The use of finite element techniques for calculating the dynamic response of structures to moving loads

This paper presents a technique for using standard finite element packages for analysing the dynamic response of structures to time-variant moving loads. To illustrate the method and for validation purposes, the technique is first applied to a simply supported beam subject to a single load moving along the beam. Finally, it is applied to the problem that initiated the work: calculation of the effects of two-dimensional motion of the trolley on the response of the base structure of a mobile gantry crane model.     

移动荷载作用下非线性基础梁内共振分析

研究了有限长弹性基础上梁在移动载荷作用下的内共振响应.建立了移动集中力激励的非线性粘弹性基础支承的有限长Euler-Bernoulli梁模型,并对非线性偏微分方程进行离散,在第三阶固有频率与第一阶固有频率成三倍关系时,采用多尺度方法导出了3:1内共振的可解性条件,研究了有无移动载荷时基础阻尼和非线性刚度对梁内共振条件下自由振动响应和受迫振动响应的影响规律.在此基础上,应用Lyapunov第一方法确定了系统的稳定性条件.     

基于移动有限元法的裂纹梁振动分析

采用移动有限元法和局部柔度法对移动质量作用下含裂纹简支梁进行了振动计算分析.计算考虑了裂纹和移动质量的相对位置对梁固有频率的影响,以及移动质量在不同位置、速度情况下对裂纹梁的动力响应的影响.结果分析表明,裂纹与移动质量的存在会使得梁的动态位移有不同程度的增大,且随着移动质量位置和裂纹位置的改变会使得梁的固有频率变小.     

浅水动边界问题的位移法模拟

为精确模拟浅水波非线性演化过程中的动边界,提出一种基于位移的Hamilton变分原理,并进而导出一种基于位移的浅水方程（Shallow Water Equation based on Displacement,SWE D）.SWE D以位移为基本未知量,可以精确满足动边界处的零水深要求并精确捕捉动态边界位置,且解具有协调性.在Hamilton变分原理的框架下,分别采用有限元和保辛积分算法对该浅水方程进行空间离散和时间积分,可有效地处理不平水底情况,保证对非线性演化进行长时间仿真的精度.数值算例表明该方法适用于浅水动边界问题的数值模拟.     

Series method for analyzing 3D nonlinear torsional divergence of suspension bridges

A simplified method for analyzing 3D nonlinear torsional divergence of suspension bridges is proposed in this paper. The geometric nonlinearity in the deflection theory and the three components of displacement-dependent wind loads are taken into account in the method. This method is a two-step process: the calculation of deflection response under the displacement-dependent wind loads, and the calculation of the critical wind velocity. The response under the displacement-dependent wind loads is calculated from Fourier series. The critical wind velocity is calculated by means of an iterative method. It is found that a small number of iteration cycles and Fourier coefficients are sufficient enough for convergence. The advantages of the proposed method are showed by a comparing the numerical results of this method with those obtained from the linear method and nonlinear finite element methods.     

A moving mesh approach to an ice sheet model

A moving mesh approach to the numerical modelling of problems governed by nonlinear time-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs) is applied to the numerical modelling of glaciers driven by ice diffusion and accumulation/ablation. The primary focus of the paper is to demonstrate the numerics of the moving mesh approach applied to a standard parabolic PDE model in reproducing the main features of glacier flow, including tracking the moving boundary (snout). A secondary aim is to investigate waiting time conditions under which the snout moves.     

Nonlinear dynamic analysis of frame structures

A geometrically nonlinear dynamic analysis method is presented for frames which may be subjected to finite rotations in three-dimensional space. The proposed method is based on the static geometrically nonlinear analysis method reported by Yoshida et al., in which the governing incremental equilibrium equation is represented by the coordinates after the deformation themselves rather than conventional displacements. The governing dynamic equilibrium equation for each element is obtained from the static equation by adding the inertia term. In the solution procedure, a modified Steffensen's iteration process is introduced and combined with the two-step approximation and iterative correction solution procedure developed for static analysis. A numerical example of a curved cantilever beam under lateral loads indicates the effectiveness of the proposed method in cases with three-dimensional finite rotations. Forced vibration analyses of a two-hinged shallow arch are conducted under centrally concentrated loading with several loading amplitudes. The resulting dynamic buckling load is compared with that given by Gregory and Plaut in 1982, who used Galerkin method, and shows good agreement.     

