Boundary integral equation method for shape optimization of elastic structures

A general method for shape design sensitivity analysis as applied to plane elasticity problems is developed with a direct boundary integral equation formulation, using the material derivative concept and adjoint variable method. The problem formulation is very general and a complete consideration is given to describing the boundary variation by including the tangential component of the velocity field. The method is then applied to obtain the sensitivity formula for a general stress constraint imposed over a small part of the boundary. The accuracy of the design sensitivity analysis is studied with a fillet and an elastic ring design problem. Among the several numerical implementations tested, the second order boundary elements with a cubic spline representation of the moving boundary have shown the best accuracy. A smooth characteristic function is found to be better than a plateau function for localization of the stress constraint. Optimal shapes for the two problems are presented to show numerical applications.     

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS FORMULATION FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONDUCTION HEAT TRANSFER WITH COMPLEX GEOMETRIES USING A BOUNDARY ELEMENT METHOD

A special boundary integral formulation had been proposed to analyse many engineering problems of conduction heat transfer in complex three-dimensional geometries (closely spaced surface and circular hole in infinite domain or simple modification of it) by Rezayat and Burton. One example of such geometries is the mold sets in the injection molding process. In this paper, an efficient and accurate approach for the design sensitivity analysis (DSA) is presented for these kinds of problems in the similar complex geometries using the direct differentiation approach (DDA) based on the above special boundary integral formulation. The present approach utilizes the implicit differentiation of the boundary integral equations with respect to the design variables (radii and locations of circular holes) to yield the sensitivity equations. A sample problem (heat transfer of injection molding cooling system) is solved to demonstrate the accuracy of the present sensitivity analysis formulation. Although the techniques introduced here are applied to a particular problem in heat transfer of injection molding cooling system, their potential application is quite broad.     

Flux and traction boundary elements without hypersingular or strongly singular integrals

The present paper deals with a boundary element formulation based on the traction elasticity boundary integral equation (potential derivative for Laplace's problem). The hypersingular and strongly singular integrals appearing in the formulation are analytically transformed to yield line and surface integrals which are at most weakly singular. Regularization and analytical transformation of the boundary integrals is done prior to any boundary discretization. The integration process does not require any change of co‐ordinates and the resulting integrals can be numerically evaluated in a simple and efficient way. The formulation presented is completely general and valid for arbitrary shaped open or closed boundaries. Analytical expressions for all the required hypersingular or strongly singular integrals are given in the paper. To fulfil the continuity requirement over the primary density a simple BE discretization strategy is adopted. Continuous elements are used whereas the collocation points are shifted towards the interior of the elements. This paper pretends to contribute to the transformation of hypersingular boundary element formulations as something clear, general and easy to handle similar to in the classical formulation. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shape design sensitivity analysis via material derivative-adjoint variable technique for 3-D and 2-D curved boundary elements

A general approach to shape design sensitivity analysis of three- and two-dimensional elastic solid objects is developed using the material derivative-adjoint variable technique and boundary element method. The formulation of the problem is general and first-order sensitivities in the form of boundary integrals for the effect of boundary shape variations are derived for an arbitrary performance functional. Second-order quadrilateral surface elements (for 3-D problems) and quadratic boundary elements (for 2-D problems) are employed in the solution of primary and adjoint systems and discretization of the boundary integral expressions for sensitivities. The accuracy of sensitivity information is studied for selected global performance functionals and also for boundary state fields at discrete points. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of this approach.     

