Implicit dynamic analysis using an isogeometric Reissner–Mindlin shell formulation

In isogeometric analysis, identical basis functions are used for geometrical representation and analysis. In this work, non‐uniform rational basis splines basis functions are applied in an isoparametric approach. An isogeometric Reissner–Mindlin shell formulation for implicit dynamic calculations using the Galerkin method is presented. A consistent as well as a lumped matrix formulation is implemented. The suitability of the developed shell formulation for natural frequency analysis is demonstrated by a numerical example. In a second set of examples, transient problems of plane and curved geometries undergoing large deformations in combination with nonlinear material behavior are investigated. Via a zero‐thickness stress algorithm for arbitrary material models, a J₂‐plasticity constitutive law is implemented. In the numerical examples, the effectiveness, robustness, and superior accuracy of a continuous interpolation method of the shell director vector is compared with experimental results and alternative numerical approaches. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Nitsche‐type formulation and comparison of the most common domain decomposition methods in isogeometric analysis

This paper provides a detailed elaboration and assessment of the most common domain decomposition methods for their application in isogeometric analysis. The methods comprise a penalty approach, Lagrange multiplier methods, and a Nitsche‐type method. For the Nitsche method, a new stabilized formulation is developed in the context of isogeometric analysis to guarantee coercivity. All these methods are investigated on problems of linear elasticity and eigenfrequency analysis in 2D. In particular, focus is put on non‐uniform rational B‐spline patches which join nonconformingly along their common interface. Thus, the application of isogeometric analysis is extended to multi‐patches, which can have an arbitrary parametrization on the adjacent edges. Moreover, it has been shown that the unique properties provided by isogeometric analysis, that is, high‐order functions and smoothness across the element boundaries, carry over for the analysis of multiple domains. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Static,free vibration,and buckling analysis of laminated composite Reissner–Mindlin plates using NURBS‐based isogeometric approach

This paper presents a novel numerical procedure based on the framework of isogeometric analysis for static, free vibration, and buckling analysis of laminated composite plates using the first‐order shear deformation theory. The isogeometric approach utilizes non‐uniform rational B‐splines to implement for the quadratic, cubic, and quartic elements. Shear locking problem still exists in the stiffness formulation, and hence, it can be significantly alleviated by a stabilization technique. Several numerical examples are presented to show the performance of the method, and the results obtained are compared with other available ones. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the numerical integration of isogeometric interface elements

Zero‐thickness interface elements are commonly used in computational mechanics to model material interfaces or to introduce discontinuities. The latter class requires the existence of a non‐compliant interface prior to the onset of fracture initiation. This is accomplished by assigning a high dummy stiffness to the interface prior to cracking. This dummy stiffness is known to introduce oscillations in the traction profile when using Gauss quadrature for the interface elements, but these oscillations are removed when resorting to a Newton‐Cotes integration scheme 1. The traction oscillations are aggravated for interface elements that use B‐splines or non‐uniform rational B‐splines as basis functions (isogeometric interface elements), and worse, do not disappear when using Newton‐Cotes quadrature. An analysis is presented of this phenomenon, including eigenvalue analyses, and it appears that the use of lumped integration (at the control points) is the only way to avoid the oscillations in isogeometric interface elements. New findings have also been obtained for standard interface elements, for example that oscillations occur in the relative displacements at the interface irrespective of the value of the dummy stiffness. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Powell–Sabin B‐splines and unstructured standard T‐splines for the solution of the Kirchhoff–Love plate theory exploiting Bézier extraction

The equations that govern Kirchhoff–Love plate theory are solved using quadratic Powell–Sabin B‐splines and unstructured standard T‐splines. Bézier extraction is exploited to make the formulation computationally efficient. Because quadratic Powell–Sabin B‐splines result in ‐continuous shape functions, they are of sufficiently high continuity to capture Kirchhoff–Love plate theory when cast in a weak form. Unlike non‐uniform rational B‐splines (NURBS), which are commonly used in isogeometric analysis, Powell–Sabin B‐splines do not necessarily capture the geometry exactly. However, the fact that they are defined on triangles instead of on quadrilaterals increases their flexibility in meshing and can make them competitive with respect to NURBS, as no bending strip method for joined NURBS patches is needed. This paper further illustrates how unstructured T‐splines can be modified such that they are ‐continuous around extraordinary points, and that the blending functions fulfil the partition of unity property. The performance of quadratic NURBS, unstructured T‐splines, Powell–Sabin B‐splines and NURBS‐to‐NURPS (non‐uniform rational Powell–Sabin B‐splines, which are obtained by a transformation from a NURBS patch) is compared in a study of a circular plate. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shape optimization using a NURBS‐based interface‐enriched generalized FEM