Discrete element analysis of dynamic response of Timoshenko beams under moving mass

In this paper, dynamic response of Timoshenko beams under moving mass is analyzed using a numerical method called discrete element technique (DET). In DET, continuous flexible beam elements are replaced by a system of rigid bars and flexible joints. We present a DET model of Timoshenko beams under moving mass. The results of our DET model are compared with the solutions obtained by PAFEC (programs for automatic finite element calculations) for Euler–Bernoulli beams and finite difference method for Timoshenko beams. The effects of beam thickness and moving mass velocity on dynamic response of beams under moving mass are numerically studied.     

移动质量-梁振动的时空有限元法数值分析

为了获得移动质量沿梁匀速运动的系统动态响应,建立了时空有限元数值求解模型.考虑移动质量惯性项,得到移动质量-梁时变系统的动力学方程.应用时空有限元法.得到了移动集中质量作用下Bernoulli-Euler梁离散单元的质量矩阵、刚度矩阵.与Newmark-β法、Wilson-θ法计算结果进行比较,时空有限无法计算梁的动态响应的精度更高.     

A finite element immersed boundary method for fluid flow around moving objects

This paper presents the extension of a recently proposed immersed boundary method to the solution of the flow around moving objects. Solving the flow around objects with complex shapes may involve extensive meshing work that has to be repeated each time a change in the geometry is needed. Mesh generation and solution interpolation between successive grids may be costly and introduce errors if the geometry changes significantly during the course of the computation. These drawbacks are avoided when the solution algorithm can tackle grids that do not fit the shape of immersed objects. This work presents an extension of our recently developed finite element Immersed Boundary (IB) method to transient applications involving the movement of immersed fluid/solid interfaces. As for the fixed solid boundary case, the method produces solutions of the flow satisfying accurately boundary conditions imposed on the surface of immersed bodies. The proposed algorithm enriches the finite element discretization of interface elements with additional degrees of freedom, the latter being eliminated at element level. The boundary of immersed objects is defined using a time dependent level-set function. Solutions are shown for various flow problems and the accuracy of the present approach is measured with respect to solutions on body-conforming meshes.     

Dynamic response of plate systems by combining finite differences, finite elements and laplace transform

A numerical method for the determination of the dynamic response of large rectangular plates or plate systems to lateral loads is proposed. The method is a combination of the finite difference method, the finite element method and the Laplace transform with respect to time. The plate system is considered as an assemblage of a small number of big rectangular superelements whose stiffness matrices are derived with the aid of the finite difference method in the Laplace transform domain. These superelements are then used to formulate and solve the problem by the finite element method in the transformed domain. The dynamic response is finally obtained by a numerical inversion of the transformed solution. External viscous or internal viscoelastic damping as well as the elastic foundation interaction effect can easily be taken into account. The method is illustrated and its merits demonstrated by means of numerical examples.     

基于ABAQUS的沥青路面有限元仿真模型研究

阐述沥青路面水损坏机理,介绍ABAQUS有限元仿真软件,利用ABAQUS非线性动态分析能力建立了沥青路面渗流场、应力场三维有限元数值模型,对孔隙水压力、三向应力及竖向沉降的发生及变化规律进行探讨,并在某高速公路上建立试验段进行试验验证。由算例分析可知,用ABAQUS有限元软件模拟沥青路面降雨条件下的渗流场及移动荷载下的应力场是可行的,效果良好。     

Flexural analysis of reinforced fibrous concrete members using the finite element method

A numerical procedure based on the finite element method is developed for the geometric and material nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete members containing steel fibres and subjected to monotonic loads. The proposed procedure is capable of tracing the displacements, strains, stresses, crack propagation, and member end actions of these structures up to their ultimate load ranges. A frame element with a composite layer system is used to model the structure. An iterative scheme based on Newton-Raphson's method is employed for the nonlinear solution algorithm. The constitutive models of the nonlinear material behaviour are presented to take into account the nonlinear stress-strain relationships, cracking, crushing of concrete, debonding and pull-out of the steel fibres, and yielding of the reinforcement. The geometric nonlinearity due to the geometrical change of both the structure and its elements are also represented. The numerical solution of a number of reinforced fibrous concrete members are compared with published experimental test results and showed good agreement.     

