A new predictor–corrector approach for the numerical integration of coupled electromechanical equations

In this paper, a new approach for the numerical solution of coupled electromechanical problems is presented. The structure of the considered problem consists of the low‐frequency integral formulation of the Maxwell equations coupled with Newton–Euler rigid‐body dynamic equations. Two different integration schemes based on the predictor–corrector approach are presented and discussed. In the first method, the electrical equation is integrated with an implicit single‐step time marching algorithm, while the mechanical dynamics is studied by a predictor–corrector scheme. The predictor uses the forward Euler method, while the corrector is based on the trapezoidal rule. The second method is based on the use of two interleaved predictor–corrector schemes: one for the electrical equations and the other for the mechanical ones. Both the presented methods have been validated by comparison with experimental data (when available) and with results obtained by other numerical formulations; in problems characterized by low speeds, both schemes produce accurate results, with similar computation times. When high speeds are involved, the first scheme needs shorter time steps (i.e., longer computation times) in order to achieve the same accuracy of the second one. A brief discussion on extending the algorithm for simulating deformable bodies is also presented. An example of application to a two‐degree‐of‐freedom levitating device based on permanent magnets is finally reported. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stabilized volume‐averaging finite element method for flow in porous media and binary alloy solidification processes

A stabilized equal‐order velocity–pressure finite element algorithm is presented for the analysis of flow in porous media and in the solidification of binary alloys. The adopted governing macroscopic conservation equations of momentum, energy and species transport are derived from their microscopic counterparts using the volume‐averaging method. The analysis is performed in a single domain with a fixed numerical grid. The fluid flow scheme developed includes SUPG (streamline‐upwind/Petrov–Galerkin), PSPG (pressure stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin) and DSPG (Darcy stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin) stabilization terms in a variable porosity medium. For the energy and species equations a classical SUPG‐based finite element method is employed. The developed algorithms were tested extensively with bilinear elements and were shown to perform stably and with nearly quadratic convergence in high Rayleigh number flows in varying porosity media. Examples are shown in natural and double diffusive convection in porous media and in the directional solidification of a binary‐alloy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel numerical method of high‐order accuracy for flow in unsaturated porous media

We construct finite volume schemes of very high order of accuracy in space and time for solving the nonlinear Richards equation (RE). The general scheme is based on a three‐stage predictor–corrector procedure. First, a high‐order weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) reconstruction procedure is applied to the cell averages at the current time level to guarantee monotonicity in the presence of steep gradients. Second, the temporal evolution of the WENO reconstruction polynomials is computed in a predictor stage by using a global weak form of the governing equations. A global space–time DG FEM is used to obtain a scheme without the parabolic time‐step restriction caused by the presence of the diffusion term in the RE. The resulting nonlinear algebraic system is solved by a Newton–Krylov method, where the generalized minimal residual method algorithm of Saad and Schulz is used to solve the linear subsystems. Finally, as a third step, the cell averages of the finite volume method are updated using a one‐step scheme, on the basis of the solution calculated previously in the space–time predictor stage. Our scheme is validated against analytical, experimental, and other numerical reference solutions in four test cases. A numerical convergence study performed allows us to show that the proposed novel scheme is high order accurate in space and time. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Homogenized free surface flow in porous media for wet‐out processing

This paper presents a novel porous media model for homogenized free surface flow, representing wet‐out composites processing. The model is derived from concepts of homogenization applied to a compressible two‐phase flow, accounting for capillary effects and the concept of relative permeability. Based on mass balance considerations, we obtain a nonlinear set of equations of convection‐diffusion type involving the mixture (fluid) pressure and the degree of saturation as primary fields. A staggered Galerkin finite element approach is employed to decouple the solution. Moreover, the streamline upwind/Petrov‐Galerkin technique is applied to attenuate the oscillations in the saturation solutions. The model accuracy and convergence of the finite element solutions are demonstrated through 1‐dimensional and 2‐dimensional examples, representing resin transfer molding flow processes.     

A partial upwind finite element approximation for the stationary Navier-Stokes equations

A new partial upwind finite element method for steady viscous incompressible flow over a wide range of Reynolds numbers (Re) is proposed and its applications to a cavity flow problem are demonstrated. Numerical experiments show that the partial upwind scheme is effective for Re = 10³ when the conventional Galerkin type approximation produces poor results. The partial upwind scheme for the finite element method was originally developed by Ikeda (1983) for approximation of the advection diffusion equation. The advantage of the scheme is its effectiveness over a wide range of Peclet numbers due to the automatic switch in the approximation techniques of the advection term.     

