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Finite Element Mesh (finite + element_mesh)
Selected AbstractsA mesoscopic model for the behaviour of concrete under high confinementINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 11 2009F. Dupray Abstract When impact loaded, concrete is submitted to high triaxial stresses. The experimental response of concrete under quasi-static triaxial compression is studied using a triaxial press capable of applying a mean pressure greater than 1,GPa on cylindrical samples measuring 7,cm in diameter and 14,cm high. A numerical analysis of these previous experiments is performed herein at a mesoscopic scale. Concrete is modelled as a biphasic material consisting of a mortar (cement paste and fine aggregates) and roughly spherical aggregates (with a diameter exceeding 2,mm) whose characteristics are applied on a regular cubic finite element mesh. A damage-plasticity model is then used to model the behaviour of mortar. An identification of model parameters on mortar samples and the subsequent comparison between numerical and experimental tests will be presented for hydrostatic and triaxial compression. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] ParCYCLIC: finite element modelling of earthquake liquefaction response on parallel computersINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 12 2004Jun Peng Abstract This paper presents the computational procedures and solution strategy employed in ParCYCLIC, a parallel non-linear finite element program developed based on an existing serial code CYCLIC for the analysis of cyclic seismically-induced liquefaction problems. In ParCYCLIC, finite elements are employed within an incremental plasticity, coupled solid,fluid formulation. A constitutive model developed for simulating liquefaction-induced deformations is a main component of this analysis framework. The elements of the computational strategy, designed for distributed-memory message-passing parallel computer systems, include: (a) an automatic domain decomposer to partition the finite element mesh; (b) nodal ordering strategies to minimize storage space for the matrix coefficients; (c) an efficient scheme for the allocation of sparse matrix coefficients among the processors; and (d) a parallel sparse direct solver. Application of ParCYCLIC to simulate 3-D geotechnical experimental models is demonstrated. The computational results show excellent parallel performance and scalability of ParCYCLIC on parallel computers with a large number of processors. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Kinematic modelling of shear band localization using discrete finite elementsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 4 2003X. Wang Abstract Modelling shear band is an important problem in analysing failure of earth structures in soil mechanics. Shear banding is the result of localization of deformation in soil masses. Most finite element schemes are unable to model discrete shear band formation and propagation due to the difficulties in modelling strain and displacement discontinuities. In this paper, a framework to generate shear band elements automatically and continuously is developed. The propagating shear band is modelled using discrete shear band elements by splitting the original finite element mesh. The location or orientation of the shear band is not predetermined in the original finite element mesh. Based on the elasto-perfect plasticity with an associated flow rule, empirical bifurcation and location criteria are proposed which make band propagation as realistic as possible. Using the Mohr,Coulomb material model, various results from numerical simulations of biaxial tests and passive earth pressure problems have shown that the proposed framework is able to display actual patterns of shear banding in geomaterials. In the numerical examples, the occurrence of multiple shear bands in biaxial test and in the passive earth pressure problem is confirmed by field and laboratory observations. The effects of mesh density and mesh alignment on the shear band patterns and limit loads are also investigated. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] eXtended Stochastic Finite Element Method for the numerical simulation of heterogeneous materials with random material interfacesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 10 2010A. Nouy Abstract An eXtended Stochastic Finite Element Method has been recently proposed for the numerical solution of partial differential equations defined on random domains. This method is based on a marriage between the eXtended Finite Element Method and spectral stochastic methods. In this article, we propose an extension of this method for the numerical simulation of random multi-phased materials. The random geometry of material interfaces is described implicitly by using random level set functions. A fixed deterministic finite element mesh, which is not conforming to the random interfaces, is then introduced in order to approximate the geometry and the solution. Classical spectral stochastic finite element approximation spaces are not able to capture the irregularities of the solution field with respect to spatial and stochastic variables, which leads to a deterioration of the accuracy and convergence properties of the approximate solution. In order to recover optimal convergence properties of the approximation, we propose an extension of the partition of unity method to the spectral stochastic framework. This technique allows the enrichment of approximation spaces with suitable functions based on an a priori knowledge of the irregularities in the solution. Numerical examples illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method and demonstrate the relevance of the enrichment procedure. