A mixed-variable continuously deforming finite element method for parabolic evolution problems. Part I: The variational formulation for a single evolution equation

The objective of the research presented here was to develop a generic adaptive computational method for porous media evolution problems that involve coupled heat flow, fluid flow and species transport processes with sharply defined phase-change interfaces. In this paper we examine the general least squares variational approach and develop the conceptual framework for a rate least squares variational formulation of a continuously deforming mixed variable finite element method for solving highly non-linear time-dependent partial differential equations. In Part II of this paper¹ we extend the formulation given here for a single evolution equation to a system of coupled evolution equations. In Part III² we discuss in detail the numerical procedures that were implemented in a computer program and present several numerical examples that demonstrate the performance of this computational method.     

A mixed-variable continuously deforming finite element method for parabolic evolution problems. Part III: Numerical implementation and computational results

In Part I of this paper,¹ the conceptual framework of a rate variational least squares formulation of a continuously deforming mixed-variable finite element method was presented for solving a single evolution equation. In Part II² a system of ordinary differential equations with respect to time was derived for solving a system of three coupled evolution equations by the deforming grid mixed-variable least squares rate variational finite element method. The system of evolution equations describes the coupled heat flow, fluid flow and trace species transport in porous media under conditions when the flow velocities and constituent phase transitions induce sharp fronts in the solution domain. In this paper, we present the method we have adopted to integrate with respect to time the resulting spatially discretized system of non-linear ordinary differential equations. Next, we present computational results obtained using the code in which this deforming mixed finite element method was implemented. Because several features of the formulation are novel and have not been previously attempted, the problems were selected to exercise these features with the objective of demonstrating that the formulation is correct and that the numerical procedures adopted converge to the correct solutions.     

Neural networks for variational problems in engineering

In this work a conceptual theory of neural networks (NNs) from the perspective of functional analysis and variational calculus is presented. Within this formulation, the learning problem for the multilayer perceptron lies in terms of finding a function, which is an extremal for some functional. Therefore, a variational formulation for NNs provides a direct method for the solution of variational problems. This proposed method is then applied to distinct types of engineering problems. In particular a shape design, an optimal control and an inverse problem are considered. The selected examples can be solved analytically, which enables a fair comparison with the NN results. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fully variational 6th order elastodynamic formulation for the treatment of blast or fast impulsive forces

A new variational space-time formulation is used to treat elastodynamic problems with impulsive loads that propagate at fast velocities, as blasts or explosions. Based on the new formulation, a new family of fully variational time integration algorithms for elastodynamic problems is formulated. In the framework of this new family of algorithms, a conditionally stable time integration algorithm of the 6th order and the variational treatment of impulsive forces propagating at high speeds are developed. The time integration algorithm is based on Hermite’s polynomials, with independent field of velocities, and discontinuous time derivative of the displacement field. Numerical examples are performed to test the computational efficiency of the new approach to treat fast dynamic impulsive forces.     

A class of rigid punch problems involving forces and moments

This study is concerned with a new formulation of a class of rigid punch problems in which not only forces but also moments are applied. The associated variational formulation is given by variational inequalities following Duvaut, and an existence theorem of solutions is obtained under the compatibility condition for applied forces and moments. A solution method for the variational inequality is also introduced together with several numerical examples.     

A mixed-variable continuously deforming finite element method for parabolic evolution problems. Part II: The coupled problem of phase-change in porous media

