Shock spectra and damage boundary curves for hyperbolic tangent cushioning system and their important features

By applying the method suggested in the author's previous paper, shock spectra and damage boundary curves are investigated for a hyperbolic tangent cushioning system under the action of rectangular, half‐sine, terminal‐peak saw‐tooth and initial‐peak saw‐tooth acceleration pulses, respectively. The shock spectrum is affected not only by the damping parameter but also by the dimensionless pulse peak, and both the damping parameter and the dimensionless fragility influence the damage boundary curve for this cushioning system. Some important features of a hyperbolic tangent cushioning system that differs from a tangent cushioning system are discussed in detail. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On evaluation of product dropping damage

As an extension of the classical damage boundary curve in the case of product dropping shock, the concept of a dropping damage boundary curve for linear and non‐linear packaging system to evaluate the dropping damage of product is developed in this paper. The dropping damage boundary curves are given for linear and hyperbolic tangent packaging systems with different damping. For a linear packaging system the dropping damage of a product is determined only by the natural frequency of the corresponding packaging system without damping and the dropping shock velocity of package except the system damping, and they compose the basic evaluation quantities of product dropping damage. For a non‐linear hyperbolic tangent packaging system, the system parameter and the dimensionless dropping shock velocity are two basic quantities in the evaluation of product dropping damage. It should be emphasized that the dimensionless dropping shock velocity is related not only to the dropping height of package box but also to the system parameter integration. This is the important feature differentiating a non‐linear packaging system from a linear one. The influence of system damping on the dropping damage boundary curves is also discussed. This concept and the results have important value in the design of cushioning packaging. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relaxation iterative algorithms for solving cathodic protection systems with non‐linear polarization curves

This paper discusses the calculation of potential distribution of impressed cathodic protection (CP) models with non‐linear polarization curves. We propose a relaxation iterative algorithm for the non‐linear problem and prove both theoretically and numerically that this iterative sequence is convergent for any physical polarization curves. This feature is of significant importance in developing a computer code for the design of CP systems. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity and optimization for shape and non‐linear boundary conditions in thermal boundary elements

This paper is concerned with the minimization of functionals of the form ∫_Γ(b) f( h ,T( b, h )) dΓ( b ) where variation of the vector b modifies the shape of the domain Ω on which the potential problem, ?²T=0, is defined. The vector h is dependent on non‐linear boundary conditions that are defined on the boundary Γ. The method proposed is founded on the material derivative adjoint variable method traditionally used for shape optimization. Attention is restricted to problems where the shape of Γ is described by a boundary element mesh, where nodal co‐ordinates are used in the definition of b . Propositions are presented to show how design sensitivities for the modified functional ∫_Γ(b) f( h ,T ( b, h )) dΓ( b ) +∫_Ω(b) λ( b, h ) ?²T( b, h ) dΩ( b ) can be derived more readily with knowledge of the form of the adjoint function λ determined via non‐shape variations. The methods developed in the paper are applied to a problem in pressure die casting, where the objective is the determination of cooling channel shapes for optimum cooling. The results of the method are shown to be highly convergent. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transient non‐linear heat conduction–radiation problems—a boundary element formulation

A novel boundary‐only formulation for transient temperature fields in bodies of non‐linear material properties and arbitrary non‐linear boundary conditions has been developed. The option for self‐irradiating boundaries has been included in the formulation. Heat conduction equation has been partially linearized by Kirchhoff's transformation. The result has been discretized by the dual reciprocity boundary element method. The integral equation of heat radiation has been discretized by the standard boundary element method. The coupling of the resulting two sets of equations has been accomplished by static condensation of the radiative heat fluxes arising in both sets. The final set of ordinary differential equations has been solved using the Runge–Kutta solver with automatic time step adjustment. The algorithm proved to be robust and stable. Numerical examples are included. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of product dropping damage based on key component

This paper analyses the packaging system of a product as a two‐degrees‐of‐freedom system, one degree for the key component and the other for the main part of the product. The dropping damage boundary curve was developed based on the key component for linear and non‐linear packaging systems to predict product damage as a result of drop impacts. The dynamic models of two‐degrees‐of‐freedom dropping shock were obtained. For a linear packaging system, the dropping response of the key component was determined by the dimensionless dropping shock velocity, the frequency parameter ratio, the mass ratio and the damping parameters; for a non‐linear system, the system parameter was also used. The frequency parameter ratio of the packaging system and the dimensionless dropping shock velocity were selected as the basic evaluation quantities for the dropping damage of the key component. As an example, the dropping damage boundary curves based on the key component were given for linear and tangent packaging systems. The influence of related parameters such as the mass ratio, the system parameter and the damping parameters on the dropping damage boundary curve was investigated. To verify the theory, experiments were designed and completed. Experiment results for both linear and tangent packaging systems were consistent with the theory suggested in this paper. These results have important value not only for the design of cushioning packaging but also for the improvement of products. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new hybrid method for solving linear–non‐linear systems of equations