This study presents a gradient‐based shape optimization over a fixed mesh using a non‐uniform rational B‐splines‐based interface‐enriched generalized finite element method, applicable to multi‐material structures. In the proposed method, non‐uniform rational B‐splines are used to parameterize the design geometry precisely and compactly by a small number of design variables. An analytical shape sensitivity analysis is developed to compute derivatives of the objective and constraint functions with respect to the design variables. Subtle but important new terms involve the sensitivity of shape functions and their spatial derivatives. Verification and illustrative problems are solved to demonstrate the precision and capability of the method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The weak substitution method – an application of the mortar method for patch coupling in NURBS‐based isogeometric analysis

In this contribution, a mortar‐type method for the coupling of non‐conforming NURBS (Non‐Uniform Rational B‐spline) surface patches is proposed. The connection of non‐conforming patches with shared degrees of freedom requires mutual refinement, which propagates throughout the whole patch due to the tensor‐product structure of NURBS surfaces. Thus, methods to handle non‐conforming meshes are essential in NURBS‐based isogeometric analysis. The main objective of this work is to provide a simple and efficient way to couple the individual patches of complex geometrical models without altering the variational formulation. The deformations of the interface control points of adjacent patches are interrelated with a master‐slave relation. This relation is established numerically using the weak form of the equality of mutual deformations along the interface. With the help of this relation, the interface degrees of freedom of the slave patch can be condensated out of the system. A natural connection of the patches is attained without additional terms in the weak form. The proposed method is also applicable for nonlinear computations without further measures. Linear and geometrical nonlinear examples show the high accuracy and robustness of the new method. A comparison to reference results and to computations with the Lagrange multiplier method is given. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weakening the tight coupling between geometry and simulation in isogeometric analysis: From sub‐ and super‐geometric analysis to Geometry‐Independent Field approximaTion (GIFT)

This paper presents an approach to generalize the concept of isogeometric analysis by allowing different spaces for the parameterization of the computational domain and for the approximation of the solution field. The method inherits the main advantage of isogeometric analysis, ie, preserves the original exact computer‐aided design geometry (for example, given by nonuniform rational B‐splines), but allows pairing it with an approximation space, which is more suitable/flexible for analysis, for example, T‐splines, LR‐splines, (truncated) hierarchical B‐splines, and PHT‐splines. This generalization offers the advantage of adaptive local refinement without the need to reparameterize the domain, and therefore without weakening the link with the computer‐aided design model. We demonstrate the use of the method with different choices of geometry and field spaces and show that, despite the failure of the standard patch test, the optimum convergence rate is achieved for nonnested spaces.     

Nitsche’s method for two and three dimensional NURBS patch coupling

We present a Nitche’s method to couple non-conforming two and three-dimensional non uniform rational b-splines (NURBS) patches in the context of isogeometric analysis. We present results for linear elastostatics in two and and three-dimensions. The method can deal with surface-surface or volume-volume coupling, and we show how it can be used to handle heterogeneities such as inclusions. We also present preliminary results on modal analysis. This simple coupling method has the potential to increase the applicability of NURBS-based isogeometric analysis for practical applications.     

A hybrid variational‐collocation immersed method for fluid‐structure interaction using unstructured T‐splines

We present a hybrid variational‐collocation, immersed, and fully‐implicit formulation for fluid‐structure interaction (FSI) using unstructured T‐splines. In our immersed methodology, we define an Eulerian mesh on the whole computational domain and a Lagrangian mesh on the solid domain, which moves arbitrarily on top of the Eulerian mesh. Mathematically, the problem reduces to solving three equations, namely, the linear momentum balance, mass conservation, and a condition of kinematic compatibility between the Lagrangian displacement and the Eulerian velocity. We use a weighted residual approach for the linear momentum and mass conservation equations, but we discretize directly the strong form of the kinematic relation, deriving a hybrid variational‐collocation method. We use T‐splines for both the spatial discretization and the information transfer between the Eulerian mesh and the Lagrangian mesh. T‐splines offer us two main advantages against non‐uniform rational B‐splines: they can be locally refined and they are unstructured. The generalized‐α method is used for the time discretization. We validate our formulation with a common FSI benchmark problem achieving excellent agreement with the theoretical solution. An example involving a partially immersed solid is also solved. The numerical examples show how the use of T‐junctions and extraordinary nodes results in an accurate, efficient, and flexible method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An isogeometric approach to topology optimization of multi‐material and functionally graded structures