Two‐dimensional finite element method solution of a class of integro‐differential equations: Application to non‐Fickian transport in disordered media

A finite element method is developed to solve a class of integro‐differential equations and demonstrated for the important specific problem of non‐Fickian contaminant transport in disordered porous media. This transient transport equation, derived from a continuous time random walk approach, includes a memory function. An integral element is the incorporation of the well‐known sum‐of‐exponential approximation of the kernel function, which allows a simple recurrence relation rather than storage of the entire history. A two‐dimensional linear element is implemented, including a streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin weighting scheme. The developed solver is compared with an analytical solution in the Laplace domain, transformed numerically to the time domain, followed by a concise convergence assessment. The analysis shows the power and potential of the method developed here. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Taylor–Galerkin method for convective transport problems

A method is described to derive finite element schemes for the scalar convection equation in one or more space dimensions. To produce accurate temporal differencing, the method employs forward-time Taylor series expansions including time derivatives of second- and third-order which are evaluated from the governing partial differential equation. This yields a generalized time-discretized equation which is successively discretized in space by means of the standard Bubnov–Galerkin finite element method. The technique is illustrated first in one space dimension. With linear elements and Euler, leap-frog and Crank–Nicolson time stepping, several interesting relations with standard Galerkin and recently developed Petrov–Galerkin methods emerge and the new Taylor–Galerkin schemes are found to exhibit particularly high phase-accuracy with minimal numerical damping. The method is successively extended to deal with variable coefficient problems and multi-dimensional situations.     

An object oriented implementation of a front tracking finite element method for directional solidification processes

This paper focuses on the numerical simulation of phase‐change processes using a moving finite element technique. In particular, directional solidification and melting processes for pure materials and binary alloys are studied. The melt is modelled as a Boussinesq fluid and the transient Navier–Stokes equations are solved simultaneously with the transient heat and mass transport equations as well as the Stefan condition. The various streamline‐upwind/Petrov–Galerkin‐based FEM simulators developed for the heat, flow and mass transport subproblems are reviewed. The use of classes, virtual functions and smart pointers to represent and link the particular simulators in order to model a phase change process is discussed. The freezing front is modelled using a spline interpolation, while the mesh motion is defined from the freezing front motion using a transfinite mapping technique. Various two‐ and three‐dimensional numerical tests are analysed and discussed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed techniques. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Petrov–Galerkin finite element scheme for the regularized long wave equation

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element method (FEM) for the regularized long wave (RLW) equation is proposed. Finite elements are used in both the space and the time domains. Dispersion correction and a highly selective dissipation mechanism are introduced through additional streamline upwind terms in the weight functions. An implicit, conditionally stable, one-step predictor–corrector time integration scheme results. The accuracy and stability are investigated by means of local expansion by Taylor series and the resulting equivalent differential equation. An analysis based on a linear Fourier series solution and the Von Neumanns stability criterion is also performed. Based on the order of the analytical approximations and of the domain discretization it is concluded that the scheme is of third order in the nonlinear version and of fourth order in the linear version. Three numerical experiments of wave propagation are presented and their results compared with similar ones in the literature: solitary wave propagation, undular bore propagation, and cnoidal wave propagation. It is concluded that the present scheme possesses superior conservation and accuracy properties.This work has been partially supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, under project POCTI/ECM/41800/2001.     

Boltzmann schemes for continuum gas dynamics

Many problems arising in the aerodynamic design of aerospace vehicles require the numerical solution of the Euler equations of gas dynamics. These are nonlinear partial differential equations admitting weak solutions such as shock waves and constructing robust numerical schemes for these equations is a challenging task. A new line of research called Boltzmann or kinetic schemes discussed in the present paper exploits the connection between the Boltzmann equation of the kinetic theory of gases and the Euler equations for inviscid compressible flows. Because of this connection, a suitable moment of a numerical scheme for the Boltzmann equation yields a numerical scheme for the Euler equations. This idea called the “moment method strategy” turns out to be an extremely rich methodology for developing robust numerical schemes for the Euler equations. The richness is demonstrated by developing a variety of kinetic schemes such as kinetic numerical method, kinetic flux vector splitting method, thermal velocity based splitting, multidirectional upwind method and least squares weak upwind scheme. A 3-D time-marching Euler code calledbheema based on the kinetic flux vector splitting method and its variants involving equilibrium chemistry have been developed for computing hypersonic reentry flows. The results obtained from the codebheema demonstrate the robustness and the utility of the kinetic flux vector splitting method as a design tool in aerodynamics. The work presented in this paper is based on the research work done by several graduate students at our laboratory and collaborators from research and development organizations within the country.     

