Patent ID: 7430499

Claim:
A computer implemented method of performing a finite element simulation of a phenomenon, comprising: analytically creating a finite element model of the phenomenon, the finite element model including a plurality of subdivisions; specifying a plurality of cross-correlations between respective pairings of the subdivisions; each cross-correlation being based on a combination of a pair of variable values, each variable value occurring at a respective one of the subdivisions; eliminating a portion of the cross-correlations to provide a reduced set of cross-correlations between respective pairings of the subdivisions, wherein the eliminating includes: determining a spatial distance value between at least two subdivisions, and discarding at least one of the cross-correlations for which the spatial distance value is greater than a specified threshold value, the specified threshold value being a spatial distance between a respective pairing of subdivisions involved in the cross-correlation calculation, wherein discarding at least one of the cross-correlations includes discarding at least one of the cross-correlations based on a specified value of epsilon e, wherein e is defined as follows.