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Element Formulations (element + formulations)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Engineering94%

Kinds of Element Formulations

  • finite element formulations
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    Selected Abstracts

    Dynamics of unsaturated soils using various finite element formulations

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 5 2009
    Nadarajah Ravichandran
    Abstract Unsaturated soils are three-phase porous media consisting of a solid skeleton, pore liquid, and pore gas. The coupled mathematical equations representing the dynamics of unsaturated soils can be derived based on the theory of mixtures. Solution of these fully coupled governing equations for unsaturated soils requires tremendous computational resources because three individual phases and interactions between them have to be taken into account. The fully coupled equations governing the dynamics of unsaturated soils are first presented and then two finite element formulations of the governing equations are presented and implemented within a finite element framework. The finite element implementation of all the terms in the governing equations results in the complete formulation and is solved for the first time in this paper. A computationally efficient reduced formulation is obtained by neglecting the relative accelerations and velocities of liquid and gas in the governing equations to investigate the effects of fluid flow in the overall behavior. These two formulations are used to simulate the behavior of an unsaturated silty soil embankment subjected to base shaking and compared with the results from another commonly used partially reduced formulation that neglects the relative accelerations, but takes into account the relative velocities. The stress,strain response of the solid skeleton is modeled as both elastic and elastoplastic in all three analyses. In the elastic analyses no permanent deformations are predicted and the displacements of the partially reduced formulation are in between those of the reduced and complete formulations. The frequency of vibration of the complete formulation in the elastic analysis is closer to the predominant frequency of the base motion and smaller than the frequencies of vibration of the other two analyses. Proper consideration of damping due to fluid flows in the complete formulation is the likely reason for this difference. Permanent deformations are predicted by all three formulations for the elastoplastic analyses. The complete formulation, however, predicts reductions in pore fluid pressures following strong shaking resulting in somewhat smaller displacements than the reduced formulation. The results from complete and reduced formulations are otherwise comparable for elastoplastic analyses. For the elastoplastic analysis, the partially reduced formulation leads to stiffer response than the other two formulations. The likely reason for this stiffer response in the elastoplastic analysis is the interpolation scheme (linear displacement and linear pore fluid pressures) used in the finite element implementation of the partially reduced formulation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Modelling strain localization in granular materials using micropolar theory: mathematical formulations

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 15 2006
    Mustafa I. Alsaleh
    Abstract It has been known that classical continuum mechanics laws fail to describe strain localization in granular materials due to the mathematical ill-posedness and mesh dependency. Therefore, a non-local theory with internal length scales is needed to overcome such problems. The micropolar and high-order gradient theories can be considered as good examples to characterize the strain localization in granular materials. The fact that internal length scales are needed requires micromechanical models or laws; however, the classical constitutive models can be enhanced through the stress invariants to incorporate the Micropolar effects. In this paper, Lade's single hardening model is enhanced to account for the couple stress and Cosserat rotation and the internal length scales are incorporated accordingly. The enhanced Lade's model and its material properties are discussed in detail; then the finite element formulations in the Updated Lagrangian Frame (UL) are used. The finite element formulations were implemented into a user element subroutine for ABAQUS (UEL) and the solution method is discussed in the companion paper. The model was found to predict the strain localization in granular materials with low dependency on the finite element mesh size. The shear band was found to reflect on a certain angle when it hit a rigid boundary. Applications for the model on plane strain specimens tested in the laboratory are discussed in the companion paper. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    P-wave and S-wave decomposition in boundary integral equation for plane elastodynamic problems

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2003
    Emmanuel Perrey-Debain
    Abstract The method of plane wave basis functions, a subset of the method of Partition of Unity, has previously been applied successfully to finite element and boundary element models for the Helmholtz equation. In this paper we describe the extension of the method to problems of scattering of elastic waves. This problem is more complicated for two reasons. First, the governing equation is now a vector equation and second multiple wave speeds are present, for any given frequency. The formulation has therefore a number of novel features. A full development of the necessary theory is given. Results are presented for some classical problems in the scattering of elastic waves. They demonstrate the same features as those previously obtained for the Helmholtz equation, namely that for a given level of error far fewer degrees of freedom are required in the system matrix. The use of the plane wave basis promises to yield a considerable increase in efficiency over conventional boundary element formulations in elastodynamics. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    A priori pivoting in solving the Navier,Stokes equations

