Application of cubic Hermitian algorithms to boundary element analysis of heat conduction

This paper presents the application of cubic Hermitian interpolation based finite element schemes for the time integration of the differential-algebraic system arising in the dual reciprocity boundary element formulation of transient diffusion problems. Weighted residual procedure is used to obtain the desired recurrence relations. Numerical results presented for three representative problems involving different types of boundary conditions amply demonstrate the high accuracy of the cubic Hermitian schemes.     

On the choice of interpolation functions used in the dual-reciprocity boundary-element method

The dual-reciprocity boundary-element method is a very powerful technique for solving general elliptic equations of the type ²u=b. In this method, a series of interpolation functions is used to approximate b in order to convert the associated domain integral, which it is necessary to evaluate in a traditional boundary-element analysis, into boundary integrals only. Hence the choice of interpolation functions has direct effects on the numerical results. According to Partridge and Brebbia, the adoption of a comparatively simple form of interpolation function gives the best results. Unfortunately, when b contains partial derivatives of the unknown function u(x, y), the adoption of such a type of interpolation function inevitably leads to the creation of singularities on all boundary and internal nodes used in a dual-reciprocity boundary-element analysis, as was pointed out by Zhu and Zhang in 1992. To avoid this problem, a functional transformation, which applies only to linear governing equations, can be employed to eliminate these derivative terms and thus to obtain better numerical results. In this paper, two new interpolation functions are proposed and examined; they are proven to be generally applicable and satisfactory.     

A boundary element method for the solution of a class of heat conduction problems for inhomogeneous media

A boundary element method is derived for solving the two-dimensional heat equation for an inhomogeneous body subject to suitably prescribed temperature and/or heat flux on the boundary of the solution domain. Numerical results for a specific test problem is given.     

Singularities in anisotropic steady‐state heat conduction using a boundary element method

In many heat conduction problems, boundaries with sharp corners or abrupt changes in the boundary conditions give rise to singularities of various types which tend to slow down the rate of convergence with decreasing mesh size of any standard numerical method used for obtaining the solution. In this paper, it is shown how this difficulty may be overcome in the case of an anisotropic medium by a modified boundary element method. The standard boundary element method is modified to take account of the form of the singularity, without appreciably increasing the amount of computation involved. Two test examples, the first with a singularity caused by an abrupt change in a boundary condition and the second with a singularity caused by a sharp re‐entrant corner, are investigated and numerical results are presented. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weak-form element differential method for solving mechanics and heat conduction problems with abruptly changed boundary conditions

Element differential method (EDM), as a newly proposed numerical method, has been applied to solve many engineering problems because it has higher computational efficiency and it is more stable than other strong-form methods. However, due to the utilization of strong-form equations for all nodes, EDM become not so accurate when solving problems with abruptly changed boundary conditions. To overcome this weakness, in this article, the weak-form formulations are introduced to replace the original formulations of element internal nodes in EDM, which produce a new strong-weak-form method, named as weak-form element differential method (WEDM). WEDM has advantages in both the computational accuracy and the numerical stability when dealing with the abruptly changed boundary conditions. Moreover, it can even achieve higher accuracy than finite element method (FEM) in some cases. In this article, the computational accuracy of EDM, FEM, and WEDM are compared and analyzed. Meanwhile, several examples are performed to verify the robustness and efficiency of the proposed WEDM.     

Two-dimensional steady heat conduction in functionally gradient materials by triple-reciprocity boundary element method

Homogeneous heat conduction can be easily solved by means of the boundary element method. However, domain integrals are generally necessary to solve the heat conduction problem in the functionally gradient materials. This paper shows that the two-dimensional heat conduction problem in the functionally gradient materials can be solved approximately without a domain integral by the triple-reciprocity boundary element method. In this method, the distribution of domain effects is interpolated by integral equations. A new computer program is developed and applied to several problems.     

Transient heat conduction by the boundary element method: D‐BEM approaches

This work is concerned with the development of different domain‐BEM (D‐BEM) approaches to the solution of two‐dimensional diffusion problems. In the first approach, the process of time marching is accomplished with a combination of the finite difference and the Houbolt methods. The second approach starts by weighting, with respect to time, the basic D‐BEM equation, under the assumption of linear and constant time variation for the temperature and for the heat flux, respectively. A constant time weighting function is adopted. The time integration reduces the order of the time derivative that appears in the domain integral; as a consequence, the initial conditions are directly taken into account. Four examples are presented to verify the applicability of the proposed approaches, and the D‐BEM results are compared with the corresponding analytical solutions.Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary element method analyses of transient heat conduction in an unbounded solid layer containing inclusions

The boundary element method (BEM) is used to compute the three-dimensional transient heat conduction through an unbounded solid layer that may contain heterogeneities, when a pointwise heat source placed at some point in the media is excited. Analytical solutions for the steady-state response of this solid layer when subjected to a spatially sinusoidal harmonic heat line source are presented when the solid layer has no inclusions. These solutions are incorporated into a BEM formulation as Greens functions to avoid the discretization of flat media interfaces. The solution is obtained in the frequency domain, and time responses are computed by applying inverse (Fast) Fourier Transforms. Complex frequencies are used to prevent the aliasing phenomena. The results provided by the proposed Greens functions and BEM formulation are implemented and compared with those computed by a BEM code that uses the Greens functions for an unbounded media which requires the discretization of all solid interfaces with boundary elements. The proposed BEM model is then used to evaluate the temperature field evolution through an unbounded solid layer that contains cylindrical inclusions with different thermal properties, when illuminated by a plane heat source. In this model zero initial conditions are assumed. Different simulation analyses using this model are then performed to evaluate the importance of the thermal properties of the inclusions on transient heat conduction through the solid layer.     