A new isogeometric density‐based approach for the topology optimization of multi‐material structures is presented. In this method, the density fields of multiple material phases are represented using the isogeometric non‐uniform rational B‐spline‐based parameterization leading to exact modeling of the geometry, removing numerical artifacts and full analytical computation of sensitivities in a cost‐effective manner. An extension of the perimeter control technique is introduced where restrictions are imposed on the perimeters of density fields of all phases. Consequently, not only can one control the complexity of the optimal design but also the minimal lengths scales of all material phases. This leads to optimal designs with significantly enhanced manufacturability and comparable performance. Unlike the common element‐wise or nodal‐based density representations, owing to higher order continuity of density fields in this method, their gradients required for perimeter control restrictions are calculated exactly without additional computational cost. The problem is formulated with constraints on either (1) volume fractions of different material phases or (2) the total mass of the structure. The proposed method is applied for the minimal compliance design of two‐dimensional structures consisting of multiple distinct materials as well as functionally graded ones. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extended isogeometric analysis based on PHT‐splines for crack propagation near inclusions

Adaptive local refinement is one of the main issues for isogeometric analysis (IGA). In this paper, an adaptive extended IGA (XIGA) approach based on polynomial splines over hierarchical T‐meshes (PHT‐splines) for modeling crack propagation is presented. The PHT‐splines overcome certain limitations of nonuniform rational B‐splines–based formulations; in particular, they make local refinements feasible. To drive the adaptive mesh refinement, we present a recovery‐based error estimator for the proposed method. The method is based on the XIGA method, in which discontinuous enrichment functions are added to the IGA approximation and this method does not require remeshing as the cracks grow. In addition, crack propagation is modeled by successive linear extensions that are determined by the stress intensity factors under linear elastic fracture mechanics. The proposed method has been used to analyze numerical examples, and the stress intensity factors results were compared with reference results. The findings demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.     

An isogeometric solid‐like shell element for nonlinear analysis

An isogeometric solid‐like shell formulation is proposed in which B‐spline basis functions are used to construct the mid‐surface of the shell. In combination with a linear Lagrange shape function in the thickness direction, this yields a complete three‐dimensional representation of the shell. The proposed shell element is implemented in a standard finite element code using Bézier extraction. The formulation is verified using different benchmark tests. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NURBS- and T-spline-based isogeometric cohesive zone modeling of interface debonding

Cohesive zone (CZ) models have long been used by the scientific community to analyze the progressive damage of materials and interfaces. In these models, non-linear relationships between tractions and relative displacements are assumed, which dictate both the work of separation per unit fracture surface and the peak stress that has to be reached for the crack formation. This contribution deals with isogeometric CZ modeling of interface debonding. The interface is discretized with generalized contact elements which account for both contact and cohesive debonding within a unified framework. The formulation is suitable for non-matching discretizations of the interacting surfaces in presence of large deformations and large relative displacements. The isogeometric discretizations are based on non uniform rational B-splines as well as analysis-suitable T-splines enabling local refinement. Conventional Lagrange polynomial discretizations are also used for comparison purposes. Some numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed formulation based on isogeometric analysis is a computationally accurate and efficient technology to solve challenging interface debonding problems in 2D and 3D.     

A geometrically exact isogeometric Kirchhoff plate: Feature‐preserving automatic meshing and C1 rational triangular Bézier spline discretizations

The analysis of the Kirchhoff plate is performed using rational Bézier triangles in isogeometric analysis coupled with a feature‐preserving automatic meshing algorithm. Isogeometric analysis employs the same basis function for geometric design as well as for numerical analysis. The proposed approach also features an automatic meshing algorithm that admits localized geometric features (eg, small geometric details and sharp corners) with high resolution. Moreover, the use of rational triangular Bézier splines for domain triangulation significantly increases the flexibility in discretizing spaces bounded by complicated nonuniform rational B‐spline curves. To raise the global continuity to C¹ for the solution of the plate bending problem, Lagrange multipliers are leveraged to impose continuity constraints. The proposed approach also manipulates the control points at domain boundaries in such a way that the geometry is exactly described. A number of numerical examples consisting of static bending and free vibration analysis of thin plates bounded by complicated nonuniform rational B‐spline curves are used to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed approach.     

