Hybrid meshless/displacement discontinuity method for FGM Reissner's plate with cracks

Growing applications of non-homogenous media in engineering structures require the application of powerful computational tools. A novel hybrid Meshless Displacement Discontinuity Method (MDDM) for cracked Reissner's plate in Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) is presented in this paper. The fundamental solutions of slope and deflection discontinuity for an isotropic homogenous media are chosen as a part of general solutions to create the gaps between the crack surfaces. The governing equation is satisfied by using the meshless methods such as the Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) and the Point Collocation Method (PCM) with Lagrange series interpolation and mapping technique. The Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs) are evaluated analytically with the Chebyshev polynomials. The accuracy is verified by comparison of numerical and analytical results

Boundary Element Analysis of Three-Dimensional Exponentially Graded Isotropic Elastic Solids

A numerical implementation of the Somigliana identity in displacements for the solution of 3D elastic problems in exponentially graded isotropic solids is presented. An expression for the fundamental solution in displacements, Uj , was deduced by Martin et al. (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, 458, pp. 1931–1947, 2002). This expression was recently corrected and implemented in a Galerkin indirect 3D BEM code by Criado et al. (Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng., 2008). Starting from this expression of Uj , a new expression for the fundamental solution in tractions Tj has been deduced in the present work. These quite complex expressions of the integral kernels Uj and Tj have been implemented in a collocational direct 3D BEM code. The numerical results obtained for 3D problems with known analytic solutions verify that the new expression for Tj is correct. Excellent accuracy is obtained with very coarse boundary element meshes, even for a relativelyMinisterio de Educación Cultura y Deporte SAB2003-0088Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología MAT2003-0331

Moving least-squares in finite strain analysis with tetrahedra support

A finite strain finite element (FE)-based approach to element-free Galerkin (EFG) discretization is introduced, based on a number of simplifications and specialized techniques in the context of a Lagrangian kernel. In terms of discretization, a quadratic polynomial basis is used, support is determined from the number of pre-assigned nodes for each quadrature point and quadrature points coincide with the centroids of tetrahedra. Diffuse derivatives are adopted, which allow for the use of convenient non-differentiable weight functions which approximate the Dirac-Delta distribution. Due to the use of a Lagrangian kernel, recent finite strain elasto-plastic constitutive developments based on the Mandel stress are adopted in a direct form. These recent developments are especially convenient from the implementation perspective, as EFG formulations for finite strain plasticity have been limited by the previous requirement of updating the kernel. We also note that, although tetrahedra are only adopted for integration in the undeformed configuration, mesh deformation is of no consequence for the results. Four 3D benchmark tests are successfully solved

Stress-Particle Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics: an application to the failure and post-failure behaviour of slopes

We present a new numerical approach in the framework of Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to solve the zero energy modes and tensile instabilities, without the need for the fine tuning of non-physical artificial parameters. The method uses a combination of stress-points and nodes and includes a new stress-point position updating scheme that also removes the need to implement artificial repulsive forces at the boundary. The model is validated for large deformation geomechanics problems, and is able to simulate strain localisation within soil samples and slopes. In particular, the new model produces stable and accurate results of the failure and post-failure of slopes, consisting of both cohesive and cohesionless materials, for the first time

Hypersingular BEM for Piezoelectric Solids: Formulation and Applications for FractureMechanics

A general mixed boundary element formulation for three-dimensional piezoelectric fracture mechanics problems is presented in this paper. The numerical procedure is based on the extended displacement and traction integral equations for external and crack boundaries, respectively. Integrals with strongly singular and hypersingular kernels appearing in the formulation are analytically transformed into weakly singular and regular integrals. Quadratic boundary elements and quarter-point boundary elements are implemented in a direct way in a computer code. Electric and stress intensity factors are directly computed fromnodal values at quarter-point elements. Crack problems in 3D piezoelectric bounded and unbounded solids are solved. The obtained results are shown to be accurate by comparison with other results existing in the literature. The approach presented for the first time in this paper should be useful for future research and development since it can be used in a simple way for general 3D piezoelectric fracture mechanics problems.Ministerio de Eduación y Ciencia DPI2004-08147-C02-0