梯度复合材料热传导分析的梯度单元法

给出了一种适用于梯度复合材料热传导分析的梯度单元, 采用细观力学方法描述材料变化的热物理属性, 通过线性插值和高阶插值温度场分别给出了4节点和8节点梯度单元随空间位置变化的热传导刚度矩阵。推导了在温度梯度载荷和热流密度载荷作用下, 矩形梯度板的稳态温度场和热通量场精确解。基于该精确解对比了连续梯度模型和传统的离散梯度模型的热传导有限元计算结果, 验证了梯度单元的有效性, 并讨论了相关参数对梯度单元的影响。结果表明, 梯度单元和均匀单元得到的温度场基本一致; 当热载荷垂直于材料梯度方向时, 梯度单元能够给出更加精确的局部热通量场; 当热载荷平行于材料梯度方向时, 4节点梯度单元性能恶化, 8节点梯度单元和均匀单元的计算结果与精确解吻合很好。     

Implementation of a symmetric boundary element method in transient heat conduction with semi‐analytical integrations

A time‐convolutive variational hypersingular integral formulation of transient heat conduction over a 2‐D homogeneous domain is considered. The adopted discretization leads to a linear equation system, whose coefficient matrix is symmetric, and is generated by double integrations in space and time. Assuming polynomial shape functions for the boundary unknowns, a set of compact formulae for the analytical time integrations is established. The spatial integrations are performed numerically using very efficient formulae just recently proposed. The competitiveness from the computational point of view of the symmetric boundary integral equation approach proposed herein is investigated on the basis of an original computer implementation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transient heat conduction analysis in a piecewise homogeneous domain by a coupled boundary and finite element method

A coupled finite element–boundary element analysis method for the solution of transient two‐dimensional heat conduction equations involving dissimilar materials and geometric discontinuities is developed. Along the interfaces between different material regions of the domain, temperature continuity and energy balance are enforced directly. Also, a special algorithm is implemented in the boundary element method (BEM) to treat the existence of corners of arbitrary angles along the boundary of the domain. Unknown interface fluxes are expressed in terms of unknown interface temperatures by using the boundary element method for each material region of the domain. Energy balance and temperature continuity are used for the solution of unknown interface temperatures leading to a complete set of boundary conditions in each region, thus allowing the solution of the remaining unknown boundary quantities. The concepts developed for the BEM formulation of a domain with dissimilar regions is employed in the finite element–boundary element coupling procedure. Along the common boundaries of FEM–BEM regions, fluxes from specific BEM regions are expressed in terms of common boundary (interface) temperatures, then integrated and lumped at the nodal points of the common FEM–BEM boundary so that they are treated as boundary conditions in the analysis of finite element method (FEM) regions along the common FEM–BEM boundary. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A dual-reciprocity boundary element approach for axisymmetric nonlinear time-dependent heat conduction in a nonhomogeneous solid

A dual-reciprocity boundary element method is presented for the numerical solution of a nonsteady axisymmetric heat conduction problem involving a nonhomogeneous solid with temperature dependent properties. It is applied to solve some specific problems including one which involves the laser heating of a cylindrical solid.     

Transient heat conduction analysis of 3D solids with fiber inclusions using the boundary element method

A boundary element formulation is presented in this work for transient heat conduction analysis of three‐dimensional (3D) fiber‐reinforced materials. The cylindrical‐shaped fibers in a 3D matrix are idealized by a system of curvilinear line elements with a prescribed diameter. The variations in the temperature and flux fields in the circumferential direction are represented in terms of a trigonometric shape function together with a linear or quadratic variation in the longitudinal direction. This approach significantly reduces the modeling effort and the computing cost. The storage requirement for the convolution integrals is eliminated by adopting an accurate integration‐based convolution algorithm for the surface of the hole and the fibers as well as a fast convolution algorithm for the outer boundary recently developed by the present authors. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of the proposed method of analysis of fiber‐reinforced materials. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A finite element method for non-Fourier heat conduction in strong thermal shock environments

Non-Fourier effect is important in heat conduction in strong thermal environments. Currently, generally-purposed commercial finite element code for non-Fourier heat conduction is not available. In this paper, we develop a finite element code based on a hyperbolic heat conduction equation, which includes the non-Fourier effect in heat conduction. The finite element space discretization is used to obtain a system of differential equations for the time. The transient responses are obtained by solving the system of differential equations, based on the finite difference, mode superposition, or exact time integral. The code is validated by comparing the numerical results with exact solutions for some special cases. The stability analysis is conducted and it shows that the finite difference scheme is an ideal method for the transient solution of the temperature field. It is found that with mesh refining (decreasing mesh size) and/or high-order elements, the oscillation in the vicinity of sharp change vanishes, and can be essentially suppressed by the finite difference scheme. A relationship between the time step and the space length of the element was identified to ensure that numerical oscillation vanishes.     