The conceptual framework of a least squares rate variational approach to the formulation of continuously deforming mixed-variable finite element computational scheme for a single evolution equation was presented in Part I.¹ In this paper (Part II), we extend these concepts and present an adaptively deforming mixed variable finite element method for solving general two-dimensional transport problems governed by a system of coupled non-linear partial differential evolution equations. In particular, we consider porous media problems that involve coupled heat and mass transport processes that yield steep continuous moving fronts, and abrupt, discontinuous, moving phase-change interfaces. In this method, the potentials, such as the temperature, pressure and species concentration, and the corresponding fluxes, are permitted to jump in value across the phase-change interfaces. The equations, and the jump conditions, governing the physical phenomena, which were specialized from a general multiphase, multiconstituent mixture theory, provided the basis for the development and implementation of a two-dimensional numerical simulator. This simulator can effectively resolve steep continuous fronts (i.e. shock capturing) without oscillations or numerical dispersion, and can accurately represent and track discontinuous fronts (i.e. shock fitting) through adaptive grid deformation and redistribution. The numerical implementation of this simulator and numerical examples that demonstrate the performance of the computational method are presented in Part III² of this paper.     

Homogenization of fissured elastic solids in the presence of unilateral conditions and friction

The objective of this contribution is to find effective properties of hyperelastic bodies weakened by periodically distributed microfissures. Problems investigated are internal Signorini's problems with friction. Two such problems have been studied. The first problem is purely static and the friction law is of the deformational plasticity type. To find the overall properties an implicit variational inequality has been homogenized. The second problem concerns homogenization in the quasi-static case and the sliding rule of the flow law type. The variational formulation is obtained in the form of an implicit variational inequality coupled with a variational inequality. In both cases the macroscopic behaviour is elastic-plastic of nonstandard type.     

A multiscale stabilized ALE formulation for incompressible flows with moving boundaries

This paper presents a variational multiscale stabilized finite element method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. The formulation is written in an Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) frame to model problems with moving boundaries. The structure of the stabilization parameter is derived via the solution of the fine-scale problem that is furnished by the variational multiscale framework. The projection of the fine-scale solution onto the coarse-scale space leads to the new stabilized method. The formulation is integrated with a mesh moving scheme that adapts the computational grid to the evolving fluid boundaries and fluid-solid interfaces. Several test problems are presented to show the accuracy and stability of the new formulation.     

Updated Lagrangian formulation of contact problems using variational inequalities

This article is devoted to the formulation and solution of general frictional contact problems in elasto-plastic solids undergoing large deformations using variational inequalities. An updated Lagrangian formulation is adopted to develop the incremental variational inequality representing this class of problems over the loading history. The Jaumann objective stress rate is incorporated in the formulation of the elasto-plastic constitutive equations to account for large rotations, while Coulomb's law is used to model the friction forces. The resulting variational inequality is treated using mathematical programming in association with a newly developed successive approximation scheme. This scheme, which is based upon the regularization of the frictional work, is used to impose the active contact constraints identified to calculate the incremental changes in the displacement field. The newly developed approach offers the advantages of reducing the active number of variables which is highly desirable in non-linear elasto-plastic problems. The merits of the formulations are demonstrated by application to an illustrative example and to the analysis of the deep drawing process. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

椭圆型方程的一种新型混合有限元格式

基于实际问题对通量较低的正则性要求,本文建立了椭圆型方程的一种新型混合变分形式.在鞍点问题框架下,通过验证LBB条件,证明了该混合形式解的存在唯一性.由于压力空间不再是传统的H(div),而是平方可积空间,因此混合元的选取变得简单容易.同时本文给出了相应的有限元逼近形式,并对于由分片常数速度元和分片线性压力元构成的协调...     

The meshless Galerkin boundary node method for Stokes problems in three dimensions

The Galerkin boundary node method (GBNM) is a boundary only meshless method that combines an equivalent variational formulation of boundary integral equations for governing equations and the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximations for generating the trial and test functions. In this approach, boundary conditions can be implemented directly and easily despite of the fact that the MLS shape functions lack the delta function property. Besides, the resulting formulation inherits the symmetry and positive definiteness of the variational problems. The GBNM is developed in this paper for solving three‐dimensional stationary incompressible Stokes flows in primitive variables. The numerical scheme is based on variational formulations for the first‐kind integral equations, which are valid for both interior and exterior problems simultaneously. A rigorous error analysis and convergence study of the method for both the velocity and the pressure is presented in Sobolev spaces. The capability of the method is also illustrated and assessed through some selected numerical examples. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new boundary finite element method for fluid–structure interaction problems

