A symmetric boundary element model for the analysis of Kirchhoff plates

The paper deals with the formulation and implementation of a new symmetric boundary element model for the analysis of Kirchhoff plates. The transversal displacement and normal slope boundary integral equations, usually adopted in the standard boundary element analysis, are considered together with bending moment, twisting moment and equivalent shear boundary integral equations. These equations are weighted by considering distributed sources related to the kinematic and static variables in the virtual-work sense. Moreover, particular attention is paid to the discretization of the boundary variables by shape functions selected in order to ensure continuity over the boundary and symmetry for the matrix system. The evaluation of the highly singular boundary integrals for overlapped integration domains is performed in closed form using a limit approach which provides self-contributions as limit values of non-singular terms. The corner effects and their treatment in the numerical procedure are also discussed. Various numerical examples for plates having different boundary conditions illustrate the performance of the model.     

Stress analysis of flat plates with shear using explicit stiffness matrix

An explicit expression for the stiffness matrix is worked out for a triangular plate bending element considering the effect of transverse shear deformation. The element has twelve nodes on the sides and four nodes internal to it. The formulation is displacement type and the use of area co-ordinates makes it possible to obtain the shape functions explicitly. Separate polynomials are assumed for transverse displacement and rotations. To obtain the element stiffness matrix no matrix inversion or numerical integration need be carried out and only a few matrix multiplications of low order are necessary. The element, which is initially of thirty five degrees of freedom, can be reduced to a thirty degrees of freedom one by condensation of the internal nodes. An interesting feature of the element developed is that the values of nodal moments computed at a node point, considering different elements surrounding the node, do not vary significantly. Thus the nodal moments can be obtained directly at node points. Also, the element does not give rise to any inconvenience like locking, even for very thin plates. The straightforward approach in formation of the element stiffness will cut down the storage space considerably and will also call for less CPU time, thus making the use of the element well suited to low capacity computers. A number of plate bending problems have been worked out using the present element for different thickness to side ratios and a comparison has been made with the available results. Good accuracy has been observed in all cases, even for a small number of elements.     

Mixed state-vector finite element analysis for a higher-order box beam theory

If thin-walled closed beams are analyzed by the standard Timoshenko beam elements, their structural behavior, especially near boundaries, cannot be accurately predicted because of the incapability of the Timoskenko theory to predict the sectional warping and distortional deformations. If a higher-order thin-walled box beam theory is used, on the other hand, accurate results comparable to those obtained by plate finite elements can be obtained. However, currently available two-node displacement based higher-order beam elements are not efficient in capturing exponential solution behavior near boundaries. Based on this motivation, we consider developing higher-order mixed finite elements. Instead of using the standard mixed formulation, we propose to develop the mixed formulation based on the state-vector form so that only the field variables that can be prescribed on the boundary are interpolated for finite element analysis. By this formulation, less field variables are used than by the standard mixed formulation, and the interpolated field variables have the physical meaning as the boundary work conjugates. To facilitate the discretization, two-node elements are considered. The effects of interpolation orders for the generalized stresses and displacements on the solution behavior are investigated along with numerical examples.     

A systematic construction of B‐bar functions for linear and non‐linear mixed‐enhanced finite elements for plane elasticity problems

In a previous paper a modified Hu–Washizu variational formulation has been used to derive an accurate four node plane strain/stress finite element denoted QE2. For the mixed element QE2 two enhanced strain terms are used and the assumed stresses satisfy the equilibrium equations a priori for the linear elastic case. In this paper an alternative approach is discussed. The new formulation leads to the same accuracy for linear elastic problems as the QE2 element; however it turns out to be more efficient in numerical simulations, especially for large deformation problems. Using orthogonal stress and strain functions we derive B̄ functions which avoid numerical inversion of matrices. The B̄ ‐strain matrix is sparse and has the same structure as the strain matrix B obtained from a compatible displacement field. The implementation of the derived mixed element is basically the same as the one for a compatible displacement element. The only difference is that we have to compute a B̄ ‐strain matrix instead of the standard B ‐matrix. Accordingly, existing subroutines for a compatible displacement element can be easily changed to obtain the mixed‐enhanced finite element which yields a higher accuracy than the Q4 and QM6 elements. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Free and forced vibrations of plates by boundary and interior elements

A direct boundary element method is developed for the dynamic analysis of thin elastic flexural plates of arbitrary planform and boundary conditions. The formulation employs the static fundamental solution of the problem and this creates not only boundary integrals but surface integrals as well owing to the presence of the inertia force. Thus the discretization consists of boundary as well as interior elements. Quadratic isoparametric elements and quadratic isoparametric or constant elements are employed for the boundary and interior discretization, respectively. Both free and forced vibrations are considered. The free vibration problem is reduced to a matrix eigenvalue problem with matrix coefficients independent of frequency. The forced vibration problem is solved with the aid of the Laplace transform with respect to time and this requires a numerical inversion of the transformed solution to obtain the plate dynamic response to arbitrary transient loading. The effect of external viscous or internal viscoelastic damping on the response is also studied. The proposed method is compared against the direct boundary element method in conjunction with the dynamic fundamental solution as well as the finite element method primarily by means of a number of numerical examples. These examples also serve to illustrate the use of the proposed method.     