A simple boundary element method for problems of potential in non‐homogeneous media

A simple boundary element method for solving potential problems in non‐homogeneous media is presented. A physical parameter (e.g. heat conductivity, permeability, permittivity, resistivity, magnetic permeability) has a spatial distribution that varies with one or more co‐ordinates. For certain classes of material variations the non‐homogeneous problem can be transformed to known homogeneous problems such as those governed by the Laplace, Helmholtz and modified Helmholtz equations. A three‐dimensional Galerkin boundary element method implementation is presented for these cases. However, the present development is not restricted to Galerkin schemes and can be readily extended to other boundary integral methods such as standard collocation. A few test examples are given to verify the proposed formulation. The paper is supplemented by an Appendix, which presents an ABAQUS user‐subroutine for graded finite elements. The results from the finite element simulations are used for comparison with the present boundary element solutions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A non‐iterative finite element method for inverse heat conduction problems

A non‐iterative, finite element‐based inverse method for estimating surface heat flux histories on thermally conducting bodies is developed. The technique, which accommodates both linear and non‐linear problems, and which sequentially minimizes the least squares error norm between corresponding sets of measured and computed temperatures, takes advantage of the linearity between computed temperatures and the instantaneous surface heat flux distribution. Explicit minimization of the instantaneous error norm thus leads to a linear system, i.e. a matrix normal equation, in the current set of nodal surface fluxes. The technique is first validated against a simple analytical quenching model. Simulated low‐noise measurements, generated using the analytical model, lead to heat transfer coefficient estimates that are within 1% of actual values. Simulated high‐noise measurements lead to h estimates that oscillate about the low‐noise solution. Extensions of the present method, designed to smooth oscillatory solutions, and based on future time steps or regularization, are briefly described. The method's ability to resolve highly transient, early‐time heat transfer is also examined; it is found that time resolution decreases linearly with distance to the nearest subsurface measurement site. Once validated, the technique is used to investigate surface heat transfer during experimental quenching of cylinders. Comparison with an earlier inverse analysis of a similar experiment shows that the present method provides solutions that are fully consistent with the earlier results. Although the technique is illustrated using a simple one‐dimensional example, the method can be readily extended to multidimensional problems. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The method of fundamental solutions for inverse boundary value problems associated with the steady‐state heat conduction in anisotropic media

In this paper, the method of fundamental solutions is applied to solve some inverse boundary value problems associated with the steady‐state heat conduction in an anisotropic medium. Since the resulting matrix equation is severely ill‐conditioned, a regularized solution is obtained by employing the truncated singular value decomposition, while the optimal regularization parameter is chosen according to the L‐curve criterion. Numerical results are presented for both two‐ and three‐dimensional problems, as well as exact and noisy data. The convergence and stability of the proposed numerical scheme with respect to increasing the number of source points and the distance between the fictitious and physical boundaries, and decreasing the amount of noise added into the input data, respectively, are analysed. A sensitivity analysis with respect to the measure of the accessible part of the boundary and the distance between the internal measurement points and the boundary is also performed. The numerical results obtained show that the proposed numerical method is accurate, convergent, stable and computationally efficient, and hence it could be considered as a competitive alternative to existing methods for solving inverse problems in anisotropic steady‐state heat conduction. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A corrective smoothed particle method for boundary value problems in heat conduction

Combining the kernel estimate with the Taylor series expansion is proposed to develop a Corrective Smoothed Particle Method (CSPM). This algorithm resolves the general problem of particle deficiency at boundaries, which is a shortcoming in Standard Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SSPH). In addition, the method’s ability to model derivatives of any order could make it applicable for any time‐dependent boundary value problems. An example of the applications studied in this paper is unsteady heat conduction, which is governed by second‐order derivatives. Numerical results demonstrate that besides the capability of directly imposing boundary conditions, the present method enhances the solution accuracy not only near or on the boundary but also inside the domain. Published in 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This article is a U.S. government work and is in the public domain in the United States.     

Optimization method for steady conduction in special geometry using a boundary element method

In some steady heat conduction problems in special geometries which consist of a closely spaced surface and circular holes in an infinite domain, thermal system designers may want to optimize the configuration of circular holes in terms of their radii and locations to achieve the goal of uniform temperature distribution over a closely spaced surface. In this paper, an efficient optimization procedure for this kind of problem is proposed utilizing (i) the special boundary element analysis, (ii) the corresponding design sensitivity analysis and (iii) the CONMIN algorithm. Three sample problems were solved to demonstrate the efficiency and the usefulness of the proposed optimization procedure. Some industrial engineering examples of such problems can be found in the injection molding process, the compression molding process, and so on. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.