A SPACE–TIME FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR THE EXTERIOR STRUCTURAL ACOUSTICS PROBLEM: TIME-DEPENDENT RADIATION BOUNDARY CONDITIONS IN TWO SPACE DIMENSIONS

A time-discontinuous Galerkin space–time finite element method is formulated for the exterior structural acoustics problem in two space dimensions. The problem is posed over a bounded computational domain with local time-dependent radiation (absorbing) boundary conditions applied to the fluid truncation boundary. Absorbing boundary conditions are incorporated as ‘natural’ boundary conditions in the space–time variational equation, i.e. they are enforced weakly in both space and time. Following Bayliss and Turkel, time-dependent radiation boundary conditions for the two-dimensional wave equation are developed from an asymptotic approximation to the exact solution in the frequency domain expressed in negative powers of a non-dimensional wavenumber. In this paper, we undertake a brief development of the time-dependent radiation boundary conditions, establishing their relationship to the exact impedance (Dirichlet-to-Neumann map) for the acoustic fluid, and characterize their accuracy when implemented in our space–time finite element formulation for transient structural acoustics. Stability estimates are reported together with an analysis of the positive form of the matrix problem emanating from the space–time variational equations for the coupled fluid-structure system. Several numerical simulations of transient radiation and scattering in two space dimensions are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the space–time method.     

An alternative collocation boundary element method for static and dynamic problems

A collocation boundary element formulation is presented which is based on a mixed approximation formulation similar to the Galerkin boundary element method presented by Steinbach (SIAM J Numer Anal 38:401–413, 2000) for the solution of Laplace’s equation. The method is also applicable to vector problems such as elasticity. Moreover, dynamic problems of acoustics and elastodynamics are included. The resulting system matrices have an ordered structure and small condition numbers in comparison to the standard collocation approach. Moreover, the employment of Robin boundary conditions is easily included in this formulation. Details on the numerical integration of the occurring regular and singular integrals and on the solution of the arising systems of equations are given. Numerical experiments have been carried out for different reference problems. In these experiments, the presented approach is compared to the common nodal collocation method with respect to accuracy, condition numbers, and stability in the dynamic case.     

Dual boundary integral equations for exterior problems

A dual integral formulation for the interior problem of the Laplace equation with a smooth boundary is extended to the exterior problem. Two regularized versions are proposed and compared with the interior problem. It is found that an additional free term is present in the second regularized version of the exterior problem. An analytical solution for a benchmark example in ISBE is derived by two methods, conformal mapping and the Poisson integral formula using symbolic software. The potential gradient on the boundary is calculated by using the hypersingular integral equation except on the two singular points where the potential is discontinuous instead of failure in ISBE benchmarks. Based on the matrix relations between the interior and exterior problems, the BEPO2D program for the interior problem can be easily reintegrated. This benchmark example was used to check the validity of the dual integral formulation, and the numerical results match the exact solution well.     

A BEM sensitivity formulation for three‐dimensional active noise control

In this paper, a novel boundary element formulation for sensitivity analysis of local active noise control in a three‐dimensional field is presented. The formulation is based on the Helmholtz differential equation and is valid for internal as well as for scattering wave propagation problems. The primary noise is attenuated within an enclosure, called control volume, by adding a control source modelled as an object with a vibrating surface. Both the optimum position of the control volume and the optimum location/orientation of the secondary source are determined by minimisation of a suitable cost function. The sensitivities are determined by implicit differentiation. A hierarchical adaptive cross approximation approach in conjunction with the generalised minimal residual solver is implemented to accelerate the convergence. Four numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed formulations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The dual boundary contour method for two-dimensional crack problems

This paper concerns the dual boundary contour method for solving two-dimensional crack problems. The formulation of the dual boundary contour method is presented. The crack surface is modeled by using continuous quadratic boundary elements. The traction boundary contour equation is applied for traction nodes on one of the crack surfaces and the displacement boundary contour equation is applied for displacement nodes on the opposite crack surface and noncrack boundaries. The direct calculation of the singular integrals arising in displacement BIEs is addressed. These singular integrals are accurately evaluated with potential functions. The singularity subtraction technique for determining the stress intensity factor K_I, K_II and the T-term are developed for mixed mode conditions. Some two-dimensional examples are presented and numerical results obtained by this approach are in very good agreement with the results of the previous papers. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Conjugate gradient method for the Robin inverse problem associated with the Laplace equation

