When non linear physical systems of infinite extent are modelled, such as tunnels and perforations, it is necessary to simulate suitably the solution in the infinite as well as the non linearity. The finite element method (FEM) is a well known procedure for simulating the non linear behavior. However, the treatment of the infinite field with domain truncations is often questionable. On the other hand, the boundary element method (BEM) is suitable to simulate the infinite behavior without truncations. Because of this, by the combination of both methods, suitable use of the advantages of each one may be obtained. Several possibilities of FEM-BEM coupling and their performance in some practical cases are discussed in this paper. Parallelizable coupling algorithms based on domain decomposition are developed and compared with the most traditional coupling methods.

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