SGBEM with Lagrange multipliers applied to elastic domain decomposition problems with curved interfaces using non‐matching meshes

An original approach to the solution of linear elastic domain decomposition problems by the symmetric Galerkin boundary element method is developed. The approach is based on searching for the saddle‐point of a new potential energy functional with Lagrange multipliers. The interfaces can be either straight or curved, open or closed. The two coupling conditions, equilibrium and compatibility, along an interface are fulfilled in a weak sense by means of Lagrange multipliers (interface displacements and tractions), which enables non‐matching meshes to be used at both sides of interfaces between subdomains. The accuracy and robustness of the method is tested by several numerical examples, where the numerical results are compared with the analytical solution of the solved problems, and the convergence rates of two error norms are evaluated for h‐refinements of matching and non‐matching boundary element meshes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Imposing Dirichlet boundary conditions in hierarchical Cartesian meshes by means of stabilized Lagrange multipliers

The use of Cartesian meshes independent of the geometry has some advantages over the traditional meshes used in the finite element method. The main advantage is that their use together with an appropriate hierarchical data structure reduces the computational cost of the finite element analysis. This improvement is based on the substitution of the traditional mesh generation process by an optimized procedure for intersecting the Cartesian mesh with the boundary of the domain and the use efficient solvers based on the hierarchical data structure. One major difficulty associated to the use of Cartesian grids is the fact that the mesh nodes do not, in general, lie over the boundary of the domain, increasing the difficulty to impose Dirichlet boundary conditions. In this paper, Dirichlet boundary conditions are imposed by means of the Lagrange multipliers technique. A new functional has been added to the initial formulation of the problem that has the effect of stabilizing the problem. The technique here presented allows for a simple definition of the Lagrange multipliers field that even allow us to directly condense the degrees of freedom of the Lagrange multipliers at element level. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An approach to the connection between subdomains with non‐matching meshes for transient mechanical analysis

This paper describes a general method for coupling non‐matching linear finite element meshes in transient dynamic analysis. We propose a method based on Schur's dual formulation whose main advantage is to provide equilibrium as well as kinematic continuity throughout the interface. The essence of our work lies in the particular discretization of the space of Lagrange multipliers and in the validation of the method through two‐ and three‐dimensional static calculations as well as two‐dimensional dynamic calculations. An example is also presented and the results are compared to those of the mortar method. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Free and Forced Vibrations of a Segmented Bar by a Meshless Local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) Formulation

We use the meshless local Bubnov–Galerkin (MLPG6) formulation to analyze free and forced vibrations of a segmented bar. Three different techniques are employed to satisfy the continuity of the axial stress at the interface between two materials: Lagrange multipliers, jump functions, and modified moving least square basis functions with discontinuous derivatives. The essential boundary conditions are satisfied in all cases by the method of Lagrange multipliers. The related mixed semidiscrete formulations are shown to be stable, and optimal in the sense that the ellipticity and the inf-sup (Babuška-Brezzi) conditions are satisfied. Numerical results obtained for a bimaterial bar are compared with those from the analytical, and the finite element methods. The monotonic convergence of first two natural frequencies, first three mode shapes, and a static solution in the L ², and H ¹ norms is shown. The relative error in the numerical solution for a transient problem is also very small.     

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.     

Elimination of spurious static modes in meshes of hybrid compatible triangular and tetrahedral finite elements

In the assumed displacement, or primal, hybrid finite element method, the requirements of continuity of displacements across the sides are regarded as constraints, imposed using Lagrange multipliers. In this paper, such a formulation for linear elasticity, in which the polynomial approximation functions are not associated with nodes, is presented. Elements with any number of sides may be easily used to create meshes with irregular vertices, when performing a non‐uniform h‐refinement. Meshes of non‐uniform degree may be easily created, when performing an hp‐refinement. The occurrence of spurious static modes in meshes of triangular elements, when compatibility is strongly enforced, is discussed. An algorithm for the automatic selection, based on the topology of a mesh of triangular elements, of the sides in which to decrease the degree of the approximation functions, in order to eliminate all these spurious modes and preserve compatibility, is presented. A similar discussion is presented for the occurrence of spurious static modes in meshes of tetrahedral elements. An algorithm, based on heuristic criteria, that succeeded in eliminating these spurious modes and preserving compatibility in all the meshes of tetrahedral elements of uniform degree that were tested, is also presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fast BEM–FEM mortar coupling for acoustic–structure interaction

