Meshless Methods (meshless + methods)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


An improved meshless collocation method for elastostatic and elastodynamic problems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 8 2008
P. H. Wen
Abstract Meshless methods for solving differential equations have become a promising alternative to the finite element and boundary element methods. In this paper, an improved meshless collocation method is presented for use with either moving least square (MLS) or compactly supported radial basis functions (RBFs). A new technique referred to as an indirect derivative method is developed and compared with the direct derivative technique used for evaluation of second-order derivatives and higher-order derivatives of the MLS and RBF shape functions at the field point. As the derivatives are obtained from a local approximation (MLS or compact support RBFs), the new method is computationally economical and efficient. Neither the connectivity of mesh in the domain/boundary nor integrations with fundamental/particular solutions is required in this approach. The accuracy of the two techniques to determine the second-order derivative of shape function is assessed. The applications of meshless method to two-dimensional elastostatic and elastodynamic problems have been presented and comparisons have been made with benchmark analytical solutions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Cohesive-zone models, higher-order continuum theories and reliability methods for computational failure analysis,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2004
René de Borst
Abstract A concise overview is given of various numerical methods that can be used to analyse localization and failure in engineering materials. The importance of the cohesive-zone approach is emphasized and various ways to incorporate the cohesive-zone methodology in discretization methods are discussed. Numerical representations of cohesive-zone models suffer from a certain mesh bias. For discrete representations this is caused by the initial mesh design, while for smeared representations it is rooted in the ill-posedness of the rate boundary value problem that arises upon the introduction of decohesion. A proper representation of the discrete character of cohesive-zone formulations which avoids any mesh bias can be obtained elegantly when exploiting the partition-of-unity property of finite element shape functions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated for some examples at different scales. Moreover, examples are shown how this concept can be used to obtain a proper transition from a plastifying or damaging continuum to a shear band with gross sliding or to a fully open crack (true discontinuum). When adhering to a continuum description of failure, higher-order continuum models must be used. Meshless methods are ideally suited to assess the importance of the higher-order gradient terms, as will be shown. Finally, regularized strain-softening models are used in finite element reliability analyses to quantify the probability of the emergence of various possible failure modes. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


A posteriori error approximation in EFG method

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 15 2003
L. Gavete
Abstract Recently, considerable effort has been devoted to the development of the so-called meshless methods. Meshless methods still require considerable improvement before they equal the prominence of finite elements in computer science and engineering. One of the paths in the evolution of meshless methods has been the development of the element free Galerkin (EFG) method. In the EFG method, it is obviously important that the ,a posteriori error' should be approximated. An ,a posteriori error' approximation based on the moving least-squares method is proposed, using the solution, computed from the EFG method. The error approximation procedure proposed in this paper is simple to construct and requires, at most, nearest neighbour information from the EFG solution. The formulation is based on employing different moving least-squares approximations. Different selection strategies of the moving least-squares approximations have been used and compared, to obtain optimum values of the parameters involved in the approximation of the error. The performance of the developed approximation of the error is illustrated by analysing different examples for two-dimensional (2D) potential and elasticity problems, using regular and irregular clouds of points. The implemented procedure of error approximation allows the global energy norm error to be estimated and also provides a good evaluation of local errors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Development of the extended parametric meshless Galerkin method to predict the crack propagation path in two-dimensional damaged structures

FATIGUE & FRACTURE OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES, Issue 7 2009
M. MUSIVAND-ARZANFUDI
ABSTRACT The parametric meshless Galerkin method (PMGM) enhances the promising features of the meshless methods by utilizing the parametric spaces and parametric mapping, and improves their efficiency from the practical viewpoints. The computation of meshless shape functions has been usually a time-consuming and complicated task in the meshless methods. In the PMGM, the meshless shape functions are mapped from the parametric space to the physical space, and therefore, the necessary computational time to generate the meshless shape functions is saved. The extended parametric meshless Galerkin method (X-PMGM) even improves the parametric property of the PMGM by incorporating the partition of unity concepts. In this paper, the development of the X-PMGM is extended by incorporating a crack-tip formulation in X-PMGM for fracture analysis and prediction of crack propagation path in the damaged structures. In this formulation, meshless shape functions are enriched by discontinuous enrichment function as well as crack-tip enrichment functions. The obtained results show that the predicted crack growth path is in good agreement with the experimental results. [source]


Application of radial basis meshless methods to direct and inverse biharmonic boundary value problems

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2005
Jichun Li
Abstract In this paper, we develop a non-iterative way to solve biharmonic boundary value problems by using a radial basis meshless method. This is an original application of meshless method to solving inverse problems without any iteration, since traditional numerical methods for inverse boundary value problems mainly are iterative and hence very time-consuming. Numerical examples are presented for inverse biharmonic boundary value problems and corresponding direct problems, since solving direct problems is a preliminary step for inverse problems. All our examples of direct and inverse problems are solved within seconds in CPU time on a standard PC, which makes our proposed technique a great potential candidate for wide-spread applications to other inverse problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Imposition of essential boundary conditions by displacement constraint equations in meshless methods