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 10 2002
    S. Ø. Wille
    Abstract Mixed finite element formulations of incompressible Navier,Stokes Equations leads to non-positive definite algebraic systems inappropriate for iterative solution techniques. However, introducing a suitable preconditioner, the mixed finite element equation system becomes positive definite and solvable by iterative techniques. The present work suggests a priori pivoting sequences for parallel and serial implementations of incomplete Gaussian factorization. Tests are performed for the driven cavity problem in two and three dimensions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Improving the efficiency of finite element formulations in laminated composites

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 9 2002
    Kostas P. Soldatos
    Abstract This communication extends the principles of an advanced smeared laminate plate theory towards the development of corresponding FE models and codes. The present FE numerical results are compared with those based on exact elasticity solutions, as well as those of corresponding FE models based on three conventional laminate plate theories. These comparisons show that, compared to those conventional FE codes, the proposed FE formulation that uses also a small and fixed number of nodal degrees of freedom improves substantially the accuracy of stress predictions. They also show that the present numerical results are particularly accurate even for very thick laminates. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    An efficient co-rotational formulation for curved triangular shell element

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 9 2007
    Zhongxue Li
    Abstract A 6-node curved triangular shell element formulation based on a co-rotational framework is proposed to solve large-displacement and large-rotation problems, in which part of the rigid-body translations and all rigid-body rotations in the global co-ordinate system are excluded in calculating the element strain energy. Thus, an element-independent formulation is achieved. Besides three translational displacement variables, two components of the mid-surface normal vector at each node are defined as vectorial rotational variables; these two additional variables render all nodal variables additive in an incremental solution procedure. To alleviate the membrane and shear locking phenomena, the membrane strains and the out-of-plane shear strains are replaced with assumed strains in calculating the element strain energy. The strategy used in the mixed interpolation of tensorial components approach is employed in defining the assumed strains. The internal force vector and the element tangent stiffness matrix are obtained from calculating directly the first derivative and second derivative of the element strain energy with respect to the nodal variables, respectively. Different from most other existing co-rotational element formulations, all nodal variables in the present curved triangular shell formulation are commutative in calculating the second derivative of the strain energy; as a result, the element tangent stiffness matrix is symmetric and is updated by using the total values of the nodal variables in an incremental solution procedure. Such update procedure is advantageous in solving dynamic problems. Finally, several elastic plate and shell problems are solved to demonstrate the reliability, efficiency, and convergence of the present formulation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    On the classical shell model underlying bilinear degenerated shell finite elements: general shell geometry

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2002
    Mika Malinen
    Abstract We study the shell models arising in the numerical modelling of shells by geometrically incompatible finite elements. We build a connection from the so-called bilinear degenerated 3D FEM to the classical 2D shell theory of Reissner,Naghdi type showing how nearly equivalent finite element formulations can be constructed within the classical framework. The connection found here facilitates the mathematical error analysis of the bilinear elements based on the degenerated 3D approach. In particular, the connection reveals the ,secrets' that relate to the treatment of locking effects within this formulation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Practical evaluation of five partly discontinuous finite element pairs for the non-conservative shallow water equations

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 6 2010
    Richard Comblen
    Abstract This paper provides a comparison of five finite element pairs for the shallow water equations. We consider continuous, discontinuous and partially discontinuous finite element formulations that are supposed to provide second-order spatial accuracy. All of them rely on the same weak formulation, using Riemann solver to evaluate interface integrals. We define several asymptotic limit cases of the shallow water equations within their space of parameters. The idea is to develop a comparison of these numerical schemes in several relevant regimes of the subcritical shallow water flow. Finally, a new pair, using non-conforming linear elements for both velocities and elevation (P,P), is presented, giving optimal rates of convergence in all test cases. P,P1 and P,P1 mixed formulations lack convergence for inviscid flows. P,P2 pair is more expensive but provides accurate results for all benchmarks. P,P provides an efficient option, except for inviscid Coriolis-dominated flows, where a small lack of convergence is observed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    FEM simulation of turbulent flow in a turbine blade passage with dynamical fluid,structure interaction

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 12 2009
    Lixiang Zhang
    Abstract Results are described from a combined mathematical modeling and numerical iteration schemes of flow and vibration. We consider the coupling numerical simulations of both turbulent flow and structure vibration induced by flow. The methodology used is based on the stabilized finite element formulations with time integration. A fully coupled model of flow and flow-induced structure vibration was established using a hydride generalized variational principle of fluid and solid dynamics. The spatial discretization of this coupling model is based on the finite element interpolating formulations for the fluid and solid structure, while the different time integration schemes are respectively used for fluid and solid structure to obtain a stabilized algorithm. For fluid and solid dynamics, Hughes' predictor multi-corrector algorithm and the Newmark method are monolithically used to realize a monolithic solution of the fully coupled model. The numerical convergence is ensured for small deformation vibrating problems of the structure by using different time steps for fluid and solid, respectively. The established model and the associated numerical methodology developed in the paper were then applied to simulate two different flows. The first one is the lid-driven square cavity flow with different Reynolds numbers of 1000, 400 and 100 and the second is the turbulent flows in a 3-D turbine blade passage with dynamical fluid,structure interaction. Good agreement between numerical simulations and measurements of pressure and vibration acceleration indicates that the finite element method formulations developed in this paper are appropriate to deal with the flow under investigation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    On the stability of bubble functions and a stabilized mixed finite element formulation for the Stokes problem