In order to study problems on fluid–structure interaction, we have used a mixed formulation which couples the classical functional of the structure with a new variational formulation by integral equations for the fluid. This formulation has the advantage over the finite element methods of avoiding the discretization of the fluid domain. Furthermore, unlike collocation methods, the explicit calculation of the Hadamard finite part of the singular integrals is avoided. This leads after discretization by boundary finite elements to a small and symmetrical algebraic system. Typical examples are presented that demonstrate the efficiency of this variational formulation by studying the sound transmission through a baffled plane structure and through a flexible panel backed by a rigid cavity. These include the calculation of the transmission loss factor and the determination of which modes dominate the noise transmission. Good agreement is obtained between numerical results and analytical results found in the literature.     

Mixed-variational formulation for phononic band-structure calculation of arbitrary unit cells

This paper presents phononic band-structure calculation results obtained using a mixed variational formulation for 1-, and 2-dimensional unit cells. The formulation itself is presented in a form which is equally applicable to 3-dimensiomal cases. It has been established that the mixed-variational formulation presented in this paper shows faster convergence with considerably greater accuracy than variational principles based purely on the displacement field, especially for problems involving unit cells with discontinuous constituent properties. However, the application of this formulation has been limited to fairly simple unit cells. In this paper we have extended the scope of the formulation by employing numerical integration techniques making it applicable for the evaluation of the phononic band-structure of unit cells displaying arbitrary complexity in their Bravais structure and in the shape, size, number, and anisotropicity of their micro-constituents. The approach is demonstrated through specific examples.     

Adaptive hp-versions of boundary element methods for elastic contact problems

The variational formulation of elastic contact problems leads to variational inequalities on convex subsets. These variational inequalities are solved with the boundary element method (BEM) by making use of the Poincaré–Steklov operator. This operator can be represented in its discretized form by the Schur-complement of the dense Galerkin-matrices for the single layer potential operator, the double layer potential operator and the hypersingular integral operator. Due to the difficulties in discretizing the convex subsets involved, traditionally only the h-version is used for discretization. Recently, p- and hp-versions have been introduced for Signorini contact problems in Maischak and Stephan (Appl Numer Math, 2005) . In this paper we show convergence for the quasi-uniform hp-version of BEM for elastic contact problems, and derive a-posteriori error estimates together with error indicators for adaptive hp-algorithms. We present corresponding numerical experiments.     

A quasi-incompressible and quasi-inextensible element formulation for transversely isotropic materials

The contribution presents a new finite element formulation for quasi-inextensible and quasi-incompressible finite hyperelastic behavior of transeversely isotropic materials and addresses its computational aspects. The material formulation is presented in purely Eulerian setting and based on the additive decomposition of the free energy function into isotropic and anisotropic parts, where the former is further decomposed into isochoric and volumetric parts. For the quasi-incompressible response, the Q1P0 element formulation is outlined briefly, where the pressure-type Lagrange multiplier and its conjugate enter the variational formulation as an extended set of variables. Using the similar argumentation, an extended Hu-Washizu–type mixed variational potential is introduced, where the volume averaged fiber stretch and fiber stress are additional field variables. Within this context, the resulting Euler-Lagrange equations and the element formulation resulting from the extended variational principle are derived. The numerical implementation exploits the underlying variational structure, leading to a canonical symmetric structure. The efficiency of the proposed approached is demonstrated through representative boundary value problems. The superiority of the proposed element formulation over the standard Q1 and Q1P0 element formulation is studied through convergence analyses. The proposed finite element formulation is modular and exhibits very robust performance for fiber reinforced elastomers in the inextensibility limit.     

