A 3‐node C0 triangular element for the modified couple stress theory based on the smoothed finite element method

In this paper, a 3‐node C⁰ triangular element for the modified couple stress theory is proposed. Unlike the classical continuum theory, the second‐order derivative of displacement is included in the weak form of the equilibrium equations. Thus, the first‐order derivative of displacement, such as the rotation, should be approximated by a continuous function. In the proposed element, the derivative of the displacement is defined at a node using the node‐based smoothed finite element method. The derivative fields, continuous between elements and linear in an element, are approximated with the shape functions in element. Both the displacement field and the derivative field of displacement are expressed in terms of the displacement degree of freedom only. The element stiffness matrix is calculated using the newly defined derivative field. The performance of the proposed element is evaluated through various numerical examples.     

8-node hexahedral unsymmetric element with rotation degrees of freedom for modified couple stress elasticity

A new C⁰ 8-node 48-DOF hexahedral element is developed for analysis of size-dependent problems in the context of the modified couple stress theory by extending the methodology proposed in our recent work (Shang et al., Int J Numer Methods Eng 119(9): 807-825, 2019) to the three-dimensional (3D) cases. There are two major innovations in the present formulation. First, the independent nodal rotation degrees of freedom (DOFs) are employed to enhance the standard 3D isoparametric interpolation for obtaining the displacement and strain test functions, as well as to approximatively design the physical rotation field for deriving the curvature test function. Second, the equilibrium stress functions instead of the analytical functions are used to formulate the stress trial function whilst the couple stress trial function is directly obtained from the curvature test function by using the constitutive relationship. Besides, the penalty function is introduced into the virtual work principle for enforcing the C¹ continuity condition in weak sense. Several benchmark examples are examined and the numerical results demonstrate that the element can simulate the size-dependent mechanical behaviors well, exhibiting satisfactory accuracy and low susceptibility to mesh distortion.     

A new finite element based on the theory of a Cosserat point—extension to initially distorted elements for 2D plane strain

This paper describes an improvement of the Cosserat point element formulation for initially distorted, non-rectangular shaped elements in 2D. The original finite element formulation for 3D large deformations shows excellent behaviour for sensitive geometries, large deformations, coarse meshes, bending dominated and stability problems without showing undesired effects such as locking or hourglassing, as long as the initial element shape resembles that of a rectangular parallelepiped. In the following, an extension of this element formulation for 2D plane strain is presented which has the same good properties also for the case of non-rectangular initial element shapes. Results of numerical tests are presented, that clearly show the advantages of the improved Cosserat point element compared to the standard displacement elements and the original version of the Cosserat point element. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Progressive damage analyses of angle‐ply laminates exhibiting free edge effects using continuum damage mechanics with layer‐wise finite element method

Capability of continuum damage mechanics (CDM) to predict the damage mechanism evolution of composite laminates has rarely been carried out, and most of the previous CDM works mainly focused on the overall response of the laminates. In this paper, progressive damage and overall response of the composite laminates under quasi‐static, monotonic increasing loading are investigated using three‐dimensional (3D) CDM implementation in a finite element method that is based on the layer‐wise laminate plate theory. In the damage formulation, each composite ply is treated as a homogeneous orthotropic material exhibiting orthotropic damage in the form of distributed microscopic cracks that are normal to the three principal material directions. The progressive damage of different angle‐ply composite laminates under quasi‐static loading that exhibit free edge effects is investigated. It is shown that using CDM global behaviour and various damage mechanisms affected by the complex nature of free edges can be qualitatively well predicted.     

Simulations of dynamic crack propagation in brittle materials using nodal cohesive forces and continuum damage mechanics in the distinct element code LDEC

Experimental data indicates that the limiting crack speed in brittle materials is less than the Rayleigh wave speed. One reason for this is that dynamic instabilities produce surface roughness and microcracks that branch from the main crack. These processes increase dissipation near the crack tip over a range of crack speeds. When the scale of observation (or mesh resolution) becomes much larger than the typical sizes of these features, effective-medium theories are required to predict the coarse-grained fracture dynamics. Two approaches to modeling these phenomena are described and used in numerical simulations. The first approach is based on cohesive elements that utilize a rate-dependent weakening law for the nodal cohesive forces. The second approach uses a continuum damage model which has a weakening effect that lowers the effective Rayleigh wave speed in the material surrounding the crack tip. Simulations in this paper show that while both models are capable of increasing the energy dissipated during fracture when the mesh size is larger than the process zone size, only the continuum damage model is able to limit the crack speed over a range of applied loads. Numerical simulations of straight-running cracks demonstrate good agreement between the theoretical predictions of the combined models and experimental data on dynamic crack propagation in brittle materials. Simulations that model crack branching are also presented.     

Transverse vibration of rotary tapered microbeam based on modified couple stress theory and generalized differential quadrature element method

The transverse vibration of a rotary tapered microbeam is studied based on a modified couple stress theory and Euler–Bernoulli beam model. The governing differential equation and boundary conditions are derived according to Hamilton's principle. The generalized differential quadrature element method is then used to solve the governing equation for cantilever and propped cantilever boundary conditions. The effect of the small-scale parameter, beam length, rate of cross-section change, hub radius, and nondimensional angular velocity on the vibration behavior of the microbeam is presented.     