A general conjugate‐gradient‐based predictor–corrector solver for explicit finite‐element contact

A Lagrange‐multiplier based approach is presented for the general solution of multi‐body contact within an explicit finite element framework. The technique employs an explicit predictor step to permit the detection of interpenetration and then utilizes a corrector step, whose solution is obtained with a pre‐conditioned matrix‐free conjugate gradient projection method, to determine the Lagrange multipliers necessary to eliminate the predicted penetration. The predictor–corrector algorithm is developed for deformable bodies based upon the central difference method, and for rigid bodies from momentum and energy conserving approaches. Both frictionless and Coulomb‐based frictional contact idealizations are addressed. The technique imposes no time‐step constraints and quickly mitigates velocity discontinuities across closed interfaces. Special attention is directed toward contact between rigid bodies. Algorithmic moment arms conserve the translational and angular momentums of the system in the absence of external loads. Elastic collisions are captured with a two‐phase predictor–corrector approach and a geometrically approximate velocity jump criterion. The first step solves the inelastic contact problem and identifies inactive constraints between rigid bodies, while the second step generates the necessary velocity jump condition on the active constraints. The velocity criterion is shown to algorithmically preserve the system kinetic energy for two unconstrained rigid bodies. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This paper was produced under the auspices of the U.S. Government and it is therefore not subject to copyright in the U.S.     

A stable and adaptive semi-Lagrangian potential model for unsteady and nonlinear ship-wave interactions

We present an innovative numerical discretization of the equations of inviscid potential flow for the simulation of three-dimensional, unsteady, and nonlinear water waves generated by a ship hull advancing in water.The equations of motion are written in a semi-Lagrangian framework, and the resulting integro-differential equations are discretized in space via an adaptive iso-parametric collocation boundary element method, and in time via implicit backward differentiation formulas (BDF) with adaptive step size and variable order.When the velocity of the advancing ship hull is non-negligible, the semi-Lagrangian formulation (also known as Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian formulation or ALE) of the free-surface equations contains dominant transport terms which are stabilized with a streamwise upwind Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) method.The SUPG stabilization allows automatic and robust adaptation of the spatial discretization with unstructured quadrilateral grids. Preliminary results are presented where we compare our numerical model with experimental results on a Wigley hull advancing in calm water with fixed sink and trim.     

Finite element analysis of a thermoplastic elastomer melt flow in the metering region of a single screw extruder

The flow of a thermoplastic elastomer melt in the metering region of a single screw extruder was studied by the use of a mathematical model. In this model the continuous penalty finite element scheme was combined with generalized Newtonian rheological model to solve the governing equations of continuity and momentum in three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. A non-isothermal flow regime was assumed and the energy equation was solved by a streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin method. The nonlinear nature of the derived set of working equations was also treated using the well-known Picard’s iterative technique. The applicability of this model has been verified by the comparison between the results of the computer simulation of the flow of a NBR/PP thermoplastic elastomer in the metering zone of a single screw extruder with experimentally measured data at different process conditions. These comparisons show that there are very good agreements between the model predictions and experimental data.     

Eulerian elasto‐visco‐plastic formulations for residual stress prediction

A stabilized, Galerkin finite element formulation for modeling the elasto‐visco‐plastic response of quasi‐steady‐state processes, such as welding, laser surfacing, rolling and extrusion, is presented in an Eulerian frame. The mixed formulation consists of four field variables, such as velocity, stress, deformation gradient and internal variable, which is used to describe the evolution of the material's resistance to plastic flow. The streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin method is used to eliminate spurious oscillations, which may be caused by the convection‐type of stress, deformation gradient and internal variable evolution equations. A progressive solution strategy is introduced to improve the convergence of the Newton–Raphson solution procedure. Two two‐dimensional numerical examples are implemented to verify the accuracy of the Eulerian formulation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ON OPEN BOUNDARIES IN THE FINITE ELEMENT APPROXIMATION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL ADVECTION–DIFFUSION FLOWS

A steady-state and transient finite element model has been developed to approximate, with simple triangular elements, the two-dimensional advection–diffusion equation for practical river surface flow simulations. Essentially, the space–time Crank–Nicolson–Galerkin formulation scheme was used to solve for a given conservative flow-field. Several kinds of point sources and boundary conditions, namely Cauchy and Open, were theoretically and numerically analysed. Steady-state and transient numerical tests investigated the accuracy of boundary conditions on inflow, noflow and outflow boundaries where diffusion is important (diffusive boundaries). With the proper choice of boundary conditions, the steady-state Galerkin and the transient Crank–Nicolson–Galerkin finite element schemes gave stable and precise results for advection-dominated transport problems. Comparisons indicated that the present approach can give equivalent or more precise results than other streamline upwind and high-order time-stepping schemes. Diffusive boundaries can be treated with Cauchy conditions when the flow enters the domain (inflow), and with Open conditions when the flow leaves the domain (outflow), or when it is parallel to the boundary (noflow). Although systems with mainly diffusive noflow boundaries may still be solved precisely with Open conditions, they are more susceptible to be influenced by other numerical sources of error. Moreover, the treatment of open boundaries greatly increases the possibilities of correctly modelling restricted domains of actual and numerical interest. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An optimized predictor–corrector scheme for fast 3D crack growth simulations

An optimized predictor–corrector scheme for the accelerated simulation of 3D fatigue crack growth is presented. Based on experimental evidence, it is assumed that the crack front shape ensures a constant energy release rate. Starting from a crack front satisfying this requirement a predictor step is performed. Usually, the new crack front does not fulfill the requirement of a constant energy release rate. Therefore, several corrector steps are needed. Within the new predictor–corrector scheme the history of crack growth is taken into account to reduce the number of corrector steps. The efficiency of the new scheme is shown on two numerical examples providing a speed up of a factor above three.     