Frictionless 2D Contact formulations for finite deformations based on the mortar method

In this paper two different finite element formulations for frictionless large deformation contact problems with non-matching meshes are presented. Both are based on the mortar method. The first formulation introduces the contact constraints via Lagrange multipliers, the other employs the penalty method. Both formulations differ in size and the way of fulfilling the contact constraints, thus different strategies to determine the permanently changing contact area are required. Starting from the contact potential energy, the variational formulation, the linearization and finally the matrix formulation of both methods are derived. In combination with different contact detection methods the global solution algorithm is applied to different two-dimensional examples.     

A hybrid variational Allen-Cahn/ALE scheme for the coupled analysis of two-phase fluid-structure interaction

We present a partitioned iterative formulation for the modeling of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) in two-phase flows. The variational formulation consists of a stable and robust integration of three blocks of differential equations, viz, an incompressible viscous fluid, a rigid or flexible structure, and a two-phase indicator field. The fluid-fluid interface between the two phases, which may have high density and viscosity ratios, is evolved by solving the conservative phase-field Allen-Cahn equation in the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian coordinates. While the Navier-Stokes equations are solved by a stabilized Petrov-Galerkin method, the conservative Allen-Cahn phase-field equation is discretized by the positivity preserving variational scheme. Fully decoupled implicit solvers for the two-phase fluid and the structure are integrated by the nonlinear iterative force correction in a staggered partitioned manner and the generalized-α method is employed for the time marching. We assess the accuracy and stability of the phase-field/ALE variational formulation for two- and three-dimensional problems involving the dynamical interaction of rigid bodies with free surface. We consider the decay test problems of increasing complexity, namely, free translational heave decay of a circular cylinder and free rotation of a rectangular barge. Through numerical experiments, we show that the proposed formulation is stable and robust for high density ratios across fluid-fluid interface and for low structure-to-fluid mass ratio with strong added-mass effects. Overall, the proposed variational formulation produces results with high accuracy and compares well with available measurements and reference numerical data. Using unstructured meshes, we demonstrate the second-order temporal accuracy of the coupled phase-field/ALE method via decay test of a circular cylinder interacting with the free surface. Finally, we demonstrate the three-dimensional phase-field FSI formulation for a practical problem of internal two-phase flow in a flexible circular pipe subjected to vortex-induced vibrations due to external fluid flow.     

Finite deformation formulation of a shell element for problems of sheet metal forming

An elastic-plastic thin shell finite element suitable for problems of finite deformation in sheet metal forming is formulated. Hill's yield criterion for sheet materials of normal anisotropy is applied. A nonlinear shell theory in a form of an incremental variational principle and a quasi-conforming element technique are employed in the Lagrangian formulation. The shell element fulfills the inter-element C ¹ continuity condition in a variational sense and has a sufficient rank to allow finite stretching, rotation and bending of the shell element. The accuracy and efficiency of the finite element formulation are illustrated by numerical examples.     

Variational approaches for dynamics and time-finite-elements: numerical studies

This paper presents general variational formulations for dynamical problems, which are easily implemented numerically. The development presents the relationship between the very general weak formulation arising from linear and angular momentum balance considerations, and well known variational priciples. Two and three field mixed forms are developed from the general weak form. The variational principles governing large rotational motions are linearized and implemented in a time finite element framework, with appropriate expressions for the relevant tangent operators being derived. In order to demonstrate the validity of the various formulations, the special case of free rigid body motion is considered. The primal formulation is shown to have unstable numerical behavior, while the mixed formulation exhibits physically stable behavior. The formulations presented in this paper form the basis for continuing investigations into constrained dynamical systems and multi-rigid-body systems, which will be reported in subsequent papers.     

Use of the Constrained Optimization Algorithms in Some Problems of Fracture Mechanics

In this paper we consider an algorithm of constrained optimization which arises from boundary variational principles of elastodynamics for bodies with cracks and unilateral constraints on the cracks edges. Variational formulation of unilateral contact problems with friction was considered, boundary variational functionals used with boundary integral equations were obtained and algorithm for solution of the unilateral contact problem with friction was developed. Some numerical results for 3-D elastodynamic unilateral contact problem for bodies with cracks are presented.