Non‐planar mixed‐mode growth of initially straight‐fronted surface cracks,in cylindrical bars under tension,torsion and bending,using the symmetric Galerkin boundary element method‐finite element method alternating method

In this paper, the stress intensity factor (SIF) variations along an arbitrarily developing crack front, the non‐planar fatigue‐crack growth patterns, and the fatigue life of a round bar with an initially straight‐fronted surface crack, are studied by employing the 3D symmetric Galerkin boundary element method‐finite element method (SGBEM‐FEM) alternating method. Different loading cases, involving tension, bending and torsion of the bar, with different initial crack depths and different stress ratios in fatigue, are considered. By using the SGBEM‐FEM alternating method, the SIF variations along the evolving crack front are computed; the fatigue growth rates and directions of the non‐planar growths of the crack surface are predicted; the evolving fatigue‐crack growth patterns are simulated, and thus, the fatigue life estimations of the cracked round bar are made. The accuracy and reliability of the SGBEM‐FEM alternating method are verified by comparing the presently computed results to the empirical solutions of SIFs, as well as experimental data of fatigue crack growth, available in the open literature. It is shown that the current approach gives very accurate solutions of SIFs and simulations of fatigue crack growth during the entire crack propagation, with very little computational burden and human–labour cost. The characteristics of fatigue growth patterns of initially simple‐shaped cracks in the cylindrical bar under different Modes I, III and mixed‐mode types of loads are also discussed in detail.     

Application of the mixed approximation to the solution of two-dimensional problems of the theory of small elastoplastic strains using the finite element method

A triangular finite element that provides the stability and convergence of the mixed approximation is used for the solution of two-dimensional boundary-value problems of the theory of small elastoplastic strains. A system of resolving matrix equations of a mixed type is presented for the solution of which a three-layer iteration algorithm with a preconditioning matrix is used. Numerical results for the solution of model problems obtained by the classical and combined finite element methods are compared. __________ Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 2, pp. 124–136, March–April, 2006.     

Static and free vibration analyses of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates using finite element method with first order shear deformation plate theory

This paper mainly presents bending and free vibration analyses of thin-to-moderately thick composite plates reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes using the finite element method based on the first order shear deformation plate theory. Four types of distributions of the uniaxially aligned reinforcement material are considered, that is, uniform and three kinds of functionally graded distributions of carbon nanotubes along the thickness direction of plates. The effective material properties of the nanocomposite plates are estimated according to the rule of mixture. Detailed parametric studies have been carried out to reveal the influences of the volume fractions of carbon nanotubes and the edge-to-thickness ratios on the bending responses, natural frequencies and mode shapes of the plates. In addition, the effects of different boundary conditions are also examined. Numerical examples are computed by an in-house finite element code and the results show good agreement with the solutions obtained by the FE commercial package ANSYS.     

On using different recovery procedures for the construction of smoothed stress in finite element method

The performance of three different stress recovery procedures, namely, the superconvergent patch recovery technique (SPR), the recovery by equilibrium in patches (REP) and a combined method known as the LP procedure is reviewed. Different order of polynomials and various patch formation strategies have been employed in the numerical studies for the construction of smoothed stress fields. Two 2-D elastostatic problems of different characteristics are used to assess the behaviour of the stress recovery procedures. The numerical results obtained indicate that when the order of polynomial used in the recovery procedure is equal to that of the finite element analysis, the behaviours of all three recovery procedures are very similar and all of them are adequate to provide a reliable recovered stress field for error estimation. In case that the order of polynomial of the recovered stress is increased, the LP procedure seems to give a more stable recovery matrix and a more reliable recovered stress field than the REP procedure. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

U形试块残余应力超声检测及有限元分析

为验证超声检测残余应力的精度与检测深度问题,该文提出并设计一种能够施加定值载荷应力的U形试块来模拟构件中的残余应力。通过残余应力超声检测系统激励5 MHz、4 MHz等其他不同频率的超声换能器,对U形试块在缺口施加拉压载荷,使试块处于闭合、张开的不同状态来模拟构件中的拉压状态,对U形试块的上表面不同位置和后侧面不同深度处的应力值进行超声残余应力无损检测。同时将其检测结果与同等条件下ABAQUS有限元仿真分析的结果进行对比,验证该系统对表面残余应力及试块内部梯度残余应力检测的准确性。另外,该试块也为残余应力超声检测系统的校准提供方法。     

Application of the moment scheme of the finite element method to the solution of problems with initial stresses in the incremental elasticity theory

We discuss application of the finite element method to the solution of problems with initial stresses within the elasticity theory. Based on the incremental theory of deformable solids, the relationships of the finite element method are derived to calculate the stiffness matrix coefficients for a prestressed spatial element of the serendip family with quadratic approximation of displacements. The calculation of the stressed state of an eccentrically compressed beam and a round plate under conditions of longitudinal-transverse bending is carried out. Comparison of the numerical results with analytical solutions is presented. The variation in the compression and shear strains of a cylindrical damper is studied depending on the degree of deformation and the sequence of load application. __________ Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 3, pp. 131–143, May–June, 2006.     

Harmonic enrichment functions: A unified treatment of multiple,intersecting and branched cracks in the extended finite element method

A unifying procedure to numerically compute enrichment functions for elastic fracture problems with the extended finite element method is presented. Within each element that is intersected by a crack, the enrichment function for the crack is obtained via the solution of the Laplace equation with Dirichlet and vanishing Neumann boundary conditions. A single algorithm emanates for the enrichment field for multiple cracks as well as intersecting and branched cracks, without recourse to special cases, which provides flexibility over the existing approaches in which each case is treated separately. Numerical integration is rendered to be simple—there is no need for partitioning of the finite elements into conforming subdivisions for the integration of discontinuous or weakly singular kernels. Stress intensity factor computations for different crack configurations are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and versatility of the proposed technique. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.