Discrete and nonlocal models of Engesser and Haringx elastica

International audienceIn this paper, a generalized discrete elastica including both bending and shear elastic interactions is developed and its possible link with nonlocal beam continua is revealed. This lattice system can be viewed as the generalization of the Hencky bar-chain model, which can be retrieved in the case of infinite shear stiffness. The shear contribution in the discrete elastica is introduced by following the approach of Engesser (normal and shear forces are aligned with and perpendicular to the link axis, respectively) and that of Haringx (shear force is parallel to end section of links), both supported by physical arguments. The nonlinear analysis of the shearable-bendable discrete elastica under axial load is accomplished. Buckling and post-buckling of the lattice systems are analyzed in a geometrically exact framework. The buckling loads of both the discrete Engesser and Haringx elastica are analytically calculated, and the post-buckling behavior is numerically studied for large displacement. Nonlocal Timoshenko-type beam models, including both bending and shear stiffness, are then built from the continualization of the discrete systems. Analytical solutions for the fundamental buckling loads of the nonlocal Engesser and Haringx elastica models are given, and their first post-budding paths are numerically computed and compared to those of the discrete Engesser and Haringx elastica. It is shown that the nonlocal Timoshenko-type beam models efficiently capture the scale effects associated with the shearable-bendable discrete elastica

Fairing of Discrete Planar Curves by Discrete Euler's Elasticae

After characterizing the integrable discrete analogue of the Euler's elastica, we focus our attention on the problem of approximating a given discrete planar curve by an appropriate discrete Euler's elastica. We carry out the fairing process via a $L^2\!$-distance minimization to avoid the numerical instabilities. The optimization problem is solved via a gradient-driven optimization method (IPOPT). This problem is non-convex and the result strongly depends on the initial guess, so that we use a discrete analogue of the algorithm provided by Brander et al., which gives an initial guess to the optimization method

Variational image regularization with Euler's elastica using a discrete gradient scheme

This paper concerns an optimization algorithm for unconstrained non-convex problems where the objective function has sparse connections between the unknowns. The algorithm is based on applying a dissipation preserving numerical integrator, the Itoh--Abe discrete gradient scheme, to the gradient flow of an objective function, guaranteeing energy decrease regardless of step size. We introduce the algorithm, prove a convergence rate estimate for non-convex problems with Lipschitz continuous gradients, and show an improved convergence rate if the objective function has sparse connections between unknowns. The algorithm is presented in serial and parallel versions. Numerical tests show its use in Euler's elastica regularized imaging problems and its convergence rate and compare the execution time of the method to that of the iPiano algorithm and the gradient descent and Heavy-ball algorithms

Hyperelliptic Loop Solitons with Genus g: Investigations of a Quantized Elastica

In the previous work (J. Geom. Phys. {\bf{39}} (2001) 50-61), the closed loop solitons in a plane, \it i.e., loops whose curvatures obey the modified Korteweg-de Vries equations, were investigated for the case related to algebraic curves with genera one and two. This article is a generalization of the previous article to those of hyperelliptic curves with general genera. It was proved that the tangential angle of loop soliton is expressed by the Weierstrass hyperelliptic al function for a given hyperelliptic curve $y^2 = f(x)$ with genus $g$.Comment: AMS-Tex, 14 page

Colliding Interfaces in Old and New Diffuse-interface Approximations of Willmore-flow

This paper is concerned with diffuse-interface approximations of the Willmore flow. We first present numerical results of standard diffuse-interface models for colliding one dimensional interfaces. In such a scenario evolutions towards interfaces with corners can occur that do not necessarily describe the adequate sharp-interface dynamics. We therefore propose and investigate alternative diffuse-interface approximations that lead to a different and more regular behavior if interfaces collide. These dynamics are derived from approximate energies that converge to the $L^1$-lower-semicontinuous envelope of the Willmore energy, which is in general not true for the more standard Willmore approximation

A combined first and second order variational approach for image reconstruction

In this paper we study a variational problem in the space of functions of bounded Hessian. Our model constitutes a straightforward higher-order extension of the well known ROF functional (total variation minimisation) to which we add a non-smooth second order regulariser. It combines convex functions of the total variation and the total variation of the first derivatives. In what follows, we prove existence and uniqueness of minimisers of the combined model and present the numerical solution of the corresponding discretised problem by employing the split Bregman method. The paper is furnished with applications of our model to image denoising, deblurring as well as image inpainting. The obtained numerical results are compared with results obtained from total generalised variation (TGV), infimal convolution and Euler's elastica, three other state of the art higher-order models. The numerical discussion confirms that the proposed higher-order model competes with models of its kind in avoiding the creation of undesirable artifacts and blocky-like structures in the reconstructed images -- a known disadvantage of the ROF model -- while being simple and efficiently numerically solvable.Comment: 34 pages, 89 figure