The enhanced assumed strain method for the isogeometric analysis of nearly incompressible deformation of solids

Isogeometric analysis has recently become very popular for the numerical modeling of structures and fluids. Among other potential features, advantages of using a non‐uniform rational B‐splines (NURBS)‐based isogeometric analysis over the traditional finite element method include the possibility of using higher‐order polynomials for the basis functions of the approximation space, which may be easily built on a recursive (hierarchical) fashion as well as higher convergence ratio. Nevertheless, NURBS‐based isogeometric analysis suffers from the same problems depicted by other methods when it comes to reproduce isochoric deformations, that is, it shows volumetric locking, especially for low‐order basis functions. Similar remedies as those that have been proposed for the finite element method may be appropriate for integration in the NURBS‐based isogeometric analysis and some have already been tried with success. In this work, the analysis of the underlying space of incompressible deformations of a NURBS‐based isogeometric approximation is performed with the main objective of understanding the likelihood of volumetric locking. As a remedy, the enhanced assumed strain methodology is blended with the NURBS‐based isogeometric analysis to alleviate the volumetric locking associated with incompressible deformations. The solution includes a stabilization term derived directly from a penalized form of the classical Veubeke–Hu–Washizu three‐field variational principle. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A differential quadrature hierarchical finite element method and its applications to vibration and bending of Mindlin plates with curvilinear domains

A differential quadrature hierarchical finite element method (DQHFEM) is proposed by expressing the hierarchical finite element method matrices in similar form as in the differential quadrature finite element method and introducing interpolation basis on the boundary of hierarchical finite element method elements. The DQHFEM is similar as the fixed interface mode synthesis method but the DQHFEM does not need modal analysis. The DQHFEM with non‐uniform rational B‐splines elements were shown to accomplish similar destination as the isogeometric analysis. Three key points that determine the accuracy, efficiency and convergence of DQHFEM were addressed, namely, (1) the Gauss–Lobatto–Legendre points should be used as nodes, (2) the recursion formula should be used to compute high‐order orthogonal polynomials, and (3) the separation variable feature of the basis should be used to save computational cost. Numerical comparison and convergence studies of the DQHFEM were carried out by comparing the DQHFEM results for vibration and bending of Mindlin plates with available exact or highly accurate approximate results in literatures. The DQHFEM can present highly accurate results using only a few sampling points. Meanwhile, the order of the DQHFEM can be as high as needed for high‐frequency vibration analysis. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

T‐spline finite element method for the analysis of shell structures

A T‐spline surface is a nonuniform rational B‐spline (NURBS) surface with T‐junctions, and is defined by a control grid called T‐mesh. The T‐mesh is similar to a NURBS control mesh except that in a T‐mesh, a row or column of control points is allowed to terminate in the inner parametric space. This property of T‐splines makes local refinement possible. In the present study, shell formulation based on the T‐spline finite element method (FEM) is presented. Shell formulation based on NURBS or T‐splines has fundamental limitations because rotational DOFs, which are necessary in the shell formulation, cannot be defined on control points. In this study, the simple mapping scheme, in which every control point is mapped into one geometric point on the surface, is employed to eliminate the limitations. Using this mapping scheme, T‐spline FEM can be easily extended to the analysis of shells. The proposed shell formulation is verified through various benchmarking problems. This study is a part of the efforts by the authors for the integration of CAD–CAE processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Isogeometric FEM‐BEM coupled structural‐acoustic analysis of shells using subdivision surfaces

We introduce a coupled finite and boundary element formulation for acoustic scattering analysis over thin‐shell structures. A triangular Loop subdivision surface discretisation is used for both geometry and analysis fields. The Kirchhoff‐Love shell equation is discretised with the finite element method and the Helmholtz equation for the acoustic field with the boundary element method. The use of the boundary element formulation allows the elegant handling of infinite domains and precludes the need for volumetric meshing. In the present work, the subdivision control meshes for the shell displacements and the acoustic pressures have the same resolution. The corresponding smooth subdivision basis functions have the C¹ continuity property required for the Kirchhoff‐Love formulation and are highly efficient for the acoustic field computations. We verify the proposed isogeometric formulation through a closed‐form solution of acoustic scattering over a thin‐shell sphere. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of the proposed approach to handle complex geometries with arbitrary topology that provides an integrated isogeometric design and analysis workflow for coupled structural‐acoustic analysis of shells.