This paper presents a new method for solving any combination of linear–non‐linear equations. The method is based on the separation of linear equations in terms of some selected variables from the non‐linear ones. The linear group is solved by means of any method suitable for the linear system. This operation needs no iteration. The non‐linear group, however, is solved by an iteration technique based on a new formula using the Taylor series expansion. The method has been described and demonstrated in several examples of analytical systems with very good results. The new method needs the initial approximations for non‐linear variables only. This requires far less computation than the Newton–Raphson method. The method also has a very good convergence rate. The proposed method is most beneficial for engineering systems that very often involve a large number of linear equations with limited number of non‐linear equations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical modelling of non‐linear electroelasticity

The numerical modelling of non‐linear electroelasticity is presented in this work. Based on well‐established basic equations of non‐linear electroelasticity a variational formulation is built and the finite element method is employed to solve the non‐linear electro‐mechanical coupling problem. Numerical examples are presented to show the accuracy of the implemented formulation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A refined non‐linear non‐conforming triangular plate/shell element

A refined non‐conforming triangular plate/shell element for geometric non‐linear analysis of plates/shells using the total Lagrangian/updated Lagrangian approach is constructed in this paper based on the refined non‐conforming element method for geometric non‐linear analysis. The Allman's triangular plane element with vertex degrees of freedom and the refined triangular plate‐bending element RT9 are used to construct the present element. Numerical examples demonstrate that the accuracy of the new element is quite high in the geometric non‐linear analysis of plates/shells. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On non‐linear transformations for accurate numerical evaluation of weakly singular boundary integrals

This paper presents a study of the performance of the non‐linear co‐ordinate transformations in the numerical integration of weakly singular boundary integrals. A comparison of the smoothing property, numerical convergence and accuracy of the available non‐linear polynomial transformations is presented for two‐dimensional problems. Effectiveness of generalized transformations valid for any type and location of singularity has been investigated. It is found that weakly singular integrals are more efficiently handled with transformations valid for end‐point singularities by partitioning the element at the singular point. Further, transformations which are excellent for CPV integrals are not as accurate for weakly singular integrals. Connection between the maximum permissible order of polynomial transformations and precision of computations has also been investigated; cubic transformation is seen to be the optimum choice for single precision, and quartic or quintic one, for double precision computations. A new approach which combines the method of singularity subtraction with non‐linear transformation has been proposed. This composite approach is found to be more accurate, efficient and robust than the singularity subtraction method and the non‐linear transformation methods. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Non‐local boundary integral formulation for softening damage

A strongly non‐local boundary element method (BEM) for structures with strain‐softening damage treated by an integral‐type operator is developed. A plasticity model with yield limit degradation is implemented in a boundary element program using the initial‐stress boundary element method with iterations in each load increment. Regularized integral representations and boundary integral equations are used to avoid the difficulties associated with numerical computation of singular integrals. A numerical example is solved to verify the physical correctness and efficiency of the proposed formulation. The example consists of a softening strip perforated by a circular hole, subjected to tension. The strain‐softening damage is described by a plasticity model with a negative hardening parameter. The local formulation is shown to exhibit spurious sensitivity to cell mesh refinements, localization of softening damage into a band of single‐cell width, and excessive dependence of energy dissipation on the cell size. By contrast, the results for the non‐local theory are shown to be free of these physically incorrect features. Compared to the classical non‐local finite element approach, an additional advantage is that the internal cells need to be introduced only within the small zone (or band) in which the strain‐softening damage tends to localize within the structure. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local boundary value problems for the error in FE approximation of non‐linear diffusion systems

In this work we investigate the a posteriori error estimation for a class of non‐linear, multicomponent diffusion operators, which includes the Stefan–Maxwell equations. The local error indicators for the global error are based on local boundary value problems, which are chosen to approximate either the global residual of the finite element approximation or the global linearized error equation. Using representative numerical examples, it is shown that the error indicators based on the latter approach are more accurate for estimating the global error for this problem class as the problem becomes more non‐linear, and can even produce better adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). In addition, we propose a new local error indicator for the error in output functionals that is accurate, inexpensive to compute, and is suitable for AMR, as demonstrated by numerical examples. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discontinuous Galerkin methods for non‐linear elasticity