A coupling algorithm based on Lagrange multipliers is proposed for the simulation of structure–acoustic field interaction. Finite plate elements are coupled to a Galerkin boundary element formulation of the acoustic domain. The interface pressure is interpolated as a Lagrange multiplier, thus, allowing the coupling of non‐matching grids. The resulting saddle‐point problem is solved by an approximate Uzawa‐type scheme in which the matrix–vector products of the boundary element operators are evaluated efficiently by the fast multipole boundary element method. The algorithm is demonstrated on the example of a cavity‐backed elastic panel. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpolation with restrictions between finite element meshes for flow problems in an ALE setting

The need for remeshing when computing flow problems in domains suffering large deformations has motivated the implementation of a tool that allows the proper transmission of information between finite element meshes. Because the Lagrangian projection of results from one mesh to another is a dissipative method, a new conservative interpolation method has been developed. A series of constraints, such as the conservation of mass or energy, are applied to the interpolated arrays through Lagrange multipliers in an error minimization problem, so that the resulting array satisfies these physical properties while staying as close as possible to the original interpolated values in the L² norm. Unlike other conservative interpolation methods that require a considerable effort in mesh generation and modification, the proposed formulation is mesh independent and is only based on the physical properties of the field being interpolated. Moreover, the performed corrections are neither coupled with the main calculation nor with the interpolation itself, for which reason the computational cost is very low. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elasto–acoustic and acoustic–acoustic coupling on non‐matching grids

Flexible discretization techniques for the approximative solution of coupled wave propagation problems are investigated, focussing on aero–acoustic and elasto–acoustic coupling. In particular, the advantages of using non‐matching grids are presented, when one subregion has to be resolved by a substantially finer grid than the other subregion. For the elasto–acoustic coupling, the problem formulation remains essentially the same as for the matching situation, while for the aero–acoustic coupling, the formulation is enhanced with Lagrange multipliers within the framework of mortar finite element methods. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the flexibility and applicability of the approach. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A particle‐based moving interface method (PMIM) for modeling the large deformation of boundaries in soft matter systems

The mechanics of the interaction between a fluid and a soft interface undergoing large deformations appear in many places, such as in biological systems or industrial processes. We present an Eulerian approach that describes the mechanics of an interface and its interactions with a surrounding fluid via the so‐called Navier boundary condition. The interface is modeled as a curvilinear surface with arbitrary mechanical properties across which discontinuities in pressure and tangential fluid velocity can be accounted for using a modified version of the extended finite element method. The coupling between the interface and the fluid is enforced through the use of Lagrange multipliers. The tracking and evolution of the interface are then handled in a Lagrangian step with the grid‐based particle method. We show that this method is ideal to describe large membrane deformations and Navier boundary conditions on the interface with velocity/pressure discontinuities. The validity of the model is assessed by evaluating the numerical convergence for a axisymmetrical flow past a spherical capsule with various surface properties. We show the effect of slip length on the shear flow past a two‐dimensional capsule and simulate the compression of an elastic membrane lying on a viscous fluid substrate. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An augmented Lagrangian approach to essential boundary conditions in meshless methods