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Adaptive finite element computation of dielectric and mechanical intensity factors in piezoelectrics with impermeable cracksINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2010Abstract The paper deals with the application of an adaptive, hierarchic-iterative finite element technique to solve two-dimensional electromechanical boundary value problems with impermeable cracks in piezoelectric plates. In order to compute the dielectric and mechanical intensity factors, the interaction integral technique is used. The iterative finite element solver takes advantage of a sequence of solutions on hierarchic discretizations. Based on an a posteriori error estimation, the finite element mesh is locally refined or coarsened in each step. Two crack configurations are investigated in an infinite piezoelectric plate: A finite straight crack and a finite kinked crack. Fast convergence of the numerical intensity factors to the corresponding analytical solution is exemplarily proved during successive adaptive steps for the first configuration. Similar tendency can be observed for the second configuration. Furthermore, the computed intensity factors for the kinks are found to coincide well with the corresponding analytical values. In order to simulate the kinks spreading from a straight crack, the finite element mesh is modified automatically with a specially developed algorithm. This forms the basis for a fully adaptive simulation of crack propagation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Approximate imposition of boundary conditions in immersed boundary methodsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 11 2009Ramon Codina Abstract We analyze several possibilities to prescribe boundary conditions in the context of immersed boundary methods. As basic approximation technique we consider the finite element method with a mesh that does not match the boundary of the computational domain, and therefore Dirichlet boundary conditions need to be prescribed in an approximate way. As starting variational approach we consider Nitsche's methods, and we then move to two options that yield non-symmetric problems but that turned out to be robust and efficient. The essential idea is to use the degrees of freedom of certain nodes of the finite element mesh to minimize the difference between the exact and the approximated boundary condition. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Bridging domain methods for coupled atomistic,continuum models with L2 or H1 couplingsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 11 2009P.-A. Guidault Abstract A bridging domain method for coupled atomistic,continuum models is proposed that enables to compare various coupling terms. The approach does not require the finite element mesh to match the lattice spacing of the atomic model. It is based on an overlapping domain decomposition method that makes use of Lagrange multipliers and weight functions in the coupling zone in order to distribute the energy between the two competing models. Two couplings are investigated. The L2 coupling enforces the continuity of displacements between the two models directly. The H1 coupling involves the definition of a strain measure. For this purpose, a moving least-square interpolant of the atomic displacement is defined. The choice of the weight functions is studied. Patch tests and a graphene sheet with a crack are studied. It is shown that both continuous and discontinuous weight functions can be used with the H1 coupling whereas the L2 coupling requires continuous weight functions. For the examples developed herein, the L2 coupling produces less error in the zone of interest. The flexibility of the H1 coupling with constant weight function may be beneficial but the results may be affected depending on the topology of the bridging zone. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A robust algorithm for configurational-force-driven brittle crack propagation with R-adaptive mesh alignmentINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2007C. Miehe Abstract The paper considers a variational formulation of brittle fracture in elastic solids and proposes a numerical implementation by a finite element method. On the theoretical side, we outline a consistent thermodynamic framework for crack propagation in an elastic solid. It is shown that both the elastic equilibrium response as well as the local crack evolution follow in a natural format by exploitation of a global Clausius,Planck inequality in the sense of Coleman's method. Here, the canonical direction of the crack propagation associated with the classical Griffith criterion is the direction of the material configurational force which maximizes the local dissipation at the crack tip and minimizes the incremental energy release. On the numerical side, we exploit this variational structure in terms of crack-driving configurational forces. First, a standard finite element discretization in space yields a discrete formulation of the global dissipation in terms configurational nodal forces. As a consequence, the constitutive setting of crack propagation in the space-discretized finite element context is naturally related to discrete nodes of a typical finite element mesh. Next, consistent with the node-based setting, the discretization of the evolving crack discontinuity is performed by the doubling of critical nodes and interface segments of the mesh. Critical for the success of this procedure is its embedding into an r-adaptive crack-segment reorientation procedure with configurational-force-based directional indicator. Here, successive crack releases appear in discrete steps associated with the given space discretization. These are performed by a