Four-node tetrahedral elements for gradient-elasticity analysis

Computational analyses of gradient-elasticity often require the trial solution to be C¹ yet constructing simple C¹ finite elements is not trivial. This article develops two 48-dof 4-node tetrahedral elements for 3D gradient-elasticity analyses by generalizing the discrete Kirchhoff method and a relaxed hybrid-stress method. Displacement and displacement-gradient are the only nodal dofs. Both methods start with the derivation of a C⁰ quadratic-complete displacement interpolation from which the strain is derived. In the first element, displacement-gradient at the mid-edge points are approximated and then interpolated together with those at the nodes whilst the strain-gradient is derived from the displacement-gradient interpolation. In the second element, the assumed constant double-stress modes are employed to enforce the continuity of the normal derivative of the displacement. The whole formulation can be viewed as if the strain-gradient matrix derived from the displacement interpolation matrix is refined by a constant matrix. Both elements are validated by the individual element patch test and other numerical benchmark tests. To the best knowledge of the authors, the proposed elements are probably the first nonmixed/penalty 3D elements which employ only displacement and displacement-gradient as the nodal dofs for gradient-elasticity analyses.     

Three-step multi-domain BEM solver for nonhomogeneous material problems

A three-step solution technique is presented for solving two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) nonhomogeneous material problems using the multi-domain boundary element method. The discretized boundary element formulation expressed in terms of normalized displacements and tractions is written for each sub-domain. The first step is to eliminate internal variables at the individual domain level. The second step is to eliminate boundary unknowns defined over nodes used only by the domain itself. And the third step is to establish the system of equations according to the compatibility of displacements and equilibrium of tractions at common interface nodes. Discontinuous elements are utilized to model the traction discontinuity across corner nodes. The distinct feature of the three-step solver is that only interface displacements are unknowns in the final system of equations and the coefficient matrix is blocked sparse. As a result, large-scale 3D problems can be solved efficiently. Three numerical examples for 2D and 3D problems are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented technique.     

A boundary condition in Padé series for frequency‐domain solution of wave propagation in unbounded domains

A boundary condition satisfying the radiation condition at infinity is frequently required in the numerical simulation of wave propagation in an unbounded domain. In a frequency domain analysis using finite elements, this boundary condition can be represented by the dynamic stiffness matrix of the unbounded domain defined on its boundary. A method for determining a Padé series of the dynamic stiffness matrix is proposed in this paper. This method starts from the scaled boundary finite‐element equation, which is a system of ordinary differential equations obtained by discretizing the boundary only. The coefficients of the Padé series are obtained directly from the ordinary differential equations, which are not actually solved for the dynamic stiffness matrix. The high rate of convergence of the Padé series with increasing order is demonstrated numerically. This technique is applicable to scalar waves and elastic vector waves propagating in anisotropic unbounded domains of irregular geometry. It can be combined seamlessly with standard finite elements. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary element‐free method for fracture analysis of 2‐D anisotropic piezoelectric solids

This paper considers a 2‐D fracture analysis of anisotropic piezoelectric solids by a boundary element‐free method. A traction boundary integral equation (BIE) that only involves the singular terms of order 1/r is first derived using integration by parts. New variables, namely, the tangential derivative of the extended displacement (the extended displacement density) for the general boundary and the tangential derivative of the extended crack opening displacement (the extended displacement dislocation density), are introduced to the equation so that solution to curved crack problems is possible. This resulted equation can be directly applied to general boundary and crack surface, and no separate treatments are necessary for the upper and lower surfaces of the crack. The extended displacement dislocation densities on the crack surface are expressed as the product of the characteristic terms and unknown weight functions, and the unknown weight functions are modelled using the moving least‐squares (MLS) approximation. The numerical scheme of the boundary element‐free method is established, and an effective numerical procedure is adopted to evaluate the singular integrals. The extended ‘stress intensity factors’ (SIFs) are computed for some selected example problems that contain straight or curved cracks, and good numerical results are obtained. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