A high-performance boundary element method and its applications in engineering

As a semi-numerical and semi-analytical method, owing to the inherent advantage, of boundary-only discretisation, the boundary element method (BEM) has been widely applied to problems with complicated geometries, stress concentration problems, infinite domain problems, and many others. However, domain integrals and non-symmetrical and dense matrix systems are two obstacles for BEM which have hindered the its further development and application. This thesis is aimed at proposing a high-performance BEM to tackle the above two drawbacks and broaden the application scope of BEM. In this thesis, a detailed introduction to the traditional BEM is given and several popular algorithms are introduced or proposed to enhance the performance of BEM. Numerical examples in heat conduction analysis, thermoelastic analysis and thermoelastic fracture problems are performed to assess the efficiency and correction of the algorithms. In addition, necessary theoretical derivations are embraced for establishing novel boundary integral equations (BIEs) for specific engineering problems. The following three parts are the main content of this thesis. (1) The first part (Part II consisting of two chapters) is aimed at heat conduction analysis by BEM. The coefficient matrix of equations formed by BEM in solving problems is fully-populated which occupy large computer memory. To deal with that, the fast multipole method (FMM) is introduced to energize the line integration boundary element method (LIBEM) to performs better in efficiency. In addition, to compute domain integrals with known or unknown integrand functions which are caused by heat sources or heterogeneity, a novel BEM, the adaptive orthogonal interpolation moving least squares (AOIMLS) method enhanced LIBEM, which also inherits the advantage of boundary-only discretisation, is proposed. Unlike LIBEM, which is an accurate and stable method for computing domain integrals, but only works when the mathematical expression of integral function in domain integrals is known, the AOIMLS enhanced LIBEM can compute domain integrals with known or unknown integral functions, which ensures all the nonlinear and nonhomogeneous problems can be solved without domain discretisation. In addition, the AOIMLS can adaptively avoid singular or ill-conditioned moment matrices, thus ensuring the stability of the calculation results. (2) In the second part (Part III consisting of four chapters), the thermoelastic problems and fracture problems are the main objectives. Due to considering thermal loads, domain integrals appear in the BIEs of the thermoelastic problems, and the expression of integrand functions is known or not depending on the temperature distribution given or not, the AOIMLS enhanced LIBEM is introduced to conduct thermoelasticity analysis thereby. Besides, a series of novel unified boundary integral equations based on BEM and DDM are derived for solving fracture problems and thermoelastic fracture problems in finite and infinite domains. Two sets of unified BIEs are derived for fracture problems in finite and infinite domains based on the direct BEM and DDM respectively, which can provide accurate and stable results. Another two sets of BIEs are addressed by employing indirect BEM and DDM, which cannot ensure a stable result, thereby a modified indirect BEM is proposed which performs much more stable. Moreover, a set of novel BIEs based on the direct BEM and DDM for cracked domains under thermal stress is proposed. (3) In the third part (Part IV consisting of one chapter), a high-efficiency combined BEM and discrete element method (DEM) is proposed to compute the inner stress distribution and particle breakage of particle assemblies based on the solution mapping scheme. For the stress field computation of particles with similar geometry, a template particle is used as the representative particle, so that only the related coefficient matrices of one template particle in the local coordinate system are needed to be calculated, while the coefficient matrices of the other particles, can be obtained by mapping between the local and global coordinate systems. Thus, the combined BEM and DEM is much more effective when modelling a large-scale particle system with a small number of distinct possible particle shapes. Furthermore, with the help of the Hoek-Brown criterion, the possible cracks or breakage paths of a particle can be obtained

Enhanced local maximum-entropy approximation for stable meshfree simulations

We introduce an improved meshfree approximation scheme which is based on the local maximum-entropy strategy as a compromise between shape function locality and entropy in an information-theoretical sense. The improved version is specifically designed for severe, finite deformation and offers significantly enhanced stability as opposed to the original formulation. This is achieved by (i) formulating the quasistatic mechanical boundary value problem in a suitable updated-Lagrangian setting, (ii) introducing anisotropy in the shape function support to accommodate directional variations in nodal spacing with increasing deformation and eliminate tensile instability, (iii) spatially bounding and evolving shape function support to restrict the domain of influence and increase efficiency, (iv) truncating shape functions at interfaces in order to stably represent multi-component systems like composites or polycrystals. The new scheme is applied to benchmark problems of severe elastic and elastoplastic deformation that demonstrate its performance both in terms of accuracy (as compared to exact solutions and, where applicable, finite element simulations) and efficiency. Importantly, the presented formulation overcomes the classical tensile instability found in most meshfree interpolation schemes, as shown for stable simulations of, e.g., the inhomogeneous extension of a hyperelastic block up to 100% or the torsion of a hyperelastic cube by 200° –both in an updated Lagrangian setting and without the need for remeshing

A practical method for animating anisotropic elastoplastic materials

This paper introduces a simple method for simulating highly anisotropic elastoplastic material behaviors like the dissolution of fibrous phenomena (splintering wood, shredding bales of hay) and materials composed of large numbers of irregularly‐shaped bodies (piles of twigs, pencils, or cards). We introduce a simple transformation of the anisotropic problem into an equivalent isotropic one, and we solve this new “fictitious” isotropic problem using an existing simulator based on the material point method. Our approach results in minimal changes to existing simulators, and it allows us to re‐use popular isotropic plasticity models like the Drucker‐Prager yield criterion instead of inventing new anisotropic plasticity models for every phenomenon we wish to simulate