staggered loading,release algorithm of energy minimization at frozen crack state followed by the successive crack releases at frozen deformation. This constitutes a sequence of positive-definite discrete subproblems with successively decreasing overall stiffness, providing an extremely robust algorithmic setting in the postcritical range. We demonstrate the performance of the formulation by means of representative numerical simulations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Smart element method I. The Zienkiewicz,Zhu feedbackINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 10 2005Shaofan Li Abstract A new error control finite element formulation is developed and implemented based on the variational multiscale method, the inclusion theory in homogenization, and the Zienkiewicz,Zhu error estimator. By synthesizing variational multiscale method in computational mechanics, the equivalent eigenstrain principle in micromechanics, and the Zienkiewicz,Zhu error estimator in the finite element method (FEM), the new finite element formulation can automatically detect and subsequently homogenize its own discretization errors in a self-adaptive and a self-adjusting manner. It is the first finite element formulation that combines an optimal feedback mechanism and a precisely defined homogenization procedure to reduce its own discretization errors and hence to control numerical pollutions. The paper focuses on the following two issues: (1) how to combine a multiscale method with the existing finite element error estimate criterion through a feedback mechanism, and (2) convergence study. It has been shown that by combining the proposed variational multiscale homogenization method with the Zienkiewicz,Zhu error estimator a clear improvement can be made on the coarse scale computation. It is also shown that when the finite element mesh is refined, the solution obtained by the variational eigenstrain multiscale method will converge to the exact solution. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Numerical model for the prediction of dilute, three-dimensional, turbulent fluid,particle flows, using a Lagrangian approach for particle tracking and a CVFEM for the carrier phaseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 5 2008L. A. Oliveira Abstract A numerical model for dilute, three-dimensional, turbulent, incompressible fluid,solid particle flows and its application to a demonstration problem are presented. An Eulerian description is used to model the flow of the fluid (carrier) phase, and the governing equations are solved using a control-volume finite element method (CVFEM). The motion of the solid (particulate) phase is simulated using a Lagrangian approach. An efficient algorithm is proposed for locating the particles in the finite element mesh. In the demonstration problem, which involves a particle-laden axisymmetric jet, a modified k,, turbulence model is used to characterize the velocity and length scales of the turbulent flow of the fluid phase. The effect of turbulence on the particle trajectories is accounted for through a stochastic model. The effect of the particles on the fluid time,mean velocity and turbulence (two-way coupling) is also addressed. Comparisons between predictions and available experimental data for the demonstration problem are presented. Satisfactory agreement is obtained. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A particle finite element method applied to long wave run-upINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 3 2006J. Birknes Abstract This paper presents a Lagrangian,Eulerian finite element formulation for solving fluid dynamics problems with moving boundaries and employs the method to long wave run-up. The method is based on a set of Lagrangian particles which serve as moving nodes for the finite element mesh. Nodes at the moving shoreline are identified by the alpha shape concept which utilizes the distance from neighbouring nodes in different directions. An efficient triangulation technique is then used for the mesh generation at each time step. In order to validate the numerical method the code has been compared with analytical solutions and a preexisting finite difference model. The main focus of our investigation is to assess the numerical method through simulations of three-dimensional dam break and long wave run-up on curved beaches. Particularly the method is put to test for cases where different shoreline segments connect and produce a computational domain surrounding dry regions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A Lagrangian level-set approach for the simulation of incompressible two-fluid flows,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 10-11 2005F. S. Sousa Abstract A Lagrangian level-set method to solve incompressible two-dimensional two-fluid flows is presented. The Navier,Stokes equations are discretized by a Galerkin finite element method. A projection method is employed to decouple the system of non-linear equations. The interface between fluids is represented by the zero level set of a function , plus additional marker points of the computational mesh. In the standard Eulerian level-set method, this function is advected through the domain by solving a pure advection equation. To reduce mass conservation errors that can arise from this step, our method employs a Lagrangian technique which moves the nodes of the finite element mesh, and consequently, the information stored in each node. The quality of the mesh is controlled by a remeshing procedure, avoiding bad triangles by flipping edges, inserting or removing vertices from the triangulation. Results of numerical simulations are presented, illustrating the improvements in mass conservation and accuracy of this new methodology. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Three-dimensional numerical simulation of injection molding filling of optical lens and multiscale geometry using finite element methodPOLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 9 2006Sang-Woo Kim This article presents the development, verification, and validation of three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulation for injection molding filling of 3-D parts and parts with microsurface features. For purpose of verification and comparison, two numerical models, the mixed model and the equal-order model, were used to solve the Stokes equations with three different tetrahedral elements (Taylor-Hood, MINI, and equal-order). The control volume scheme with tetrahedral finite element mesh was used for tracking advancing melt fronts and the operator splitting method was selected to solve the energy equation. A new, simple memory management procedure was introduced to deal with the large sparse matrix system without using a huge amount of storage space. The numerical simulation was validated for mold filling of a 3-D optical lens. The numerical simulation agreed very well with the experimental results and was useful in suggesting a better processing condition. As a new application area, a two-step macro,micro filling approach was adopted for the filling analysis of a part with a micro-surface feature to handle both macro and micro dimensions while avoiding an excessive number of elements. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:1263,1274, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers [source] A full 3D finite element analysis of the powder injection molding filling process including slip phenomenaPOLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 1 2002C. J. Hwang A full 3D finite element analysis system has been developed to simulate a Powder Injection Molding (PIM) filling process for general three-dimensional parts. The most important features of the analysis system developed in this study are i) to incorporate the slip phenomena, the most notable rheological characteristics of PIM feedstock, into the finite element formulation based on a nonlinear penalty-like parameter and ii) to simulate the transient flow during the filling process with a predetermined finite element mesh with the help of a volume fill factor and a melt front smoothing scheme. The treatment of the nonlinear slip boundary condition was successfully validated via a steady state pipe flow. For the purpose of comparisons, not only the numerical simulations but also experimental short-shot experiments were performed with two 3D mold geometries using two typical materials of slip and no-slip cases. The good agreements between the numerical and experimental results indicate that the melt front tracking scheme successfully simulates the transient filling process. [source] A Holistic Simulation Approach from a Measured Load to Element Stress Using Combined Multi-body Simulation and Finite Element ModellingPROCEEDINGS IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS & MECHANICS, Issue 1 2009Matthias Harter The design of vehicle bodies requires the knowledge of the vehicle's structural response to external loads and disturbances. In rigid multi-body simulation the dynamic behaviour of complex systems is calculated with rigid bodies and neglect of body elasticity. On the other hand, in finite element models large degree of freedom numbers are used to represent the elastic properties of a single body. Both simulation methods can be combined, if the finite element model size is reduced to a degree of freedom number feasible to multi-body simulation. The application to practical purposes requires the use and interconnection of several different software tools. In this contribution a holistic method is presented, which starts with the measurement or synthesis of loads and excitations, continues with the integration of a reduced finite element model into a multi-body system, the dynamic response calculation of this combined model, and concludes with the result expansion to the full finite element model for calculating strain and stress values at any point of the finite element mesh. The applied software tools are Simpack, Nastran, and Matlab. An example is given with a railway vehicle simulated on measured track geometry. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] A new update procedure for internal variables in an ALE-description of rolling contactPROCEEDINGS IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS & MECHANICS, Issue 1 2005M. Ziefle In FEM analysis of rolling contact problems Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) methods are the state of the art. These methods allow mesh refinements concentrated to the contact region and offer a time independent formulation of stationary elastic rolling. The relative-kinematic description of rolling leads to a relative motion between the finite element mesh and the material points. Thus in the case of inelastic material behavior history dependent constitutive equations contain convective terms. The handling of these convective terms is performed by a so called fractional step method. A material step is followed by a convection step. In the first step the nonlinear solid contact problem is resolved by neglecting the convective terms. In the following step the internal variables are transported on the streamlines of the material particles by solving the advection equation via a time-discontinuous Galerkin method. This update procedure is demonstrated on a typical FEM-tire model. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Hexahedral Mesh Matching: Converting non-conforming hexahedral-to-hexahedral interfaces into conforming interfacesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 12 2010Matthew L. Staten Abstract This paper presents a new method, called Mesh Matching, for handling non-conforming hexahedral-to-hexahedral interfaces for finite element analysis. Mesh Matching modifies the hexahedral element topology on one or both sides of the interface until there is a one-to-one pairing of finite element nodes, edges and quadrilaterals on the interface surfaces, allowing mesh entities to be merged into a single conforming mesh. Element topology is modified using hexahedral dual operations, including pillowing, sheet extraction, dicing and column collapsing. The primary motivation for this research is to simplify the generation of unstructured all-hexahedral finite element meshes. Mesh Matching relaxes global constraint propagation which currently hinders hexahedral meshing of large assemblies, and limits its extension to parallel processing. As a secondary benefit, by providing conforming mesh interfaces, Mesh Matching provides an alternative to artificial constraints such as tied contacts and multi-point constraints. The quality of the resultant conforming hexahedral mesh is high and the increase in number of elements is moderate. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An embedded Dirichlet formulation for 3D continuaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2010A. Gerstenberger Abstract This paper presents a new approach for imposing Dirichlet conditions weakly on non-fitting finite element meshes. Such conditions, also called embedded Dirichlet conditions, are typically, but not exclusively, encountered when prescribing Dirichlet conditions in the context of the eXtended finite element method (XFEM). The method's key idea is the use of an additional stress field as the constraining Lagrange multiplier function. The resulting mixed/hybrid formulation is applicable to 1D, 2D and 3D problems. The method does not require stabilization for the Lagrange multiplier unknowns and allows the complete condensation of these unknowns on the element level. Furthermore, only non-zero diagonal-terms are present in the tangent stiffness, which allows the straightforward application of state-of-the-art iterative solvers, like algebraic multigrid (AMG) techniques. Within this paper, the method is applied to the linear momentum equation of an elastic continuum and to the transient, incompressible Navier,Stokes equations. Steady and unsteady benchmark computations show excellent agreement with reference values. The general formulation presented in this paper can also be applied to other continuous field problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Adaptive superposition of finite element meshes in non-linear transient solid mechanics problemsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 9 2007Z. Yue Abstract An s-adaptive finite element procedure is developed for the transient analysis of 2-D solid mechanics problems with material non-linearity due to progressive damage. The resulting adaptive method simultaneously estimates and controls both the spatial error and temporal error within user-specified tolerances. The spatial error is quantified by the Zienkiewicz,Zhu error estimator and computed via superconvergent patch recovery, while the estimation of temporal error is based on the assumption of a linearly varying third-order time derivatives of the displacement field in conjunction with direct numerical time integration. The distinguishing characteristic of the s-adaptive procedure is the use of finite element mesh superposition (s-refinement) to provide spatial adaptivity. Mesh superposition proves to be particularly advantageous in computationally demanding non-linear transient problems since it is faster, simpler and more efficient than traditional h-refinement schemes. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the performance characteristics of the s-adaptive method for quasi-static and transient problems with material non-linearity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Lower bound limit analysis with adaptive remeshingINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 14 2005Andrei V. Lyamin Abstract The objective of this work is to present an adaptive remeshing procedure for lower bound limit analysis with application to soil mechanics. Unlike conventional finite element meshes, a lower bound grid incorporates statically admissible stress discontinuities between adjacent elements. These discontinuities permit large stress jumps over an infinitesimal distance and reduce the number of elements needed to predict the collapse load accurately. In general, the role of the discontinuities is crucial as their arrangement and distribution has a dramatic influence on the accuracy of the lower bound solution (Limit Analysis and Soil Plasticity, 1975). To ensure that the discontinuities are positioned in an optimal manner requires an error estimator and mesh adaptation strategy which accounts for the presence of stress singularities in the computed stress field. Recently, Borges et al. (Int. J. Solids Struct. 2001; 38:1707,1720) presented an anisotropic mesh adaptation strategy for a mixed limit analysis formulation which used a directional error estimator. In the present work, this strategy has been tailored to suit a discontinuous lower bound formulation which employs the stresses and body forces as primary unknowns. The adapted mesh has a maximum density of discontinuities in the direction of the maximum rate of change in the stress field. For problems involving strong stress singularities in the boundary conditions (e.g. a strip footing), the automatic generation of discontinuity fans, centred on the singular points, has been implemented. The efficiency of the proposed technique is demonstrated by analysis of two classical soil mechanics problems; namely the bearing capacity of a rigid strip footing and the collapse of a vertical cut. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Performance of algebraic multi-grid solvers based on unsmoothed and smoothed aggregation schemesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 7 2001R. WebsterArticle first published online: 31 JUL 200 Abstract A comparison is made of the performance of two algebraic multi-grid (AMG0 and AMG1) solvers for the solution of discrete, coupled, elliptic field problems. In AMG0, the basis functions for each coarse grid/level approximation (CGA) are obtained directly by unsmoothed aggregation, an appropriate scaling being applied to each CGA to improve consistency. In AMG1 they are assembled using a smoothed aggregation with a constrained energy optimization method providing the smoothing. Although more costly, smoothed basis functions provide a better (more consistent) CGA. Thus, AMG1 might be viewed as a benchmark for the assessment of the simpler AMG0. Selected test problems for D'Arcy flow in pipe networks, Fick diffusion, plane strain elasticity and Navier,Stokes flow (in a Stokes approximation) are used in making the comparison. They are discretized on the basis of both structured and unstructured finite element meshes. The range of discrete equation sets covers both symmetric positive definite systems and systems that may be non-symmetric and/or indefinite. Both global and local mesh refinements to at least one order of resolving power are examined. Some of these include anisotropic refinements involving elements of large aspect ratio; in some hydrodynamics cases, the anisotropy is extreme, with aspect ratios exceeding two orders. As expected, AMG1 delivers typical multi-grid convergence rates, which for all practical purposes are independent of mesh bandwidth. AMG0 rates are slower. They may also be more discernibly mesh-dependent. However, for the range of mesh bandwidths examined, the overall cost effectiveness of the two solvers is remarkably similar when a full convergence to machine accuracy is demanded. Thus, the shorter solution times for AMG1 do not necessarily compensate for the extra time required for its costly grid generation. This depends on the severity of the problem and the demanded level of convergence. For problems requiring few iterations, where grid generation costs represent a significant penalty, AMG0 has the advantage. For problems requiring a large investment in iterations, AMG1 has the edge. However, for the toughest problems addressed (vector and coupled vector,scalar fields discretized exclusively using finite elements of extreme aspect ratio) AMG1 is more robust: AMG0 has failed on some of these tests. However, but for this deficiency AMG0 would be the preferred linear approximation solver for Navier,Stokes solution algorithms in view of its much lower grid generation costs. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sparse matrix element topology with application to AMG(e) and preconditioning,NUMERICAL LINEAR ALGEBRA WITH APPLICATIONS, Issue 6-7 2002Panayot S. Vassilevski Abstract This paper defines topology relations of elements treated as overlapping lists of nodes. In particular, the element topology makes use of element faces, element vertices and boundary faces which coincide with the actual (geometrical) faces, vertices and boundary faces in the case of true finite elements. The element topology is used in an agglomeration algorithm to produce agglomerated elements (a non-overlapping partition of the original elements) and their topology is then constructed, thus allowing for recursion. The main part of the algorithms is based on operations on Boolean sparse matrices and the implementation of the algorithms can utilize any available (parallel) sparse matrix format. Applications of the sparse matrix element topology to AMGe (algebraic multigrid for finite element problems), including elementwise constructions of coarse non-linear finite element operators are outlined. An algorithm to generate a block nested dissection ordering of the nodes for generally unstructured finite element meshes is given as well. The coarsening of the element topology is illustrated on a number of fine-grid unstructured triangular meshes. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Toward anisotropic mesh construction and error estimation in the finite element methodNUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 5 2002Gerd Kunert Abstract Directional, anisotropic features like layers in the solution of partial differential equations can be resolved favorably by using anisotropic finite element meshes. An adaptive algorithm for such meshes includes the ingredients Error estimation and Information extraction/Mesh refinement. Related articles on a posteriori error estimation on anisotropic meshes revealed that reliable error estimation requires an anisotropic mesh that is aligned with the anisotropic solution. To obtain anisotropic meshes the so-called Hessian strategy is used, which provides information such as the stretching direction and stretching ratio of the anisotropic elements. This article combines the analysis of anisotropic information extraction/mesh refinement and error estimation (for several estimators). It shows that the Hessian strategy leads to well-aligned anisotropic meshes and, consequently, reliable error estimation. The underlying heuristic assumptions are given in a stringent yet general form. Numerical examples strengthen the exposition. Hence the analysis provides further insight into a particular aspect of anisotropic error estimation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 625,648, 2002; DOI 10.1002/num.10023 [source] | |||||||||||||