutions.
3. The approximate solution should be
interpolation function of the primary variables at
the nodes of the finite element. This
requirement is essential to ensure compatibility
of the solution.
Besides these criteria, we can improve upon
convergence by reducing the size of the elements i.e
increasing number of elements in which case we
call h-convergence
By increasing the degree of polynomial in which
case we call p-convergence.