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 12 2009
    D. Z. Turner
    Abstract In this paper we investigate the relationship between stabilized and enriched finite element formulations for the Stokes problem. We also present a new stabilized mixed formulation for which the stability parameter is derived purely by the method of weighted residuals. This new formulation allows equal-order interpolation for the velocity and pressure fields. Finally, we show by counterexample that a direct equivalence between subgrid-based stabilized finite element methods and Galerkin methods enriched by bubble functions cannot be constructed for quadrilateral and hexahedral elements using standard bubble functions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Orthogonality of modal bases in hp finite element models

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 11 2007
    V. Prabhakar
    Abstract In this paper, we exploit orthogonality of modal bases (SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 1999; 20:1671,1695) used in hp finite element models. We calculate entries of coefficient matrix analytically without using any numerical integration, which can be computationally very expensive. We use properties of Jacobi polynomials and recast the entries of the coefficient matrix so that they can be evaluated analytically. We implement this in the context of the least-squares finite element model although this procedure can be used in other finite element formulations. In this paper, we only develop analytical expressions for rectangular elements. Spectral convergence of the L2 least-squares functional is verified using exact solution of Kovasznay flow. Numerical results for transient flow over a backward-facing step are also presented. We also solve steady flow past a circular cylinder and show the reduction in computational cost using expressions developed herein. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    An approximate projection method for incompressible flow

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 10 2002
    David E. Stevens
    This paper presents an approximate projection method for incompressible flows. This method is derived from Galerkin orthogonality conditions using equal-order piecewise linear elements for both velocity and pressure, hereafter Q1Q1. By combining an approximate projection for the velocities with a variational discretization of the continuum pressure Poisson equation, one eliminates the need to filter either the velocity or pressure fields as is often needed with equal-order element formulations. This variational approach extends to multiple types of elements; examples and results for triangular and quadrilateral elements are provided. This method is related to the method of Almgren et al. (SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 2000; 22: 1139,1159) and the PISO method of Issa (J. Comput. Phys. 1985; 62: 40,65). These methods use a combination of two elliptic solves, one to reduce the divergence of the velocities and another to approximate the pressure Poisson equation. Both Q1Q1 and the method of Almgren et al. solve the second Poisson equation with a weak error tolerance to achieve more computational efficiency. A Fourier analysis of Q1Q1 shows that a consistent mass matrix has a positive effect on both accuracy and mass conservation. A numerical comparison with the widely used Q1Q0 (piecewise linear velocities, piecewise constant pressures) on a periodic test case with an analytic solution verifies this analysis. Q1Q1 is shown to have comparable accuracy as Q1Q0 and good agreement with experiment for flow over an isolated cubic obstacle and dispersion of a point source in its wake. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

    Discontinuous Galerkin methods for periodic boundary value problems

    NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 3 2007
    Kumar Vemaganti
    Abstract This article considers the extension of well-known discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element formulations to elliptic problems with periodic boundary conditions. Such problems routinely appear in a number of applications, particularly in homogenization of composite materials. We propose an approach in which the periodicity constraint is incorporated weakly in the variational formulation of the problem. Both H1 and L2 error estimates are presented. A numerical example confirming theoretical estimates is shown. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2007 [source]

    Polygonal finite element formulations for 2d linear-elastic FE problems

    PROCEEDINGS IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS & MECHANICS, Issue 1 2009
    Markus Kraus
    Polygonal finite elements provide great flexibility meshing complex structures and for the refinement of meshes. The actual task in the development of these elements is to offer adequate and secure numerical results compared with regular finite elements at low computational costs. Particulary, finding an efficient and appropriate interpolation of the arbitrary element domain exhibits strong difficulties. Based on the general interpolant equation three element formulations are shown that use different interpolation strategies. The elements' performances are shown with a numerical example considering 2d linear elasticity. The results of the different element formulations are compared among each other, with analytical as well as with regular elements' results. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]