This paper studies a non-linear inverse problem associated with the Laplace equation of identifying the Robin coefficient from boundary measurements. A variational formulation of the problem is suggested, thereby transforming it into an optimization problem. Mathematical properties relevant to its numerical computation are established. The optimization problem is solved using the conjugate gradient method in conjunction with the discrepancy principle, and the algorithm is implemented using the boundary element method. Numerical results are presented for several benchmark problems with both exact and noisy data, and the convergence of the algorithm with respect to mesh refinement and decreasing the amount of noise in the data is investigated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inelastic transient dynamic analysis of Reissner–Mindlin plates by the D/BEM

A direct domain/boundary element method (D/BEM) for dynamic analysis of elastoplastic Reissner–Mindlin plates in bending is developed. Thus, effects of shear deformation and rotatory inertia are included in the formulation. The method employs the elastostatic fundamental solution of the problem resulting in both boundary and domain integrals due to inertia and inelasticity. Thus, a boundary as well as a domain space discretization by means of quadratic boundary and interior elements is utilized. By using an explicit time‐integration scheme employed on the incremental form of the matrix equation of motion, the history of the plate dynamic response can be obtained. Numerical results for the forced vibration of elastoplastic Reissner–Mindlin plates with smooth boundaries subjected to impulsive loading are presented for illustrating the proposed method and demonstrating its merits. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Material constant sensitivity boundary integral equation for anisotropic solids

In this paper, the material constant sensitivity boundary integral equation is presented, and its numerical solution proposed, based on boundary element techniques. The formulation deals with plane problems with general rectilinear anisotropy. Expressions for the computation of sensitivities for displacements, tractions, strains and stresses are derived, both for boundary and interior points. The sensitivities can be computed with respect to the bulk material properties or to the properties of part of the domain (inclusions, coatings, etc.). To assess the accuracy of the proposed approach, the computed results are compared to analytical ones derived from exact solutions obtained by complex potential theory, when possible, or finite difference derivatives otherwise. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Buckling analysis of shear deformable plates by boundary element method

In this paper, the derivation and numerical implementation of boundary integral equations for the buckling analysis of shear deformable plates are presented. Plate buckling equations are derived as a standard eigenvalue problem. The formulation is formed by coupling boundary element formulations of shear deformable plate and two dimensional plane stress elasticity. The eigenvalue problem of plate buckling yields the critical load factor and buckling modes. The domain integrals which appear in this formulation are treated in two different ways: initially the integrals are evaluated using constant cells, and next, they are transformed into equivalent boundary integrals using the dual reciprocity method (DRM). Several examples with different geometry, loading and boundary conditions are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the formulation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element formulation of exact non‐reflecting boundary conditions for the time‐dependent wave equation

A modified version of an exact Non‐reflecting Boundary Condition (NRBC) first derived by Grote and Keller is implemented in a finite element formulation for the scalar wave equation. The NRBC annihilate the first N wave harmonics on a spherical truncation boundary, and may be viewed as an extension of the second‐order local boundary condition derived by Bayliss and Turkel. Two alternative finite element formulations are given. In the first, the boundary operator is implemented directly as a ‘natural’ boundary condition in the weak form of the initial–boundary value problem. In the second, the operator is implemented indirectly by introducing auxiliary variables on the truncation boundary. Several versions of implicit and explicit time‐integration schemes are presented for solution of the finite element semidiscrete equations concurrently with the first‐order differential equations associated with the NRBC and an auxiliary variable. Numerical studies are performed to assess the accuracy and convergence properties of the NRBC when implemented in the finite element method. The results demonstrate that the finite element formulation of the (modified) NRBC is remarkably robust, and highly accurate. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Axisymmetric thermoelastic shape sensitivity analysis and its application to turbine disc design

A general method for shape design sensiti vityi analysis (SDSA) as applied to an axisymmetric thermoelasticity problem is presented using the material derivative concept and the adjoint variable method. The sensitivity of a general functional composed of thermal and mechanical quantities is considered. The method for deriving the sensitivity formula is based on standard direct thermal and elastic boundary integral equation formulation. It is then applied to obtain explicit formulas for a representative displacement and stress constraint imposed on a sector of the boundary. Results of numerical implementation are presented for weight minimization of a turbine disc under thermomechanical loading. The sensitivities of the displacement and stress constraint calculated by the formulas are compared with those by finite differences. Optimum shape obtained under the thermomechanical loading is discussed with that under the mechanical loading only, clearly showing the practical importance of the SDSA of thermoelastic systems.     

