Linear matching method for design limits in plasticity

In this paper a state-of-the-art numerical method is discussed for the evaluation of the shakedown and ratchet limits for an elastic-perfectly plastic body subjected to cyclic thermal and mechanical load history. The limit load or collapse load, i.e. the load carrying capacity, is also determined as a special case of shakedown analysis. These design limits in plasticity have been solved by characterizing the steady cyclic state using a general cyclic minimum theorem. For a prescribed class of kinematically admissible inelastic strain rate histories, the minimum of the functional for these design limits are found by a programming method, the Linear Matching Method (LMM), which converges to the least upper bound. By ensuring that both equilibrium and compatibility are satisfied at each stage, a direct algorithm has also been derived to determine the lower bound of shakedown and ratchet limit using the best residual stress calculated during the LMM procedure. Three practical examples of the LMM are provided to confirm the efficiency and effectiveness of the method: the behaviour of a complex 3D tubeplate in a typical AGR superheater header, the behaviour of a fiber reinforced metal matrix composite under loading and thermal cycling conditions, and effects of drilling holes on the ratchet limit and crack tip plastic strain range fora centre cracked plate subjected to constant tensile loading and cyclic bending moment

Composite CDMA - A statistical mechanics analysis

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in which the spreading code assignment to users contains a random element has recently become a cornerstone of CDMA research. The random element in the construction is particular attractive as it provides robustness and flexibility in utilising multi-access channels, whilst not making significant sacrifices in terms of transmission power. Random codes are generated from some ensemble, here we consider the possibility of combining two standard paradigms, sparsely and densely spread codes, in a single composite code ensemble. The composite code analysis includes a replica symmetric calculation of performance in the large system limit, and investigation of finite systems through a composite belief propagation algorithm. A variety of codes are examined with a focus on the high multi-access interference regime. In both the large size limit and finite systems we demonstrate scenarios in which the composite code has typical performance exceeding sparse and dense codes at equivalent signal to noise ratio.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, Sigma Phi 2008 conference submission - submitted to J.Stat.Mec

Convergence of iterative methods based on Neumann series for composite materials: theory and practice

Iterative Fast Fourier Transform methods are useful for calculating the fields in composite materials and their macroscopic response. By iterating back and forth until convergence, the differential constraints are satisfied in Fourier space, and the constitutive law in real space. The methods correspond to series expansions of appropriate operators and to series expansions for the effective tensor as a function of the component moduli. It is shown that the singularity structure of this function can shed much light on the convergence properties of the iterative Fast Fourier Transform methods. We look at a model example of a square array of conducting square inclusions for which there is an exact formula for the effective conductivity (Obnosov). Theoretically some of the methods converge when the inclusions have zero or even negative conductivity. However, the numerics do not always confirm this extended range of convergence and show that accuracy is lost after relatively few iterations. There is little point in iterating beyond this. Accuracy improves when the grid size is reduced, showing that the discrepancy is linked to the discretization. Finally, it is shown that none of the three iterative schemes investigated over-performs the others for all possible microstructures and all contrasts.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl

A three dimensional calculation of elastic equilibrium for composite materials

A compact scheme is applied to three-dimensional elasticity problems for composite materials, involving simple geometries. The mathematical aspects of this approach are discussed, in particular the iteration method. A vector processor code implementing the compact scheme is presented, and several numerical experiments are summarized

A Simple and Efficient Algorithm for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control

We present PANOC, a new algorithm for solving optimal control problems arising in nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). A usual approach to this type of problems is sequential quadratic programming (SQP), which requires the solution of a quadratic program at every iteration and, consequently, inner iterative procedures. As a result, when the problem is ill-conditioned or the prediction horizon is large, each outer iteration becomes computationally very expensive. We propose a line-search algorithm that combines forward-backward iterations (FB) and Newton-type steps over the recently introduced forward-backward envelope (FBE), a continuous, real-valued, exact merit function for the original problem. The curvature information of Newton-type methods enables asymptotic superlinear rates under mild assumptions at the limit point, and the proposed algorithm is based on very simple operations: access to first-order information of the cost and dynamics and low-cost direct linear algebra. No inner iterative procedure nor Hessian evaluation is required, making our approach computationally simpler than SQP methods. The low-memory requirements and simple implementation make our method particularly suited for embedded NMPC applications