钢筋混凝土结构空间有限元分析的体梁组合单元

本文提出了一种用于钢筋混凝土结构空间有限元分析的体梁组合单元模型。该模型将混凝土体元内的钢筋作为能承受轴力、剪力、弯矩和扭矩的梁元,根据钢筋和混凝土在单元内的位移协调条件和虚功原理将两者组合成一个单元。体梁组合单元模型能较全面地反映混凝土内钢筋的力学效应,能适应钢筋的任意布置方式,容许用较大的单元对结构进行离散,解决了大型钢筋混凝土结构有限元分析的单元划分问题。数值算例及其与解析解的比较演示了模型的可行性和精度。     

基于多变量小波有限元的一维结构分析

基于区间B样条小波(B-Spline Wavelet on the Interval, BSWI)和多变量广义势能函数,该文构造了二类变量小波有限单元,并用于一维结构的弯曲与振动分析。基于广义变分原理,从多变量广义势能函数出发,推导得到多变量有限元列式,并以区间B样条小波尺度函数作为插值函数对两类广义场变量进行离散。此单元的优势在于可以提高广义力的求解精度,因为在传统有限元中,只有一类广义位移场函数,所以广义力通常是通过对位移的求导得到,而多变量单元中,广义位移和广义力都是作为独立变量处理的,避免了求导运算。此外,区间B样条小波是现有小波中数值逼近性能非常好的小波函数,以它作为插值函数可进一步保证求解精度。转换矩阵的应用,可以将无任何明确物理意义的小波系数转换到相应的物理空间,方便了问题的处理。最后,通过数值算例对Euler梁和平面刚架的分析,验证了此单元的正确性和有效性。     

A hybrid finite element method for heterogeneous materials with randomly dispersed rigid inclusions

A hybrid finite element approach is proposed for the mechanical response of two-dimensional heterogeneous materials with linearly elastic matrix and randomly dispersed rigid circular inclusions of arbitrary sizes. In conventional finite element methods, many elements must be used to represent one inclusion. In this work, each inclusion is embedded inside a polygonal element and only one element is required to represent one inclusion. In numerically approximating stress and displacement distributions around the inclusion, classical elasticity solutions for a multiply-connected region are employed. A modified hybrid functional is used as the basis of the element formulation where the displacement boundary conditions of the element are automatically considered in a variational sense. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated by two boundary value problems. In one example, the results based on the proposed method with only 64 hybrid elements (450 degrees of freedom) are shown to be almost identical to those based on the traditional method with 2928 conventional elements (5526 degrees of freedom).     

Boundary element formulations for Mindlin plate on an elastic foundation with dynamic load

Boundary element method (BEM) for a shear deformable plate (Reissner/Mindline's theories) resting on an elastic foundation subjected to dynamic load is presented. Formulations for both Winkler and Pasternak foundations are presented. The boundary element formulation in Laplace domain is presented together with complete expressions for the internal point kernels (i.e. fundamental solutions). Quadratic isoparameteric boundary elements are used to discretise the boundary of plate domain. Time domain variables are obtained by the Durbin's inversion method from transform domain. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the boundary element method and the comparisons are made with other numerical technique.     

Application of relations of singularity intensities of tangent derivatives of boundary displacements and tractions to BEM

In order to obtain a highly accurate numerical solution for a two-dimensional elasticity problem with singular boundary conditions on the smooth surface of an elastic body by boundary element method (BEM), the continuous or the singular requirements of the boundary field variables and their derivatives at element intersections have to be satisfied. The singularity intensities of the unknown boundary field variables have been determined through the theoretical relations of singularity intensities of tangent derivatives of boundary displacements and tractions, a priori. The continuous or singular requirements of boundary field variables and their derivatives at element intersections are automatically satisfied by using single node quadratic element (SNQE) developed in this paper. An example problem with singular boundary conditions on the surface of a semi-infinite-plane is numerically studied by BEM by using traditional three-nodes isoparametric elements and SNQEs. Numerical results show that the computation precisions at singular boundary points are greatly increased by using SNQEs.     

Analysis of cracked anisotropic plates using the hybrid finite element method

This paper presents a convenient and efficient method to obtain accurate stress intensity factors for cracked anisotropic plates. In this method, a complex variable formulation in conjunction with a hybrid displacement finite element scheme is used to carry out the stiffness and stress calculations of finite cracked plates subjected to general boundary and loading conditions. Unlike other numerical methods used for local analysis such as the boundary element method, the present method results in a symmetric stiffness matrix, which can be directly incorporated into the stiffness matrix representing other structural parts modeled by conventional finite elements. Therefore, the present method is ideally suited for modeling cracked plates in a large complex structure.     

