Peridynamic Galerkin method: an attractive alternative to finite elements

This work presents a meshfree particle scheme designed for arbitrary deformations that possess the accuracy and properties of the Finite-Element-Method. The accuracy is maintained even with arbitrary particle distributions. Mesh-based methods mostly fail if requirements on the location of evaluation points are not satisfied. Hence, with this new scheme not only the range of loadings can be increased but also the pre-processing step can be facilitated compared to the FEM. The key to this new meshfree method lies in the fulfillment of essential requirements for spatial discretization schemes. The new approach is based on the correspondence theory of Peridynamics. Some modifications of this framework allows for a consistent and stable formulation. By applying the peridynamic differentiation concept, it is also shown that the equations of the correspondence theory can be derived from the weak form. Likewise, it is demonstrated that special moving least square shape functions possess the Kronecker-δ property. Thus, Dirichlet boundary conditions can be directly applied. The positive performance of this new meshfree method, especially in comparison to the Finite-Element-Method, is shown in the calculation of several test cases. In order to guarantee a fair comparison enhanced finite element formulations are also used. The test cases include the patch test, an eigenmode analysis as well as the investigation of loadings in the context of large deformations. © 2022, The Author(s)

Arab-West Report Papers 2007 - 2016

The dataset contains papers written between 2007 and 2016 by researchers and interns at the Center for Arab-West Understanding ( CAWU) in Cairo or by researchers and academics connected to CAWU. The papers aim at obtaining a better understanding of the role of religion in society, including: - Relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt; - Problems around church building, the highly controversial topic of (alleged) kidnappings of Christian youth, claims of forced conversions, reports on sectarian incidents in Egypt and media critique to uncover biased reporting within Egypt as well as the stereotypical tone in Western media; - The role of Christian and Muslim institutions in society and the political sphere; - Activities of human rights organizations; - Islam and politics. All papers are: - Descriptive and take different points of views serious as part of the description of events unfolding in society; - Contributing to a better understanding of people between different cultures and beliefs. Methodology: Papers always include Egyptian source material. Authors were recommended to make use of the AWR database, conduct interviews in Egypt and where encouraged to contrast results with western news coverage. Papers discuss one subject at length and were reviewed by Egyptian and/or Western academics, within the bounds of organizational possibility and edited by Cornelis Hulsman or others to guarantee academic standards. This has resulted in a number of unique studies about subjects that are rarely covered in depth elsewhere. These papers are completed texts but besides, additional texts from reviewers often include interesting suggestions for further research