The problem of boundary conditions enforcement in meshless methods has been solved in the literature by several approaches. In the present paper, the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximation is introduced in the total potential energy functional for the elastic solid problem and an augmented Lagrangian term is added to satisfy essential boundary conditions. The method can be easily extended to any kind of constraint for the approximation variables. The solution is found by iterating alternatively on approximation variables and on Lagrange multipliers. The advantages of the proposed formulation are: (a) the ability to deal with the same approach with any constraint type; (b) the number of the variables is not increased by the Lagrange multipliers; (c) the Hessian of the functional w.r.t. the approximation variables is banded, well conditioned and strictly positive definite and (d) the cost of the augmented Lagrangian iteration is a very small fraction of the global computing time. Therefore, the augmented Lagrangian element‐free (ALEF) approach represents an attractive and very efficient numerical tool, not only for the boundary conditions enforcement, but also for the solution of interface and non‐linear problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A localized mixed‐hybrid method for imposing interfacial constraints in the extended finite element method (XFEM)

The paper proposes an approach for the imposition of constraints along moving or fixed immersed interfaces in the context of the extended finite element method. An enriched approximation space enables consistent representation of strong and weak discontinuities in the solution fields along arbitrarily‐shaped material interfaces using an unfitted background mesh. The use of Lagrange multipliers or penalty methods is circumvented by a localized mixed hybrid formulation of the model equations. In a defined region in the vicinity of the interface, the original problem is re‐stated in its auxiliary formulation. The availability of the auxiliary variable enables the consideration of a variety of interface constraints in the weak form. The contribution discusses the weak imposition of Dirichlet‐ and Neumann‐type interface conditions as well as continuity requirements not fulfilled a priori by the enriched approximation. The properties of the proposed approach applied to two‐dimensional linear scalar‐ and vector‐valued elliptic problems are investigated by studying the convergence behavior. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A continuation method for rigid‐cohesive fracture in a discontinuous Galerkin finite element setting

An energy minimization formulation of initially rigid cohesive fracture is introduced within a discontinuous Galerkin finite element setting with Nitsche flux. The finite element discretization is directly applied to an energy functional, whose term representing the energy stored in the interfaces is nondifferentiable at the origin. Unlike finite element implementations of extrinsic cohesive models that do not operate directly on the energy potential, activation of interfaces happens automatically when a certain level of stress encoded in the interface potential is reached. Thus, numerical issues associated with an external activation criterion observed in the previous literature are effectively avoided. Use of the Nitsche flux avoids the introduction of Lagrange multipliers as additional unknowns. Implicit time stepping is performed using the Newmark scheme, for which a dynamic potential is developed to properly incorporate momentum. A continuation strategy is employed for the treatment of nondifferentiability and the resulting sequence of smooth nonconvex problems is solved using the trust region minimization algorithm. Robustness of the proposed method and its capabilities in modeling quasistatic and dynamic problems are shown through several numerical examples.     

Investigations on boundary temperature control analysis considering a moving body based on the adjoint variable and the fictitious domain finite element methods

This paper presents an examination of moving‐boundary temperature control problems. With a moving‐boundary problem, a finite‐element mesh is generated at each time step to express the position of the boundary. On the other hand, if an overlapped domain, that is, comprising foreground and background meshes, is prepared, the moving boundary problem can be solved without mesh generation at each time step by using the fictitious domain method. In this study, boundary temperature control problems with a moving boundary are formulated using the finite element, the adjoint variable, and the fictitious domain methods, and several numerical experiments are carried out. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A spline wavelet finite‐element method in structural mechanics

The wavelet‐based methods are powerful to analyse the field problems with changes in gradients and singularities due to the excellent multi‐resolution properties of wavelet functions. Wavelet‐based finite elements are often constructed in the wavelet space where field displacements are expressed as a product of wavelet functions and wavelet coefficients. When a complex structural problem is analysed, the interface between different elements and boundary conditions cannot be easily treated as in the case of conventional finite‐element methods (FEMs). A new wavelet‐based FEM in structural mechanics is proposed in the paper by using the spline wavelets, in which the formulation is developed in a similar way of conventional displacement‐based FEM. The spline wavelet functions are used as the element displacement interpolation functions and the shape functions are expressed by wavelets. The detailed formulations of typical spline wavelet elements such as plane beam element, in‐plane triangular element, in‐plane rectangular element, tetrahedral solid element, and hexahedral solid element are derived. The numerical examples have illustrated that the proposed spline wavelet finite‐element formulation achieves a high numerical accuracy and fast convergence rate. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hybrid finite element model for multilayered plates