An effective method of stress intensity factor calculation for cracks emanating from a triangular or square hole under biaxial loads

This paper is concerned with stress intensity factors for cracks emanating from a triangular or square hole under biaxial loads by means of a new boundary element method. The boundary element method consists of the constant displacement discontinuity element presented by Crouch and Starfied and the crack‐tip displacement discontinuity elements proposed by the author. In the boundary element implementation, the left or the right crack‐tip displacement discontinuity element is placed locally at the corresponding left or right crack tip on top of the constant displacement discontinuity elements that cover the entire crack surface and the other boundaries. The method is called a Hybrid Displacement Discontinuity Method (HDDM). Numerical examples are included to show that the method is very efficient and accurate for calculating stress intensity factors for plane elastic crack problems. In addition, the present numerical results can reveal the effect of the biaxial loads on stress intensity factors.     

Performance of variable order singular elements in analyzing interfacial fractures

This work concerns the development of singular boundary elements and the investigation of their numerical performance in analyzing interfacial cracks. In the vicinity of such cracks arise singular stress fields with variable order of singularity depending on the material characterizing parameters. The development of these elements which approximate displacement and traction functions is accomplished through controlled relocation of the mid-side node determined by compatibility and continuity requirements which must obey shape functions. These elements were applied to simulate the elastic behavior of cracks which are perpendicular and terminate on the interface of a bimaterial structure. Their efficiency in conjunction to the boundary only element method, are demonstrated in crack opening displacement diagrams and crack tip stress tabulated results.     

A new special element for stress concentration analysis of a plate with elliptical holes

Special hole elements are presented for analyzing the stress behavior of an isotropic elastic solidcontaining an elliptical hole. The special hole elements are constructed using the special fundamental solutions for an infinite domain containing a single elliptical hole, which are derived based on complex conformal mapping and Cauchy integrals. During the construction of the special elements, the interior displacement and stress fields are assumed to be the combination of fundamental solutions at a number of source points, and the frame displacement field defined over the element boundary is independently approximated with conventional shape functions. The hybrid finite element model is formulated based on a hybrid functional that provides a link between the two assumed independent fields. Because the fundamental solutions used exactly satisfy both the traction-free boundary conditions of the elliptical hole under consideration and the governing equations of the problems of interest, all integrals can be converted into integrals along the element boundary and there is no need to model the elliptical hole boundary. Thus, the mesh effort near the elliptical hole is significantly reduced. Finally, the numerical model is verified through three examples, and the numerical results obtained for the prediction of stress concentration factors caused by elliptical holes are extremely accurate.     

Boundary element analysis of three‐dimensional cracks in anisotropic solids

This paper presents a boundary element analysis of linear elastic fracture mechanics in three‐dimensional cracks of anisotropic solids. The method is a single‐domain based, thus it can model the solids with multiple interacting cracks or damage. In addition, the method can apply the fracture analysis in both bounded and unbounded anisotropic media and the stress intensity factors (SIFs) can be deduced directly from the boundary element solutions. The present boundary element formulation is based on a pair of boundary integral equations, namely, the displacement and traction boundary integral equations. While the former is collocated exclusively on the uncracked boundary, the latter is discretized only on one side of the crack surface. The displacement and/or traction are used as unknown variables on the uncracked boundary and the relative crack opening displacement (COD) (i.e. displacement discontinuity, or dislocation) is treated as a unknown quantity on the crack surface. This formulation possesses the advantages of both the traditional displacement boundary element method (BEM) and the displacement discontinuity (or dislocation) method, and thus eliminates the deficiency associated with the BEMs in modelling fracture behaviour of the solids. Special crack‐front elements are introduced to capture the crack‐tip behaviour. Numerical examples of stress intensity factors (SIFs) calculation are given for transversely isotropic orthotropic and anisotropic solids. For a penny‐shaped or a square‐shaped crack located in the plane of isotropy, the SIFs obtained with the present formulation are in very good agreement with existing closed‐form solutions and numerical results. For the crack not aligned with the plane of isotropy or in an anisotropic solid under remote pure tension, mixed mode fracture behavior occurs due to the material anisotropy and SIFs strongly depend on material anisotropy. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hyper-singular boundary element method for elastoplastic fracture mechanics analysis with large deformation

In this paper a two-dimensional hyper-singular boundary element method for elastoplastic fracture mechanics analysis with large deformation is presented. The proposed approach incorporates displacement and the traction boundary integral equations as well as finite deformation stress measures, and general crack problems can be solved with single-region formulations. Efficient regularization techniques are applied to the corresponding singular terms in displacement, displacement derivatives and traction boundary integral equations, according to the degree of singularity of the kernel functions. Within the numerical implementation of the hyper-singular boundary element formulation, crack tip and corners are modelled with discontinuous elements. Fracture measures are evaluated at each load increment, using the J-integral. Several cases studies with different boundary and loading conditions have been analysed. It has been shown that the new singularity removal technique and the non-linear elastoplastic formulation lead to accurate solutions.