Thermo-mechanical buckling and nonlinear free vibration analysis of functionally graded beams on nonlinear elastic foundation

In this paper, thermo-mechanical buckling and nonlinear free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) beams on nonlinear elastic foundation are investigated. Nonlinear governing partial differential equation (PDE) of motion is derived based on Euler–Bernoulli assumptions together with Von Karman strain–displacement relation. Based on the Galerkin’s decomposition method, the nonlinear PDE governing equation is reduced to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE). He’s variational method is employed to obtain a simple and efficient approximate closed form solution for the resulted nonlinear ODE. Comparison between results of the present work and those available in literature shows accuracy of the presented expressions. Some new results for the thermo-mechanical buckling and nonlinear free vibration analysis of the FG beams such as the effects of vibration amplitude, material inhomogeneity, nonlinear elastic foundation, boundary conditions, geometric parameter and thermal loading are presented to be used in future references.     

Flow through variably saturated soils

The equation of flow through variably saturated porous media is discretized via the Galerkin finite element formulation. The discretization is coupled with an approach for mesh generation and optimization of the node numbering scheme. Sensitivity analysis showed that the solution behavior is controlled by dimensionless quantities equivalent to Peclet and Courant numbers. For the form of equation investigated, no universal limiting values of Pe and Cr can be established because the values of these parameters depend on both the constitutive relations used and on initial conditions. For more efficient solution of the problem, a deformation scheme of the computational mesh is proposed, which accounts for the limiting Peclet and Courant numbers and for the shape of the deformed elements. Comparisons with other solutions showed that the numerical scheme performs very well.     

TWO SIMPLE FAST INTEGRATION METHODS FOR LARGE-SCALE DYNAMIC PROBLEMS IN ENGINEERING

A new simple explicit two-step method and a new family of predictor–corrector integration algorithms are developed for use in the solution of numerical responses of dynamic problems. The proposed integration methods avoid solving simultaneous linear algebraic equations in each time step, which is valid for arbitrary damping matrix and diagonal mass matrix frequently encountered in practical engineering dynamic systems. Accordingly, computational speeds of the new methods applied to large system analysis can be far higher than those of other popular methods. Accuracy, stability and numerical dissipation are investigated. Linear and nonlinear examples for verification and applications of the new methods to large-scale dynamic problems in railway engineering are given. The proposed methods can be used as fast and economical calculation tools for solving large-scale nonlinear dynamic problems in engineering.     

Boundary element solution of the two-dimensional sine-Gordon equation using continuous linear elements

This article studies the boundary element solution of two-dimensional sine-Gordon (SG) equation using continuous linear elements approximation. Non-linear and in-homogenous terms are converted to the boundary by the dual reciprocity method and a predictor–corrector scheme is employed to eliminate the non-linearity. The procedure developed in this paper, is applied to various problems involving line and ring solitons where considered in references [Argyris J, Haase M, Heinrich JC. Finite element approximation to two-dimensional sine-Gordon solitons. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 1991;86:1–26; Bratsos AG. An explicit numerical scheme for the sine-Gordon equation in 2+1 dimensions. Appl Numer Anal Comput Math 2005;2(2):189–211, Bratsos AG. A modified predictor–corrector scheme for the two-dimensional sine-Gordon equation. Numer Algorithms 2006;43:295–308; Bratsos AG. The solution of the two-dimensional sine-Gordon equation using the method of lines. J Comput Appl Math 2007;206:251–77; Bratsos AG. A third order numerical scheme for the two-dimensional sine-Gordon equation. Math Comput Simul 2007;76:271–8; Christiansen PL, Lomdahl PS. Numerical solutions of 2+1 dimensional sine-Gordon solitons. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenom 1981;2(3):482–94; Djidjeli K, Price WG, Twizell EH. Numerical solutions of a damped sine-Gordon equation in two space variables. J Eng Math 1995;29:347–69; Dehghan M, Mirzaei D. The dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM) for two-dimensional sine-Gordon equation. Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 2008;197:476–86]. Using continuous linear elements approximation produces more accurate results than constant ones. By using this approach all cases associated to SG equation, which exist in literature, are investigated.