Flow field computation for the high voltage gas blast circuit breaker with the moving boundary

We studied the gas dynamics for the ideal gas in the simplified high voltage (HV) gas blast circuit breaker with the moving boundary. The piston and the electric contact are moving. Since the boundary is moving, it is difficult for the ordinary finite difference (FD) method or the finite element (FE) method to compute the solution. For the purpose of numerical simplicity and efficiency, we introduced an upwind meshfree scheme which is an excellent scheme for the time varying domain. Despite the low coding and computational cost, the numerical simulation is successfully conducted. Our method is even more efficient when considering a three-dimensional computation with a moving boundary.     

A novel immersed boundary procedure for flow and heat simulations with moving boundary

This article describes a novel immersed boundary procedure for computing the flow and heat transfer problems with moving and complex boundary. Although the immersed boundary techniques have been successfully implemented to these flow and heat simulations, a frequently encountered drawback of this method is the relatively low accuracy proximate to the boundary due to the spreading of forcing function or the interpolation scheme. In this study, we propose a moving-grid process under the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian framework to reduce the numerical diffusion near the immersed boundary. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are discretized spatially using unstructured finite element method, and advanced temporally by an operator-splitting scheme. The methodology is validated by the simulations of flow induced by an oscillating cylinder in a free stream. The capability of the proposed method is further demonstrated by good predictions of flow passing the rotating fan in a channel and also flow driven by two independent rotating fans in a circular cavity.     

A combined MAP and Bayesian scheme for finite data and/or moving horizon estimation

Finite data and moving horizon estimation schemes are increasingly being used for a range of practical problems. However, both schemes suffer from potential conceptual difficulties. In the case of finite data, most of the methods in common use, excluding Bayesian strategies, depend upon asymptotic results. On the other hand, in the case of moving horizon estimation, there are two associated problems, namely (i) estimation error quantification is typically not available as a part of the solution and (ii) one needs to provide some form of prior state estimate (the so-called arrival cost). The current paper proposes a combined MAP–Bayesian scheme which, inter alia, addresses the finite data and moving horizon problems described above. The scheme combines MAP and Bayesian strategies. The efficacy of the method is illustrated via numerical examples.     

Incompressible flow computations over moving boundary using a novel upwind method

In this paper a novel method for simulating unsteady incompressible viscous flow over a moving boundary is described. The numerical model is based on a 2D Navier–Stokes incompressible flow in artificial compressibility formulation with Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian approach for moving grid and dual time stepping approach for time accurate discretization. A higher order unstructured finite volume scheme, based on a Harten Lax and van Leer with Contact (HLLC) type Riemann solver for convective fluxes, developed for steady incompressible flow in artificial compressibility formulation by Mandal and Iyer (AIAA paper 2009-3541), is extended to solve unsteady flows over moving boundary. Viscous fluxes are discretized in a central differencing manner based on Coirier’s diamond path. An algorithm based on interpolation with radial basis functions is used for grid movements. The present numerical scheme is validated for an unsteady channel flow with a moving indentation. The present numerical results are found to agree well with experimental results reported in literature.     

Determination of a control parameter in a one-dimensional parabolic equation using the moving least-square approximation

In this paper the approximation of moving least-square (MLS) is used for finding the solution of a one-dimensional parabolic inverse problem with source control parameter. Comparing with other numerical methods based on meshes such as finite difference method, finite element method and boundary element method, etc. the MLS approximation has merits of simpler numerical procedures, lower computation cost and arbitrary nodes. The result of a numerical example is presented.     

A Moving Grid Finite Element Method for the Simulation of Pattern Generation by Turing Models on Growing Domains

Numerical techniques for moving meshes are many and varied. In this paper we present a novel application of a moving grid finite element method applied to biological problems related to pattern formation where the mesh movement is prescribed through a specific definition to mimic the growth that is observed in nature. Through the use of a moving grid finite element technique, we present numerical computational results illustrating how period doubling behaviour occurs as the domain doubles in size.