We present a finite element model for multilayered plates, based on a primal-hybrid variational formulation. Namely, each layer is analyzed as it were a lonely structure, and the displacement continuity is imposed from one layer to the other by means of Lagrange multipliers. Then, a Mindlin-like displacement field is assumed for any layer; the resulting continuous problem is proven to be well-posed under rather general hypotheses. Finally, a finite element model is deduced, using a very simple scheme (piecewise linear approximation for the displacement components and piecewise constant Lagrange multipliers). The numerical results assess the good performance of the proposed model.     

Analysis of the second Piola-Kirchhoff stress in nonlinear thick and thin structures using exact geometry SaS solid-shell elements

This paper presents the finite rotation exact geometry four-node solid-shell element using the sampling surfaces (SaS) method. The SaS formulation is based on choosing inside the shell N SaS parallel to the middle surface to introduce the displacements of these surfaces as basic shell unknowns. Such choice of unknowns with the consequent use of Lagrange polynomials of degree N–1 in the through-thickness distributions of displacements, strains and stresses leads to a robust higher-order shell formulation. The SaS are located at only Chebyshev polynomial nodes that make possible to minimize uniformly the error due to Lagrange interpolation. The proposed hybrid-mixed four-node solid-shell element is based on the Hu-Washizu variational principle and is completely free of shear and membrane locking. The tangent stiffness matrix is evaluated through efficient 3D analytical integration and its explicit form is given. As a result, the proposed exact geometry solid-shell element exhibits a superior performance in the case of coarse meshes and allows the use of load increments, which are much larger than possible with existing displacement-based solid-shell elements.     

Stable linear traction‐based equilibrium elements for elastostatics: Direct access to linear statically admissible stresses and quadratic kinematically admissible displacements for dual analysis

This paper establishes the basic framework for the traction‐based equilibrium finite element method (traction‐based EFEM). Stable linear traction‐based equilibrium elements are formulated using the macro‐element technique. An arbitrary internal macro‐point renders a linear triangular element stable, while a stable linear quadrilateral element requires the macro‐point to locate at the intersection of diagonals. Then, a Lagrangian formulation is utilized to minimize the complementary energy under equilibrium constraints, and consequently, tractions as well as additional Lagrange multipliers are obtained. Linear statically admissible (SA) stresses are thereafter acquired from tractions. As for Lagrange multipliers, they turn out to coincide well with rigid‐body displacements in each element after simple modifications. With rigid‐body displacements and linear tractions known, quadratic displacements and the kinematically admissible (KA) counterpart thereof by recovery are obtainable. The knowledge of both SA stresses and KA displacements renders dual analysis directly applicable. That is to say, the traction‐based EFEM is featured with direct access to strict upper and lower bounds of strain energy and other quantities of interest. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stable Lagrange multiplier space for stiff interface conditions within the extended finite element method

This paper introduces a new algorithm to define a stable Lagrange multiplier space to impose stiff interface conditions within the context of the extended finite element method. In contrast to earlier approaches, we do not work with an interior penalty formulation as, e.g. for Nitsche techniques, but impose the constraints weakly in terms of Lagrange multipliers. Roughly speaking a stable and optimal discrete Lagrange multiplier space has to satisfy two criteria: a best approximation property and a uniform inf–sup condition. Owing to the fact that the interface does not match the edges of the mesh, the choice of a good discrete Lagrange multiplier space is not trivial. Here we propose a new algorithm for the local construction of the Lagrange multiplier space and show that a uniform inf–sup condition is satisfied. A counterexample is also presented, i.e. the inf–sup constant depends on the mesh‐size and degenerates as it tends to zero. Numerical results in two‐dimensional confirm the theoretical ones. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.