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2001
Xiong Zhang
Abstract One of major difficulties in the implementation of meshless methods is the imposition of essential boundary conditions as the approximations do not pass through the nodal parameter values. As a consequence, the imposition of essential boundary conditions in meshless methods is quite awkward. In this paper, a displacement constraint equations method (DCEM) is proposed for the imposition of the essential boundary conditions, in which the essential boundary conditions is treated as a constraint to the discrete equations obtained from the Galerkin methods. Instead of using the methods of Lagrange multipliers and the penalty method, a procedure is proposed in which unknowns are partitioned into two subvectors, one consisting of unknowns on boundary ,u, and one consisting of the remaining unknowns. A simplified displacement constraint equations method (SDCEM) is also proposed, which results in a efficient scheme with sufficient accuracy for the imposition of the essential boundary conditions in meshless methods. The present method results in a symmetric, positive and banded stiffness matrix. Numerical results show that the accuracy of the present method is higher than that of the modified variational principles. The present method is a exact method for imposing essential boundary conditions in meshless methods, and can be used in Galerkin-based meshless method, such as element-free Galerkin methods, reproducing kernel particle method, meshless local Petrov,Galerkin method. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Exponential basis functions in solution of static and time harmonic elastic problems in a meshless style

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 8 2010
B. Boroomand
Abstract In this paper, exponential basis functions (EBFs) are used in a boundary collocation style to solve engineering problems whose governing partial differential equations (PDEs) are of constant coefficient type. Complex-valued exponents are considered for the EBFs. Two-dimensional elasto-static and time harmonic elasto-dynamic problems are chosen in this paper. The solution procedure begins with first finding a set of appropriate EBFs and then considering the solution as a summation of such EBFs with unknown coefficients. The unknown coefficients are determined by the satisfaction of the boundary conditions through a collocation method with the aid of a consistent and complex discrete transformation technique. The basis and various forms of the transformation have been addressed and discussed. We shall propose several strategies for selection of EBFs with the aid of the basis explained for the transformation. While using the transformation, the number of EBFs should not necessarily be equal to (or less than) the number of boundary information data. A library of EBFs has also been presented for further use. The effect of body forces is included in the solution via construction of particular solution by the use of the discrete transformation and another series of EBFs. A number of sample problems are solved to demonstrate the capabilities of the method. It has been shown that the time harmonic problems with high wave number can be solved without much effort. The method, categorized in meshless methods, can be applied to many other problems in engineering mechanics and general physics since EBFs can easily be found for almost all problems with constant coefficient PDEs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


On solving large strain hyperelastic problems with the natural element method

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2005
B. Calvo
Abstract In this paper, an extension of the natural element method (NEM) is presented to solve finite deformation problems. Since NEM is a meshless method, its implementation does not require an explicit connectivity definition. Consequently, it is quite adequate to simulate large strain problems with important mesh distortions, reducing the need for remeshing and projection of results (extremely important in three-dimensional problems). NEM has important advantages over other meshless methods, such as the interpolant character of its shape functions and the ability of exactly reproducing essential boundary conditions along convex boundaries. The ,-NEM extension generalizes this behaviour to non-convex boundaries. A total Lagrangian formulation has been employed to solve different problems with large strains, considering hyperelastic behaviour. Several examples are presented in two and three dimensions, comparing the results with the ones of the finite element method. NEM performs better showing its important capabilities in this kind of applications. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


A posteriori error approximation in EFG method

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 15 2003
L. Gavete
Abstract Recently, considerable effort has been devoted to the development of the so-called meshless methods. Meshless methods still require considerable improvement before they equal the prominence of finite elements in computer science and engineering. One of the paths in the evolution of meshless methods has been the development of the element free Galerkin (EFG) method. In the EFG method, it is obviously important that the ,a posteriori error' should be approximated. An ,a posteriori error' approximation based on the moving least-squares method is proposed, using the solution, computed from the EFG method. The error approximation procedure proposed in this paper is simple to construct and requires, at most, nearest neighbour information from the EFG solution. The formulation is based on employing different moving least-squares approximations. Different selection strategies of the moving least-squares approximations have been used and compared, to obtain optimum values of the parameters involved in the approximation of the error. The performance of the developed approximation of the error is illustrated by analysing different examples for two-dimensional (2D) potential and elasticity problems, using regular and irregular clouds of points. The implemented procedure of error approximation allows the global energy norm error to be estimated and also provides a good evaluation of local errors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Essential boundary condition enforcement in meshless methods: boundary flux collocation method

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2002
Cheng-Kong C. Wu
Abstract Element-free Galerkin (EFG) methods are based on a moving least-squares (MLS) approximation, which has the property that shape functions do not satisfy the Kronecker delta function at nodal locations, and for this reason imposition of essential boundary conditions is difficult. In this paper, the relationship between corrected collocation and Lagrange multiplier method is revealed, and a new strategy that is accurate and very simple for enforcement of essential boundary conditions is presented. The accuracy and implementation of this new technique is illustrated for one-dimensional elasticity and two-dimensional potential field problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Topological aspects of meshless methods and nodal ordering for meshless discretizations

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 9 2001
Arash Yavari
Abstract The meshless element-free Galerkin method (EFGM) is considered and compared to the finite-element method (FEM). In particular, topological aspects of meshless methods as the nodal connectivity and invertibility of matrices are studied and compared to those of the FE method. We define four associated graphs for meshless discretizations of EFGM and investigate their connectivity. The ways that the associated graphs for coupled FE-EFG models might be defined are recommended. The associated graphs are used for nodal ordering of meshless models in order to reduce the bandwidth, profile, maximum frontwidth, and root-mean-square wavefront of the corresponding matrices. Finally, the associated graphs are numerically compared. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]