This paper presents the formulation and a partial analysis of a class of discontinuous Galerkin methods for quasistatic non‐linear elasticity problems. These methods are endowed with several salient features. The equations that define the numerical scheme are the Euler–Lagrange equations of a one‐field variational principle, a trait that provides an elegant and simple derivation of the method. In consonance with general discontinuous Galerkin formulations, it is possible within this framework to choose different numerical fluxes. Numerical evidence suggests the absence of locking at near‐incompressible conditions in the finite deformations regime when piecewise linear elements are adopted. Finally, a conceivable surprising characteristic is that, as demonstrated with numerical examples, these methods provide a given accuracy level for a comparable, and often lower, computational cost than conforming formulations. Stabilization is occasionally needed for discontinuous Galerkin methods in linear elliptic problems. In this paper we propose a sufficient condition for the stability of each linearized non‐linear elastic problem that naturally includes material and geometric parameters; the latter needed to account for buckling. We then prove that when a similar condition is satisfied by the discrete problem, the method provides stable linearized deformed configurations upon the addition of a standard stabilization term. We conclude by discussing the complexity of the implementation, and propose a computationally efficient approach that avoids looping over both elements and element faces. Several numerical examples are then presented in two and three dimensions that illustrate the performance of a selected discontinuous Galerkin method within the class. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A rotation‐free corotational plane beam element for non‐linear analyses

This paper presents a plane beam element without rotational degrees of freedom that can be used for the analysis of non‐linear problems. The element is based on two main ideas. First, a corotational approach is adopted, which means that the kinematics of the element is decomposed into a rigid body motion part and a deformational part. Next, in the deformational part, the local nodal rotations are extrapolated as a function of the local displacements of the two nodes of the element and the first nodes to the left and right of the element. Six numerical applications are presented in order to assess the performance of the formulation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi‐time‐step and two‐scale domain decomposition method for non‐linear structural dynamics

In this paper we propose a method to improve the means of taking into account the specific time‐scale and space‐scale characteristics in time‐dependent non‐linear problems. This method enables the use of arbitrary time steps in each subdomain: these can be coupled by prescribing continuous velocities at the interfaces, which are modelled using a dual Schur formulation. For certain subdomains, in space, we adopt a two‐scale resolution technique inspired by the multigrid methods in order to obtain the part of the solution related to small variation lengths on a refined scale and the part corresponding to large variation lengths on a coarse scale. For non‐linear problems, we propose an algorithm with a single iteration level to deal with both the non‐linear equilibrium and the two space scales thanks to a two‐grid method in which the relaxation steps are performed using a non‐linear, preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm. Finally, we present an example which demonstrates the feasibility of the method. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comprehensive catastrophe theory for non‐linear buckling of simple systems exhibiting fold and cusp catastrophes

Non‐linear static buckling of simple systems associated with typical discrete critical points is comprehensively presented using elementary Catastrophe Theory. Attention is focused on the Fold and Cusp Catastrophe, all local properties of which are assessed in detail. Hence, in dealing with stability problems of potential systems there is no need to seek any of these properties since all of these are known a priori. Then, one has only to classify, after reduction, the total potential energy of a system into one of the universal unfoldings of the above types of catastrophe. Two illustrative numerical examples show the methodology of the proposed technique. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An accelerated FFT algorithm for thermoelastic and non‐linear composites

A fast numerical algorithm to compute the local and overall responses of non‐linear composite materials is developed. This alternative formulation allows us to improve the convergence of the existing method of Moulinec and Suquet (e.g. Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng. 1998; 157 (1–2):69–94). In the present method, a non‐linear elastic (or conducting) material is replaced by infinitely many locally linear thermoelastic materials with moduli that depend on the values of the local fields. This makes it possible to use the advantages of an algorithm developed by Eyre and Milton (Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 1999; 6 (1):41–47), which has faster convergence. The method is applied to compute the local fields as well as the effective response of non‐linear conducting and elastic periodic composites. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A dual algorithm for the topology optimization of non‐linear elastic structures

Dual algorithms are ideally suited for the purpose of topology optimization since they work in the space of Lagrange multipliers associated with the constraints. To date, dual algorithms have been applied only for linear structures. Here we extend this methodology to the case of non‐linear structures. The perimeter constraint is used to make the topology problem well‐posed. We show that the proposed algorithm yields a value of perimeter that is close to that specified by the user. We also address the issue of manufacturability of these designs, by proposing a variant of the standard dual algorithm, which generates designs that are two‐dimensional although the loading and the geometry are three‐dimensional. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.