Finite element algorithm with a second‐order shifted composite numerical integral formula for a nonlinear time fractional wave equation

Abstract In this article, we propose a second‐order shifted composite numerical integral formula, which is denoted as the SCNIF2. We transform the nonlinear time fractional wave equation into a partial differential equation with a fractional integral term and use the SCNIF2 in time and the finite element algorithm in space to formulate a fully discrete scheme. In order to decrease the initial error of the numerical scheme, we add some starting parts. In addition, we prove the stability and error estimation of the algorithm. Finally, we illustrate the effect of the starting parts and the accuracy of the numerical scheme through some numerical tests.