Finite Element Analysis for Linear Elastic Solids Based on Subdivision Schemes

Finite element methods are used in various areas ranging from mechanical engineering to computer graphics and bio-medical applications. In engineering, a critical point is the gap between CAD and CAE. This gap results from different representations used for geometric design and physical simulation. We present two different approaches for using subdivision solids as the only representation for modeling, simulation and visualization. This has the advantage that no data must be converted between the CAD and CAE phases. The first approach is based on an adaptive and feature-preserving tetrahedral subdivision scheme. The second approach is based on Catmull-Clark subdivision solids

Interpolatory Catmull-Clark volumetric subdivision over unstructured hexahedral meshes for modeling and simulation applications

International audienceVolumetric modeling is an important topic for material modeling and isogeometric simulation. In this paper, two kinds of interpolatory Catmull-Clark volumetric subdivision approaches over unstructured hexahedral meshes are proposed based on the limit point formula of Catmull-Clark subdivision volume. The basic idea of the first method is to construct a new control lattice, whose limit volume by the CatmullClark subdivision scheme interpolates vertices of the original hexahedral mesh. The new control lattice is derived by the local push-back operation from one CatmullClark subdivision step with modified geometric rules. This interpolating method is simple and efficient, and several shape parameters are involved in adjusting the shape of the limit volume. The second method is based on progressive-iterative approximation using limit point formula. At each iteration step, we progressively modify vertices of an original hexahedral mesh to generate a new control lattice whose limit volume interpolates all vertices in the original hexahedral mesh. The convergence proof of the iterative process is also given. The interpolatory subdivision volume has C 2-smoothness at the regular region except around extraordinary vertices and edges. Furthermore, the proposed interpolatory volumetric subdivision methods can be used not only for geometry interpolation, but also for material attribute interpolation in the field of volumetric material modeling. The application of the proposed volumetric subdivision approaches on isogeometric analysis is also given with several examples

A generalized finite element formulation for arbitrary basis functions : from isogeometric analysis to XFEM

Many of the formulations of cm-rent research interest, including iosogeometric methods and the extended finite element method, use nontraditional basis functions. Some, such as subdivision surfaces, may not have convenient analytical representations. The concept of an element, if appropriate at all, no longer coincides with the traditional definition. Developing a new software for each new class of basis functions is a large research burden, especially, if the problems involve large deformations, non-linear materials, and contact. The objective of this paper is to present a method that separates as much as possible the generation and evaluation of the basis functions from the analysis, resulting in a formulation that can be implemented within the traditional structure of a finite clement program but that permits the use of arbitrary sets of basis functions that are defined only through the input file. Elements ranging from a traditional linear four-node tetrahedron through a higher-order element combining XFEM and isogeometric analysis may be specified entirely through an input file without any additional programming. Examples of this framework to applications with Lagrange elements, isogeometric elements, and XFEM basis functions for fracture are presented

Isogeometric FEM-BEM coupled structural-acoustic analysis of shells using subdivision surfaces

We introduce a coupled finite and boundary element formulation for acoustic scattering analysis over thin shell structures. A triangular Loop subdivision surface discretisation is used for both geometry and analysis fields. The Kirchhoff-Love shell equation is discretised with the finite element method and the Helmholtz equation for the acoustic field with the boundary element method. The use of the boundary element formulation allows the elegant handling of infinite domains and precludes the need for volumetric meshing. In the present work the subdivision control meshes for the shell displacements and the acoustic pressures have the same resolution. The corresponding smooth subdivision basis functions have the $C^1$ continuity property required for the Kirchhoff-Love formulation and are highly efficient for the acoustic field computations. We validate the proposed isogeometric formulation through a closed-form solution of acoustic scattering over a thin shell sphere. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of the proposed approach to handle complex geometries with arbitrary topology that provides an integrated isogeometric design and analysis workflow for coupled structural-acoustic analysis of shells

G1-smooth Biquintic Approximation of Catmull-Clark Subdivision Surfaces

International audienceIn this paper a construction of a globally G1 family of Bézier surfaces, defined by smoothing masks approximating the well-known Catmull-Clark (CC) subdivision surface is presented. The resulting surface is a collection of Bézier patches, which are bicubic C2 around regular vertices and biquintic G1 around extraordinary vertices (and C1 on their one-rings vertices). Each Bézier point is computed using a locally defined mask around the neighboring mesh vertices. To define G1 conditions, we assign quadratic gluing data around extraordinary vertices that depend solely on their valence and we use degree five patches to satisfy these G1 constraints. We explore the space of possible solutions, considering several projections on the solution space leading to different explicit formulas for the masks. Certain control points are computed by means of degree elevation of the C0 scheme of Loop and Schaefer [22], while for others, explicit masks are deduced by providing closed-form solutions of the G1 conditions, expressed in terms of the masks. We come up with four different schemes and conduct curvature analysis on an extensive benchmark in order to assert the quality of the resulting surfaces and identify the ones that lead to the best result, both visually and numerically. We demonstrate that the resulting surfaces converge quadratically to the CC limit when the mesh is subdivided

Isogeometric FEM-BEM coupled structural-acoustic analysis of shells using subdivision surfaces

We introduce a coupled finite and boundary element formulation for acoustic scattering analysis over thin shell structures. A triangular Loop subdivision surface discretisation is used for both geometry and analysis fields. The Kirchhoff-Love shell equation is discretised with the finite element method and the Helmholtz equation for the acoustic field with the boundary element method. The use of the boundary element formulation allows the elegant handling of infinite domains and precludes the need for volumetric meshing. In the present work the subdivision control meshes for the shell displacements and the acoustic pressures have the same resolution. The corresponding smooth subdivision basis functions have the $C^1$ continuity property required for the Kirchhoff-Love formulation and are highly efficient for the acoustic field computations. We validate the proposed isogeometric formulation through a closed-form solution of acoustic scattering over a thin shell sphere. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of the proposed approach to handle complex geometries with arbitrary topology that provides an integrated isogeometric design and analysis workflow for coupled structural-acoustic analysis of shells

An assessment of the adaptive unstructured tetrahedral grid, Euler Flow Solver Code FELISA

A three-dimensional solution-adaptive Euler flow solver for unstructured tetrahedral meshes is assessed, and the accuracy and efficiency of the method for predicting sonic boom pressure signatures about simple generic models are demonstrated. Comparison of computational and wind tunnel data and enhancement of numerical solutions by means of grid adaptivity are discussed. The mesh generation is based on the advancing front technique. The FELISA code consists of two solvers, the Taylor-Galerkin and the Runge-Kutta-Galerkin schemes, both of which are spacially discretized by the usual Galerkin weighted residual finite-element methods but with different explicit time-marching schemes to steady state. The solution-adaptive grid procedure is based on either remeshing or mesh refinement techniques. An alternative geometry adaptive procedure is also incorporated