A hybrid boundary node method

A new variational formulation for boundary node method (BNM) using a hybrid displacement functional is presented here. The formulation is expressed in terms of domain and boundary variables, and the domain variables are interpolated by classical fundamental solution; while the boundary variables are interpolated by moving least squares (MLS). The main idea is to retain the dimensionality advantages of the BNM, and get a truly meshless method, which does not require a ‘boundary element mesh’, either for the purpose of interpolation of the solution variables, or for the integration of the ‘energy’. All integrals can be easily evaluated over regular shaped domains (in general, semi‐sphere in the 3‐D problem) and their boundaries. Numerical examples presented in this paper for the solution of Laplace's equation in 2‐D show that high rates of convergence with mesh refinement are achievable, and the computational results for unknown variables are most accurate. No further integrations are required to compute the unknown variables inside the domain as in the conventional BEM and BNM. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Layerwise fundamental solutions and three-dimensional model for layered media

A hybrid method is presented for the analysis of layers, plates, and multilayered systems consisting of isotropic and linear elastic materials. The problem is formulated for the general case of a multilayered system using a total potential energy formulation and employing the layerwise laminate theory of Reddy. The developed boundary integral equation model is two-dimensional, displacement based and assumes piecewise continuous distribution of the displacement components through the system's thickness. A one-dimensional finite element model is used for the analysis of the multilayered system through its thickness, and integral Fourier transforms are used to obtain the exact solution for the in-plane problem. Explicit expressions are obtained for the fundamental solution of a typical infinite layer (element), which can be applied in a two-dimensional boundary integral equation model to analyze layered structures. This model describes the three-dimensional displacement field at arbitrary points either in the domain of the layered medium or on its boundary. The proposed method provides a simple, efficient, and versatile model for a three-dimensional analysis of thick plates or multilayered systems.Visiting Assistant ProfessorOscar S. Wyatt, Jr. Chair     

The boundary element method for thick plates on a Winkler foundation

In this paper the application of the boundary element method to thick plates resting on a Winkler foundation is presented. The Reissner plate bending theory is used to model the plate behaviour. The Winkler foundation model is represented by continuous springs which are directly incorporated into the governing differential equation. The fundamental solutions are constructed using operator decoupling technique. These fundamental solutions represent three different cases depending on the problem constants. The explicit forms of the boundary and internal point kernels are given in all cases. Quadratic isoparametric boundary elements are used to model the plate boundary. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the present formulation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new boundary element formulation for shear deformable shells analysis

A new domain‐boundary element formulation to solve bending problems of shear deformable shallow shells having quadratic mid‐surface is presented. By regrouping all the terms containing shells curvature and external loads together in equilibrium equation, the formulation can be formed by coupling boundary element formulation of shear deformable plate and two‐dimensional plane stress elasticity. The boundary is discretized into quadratic isoparametric element and the domain is discretized using constant cells. Several examples are presented, and the results shows a good agreement with the finite element method. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A wideband FMBEM for 2D acoustic design sensitivity analysis based on direct differentiation method

This paper presents a wideband fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM) for two dimensional acoustic design sensitivity analysis based on the direct differentiation method. The wideband fast multipole method (FMM) formed by combining the original FMM and the diagonal form FMM is used to accelerate the matrix-vector products in the boundary element analysis. The Burton–Miller formulation is used to overcome the fictitious frequency problem when using a single Helmholtz boundary integral equation for exterior boundary-value problems. The strongly singular and hypersingular integrals in the sensitivity equations can be evaluated explicitly and directly by using the piecewise constant discretization. The iterative solver GMRES is applied to accelerate the solution of the linear system of equations. A set of optimal parameters for the wideband FMBEM design sensitivity analysis are obtained by observing the performances of the wideband FMM algorithm in terms of computing time and memory usage. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and validity of the proposed algorithm.